Stimpson’s perseverance paying dividends for the Red Wings

GENEVA, N.Y. — There was Leon Stimpson running along the right field line fence exchanging high fives with the denizens of McDonough Park. Less than four days earlier he breathed life into a season on life support. Now, Stimpson and his Geneva Red Wing teammates have a chance to play for a championship. No one […]

Geneva Red Wings advance with a 6-5 victory over Adirondack

GENEVA, N.Y. — Pitcher and team went looking for redemption. The hurler sought to put a disastrous start behind him. The club needed to make sense of a season of unfulfilled expectations. Both reached their goals. Aaron Benusis (Alvernia) notched a series-clinching win as the Geneva Red Wings defeated the Adirondack Trail Blazers, 6-5 to

Clearing The Bases

Well the non-waiver trade deadline came and went at 4pm EST earlier today with quite a few deals.  There was some talk that teams wouldn’t do much trading because it wasn’t worth it to possibly only play one playoff game, and that could be on the road.  Instead though there were quite a few trades […]

Diez lustros del juego sin hits ni carreras de Bill Monbouquette. (Fifty years from Bill Monbouquette’s no hitter).

Durante el paréntesis de 36 años entre el no-hitter de Dave Morehead el 16 de septiembre de 1965 y el de Hideo Nomo el 04 de abril de 2001, el juego que más llamaba mi atención era la joya de Monbouquette, aunque también me intrigaba el de Morehead porque había sido el último. El no […]

1933 Washington Senators, Baseball’s Most “Interesting” Team

Through games played Saturday July 28, the Washington Nationals were 20 games over .500. The last time a D.C.-based team reached those lofty heights was in 1933 when the then-Senators won the American League title. Baseball historians will never include that year’s Senators team with the best of all time. But I’ll make the case […]

The 2012 All-Underrated Team

As Major League Baseball heads into the second half of its season chatter increases about the frontrunners for various end-of-year awards. Although these awards recognize some of the greatest players in the game, there are others who toil in relative obscurity despite their own excellent production. They are not overlooked because of unfairness, but rather […]

Stimpson punches Geneva’s playoff ticket with walkoff hit

Around half-past ten EST Wednesday night, the playoff scenarios in the New York Collegiate Baseball League‘s Eastern Division were as tangled as a weed bed in nearby Seneca Lake. A three-way tie for the final two playoff spots looked probable. Then everything changed.

‘It Feels Really Good’ to Be Back on Diamond After Four Years Away for Fit-Looking Shea Hillenbrand

One of the more improbable of comeback attempts is that of two-time major league all-star Shea Hillenbrand, who averaged just over 85 runs batted in for his first four full seasons (’02-05 with Boston, Arizona and Toronto) before falling out of any level of affiliated baseball five years ago.  He did log 36 games (.340) […]

Catching Up With New York Mets Prospect Travis Taijeron

The past few years have been difficult for the New York Mets. The Fred Wilpon ownership debacle, expensive free agents like Jason Bay not panning out, and the departure of franchise stalwart Jose Reyes have all left fans reeling. The hope that the team can turn things around is largely built on their young player […]

Ansett and Burkhardt lead the Ridgemen past Olean in home finale, 6-3

Looking for a sendoff to the 2012 home schedule, Taylor Hargrove and his Lake Ontario Ridgemen found the right combination. Spencer Ansett (Whitworth) held one of the league’s top offenses in check for eight innings, and Jonathan Burkhardt (East Texas Baptist) sparked an 11-hit attack as the Ridgemen downed the Olean Oilers, 6-3 in New […]

Walter Johnson’s 1924 Innings Limit

The 2012 Washington Nationals have moved beyond any centennial comparisons to Clark Griffith’s inaugural year at the helm in DC. Yes, having Davey Johnson come aboard in Washington is a nice parallel, but that 1912 Nationals team trailed the Boston Red Sox–led by Smoky Joe Wood and Tris Speaker–the entire season. They remained in second […]

Clearing The Bases

With the big trades that went down on Monday you would’ve thought it was deadline day, but no, the non-waiver trade deadline is actually a week from today at 4pm EST.  Detroit beat the clock by trading SP Jacob Turner and a couple of minor leaguers to Miami for SP Anibal Sanchez and 2B Omar […]

Royals Prospect Terrance Gore is Speeding His Way Through the Minors

The recent success of Cincinnati Reds’ speed-burning prospect Billy Hamilton has given new life and respect to what players with his skill set can bring to the game. If utilized properly, speedsters can wreak havoc, not only on the base paths, but with potentially game-changing defensive range. It’s not easy for teams to find such […]

Closers Who Rose And Fell

If John Axford never regains his role as Brewers closer, it would hardly be the first time a reliever amassed a lot of saves (in Axford’s case, a franchise-record 46 in 2011) and then drifted off into the sunset. In fact, the baseball landscape is littered with members of the “rise and fall of the […]

A Few Questions with John Morlan

From the time he started his collegiate baseball career with Ohio University, John Morlan was one of the top pitching prospects in the game. He had been drafted in 1965 (8th round by the Reds), 1967 (1st round by the Pirates, and 1968 (4th round by the Indians), but passed on signing each time in […]

Lynch and Newton drive Niagara in victory over the Ridgemen

Hornell’s Dodgers had their streak. The Syracuse Jr. Chiefs put together their own – the season’s longest. Olean had a nice run. As did Utica. Now seems to be Niagara’s time. Chane Lynch (Dallas Baptist U.) collected a pair of hits as the Niagara Power defeated the Lake Ontario Ridgemen, 6-4 in New York Collegiate […]

College Baseball Economics

During August-September of 2012, a New York company named Springer will publish College Sports Inc.: How Commercialism Influences Intercollegiate Athletics. Produced and distributed as a ‘SpringerBrief,’ the book contains seven chapters and includes a Foreword and Acknowledgements, and an Appendix, Bibliography, and Index. Besides the Introduction in Chapter 1 and Conclusion in Chapter 7, the […]

Clearing The Bases

Today is the two week mark before the non-waiver trade deadline in Major League Baseball.  Trades are always a fun thing to discuss both in fantasy baseball and reality.  We always wonder where certain players will end up.  Will it help our team?  Will it hurt our team?  Most trades that are mentioned won’t happen, […]

Chatting with Boston’s “Other” Kendrick Perkins

Many Boston sports fans were upset last year when popular Celtics’ center Kendrick Perkins was traded away. Although he is gone, Boston should prepare for another Kendrick Perkins. This one plays baseball in the Red Sox organization and looks like he could become even more well-regarded than his eponymous predecessor. The baseball playing Perkins is […]

Living a Baseball Dream, with Tom and Neil Walker

I am sure the aspiration of many Little League baseball players is to play in the “big” leagues.  On the other hand how many fathers dream of watching their son play at the Major League level?  This explains why I am envious of my friend Tom Walker.  My dreams are his reality! When Tom, a […]

Part II: Canadian Hall of Fame–Rusty Staub

Part I of this essay, The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame Honours its Own, introduced Induction Day at the Canadian Hall’s St. Marys, Ontario, home base on June 23, 2010. The special guests of honour that day were Rheal Cormier, Doug Melville, the Canadian Senior Men’s National Baseball team, winners of the gold meal at […]

From My Cold Dead Hands

There was so much written last week in DC about Stephen Strasburg’s innings limit that he might warrant consideration as Mitt Romney’s running mate, or Obama’s for that matter. Will he or won’t he? All-Star Week was the slowest sports week of the year—no hockey, basketball, football training camp, nada. So maybe what sports junkies […]

A Key Acquisition From Independent Baseball Gets Attention Right Before All-Star Game

It was only a couple of hours before Tuesday’s All-Star Game in the massive tent outside of Kansas City’s handsome Kauffman Stadium where the official pre-game party was held when Royals Hall of Famer Art Stewart was remembering the important role Jose Lima played for the American League team after his contract was purchased from […]

When Honus Wagner Had to Really Prove Himself…

For most fans of baseball history, Honus Wagner represents one of the most respected and mythic figures the game has ever known. The “Flying Dutchman” spent all but three seasons of his 21 year major league career playing shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates before being an inaugural inductee to the Baseball Hall of Fame in […]

MLB Draft Pick Heyman signs with the Geneva Red Wings

Looking to bolster their lineup for the stretch run, the Geneva Red Wings of the New York Collegiate Baseball League signed MLB draft pick, Grant Heyman. The Toronto Blue Jays chose Heyman out of high school in the 11th round with 355th overall pick of the 2012 draft.

Schwartz pitches Niagara to split with Ridgemen

WEBSTER, N.Y. — It’s not often that coaches enjoy surprises, especially when battling for playoff position late in the season.  Niagara’s Garrett Shivley got something unexpected Monday night, and he’s not complaining. Jordan Schwartz (Niagara Univ.) tossed a complete-game three hitter as the Power rebounded for a doubleheader split (6-5 / 5-1) with the Lake […]

Red Sox Round Up

O.K., Red Sox fans, the free-agent signings of Carl Crawford and John Lackey continue to cause MAJOR nausea among Boston fans and render many sleepless nights. But they ALL haven’t been bad; here’s a look at a few of the BETTER free-agent signings in the team’s history: 1) Manny Ramirez: Eyebrows were raised in the […]

Turn Back the Clock, Please

Paul Dickson, whose book on Bill Veeck makes him an authority, said that the old master would be appalled at what passes for marketing gimmicks at today’s baseball games. But the Washington Nationals did such a wonderful job on “Turn Back the Clock Night” last week. I kept thinking that it would have all made […]

Taylor Guerrieri: The Next Big Thing in Tampa

The Tampa Bay Rays are the model small-budget franchise for Major League Baseball. They eschew going after big ticket free agents in favor of methodical young player development. In recent years they have had particular success in cultivating starting pitchers in their farm system, producing quality young arms like James Shields, David Price, Jeremy Hellickson, […]

Canadian Hall of Fame Inductions: Cormier and Melvin, Part I

On Saturday, June 23 the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame held its annual Induction Ceremony in the picturesque town of St. Marys Ontario. It was a beautiful sunshine-filled day. Not that it mattered – for this day all eyes were on the stars. St. Marys, a hamlet set deep in the Ontario countryside only a […]

The Top 5 All Star Game Programs To Collect

When you have any type of hobby there are different levels and degrees that you can carry your interests to.  Sports always offer a wide variety in general, from casual follower to the beloved degenerate gambler who would put money on anything, to the collector of artifacts and memorabilia.  Of the four major sports, baseball […]

Clearing The Bases

We talked last week about players that were in the All-Star game that shouldn’t be (Pablo Sandoval, Mike Napoli and others) and also talked about players that were snubbed (AJ Pierzynski, Zack Greinke, etc).  Today we are going to discuss the game itself and the changes I believe should be made to make the game […]

At the 2012 All-Star Break, the Case for Andrew McCutchen for NL MVP

We are at the All-Star break, just past the half-way mark for the 2012 regular season. So naturally baseball fans are taking stock of the MVP and Cy Young candidates in each league. I was thinking about the National League MVP race the past few days, and until recently I wouldn’t have considered him the […]

Muglia and Adirondack make it two in a row with 6-2 triumph over Geneva

GENEVA, N.Y. — It’s not in the losing as much as it is in the getting up after defeat. After dropping five consecutive and falling to .500 at 12 wins and 12 losses, the Adirondack Trail Blazers got up off the canvas. Two strong pitching performances later have the Trail Blazers streaking in the opposite […]

Meet Detroit Tigers Prospect Joe Rogers

The Detroit Tigers are known for mega stars like Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, and Justin Verlander, but they can’t rely only on players signed through free agency, so young player development is an important component of the organization. One of the prospects from the 2012 MLB draft they are most excited about is Joe Rogers, […]

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