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 […]

Clearing The Bases: Closers

The old axiom when it comes to relief pitchers, is never pay for saves.  I follow this mantra somewhat, especially in mixed leagues, but in NL or AL only leagues I want to have one solid closer.  I don’t like to spend a big part of my budget on more than one, but I want […]

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 […]

Daubach Interesting Choice as Bryce Harper’s First Manager

     One of the charms of spring training that builds so much momentum for a baseball season is the great writing that emerges, and the memorable stories those in the baseball-writing business dig up.        Washington Post writer Dave Sheinin brought to the surface the fact Brian Daubach, who managed in the Can-Am League at […]

If Only All 48 Indy Players Could Catch This Break

    Robert Coello has only been pitching for four years after starting his professional career as a respected catching prospect, but the 6-foot-5, 250-pound right-hander no doubt is the envy of many of the other products of the Independent Baseball leagues who have their nameplates posted on a dressing cubicle in a major league clubhouse […]

Here We Go Again… Benders abound for the Bengals

Back in the fall of 2009 Miguel Cabrera went on a bender the last weekend of the season and wound up in the drunk tank at the local jail here in Metro Detroit.  This story has already been told before and if you are interested in the details –just Google it.  The problem is that […]

The Calm After The Storm

Yesterday’s deadline came and went.  Albertageddon peaked yesterday morning, but by the end of the day had calmed back down.  Life goes on. The man himself showed up today at camp.  He spent a good half an hour talking to the press, in a situation reminiscent of Mark McGwire’s address to the media last spring training.  McGwire spoke […]

Honig Gives Boost to All

Sit down to watch “A Hall for Heroes,” “Baseball’s Golden Age,” “When It was a Game” or any number of other baseball programs. No doubt you will hear plenty from Donald Honig. Maybe you have delighted in one of 12 baseball books he has authored. This week, allow the man with plenty of baseball yarns […]

Winter Haven

“To me, it’s like my family,” Elaine says. “Every spring, it’s like all my boys are coming home.   All these wonderful people touch your life, and now I might never see them again.” courtesy CITYSIGHTS post cards “Earlier this spring, Sabathia had joked that he was going to ‘take a bat’ to the clubhouse […]

“That’s the Way Baseball Go” On

The San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers held their season-ending rallies on Wednesday. What’s a baseball fan to do? How about reading about one of the two World Series participants? After an MVP-caliber regular season, Rangers center fielder Josh Hamilton returned from injury to lead his team to the Fall Classic. So what if […]

Mickey Mantle: The Last Boy

“Get the f___ outta here. It’s like a cemetery to me.”     – Mickey Mantle National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum When I first saw Mickey Mantle he was standing next to a barbecue grill in the late afternoon light outside a motel room in St. Petersburg, Florida.   He struck a relaxed and happy pose, […]

Now It’s Over

“It’s over,” my mother says in the early innings of so many Cubs games. Frustrated, she changes the channel. Those words were uttered by baseball fans across the country in the past few months as their teams were eliminated from the playoff race. (Unfortunately for mom, much sooner than most). In the coming weeks the […]

It Is the Turn-Around Series in Atlantic League Finals

Like any other championship series time, there is no shortage of angles to the Bridgeport-York set starting Wednesday to decide the 2010 Atlantic League champion. The obvious approach to the best-of-five championship set that begins in York is that this is two teams hungrier than normal for a title.  After all, the Revolution, who host […]

Babe, Joe and Marilyn Monroe

There was something about his swing that caught Babe’s eye long before the country had a chance to admire it – long before songs would be written about him. It was 1933 and Babe Dahlgren was in his second full season as the first baseman for the San Francisco Mission Reds of the Pacific Coast […]

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 […]

The Seattle Mariners, a mystery off the field

The Mariners get a day to rest before starting a series with the Cleveland Indians tomorrow so there is no need for my usual ranting about the dismal state of this fading season. Instead I thought I would talk a little about the players themselves and their lives off the field. Of course being that […]

1990 Baseball Predictions: How Did They Turn Out?

When I was a teenager February meant two things: the start of spring training  and my annual trek to the supermarket to load up on baseball preview magazines.  Back then, you could score a handful for about $15.  These days, at $8-$9 a pop (or even $12.99; I’m talking to you Maple Street Press), I […]

Chris Coste Is 37, Has Had Elbow Surgery and Been Released But Retirement Seems Very Unlikely

This is not a retirement story as I have seen implied elsewhere, but then why would anyone think a little thing like elbow surgery would put an end to Chris Coste’s playing career.  It will take more than the year off that normally is required after the so-called Tommy John operation to bring an end […]

Are the Astros Really This Bad?

Anyone who saw the first two games of the Cincinnati series last week and the Washington game on Monday would obviously answer yes. The Astros are on a pace to lose 108 games this year after never having lost 100 in their 48-year history. After getting in a hole with an 8-14 record in April, […]

Dousing the Flames

My, have the one-time accessories known as pitchers evolved. You see, when baseball began, pitchers served as a launching pad for batters’ rockets. Standing 50 feet from their counterpart, only a few moments snuck by before their rockets went up, up and away on contact. As recently as 1980, relievers milled around in the shadows. […]

Baseball and Reality TV: A “Natural” Fit

The reality TV circuit has covered just about every genre of the entertainment industry imaginable. From singing and dance competitions, to former rock stars looking for love, to boxers looking to be contenders and so on, just about everything you can think of from an entertainment perspective has been covered. Everything that is except for […]

Herrmann Hoping For Big League Chance

Right-handed reliever Frank Herrmann has done what so few in professional baseball do, which is to go from being an undrafted free agent signing to becoming a legitimate big league pitching option. Herrmann, who turns 26 years old later this month, was signed by the Indians after the 2005 Draft when after all 50 rounds […]

Minor Happenings: Donald Could Join Indians Very Soon

“Minor Happenings” is a weekly column which covers the important developments and news in the Indians farm system. While most of the information in this report is from my own research and through interviews I have conducted with organizational personnel, some information in this report is collected and summarized from the various news outlets that […]

A Capps-i-tal Idea

The Washington Nationals have a negative run differential of minus fourteen, yet a winning record at 12-10.  When they have been bad they have been horrid, but give their bullpen a lead into the late innings and they have been extra-ordinary. Tyler Clippard and Matt Capps have done it by allowing a scant three runs–two […]

Extended Spring Training 101

Extended spring training can vary a little from team to team, but for every team it is exactly as it is termed. It is an extension of spring training. Commonly referred to as “extended” or “EST”, it is very much like regular spring training with the daily routine filled with drills, workouts and scrimmages with […]

First Base Offers New Opportunity For Hodges

The beginning of a new season brings new opportunity. For players who had good years the previous season, it presents them with the opportunity to add to the success with another successful season. But for those that maybe struggled with their performance or with injuries, the turn of the page on the calendar to a […]

House Looking To Have Stronger Season

On Sunday afternoon, left-hander T.J. House made his advanced Single-A debut in the Carolina League for the Kinston Indians.  He did not disappoint, going five strong innings where he allowed two runs on six hits and one walks, but most impressively had ten strikeouts. Depending on what publication you refer to House is a top […]

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 […]

Can’t Get No Satisfaction

Five days in the Florida sun watching baseball without commuting on Metro, conference calls from hell, or stereo political rhetoric.  How can the crowds be so small down here when the grass is so green?

Tigers Starting Rotation and the Court of Public Opinion

Dontrelle Willis posted a win today in the 5-1 win over the Blue Jay’s in the Grapefruit League.   In a way, this scares me slightly.  I was beating the Willis drum when he was signed back in winter of 2007 but it has been well documented since then about his anxiety issues, lack of performance, […]

Dark Horse Comes Galloping Up the Stretch

The Cardinals had a pretty eventful weekend, even with their Sunday game being rained out.  More data points for decisions were made and one possible move was revealed.  Spring training is so much fun, isn’t it? The biggest news of the weekend was likely the announcement that Adam Ottovino is in the running for a […]

Live From Spring Training ’10: Blue Jays Vs. Astros

In a game played primarily by backup players and minor leaguers, the Houston Astros defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 2-0, Friday afternoon in Kissimmee. The Astros scored one run in the first inning on a leadoff triple by Jason Bourgeois and a groundout by Jeff Keppinger and another in the second inning on a wind-aided […]

Jim Abbott and the Question of One-Armed Power

A while ago, thinking about Jim Abbott and his missing right hand, I wondered how much power he could possibly have generated swinging the bat with one arm. I found this story from the USA Today of March 19, 1991, about Abbott hitting a triple in spring training: Ever since he began his career with […]

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, […]

Dealing With the “Rumor”

I guess not surprisingly, the biggest thing coming out of Cardinals camp yesterday was a Seinfeldian discussion about nothing. Look, no one took that “trade rumor” involving Albert Pujols and Ryan Howard the least bit seriously.  No one thought that it might happen, that the teams really had talked about it, etc.  I think most […]

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