Carl Nichols: Former Catcher Still Continuing His Baseball Dreams

The Baltimore Orioles were one of the most dominant teams in baseball, winning their division five times and playing in three World Series (winning one of them). A good portion of their success was owed to their dogged pursuit of top-flight talent through the major league draft. One player they tabbed to join their dynastic […]

Former Pitcher Russ Ortiz Recalls His Baseball Career

Pitching is one of the most difficult endeavors in baseball. It was particularly daunting in the early 2000s, as offenses were operating at high-octane levels. That makes the career of Russ Ortiz all the more impressive, as the right-hander won 99 games in one six-year stretch on his way to a wildly successful 12-year major […]

If I Had a Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot 2014

Hey baseball fans! The 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot is now announced with a lot of stars’ names on the list for the first time. However, there are only five players on the list for the first time that I think deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. So, without further ado, let […]

The Kid from Santa Barbara

Hey baseball fans! I’m sure you know who has the most career home runs (Barry Bonds with 762), who has the most career wins (Cy Young with 511), and who has the longest consecutive hitting streak in baseball history (Joe DiMaggio with 56). However, do you know who holds the record for most games played in as a […]

Memorial Stadium Love Affair

David Stinson, a friend, and author of the novel Deadball, recently took me on a trip to Baltimore to visit some interesting and little known baseball sites. We visited the spot where once stood Union Park, home of the National League Champion Orioles. This was the team of John McGraw and Wilbert Robinson whose graves […]

Can They Keep Up Their Hot Starts?

The first third of the baseball season is just wrapping up and has already been marked by numerous injuries, slow starts, and surprises galore. In particular there are some players who have come out of relative obscurity and are well on their way to posting seasons beyond what even the most optimistic analysts predicted during […]

Another Kind of Parkway Series Imagined

Watching the Orioles-Nationals series play out over such a gorgeous weekend, with so much fine young talent on both sides of the diamond, it was hard not to project into it something more than just another interleague squabble. With Baltimore sitting comfortably atop the American League East and Washington still within hailing distance of the […]

Spring Training, Here We Come!

Ah, spring. The time when a young man’s fancy turns to baseball, especially if that young man is now 55 years old.  Hope is springing eternal in training camps across Arizona and Florida and fans up north are dreaming that this is the year for their favorite team. Don’t you wish you could go to […]

The Punishment Doesn’t Fit The Crime

Following a vicious brawl between the Red Sox’s David Ortiz and the Orioles’ Kevin Gregg, Major League Baseball has punished both with a four-game suspension and a fine of an undisclosed amount. However, many initial media reports speculate the amount is around $2,500. This situation once again exemplifies the severe lack of respect players have […]

19 to 21…Jose?

Volume 9, #15 Jose Bautista has become such a big name in baseball that, before every game, everyone in the park stands up and asks in unison how he was following the ball in BP. “Jose, can you see…?” Alright, so that’s a lousy joke. The more important issue is, what’s up with Jose Bautista, […]

If I Ran Baseball-Interleague Edition

Recently a few managers have come out against interleague play, stating the uniqueness has worn off, and that interleague play is tired.  I disagree.  I think it’s great that some interleague “traditions” have stuck around, like Cubs/White Sox, A’s/Giants, and Marlins/Rays.  Ok, so maybe Marlins/Rays isn’t the most exciting matchup, but it’s still the battle […]

Clearing The Bases: AL Predictions

Clearing The Bases                                                                                                                                          April 3, 2011 By George Kurtz Yeah I know the season is four days old as of this writing, but today I’ll make my predictions for each division.  It seems the wildcard is no longer a lock to come out of the American League East, not so much because the Yankees and […]

MLB Preview, 2011: Red Sox Rank Best in Positional Analysis of the AL East

A few weeks ago, I initiated a series of articles analyzing and ranking the starters for all of the clubs in the American League East. The series concluded with the belated publication of my analysis of the DH’s on Friday. So, now it’s time to rank the organizations within the division on the relative strength […]

What Happens When the Little League World Series Ends?

Recently, ESPN has been airing the Little League World Series.  I normally love watching the LLWS.  You see more true emotion and love for the game in two innings of between the teams from Toms River, NJ and Korea than you might in an entire three game series between the Yankees and Orioles.  The coaches […]

Something Rotten in the State of Maryland

Mike Rizzo traded Matt Capps and Cristian Guzman for prospects and kept Adam Dunn.  His team and his fans are both happy and the team is playing hungry again.  Andy MacPhail failed to move Luke Scott or Ty Wiggington but hired Buck Showalter to make sense of it all.  Still, something in Baltimore just doesn’t […]

Former MLB Hurler Dick Drago to Appear on “What’s On Second” Podcast

Former Major League hurler Dick Drago will appear on “What’s On Second: The Seamheads.com Radio Hour” on Monday, May 17 at 11:00 PM Eastern (8:00 Pacific).  Drago began his major league career with the expansion Kansas City Royals in 1969 after spending four years in the Detroit Tigers’ minor league system, where he went 50-41 […]

Home Cooking

Chemical additives have played havoc with athletics and our food.  Cooking at home is a good place to start to combat both concerns.  Some teams, notably the Braves, emphasize drafting amateurs from close to home in Georgia, then slow cook them into quality professionals in their minor leagues.  The Nationals could use a little of […]