From the Archives: Harry Lunte—The Man Who Tried to Replace Ray Chapman

On August 16, 1920 the Cleveland Indians prepared to take the field against the New York Yankees to start a crucial three-game series at Yankee Stadium that pitted the first-place Indians against the third-place Yankees. Cleveland was a mere four percentage points ahead of the Chicago White Sox in the standings; New York stood within […]

Most Deserving All-Star Candidate From Each American League Team

Most Deserving All-Star Candidate From Each Team: AL Edition   Baltimore: Manny Machado While Mark Trumbo is enjoying a bounce back season and currently leading the American League in homers, Manny Machado has been one of the best players in the MLB this season. He’s hitting .325, good for fourth in the American League, and […]

An Interview with White Sox Owner, Eddie Einhorn

Hey baseball fans! I recently had the honor of interviewing the Vice Chairman and an owner of the Chicago White Sox, Eddie Einhorn! Einhorn was a really cool guy to talk to and his answers were also very interesting to hear. However, let me tell you a little about Mr. Einhorn before I get to […]

An Interview with Shoeless Joe Jackson (Sort of)

Hey baseball fans!I’m back with another interview! This time, it is with Shoeless Joe Jackson! I know what you are thinking: “How could you have gotten in touch with a ballplayer who died in 1951?” Well, my answer to you all is this: just like my Babe Ruth interview, a few days ago I sent in questions to Peter […]

The Man with as Many Career Hits as Career Aches

Hey baseball fans! Like I’ve mentioned many times before, some Hall of Famers never won a World Series ring, or even got a taste of playoff baseball. Naturally, a couple of teams with Hall of Famers without rings come to my mind when I hear this statement. For example, the Expos, Cubs, Padres, Rangers, Angels, […]

A Picture Worth Almost Two Thousand Words: Ted Kluszewski and Me

It was a moment that now seems almost as if I imagined it.  It was the summer of 1972, I was seventeen years old, freshly graduated from high school, away from home, somewhere in Ohio, and Iron Mike was hurling baseballs at me in a batting cage.  Having spent considerable time in this same situation […]

Touring The Bases With…Greg Pryor

A two-time All-American at Florida Southern College from 1969-70, Greg Pryor became the first FSC Moccasin to make it to the major leagues when he debuted for the Texas Rangers on June 4, 1976.  Pryor was a sixth round draft pick of the Washington Senators in 1971 and spent parts of six seasons in the […]

Second Half Help

They aren’t all prospects but they all could help you in one way or another. Here is one player from each team worth picking up for the 2nd half of the season. Note: All players are 30% owned or less in Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Baseball Arizona Diamondbacks - 3B Matt Davidson – The Futures Game MVP […]

Clearing The Bases

Baltimore Orioles: The Orioles sent down SP Jake Arrieta to AAA after another subpar performance on Monday. Arrieta has good stuff but doesn’t seem to have figured out how to control it within the strike zone…..Speaking of SPs, Dylan Bundy is going to get a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews about his ailing elbow. […]

Clearing The Bases

Boston Red Sox: My thoughts and prayers go out to Boston. Just another senseless act of violence once again. I’m a Yankee fan, and a Cowboy/Islander fan also, and outside of playing for a hockey team called the Blackhawks, I’ve never worn any other team’s jersey other than those three teams, would consider it disloyal, […]

Bob Lazzari’s Baseball Predictions: 2013

Yes, it’s that time of the year, folks–time to offer some MLB predictions.  *DISCLAIMER:  If one chooses to use the following as “gospel”, just remember that I picked the Angels and Phillies to play in the World Series last year (ughh).  Here’s how they’ll finish in 2013…… AL EAST T.B. Rays Toronto Blue Jays N.Y. […]

Clearing The Bases

Baltimore Orioles: Tough news for 2B Brian Roberts. He ruptured a tendon in the back of his knee and will miss most of, if not all of April. The problem for Roberts is this, even if he does return during the 2-4 week timetable, it would seem to be highly unlikely that he wouldn’t suffer […]

Clearing The Bases

Baltimore Orioles: Starting Pitcher Chris Tillman may be on the disabled list, but he is expected to be activated and take his regular turn in the rotation this weekend…..If 2B Brian Roberts can stay healthy and once again become the player he used to be, this would be a pretty big boon to the O’s […]

White Sox Opening Day: 39 Degrees and Billion-Dollar Burgers

The Chicago White Sox opened the 2013 season on Monday by beating the Kansas City Royals, 1-0, at U. S. Cellular Field in front of an announced crowd of 39,000 people. In other words, there were one thousand people in the ballpark for every degree in the air. The high temperature in Chicago for the […]

The Greatest Youngster Around

Hey baseball fans! Let’s get something straight: not all Hall of Famers have a World Series ring. For example, Ernie Banks never got one because he played on the Cubs. Harmon Killebrew almost got a ring in ’65 with the Twins, but never got that close to a championship again in his career. Finally, even the great Ted Williams never got […]

Kazmir Gets Headlines as Indians’ Fifth Starter, And Dylan Axelrod Earns Same Job With White Sox

While disappointments always show up this time of year as major league teams trim their rosters to the 25-man Opening Day limit, Independent Baseball got a double dose of good news this week in learning that two of its recent pitchers have nailed down No. 5 starting roles in rotations. Scott Kazmir has drawn so […]

Booming Batters

Hey baseball fans! Now that I’ve blogged about Proficient Pitchers nicknames (part one and part two), it’s time for the hitting nicknames. Here they are: The Splendid Splinter - Ted Williams Ted’s goal as a baseball player was that when he walked down a street, a dad would say to his son: ‘Son, there’s the best hitter that […]

White Sox Rising

May 31, 2012 When the Chicago White Sox swept the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field two weeks ago it was fun but, really, can’t an old person with a fly swatter beat the Cubs? The Sox, however, were apparently emboldened by that three-game ear-gouge of their crosstown rivals because now the Pale Hose are taking […]

All For Paul

May 27, 2012 Jimi Hendrix, Albert Einstein, Prince Planet, Julie Christie, Harper Lee and Joan of Arc.  What do they all have in common?  They’re about half as cool as Paul Konerko. Konerko, the venerable Chicago White Sox first baseman, is swinging the bat like a honey badger hocked up on Cherry Coke trapped inside […]

Chicago White Sox Opening Day: Irish Nachos and the Baroque Batter’s Box

April 13, 2012 Not everyone loves baseball but all people, (except, perhaps, Angelina Jolie) love food and while our national pastime isn’t always played at the highest level at Chicago’s U.S. Cellular Field, there is always copious amounts of unique and satisfying sustenance. Luckily, on Opening Day on Friday, the White Sox were as enticing […]

Bob Lazzari’s Baseball Predictions

Yes, it’s that time of the year, folks–the obligatory crapshoot better-known as making MLB predictions.  Here’s how they’ll finish in 2012…… AL EAST N.Y. Yankees T.B. Rays Boston Red Sox Toronto Blue Jays Baltimore Orioles AL CENTRAL Detroit Tigers Cleveland Indians K.C. Royals Minnesota Twins Chicago White Sox AL WEST L.A. Angels Texas Rangers Oakland […]

It Is Nail-Biting Time for Several Independent Players Although ’11 Standout Jerome Williams Is ‘On Track’

It appears 2011 Lancaster (PA) Barnstormers (Atlantic League) starter Jerome Williams could win that fifth starting job with the Los Angeles Angels after all even though his hamstring strain forced him to miss some 24 days of spring training. The 30-year-old, who also at one time hurled for Long Beach, CA in the Golden League, […]

A Tribute to Billy Sullivan

On October 14, 1906, despite being big underdogs, the Chicago White Sox won the World Series with a victory over the cross-town Chicago Cubs. With excitement still running high, many members of the World Champion White Sox traveled to a small Wisconsin town named Edgerton, to play against their local team. Billy Sullivan, the catcher […]

Here Come the Miami White Sox

Mark Buehrle has long been the best pitcher in the National League and that distinction will likely grow more evident now that he’s actually going to be pitching in the National League. After 12 seasons, 161 victories, four All-Star games, three gold gloves, one no-hitter, a perfect game, a World Series victory and the coolest […]

Why Albert Pujols Will Stay In St. Louis

We heard it a lot. At the end of September and during every playoff series, we heard “this could be the last time Albert Pujols has an at-bat in a Cardinal uniform,” sometimes tweaked with the last home appearance. So much so that someone made a chart out of how he did in those situations. […]

Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Good Fries

When the team you root for is left home during October the true frustration of a sub-par season begins to painfully nip at your toes and whisper profanities into your ear.  That’s because watching good teams fight for the crown in the playoffs makes one realize just how bad – and uncontending – your team […]

Adios, Ozzie

  September 26, 2011 Adios, Ozzie When the Chicago Bears fired Mike Ditka 19 years ago many Chicagoans were crushed.  How can you get rid of an iconoclastic icon who finally brought us a championship?  Simple: it’s time. Now the situation is the same on Chicago’s South Side where the White Sox have released Ozzie […]

The Memorial Day Brawl of 1932

Administrative duties have kept me from writing much lately, so I thought I’d dust off an article I wrote for Memorial Day 2009. Enjoy! Twelve years after the Black Sox scandal decimated the White Sox and led to lifetime bans of eight players, a postgame brawl with umpire George Moriarty on Memorial Day 1932 could […]

Boston Sweeps Yanks but Playoff Hopes Remain Dim

Boston has finally reached .500 this season but now midway through May it’s a likely bet the Red Sox playoff hopes in this overly-hyped season remain iffy at best. Their position in the standings is certainly not bleak, however, for the Red Sox to have any chance of reaching the playoffs, the team would have […]

REO Speedwagon to Open Rays Summer Concert Series

Iconic classic rockers REO Speedwagon are kicking off the Tampa Bay Rays summer concert series this year on April 30th immediately after the game against the Los Angeles Angels. This is the fourth year Tampa Bay has had post-game concerts and considering the Rays are under .500 it couldn’t come at a better time since […]

Belated 2011 MLB Predictions

Yes, folks, the 2011 MLB season is underway.  Rosters have changed and managers have changed; Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens HAVEN’T changed.  Here’s how they’ll finish: AL EAST Boston Red Sox N.Y. Yankees T.B. Rays Baltimore Orioles Toronto Blue Jays AL CENTRAL Chicago White Sox Minnesota Twins Detroit Tigers Kansas City Royals Cleveland Indians AL WEST Texas […]

Spring Into Winter

The problem with starting the baseball season in March is that we haven’t had enough time to digest spring training.  Or at least, to write about it. I spent the final weekend of spring play in Arizona and caught games at Camelback Ranch – the home of the Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers […]

2011 Pre-Season Preview: AL Central – Chicago White Sox

White Sox 1B Paul Konerko Chicago White Sox (2010 record: 88-74) The White Sox won 88 games last season and still didn’t get a sniff of the division title due to the success of the Minnesota Twins. During the off-season, GM Kenny Williams decided to re-shuffle the deck to play to his team’s strengths – […]

“We Had to Pay the Price:” How the Pirates Traded for Chuck Tanner

Chuck Tanner’s death last Friday struck particularly close to the hearts of longtime Pirate fans.  He was the down-to-earth local kid who went away, made good, and then returned to lead his hometown club to a World Series title in 1979.  But as the Pittsburgh media reminisced about Tanner’s life and career last week, they […]

Further Details on Walt Navie’s 1945 Suicide

Walter Navie was a 20-game winner in the minors and headed for a career with the White Sox. But four years of military service ended in tragic circumstances. I have recently uncovered more details on the circumstances surrounding Navie’s death.

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