“A Million Dollar Deal”

In 1965 the Cincinnati Reds dealt Frank Robinson to the Baltimore Orioles.  Here’s an article I wrote almost 12 years ago that examines that historic trade. May you forever rest in peace, Mr. Robinson.  December 9, 1965: Reds right fielder Frank Robinson to the Orioles for Milt Pappas, Jack Baldschun and Dick Simpson. When Cincinnati […]

Triple Milestone Targets 2013

With four weeks to go, only two players are on target for triple milestones of a .300 batting average, 30 home runs and 100 RBIs but six others are close.  Only one pitcher is on target for the milestones of 20 wins, 200 strikeouts and an ERA less than 3.00.  No other pitchers are close. […]

The Seventh Game of the 1926 World Series: Was it Hollywood or Reality?

I can still remember seeing the 1952 film “The Winning Team” starring Ronald Regan and Doris Day.  Of course my knowledge of Grover Cleveland Alexander was non-existent until then.  In fact, I might have checked with my father and asked if it were a true story.  Which he informed me that Alexander was one of […]

Touring The Bases With…Gabe Kapler

Gabe Kapler was a 57th round draft pick by the Detroit Tigers in the 1995 amateur draft, then began a very successful minor league career that resulted in a late-season call-up in September 1998.  The righthanded slugger dominated the low minors at the ages of 20 and 21, hitting .300 with 45 doubles, 26 homers, […]

Mid Season Triple Milestones

With most teams reaching the season mid-point by playing their 81st game of the season last weekend, its time to take a look at players that are on target for the triple milestones of a .300 batting average, 30 home runs and 100 RBIs and pitchers on target for 20 wins, 200 strikeouts and an […]

Wamby Pulls a Dandy

Hey baseball fans! I’m pretty sure you’ve all heard of a triple play before, but have you also heard of an unassisted triple play? If you haven’t, let me explain: an unassisted triple play is when one player on the field makes all three outs of a triple play without any help, for example no […]

Clearing The Bases

The position of shortstop is traditionally weak, and this year is no exception.  The first 3-4 players are studs, next two I wouldn’t mind having, then everyone else is pretty much a dartboard throw, hoping they help me more than they hurt me.  What I mean by that is that if I take someone like […]

Clearing The Bases

With the season being a little less than 50% over we’ve decided to take a look at players who have played above expectations so far this season.  Now I’m looking at players who have the best value.  I know Joey Votto is having an MVP like season, but he was selected in the 1st or […]

Clearing The Bases

Today we are going to start a debate.  We are going to talk about fantasy players on the New York Yankees and New York Mets.  Rather than just talk about different players and why they are fantasy worthy, we are going to rank Yankee and Met players in the order of which they should be […]

A New Beginning for Astros in April

While the Astros 9-14 record in April was a disappointment, it was better than the last 2 Aprils and there were some encouraging signs.  The Astros outscored their opposition104-100 which should have equated to a record of about 12-11. It is still too soon to determine if young players like Jose Altuve, J.D.Martinez, Jordan Schafer, […]

Clearing The Bases

Tonight we will continue with another Top 9 list with a look at a few players that have gotten off to a hot start that can’t possibly keep up this pace all season long.  For fantasy purposes these are players that you probably selected in the later rounds of your draft and that are paying […]

Fun With Retrosheet: League Leaders With the Fewest Games Played

Cliff Blau recently mentioned to me that Vince Barton led the NL in getting hit by pitches in 1931 despite playing only 66 games and wondered what were the fewest games for players leading their respective leagues in a hitting category. So since major league baseball returned to a 150+ game schedule in 1904 (and […]

New Look for the Astros in August

The month of August represents a turning point in the future performance of the Astros. Gone are Hunter Pence, Michael Bourn and Jeff Keppinger to be replaced by several promising rookies this year and some promising prospects in the years to come. So far, it has worked well. Three players promoted from AA Corpus Christi […]

All Phillies…All the Time — What’s on Second?

Having previously answered the burning question, “who’s on first?” the time has come to address, “what’s on second?” The answer, unlike that given by Bud Abbott, is simple… an all-time Hall of Famer and the current best second baseman in baseball. Oh sure, there are others worth mentioning; Tony Taylor (backwards, Ynot Rolyat), Juan Samuel, […]

Clearing The Bases

Last week we discussed the most disappointing players at each position, this week we’ll go with the most surprising, players who are playing well and above what we thought they might in spring training.  Some of the players listed are no longer playing at that position but that is where they qualified at coming into […]

Rico Petrocelli to Appear on “View From the Lone Red Seat” Tuesday

Two-time American League All-Star shortstop and long-time member of the Boston Red Sox, Rico Petrocelli, will appear on Tuesday night’s episode of “View From the Lone Red Seat” to discuss Red Sox baseball and his career.  Petrocelli was named to the A.L. All-Star team in 1967 and 1969, a year in which he established a […]

Clearing The Bases: Designated Hitters

Most players who are playing full-time at designated hitter this season we have discussed at other positions, so for this column, we will make it short and sweet, and only discuss the DHs that we haven’t gone over at any other point in this series of columns.  The problem with selecting someone who is a […]

Clearing The Bases: Outfielders

Outfield seems to be a jumbled mess of players once you get thru the first dozen or so.  This position is nowhere near as deep as it once was, and even most of the top ten players come with question marks, whether it be their injury history or resume.  This list assumes you are playing […]

Clearing The Bases: 3rd Base

Clearing The Bases                                                                                                                                          March 22, 2011 By George Kurtz Outside of Shortstop, Third Base may be the toughest position to judge come draft time.  There are a bunch of interesting players here but what order to put them in is the big question.  Traditionally 3B is a power position, so you would like a player […]

Clearing The Bases

Clearing The Bases                                                                                                                                          March 9, 2011 By George Kurtz Today we will go over our top 20 First Basemen.  This is a loaded position with some of the best hitters in the game.  Generally I like to wait to grab a 1B seeing as though the position is so deep.  That being said there will […]

Fun Facts about the 19 (no, 20) Perfect Games in MLB History

A while back I completed a project of chronicling most of major league baseball’s perfect games. What fun is that if you can’t make out a list of trivia about the games? So yes, the following list (updated to include Braden’s feat, and Halladay’s) is trivial—but then, much of life is trivia, and sometimes trivia […]

Touring the Bases With…Roger LaFrancois

Boston Red Sox catcher Roger LaFrancois spent only eight games at the Major League level but made the most of it, batting .400 with a double, a run, and an RBI in 10 at-bats in 1982.  Drafted by Boston in the eighth round of the 1977 amateur draft, LaFrancois spent most of his nine professional […]

Where Is the Offense?

The Houston Astros have started slowly for several years (9-13 in April, 2009 and 13-16 in 2008).  However, the month of April, 2010 (8-14) was even worse.  After the Club started 0-8, there was a brief ray of hope when the team went 8-2 in the next 10 games including a 3 game sweep of […]

Remembering Charlie “King Kong” Keller

Charles E. “King Kong” Keller was born on September 12, 1916 in Middletown, Maryland. An outfielder, Keller played baseball and basketball at the University of Maryland where he earned a degree in agricultural economics before signing with the New York Yankees in 1937. Keller played for the Newark Bears of the Class AA International League […]

Touring the Bases With…Carlos May

Carlos May, brother of major league slugger Lee May, was selected 18th overall in the 1966 draft, which also featured Reggie Jackson, Gary Nolan, and Richie Hebner.  He spent parts of three seasons in the minors, batting .311 from 1966-1968, before making his big league debut on September 6, 1968 with the Chicago White Sox.  […]