I might take a plane, I might take a train.
Posted: November 2, 2015 Filed under: Fave raves | Tags: baseball Leave a comment
Image from baseballessential.com
This season I cheered for the Twins, then the Blue Jays, then the Mets. (Actually, I also cheered for whoever was playing the Yankees.)
All that said, I am ecstatic for the Kansas City Royals, their fans, and their city.
As Joe Buck said on TV Saturday night, I hope the baseball world is sitting up and taking notice of how this Royals team goes about playing baseball.
Nicely done, gents.
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Well, the World Series has begun.
Posted: October 28, 2015 Filed under: It's a puzzlement | Tags: annoyances, baseball Leave a comment
The traditional Fall Classic, where the best teams from the American and National Leagues vie for ultimate glory and supremacy under autumnal skies and crisp fall leaves.
And you know what THAT means –
The oldies radio stations have started playing Christmas songs.
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To thee, oh God, we give thanks.
Posted: October 26, 2015 Filed under: "It Seems To Me" | Tags: baseball, faith Leave a comment
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You gotta believe.
Posted: October 22, 2015 Filed under: "It Seems To Me" | Tags: baseball Leave a comment
“I’ve now lived long enough to understand, to appreciate, that most of us are inherently more Met than Yankee. Yes, we may win a championship now and then. But more likely we’re underdogs, ever lagging, our lives more struggle than success. And that may compel us to prefer humility over arrogance. That’s why most of us would probably rather bet on David than Goliath. We hunger for the impossible to become the probable.” – Bob Brody
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Gonna be a great ALCS.
Posted: October 5, 2014 Filed under: "It Seems To Me" | Tags: baseball Leave a comment
Images from lowerthebar.net and fightblindness.org
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A baseball fan schools a Congressman.
Posted: October 8, 2013 Filed under: Take A Stand | Tags: baseball, douchebaggery, Republicans Leave a comment
Image from newscastic.com
Today, in the wake of his team’s elimination from the National League Divisional Series, an Atlanta Braves fan took his US Congressman (Republican, naturally) to task for the government shutdown. Read the rest of this entry »
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If Baseball Were Like The Singles Scene
Posted: September 4, 2013 Filed under: Dispatches from the front lines | Tags: baseball, relationships Leave a comment
Image from printabletreats.com
Announcer 1: Now approaching the plate from the on-deck circle: the designated hitter, number 56, Clete Bimbleman.
Announcer 2: Bimbleman makes his debut tonight after a fast ascent as a promising prospect. He’s primed for this appearance.
Announcer 1: His style and confidence created quite a buzz on the Internet. Now he’s earned a chance to show this prospective owner what he’ll bring to the team.
Announcer 2: Bimbleman adjusts his gloves, flexes his arms, shoulders the bat, and steps into the batter’s box.
Announcer 1: The pitcher takes the sign. Looks… sets… and delivers. (whoosh…) Fastball, outside. Bimbleman chases the pitch, swings, misses. Strike one.
Umpire: You’re out!
(Crowd gasps… mutters… then begins to yell and cat-call.)
Announcer 2: Um… hold on, that was only strike one.
Announcer 1: Yeah, it’s a new rule. During your first turn at bat: one strike, and you’re out.
Announcer 2: Wait… wut…?!
Announcer 1: One try, one chance, one swing, one strike… sorry, pal, that’s your shot.
Announcer 2: Wow. Seems a prospect worth calling up would get a fair shake, a chance to prove himself.
Announcer 1: Well, the prospective owners demanded this rule. All they want to see these days is one chance. They don’t have the time, or quite frankly the attention span either. And though some don’t have a lot of prospects, they still enjoy turning down a perfectly good one. It’s strategic. It makes them feel choosy.
Announcer 2: Ha! Clete just seems amused that he’s out after one strike! He’s waving to the fans, he tossed his batting helmet into the stands, he even shook the plate umpire’s hand before heading to the dugout.
Announcer 1: And here comes the prospective owner to talk with Bimbleman. She’s assuring him that he’s a great prospect; that it’s not him, it’s her; that she’s just not emotionally ready to try out another player; that he’s sure to find a team that is right for him…
Announcer 2: Straight outta the ol’ playbook.
Announcer 1: And as Clete turns and heads to the locker room… can you believe it?… she appears to have changed her mind. She’s signaled the umpire and the pitcher, and she’s offering Bimbleman another turn at bat! Wow!
Announcer 2: Geez Louise, can this get any weirder?!
Announcer 1: Bimbleman turns, looks, ponders… but… he tells her “no way.” He says he doesn’t need to be on a team that bad.
(Crowd stamping, whistling. and cheering.)
Announcer 2: All the players and the umpires are applauding as Bimbleman walks through the dugout tunnel, leaving behind one regretful prospective owner.
Announcer 1: How about that?! Clete Bimbleman is still a free agent!
Announcer 2: Not for too much longer, I bet…
Announcer 1: And that’s Baseball Tonight!
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Baseball needs more of this.
Posted: June 9, 2013 Filed under: Fave raves | Tags: baseball, coolness, music, style 2 CommentsBrian Evans, ladies and gentlemen.
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Spring
Posted: April 1, 2013 Filed under: Fave raves | Tags: baseball, heroes Leave a comment
Image from startribune.com
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Just in case you were searching for another reason to hate the New York Yankees
Posted: March 25, 2013 Filed under: "It Seems To Me" | Tags: annoyances, baseball, douchebaggery Leave a comment
Image from twoseamfastblog.wordpress.com
It must be spring. The New York Yankees are already pissing me off.
The Yankees players who will start the season on the disabled list have a combined salary that is more than the complete player payrolls of 14 other major league teams.
- Alex Rodriguez: $28M
- Mark Teixeira: $22.5M
- Derek Jeter: $17M
- Curtis Granderson: $13M
- Phil Hughes: $7.15M
- Clay Rapada: $0.525M
- TOTAL: $88.2M
This ranks these six players’ salaries right behind the Baltimore Orioles ($89M) and just ahead of the Atlanta Braves ($88M). And note that this is just salary: it doesn’t include performance incentives.
Plus if you were to subtract that $88.2M from the total Yankee payroll of $211M, just the remaining $122.8M would rank eighth in all team salaries. Just ahead of the Texas Rangers ($121M), and just behind the defending world champion San Francisco Giants ($140M). And consider too that the Rangers are still on the hook for part of A-Rod’s salary!
I say this every fall: how much pride can you take in winning your division, league, or World Series if all you did was go out and buy it?
It must be spring. I believe in the Twins, and the Yankees still suck. From the awesome Two Seam Fastblog:
My point here, is that what makes baseball so complex and interesting, is the fact that there’s a villain and there are small peasants who, every once in a while, through merit, can rise up and slay the beast who has every advantage. The Yankees are that villain. They outspend everyone and buy championships and their fans are cruel and merciless and the man spending the money’s name is (general manager Brian) Cashman. The fact that there is this evil power residing over the entire sport creates a sentimentality about it that is lost in other sports. In other sports, underdogs are underdogs because they’re worse than the other teams. In baseball, underdogs are defined not just by the talent of the team, but by the disadvantages they face financially. You can have the most talented team in the league (Tampa Bay Rays?) and still be an underdog. Everyone loves a good David and Goliath matchup, especially when Goliath is an aristocratic dickhole.
