Ben Chapman and Jackie Robinson

(Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on Seamheads.com in March 2010. With the release of “42″ I thought it appropriate to re-post it—ML). Ben Chapman or “Chappy” as I was instructed to call him, (see my previous article for my introduction to him) was born and reared in the Deep South during a time when [...]

Bob Lazzari’s Baseball Predictions: 2013

Yes, it’s that time of the year, folks–time to offer some MLB predictions.  *DISCLAIMER:  If one chooses to use the following as “gospel”, just remember that I picked the Angels and Phillies to play in the World Series last year (ughh).  Here’s how they’ll finish in 2013…… AL EAST T.B. Rays Toronto Blue Jays N.Y. [...]

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 [...]

Steve Carlton

Hey baseball fans! I recently thought to myself: “Who was the best pitcher ever on the worst team?” I didn’t want to write something about Walter Johnson, because his name regularly appears in my articles, so I decided to go with the next best person: Steve Carlton. Steve Carlton was a very tough competitor, which is why [...]

NJBM Kids’ Hot Korner: Mike Schmidt

Hey baseball fans! I just put up my latest post in the Kids’ Hot Korner section of New Jersey Baseball Magazine.  This one is extra special, since it’s about my all time favorite player, Mike Schmidt. If you’d like to read the article, just click here. And tune in again real soon for more of “all the buzz [...]

My Top Five Fall Classics In MLB History

Hey baseball fans! Today, I want to tell you about my favorite Fall Classics in baseball history!! My only rule is this: no World Series will be in this list that happened in the last ten years. So, let’s get it started with Number Five. Number Five: The 1954 World Series Matchup: Giants vs. Indians [...]

Phiguring Out The Phillies

Memorial Day is the “unofficial-official” start of summer for many. It is also the time when even the most casual of baseball fans start to peruse the standings and pay attention to the everyday reality show grind known as baseball’s dog days of summer. If you happen to live in the Delaware Valley chances are [...]

The Day of the (Starting) Pitcher

So we’re one day into the new baseball season, and most of what we’ve seen is great starting pitching. Even though the Mets moved in the outfield fences at Citi Field, the Mets and Braves managed to scratch out one puny run between them. Kyle Lohse didn’t allow a hit to the Marlins until the [...]

Integration And What If Bill Veeck Did Buy the Phillies In 1943?

One of the things I enjoy most about baseball is reading about the history of the game ranging from entire books revolving around a single memorable moment, to those about a well-known or infamous era of the game. With baseball’s extensive history you can easily find yourself getting caught in a specific genre where you [...]

The Lighting of the Hot Stove

Perhaps the Hot Stove season does not commence until after the World Series. Or maybe it adds fuel to the fire. Either way there are instructive failures from last year to consider. There were Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth–just two of the biggest disappointments among the 2011 free agent class. Then at the summit is [...]

The Final Eulogy on the 2011 Phillies

I do not know where to begin, mainly because I cannot believe that it has come to an end.  A week ago I put up a post saying how Phillies’ fans needed to get behind the Yankees to make the World Series in order to seal a remarkable and, by most franchise standards, historic season.  [...]

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, [...]

If I Ran Baseball-Interleague Edition

Recently a few managers have come out against interleague play, stating the uniqueness has worn off, and that interleague play is tired.  I disagree.  I think it’s great that some interleague “traditions” have stuck around, like Cubs/White Sox, A’s/Giants, and Marlins/Rays.  Ok, so maybe Marlins/Rays isn’t the most exciting matchup, but it’s still the battle [...]

Fearless forecast for 2011 flag chases

The first rule in making baseball predictions is to expect the unexpected. Don’t go with last year’s winners, popular favorites, or big-money ballclubs. Unless they deserve it, of course. Now that we’ve gotten past the obvious rules, there are the string of unknowns that can pop up anywhere during the course of a 162-game schedule, [...]

Cliff Lee Builds Drama With Every Pitch

When Cliff Lee poured three fastballs past Brett Gardner to end the eighth inning, it marked 122 of the best post-season pitches since Roy Halladay threw his no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds. Lee did not have to finish this most recent of his numerous post-season gems. The Rangers busted the game open in the ninth [...]

MLB Team Snapshots

The Beautiful Mind level insanity around the AL Previews formula I’ve been tinkering with and referred to in these two posts should (hopefully) be done today. In an effort to not let the homework slow down our production, we thought it would be fun to take another stroll around the Major Leagues and see what each [...]

Another Brick in the Wall

Is Strasburg’s looming debut next Tuesday more important for the future of the Nationals, or Roy Oswalt’s admission on Tuesday of this week, that he would accept a trade to Washington? The two are inextricably linked.  Oswalt’s view that there are good things going on in Washington redounds to the excitement Strasburg is generating, but [...]

NL East Serves Notice to Phillies

The Phillies open a series against the Atlanta Braves this Memorial Day only a half game up on them in leading the division. Not surprising is that the Nationals are in last place with the Marlins; what is, though, is that they are both only four games out of first place. Almost 50 games into [...]

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 [...]

It Could Have Been So Much Worse

Joe Posnanski wrote this week about the release of full economic data on the business of baseball by Forbes Magazine.  I can barely balance a check book and maybe gate receipts, market valuations and operating revenues confuse me more than I know, but they look to be telling a fascinating story.  It’s about how major league [...]

Growing Up Is About Letting Go

It happened earlier than it usually does. Being a fanatical Red Sox fan, there’s usually five to seven times each season when I will just throw up my hands (after throwing up) and boycott all broadcasts of my team for the indefinite future. They tend to come in June when the pennant races normally heat [...]

Been Down So Long

A scant year ago, Jim Bowden departed Washington, DC with the Nationals baseball team as ruined as his reputation.  Just as we tend to forget the desert at the first oasis, so the barren geography of hopeless losing was washed away this weekend as Matt Capps converted his first five save opportunities and up and [...]

Why the Braves Will Win

On the eve of the 2010 season, the National League East race seems like it might be decided by the disabled list. The Philadelphia Phillies, seeking their third straight divisional crown, sent three key players to the DL: closer Brad Lidge, set-up man J.C. Romero, and No. 3 starter Joe Blanton. The New York Mets, [...]

Maple Street Press Belts One Onto Lansdowne Street

My buddy Matt Aber wondered aloud in his recent review of Maple Street Press’ Phillies 2010 Annual if these are the franchise’s “Golden Days,” which made me wonder if these aren’t also the Red Sox’ “Golden Days.”  Perhaps, although it’s going to be tough to top the 16-year stretch from 1903-1918 in which they won [...]

Four Calls for the 2010 Season That You Heard Here First

Over the next five weeks or so the average baseball fan is going to come across numerous predictions via TV, sports talk radio, newspapers, magazines and the web. Let’s face it, the majority of experts are going to play it safe and you are going to hear and read the same things ad nauseam – [...]