But forget 100 years from now. Think now, 2011, smack in the dog days of August, when the sun cooks like a grill and the only things worth doing are games. Now, in the middle of the pointless war with Afghanistan, with the debt crisis, with the economic see-saw, with Brad Pitt’s baseball economics film Moneyball about to play in theaters. Now, there is a baseball player sitting in front of me, in the Galleria mall in Redondo Beach (a gag-reflex monument to the sprawl of Los Angeles), and ...
The two White Sox announcers are former players and longtime baseball purists. They both use computers and recognize the need for them in the modern game. But mention Moneyball, sabermetrics, or the achievements of Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane, and they are not afraid to express their complete and utter disdain for all three of them.
“I think it’s one of the biggest farces I’ve ever seen in baseball,” Harrelson said about Beane’s computerized ...
And this is two years BEFORE Jimmy Wynn joined the Yankees!
On June 10, 1975, the New York Yankees, who were enduring their second season of shared tenancy with the Mets at Shea Stadium, while their beloved “House That Ruth Built” was being renovated — dig the Yankees’ “seating chart” below — presented a 21-gun pre-game salute in honor of Army Day, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the formation of the U.S. armed forces. The results, however, were more slapstick than stirring.
Marlins manager Jack McKeon made it official: He will retire for the second time after Wednesday’s season finale.
The decision was expected, and it ends the second chapter for the winningest Marlins manager. McKeon, 80, the second-oldest manager in baseball history, said best time in his long career was managing the Marlins to the World Series championship in 2003. He tired after the 2005 season, only to return this season after Edwin Rodriguez resigned June 20.
This article is ostensibly about basketball rather than baseball, but the sport is less important than that it touches on one of BBTF’s favorite discussion topics, stadium finance. It’s a pretty fascinating look at the whys behind team ownership and the particulars of the Atlantic Yards Project/Barclays Center in Brooklyn and is probably not so dissimilar from the Ballpark Near You.
Chris explains…“Ten worst career ending performances” in which I looked at every retired player with at least 35 WAR from 1919-2011 (about 360 guys in all) and see which prominent players had the worst career ending games. Plus I tossed in Cy Young because he deserved it.”
7. Worst Game Score in a finale: Orel Hershiser
Game Score is one of the better Bill James stats. It’s not the most advanced stat, but it does what it’s supposed to do, turn a starting pitcher’s line (IP, H, R, ER, ...
Umpire William Evans hit one man, beat up another, and was himself handled roughly following the Cleveland-Philadelphia baseball game [in Cleveland] Sunday afternoon.
...
When the game was over and Evans walked towards the clubhouse, a man jeered him, with an oath, Evans says, and Evans struck him. Evans again started for the clubhouse and in front of the entrance another man is said to have cursed him. Evans resented this with his fists, and soon ...
Lackey filed on August 30, according to court docs in Texas, claiming “the marriage has become insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities.”
Krista and John got married in November, 2008.
Sources close to the family tell TMZ that Krista underwent a double mastectomy in March and underwent chemotherapy as recently as June.
The divorce petition says John and Krista had a prenup. It also says Lackey has “separate property” he wants to keep for himself.
Casey stinks. Craig can play defense but cannot hit the ball out of the infield. Green is exactly that. My guess is Ron goes with Jerry in that he does less harm to the team than the other options.
McGehee is in the midst of a 1-for-31 skid in which he’s struggled to even hit the ball hard in many of his at-bats.
His lone hit in that stretch was a solo home run Sept. 19.
Going back even further, McGehee has gone 4 for 52 and has seen his average drop to .224 with 13 homers and 67 runs ...
He’s been a little over the top lately. Vote taken. Sorry.
If you accept the premise that Felix Hernandez really was the American League Cy Young Award Winner in 2010, then the conundrum is solved as to who is the American League MVP in 2011.
The premise of a pitcher with a won-loss record of 13-12, who led his league in only one standard category, is that the Cy Young goes not to the most valuable pitcher, but to some kind of statistically “best” one. We can argue forever about whether ...
Pujols insisted a week ago that he saw little benefit in addressing Sunday’s significance with the team embroiled in its chase for the wild card. His manager and advocate, Tony La Russa, likewise has held his tongue. Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and general manager John Mozeliak acknowledge they have little idea where the next two to three months will take the relationship with a player who next year almost certainly would surpass Stan Musial as the franchise’s home run leader. Pujols’ ...
“Derek, I’ve got a screw loose for you…” (cue Jaye P. Morgan gongflash)
As organizers of “The Derek Jeter Plays” can attest, not just theatrical characters find “El Capitan” inspiring.
“Basically, [actor] Wende O’Reilly came up with this fantastic idea to promote Derek Jeter by way of plays. So she wanted an evening of plays, actually she would be the only one, with her and Derek Jeter to be with her in it,” says producer-actor Joan Pelzer. “But we decided, let’s make it a big evening and ...
But while Japanese billionaire Hiroshi Yamauchi has not been to the United States since becoming the team’s controlling shareholder in 1992, smaller owners can be found at games. Former Microsoft executive Chris Larson owns a 30 percent stake and has been seen giving friends and acquaintances field-level visits during batting practice, where they get to meet players and coaches.
Other minority owners, like Raymond “Buck” Ferguson, another ...
“Born in 1868, Charles M. Conlon was a proofreader at the New York Telegram when he began shooting pictures as a hobby. He started to frequent baseball stadiums in the first decade of the 1900s at the prompting of an editor. Using a Graflex camera, he soon filled the pages of the Telegram, as well as prestigious baseball publications including the Sporting News and the Spalding Guide, with evocative, intimate portraits. By the time he snapped his ...
Right on the tail of “Lion King” were baseball drama “Moneyball” from Sony Corp.‘s Sony Pictures and the family film “Dolphin Tale” from Time Warner Inc.‘s Warner Bros. Pictures. According to early studio estimates, the former grossed $20.6 million from 2,993 theaters while the latter grossed $20.3 million from 3,507 theaters.
An adaptation of the non-fiction book by Michael Lewis, “Moneyball” stars Brad Pitt as Oakland As general manager Billy Beane and appealed primarily to older audiences. ...
Clayton Kershaw put the finishing touches on his Cy Young Award resume Sunday by pitching the Dodgers to a 6-2 win over the Padres, concluding his remarkable season with a likely pitching Triple Crown (leading the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts).
At 21-5, Kershaw tied Arizona’s Ian Kennedy for a share of the victory title and finished the season with a 2.28 ERA and 248 strikeouts. Kershaw would still be credited for the Triple Crown even if he tied for the victory lead. Kershaw would be ...
Start with the consideration that on July 6 [the Dodgers] were 14 games under .500 and had been outscored by 44 runs. When [Matt] Kemp homered Friday night, it meant the Dodgers were 42-26 since that night and had outscored their opponents by 72 runs, with a mass of injuries, including the knee that hobbled Andre Ethier and forced an operation…
Starting against the Tigers, [Brian] Matusz gave up six runs in five innings on Sunday, just slightly increasing his ERA from 10.68 to 10.69. It’s the worst ERA ever for a pitcher who made at least 10 starts in a season.
1. Brian Matusz (Bal, 2011): 10.69 ERA in 49 2/3 IP
2. Roy Halladay (Tor, 2000): 10.64 ERA in 67 2/3 IP
hellodes adds…“Fantastic news for people who have Jim Thome in leagues with a “one appearance” eligibility rule:”
The crowd got a big surprise when Jim Thome made what could be his last appearance at Progressive Field—as a third baseman. The 41-year-old slugger took the position for one pitch in the ninth.
Thome got a standing ovation as a pinch-hitter in the eighth. When he walked, the crowd booed Twins pitcher Glen Perkins. Moments later, they cheered again as Thome went to third—where he ...
We should probably just have an RSS feed of Baseball Reference’s blog around here:
The other night Brandon Morrow finally registered his first ground-ball double play of the season. It came against Desmond Jennings of all people, in a game against Tampa Bay.
Morrow has pitched 173.1 innings!
According to Baseball Reference, Morrow now has induced 1 GIDP in 137 opportunities.
It seems like BBTF should mark this occasion even if the participants in the historic game were underwhelming representatives:
The 200,000th regular-season game in Major League Baseball history was recognized Saturday night at Minute Maid Park in Houston, where the milestone was announced after the Rockies-Astros game became official.
At about 8:45 p.m. ET, Colorado and Houston were tied at 2 after five innings. MLB officials then checked with Elias Sports Bureau for a final authentication, ...
Seems like he needs the Weaver-Dalkowski “throw the ball over the white thing” treatment. (And has for five years. Hello?)
In five major-league seasons, [Mike Pelfrey] has attempted to utilize a curveball, a changeup, a slider and a splitter. None have proved useful…
After Pelfrey failed to build on a 15-win campaign in 2010, the Mets must consider how much he is worth. It appears likely they will tender him a contract, which figures to include a raise to around $5 million to $6 million. ...
We didn’t get it today, but we battled and we will be back at the Oscars next year!
Former Oakland Athletics manager Art Howe (above, right) hasn’t seen ‘Moneyball’ yet, but he’s talked with people who have and he says he isn’t thrilled with the way he’s portrayed in the film.
Here’s Howe on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Radio:
“Considering the book wasn’t real favorable to me to start with I figured it would be something like this but to be honest with you it is very disappointing to know that ...
Lucky Lucchino…instrumental in the development of the “Local Cable Syndicate”.
On March 13, 1997, Cox Communications Channel 4 wrapped up its first live broadcast of Padres spring training baseball when Dan Novak’s cellphone rang.
It was Padres then-President Larry Lucchino, a tough East Coast lawyer known for scathing critiques. Novak, who at the time ran Cox’s fledgling effort to produce Padres games, didn’t know what to expect. Cox’s local cable system had acquired the Padres’ TV ...
And Braun promptly lined an RBI triple to right to tie the game at 1-1.
Just another night at the office for No. 8.
“The more you’re around the game, the more you see the difference in the guys that want to be out there with the game on the line,” manager Ron Roenicke said before Saturday’s game. “I’ve played with a lot of great players, and they’ve not wanted to be out there with the game on the line.
“Braunie’s one of them (that does). Prince (Fielder) is one of them. There’s not a lot of ...
Fifty years have passed and others have since broken the season home run record. To the families of Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle, Maris’ 61 in 1961 remains the legitimate number.
“The family feels that it’s his record, also knowing that is arguable with a lot of people,” Roger Maris Jr., said Saturday before the Yankees culminated a season-long commemoration of the Maris-Mantle home-run chase with a ceremony at Yankee Stadium.
Saw Moneyball last night. I thought it was excellent, I’ll elaborate later. Until then, how about we have a big review thread where we can all give our impressions?
