The Bird who saved baseball for me!

It must have been back in 1974 or 75 when I became a flake. I was just a short, skinny kid with glasses pitching for my high school baseball team in addition to being one who threw with an unorthodox cross between sidearm and submarine delivery. Now, you must remember that this was before anyone […]

My 100th Post and My First On Air Interview

Hey baseball fans! Today happens to be my 100th blog post, since I first started my Google Blogger blog back in April 2012.  I would like to thank all of my readers who have continued to encourage me to write my blog.  Well, in honor of the big 100, I have a fun treat for […]

Hall of Fame Voting – “If it Ain’t Broke, …”

On Jan. 9, 2013, it was announced that the baseball writers (BBWAA) had not elected anyone to the Hall of Fame.  This is the first time that this had happened since 1996. This result drew more attention than usual because two of baseball’s best players ever (Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens) were not elected because […]

The 1987 California Angels

The Angels came so close to realizing their World Series dreams in 1986, but they were destined for heartbreak. As they set out to conquer their demons in the spring of ’87, the team and their fans could not imagine that they would suffer a 16-year dry spell before achieving their goal. The changing of […]

Changing the Rules at the Hall of Fame

In the aftermath of the BBWAA pitching a shutout in the 2013 Hall of Fame election, I have immersed myself in the quasi-social media more than ever before (and, I hope, ever after), drinking in the views and opinions drifting in from various participants, historians, enthusiasts, bloggers, and everybody else who has ever watched a […]

Dennis Bennett: The Quintessential Left-Handed Pitcher

Over time, left-handed pitchers have acquired the stereotype of being an eccentric bunch. From quirky exploits on the field to adventures off the field, southpaws are a breed unto themselves. One of the best was Dennis Bennett, who sadly passed away last year. Bennett signed with the Philadelphia Phillies out of Shasta Junior College (California) […]

Whitey is Mighty

Hey baseball fans! Today’s post is about one of my favorite players of all time. He is one of the only Yankee pitchers in the Hall of Fame, and he is considered one of the greatest clutch pitchers of all time. Ladies and gentleman, Whitey Ford! Edward “Whitey” Ford was the best pitcher on the great […]

Enzo Hernández: Torpedero incandescente. (Enzo Hernandez: A great short stop).

El titular de lapatilla.com paralizó mi lectura. Uno de los grandes beisbolistas venezolanos, de los que me hacía imaginar ese espacio entre tercera y segunda base milímetro a milímetro, había agarrado su guante diminuto y sus spikes, junto a las medias sanitarias y su uniforme de los Tiburones de La Guaira para irse a jugar en los […]

Kid Bloggers Interviews Red Sox Legend Frank Malzone

Hey baseball fans!I have another fun interview for you today. This one is with Red Sox third base legend… Frank Malzone! I know that he’s not the most talked about person in baseball history, but he was really good in the 1950s and ’60s. Because he’s not that well known, let me tell you a little […]

My First Baseball Game: July 31, 1965

Most people are fond of memories, especially if it is a first.   Such as a first kiss, first bicycle, or the first time you drove a car, etc… My first love was the first baseball game I remember going to. I can remember the game, how it opened in front of my eyes as I […]

My Visit to the Sports Immortals Museum

Hey baseball fans! During the recent break, I went to Florida to visit my grandparents, Aron and Salome, and I visited the Sports Immortals Museum in Boca Raton, Florida. There, I got to look at 1% of the biggest collection of sports memorabilia in the world (the rest is in special storage vaults). Let me tell […]

Starting Pitchers and Hall of Fame Numbers

Jack Morris’ Hall of Fame candidacy has generated a discussion about HOF numbers for pitchers which I feel is very useful – partly because it raises the question of whether there is a “sabermetric” way to objectively measure a starting pitcher’s career performance. Here is how the CAWS Career Gauge suggests it may be done […]

And My Mother Asked, “Who is Ted Abernathy?”

Now, some of you might be saying, who the heck is Ted Abernathy and why should I care? Well, before I explain, let me say he formed an important chunk and gave me an identity to my childhood. When Ted died, so did a part of me… It might seem odd, but I guess my […]

Analyzing the 2013 Hall of Fame Vote

For the first time since 1996, the Baseball Writers Association of America did not elect any players to the Hall of Fame.  Craig Biggio, in his first year on the ballot, led the voting with 68.2% of the vote.  This is higher than Barry Larkin and Ryne Sandberg received in their first year on the […]

Journalism Career on Indefinite Hold As Bo Schultz Takes His Power Arm to Bid for D-Backs Job

I became intrigued with Bo Schultz some time back, not entirely for his baseball talent because it was said he was not a major league prospect, but largely in that he came out of the prestigious Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern and was likely to become a baseball journalist.  It seemed writing might take […]

Willie Mays Aikens: Hard Living, Hard Times and Hard-Cover Books

Willie Mays Aikens once had a promising major league baseball career that came to a premature end in 1985 because of his personal demons. Although his problems robbed him of his career and led to serving a 14-year prison sentence, he pushed through and is finally back on track after a detour that lasted more […]

An Introduction to my passion for baseball: Monte Irvin and the lost baseball

I must have been about nine-years old when my dad took me on a very special car ride.   It proved to be a ride that introduced me to a new passion; one that made everything else in my young life seems irrelevant. More importantly it was “one on one” time with my father, the important type […]

2013 Vote for the Hall – the Writers Got It (Mostly) Right

For the eighth time since the Hall of Fame elections started and for the first time since 1996, no player has been elected to the Hall of Fame. Is this a bad thing?  Not necessarily.  Better to elect no one than to elect the wrong person (think Jim Rice). According to the CAWS Career Gauge, […]

How I became friends with Wally Westlake

On April 18, 1947, the Pittsburgh Pirates had their home opener with the Cincinnati Reds at Forbes Field.  That morning, Elmer Hurte and his oldest son Bobby packed sack of chip-chopped ham sandwiches and a jug of iced tea.  With lunch in hand they rushed out the door to catch the streetcar from the North […]

A Confession to my parents: I played sick to watch the 1967 World Series

As my mom says, “Bobby would always confess when he did something wrong, just not immediately after he did it.”    Well, I am at it again.  I have a confession.  Of course it is for something from over four decades ago.  But before I actually confess, let me provide some background to support my little […]

Bo Knows

Football lost its luster for me long ago, but on Sunday I tuned in to watch the Redskins because frankly, Robert Griffin, III is just that special. Fast on his feet, and just as quick-wited, RG III has it all and he had Washington buzzing about a rebirth not just of football in this town, […]

“Oh, Canada” Again in October??

Will they be singing “Oh, Canada” again for the 2013 MLB Playoffs? Trying a formula reminiscent of the 2012 Miami Marlins, the Toronto Blue Jays have brought in Jose Reyes, Mark Buerhle and a host of others.  Many writers bought the “new” Marlins concept last year hook, line and sinker, which may explain why Toronto’s […]

Follow Your Passion At Any Age! Norm Coleman Started his Ty Cobb Show At 70 And Is Inspiring Now At 75.

At 70, retired and searching for a new purpose in his life, Norm Coleman first discovered  baseball legend Ty Cobb. The more he learned about “the best player in the history of the game,”  the more he saw a story that had to be told.  Now, almost 7 years and over 150 performances later, Norm, […]

Negro Leagues DB Update: 1915/16 Cuban League & Florida Hotel League

This week we’ve added two leagues from the 1915/16 winter season—the Cuban League and the Florida Hotel League—along with the 1907 Southern Championship contested between the Birmingham Giants and San Antonio Black Bronchos. In Cuba, due to a labor dispute, the old Cuban National League was no more, replaced by a player-led league, the Cuban […]

36 Up, 36 Down, But Still Lost

Hey baseball fans! In honor of the perfect games last season, I wanted to blog about a very strange ALMOST-perfect game: Harvey Haddix, of the Pittsburgh Pirates, was nothing special, but on one day, he happened to just be a pitcher who pitched a perfect game through 12 innings, but gave it up in the 13th. It […]

The Powerful Pachyderms

Hey baseball fans! Here’s the next blog about one of the greatest rosters in baseball history: Have you ever heard of the great manager Connie Mack? In case you haven’t, Mack managed the Philadelphia Athletics from 1901 to 1950! During that span, he led the A’s to nine AL pennants and five World Series victories. Mack has […]

Cincinnati Reds’ Pitching Prospect Dan Langfield Bursts on to the Scene

The Cincinnati Reds have had success cultivating young pitchers in recent years, with Aroldis Chapman, Homer Bailey and Johnny Cueto all making major contributions to the big league team. This bodes well for one of the Reds’ most recent draft picks, right-hander Dan Langfield. Langfield was a high school star in Somerset, Massachusetts. He was […]

Indy Owner Pat Salvi Has Vested Interest in Unbeaten Irish And Colabello’s Major League Dream Comes True

While Notre Dame will not have any shortage of supporters when the Irish go after their first national football title since 1988 in the BCS Championship game January 7, it seems unlikely anyone will be more amped than Pat Salvi.  In case the name escapes, Salvi is the successful Chicagoattorney who along with his wife […]

Rating the 2013 Hall of Fame Candidates Based on Win Shares

One of the first items of business in baseball each year is the announcement of players elected to the Hall of Fame.  This leads to lots of speculation and a little analysis prior to the announcement which is scheduled for January 9, 2013. Many systems exist for evaluating player performance.  One such system, the Win […]

Thoughts on the 1950 Movie, The Jackie Robinson Story

I recently happened to catch some of Jackie Robinson playing himself in The Jackie Robinson Story, a 1950 movie that, from what I saw, spends most of its 77 minutes showing Jackie signing with the Dodgers and beginning his career with the team, first in spring training, with their Montreal Royals farm team, and then […]

Uh Oh, It’s Oh

Hey baseball fans! Happy New Year!!  Anyway, for today’s post, I will be blogging about a baseball player who never played in the states, but is one of the most popular international baseball players of all time. Sadaharu Oh played for the Yomiuri Giants from 1959-1980 in the professional Japanese baseball league. He originally was […]

All-Around Athletes

Hey baseball fans! As I promised in my Booming Batters post, today I will be blogging about some of the greatest all-around athlete nicknames in baseball history. Hope you enjoy: Stan the Man - Stan Musial From 1942-1963 with the St. Louis Cardinals, Musial had one of the best careers of all time. With 475 homers,  3,630 hits, and […]

Baseball Notes for December 31, 2012

The holiday season slowed down the hectic MLB offseason, which had operated on full blast for more than a month. Although many free agents have signed with new teams, there is still a lot going on around baseball as 2012 comes to an end. ***It may be the week after Christmas, but it’s never too […]

Nolan Ryan’s secret ingredient

As an eleven year old, I can remember leafing through a copy of LIFE magazine while waiting to get a hair cut at the barbers in Somerville, New Jersey.  I was basically flipping through the award winning pictures that the magazine was known for, until one day, I came across an article about Nolan Ryan, […]

El juego inolvidable de Armando Ortíz. Tres plomazos en el plato. (The game Armando Ortíz would never forget.)

Parece un cuento fantasioso, el caso es que hubo una época cuando los juegos dominicales dela Ligade Béisbol Profesional de Venezuela empezaban a las once de la mañana, al menos en Caracas, Maracaibo y Barquisimeto. Y más allá en el tiempo se jugaba los 24 y 31 de diciembre. En la actualidad muchos se quejarían […]

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