Boras Innings Limits

There have been countless excerpts written about the innings limit placed on Stephen Strasburg in 2012.  His own representative, Scott Boras, recently defended the Washington Nationals decision (GM Mike Rizzo) to shut down Strasburg once his pre-defined innings total is reached for the season. Boras is best known for his outlandish free agent requests and infamous tactics […]

Getting on the Back Page of Newsday, Sports Center Clips And Live National TV All Part of Buildup to Clemens Appearance Saturday

So much has been written already since word came out Monday that Roger Clemens would take the mound for the first time in five years Saturday night in an Atlantic League game to fill another file in the National Baseball Hall of Fame where the 50-year-old phenom may one day have his own plaque depending […]

Lou Gehrig Talks Baseball

Baseball icon Lou Gehrig became truly legendary because of his production, durability, and finally his untimely death at the age of 37 in 1941. His name still resonates with fans today, and despite playing many years with Babe Ruth, he was able to stay out of his shadow and create his own enduring legacy. Much […]

Calling Dock Ellis: the Pirates Need You!

Although three weeks have passed since Cincinnati Reds reliever Aroldis Chapman plunked the Pirates’ National League batting leader Andrew McCutchen with a 102- mile per hour fastball, no one in Pittsburgh has forgotten about it. Since August 3, the wheels have fallen off the Pirates’ season. The team has gone 7-13, McCutchen has dropped 20 […]

White Sox Sweep Yankees (Yes, Really)

August 22, 2012 South Side Sweep Last weekend in Kansas City the Chicago White Sox were error-prone, timid, unlucky, and uncomfortable to watch.  It was sort of like witnessing Henry Kissinger do karaoke for a Jay-Z song.  But not as funny. The Sox were swept away by the Royals on the road, making Bruce Chen […]

Baseball State by State, A Review

There are many fine baseball resource books to keep close at hand and Chris Jensen has added another. My favorite is Paul Dickson’s Baseball Dictionary, but Chris Jensen’s Baseball State by State may have more practical value, even if it lacks Dickson’s wonderful illustrations. The strength of the aggregation is two-fold. While there is no […]

Winning Ugly? Winning Often Will Do That

Anyone who watched the entirety of the Nationals 13-inning 5-4 win over the Atlanta Braves on Monday night is susceptible to one part of the Stephen Strasburg argument. It goes like this: Washington’s pennant run in 2012 is a “perfect storm” convergence of talent and luck. Strasburg does not want to sit this out because […]

Greed as the Driving Force in Baseball

Baseball has long marketed itself on the narrative that it is the national pastime, where the true players play for the love of the game over any other alternative gains. To play is to personify purity, gamesmanship, and national pride, among other superlatives. While those things may have occasionally been true, they have been used […]

With Baseball Players Always Looking for a Difference Maker, Brian Burgamy May Have Found It in Australia

Except for the relatively few who come into Independent Baseball with a superb professional resume, players always try to look for an edge, some type of door-opener that will help them get recognized as better than run-of-the-mill talent so they can elevate their career. The major leagues almost always are the goal. Brian Burgamy is […]

Sports Writing Style 100 Years Ago

Manning Vaughan was the main baseball writer of the Milwaukee Sentinel one hundred years ago. His style was colorful and full of panache. While researching the 1912 Brewers I fell in love with his writing style. What follows is what is typical of Vaughan’s wonderful way of bringing baseball games to life in people’s parlors […]

The Yankee Way: A Review of Pinstripe Empire

As a Red Sox fan I thought I had heard it all when it came to the glory of the New York Yankees and their 27 World Series titles. It’s a refrain frequently presented in a matter of fact tone to anyone with the audacity to challenge the place of the Yankees at the top […]

Former Geneva Red Wings Chaplin and Fennell sign free agent deals

Little more than a year ago they wore the uniform of the Geneva Red Wings. Later this month they may face each other in the Arizona Rookie League. Jake Chaplin (Haverford) will catch a plane headed to Arizona early this week. When he arrives he will find a locker, new uniform and a contract with […]

Sherrill’s Van Boom ends summer with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod League

Seventy-nine games was not enough. After starting 44 games for the Brown Bears and 35 for the Sherrill Silversmiths, Wes Van Boom went looking for more. He got what he wanted. Soon after his New York Collegiate Baseball League season ended, Van Boom headed east, crossed the Sagamore Bridge and ended the summer with the […]

Jr. Chiefs seize the NYCBL title

GENEVA, N.Y. — Pressure created a crack which eventually widened enough to make the difference. The relentless Syracuse Jr. Chief offense played to its character and in so doing caused uncharacteristic play from its opponent. Series MVP Tim Locastro (Ithaca) slapped a one-out bases loaded single to bring home the winning run as the Jr. […]

The “Shark” in a Feeding Frenzy Near Frisco Bay.

Several years ago Terry Byrom, broadcaster for the Harrisburg Senators, was kind enough to let me interview John Stearns, the manager of the team at that time. I was trying to get a read on Justin Maxwell, a local suburban Maryland player who had great promise as he worked his way through the Washington Nationals […]

Taking a Look at the All-Time Puerto Rico Team

When the Houston Astros made shortstop Carlos Correa the top pick in the 2012 draft, it was further proof that Puerto Rico remains a “rich port” for baseball stars. The tiny island, which operates as a territory of the United States, is the birthplace of 234 Major League players including three Hall of Famers — […]

An Experiment In Greatness: Third Baseman Eddie Murray

This year, to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of Camden Yards, the Baltimore Orioles are unveiling in their new Legends Garden six larger-than-life statues of the greatest Orioles of all time. I’ve been fortunate to attend the ceremonies. Having already honored Frank Robinson, Earl Weaver and Jim Palmer, and with Cal Ripken, Junior and Brooks Robinson […]

Relief Pitching Best Path to Majors For Indy Players, Including Saves Milestone-Chaser Wilhelmsen

Many baseball people like to say the easiest path to the major leagues is to become a catcher.  Statistics prove otherwise for Independent Baseball players striving to reach the promised land where the minimum salary is a not-so-measly $480,000 a year. Fifteen of the 18 players who have worn Independent uniforms and currently can boast […]

You Know It Don’t Come Easy

Roger “the Shark” Bernadina has been “Side B” for his entire baseball career. For those of you too young to have ever seen a “45” they were what boomers played on their record players, a two-sided vinyl disc that contained two songs, the hit single on Side A, and a throwaway song on side B. […]

Former Brooklyn Dodgers Pitcher Glenn Mickens Recalls a Wonderful Career

For every star player with a lengthy major league baseball career, there are dozens who only have a “cup of coffee.” The experiences of those short-time players run the gamut of having a moment or two of glory to playing for hapless second division teams. Glenn Mickens was one of those “cup of coffee” players, […]

The 1984 California Angels

California labored through a miserable 1983 season, and the starting nine averaged 33 years of age. However, a youth movement was beginning in Anaheim, even if the Angels management resisted disrupting the all-star lineup that GM Buzzie Bavasi assembled. Injuries to incumbent shortstop Rick Burleson, right fielder Ellis Valentine, and starting pitcher Ken Forsch provided […]

Clearing The Bases

The non-waiver trade deadline has come and gone with a flurry of deals, but all is not lost as far as player movement.  Players can still be traded, they just have to pass through waivers first.  If they pass through unclaimed, they are free to be dealt to anyone.  If they are claimed by one […]

How the Red Sox Can Build Off a Lost Season

With about two months left in the 2012 season, the record of the Boston Red Sox stands at 54-55, a mere 5 games behind the leaders for the two American League wildcard spots. Although not ideal, many teams would feel comfortable being in such a position with so many games left to play, but for […]

Adam LaRoche, Washington National’s 2012 MVP?

For the four games against the Marlins, Adam LaRoche was 7-for-15 with three home runs and 7 RBI, an amazing offensive display. It has always been said of LaRoche that he is a strong second half player, but no one could have understood just what others were talking about until this past month. He is […]

Bringing Back the Good Old Days

On my way into the grocery store this morning, I spotted a fortyish fellow wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates cap. “It’s a good time to be wearing that cap,” I said. He smiled. “I’ve been wearing it proudly all my life. But this year is more like it.” Indeed. The Pirates haven’t had a winning season since […]

Suns Hit a Gnome Run With Harper Promotion

The Hagerstown Suns, the Nationals’ South Atlantic League farm team, handed out a rather interesting item this past Saturday night, when they gave away Bryce Harper Garden Gnomes to the first 1,000 fans who entered Municipal Stadium. The gates opened at 6:00, but fans began lining up before 5:00 to ensure that they would receive […]

The Infamous Trade Of ’72

The image of our sports heroes have become tarnished ever since Bouton’s infamous baseball diary, “Ball Four.” As Art Spander stated in his April 1973 column for The Sporting News, “Baseball is deceptively simple, a man throwing a ball, another trying to catch it.” Before Bouton’s book, the players we knew only went to church, […]

Hornell’s Eck to finish summer in the Cape Cod Baseball League

Most players of the New York Collegiate Baseball League have returned home for rest and relaxation before heading back to campus this fall. That’s not the case for Eric Eck (Wofford). Not long after his NYCBL season ended, Eck agreed to make the trip to Massachusetts and finish the summer season with

Schweigert and Niagara advance to the NYCBL finals

GENEVA, N.Y. — On a night that saw 31 hits, defense made the difference. When it was over, the final out rested in an appropriate glove, and the Niagara Power clinched its first trip to the finals. Niagara swept the New York Collegiate Baseball League Western Division finals pounding out 19 hits en route to […]

Jr. Chiefs flex muscles and eliminate the Red Wings, 14-7

GENEVA, N.Y. – So much for momentum and any theories of inertia. The Geneva Red Wings came into the New York Collegiate Baseball League Eastern Division finals with a full head of steam after winning three straight in rousing fashion. That streak came to a screeching halt at McDonough Park. Frank Salerno (St. Thomas Aquinas) led […]

Phil Linz: “Play Me or Keep Me!”

Just before the trade deadline, San Francisco Giants’ reserve outfielder Nate Schierholtz got his wish and was sent to the Philadelphia Phillies.  Schierholtz, in a public “play me or trade me” ultimatum issued to the first place Giants via San Francisco Chronicle baseball beat reporter Henry Schulman, said that he had come to the sad […]

Eddy Rodriguez’s First At-Bat Homer Tough to Top Although New Leadership at Newark Makes a Statement

For every pitch during nearly three and a half hours (3:28), the game had every bit the look of the final game in a championship series.  The lead changed hands three times and the game was tied on four occasions.  Play was crisp throughout with 25 hits and 15 runs.  And the winning run scored […]

Chatting with Red Sox 2012 1st Round Pick Deven Marrero

The 2012 season has been just as tough for the Boston Red Sox as the last month of their 2011 campaign. Although fans have endured significant recent disappointment, the future appears bright given the way that the team has continued to smartly draft and sign young players. The consensus jewel of their 2012 draft is […]

Handicapping the Stretch Run in the NL East

Who will wilt under the pressure and strain of the long season, age and experience or youth and energy? That is the question facing the two contenders in the NL East, the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals. Atlanta has the edge in experiece, but will veterans like Chipper Jones and Tim Hudson wear down in […]

Red Wings reap the benefits of Heyman’s decision

GENEVA, N.Y. — It hasn’t taken long for Grant Heyman to get comfortable making his way around the base paths of the New York Collegiate Baseball League. Not that he needed any directions. Getting four bags at a time looks familiar to him. Heyman connected for his latest home run on Sunday as the Geneva […]

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