Carroll enjoys staying on his grind

ROCHESTER, NY – More than a decade has passed since Brett Carroll roamed the fields of the New York Collegiate Baseball League. Time hasn’t erased the memories. The veteran of ten years in professional baseball, including parts of six seasons in the majors, has played 180 games in the bigs, hit a home run off a future […]

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 […]

Jorge Cordova: The Mentor

Jorge Cordova was born to coach. You can tell that after spending a only few minutes with the man, or watching him counsel young players on the field. He combines his vast knowledge of the game with one of the friendliest personalities I have ever come across. It is hard to imagine that Jorge would […]

Q and A: What is Commotio Cordis?

Earlier this month tragedy struck the baseball field in Arizona when a 13-year-old Little Leaguer was trying to bunt and got hit in the chest. He took a few steps towards first and collapsed. He died the next morning. Getting hit by a pitch is to be expected when playing baseball. Dying is not. The […]

‘Dugout of Dreams’ Part of New Can-Am Stadium Experience

     The Can-Am League will be the last of the Independent leagues to open, starting next Thursday (May 26), and it will be another three weeks before the new Rockland Boulders get to inaugurate their 4,300-seat ballpark in Ramapo, NY.  But it seems an understatement to say the enthusiasm is building in Rockland County, which […]

An Intro to Perry Hill

Web gems – they are easily one of the most exciting parts of the game. The footwork, quick hands, and the finesse it requires to be a middle infielder ‘turning two’ may be the most poetic and graceful movement in a game of baseball. And whenever you start to think about how easy they make […]

2011 Pre-Season Preview: NL East – Atlanta Braves

Braves 3B Chipper Jones The Braves begin the new season without long-time manager, Bobby Cox, who stewarded the team to a succession of fourteen consecutive division titles (from 1991-2005, absent the strike-shortened 1994 season), five World Series appearances and a world championship in his 20+ years at the help. The 2011 season will usher in […]

2011 Pre-Season Preview: NL East – Florida Marlins

Florida’s enigmatic shortstop, Hanley Ramirez Florida Marlins (2010 record: 80-82) The Marlins finished 2010 with an 80-82 record, in third place in the National League East, and it appears they’re destined to finish the upcoming season in much the same position. They won’t be able to compete with the Phillies and it is unlikely they’ll […]

Clearing The Bases: Shortstops

Today, or tonight depending upon when you are reading this, we will finish up our look at the middle infielders with a look at our top 15 shortstops.  There is not a lot to like here as this position has two outstanding players, then maybe three or four other players you wouldn’t mind having, then […]

2011 MLB Power Rankings, The Ides of January Edition (Part I, #21-#30)

  With most of the top free agents now signed and teams starting to take shape as we approach spring training, I thought I would share my pre-pre-season pespective on the relative strengths (and weaknesses) of all 30 major league teams. I have broken the article down into three installments, and will publish one of […]

Atlanta Acquires Uggla, Florida’s Return Unimpressive

Lost amongst a multitude of trades, award announcements, and rumors was a relatively significant trade that was completed just two nights ago. The timing was slightly ironic as just a few days prior I had taken a look at what teams could potentially be the most likely suitors if the Florida Marlins decided to deal […]

Red Sox Acquire Miller, Deal Richardson to Marlins

From 2004 through 2006 the University of North Carolina boasted a pair of starters that many considered surefire MLB prospects. The MLB Draft came up that June and with the 6th pick in the first round the Detroit Tigers selected left-hander Andrew Miller. Later, with the 28th pick in the first round, the Boston Red […]

Helping World Series Phenom Buster Posey

    Ken Joyce was talking mile a minute.  He had input for any of my questions, many times offering more than I knew to ask.  How he got started in baseball, his time in the Florida Marlins and Toronto Blue Jays organizations, the big names he has worked with, his years managing and coaching in  […]

What Ever Happened to the 2005 Houston Astros?

In the last week, Eric Bruntlett was released by the Washington Nationals, Jason Lane was released by the Florida Marlins, Adam Everett was designated for assignment by the Detroit Tigers and Mike Lamb was designated for assignment by the Marlins.  All four were members of the 2005 Houston Astros team that won the National League […]

Cuban Relaxation

Cuba and Puerto Rico are never as close as when Pudge and Livan Hernandez are Nationals battery mates.  Rockies’ manager Jim Tracy said watching the two seasoned pros, “It’s like they are playing catch in the park.”  They are two of the most senior players in the game and still two of the most fun […]

Write-In Campaign Adds Pressure on Selig?

Latino advocacy organization Presente.org is ramping up the pressure on Bud Selig with a write-in campaign to take the All-Star Game out of Phoenix in response to the Arizona Hispanic profiling bill.  After huge protest marches several weeks ago, the write in campaign provides a time-honored, American tradition to keep the pressure on Commissioner Selig. […]

Fresh squeezes from the Grapefruit League

Making baseball predictions public is always a bad idea. Somebody always gets hot, or gets hurt, and players can stumble into hot streaks or slumps — some of them lasting a full season. Media types who predicted the Washington Nationals to revive in 2010 were greeted this spring with 11 consecutive exhibition game defeats. That’s […]