The Kid from the Old School

Whether or not the Philadelphia Phillies rebound from their slow start to the 2012 season, remains to be seen. But if we are watching the changing of the guard in the NL East, then the May 6 evening that Cole Hamels plunked Bryce Harper, claiming it was “Old School,” will certainly be seen as a […]

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 […]

Wildest Card Wednesday Looked Like Tournament Play!

Immediately, after Wildest Card Wednesday’s games had concluded, the folks at MLB Network and ESPN were saying that this was the greatest night of baseball in the game’s history. Now that we have a few hours’ perspective, it is clear that they were absolutely right. There has never been a night in which the numbers […]

Mariners Win one for Rick “The Peanut Man”

The Seattle Mariners snapped a painful 17-game losing streak by trouncing the New York Yankees 9-2 as all of us in Mariners Nation let out a sigh of relief. Mariners Ace Felix Hernandez went 7 frames allowing only a run and for once he got the backing of his teammates who scored 9 runs thanks […]

Let’s Play Two

The Sunday doubleheader was a staple of baseball in the Golden Era of the game, you know, when the World Series was played in the first half of October and kids listened to Don Larsen’s perfect game on the radio in Ms. Hill’s sixth grade class.  The Nationals and Brewers played a Sunday doubleheader today. […]

Take Me Back to Texas, Please!

Josh Hamilton said he could smell the early voting on Proposition 19 wafting in from the San Francisco bleachers all night long. What was I thinking? Juan Uribe hasn’t played like this in years. Edgar Renteria looks like he is 19 again and Cody Ross is playing like he is on something.  The explanation was […]

The Last Game in Town

Sept. 30, 1971. Seventy years and 10,851 games into the story of American League baseball in the nation’s capital, the Senators, 38 games out of first place on the last day of the season, faced the Yankees in the final game in franchise history. The teams had split the first two games of the series […]

They Are Two Stepping in Texas

There is dancing in Texas tonight.  The Texas Rangers played the best two teams in the American League and beat them both in convincing fashion to win the first American League Championship for the franchise after fifty years of frustration.  The anticipation of history in the making gave drama to a game that was decided […]

How About Those Pirates…

The Pittsburgh Pirates endured another losing season in 2010 (18th straight and counting), fired yet another field manager in John Russell, tied the 1963 New York Mets for the worst road record for a single season, and drew 1,613,399 fans to P&C Park, the second lowest total in the National League, and still fashion themselves […]

Burnett Does Not Fit on Yanks ALDS Roster

With the postseason set to begin on Wednesday, the Yankees announced their roster for the American League Division series against the Twins. As expected, AJ Burnett is on the roster––although he is not in the starting rotation––while Ivan Nova and Javier Vazquez has been left out. Now, it would seem to be a ridiculous decision to […]

Yankees Need a Back-Up in Ivan Nova

As the New York Yankees thrust towards the playoffs, with a magic number of three as of this writing, some postseason roster decisions still loom––large. At this point, the concern for the Yankees is their pitching. Yes, CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes, and most of the bullpen will be fine. But beyond that (the other two starters) the Yankees have […]

Reichert Vs. Yan Gives Atlantic a Major League Pairing

This is one of those abundant times when record-shattering performances, solid season-long attendance, and the playoffs collide for attention, but the postseason has to take center stage because it is what everyone has been striving for throughout the 140-game regular season.  Actually, the opportunity also is there to combine one of the Atlantic League-record-breaking players […]

Cardinals Keep Destroying Hope

I wonder if any of his old friends in Cincinnati have called Adam Dunn and said thanks for the help. Since his home run on Saturday, the Cards have scored a total of two runs in 31 innings.  Since that moment, this team his hitting .152 against staffs that are on second-division teams.  Since that […]

Which Closer Will Be Key to Winning It All? Julio, Williamson, Warden in the Mix

It has been a few years now since Jorge Julio and Scott Williamson were prominent major league closers, and it is total conjecture whether either can get back to that level in a major way since they have crossed over to their 30s.  But this much is certain:  They are vital to two of the […]

Sigh-Inducing

Just when you start to believe in this team, to think that they’ve finally found that gas pedal on the team car, they stomp on the brakes.  A four game winning streak to get into first place?  Let’s follow that up with three losses against sub-.500 teams!  I feel like I’m a driving instructor. Of course, […]

Sweeping Our Cares Away

Earlier this year, the Cardinals took the first two games from the Toronto Blue Jays on the road and sent out Adam Wainwright to complete the sweep.  Wainwright, though, had one of his rare off games and the Cards weren’t able to use the brooms. This time, though, Wainwright was able to seal the deal and […]

Can Dan Haren be the game-changer the Angels need?

The Angels swooped in to acquire one of MLB’s best in Dan Haren. Seamheads writer Jess K. Coleman wonders if he can he the season-changer that the Angels need.

Cardinals Continue To Roll

What’s been the most encouraging thing during this current Cardinal winning streak is that they keep winning in different ways.  The first couple of games, they slugged.  They’ve had good pitching performances.  They’ve had comebacks.  They’ve beaten pitchers that normally give them fits. Everything save the comebacks came into play last night.  OK, they didn’t really […]

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, […]

Parity Exists, But Injuries and Player Losses Make the Challenges Tougher

Parity appears extremely strong three weeks into the Atlantic League season with every team within two games of the division lead, but the challenge to managers and player personnel bosses to keep it that way is certain to build now that the expected roster-juggling has started. It seems every person this typist talks to has […]

Disaster Start

So far the Cardinals have played two games in Arizona.  The differences could not be more stark. Monday night, it was vintage 2010 Cardinals.  Brad Penny allowed a couple of runs in the first, then cruised, piling up out after out, extending the streak of starters going seven and allowing two runs or less to […]

Strasburg In Harrisburg: “When You Hear the Moos, You Know What to Do”

Yesterday I heard Stephen Strasburg throw eight pitches. By the time I realized I could listen to the game on the Internet and got myself connected, it was the top of the third inning in Harrisburg. Leading off the inning, New Britain Rock Cats’ catcher Alec Soto worked Strasburg to a three-two count, fouled a […]

Walter Johnson in Weiser, Idaho in 1907

A few weeks ago I came across a book from the mid-’90s called Boise Baseball: the First 125 Years, by Arthur A. Hart. In one of the early chapters, Hart talks about Walter Johnson’s time spent playing in the semi-pro Idaho State League in 1907. Johnson was on the Weiser Kids: he was 19 years […]

Splitting the Weekend

Two games, one win. The Cards finally broke the seal on the win column this weekend.  After falling Saturday in extra innings to Florida, they were able to get a win against the Marlins on Sunday.  Kyle McClellan had a very solid start, but had to since his main competition, Rich Hill, was just about […]

Still Just Spring Training

At least there was a reason. Brad Penny was one of the most intriguing names brought into St. Louis during the offseason.  A lot of us were interested to see what this guy, who had been a very successful pitcher in the past, could do with Dave Duncan’s tutelage.  So seeing the results yesterday would […]