Two items about the next WBC in the last few days:
Round One games of the 2013 WBC might be played in Taiwan, especially if the MLB-NPB fracas over revenue keep going on. Oddly, though, Taiwan was going to have to qualify. Maybe if Japan backs out they will give Taiwan a bye?
The latest authoritative Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association annual report on U.S. sports participation, based on about 15,000 individual surveys and 24,000 households surveys, found that about 2.1 million Americans say they competed in wrestling last year—down 44% from 2000.
Other drops in total participants over the past decade even as the U.S. population steadily expanded: slow-pitch softball (-38%), football (-16%), ice hockey (-12%), fast-pitch softball (-11%) and baseball (-8%).
Back in the day, I jimmied-up a sweet Rego gauge-fueled Rags Gags-O-Meter™ in my old shop…what grand fun, but it broke down in short order when it hit 60.
During spring training of 1984, Righetti was moved to the bullpen to replace Gossage. Although, at the time the reason given was that the Yankees had too many starters, fans understood it was done so that the sting of losing Gossage would not be as strong. Between 1984-1990, Righetti saved 233 games for the Yankees, but never started ...
Selig’s argument for kicking out McCourt boils down to this: You consented to our rules, you broke our rules, and we don’t want you in our club any more.
“Compliance with the Baseball Agreements is the price of membership in Major League Baseball,” league attorneys wrote in a court filing Friday.
And what is most prominent among Selig’s grievances?
“A Club owner must be well-capitalized and cannot use the team as a personal ‘cash cow,’ ” the filing read.
There’s a bunch of good historical stuff in here that’s tough to excerpt - Silver’s comparison to the 1969 Cubs is an excellent one - but the part that struck me was the evidence of Teh Choke:
But here’s one thing I’ve noticed, although it will be controversial to the “Moneyball” crowd. The Boston pitchers may be choking.
So far in September, Red Sox pitchers have struck out 202 batters while walking 107 in 218 innings. They’ve given up 227 hits and 29 home runs over the month. Those ...
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston*
2. Miguel Cabrera, Detroit
3. Justin Verlander, Detroit
4. Jose Bautista, Toronto
5. Curtis Granderson, New York
6. Dustin Pedroia, Boston
7. Robinson Cano, New York
8. Adrian Gonzalez, Boston
9. Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay
10. Josh Hamilton, Texas
The Thinking
Yes, there is an asterisk next to Ellsbury. This vote is not final. If Boston does not make the postseason, there is no sense in handing the MVP to a ...
Dan Skiba of Stoughton, Mass., had driven down with four friends, fellow Patriots ticket-holders and Red Sox loyalists, a one-day getaway planned long before the ghost of the Bambino — thought to be permanently busted — began reacquainting itself with Fenway Park.
“We didn’t think we’d be seeing a meaningful game,” he said. “Now there’s all this anxiety.”
“And what’s worse is that we have to root for the Yankees,” said Gina Targhetta of Framingham, Mass.
The Yankees’ current Triple-A franchise is anchored in the twin cities of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, an area in northeast Pennsylvania that has always supported baseball on some level. But the Yankees organization decided that PNC Field, the Triple-A team’s home park, is in desperate need of renovation. The job will take all of 2012.
...
Newark has a ballpark. With that in mind, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman visited the city’s Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium, which does need ...
Martin thought he was cracking a harmless joke at home-plate umpire Paul Schrieber in the fifth inning Monday night, but the ump didn’t find much humor in it, ejecting the catcher from the game.
“I asked if he had stretched before the game; then I asked him again,” Martin said. “He looked at me kind of funny and I said, ‘I feel like you’re kind of tight right now.’ He tossed me. He just threw me out of the game. I was like, what happened? I thought this was fun. I ...
Ed Hohnhorst, first baseman of the Toledo team, will be secretly married today to Miss Alice Walters of Covington, Ky.
...
The couple will go to Toledo after the ceremony. Manager Hinchman gave Hohny a few days off for a honeymoon.
I’m pretty sure it’s not a secret if it’s in the newspaper. And I’m also pretty sure my wife would have been incredibly displeased with me if I’d suggested Toledo as a honeymoon destination. ...Read More...
Jones, 39, was referring to the lower half of his body — and specifically, his troublesome right knee.
Jones, the Braves’ third baseman, told FOXSports.com that he likely will undergo an MRI exam on the knee Tuesday, but fully intends to play in the team’s final two games of the season.
...
“I probably should have come out tonight (Monday). But I can’t not play. I’ve been preaching to the ...
On deck in the Dodgers’ bankruptcy case: the Florida Marlins?
Could be, if Frank McCourt gets his way. As the bankruptcy proceedings increasingly resemble a grudge match cloaked in legal briefs, with Bud Selig threatening to banish the Dodgers from the league in order to rid it of McCourt, the Dodgers’ owner might respond by trying to take down the commissioner.
The Marlins could be in the collateral damage.
In July, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross wrote of what he called “the underlying ...
Girardi said the short turnaround could affect the way he uses his bullpen in the final three regular season games against the Tampa Bay Rays, who are in a dogfight with the Boston Red Sox and the Angels for the AL wild card.
Girardi’s problem is compounded by the fact that he has no starting pitcher for Wednesday’s finale and will likely have to go with a collection of relief pitchers, which could compromise the readiness of some of the Yankee relievers for Game 1 two days later.
Two games left, and it’s all tied up. That is the reality the Red Sox now face as their once secure grip in the American League Wild Card standings has slipped away entirely.
This, after an 6-3 loss on Monday at Camden Yards to the 68-92 Orioles, a team that has beaten the Red Sox in four out of five meetings over the last week.
After eight seasons, two American League Central titles, one World Series championship and countless entertaining moments on the South Side of Chicago, the White Sox agreed to manager Ozzie Guillen’s request to be released from his contract. The move allowed the manager to pursue other opportunities.
Guillen is expected to be named the next manager of the Marlins, possibly as soon as Wednesday. Marlins manager Jack McKeon announced earlier Monday that he will be retiring when the season ends ...
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 ...
