With Talent and Motivation, Kevin Hooper ‘Without Concern’ As Wichita Powerhouse Readies for Playoffs

“To be honest, there is no concern.” How often does a manager talk in such confident terms?   Never might be too soon, right? Yet, that was exactly what Wichita (KS) Wingnuts Manager Kevin Hooper said this week when I asked him what his biggest concern was heading into next week’s American Association playoffs. Let me […]

Ballpark Food

Today is Opening Day, and many are writing on the subject.  Opening Day is what I should be celebrating too, but I’m dwelling in the realm of spring training for a few more hours.   You might call it an afterglow. It’s funny how most of us dread the end of baseball in November.   Melancholy sets […]

Coste Adds Phils TV Job While Elbow Heals

     One of Independent Baseball’s favorite sons, so designated because of the dogged determination in which he did not debut in the major leagues until his was 33, has a new job in broadcasting, but at the same time is continuing his comeback from Tommy John elbow surgery with hopes, at 38, of landing a […]

FEATURES OF THE BALLPARKS DATABASE

Besides the basic field dimensions and batting event factors, there are some other features of the ballparks database that I’d like to highlight: Starting with the index page, you’ll see that the default order is number of games played in the stadium.   Fenway Park and Wrigley Field are at the top.   This can be an […]

Many Indy Players in Running Two Weeks Before Openers

     The axe started dropping this week, sometimes unexpectedly, dashing the hopes of several former Independent Baseball players of being on Opening Day rosters with their parent major league clubs.  It does not have to be a forever disappointment, but a reality check at least for right now and their names will appear in minor […]

New Years, Hak-Ju Lee, & Resolutions

I like to kick off each season with a “Bucket List.” This list gets posted in my home office for the entirety of the season – sometimes I’ll even add to it as the season goes and as I find new adventures to fulfill. With the new year just beginning and watching everyone try to adhere to […]

How About Those Pirates…

The Pittsburgh Pirates endured another losing season in 2010 (18th straight and counting), fired yet another field manager in John Russell, tied the 1963 New York Mets for the worst road record for a single season, and drew 1,613,399 fans to P&C Park, the second lowest total in the National League, and still fashion themselves […]

Brownsten finding his way

Cory Brownsten is right where he belongs. The Lockport, New York native will board an airplane with his destination set for Orlando, Florida – home of the Atlanta Braves training complex. He will spend the next few weeks in the MLB fall instructional league and prepare for the 2011 baseball season.

Moved by Jose Lima’s Death, Joe Klein Looks Back at Going To the Dominican to Sign Him and on His Atlantic League Days

Jose Lima’s sudden death was felt throughout baseball, amplified by the fact he was pitching as recently as last summer, but the depth of the loss of the fun-loving 37-year-old may not have been felt much deeper than in the Atlantic League’s home office in Camden. “I knew Jose when he was 16, and I […]

Who Will Be Next to Majors? Lindsey Stays Hot, Weber Warming Up

Michael Ryan had not been in the majors since 2005 until joining the Angels last weekend, and Cuban-born Raul Valdez had never been there until the New York Mets added the onetime Can-Am Leaguer (New Jersey Jackals and Nashua, NH) a few weeks ago.  And, it is anyone’s guess on where lightning will strike next, […]

It Is Easy to Tell How Much Sparky Lyle Loves Managing and the Atlantic League

It only takes a few minutes with Sparky Lyle to understand how much the Somerset manager thinks of the Atlantic League.  It is equally impressive that the 65-year-old, who was a major league star as early as the late 1960s, still has fire in his belly for his job, which has to be part of […]

What’s with the whining about the length of games?

Okay, I realize I’ll be in the minority with what I am about to write but I just have to say it…

Why the hell does anyone care about the “average length” of Major League games?

My Time With Ben Chapman

Unlike my esteemed colleagues on this website, I am not a baseball historian. I am not a professional baseball writer. Nor have I ever played the game professionally. So as you read this article, please keep that in mind. What I am however, is a life-long fan of the game of baseball. I played it […]

And Another Thing…

I’ve gotten a lot of favorable response to the “re-invention” of baseball in my last blog. One other subject I wanted to cover but didn’t manage to fit in was the fan experience at the ballpark. Living in Cooperstown, I don’t get to many major league games any more, but I used to go to […]