Ron Washington, Bud Black Win Connie Mack Award

Ron Washington of the Texas Rangers and Bud Black of the San Diego Padres were named winners of the Connie Mack Award by the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, noting them as the best managers in their respective leagues for 2010. Washington, who weathered a drug controversy in spring training, led Texas to their fifth divisional title […]

LETTERS FROM QUEBEC: Induction Day at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, Part Two

In mid-summer I wrote about the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys, Ontario, and the successful Induction Day ceremonies it held this past June. I mentioned that the new inductees included Canadian pitcher Paul Quantrill—his 14-season major league career took him to Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, New York (Yankees) San Diego and […]

Urckfitz Perfect in First AFL Appearance

Picking up where he left off, Pat Urckfitz tossed a perfect inning of relief as the Peoria Javelinas fell to the Surprise Rafters 8-6 in the season opener of the Arizona Fall League. After more than a month break from game action, Urckfitz showed no signs of rust. The third-year pro came on in the […]

For a Few Dollars More

Cliff Lee is the best hired gun since Clint Eastwood starting taking himself too seriously. The Texas Rangers, born the expansion Washington Senators in 1961, went almost fifty years without winning a post-season series. Then like poor campesinos faced with hired guns from the hacienda, they brought in Cliff Lee. Cue the music as Cliff […]

“The Only Real Sport Out There”: Pie Traynor’s Life in Pro Wrestling

If you want to see someone’s face light up, find a middle-aged man who grew up in Pittsburgh and mention Pie Traynor.  When he hears that name, he won’t recall Traynor’s sparkling play at third base or all the clutch hits he delivered for the Pirates.  Those are the memories of a different generation.  No, […]

Is The Red Sox Parent Company Testing the Soccer Futures Market?

John Henry has always had a love affair with numbers and baseball.  Which came first is hard to tell.  The hedge fund manager is without a doubt one of baseball’s biggest fans and it’s said his love of the game led him to memorize and calculate the stats of his boyhood favorite Cardinals. Now he’s […]

The Mysterious and Tragic Death of Don Wilson

In the spring of 1968, a magazine called SPORTS STARS OF 1968: BASEBALL named Houston Astros hurler Don Wilson one of its “Stars of the ’70s” based on his rookie season performance in 1967 when he went 10-9 with a 2.79 ERA and tossed a no-hitter at the Atlanta Braves on June 18, fanning 15 […]

The Late, Great Triple

Former Los Angeles Dodgers Executive Fresco Thompson is credited with saying that Willie Mays’ glove was where “triples go to die.”  Variations of the same quote have been attributed to other sources, talking about other players including Joe Jackson and Tris Speaker.  Mays hasn’t played since 1973.  Speaker last played in 1928 and Jackson’s last […]

Time To Stop Sucking Up To Burnett

If it were ever more evident that AJ Burnett’s big, long-term contract was dictating the decisions made by the Yankees front office, it is right now. After the Yankees cruised through the American League Division series with just three starters, the Yankees announced Monday morning that they will use a fourth starter in the American […]

The Most Painful Braves Gut Punch Losses in October

When Brooks Conrad made his third error Sunday in Game 3 of the NLDS to give the Giants an improbable 3-2 win, it felt like a punch in the gut. Only minutes earlier, the Braves—largely on the strength of Eric Hinske’s pinch-hit, two-run home run while trailing 1-0; a feat only accomplished twice before in […]

Sorry Albert, It’s Votto’s Time

Ranking the 2010 NL MVP Candidates [Author’s note: Irony can be pretty ironic, I suppose. It’s not the first time that an MVP favorite tanked in the post-season, but Joey Votto did just that, going 1-for-10 against the Phillies as his Cincinnati Reds went three and out. It’s worthy to mention that the ballots from […]

First Year at the New Ballpark

In 2010, the Minnesota Twins were the only team in the Major Leagues to play in a new stadium. In front of 3.2 million fans at Target Field, the Twins went 53-28, the third-best home record in the major leagues and a 4.5-game improvement over 2009, the last season at the Metrodome. This raises the […]

To Magglio or not to Magglio… That is the question…

I’ll warn you right off the bat that this article will be slightly biased.  Magglio Ordonez is my Tiger, has been since he played for the ChiSox (I had a little party in my head when he signed with Detroit in 2005) and always will be my Tiger.  It will break my cold, dead, crusty […]

Subplots of the 2010 Postseason

Taking a look at two worrying subplots of the 2010 MLB Postseason after the jump…

Touring The Bases With…Jackie Kampf

Jackie Kampf is the Marketing Assistant for the Montgomery Biscuits located in Montgomery, Alabama.  They have been an Affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays since 2004 and are in the Southern League. SEAMHEADS: What does your job consist of? What are your responsibilities? JACKIE KAMPF: My title is Marketing Assistant for the Montgomery Biscuits.  My […]

Jim Lonborg: Coming Close

On Wednesday, Don Larsen was joined by Roy Halladay as the only two pitchers ever to throw a no-hitter during the postseason in MLB history. Back in 1967, Larsen almost had company in that group. Jim Lonborg was having a fantastic season for the Boston Red Sox. The third-year pitcher lead the American League in […]

Al fondo de la esquina caliente (At the bottom of the hot corner)

Inicios de octubre de 1970 desplegaba varias páginas de suspenso para mis 9 años de hiperkinesia desbordada. Haber seguido los juegos del Mundial de Fútbol por televisión y el Campeonato Nacional Juvenil de Béisbol en el estadio de Cumaná, encendía toda la fruición de mi expectativa ante la Serie Mundial de aquel año. Toda esa curiosidad galopaba en paralelo con el reto de la tabla de dividir y la regla de tres que significaba el cuarto grado. La maestra Inés llenaba el aula con su conocimiento transparente y su pedagogía que saltaba entre los pupitres. Cualquier asomo de miedo a las matemática me lo borró en el primer instante que escuché su voz. Me había tocado el turno de la tarde, por lo cual debía estar atento en mis juegos y correrías por calles y cañaverales de regresar a casa antes de mediodía.

Astros Begin Reloading in 2010 Season

After a miserable start to the 2010 season, the Houston Astros made a mid-course correction in July.  Astro icons Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman were traded for 6 younger players and the Club made a modest recovery in the second half of the season with rookies manning four positions in most games.  Catcher Jason Castro […]

Major Shakeup Taking Place in Independent Baseball

This may be the most important period for Independent Baseball since it started in 1993.  Make it the most important ever since not all that much was really expected when the first two professional leagues of non-major league-affiliation formed 18 years ago. That’s a bold statement, to be sure, but this is what seems to […]

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 […]

Next?

John Russell offered a quiet presence and a patience that is either good or bad for a baseball team depending on the personnel.  Three years after thinking it would be the right approach, the Bucs’ front office may have decided a different direction is needed to continue the rebuilding process letting Russell go with one […]

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 […]

The Philly Phan’s Guide to the Playoffs

October baseball is now a rite of passage in Philadelphia. No longer are Phillies fans left to wonder about “next year” or suppose “what if” or try to convince themselves that they had better appreciate fall baseball because they may not see it again for awhile. No, not for the foreseeable future in this town. […]

Crossing the Pacific

The 1988 Summer Olympics were held in Seoul, Korea. Baseball was merely a “demonstration” sport but that didn’t mean that the competition wasn’t fierce. Eight teams participated in the tournament which saw a final game played between the United States and Japan. The US team – led by future Major Leaguers Robin Ventura, Jim Abbott, […]

Ranking the Goliaths and Davids

The 2010 playoffs begin tomorrow and at first glance you would assume that the Tampa Bay Rays were carrying the banner of underdog once again. That would be wrong. The most under-privileged team teeing it up will be the Texas Rangers. Does their cheap price tag limit them? How far can we expect the light-weights […]

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 […]

Touring The Bases With…Mike Vaccaro

Mike Vaccaro is the lead sports columnist for the New York Post and the author of  The First Fall Classic: The Red Sox, The Giants, and the Cast of Players, Pugs, and Politicos Who Reinvented the World Series in 1912, 1941: The Greatest Year in Sports and Emperors and Idiots.  He has won more than […]

Game Over

The 2010 season ended for the Red Sox this past Sunday with an 8-4 win over the New York Yankees. “For the first time since 2006, Game No. 162 of the regular season meant closure for the Red Sox. Before the game, players were signing bats for each other and packing up other keepsakes.  It […]

Breaking Down The MVP Candidates

While the Cy Young debate in the American League is getting a lot of attention, the Most Valuable Player award is not. Although it is discussed occasionally, people are not giving it the attention that it deserves. The front-runner(s) at this point are Robinson Cano, Miguel Cabrera, and Josh Hamilton. All have had incredible seasons, but […]

Pink Slips and Resumes Are Being Readied Around Baseball

Oh that clock is a ticking louder and louder as the end of the big league season approaches on Sunday, and with it some big league skippers (and staff) are probably going to have a few sleepless nights in front of them over the next few days.  That’s if they have not already come to […]

Shouldn’t 1987 Raise Eyebrows Too?

There has been an increased raising of eyebrows when looking at or comparing statistics of players in the “steroid era,” which began in the early 1990s. Look no further than Mark McGwire to see how these allegations have hurt one’s Hall of Fame chances. We’ll get another example of this in the upcoming election as […]

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