This is less about a quest for forgiveness than it is a softening of the edges. Time might be on McGwire’s side, because who knows what else we’ll know about the Steroid Era in another five years? Who knows who will be voting for the Hall of Fame then? Baseball writing isn’t exactly a growth industry these days.
The Hall of Fame is about to tread into the jaws of the steroid scandal, because in 2013 Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are up for their ...
Basically every time anyone who was involved in baseball in any way from roughly 1995-2003 appears on camera, McCarver and Buck are obligated to explain his connection to the rampant steroid abuse that heaped shame upon a once-pure industry. Guys from the 70s are exempt even if they sweated amphetamines through their powder-blue road unis, and no need to even mention if a guy from the 80s got a bloody nose every time he laid down a bunt.
(pant-pant) I’ve been arguing all morning about this. (pant-pant)
TIM McCARVER SPEAKS; EVERYBODY LISTENS
As soon as the play happened, expert analyst Tim McCarver decided that Albert Pujols should be given an error. After all, according to McCarver, Pujols touched the throw and, thus, should be given an error. McCarver later expanded, stating that the fact that Pujols touched the ball hurt the chances of Cardinal catcher Yadier Molina to throw out Andrus at second.
Argh! The Royals could have been enjoying 75 win seasons this entire time!
It nearly happened before the 2003 season when, coincidentally, the Royals and Rangers became co-tenants at their new spring home in Surprise, Ariz.
Those were the Royals’ grim penny-pinching days, and they were already fretting at maximizing their return when inevitably forced to trade outfielder Carlos Beltran, who had just completed his third season of at least 100 runs and 100 RBIs in four years.
The kids could handle the mess. Never mind that Albert Pujols created it. This is his clubhouse, where his rules apply and where the term leader is thrown around rather liberally considering real leaders, you know, lead. They own their mistakes, like a ninth-inning error in the World Series, and they damn sure don’t let the pups in the clubhouse, the ones in their first postseason, stand and answer questions they’re not equipped to answer.
And yet there it was, an empty locker flanked by ...
Imagine telling a lawyer she’s been traded for two promising law students. Or a salesman that he’s moving from a software company in Seattle to a tire company in Cleveland. In sports, it happens all the time. To find out how it’s done, we asked Ed Wade, general manager of the Houston Astros, and Frank Wren, his counterpart with the Atlanta Braves—as well as some of their scouts and players—to reconstruct a swap they made just before baseball’s July 31 trading deadline. The process ...
A number of teams in Japanese baseball’s Pacific League have voiced concern over mobile-phone gaming company DeNA Co. buying the Central League’s Yokohama BayStars from Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings Inc., a senior baseball official said Thursday.
The official said three or four clubs are expressing concern about the future stability of a company that operates an online dating service and are questioning its suitability for pro baseball.
Khadafy was beaten, bludgeoned and shot by a wolf pack of Libyan fighters as he made a mad dash to escape his embattled hometown of Sirte—but the Libyan tyrant was ultimately done in by Bombers cap-wearing Mohamed El Bibi, 20, who was credited with firing the fatal bullet, according to Arab media.
The photo caption:
MR. OCTOBER: Yankee fan Mohamed El Bibi triumphantly waves Moammar Khadafy’s golden gun as jubilant Libyans celebrate his shooting the dictator ...
For the second year in a row, the Texas Rangers are in the World Series. A big part of their success could be attributed to second baseman Ian Kinsler, who hit for a .370 weighted on-base average and contributed in many different ways. Before we go any further, let’s take a moment to recap (and appreciate) all of the facets of Kinsler’s game in 2011:
- A stranglehold on the strike zone (1.25 walks per strikeout—best in the majors)
- Plenty of power (a career high 32 home runs, ...
While Bob Raissman receives more JPEG image-play than deserves. (stacheio nuts!)
Is it possible Buck and McCarver were advised to make any discussion of McGwire’s past a low priority? Same holds true with McGwire’s connection to La Russa and the fact that he once managed several steroid abusers but saw no evil.
There’s no doubt that Seligula would not be thrilled if the voices spent a few minutes discussing McGwire’s past. The commissioner, obsessed with his legacy, doesn’t need steroid ...
Bud Selig said Thursday playoff expansion could still happen as soon as 2012, and also that he is worried about the attendance in Tampa Bay, as MLB’s commissioner spoke to Christopher Russo on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Radio.
“I have, if we can work all the details out, as it’s part of the labor negotiations, I have hope that the wild card thing—if we can work it out—is ready for next year,” Selig said.
White Sox fans, who undertook to purchase a big automobile for Big Ed Walsh, Comiskey’s great iron man, are in a quandary as to the amount of money to be expected for the car. They have sufficient money to buy a duplicate of Ty Cobb’s machine, but not enough to present the Sox pitcher with a magnate’s car. The problem will be settled today.
Just get him an OctoAuto and be done with it. Jeez.
The Rangers made a memorable ninth-inning comeback, tying this World Series at one game apiece. Texas scored two runs in the top of the ninth to take the lead and then held on in the bottom half. The Rangers manufactured the two runs to get the victory in dramatic fashion. Some quick thoughts:
Kinsler with gutsy steal: Ian Kinsler led off the ninth with a bloop single and then stole second base with Andrus looking to bunt him over. Kinsler was safe on a close play, putting him in scoring ...
A team source confirmed on Thursday night the Padres will receive compensation if general manager Jed Hoyer and assistant GM Jason McLeod join the Chicago Cubs as expected.
Cubs might not have much of anything left on the farm.
The World Series always draws new and casual fans to the game, and those fans can occasionally be mystified by baseball’s colorful and ever-evolving glossary of slang and jargon, or “slargon.” We’ve defined a few of the more pernicious terms, all culled from last night’s FOX Sports’ broadcast of Game One, by Joe Buck and Tim McCarver—the start of the pair’s 14th straight World Series together.
Appeal: What Joe Buck does not have very much of. That relentless monotone is back in full-force, ...
“Legendary pitcher now blogging at Kaat’s Korner” Cool…I wonder who they hired!
If I were on the mound I would have much preferred to go after Nick Punto in both instances that he came up with 1st base open and the pitcher due up next. Why? First, I would love to have been sitting next to Cardinal great Bob Gibson last night when the situation arose. I can hear Gibby saying…”.if my stuff isn’t good enough to challenge the # 8 hitter and get him out, what am I doing out here.” I would ...
Anaheim Angels all-star Howie Kendrick refused to sign a baseball card for an eight-year-old boy and made him cry, RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned.
According to an Orange County woman, Kendrick moved into her neighborhood for the duration of the Angels season and last month her son asked him for an autograph and was denied, leaving him in tears.
The Schaumburg Boomers take their name from a common term for the prairie chicken, derived from the lively dance the male bird does to impress his female counterparts, said General Manager Andy Viano.
Owner Pat Salvi, who also owns the Gary Southshore RailCats, said he was looking for a unique name for his new team, which replaces the now-defunct Schaumburg Flyers, named for the nearby airport.
“We wanted to do something separate and apart from the Flyers and aviation,” Salvi said. “We wanted ...
The Los Angeles Angels’ search for a general manager is moving along at a brisk pace.
According to a source with direct knowledge of the Angels’ search, owner Arte Moreno and team president John Carpino have been in Florida this week and have already met with Tampa Bay Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and New York Yankees executive Damon Oppenheimer.
The Angels’ list is becoming clearer by the day. In addition to Oppenheimer and Friedman, the Angels also ...
A century’s worth of stock market results show, however, that everyone with a 401k or a hedge fund or any other kind of portfolio should be rooting for the Redbirds. The Dow Jones industrial average has risen an average of 12.9 percent in the calendar year after the Cardinals win the fall classic.That’s easily the best figure among teams with at least four World Series titles. [
And hoist the moist for Mantle’s 80th birthday, lads…hoist the moist!
‘Herewith Enclosed the Pitiful Results ...’
Part of a memo sent from Florida to the LIFE offices in New York by Bob Fellows, a photographer who accompanied Kubek and who took some of the pictures in this gallery. Fellows’ wry take on the proceedings offers a plausible reason why the pictures of “the fellers” were never published: namely, the images were pretty damn good, and the players “hammed it up wonderfully for Kubek’s ...
Theo Epstein is expected to be announced as the Cubs’ president of baseball operations on Friday at Wrigley Field, a source said.
The Cubs will give Epstein a five-year contract worth an estimated $18.5 million to make all baseball-related decisions. Epstein is expected to bring San Diego Padres general manager Jed Hoyer in as Cubs’ GM, though they can not officially talk until Epstein is at the helm of the Cubs. San Diego CEO Jeff Moorad will give the Cubs permission to talk to ...
But there really are no such things as bad World Series ratings. Since 1996, Fox won the night in prime time 58 of the 68 times it has aired a World Series game. (NBC aired the games in 1997 and 1999.)
That’s an impressive 85 percent of the time. During the 13 years Fox has aired the Series, it only has had the benefit of two seven-game series and three six-game series. What makes this even more impressive is that October is a major ratings month, so all of the networks are showcasing their ...
As we used to say when collecting baseball cards…“Open a new and there’s always Ranew.”
Merritt Thomas Ranew, an Albany native who became a Major League baseball player and successful local horse trainer and businessman, died Tuesday, Oct. 18 at Langdale Hospice House in Valdosta. He was 73. Kimbrell-Stern Funeral Directors is handling the arrangements.
Ranew was born on Tuesday, May 10, 1938. In 1957, at the age of 19 young Ranew was discovered by baseball scout and Albany legend Paul Eames. ...
This disaster likely will teach the Red Sox more than a few lessons, among them being what a mistake it is to carry a captain.
This isn’t football, where practices are much more prevalent than games, and the captaincies are determined on a year-to-year, and even week-to-week, basis that respond to specific circumstances on a team in any given year. Once you give out the ‘C’ in baseball, there is no turning back. It doesn’t matter if the player’s role is ...
Meanwhile, two league sources confirmed a report by Sports Illustrated that Epstein could assume the title of president of baseball operations for the Cubs and bring in San Diego Padres general manager Jed Hoyer as his general manager.
Although compensation has been a sticking point in the Epstein negotiations, it’s not expected to play as big a role with the Padres because of the strong relationship between Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts and Padres vice chairman/CEO Jeff Moorad, according to ...
A STORY in Wednesday’s Herald, reporting on the Higher School Certificate English exam - a test of the way in which NSW students read and write their native language - was led by an idiom born in the USA. ‘‘Year 12 students,’’ your correspondent wrote, ‘‘were thrown a curve ball yesterday …’‘
...Baseball phrases such as ‘‘struck out’’ and ‘‘hit a home run’’ are at least as deeply embedded in Australian English as ‘‘caught behind’’ or ‘‘hit for ...
From “character issues” and “hurdles” to a $50 million discount. Scott Boras has nothing on Jim Crane ...
Sources told The Post that Crane—who reached a deal in May to buy the Astros from Drayton McLane for $680 million—is asking for a price reduction in the $50 million range to make the move.
On that front, the two sides are in the “ballpark” on the price, although a deal is far from certain, sources said.
[...]
Now Selig is pushing baseball owners to approve Crane as the new owner of ...
As my old down in the vermouth barbud, Toe-Knee Arm-Ass, used to say…“ALL THE ####### TIME!”
It seems to happen every year — a good hitter gets especially hot in the playoffs and people start talking about how he should get the “Barry Bonds Treatment,” i.e., walking the batter almost every time he is up. It is generally a bad idea to give a free pass to any hitter that often, but if any current player deserves that treatment, it is Albert Pujols. A comparison of Pujols and Bonds as ...
