Why the Red Sox Should Beware of John Farrell

Bobby Valentine’s run as manager of the Boston Red Sox came to a merciful end yesterday afternoon. By going 69-93 (the team’s worst record since 1965) and serving as a lightning rod with his blunt outspoken manner, Valentine ended his tenure as ignominiously as Nero, who allegedly plucked his fiddle as Rome burned around him. […]

Freakin Awesome

After winning the NL East Champions for 2012 last night, Ian Desmond was asked to describe the feeling. “Freakin Awesome,”  he said.  Desmond exemplifies the spirit of the Nationals better than anyone. He worked his way through the Montreal Expos organization to become the Washington Nationals everyday shortstop in in 2010. But this has been […]

Kris Medlen for Cy Young? Not So Fast.

Without a runaway winner, baseball award outcomes often come down to the players who have hot streaks occur the latest in the season. One of the most recent players to ride such a surge of late-season success is Atlanta Braves right-handed pitcher Kris Medlen, who has started hearing his name mentioned in the National League […]

Urckfitz and Lancaster claim California League crown

Patrick Urckfitz knows how to save his best for last. As a junior college player, he came out of the bullpen for Monroe Community College and helped the Tribunes finish third in the 2008 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) World Series. Four years later, the left-hander hurled a pair of scoreless frames in the […]

Brownsten earns a pair of post-season honors

When the Rome Braves opened the 2012 season with six wins in their first twenty-four attempts, making the playoffs seemed far-fetched. Becoming the worst team in  minor league looked more realistic. But that is the depth to which Rome fell. The Braves bottomed out at  18-52, and found themselves all alone in the basement of minor league baseball. […]

Red Sox Fans May Want to Temper Their Expectations for 2013

The disaster that has been the 2012 season for the Boston Red Sox is about to turn into another winter of discontent. Despite the lackluster play, jettisoning of high-priced players, and general uncertainty swirling about the team, the general feeling of fans seems to be that it is only a one year set-back and the […]

Independent Baseball Tops Seven Million Fans, But Best News May Be in Expanding Opportunities for Players

While increased attendance sounded a high note for Independent Baseball this season, improved opportunities for players on the world stage most certainly must at least share top billing as the non-affiliated brand of the professional game nears the wrap up of its second decade of competition. As enthusiastic as they were when it all began […]

The Sweet Madness of Pennant Race Baseball

The magic number for the Washington Nationals to win the NL East sits at five now. Most fans are beginning to put away the prayer beads and rubber chickens. But it has been a rough ride for Washington Nationals fans who have never been here before, never known the emotional highs of having the best […]

Picking the National League’s Top Starting Pitcher Cy Young Candidate

With the regular season winding down there are few playoff spots or post season awards that have been definitively decided. One of the most interesting sprints to the finish is that of the National League Cy Young Award. There are two relievers very much in the hunt for the award, but the top starting pitcher […]

Orioles Magic

Leaving the radio on so that I could listen to the Orioles’ game, I got out of my car on Saturday to pump some gas at a local convenience store here in Western Maryland. “Excuse me, but what’s the score?” asked a guy heading into the store. “One to nothin’, Orioles,” I replied. “Great! What […]

Two Weeks to Go for Triple Milestones

With two weeks to go in the season, five batters are on track to achieve the triple Milestones of a .300 batting average, 30 home runs and 100 RBIs.  Two others are close.  Two pitchers are on target for the milestones of an ERA under 3.00, 20 wins and 200 strikeouts and two others are […]

MLBPA And MLB Reach Agreement On Rule 10.22(A)

The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association jointly announced today that for purposes of determining the individual batting, slugging or on-base percentage champion, the last sentence of Official Baseball Rule 10.22(a) shall not be applicable for the 2012 season for any player who failed to obtain 502 plate […]

Mike Ness Keeps Winning as Can-Am No-Hit Hurler Moves Into Heat of Last Remaining Atlantic League Race

Even though Mike Ness still is pitching in Independent Baseball, the 24-year-old has established quite a prestigious fan club while wearing three different uniforms this summer.  It is important to understand this fan club is made up exclusively of his managers.       It is not difficult to see why the field bosses would like the […]

MVP? Buster Posey May Not Even Be the Best Catcher in the National League This Season

Recently a groundswell of support has pushed Buster Posey to the forefront of the 2012 National League MVP race. After all, he is putting up great numbers in a San Francisco Giants lineup that lacks pop and lost outfielder Melky Cabrera to a 50 game suspension. There is no arguing that Posey is having a […]

MLB Gets the Elevator, Washington Baseball Fans Get the Shaft–Again

The playoff season looms in a scant two weeks and ESPN, Sports Illustrated and the rest of the sports media are abuzz with September pennant race fever. That very special form of madness has lain dormant all these many years in Washington, DC. but it is spreading quickly. Yet in this city where October surprises […]

Baseball Shifting Path of Consumption

As baseball grew into the American pastime it was all about being as close to the game as possible. This was achieved by actually attending a game or meticulously following the action through the flowery accounts of newspapers. Fans swore allegiance to specific teams and individual players that represented their community or because they liked […]

Where Have You Gone Tony Cloninger? Baseball Turns Its Lonely Eyes To You.

“Where have you gone, Tony Cloninger? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.” For those who recognize the preceding Simon & Garfunkel words will also notice that I substituted Tony C.’s name with Joe D.’s. That’s right! The “Great” Joe DiMaggio as Ernest Hemmingway referred to the ‘Yankee Clipper’ in his novel the Old […]

Lew Ford Far From Rookie in September Races, But This One ‘Is Different’ for Recent Indy Outfielder

This isn’t Lew Ford’s first pennant race.  Far from it.  He was part of the Minnesota Twins teams that played in the American League Division Series in ’03, ’04 and ’06, and was a regular outfielder in the middle of those years when they were ousted by the New York Yankees in four games. But […]

Which MLB franchise do you most respect?

By most respect, I don’t mean the franchise you most want to win, or the one with the most wins and losses, or the one with the most World Series titles, but the franchise that you think is the best overall model for the other 29 franchises to follow. Maybe you respect the Yankees, not […]

John Lannan, Soul of the Washington Nationals

The conventional wisdom early in 2004 was that Washington, DC might not be ready for baseball quite yet. In upstate New York, much the same was said of John Lannan as a college pitcher who was not really ready for the big leagues. And yet here they both are together at this critical juncture in […]

Return of Roger Clemens is All Show and No Substance

With two scoreless outings with the independent league Sugar Land Skeeters under his belted paunch, 50 year old Roger Clemens is poised to attempt a comeback to the majors with the Houston Astros, either this year or next. Already possessing 354 career wins, Clemens has had one of the most successful, albeit controversial, careers of […]

Negro Leagues DB Update: 1907 National Association of Colored Professional Clubs of the United States and Cuba

Contrary to popular belief, blackball teams playing in a ‘real’ league did not begin in 1920.  In 1886, there was an attempt to start a 10 team “Southern Colored Base Ballist” league.  In 1887, the National Colored Baseball League managed to play 13 league games before folding.  The 1906 “ILIP League” (International League of Independent […]

Colabello’s Record RBI Season Only a Start With European Championships, Mexico Next for Former Can-Am Star

Chris Colabello’s run from being last season’s Independent Player of the Year (Baseball America) to setting a new team record for runs batted in during his first affiliated season to earning runner-up honors as the Eastern League’s Most Valuable Player is little short of miraculous.  It also has given the 28-year-old first baseman a full […]

Making it Right: Jim Rooker the Unintentional Walk

The Pittsburgh Pirates were in the midst of a 7 game losing streak that began on May 31, 1989 the last game of a home stand as Jose Rios and the Cincinnati Reds beat them 4-3. Afterwards they flew to New York to seek better fortunes, only to be swept by the Mets. They then […]

The Washington Nationals Are Shooting for the Moon

The St. Louis Cardinals are not only the reigning World Champions, but they are in a tight race with the Braves and Dodgers for the NL Wild Card. They probably still hold out hope that they can catch the Reds, which is why Washington taking three of four from a team like St. Louis in […]

Interview with New York Mets Prospect Brandon Nimmo

Ownership controversy, unwise free agent signings, and a weak farm system have all been emblematic of the recent struggles of the New York Mets. Playing in the largest market in America, the Mets have been stuck in a rut of mediocrity, unable to match the success and popularity of the cross-town Yankees. Sometimes it takes […]

Big Two of Atlantic League and American Association Give Independents Pair of 2,000,000 Draws

When the curtain drops on most every Independent league’s regular season schedule this Labor Day Weekend the one factor that will be increasingly clear is that two circuits have become dominant. Look no further for proof than at the gate where the American Association and the Atlantic League give the non-major league-affiliated brand of the […]

Why Dodger Fans Leave Early

Adrian Gonzalez, his new home Dodger whites practically glowing against the brilliant green turf, jogged back to the dugout after clubbing a pitch from Miami’s Josh Johnson deep into the right field stands. It was his very first at bat in L.A., and only the second pitch he saw. Coming after a crazed 24-hour news […]

Going Negative in Washington

The Washington Nationals followed a bad weekend of baseball in Philadelphia with an even worse evening in Miami. Stephen Strasburg was supposed to right the ship for Washington against Chris Volstad. Comparing the numbers for the two pitchers any betting parlor would have given steep odds on Volstad’s chance of winning, but he out-pitched Strasburg […]

For Your Consideration: Adrian Beltre

  Last week, Adrian Beltre of the Texas Rangers, was a regular fixture on ESPN SportsCenter, becoming the only major league player other than Joe DiMaggio to have a three home run game and hit for the cycle in the same week. Despite being a consistently good player for nearly 15 years, it’s been rare […]

Touring The Bases With…Jim Rooker

Southpaw pitcher Jim Rooker made his major league debut on June 30, 1968 with the eventual world champion Detroit Tigers and spent 13 years in the bigs with the Tigers, Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirate before making his final appearance on May 2, 1980.   A year earlier, Rooker was a member of the […]

George and Gene Freese, One of Eight Pirates’ Brothers and Teammates Combinations

In the Pittsburgh Pirates’ long, rich, 125-year history, eight brother combinations have taken the field as teammates. The complete list is Carson and Lyle Bigbee (1921), Harry and Howie Camnitz (1909), Larry and John Gilbert (Pittsburg Alleghenies, 1890), Andy and Adam LaRoche (2008), Johnnie and Phil Morrison (1921), Eddie and Johnnie O’Brien, twins, (1953, 1955-1958), […]

A Generous Gift From Base Ball Pioneers 1850-1870

Some time back, to my surprise, I received an email from McFarland Publishing stating that I would be receiving half of the royalties for an upcoming baseball book. The funds that I would be receiving were to go to my baseball memorial series titled, “David Stalker’s Early Baseball and Deadball Era Memorial Series.” All I […]

Red Sox Reboot Creates Many Questions

Boston Red Sox fans have agitated for the better part of the 2012 season for the team to facilitate major change as a way to address their disappointing play since the end of last year. News reports of a completed earth shattering trade suggest that the front office has finally heeded those wishes. Adrian Gonzalez, […]

Negro Leagues DB Update: 1923 Eastern Colored League

In 1923, after three seasons of Negro National League baseball in the Midwest, the big northeastern African American clubs finally got their act together, forming the Eastern Colored League. This week we’re proud to add to the DB that first season of the ECL, compiled by Patrick Rock. In the NNL’s first season, the club […]

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