The Monday Notes: Jose Bautista’s Bat Flip Edition

For me, one of the highlights last winter writing for Seamheads was reading my good friend Andrew H. Martin’s weekly Sunday notes. Martin has a good eye for linking good reads and videos from days gone by mixed with today’s baseball. He is working on other projects and I asked if he wanted to continue the series? “No.” […]

My Top Five Most Notorious Records in Baseball History

Hey baseball fans! There are some records in baseball history that everyone strives to break: Rickey Henderson‘s stolen bases and runs scored records, Nolan Ryan‘s strikeout record, or Cy Young‘s wins record. However, there are some records that no one would ever want to break. With that, I give you my top five most notorious records in baseball […]

Rose & Reggie: 40 Years Later

Rose & Reggie: 40 Years Later Reggie Jackson and Pete Rose are two of baseball’s all-time iconic figures, having put together nearly unparalleled careers in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Jackson and Rose played on piles of All-Star teams, won multiple World Series, earned millions on and off the field and were often loved and […]

All-Around Athletes

Hey baseball fans! As I promised in my Booming Batters post, today I will be blogging about some of the greatest all-around athlete nicknames in baseball history. Hope you enjoy: Stan the Man - Stan Musial From 1942-1963 with the St. Louis Cardinals, Musial had one of the best careers of all time. With 475 homers,  3,630 hits, and […]

The 1983 California Angels

The Angels had captured 2 pennants in the last four seasons, and they were highly optimistic about their chances in 1983 after retaining most of the core players from their 1982 division winning squad. The team suffered a big loss in free agency, with slugger Don Baylor heading east to the Yankees. The Angels inked […]

Driving Mr. Yogi

In the recently released book, Driving Mr. Yogi by Harvey Araton, the front seat is occupied ably by Yogi Berra and Ron Guidry, but the back seat is filled with the Pantheon of modern day Yankee heroes. Characteristically, George Steibrenner spills over into the front and tries to take the wheel. But Yogi Berra is too much […]

Don’t Let Albert Pujols Fool You

Game 3 of the 2011 World Series was a signature moment in the career of Albert Pujols. The three home runs he hit placed him in elite company with Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson, as the only other players to accomplish such a feat. Pujols is undoubtedly one of the best players of all time, […]

Graig Nettles , Una Pared En La Serie Del 77‏ (Graig Nettles, A Wall In The Series Of 77)

Estamos en tiempo de Serie Mundial. Los recuerdos de grandes momentos vienen a nuestra mente,revolotean una y otra ves.  Grandes batazos, espectaculares atrapadas, momentos inolvidables. la Serie mundial del béisbol de las grandes Ligas es para mi de lo mejor que puede suceder en el deporte y algo esperado todo el año. Una de esas […]

Overbearing, Ostentatious and Odd

Overbearing, ostentatious, odd. All three words could describe the way Charlie O. Finley operated. You won’t want to miss this week’s read, “Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball’s Super Showman” by G. Michael Green and Roger D. Lanius. Read this book because: 1. Charlie Finley did some good. Up until the end of his […]

The No. 8 Most Quotable Figure in Baseball History

There are few nicknames in all of sports better than Mr. October. The very nature of the moniker keeps Reginald Martinez Jackson in the conversation of the best Big Game performers, and his status in the lexicon of Great Yankees is assured. Coming out of Arizona State, Reggie was drafted 2nd overall by the Kansas […]

Culmination or Collapse?

Oct. 2, 1978. Baseball fans readily cite it as the date one of the greatest games in history took place. True, it stands out amid the annals of one of sports’ greatest rivalries. It’s also true that a season hung in the balance. If only that was the end of it. Instead, Bill Reynolds writes, […]

In Celebration of the Plantation Owners

Back in the good ol’ days, when the working scum knew their places, the great barons of industry were legend. Carnegie, Ford – they made America, not the bohunks, Micks, Sheenys and coloreds who toiled in the factory. Right? That’s how it was written in all the textbooks. Baseball was like that too. The great […]

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 […]

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 […]

Reliving the Seventies: “Big Hair and Plastic Grass”

Pet rocks, mood rings, streakers, hot pants, Pacers, go-go boots, and Wham-O-Super Balls.   Don’t you miss the  good old days?   Spaceship stadiums, exploding scoreboards, ethnic nights, polyester uniforms, Yanky Panky, wide-collared jerseys, gigantic hair, fake grass, ‘staches, high-fashion hues of ketchup and mustard, and garbage thrown onto the field. Are you feeling nostalgic for […]

Hanging Out in Cooperstown

I’m in Cooperstown for the annual National Baseball Hall of Fame inductions. This is 24 straight years for me. Hard to believe! It has been a long time since I saw Ray Dandridge, Catfish Hunter and Billy Williams make their induction speeches. I remember the tears of joy Dandridge shed that day. It was a […]

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.  […]

Dentro del parque (Inside the park)

“Corre, corre que la pelota se le perdió entre los arbustos”. Los muchachos saltan a un lado del solar de asfalto, el bate todavía rueda sobre la superficie plástica espolvoreada con motas de arenilla que abona algunas plántulas obstinadas que crecen entre las grietas asfálticas. Al fondo, bajo el azul y el brillo de media […]

‘Fros, ‘Stros, ‘Spos, and Discos: Play That Funky Baseball

When my good friend, fellow Seamhead, and self-proclaimed “Strat-O-Matic fanatic” Jeff Polman turned me on to his latest project, I was instantly enthralled and excited.  I was already familiar with Jeff’s fantastic replay of the 1924 season, an era that’s right up my alley, but when I learned that he was going to be replaying […]