How Is This as Handsome Reward for 19 Indy Grads? They Are on Pace to Top $37 Million in Majors

Does it pay for an aspiring major leaguer who goes undrafted or needs to re-energize his career to play in an Independent league? And how!  Think about earning salaries totaling more than $37 million for the regular 2013 season.  Pay is prorated for most everyone, of course, so if a player is only in the […]

Springtimes Past and the Changes They Have Wrought

Watching Anthony Rendon play third base for the Nationals last week in Kissimmee, Florida reminded me of so many past Spring Training games. Osceola Stadium, where the Astros train in March each year, is one of my favorite places to watch major league baseball. It is the closest ballpark to Viera, FL where the Washington […]

My Top Opening Day Performances

Hey baseball fans!Happy Spring Training! Yes, I know it’s not the official start to the MLB season, but today I will be rating the top five Opening Day performances in MLB history. (Note that I originally posted this for Big Leagues Magazine, a really great online magazine that I write for. Hope you check it out.)Number […]

Clearing The Bases

We are now about 1/3 of the way through the 2012 baseball season, which means we are about the same amount of time through the 2012 fantasy baseball season.  The time has come now to face some harsh realities about your team.  Any player that has been on your roster since opening day has now […]

As Atlantic Season Opens, Kirk and Other Owners Eye Spanning USA With Two Eight-Team Divisions

When Sugar Land inaugurated its lavish new ballpark near Houston on Thursday, the Skeeters helped usher in the 20th season of this improbable success known as Independent Baseball. Two decades of professional play apart from the major leagues is quite an accomplishment for those who have given their sweat and their dollars, but I feel I can safely […]

Harper-Less Hagerstown Suns Open with a Flourish

A very respectable crowd of 2,078 turned out on a very chilly Opening Night, to watch the Bryce Harper-less Hagerstown Suns play the West Virginia Power in Sally League action on Thursday. Still, the contrast between this year and last year when 6,017 came to watch Harper’s minor league debut was stark to the point […]

Integration And What If Bill Veeck Did Buy the Phillies In 1943?

One of the things I enjoy most about baseball is reading about the history of the game ranging from entire books revolving around a single memorable moment, to those about a well-known or infamous era of the game. With baseball’s extensive history you can easily find yourself getting caught in a specific genre where you […]

Mr. President, Baseball Lasts Til Almost November

The St. Louis Cardinals are in the Rose Garden soon for the customary victory lap stop-over at the White House. It will be a rare baseball event for President Obama, and that is a sad commentary for both the game and for a president whose political advisors are so clearly asleep at the switch. Presidents […]

PureSim Baseball 4 Legs Out a Triple

Last summer I got my hands on PureSim Baseball 3 and, for the most part, enjoyed it, although I found it to be lacking in certain areas. They say first impressions are important and when Babe Ruth belted only 24 and 25 home runs in 1920 and ’21, respectively, I was less than impressed. His […]

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 […]

DC Opening Day Always a Historic Moment

Opening Day in Washington today was notable for the absence of two persons, the first being President Obama.  Starting with President Taft more than a hundred years ago in 1910, they have been there. Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon–so many have been there throwing out the first pitch in Washington, DC and the renewal of that […]

It Could Have Been Worse, Milwaukee

Opening day 2011 saw the Milwaukee Brewers suffer an improbable defeat, allowing four runs in the ninth inning – punctuated by a two-out, three-run game-winning home run by Ramon Hernandez – in a 7-6 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. A deflating loss? Yes. Crushing? No doubt. Frustrating? Of course. The worst loss in opening day […]

Wilhelmsen, Almonte Step Up, Give Indy Game 14 on Opening Day Rosters

     Erick Almonte’s unexpected jump onto the Milwaukee Brewers’ bench grabbed much of the Independent Baseball attention during spring training, but now that the reality of Opening Day is here the 32-year-old, who has not been in the major leagues since 2003, has to share the spotlight with a quartet of pitchers who also have […]

MLB, Meet South Dakota

South Dakota legislators are attempting to push through a new law that would protect student athletes from a growing national epidemic: concussions. The law would require athletes to go through a series of tests before reentering the game if they show even the slightest symptoms of a concussion. It would also require parents and coaches […]

Major League Baseball And Major League Baseball Players Association Announce New Protocols On Concussions

New York, NY, Tuesday, March 29, 2011 … Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) announced today that they have adopted a series of protocols under its new joint policy regarding concussions, which will be in effect from Opening Day forward. On behalf of MLB and the MLBPA, a committee […]

10 Reasons You Should Already Be Especially Psyched for Opening Day

The smell of freshly laid sod, ballpark hot dogs and seven-dollar beer is in the air (or on the ground). Baseball season is quickly approaching, and fans everywhere — well, perhaps except for Houston, Pittsburgh and Seattle — are champing at the bit to find out how the 2011 MLB season will unfold. Opening Day […]

Joba, I’m Going to Need You to Stay After Class

Professional athletes are like high school girls.  “I get older, they stay the same age.”

The Beacon of Birmingham

In the midst of a dark and all-too predictable world, Rickwood Field became a beacon. Birthed out of a conversation with Connie Mack, the ballpark started with a handful of rivals but outlasted each of them to stand peerless. Read Allen Barra’s “Rickwood Field: A Century in America‒s Oldest Ballpark“ because: 1. Similar to last […]

Happy Aroldis Chapman Day

Since this past weekend, I started a post that is currently approaching 8,000 words.  I’m not quite sure what to do about it because it takes a rare breed to want to read that much about what I was thinking on Friday night. In the meantime, per friendly reader Osh’s request, let’s take a moment […]

“Home” will always be at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull

Being that I grew up in the upper boonieland of Michigan, I didn’t make it to many games at the old Tiger Stadium, but I did have the privilege of making it to a few games in my early teen years.  I’m not going to bore you with the many scripted cliches that have surrounded peoples first […]

Rambling on About My Glory Days – If Only Every Day Could Have Been Opening Day

Wondering what you would do in this situation? Within a couple of hours I had two calls from friends. “Jack I have a ticket for you for the Monday White Sox/Indians opener,” and “Jack, I have a ticket for you for the Monday night final four basketball game.” No brainer for me – baseball any […]

Closing Arguments in Washington

The Nationals have played their last 2010 spring game in Viera, FL and are headed north.  The jury is still out.  They have won a few more spring games, but benching Cristian Guzman for Ian Desmond will make speed and athleticism a big factor for the 2010 Nationals.  The move is exhibit A in a […]

Become a Seamheads.com Subscriber, Win a Prize

Subscribe to Seamheads.com and win a prize! With Opening Day only a week away, I’m in a generous mood and looking to give away free Seamheads.com goodies. The only way to enter is by subscribing to our daily e-mail feed that will send you an update each morning with our latest content.  Simply enter your […]

Seamheads’ Guess the Photos Contest

One of our readers recently commented on the fantastic photos that are part of the Seamheads.com banner, but was dismayed to learn that I hadn’t identified them in an article.  So he took a few wild guesses, then suggested I hold a contest to see who could name the players in the 13 photos.  I […]

Stud prospect using baseball to do his part in community

“I hope I can inspire you, no matter what your age, please know that you too can do something to make a difference in your community everyday.”  Elliot Mast The above mission statement comes from an 11-year-old young man who hails from Altoona, PA.  As he readies himself for his upcoming baseball season, Elliot Mast […]

The Waiting is the Hardest Part…

Tom Petty was right, the waiting is the hardest part.  The Tigers home opener is exactly 20 days away and I can’t wait any longer.  My ball park bag is packed, my score books are ready, my pencils are sharpened, binoculars are focused, opening day attire picked out, day off of work approved, tickets in the mail, but alas, […]

The Detroit Tigers Don’t Hate You…

All off season, everyone kept asking me my opinion on the trades of the offseason, most notably the Granderson/Jackson trade. Till now, I had no answer for them. I would just shrug my shoulders and nod and never clearly answer the question they asked. Why? Because I didn’t have an answer for them. Most people […]

Let’s Play Some Ball

I check the weather forecast and it’s supposed to be in the sixties this weekend.  I can see the sun coming up earlier and earlier and staying up later and later.  Those might be signs, but the real indicator that spring is returning comes today, as the Cardinals take on another MLB team.  Baseball games […]

Four Calls for the 2010 Season That You Heard Here First

Over the next five weeks or so the average baseball fan is going to come across numerous predictions via TV, sports talk radio, newspapers, magazines and the web. Let’s face it, the majority of experts are going to play it safe and you are going to hear and read the same things ad nauseam – […]