General

Dear MLB: Your Problem is Relevancy, Not Boredom (although that’s easily fixed, too.)

October 18, 2021 by Austin Gisriel

Dear Major League Baseball, Much has been written recently about your “boredom problem.” Longer games with less action have resulted in declining attendance and declining television ratings, but the solution to your on-field problem is so simple that a Little Leaguer could tell you what it is, whereas a board room full of consultants obviously cannot: Deaden... Read more of this article

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October’s End

October 14, 2021 by Terry Keshner

Orange OctoberThe Chicago White Sox played in the postseason for the second straight season this year, something they have never achieved before in 120 years of baseball.The Sox won the “Field of Dreams” game on national TV in August, giving baseball fans everywhere (OK, except maybe New York) and generations of movie fans a thrilling night in... Read more of this article

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Winter Ball: A History of Baseball, Cuba, and Race

October 6, 2021 by Matthew Zachary

1922-1923 Almendares Cuban League Team. In 2020, Cuban baseball players took center stage in the pandemic-shortened season. The Chicago White Sox won more than half its games twice in the 2010s. But they finished last season with a .583 winning percentage (roughly a 94 win pace over a 162 game schedule). The club made the playoffs for the first time... Read more of this article

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The Last Living Boston Braves Player and an Unexpected Find

August 30, 2021 by John Brieske

When Del Crandall died on May 5, 2021, an era died with him. According to his obituary in the Boston Globe, he was the last living Boston Braves player. Crandall broke in with the Boston Braves as a fresh-faced 19-year-old in 1949 but had his best seasons after the team moved to Milwaukee in 1953. Crandall was an 11-time All-Star and played in two World... Read more of this article

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Field of Fire

August 13, 2021 by Terry Keshner

The White Sox needed this one. For about 102 years the White Sox have needed this one.The Sox got a two-run home run from All-Star shortstop Tim Anderson in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the New York Yankees 9-8 in the “Field of Dreams” game in Dyersville, Iowa Thursday night, a contest that was far too dramatic, sensational and yes,... Read more of this article

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An Historic Trading Deadline–Can It Happen Again?

August 2, 2021 by Ted Leavengood

If ever a Major League Baseball team traded eight players from its Major League roster in a single day, I can find no mention of it. And yet that is what the Washington Nationals did on July 30, 2021. The Chicago Cubs dealt nine on the same day, which was documented as the highest number there by pundits in the Windy City. It was quite literally as... Read more of this article

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Hondo

July 21, 2021 by Greg Howell

Frank Howard is a big man. Now in his mid-‘80’s, he was an All-American basketball player at Ohio State University before signing a bonus baseball contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1958. Two years later, he won the National League Rookie of the Year award. At 6’7” and somewhere between 275 and 300 pounds, Frank was the biggest man in... Read more of this article

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Isn’t It Time Congress Seriously Examines the Monopoly Power of Major League Baseball

July 2, 2021 by Ted Leavengood

In December of 2020, with results being certified in the much contested election that saw the defeat of Donald Trump, and with two senate seats still hanging in the balance in Georgia, Major League Baseball, Inc. unilaterally ended its cooperative relationship with Minor League Baseball. For decades, the relationship between Minor League and Major League... Read more of this article

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DC Loves the Long Ball

June 25, 2021 by Ted Leavengood

Gather round children and I will tell you tales of Frank Howard, of how the “Capital Punisher,” could hit a baseball to the moon and back. It was the late 1960’s and the Washington Senators remained perennial cellar dwellers as they had been since the Great Depression. But a giant of a man named Frank Howard came to town and finally... Read more of this article

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The Best Starting Pitching Staffs in the Last 100 Years: Part IV

June 12, 2021 by John Baranowski

From Part I: Pitching, pitching, pitching. You may have heard the saying, “You can never have enough pitching.” Of course, if you are going to have good pitching it begins with your starting pitching staff. Which starting pitching staff was the best ever? I considered and reviewed every team that made it to the World Series and some other notable... Read more of this article

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