A Familiar Name; Clemens, Son Koby, That Is, Catches Sugar Land Staff, Sets Home Run Record

So much has been said about the Sugar Land (TX) Skeeters in their first two seasons—gorgeous stadium and outstanding attendance, dominant pitching, national spotlight when Roger Clemens made two appearances, player sales left and right to major league organizations and this year Gary Gaetti’s club has been the best the Atlantic League has to offer. […]

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 […]

There’s Optimism Over Red Sox Newfound Mound Speed

The guy I like best from Red Sox spring training is the guy who brought the stopwatch to the bullpen. Maybe it was Manager John Farrell or Pitching Coach Juan Nieves. I don’t care. But someone brought the stopwatch as a teaching aid for Red Sox starting pitchers, and that person deserves a Duck Boat […]

Fair Trade?

March 17, 2013 something bizarre occurred in major league baseball.  Mike Cisco, the grand son of Galen Cisco, former MLB pitcher, and pitching coach , was traded to the Los Angeles Angels.  So, what was so unusual about that?  The Angels acquired the Philadelphia pitching prospect for nothing! Mike Cisco, a prospect, pitched at Reading […]

‘Cookie-Cutter’ Approach Out the Window As Mark Mason Develops Pitchers

Mark Mason has been unusually busy in recent days as interim manager of the Atlantic League’s two-time defending champion York (PA) Revolution while Andy Etchebarren recovers from his latest back surgery, but with that stretch ending he will slide back into concentrating on being a pitching coach with a record most people can only dream […]

A Best Of Collection of Favorite Obscure Baseball Players

A year ago I started a project on my blog of asking people to name their favorite obscure baseball figure from the past: not exclusively players, but anyone employed by the game. The volume of responses (many came from the now-defunct Baseball-Reference blog) surprised me, and led me to start the project up again this […]

Catching Up With Scott McGregor

The recent tragic passing of Mike Flanagan served as a sad reminder of the great Baltimore teams of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Looking at their recent results, it is hard to fathom how far the once proud franchise has fallen over the past couple of decades. The term dynasty should not be thrown […]

Pair of Webster hurlers combine on no-hitter

GENEVA, N.Y. — Webster Yankee head coach, Dave Brust has his concerns. With his team clinching the New York Collegiate Baseball League’s West Division on Saturday, the Webster skipper wants his team to remain focused for the upcoming playoffs. If Tuesday night’s effort is any indication, the Webster nine have blocked out all distractions. Nate […]

Terry Francona’s Do or Die Mission

“I think Francona should be gone by the end of the month and the pitching coach also. They both suck.” That’s not me saying it. I intercepted a message on an answering machine from one lifelong Red Sox fan (who lives in Rhode Island) to another lifelong fan. And, no I’m not talking the Twenty-oh-fours. […]

Is The Bronx Zoo Returning?

If you followed the Yankees in the latter half of the 20th century, you know why the team earned the title “The Bronx Zoo.” From fights between Billy Martin and Reggie Jackson, to routine managerial firings, to passenger seat managing from George Steinbrenner, the Yankees were an absolute mess. As 2010 comes to a close […]

Strasburg-by-the-Sea

Strasburg Was Here Part Four: Strasburg-by-the-Sea Saturday, September 25: Atlanta 5, Washington 0 We have reached the last week of the season, and because Major League Baseball has instituted the “Dull Card,” not much is happening. Never mind that the Phillies and the Braves, the Rays and the Yankees might have played out historically exciting […]

York to Test Brett Jodie’s Latest Work

Since it may boil down to a classic example of hitting vs. pitching when the Atlantic League playoffs begin Wednesday, certain logic has to point to the two-time defending champion Somerset Patriots having the upper hand when they square off with the York Revolution to decide the Freedom Division’s representative in the league’s championship series. […]

Touring The Bases With…Doug White

Doug White, the Pitching Coach of the Johnson City Cardinals talked with Alfonso Tusa about his pitching philosophy, great satisfaction in the 2010 season, how baseball has enhanced his life and his everyday work with the pitching staff. Alfonso Tusa: The JC Cards hadn’t won the Appalachian League Championship since 1976. Were you aware of […]

Touring the Bases With…Dave Baldwin

The confrontation between batter and hitter defines baseball.  No one understands the scientific dynamic of those opposing forces better than Dave Baldwin, late sixties bullpen stalwart for the Washington Senators, a geneticist and engineer who studies batters and pitchers as mechanical and neurological entities.  His insights are fascinating and offer some important instructive insight into […]

Daubach Has Pittsfield Overcoming Obstacles

The Pittsfield Colonials faced a monumental uphill task when they joined the Can-Am League this season because they got a very late start in putting together the remnants of Owner Buddy Lewis’s ill-fated team from Nashua, NH.  The Berkshire Mountain area in Western Massachusetts is renowned for its summer culture, which does not necessarily include […]

Search for Pitching Continues

While it is still a bit early to make too many judgments about the second half of the Atlantic League season, one can be certain the six teams still in search of postseason berths will constantly monitor their pitching.  Do we have enough?  Starters?  Relievers?  Who might be available?       At least three former major […]

Four Crucial Series May Decide Both First-Half Titles; Ducks Ponder Activating All-Star Closer Simas

Both divisions have dandy races ahead for the final two weeks of the first half in the Atlantic League although they are pretty much two-team battles.  Long Island is a third team within striking distance, four games off the pace in the Liberty Division, but the Ducks have to be considered a long shot because […]

Cristian Guerrero Will Not Be Forgotten Now After Hitting Five Homers in as Many Times at Bat

Since Cristian Guerrero’s time in the Atlantic League was limited it is not surprising people did not remember much about him, but former teammate and current York outfielder Steve Haake was not in total shock when he learned the strapping outfielder had pounded home runs in five consecutive times at the plate in an independent […]

Desert Mirage

The Cardinals won the first game in Arizona, but that was just the oasis in the losing streak.  A quick recap: Friday (5-2 win) Hero: Brendan Ryan.  He’s still not found himself at the plate entirely, slipping back around .200, and a home run was about the most unlikely thing that could have happened in […]

The Rapid Emergence of Stephen Strasburg in 2007

Last year, after I looked up some stories about Dwight Gooden as a teenage phenom, I started wondering about Stephen Strasburg’s early pitching performance. Was he touted as a future star in high school before graduating in 2006? The answer’s no. The San Diego Union-Tribune hardly mentioned Strasburg when he was at West Hills High […]

Baseball’s Craftsmen

George F. Will’s “Men at Work” is a classic. Twenty years after the book stood at No. 1 on the NYT Bestseller list for 19 straight weeks, it’s back as a re-release. This week, for those of us who were too young to appreciate it the first time around, let me shed light on what […]

Atlantic And Golden Leagues Played Sizeable Roles In Jose Lima’s Life

The tributes have been pouring in regarding the tragic loss of life by Jose Lima, who was only 37. I was on my way to the Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, CT Sunday when I heard the news on the radio. It seemed like everyone I encountered at the York-Bridgeport Atlantic League game had […]

A Passion For Pitching

As a teenager Doug White was an all-star—”an average player for my age but above average for the area where I played”—but he wanted to improve his game so he attended the Doyle Baseball School after his Freshman year of high school and, through a long-toss program he learned from the instructors, added more than […]

Spring flings from Florida camps

Leo Mazzone, pitching coach for the Braves during their entire 14-year string of divisional titles, tells a story about a mistake he made in 1991, the year the streak started. The usually-reliable Tom Glavine got into trouble, prompting a mound visit from Mazzone. Just a few minutes later, he indicated a slight injury, causing the […]