Josh Beckett Needs to Grow Up

Yesterday, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe, wrote an excellent article (http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2012/02/beckett_angry_a.html) outlining pitcher Josh Beckett’s anger towards the “snitches” who made the epicurean extracurricular activities of himself and several other teammates public. Nearly five months after the news of the Red Sox clubhouse behavior went public, it shows no sign of dying down. However, […]

Clearing The Bases

It’s time for the third in our series of player rankings, first base.  In the past I have refused to spend a top pick or top money on a 1B because of the depth of the position.  The depth remains strong, I listed 15 players below, and didn’t include players like Mike Napoli and Carlos […]

Baseball Industry Network to Meet Twice in March

My friend Tyrone Brooks, the Director of Baseball Operations for the Pittsburgh Pirates, will be hosting two more Baseball Industry Network Meet-Ups during Spring Training, one in Florida and the other in Arizona.  For information about each, please click on the images below to see the official PDF.

The Greatest Show

“There are more people out there touring the nation . . . chasing the purity offered by minor league baseball than you’d think.” -  James Bailey       In his debut novel, The Greatest Show on Dirt, James Bailey does our national pastime a genuine service by bringing to life a few random members […]

“Out Of My League: A Rookie’s Survival In The Bigs”

I first met Dirk Hayhurst after The Bullpen Gospels had already been a hit on the New York Times best-seller list.  In fact, that’s why I reached out to him—he was a big league pitcher who also had the ability to write, two things I admire and respect.  I found Dirk to be engaging, open […]

“Long Taters” Goes Deep

I first met Ron Anderson via email three years ago when he replied to a post I made about my search for contributors to Seamheads.com.  Ron and I struck up a friendship and I was thrilled to learn he was in the early stages of a book about one of my all-time favorite players—George “Boomer” […]

Mike Gener: Baseball’s Rudy Works Toward Goal of Becoming Big League Bullpen Catcher

Professional baseball teams are comprised of many more positions than just those on the active 25-man rosters. One position that is largely forgotten by fans is that of bullpen catcher. Keeping pitchers warm and stretched out is an integral job on every team, whether it is on game day or part of off-day routines. The […]

Spring Training, Here We Come!

Ah, spring. The time when a young man’s fancy turns to baseball, especially if that young man is now 55 years old.  Hope is springing eternal in training camps across Arizona and Florida and fans up north are dreaming that this is the year for their favorite team. Don’t you wish you could go to […]

The 1980 California Angels

The California Angels won the American League West in 1979 with a 88-74 record. The long-suffering franchise had accumulated a talented core of veteran ballplayers through free agency (Don Baylor, Bobby Grich, Joe Rudi) and trades (Rod Carew, Brian Downing, Dan Ford, Nolan Ryan). 1B/DH Willie Aikens (1975 first-round draft pick) and 3B Carney Lansford […]

Statement of MLBPA Executive Director Michael Weiner Regarding Ryan Braun’s Grievance and the Joint Drug Agreement

New York, NY, Friday, February 24, 2012 … Michael Weiner, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, today issued the following statement regarding Ryan Braun’s grievance and baseball’s Joint Drug Agreement. “Our Joint Drug Program stands as strong, as accurate and as reliable as any in sport, both before and after the Braun […]

Poker and Baseball Look Boring, But There’s More Than Meets the Eye

Chances are that often have you heard someone say “I don’t like watching baseball because it is boring.”  Unless someone is hitting the long ball, most people think that baseball is a long drawn out game lacking excitement.  Oddly enough, there are many that think that professional poker tournaments such as the World Series of […]

Clearing The Bases

It’s time for the second in our series of player rankings, catchers.  Catchers don’t necessarily get much love in fantasy leagues because they just don’t seem to be able to put up the offensive numbers that other positions can.  Why is that?  There is an old saying in baseball about playing catcher, “tools of ignorance”.  […]

Arbitration Panel Sustains Ryan Braun Grievance

New York, NY, Thursday, February 23, 2012 … Today the Arbitration Panel announced its decision, by a 2-1 vote, to sustain Ryan Braun’s grievance challenging his 50-game suspension by the Commissioner’s Office. Under the Joint Drug Agreement, a player’s successful challenge to a suspension normally would not have been made public. The parties have agreed, […]

The Glory Days: The Original Big Red Machine

The 1956 Cincinnati baseball team was the original Big Red Machine. Of course, Sparky Anderson’s Cincinnati clubs of 1970-76 were given that nickname, the ’75 and ’76 teams steamrolling through the National League on the way to 210 wins and back-to-back World Series championships. But the ’56 Redlegs (that’s what they were called back then) […]

The Boston Red Sox Have Problems

Without a single spring training game yet being played, it is apparent that all is not well in Red Sox Nation. A franchise that became synonymous with stability and efficiency has disintegrated into chaos and uncertainty over the past six months. Despite numerous changes meant to address the disastrous way the 2011 season ended, 2012 […]

Pitchers and Catchers And Technology…The New Rite Of Spring

This is one of the weeks that baseball fans cherish, the week pitchers and catchers report, and hope springs anew for each of the 30 Major League Baseball clubs. Everyone feels like they have a chance to catch the defending champion Cardinals, all starting with a clean slate in the warm weather of Florida and […]

Clearing the Bases

This may be my favorite time of the season.  Pitchers and catchers have reported.  Instead of the anticipation, we have actual baseball action.  We can start to dream about warm summer days watching a ballgame in the backyard and having a barbecue.  Some of my favorite times.  Speaking of favorite times, draft day.  For me […]

Good Show, Mr. Bailey

Back in the good old disco ’70s, I had the thrill of working a New England amusement park roller coaster for three consecutive summers. It was me and four other impressionable, party-loving young guys and the pay was crap, but we had so many vivid, unforgettable moments I can still feel the sensation of stopping […]

The Glory Days: The Old Left-Hander

Warren Spahn was a wonderful pitcher. The winningest left-hander in history, his 363 victories place him sixth on the all-time list. His career earned run average was 3.09 over 5,243 innings. I am amazed that Spahn is omitted from some of the recent listings of the greatest pitchers of all time as ranked by current […]

Appreciating Tim Wakefield

He’ll never get into the Baseball Hall of Fame without a ticket, but in the wake of his recent retirement, Tim Wakefield deserves an endless amount of kudos for what he did for the Boston Red Sox and their fans over the past 17 seasons. In many ways his retirement is surprising because it seemed […]

Off The Beaten Basepaths

It appears quite possible that the Hagerstown Suns, Bryce Harper’s home for the first half of the 2011 season, will be moving to Winchester, Virginia. The Suns of the South Atlantic League had hoped that the city of Hagerstown would either significantly renovate Municipal Stadium or replace it all together, but that hasn’t happened. The […]

Economics of MLB Ballparks

Several sources in the literature provide general and specific economic and financial data and basic sport statistics about each current and former Major League Baseball Ballpark (MLBB). These sources, as a group, include academic studies, articles in books, journals, magazines and newspapers, industry reports, and websites. With respect to MLBBs, authors focus on and analyze […]

American League Players To Watch Out For in 2012

Every year major league teams hope they have at least one player on their roster that will break out and give them unexpected production. Such players often mean the difference between the post-season and going home after game 162. Teams more or less know what they will get from their stars, so any surprises they […]

Gary Carter: El Niño Perenne (Gary Carter: The Perennial Kid)

 El hombre que compartió con Johnny Bench, Thurman Munson y Carlton Fisk la élite del receptor más completo de las Grandes Ligas en los años setenta y ochenta, Gary Carter, se marchó este jueves 16 de febrero de 2012, víctima de un cáncer cerebral.  Tal vez sus hazañas más recordadas datan de su paso por […]

How Would You Reconstruct MLB From Scratch?

Here’s a hypothetical question: If you could restart MLB from scratch, how many teams would you have, and where would you put them? I mean, would you maintain all 30 teams, in each of the 30 places they currently call home, or would you construct a 28-team league, a 26-team league, a 32-team league? Would […]

An Evening with Joe Torre

The 1,500 fans crammed into George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium Wednesday night came to hear one of the most well-respected names in the game today, Joe Torre.  It was Phil Hochberg’s honor to emcee the evening sponsored by the Smithsonian Museum.  As the former Senator’s PA announcer Hochberg looked out over the crowd noting it […]

Farewell

“And listen to the sound of a new beginning Oh, this is where the old is ending Listen to the sound . . . .” Building 429     We arrived at the ballpark early, my sister and I.    Very early.   Two weeks ahead of pitchers and catchers.   Few people walked the neighborhood.   […]

Another Plateau for Independent Game: 50 Players Headed to Major League Camps

It seems pretty basic:  If a major league team needs pitching—and who doesn’t, either right away or at some time during the grueling season—the scouting department had better include the Independent leagues somewhere in its blueprint for finding arms. A record 50 players who have toiled outside of the affiliated ranks, including 38 hurlers, will […]

A New Season

The 2012 baseball season will soon commence with the start of spring training, and though I look forward to it just as the millions of fans across the country do, I find myself waxing nostalgic for the days I played the game myself. I work a nine-to-five now, follow the game, play fantasy baseball, and […]

Negro Leagues DB Update: 1912 & 1913 Negro Leagues

We’ve posted two more Negro league seasons, 1912 and 1913.  The number of games between the best black professionals gets a little sparser with each year you go backward.  It’s not that they were playing fewer games overall, it’s just that their opponents were much more likely to be white semipro or amateur teams. Important […]

Hal Trosky, Jr.: A Stubborn Baseball Player

Hal Trosky, Jr. grew up with a great model to emulate while dreaming of becoming a big league player. His father, Hal Trosky, Sr. was a major league star, who, if not for World War II may have made a very strong case for enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame. As it was, Senior […]

Waiting for Cano

I can’t wait until spring training starts. Pitchers and catchers report Feb. 19 for the Yankees, and that date can’t come soon enough. With apologies to playwright Samuel Beckett, I find myself “Waiting for Cano.” That’s because I will be attending my first spring training game next month: Yankees vs. the Phillies on March 30 […]

Catching Up With Seattle Mariners Prospect Willy Kesler

The Seattle Mariners are in full-blown rebuilding mode. With aging super star Ichiro in the twilight of his career, and a roster of young players like Felix Hernandez, Dustin Ackley, and Jesus Montero, the franchise is undergoing a rapid transformation. Not only have they been restocking many positions at the major league level, but they […]

Ray Fosse: Un catcher que siempre recordaré. ( Ray Fosse: A catcher I’ll always remember )

A mediados de la temporada 1969-70, o quizás antes, apareció un receptor en la alineación de los Navegantes del Magallanes que poco a poco hizo olvidar el gran desempeño realizado por Walter Hriniak la campaña anterior. En esta oportunidad Hriniak tuvo dificultades con el pitcheo de la liga. El nuevo máscara, todo disposición, empezó por […]

Interview with Baltimore Pitching Prospect Wynn Pelzer

Some people were born to do certain things. When Wynn Isaiah Pelzer was born in 1986, he was given the perfect name for a baseball pitcher. His name is the type of gift sports editors can only dream of, as headlines like “Pelzer Wynn’s Again” and “Pelzer Runs Wynning Streak to Ten” are ready made […]

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