Triple Crown Winner in the NL in 2009?</h1> <article> <h1>Triple Crown Winner in the NL in 2009?</h1> <p>Tom Stone — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:12:10 +0000</p> <p>While the chances are no doubt less than 50-50, could this be the year we see an offensive triple crown winner?</p> <p></p> <p>Since 1903 there have been only 12 triple crown winners, see <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/triple_crowns.shtml">this page at Baseball-Reference.com </a>for the list. Notably, we’ve not seen one in over 40 years, not since Carl Yastrzemski in the AL in 1967.</p> <p>There have been numerous players who have led in two of the three categories of course, and many who were leading or close to leading in all three at the half-way point in a season. That is the case with Albert Pujols this year, as he is leading the NL (indeed, all of MLB) in HR with 31 and RBI with 82, and is currently third in the NL with a .336 batting average.</p> <p>I would say Albert has a decent chance at maintaining his lead in HR and RBI. For HR he needs to fend off Adrian Gonzalez and others, and for RBI his main competition appears to be Prince Fielder. But it will be batting average that will be tough to come out on top. His competition there will come from not only Hanley Ramirez (.346) and Carlos Beltran (.336), but also others who are currently at .325 or higher including rookie Pablo Sandoval, Brad Hawpe, David Wright, Ryan Braun, and the rejuvenated Miguel Tejada. And then there is Joey Votto, who was out for a while but is now back and swinging a good bat hitting .366 in 201 plate appearances so far. If he stays healthy, he’ll eventually have enough PAs to qualify for the race.</p> <p>If anyone in either league could win a triple crown, I’d have to say Albert is the man. But interestingly, as awesome as his career has been, I was a bit surprised to dig into his numbers and discover that he has never led the league in either HR or RBI! He has been second in HR twice, smacking 46 in 2004 and 49 in 2006. And he’s come in second in RBIs three times: 127 in 2002, 117 in 2005, and 137 in 2006. He’s been so amazingly consistent in his production, its easy to forget that he’s never had a surge that took him to the top in these categories in any one season.</p> <p>And as for batting average, his lifetime mark of .335 is stellar, but even here he’s only led the league once: .359 in 2003. He came in second in 2005 (.330) and in 2008 (.357).</p> <p>So if he leads the league in all three categories this year, and with numbers anywhere near his current pace, it would clearly be his most productive season to date — and that is really saying something.</p> <p>More theoretically and long-term, who else might one day give the triple crown a run? In the NL, I think Ryan Braun has the right makeup. Prince Fielder would need to have somewhat of a fluke season in terms of batting average, but I guess it could happen (he is hitting .310 so far this year.) Lance Berkman seems to be on a slow downward trend for his career, so I’d rule him out at this point.</p> <p>In the AL, no one has a real shot this year, because Ichiro Suzuki or Joe Maurer are likely to win the batting title, but not the HR or RBI titles. If those two guys were to have simultaneous off years, then I think the best candidate would be Justin Morneau. So far in 2009 he is sixth in the AL in average, tied for second in HR, and second in RBI. This is shaping up to be his fourth great season, but he has yet to lead the league in BA, HR, or RBI. Another possibility would be Miguel Cabrera, who is still only 26 and led the AL in HR last year, and is regularly amongst the league leaders in all three categories. Who else? Evan Longoria maybe?</p> <p>It will be great fun to watch Albert and his competition in the NL the rest of the year — could history be made in 2009?</p> <p>For another of my Seamheads writings on the general topic of the Triple Crown, see <a href="http://seamheads.com/blog/2008/12/29/triple-crown-plus-obp-plus-more/">Triple Crown, plus OBP, plus more?</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=iaikWY2lIkc:do1s_Afk3P0:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=iaikWY2lIkc:do1s_Afk3P0:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Running Down a Dream: Illinois in Pictures</h1> <p>Steve Bralver — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:00:43 +0000</p> <p>The Gateway Grizzlies had me hit off of one of their pitchers on the field. I went one for three with a line drive to center that would have been a hit in a real game. I also took batting practice on the field.</p> <p>They passed on me. I got the impression they weren’t too interested to begin with when they told me they already have two first baseman hitting great and a solid outfield.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center" align="center"><br /> Here’s my girlfriend Bridget. She’s in the dugout with me.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center" align="center"><br /> Me warming up with the Evansville Otters. I’m the one in the blue shirt and gray shorts.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center" align="center"><br /> Taking batting practice with the Otters before their game against the Miners. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center" align="center">Taking grounders with the Otters before their game against the Miners.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center" align="center"><br /> More batting practice with the Otters. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center" align="center">That’s Otters manager Wayne Krenchicki talking to me during the workout.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center" align="center"><br /> I took this during the game between the Otters and the Miners after the workout.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center" align="center"><br /> Here’s a picture of Bridget tossing me soft toss before today’s workout in a machine shed on a barn. It’s basically a storage unit for tractors and crops.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center" align="center"><br /> Here’s me hitting against a Gateway Grizzlies pitcher. I went 1-for-3.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center" align="center"><br /> One of the Gateway coaches telling me that he wasn’t interested in signing me.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=LKzL5ARsk84:lvtZc713-uU:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=LKzL5ARsk84:lvtZc713-uU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Rambling On About My Glory Days: Role Reversal - Major Leaguers Learning From Little Leaguers</h1> <p>Jack Perconte — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:00:21 +0000</p> <p>I promise not to turn my posts into a rant on the Major Leagues and how baseball used to be played better, meaning more fundamentally sound, back in the day.</p> <p>But, I have seen enough of major league hitters attempting to bunt. I have been there and realize it is not as easy as it looks, but also realize it is not as hard as most big league players and teams make it, either. At least, at that highest level, fans deserve to see the correct fundamentals.</p> <p>As is often said about everything that goes wrong in the game at the big league level, “Hey kids are watching and they are going to do the same thing.” One of my favorite sayings that I use when teaching the game for the past twenty one years is, “Fundamentals are fundamentals, they don’t change for the big leaguer or the little leaguer.” The point I am trying to make is that the way the best players do things is the same way young players should learn and attempt, also.</p> <p>Young players may not physically be able to do things exactly the same as the pro players, but that does not mean they shouldn’t be taught the correct way. However, in this instance, “Please, baseball youth of America, do not try to copy the way most big league players perform a sacrifice bunt.” It is time for a role reversal, where big leaguers copy the way young players are taught to bunt.</p> <p>When I taught bunting to baseball players, ages 12 and under, I taught them to square totally around, meaning they would take their rear foot and place it even with their front foot. This method is opposed to the most common big league method of allowing hitters to just pivot on both feet. The former technique, squaring completely around, ensures that the hitter gets the bat out in front of their body, which is usually necessary to place a good bunt down in fair territory. This “old fashioned” method also makes it easier to create good bat angles to lay the ball down either baseline.</p> <p>I have noticed that when big league batters use the pivot method, more often than not, they leave the bat barrel back even with the middle of their body, creating a bad bat angle for putting a bunt down. When the ball gets to their bat they usually jab at it and bunt the ball foul continually. Once again, I know it is not a simple task with balls travelling towards them at upwards of 90 miles an hour, and squaring around may put hitters slightly more vulnerable to getting hit by a pitch, but the success rate should be much higher at the highest level of baseball.</p> <p>As mentioned, the squaring around method automatically puts the bat out front of the hitter allowing for a better bat angle and a greater chance of putting the ball down in fair territory. Maybe it is time that a big league manager puts his foot down and changes the current technique being taught instead of doing it the “same way it’s always been done.” After all, performing this skill better could mean winning a championship.</p> <p>Generally, as young players reached a higher level of ball, I gave them the option of using the bunting technique they felt most comfortable with, only if they demonstrated the correct fundamentals when using the pivot method.</p> <p>Just had to get this off my chest.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=svy5H1Dhwms:9BINO5TH5UY:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=svy5H1Dhwms:9BINO5TH5UY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>A 4th of July Special: Military Encounters</h1> <p>Anita Y. Tsuchiya — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:00:34 +0000</p> <p>I was chatting with a friend of mine about the perceived versus actual lives of professional athletes, and she made a comment that struck me as particularly interesting. A Navy wife of 10 years, the constant packing/moving and frequently absent spouse were things she shared in common with the baseball wife. While she was making connections, I was thinking contrasts, such as her husband’s job including considerably greater personal risks than a torn labrum or strained hamstring. Not to mention, no one gets rich from their military career.</p> <p>Later, I recalled my own experiences with military personnel. Way back during my college days I had a dorm-mate, our “middle-aged freshman,” who was among the last to have served in Vietnam. He was a Green Beret. He was smart, funny and a fine athlete. I recall he and several dorm guys entering an intramural rugby tournament, although their most notable accomplishment of the day was sending three team members to the student health center.</p> <p>A conscientious objector at one point in his life, he tried to reconcile his change of heart by becoming a special ops medic. One quiet evening over a few beers, the two of us found ourselves immersed in a conversation about what close combat was like, . . .after your service revolver rounds had been spent. Or how it felt to have survived multiple, harrowing battlefield encounters with your best buddy, only to watch him killed by a careless (and remorseless) driver during a weekend leave in Bangkok. These were topics he’d chosen to write about for his English composition class; he seemed to realize the therapeutic value of finally processing these long-buried memories. I suspect it was also easier for him to talk about them with a woman (who did her best to not flinch), rather than the teenage guys in the dorm.</p> <p>I also remember how the “GI Bill” during the 1980s and 90s offered an attractive form of financial aid for low-income students. Without the Navy, another dorm-mate of mine could not have afforded his undergraduate and medical school education. Back then, he and many other young men and women were able to fulfill their duties for the most part without enduring enemy fire or extended, overseas deployments. As we know, all of this changed on September 11, 2001.</p> <p>These personal moments spent with people I like and care about got me wondering, . . .how do military families deal with a loved one getting summoned to active duty in places such as Afghanistan or Iraq? Who pays the utilities, insurance or rent while the household provider is away? What happens when a family member comes home in not-quite-one piece and unable to work? How do families cope with the ongoing trials of an “invisible injury,” such as post-concussion syndrome (PCS) or post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD)?</p> <p>And so I have a favor to ask of you, dear readers, on this Day of Our Independence. Would you visit the <a href="http://www.usacares.org/index.html"><strong>USA</strong><strong> Cares</strong></a> website today? They can use your help, whether it be in the form of goods, time or cash. Or please consider purchasing a special edition “Ordinance Bat” from iFungo; 50% of the profits go to USA Cares.</p> <p><a href="http://www.ifungo.com/p-893-ifungo-ordinance-bats-with-stars-and-stripes-logo.aspx"></a></p> <p><em><font color="#3399cc" face="Tekton Pro Ext">Bonus offer for Salt Lake Bees fans: Bring your iFungo Ordinance Bat receipt and <u>show it to me at the ballpark</u>, and I’ll throw in two Box Seat tickets ($27 value) for the July 24th Pioneer Day game/fireworks show. I’m easy enough to find—section 7, row 2, seat 8, right next to the Bees dugout.</font></em></p> <p>And lastly, as you are settling onto the grass for BBQ and fireworks, or if like me you are heading to the ballpark, please take a moment to pray for the safe return of our military men and women, as well as for the health and happiness of their families. . .<font size="x-large" color="#336699"><strong>Your friend in baseball.</strong></font></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=pTWZeP_6CMg:TB1esxAkvrk:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=pTWZeP_6CMg:TB1esxAkvrk:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Running Down a Dream: Marion, Illinois</h1> <p>Steve Bralver — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:58:41 +0000</p> <p><em>Instead of “Running Down a Dream,” today’s blog should be called “Running Down a Coach.”</em></p> <p>First of all, if you were to tell me I’d be cleaning horse stalls on this tour, I’d call you crazy. So guess what, for all you saying “I told you so,” you’re crazy. I cleaned horse stalls yesterday. I’m staying on a farm, in a little farm house, on 153 acres, and I’ve got a cat pawing at me, making it really difficult to get past this fourth sentence.</p> <p>The horse back riding has to wait; I can’t get sore for these workouts, but riding around in the golf cart through the corn fields is making up for it.</p> <p>I’ve got a few workouts lined up, all moving pretty much west to east, all confirmed except for today’s in Marion, Illinois with the Southern IL Miners. One of their coaches knew I was coming, it was just a matter of communicating that had been tough.</p> <p>Bridget and I drove from her farm in Sparta to Marion, got there five hours before game time, only to find no coach on the premises. Twenty minutes later I’m told the team got back at 4 AM, “no pregame today, come back tomorrow for a workout.” But I can’t come back tomorrow, I’m working out with Gateway tomorrow.</p> <p>I call again and leave a message saying I’ll wait around the area for an hour before I leave and hope today’s trip wasn’t in vain.</p> <p>Bridget tells me we need to eat at 17th Street, the best BBQ in town. I’d never heard of it. This place is like Mars to me. I grew up in a city. Everywhere I turn I see corn.</p> <p>Nevertheless, we have some grub. We’re wrapping up, and I hear some people at the table next to us talking baseball. A minute later I turn and see someone I recognize.</p> <p>Let me give you a little back story. One of the coaches on the Miners is from Hawaii, the same island I live on. He writes a weekly column that gets published in the Hawaii newspaper. I thought to myself, what a great in. I tried every day for three weeks to find a way to reach this guy!! Nothing. Nothing!! I found a local number. I left messages. Couldn’t find an e-mail. The team office has no contact info for this coach. But I knew what he looked like from a picture of him in his weekly column, and you guessed it, he was sitting right next to me.</p> <p>I said “coach, are you who I think you are?” He said “yeah, who are you?!”</p> <p>I said “let’s do a workout today, ’cause I can’t tomorrow.” He said “lemme see what I can do, we’ll talk in an hour.”</p> <p>So we kill an hour while Bridget goes shopping for some boots, then I decide, “let’s go play catch in front of the clubhouse and wait for a coach to show up.”</p> <p>Now, you have to know, she’s a phenomenal softball player. This girl has an arm, and I kid you not, her favorite thing to do is go to the park and throw me baseballs. I have no qualms about throwing as hard as I can to her. I don’t even think about it anymore, I just throw her the heat. And she throws it harder right back at me.</p> <p>Anyway, we’re throwing outside the press box, someone walks out and says he ought to sign her to a contract. Turns out, he was the manager of the Otters, a team I’m going to work out with next week. He said, “well hell, let’s do it now.” Well, hell, isn’t that what I came here for?</p> <p>The rest is just baseball pregame stuff. Afterward, he welcomed me back for another workout.</p> <p>To be continued…</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=kjw3u0oPea0:eDLViwWnKws:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=kjw3u0oPea0:eDLViwWnKws:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Irish American Hall of Fame to Honor Walter O’Malley, Five Others</h1> <p>Mike Lynch — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:00:52 +0000</p> <p><em>My friend John Mooney asked me to pass this along</em>:</p> <p>When the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame inducts Walter O’Malley on Tuesday, July 7, 2009, it will become the first New York City-based organization to honor the longtime Dodgers owner (the man who moved the team out of Brooklyn to Los Angeles ) in more than 50 years.</p> <p>O’Malley is being recognized for his impact on the game, including pioneering baseball’s western expansion and for being co-owner and legal counsel of the Dodgers when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. (This part of his resume had as much impact on the game as any of his other accomplishments.) Peter O’Malley, also a former Dodgers owner, will be accepting the plaque on his father’s behalf. Walter O’Malley will be inducted on July 7 at Noon along with sluggers Steve Garvey and Paul O’Neill, longtime umpire Jim Joyce, veteran sportscaster Vin Scully and Ed Lucas, a blind reporter who has covered the Yankees and Mets for more than 40 years.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center" align="center"><strong>Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame to Become the First NYC Organization in Over 50 Years to Honor Walter O’Malley, The Man Who Moved The Dodgers Out of Brooklyn</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center" align="center">Hall Inducts Longtime Dodgers Owner, Sluggers Steve Garvey and Paul O’Neill, Broadcaster Vin Scully, Blind Journalist Ed Lucas, and Umpire Jim Joyce</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center" align="center"><em>Foley’s NY Pub & Restaurant Recognizes Baseball Players, Execs, Umpires, Journalists and Entertainers of Irish Descent on Tues, July 7, 2009</em></p> <p><strong>New York, NY</strong> (July 1, 2009) – Longtime Brooklyn and LA Dodgers owner <strong>Walter O’Malley</strong>, sluggers<strong> Steve Garvey</strong> and <strong>Paul O’Neill</strong>, longtime umpire <strong>Jim Joyce</strong>, veteran sportscaster <strong>Vin Scully</strong> and <strong>Ed Lucas</strong>, a blind reporter who has covered the Yankees and Mets for more than 40 years, will be inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday, July 7, 2009 at Noon.</p> <p>The Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame is housed at Foley’s NY Pub & Restaurant ( 18 W. 33rd St. ) in Manhattan and, with a blessing from Cooperstown , recognizes current and former players, managers, executives, journalists and entertainers of Irish descent.</p> <p>The game of baseball has welcomed immigrants from its earliest days — when an estimated 30 percent of players claimed Irish heritage — up to today as major league teams regularly sign players born in Latin America, Japan , Canada , and elsewhere. Honorees are chosen based on a combination of factors: impact on the game, popularity, contributions to the community, and, of course, ancestry.</p> <p>“Our goal is to celebrate the contributions of Irish Americans to the game of baseball, both on and off the field,” said Shaun Clancy, founder of the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame and owner of Foley’s NY Pub & Restaurant, where it is housed. “We’re honored that Steve Garvey and Peter O’Malley, who will represent his father and the O’Malley family, are flying in to attend the ceremony.”</p> <p>“The Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame is the first New York City organization in the past half-century to honor Walter O’Malley. His Dodger teams won four World Series and 11 N.L. Pennants during his years of ownership,” Clancy continued. “Significantly, he was co-owner and legal counsel for the Dodgers when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. This part of his resume had as much impact on the game as any of his other accomplishments, which also include his team’s legendary World Series victory in 1955.”</p> <p>“This is a great honor,” said former Dodger great Steve Garvey, one of the most popular players of the 1970s and early 80s. “I’m as proud of my Irish roots as I am my accomplishments on the baseball field.”</p> <p>“My father was most proud of his Irish heritage and would have loved this honor, particularly since it is in New York , where he was born,” said Peter O’Malley, son of the longtime Dodgers owner and a former president and owner of the team.</p> <p>Many of baseball’s biggest stars at the turn of the 20th century were Irish immigrants or their descendants, including Michael “King” Kelly, Roger Connor (the home run king before Babe Ruth), all-time ERA leader Big Ed Walsh and NY Giants manager John McGraw. In fact, the large 1945 class of inductees enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame included nine Irish Americans: Roger Bresnahan, Dan Brouthers, Fred Clarke, Jimmy Collins, Ed Delahanty, Hugh Duffy, Hughie Jennings, King Kelly, and Jim O’Rourke.</p> <p>Shaun Clancy, an amateur baseball historian, created the Hall after learning about the rich heritage of Irish Americans in the sport dating from its infancy – a legacy that has been overshadowed in recent years by other ethnicities. He decided to celebrate his roots and those who helped make the game great by creating a shrine to Irish Americans in baseball in 2008. Inductees include players, managers, team executives, umpires, journalists, broadcasters, entertainers. In addition to giving each inductee a copy of his plaque, Foley’s will make a donation to Umps Care and Ed Randall’s Bat For The Cure in their names.</p> <p>“As an immigrant myself, I am so proud of the positive response to the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame from both the inductees and visitors. Learning the game helped me fall in love with America ’s national past time and my adopted homeland,” said Shaun Clancy, owner of Foley’s, which features one of the country’s most extensive public displays of baseball memorabilia outside of Cooperstown . “We’re thrilled to host and celebrate the honorees here today and celebrate their impact on the game and the community.”</p> <p>The 7×9 inch brass plaques feature the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame logo, an image of each inductee with a brief list of career and personal accomplishments, as well as Irish roots and/or connections and the date of induction. The plaques were designed by engravers Ashburns, Inc.</p> <p>The “Starting Nine” inductees last year were: the late Mets and Phillies reliever Tug McGraw, Yankee announcer John Flaherty, sportswriter Jeff Horrigan, NY Mets groundskeeper Pete Flynn, retired sluggers Mark McGwire and Sean “The Mayor” Casey, Kevin Costner, star of <em>Field of Dreams</em> and <em>Bull Durham</em>, legendary owner/manager Connie Mack, and longtime official scorer and columnist Red Foley.</p> <p><strong>About Foley’s NY Pub & Restaurant</strong></p> <p>A popular destination among baseball players, executives, umpires and fans, Foley’s NY Pub & Restaurant (<a href="http://www.foleysny.com/" target="_blank">www.foleysny.com</a>) is located on 18 W. 33rd St. , across the street from the Empire State Building . The “Irish bar with a baseball attitude” features walls adorned with 2,000 autographed baseballs, hundreds of bobbleheads, game-worn jerseys, stadium seats and other artifacts that make Foley’s the best baseball bar in New York and one of the best sports bars in America.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=-t3k3mFn2PU:DieM-lC69bU:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=-t3k3mFn2PU:DieM-lC69bU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Whatever Happened to the 1944 St. Louis Browns?</h1> <p>Dave Heller — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:00:01 +0000</p> <p><em>This is the second of a two-part series in which the author shares material that was meant to appear in his book</em>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/As-Good-Got-Browns-Baseball/dp/0738531995/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246051970&sr=8-3" target="_blank">As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns</a>, <em>published by Arcadia in 2003, but was left out due to space constraints. Part one, “Gray Times for the Browns,” can be found <a href="http://seamheads.com/blog/2009/06/27/gray-times-for-the-browns/" target="_blank">here</a>.</em></p> <p><strong>Luke Sewell, manager</strong> - Sewell was largely credited by his players for helping turn around the Browns. Don Gutteridge: “I think Sewell was the big reason all of us had better jobs because he started to give everyone a positive attitude instead of a loser’s attitude. The Browns had been losers for so many years that they went about their work and if they got beat that was good, if they won that was good, they didn’t care about it. But Sewell instilled a little self-confidence in us. He said, ‘Hey we can win,’ he kept telling us that all the time, we’re going to be all right. He kept building that up pretty soon we got to thinking that ourselves and that made a big difference.”</p> <p>Sewell guided the Browns to a third-place finish in 1945, but despite being the manager from the defending American League champions, he didn’t get to manage in the All-Star game. In 1945 it was decided that the All-Star game was to be replaced by eight exhibition games, the proceeds of which went to war benefits. So no Browns manager ever got to lead an All-Star team.</p> <p>After 125 games in 1946, with the Browns 53-71-1 and residing in seventh place, Sewell was fired and replaced by Zack Taylor. In the years following Sewell’s dismissal up to the franchise’s relocation to Baltimore, the Browns never placed higher than sixth place or won more than 68 games. Sewell didn’t re-emerge as a major league skipper again until 1949 when Cincinnati hired him to replace Bucky Walters at the tail end of the season.</p> <p>The Reds went 1-2 under Sewell to finish out the year, 66-87 in 1950, a sixth-place finish, 68-86-1 in 1951 to again finish in 6th and 39-59 in 1952 before he was replaced by Earle Brucker, who managed just five games before he was replaced by former Browns manager Rogers Hornsby. Sewell never managed in the majors again. He died on May 14, 1987.</p> <p><strong>Floyd Baker, infielder</strong> - Baker’s career as a Brown didn’t last long. Following the 1944 season he was sold to the Chicago White Sox. Baker played second base, shortstop, third base and outfield in his tenure with Chicago, which lasted until 1951. Baker batted a career-high .317 in 1950 and led the American League in pinch hits with nine in 1951. Baker played for Washington, Boston (AL) and Philadelphia (NL) in his final four years.</p> <p>In 13 years and 2,280 at bats, Baker hit just one career home run - and that was thanks to White Sox general manager Frank Lane. Lane decided to move the fences in at Comiskey Park to help the poor-hitting White Sox boost their offensive output. The strategy backfired as the opposition took advantage of the short fences more than Chicago did. On May 4th, one day before Lane moved the fences back to their original distance, Baker cleared the wall for his only homer. Baker held the modern day record for fewest homers with at least 2,000 at-bats, but that makr was later broken by Duane Kuiper (who had one homer in 3,379 at bats).</p> <p>Baker spent his later years as a scout, most recently employed by the Minnesota Twins. Despite playing in just 44 games, Baker called the 1944 season “the highlight of my career.”</p> <p><strong>Milt Byrnes, outfielder</strong> - Byrnes appeared in 133 games for the Browns in 1945, batting a career-worst .249 but hit eight homers, which matched his combined total of the previous two seasons. On April 1, 1946, Byrnes was traded to the New York Yankees for catcher Ken Sears. Two weeks later, Byrnes was optioned by the Yankees to their farm team in Kansas City. He never played in the majors again. Byrnes’ only major league experience came during the war years, from 1943-45. He died on February 1, 1979 in his hometown of St. Louis.</p> <p><strong>George Caster, pitcher</strong> - Caster appeared sparingly with the Browns in 1945. He had pitched in 10 games before being sold to Detroit for the waiver price on August 8th, four days after his 38th birthday. In 22 games with the Tigers, Caster went 5-1. Caster wasn’t used by Sewell in the World Series in 1944, something that disappointed the aging hurler, but he did pitch for the Tigers in the 1945 World Series, relieving Virgil Trucks in Game Six. He retired the two batters he faced, striking out one.</p> <p>The Tigers lost that game but came back to win Game Seven, making Caster the first member of the ‘44 Browns to win a World Series. Caster pitched one more season for Detroit, going 2-1 with a 5.66 ERA, before retiring. On December 18, 1955, Caster died after suffering a heart attack at a Christmas party. Caster’s 28 saves as a Brown establish him as the all-time saves leader in franchise history.</p> <p><strong>Mike Chartak, first baseman/outfielder</strong> - Things went downhill for Chartak following his strikeout which ended the ‘44 World Series. In the offseason, Chartak was summoned for a preinduction military examination. Doctors discovered spots on Chartak’s lungs. He had tuberculosis and was sent to a sanatorium. Over the next 23 years, Chartak spent the majority of his time in sanatoriums. He died of Pulmonary Tuberculosis on July 25, 1967 at a sanatorium in Oakdale, Iowa.</p> <p><strong>Mark Christman, third baseman</strong> - Following the ‘44 season, Christman was named the American League’s Most Improved Player. Christman played in 78 games for the Browns in 1945, hitting .277, and in 128 games in 1946, hitting .258. On April 9, 1947 he was sold to Washington for the $10,000 waiver price. Christman saw the majority of his time at shortstop over the next two seasons with the Senators, batting .222 in 1947 in 110 games and .259 in 1948 in 120 games.</p> <p>In 1949, Christman played in just 49 games and hit .214 while playing third, first, short, and second. Now 36 years old, Christman was sold to Seattle of the Pacific Coast League, where he finished out the ‘49 season. He wouldn’t return to the majors. His 83 RBI for the Browns in 1944 were nearly more than double his next highest total in the majors (44 for Detroit as a rookie in 1938).</p> <p>Christman served as a player-coach for the Milwaukee Brewers of the American Association from 1950-51 then managed from 1952-53 for San Angelo and Wichita. From 1954-73 Christman served as a part-time scout. The former Maplewood High School star died on October 9, 1976 in St. Louis following a heart attack.</p> <p><strong>Ellis Clary, third baseman/second baseman</strong> - Clary played one more season in the majors, appearing in 28 games for the Browns in 1945. He had just eight hits in 38 at-bats (.211 average) but did club his only major league homer. Clary, who played in the major leagues just during the war years, from 1942-45, finished his career in the minors, playing from 1946-53. He hit a career high .311 in 146 games for Chattanooga of the Southern Association in 1951.</p> <p>Clary stayed in baseball as a scout and finally earned a World Series ring as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays organization in the early ’90s. Clary later moved back to his birthplace, Valdosta, Ga. His business card listed his title with the Blue Jays as “Grand Master Scout and Lobby Gladiator.” Clary died June 2, 2000.</p> <p><strong>Frank Demaree, outfielder</strong> - Demaree’s release from the Browns signaled the end of his playing career as well. Demaree went back to his offseason job as a studio grip at United Artists, a position he held for 23 years altogether. He died on August 30, 1958 from a hemorrhage caused by cirrhosis of the liver, which was due to alcoholism.</p> <p><strong>Hal Epps, outfielder</strong> - After being sold to Philadelphia in June of 1944, Epps played in 67 games for the Athletics and hit .267. In the offseason, Epps was drafted and spent the next two years in the 25th infantry division, spending time in both the Phillipines and Japan. He never played in the majors again. Epps retired and moved to Houston.</p> <p><strong>Denny Galehouse, pitcher</strong> - Galehouse’s induction board was correct, the pitcher wasn’t drafted by the Army until after the World Series. “Not until April the following year (was he drafted),” Galehouse said. “(The war) was on the downhill side but I still had to go into the service. I missed that year.” Galehouse was inducted on April 26, 1945.</p> <p>He returned in time for the 1946 season. Galehouse went 8-12 with a 3.65 ERA in ‘46 and tossed 11 complete games. Galehouse was 1-3 with the Browns in nine appearances in 1947 when he was sold to the Boston Red Sox, the team St. Louis had frantically acquired him from during the 1940 winter meetings, on June 20th. Galehouse went 11-7 with the Red Sox. He was 8-8 with a 4.00 ERA on the 1948 Boston team that lost the American League pennant in a one-game playoff game against Cleveland.</p> <p>After two relief appearances in 1949, the 37-year-old Galehouse put away his glove for good. But Galehouse didn’t give up baseball. Upon his retirement he immediately started scouting for the Red Sox. He stayed 15 years with Boston then moved onto Detroit for nine years, followed by Los Angeles, St. Louis and the New York Mets. Around 1980, Galehouse began scouting for San Diego. His territory used to include Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana and Michigan, but in later years he stuck around just Ohio.</p> <p>Players he discovered and signed include Andy Benes, Frank Bauman, Joey Cora, Ken McBride, Lloyd McClendon, Matt Mieske and A.J. Sager. Galehouse died October 14, 1998.</p> <p><strong>Don Gutteridge, second baseman</strong> - Gutteridge was all set to play second base again for the Browns in 1945, but first he had to agree to a contract. “After the World Series, the next year they tried to get me to take a $500 cut because they didn’t make much money,” he recalled. “After playing in the World Series and me playing about 150 games in that season [actually 148], they wanted to cut me. But I finally talked them out of it and I got a $500 raise. Isn’t that something?”</p> <p>Gutteridge did start for the Browns in ‘45, but his average dipped to .238 and his steals fell from 20 to nine. St. Louis planned to put Johnny Berardino, back from the war, at second in 1946 so they dropped Gutteridge. Gutteridge eventually hooked up with the Boston Red Sox as a backup second baseman and third baseman. He played in 22 games and hit .234.</p> <p>The Red Sox made it to the World Series and once again Gutteridge faced the Cardinals. Gutteridge appeared in three games in the ‘46 World Series and collected two hits in five at-bats with a run and an RBI but Boston fell to St. Louis, four games to three. Gutteridge played one more year in Boston, but batted a paltry .168 in 54 games in 1947. He was sold to Pittsburgh in March of 1948, but played in just four games for the Pirates, going hitless in two at-bats.</p> <p>Gutteridge resurfaced in the majors as a coach and eventually as manager of the Chicago White Sox for parts of 1969 and 1970. He replaced Al Lopez after 17 games in ‘69 then was fired after 136 games in ‘70. His record with the White Sox was a lackluster 109-172 (.388). Gutteridge ended up in scouting, most recently working for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Gutteridge died on Sept. 7, 2008 – exactly 72 years after his big-league debut – at the age of 96. He was the last living member of the Browns who played in the World Series.</p> <p><strong>Tom Hafey, outfielder</strong> - Hafey always thought that the team undervalued his services and that he was better than some of the other players the club kept around. Over 50 years later, Hafey could still list his batting average plus the Browns subs and their averages. “(Sewell) played too many favorites,” Hafey claimed. “I mean, I’m hitting good, pinch hitting and everything. Well they brought in a left-handed first baseman [Chartak] and Demaree who had been with the Giants when I was over there. And these guys didn’t hit nothing. So I don’t see where they gained anything, that’s the point I bring up.”</p> <p>It also didn’t help that, according to Hafey, he was shortchanged on the share of his World Series money. “The Browns I think just treated me rotten,” he said. “As a matter of fact … I talked with Vern Stephens out here [in California] that winter, he said ‘We voted you a half a share.’ I said, ‘But I only got a quarter of a share.’ Half a share wasn’t an awful lot, but as I said they only gave me a quarter of a share. And then they gave me that in government bonds. In other words, instead of $500 in cash they gave me a $500 bond. No it wasn’t (worth as much). And you know, I had been doing real well with them, pinch hitting, I played first base, the outfield, third base. Won a couple of games for them. Two to one ballgames, we beat Cleveland then I beat Detroit. I come out here in Oakland and got more money then I got with St. Louis.”</p> <p>Hafey played with the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League until 1948. His manager with Oakland was Casey Stengel. Hafey got out of baseball after his career ended. He most recently worked with Georgia-Pacific as a consultant in their consumer paper products division. Hafey died October 2, 1996.</p> <p><strong>Myron “Red” Hayworth, catcher</strong> - Hayworth split the catching duties with fellow rookie Frank Mancuso in 1944, but saw Mancuso get the majority of playing time in 1945. Hayworth played in just 55 games in ‘45 and hit a paltry .194 with four doubles. Hayworth’s brother, Ray, found out that the Philadelphia Athletics had an interest in Red, so in the offseason Red Hayworth asked the Browns to deal him to Philadelphia. The Browns refused, instead sending him to the minor leagues.</p> <p>In 1946, the Pasquel brothers tried to entice major league players with big contracts to jump over to the Mexican League. Hayworth, still fuming at the demotion given to him by the Browns, jumped on an offer to join the Mexican League. Hayworth joined about a dozen other major leaguers, including Mickey Owen, Max Lanier, Sal Maglie and Roberto Ortiz. He signed a three-year contract worth $12,500 a season. Hayworth was assigned to the team in Torreen and he batted .261 there.</p> <p>However, the Mexican League soon folded and Major League Baseball commissioner “Happy” Chandler said that any player that jumped to the Mexican League was suspended from the major leagues for five years. One player, Danny Gardella, sued over Chandler’s ruling. Eventually, the players were allowed back into the majors in 1949. Hayworth, however, never played major league baseball again.</p> <p><strong>Al Hollingsworth, pitcher</strong> - After splitting time between the bullpen and the rotation in 1944, Hollingsworth started 22 of 26 games in 1945. At age 37, he responded with his best season ever. Hollingsworth won a career-high 12 games, lost nine and had a career best 2.70 ERA. He also completed 15 of his 22 starts. Hollingsworth even slugged a home run, the second of his career and first since 1936.</p> <p>Hollingsworth pitched in just five games for the Browns in 1946 before being sold to the Chicago White Sox for the waiver price on June 6th, the anniversary of D-Day. He went 3-2 in 21 games with Chicago in what turned out to be his final season. Hollingsworth got into scouting after his career ended. He was given much praise for his scouting of the Cincinnati Reds for the Oakland A’s in the 1972 World Series, a series the A’s won. Hollingsworth died April 28, 1996 at the age of 88.</p> <p><strong>Willis Hudlin, pitcher </strong>- Hudlin pitched in just one game for the Browns in 1944. As part-owner of the Little Rock Travelers he sold himself to the Browns. Following the season, the owner Hudlin purchased the pitcher Hudlin back from the Browns. Hudlin’s “claim to fame” in the majors is that he gave up Babe Ruth’s 500th career home run. Hudlin died August 13, 2002 at the age of 96.</p> <p><strong>Sig Jakucki, pitcher</strong> - Jakucki was back with the Browns in 1945, but his drinking problem eventually caught up with him. He compiled a 12-10 record with a 3.51 ERA in 30 games prior to a road trip late in the year to Chicago. Jakucki arrived at Union Station in St. Louis, where the Browns were going to take a train to Chicago, intoxicated. Luke Sewell, tired of his pitcher’s boozing habits, ordered Jakucki off the train. There was something of a struggle, but eventually Jakucki was left behind in St. Louis.</p> <p>Sewell vowed that Jakucki would never pitch again for the Browns. Jakucki was immediately suspended by Sewell then finally sold to San Antonio of the Texas League. He never pitched in the majors again. Fellow Texan Frank Mancuso once said that when his baseball career finally ended, Jakucki was “living on the streets and in the bars.” Jakucki died on May 29, 1979. His obituary read, “Owned a $100,000 arm and a million-dollar thirst.”</p> <p><strong>Jack Kramer, pitcher </strong>- Kramer never quite matched his 1944 season again. He slipped to 10-15 with a 3.36 ERA in 1945. Kramer did prove however that he was not just a wartime pitcher. In 1946 he went 13-11 with a 3.19 ERA and three shutouts. Kramer slumped to 11-16 with a 4.97 ERA in 1947. He, along with Vern Stephens, was traded to the Boston Red Sox on November 17, 1947 for Roy Partee, Jim Wilson, Al Widmar, Eddie Pellagrini, Pete Layden, Joe Ostrowski and $310,000.</p> <p>In 1948, Kramer led the majors with a .783 winning percentage, sporting an 18-5 record and 4.35 ERA for the Red Sox, who tied Cleveland for first place but subsequently lost a playoff game to determine who went to the World Series. Kramer wasn’t as successful in 1949, dropping to 6-8 with a 5.16 ERA. He was sold to the New York Giants in 1950. Kramer pitched mostly out of the bullpen for the Giants, going 3-6 with a 3.53 ERA in ‘50.</p> <p>Kramer toiled for both the Giants and New York Yankees in 1951, his final season, combining to go 1-3 with a 5.76 ERA. After winning a career-high 18 games in 1948, Kramer won just 10 games in his final three seasons. He died in May 1995 of a brain hemorrhage in his hometown of New Orleans.</p> <p><strong>Mike Kreevich, outfielder</strong> - Kreevich began the 1945 season as the starter in center field. He was hitting .391 when the Browns raised their American League championship flag on May 1st. But with pressure from above to play one-armed Pete Gray, Kreevich’s time dwindled. When he was sold to Washington on August 8th for the waiver price, Kreevich’s average had dipped to .237. He hit .278 for Washington and finished the season with 11 stolen bases, his highest total since 1941.</p> <p>Kreevich made $11,000 in 1945, but the Senators wanted to cut his salary in half, to $5,500. Kreevich, now 37 years old, elected to retire. Kreevich later said, “If I’m not playing well enough so that a one-armed man can take my job, I quit.” Despite his past alcohol problems, Kreevich lived to be 83 years old, dying on April 12, 1994.</p> <p><strong>Chet Laabs, outfielder </strong>- Laabs played in just 35 games for the Browns in 1945, hitting only .239 with one home run and eight RBI. He rebounded to club 16 homers, the third best total of his career, in just 80 games in 1946. St. Louis sold Laabs to the Philadelphia A’s on April 9, 1947 for the $10,000 waiver price. Laabs lasted just 15 games with the A’s, hitting .219 with one homer in 32 at-bats. At 35 years old, his major league career was over. He died on January 26, 1983 of a pulmonary embolism.</p> <p><strong>Frank Mancuso, catcher</strong> - Mancuso took over the starting catching reigns for the Browns in 1945. He hit a career-best .268 with 13 doubles, three triples, one homer, 39 runs and 38 RBI. Mancuso also cut his errors down from 17 (in 87 games) in 1944 to six (in 115 games). He was named to the All-Star team, but never played as that game was canceled in favor of exhibition games.</p> <p>Mancuso played in 87 games in 1946, hit .240 and swatted a career-high three home runs. On December 16, 1946, the Browns traded Mancuso to Washington for catcher Jake Early. Mancuso hit just .229 in 43 games for the Senators in ‘47, his final year in the majors. Later in life, Mancuso served on Houston’s city council for 30 years. He died Aug. 4, 2007.</p> <p><strong>Boris “Babe” Martin, outfielder</strong> - Martin was allowed to get in uniform and sit on the bench in the World Series, but he was admonished to not say a word. He didn’t receive any World Series shares but was given $300 in lieu of going on an offseason barnstorming tour to California that several ballplayers were making. Martin played in 54 games in 1945 (he played in 69 total in his career) and hit .200 with five doubles, two triples and two homers.</p> <p>Martin saw brief duty as a catcher for the Browns in 1946 then with the Boston Red Sox from 1948-49, where he also served as the bullpen catcher, and back with the Browns in 1953. Martin received an offer to be an umpire prior to the ‘53 season, with a promised promotion to the majors in 1954, but instead chose to continue playing baseball. When the Browns moved to Baltimore, Martin arranged for his release so he could play his final season in Dallas, where he received a $5,000 bonus. Martin retired and moved back to St. Louis so he could attend to his ill wife and three children.</p> <p><strong>George McQuinn, first baseman </strong>- McQuinn boosted his average to .277 in 1945, although his homers dropped from 11 to seven, runs from 83 to 69, RBI from 72 to 61 and walks from 83 to 69. Fearing a dropoff in the 35-year-old McQuinn’s skills, the Browns traded him to Philadelphia for first baseman Dick Siebert, who was two years younger than McQuinn. However, the usual Browns luck occurred as Siebert refused to report to St. Louis, deciding to retire and become a radio sports commentator in St. Paul, Minn.</p> <p>McQuinn lasted only one year with the A’s before being dropped. With Philadelphia he hit just .225 with three homers and 35 RBI in 136 games. The New York Yankees picked up McQuinn and made him their starting first baseman. The 37-year-old McQuinn rewarded the Yankees by batting .304, second highest on the team behind just Joe DiMaggio, his first season over .300 since 1939. He also clubbed 13 homers while scoring 84 runs and driving in 80.</p> <p>New York won the American League pennant and eventually the World Series, although McQuinn hit just .130 in the seven-game series. McQuinn played one more season in New York before retiring, hitting .248 with 11 homers in 94 games in 1948. McQuinn, who sold automobiles in the offseason in Washington, D.C., moved back to Virginia. He died of a stroke on December 24, 1978 in Alexandria, Va. McQuinn found the spotlight posthumously in the late 1980s when President George Bush revealed that as a first baseman at Yale he had used a McQuinn autographed “claw” glove.</p> <p><strong>Gene Moore, outfielder</strong> - The taciturn Moore played one more season with the Browns before retiring at the age of 36. He hit .260 with five homers in 1945. Moore died on March 12, 1978.</p> <p><strong>Bob Muncrief, pitcher</strong> - The “Texas Mustang” enjoyed perhaps his finest season in 1945. Dividing his time as a starter and reliever, Muncrief went 13-4 with a 2.72 ERA. He threw 10 complete games despite getting only 15 starts. Muncrief toiled with the Browns for two more seasons, compiling a 3-12 record and 4.99 ERA in ‘46 and an 8-14 record and 4.90 ERA in ‘47.</p> <p>On November 20, 1947 he was sent, along with Walt Judnich, to Cleveland for Dick Kokos, Bryan Stephens, Joe Frazier and $25,000. Muncrief went 5-4 with a 3.98 ERA with the Indians. Cleveland ended up winning the World Series and Muncrief pitched two scoreless innings in an 11-5 loss in Game Five. In November of 1948, Muncrief was sold to Pittsburgh for $20,000. He went 1-5 in 13 games in ‘49 before being sold to the Chicago Cubs for the waiver price on June 6th. He went 5-6 with the Cubs in 34 appearances.</p> <p>Muncrief ended his career by pitching in two games for the New York Yankees, the eventual World Series champions, in 1951. He died on February 7, 1996 of pneumonia.</p> <p><strong>Nelson Potter, pitcher</strong> - Potter excelled again for the Browns in 1945, going 15-11 with a personal-best 2.47 ERA as well as a career-high 129 strikeouts. Even with the influx of returning veterans to baseball, the 35-year-old Potter continued to pitch in the majors. In 1946 he went 8-9 with a 3.72 ERA and in 1947 he was 4-10 with a 4.04 ERA, both seasons with the Browns.</p> <p>Potter pitched in two games for St. Louis in 1948 before being sold to the Philadelphia Athletics for $17,500 on May 15th. He made only eight appearances with Philadelphia, compiling a 2-2 record, before ending up with the Boston Braves. Potter pitched well for the Braves, going 5-2, and helped them into the World Series. Potter pitched twice in the series, going two innings of relief in a Game Two loss then starting Game Five. He lasted only 3 2/3 innings, but Boston came back to win the game although it eventually lost the series.</p> <p>Potter pitched one more year in the majors, compiling a 6-11 record and 4.19 ERA for the Braves. Upon retirement he moved back to his small hometown, Mt. Morris, Ill., where he ran a bowling alley and also served as a township supervisor. He died in Mt. Morris on September 30, 1990. Potter’s legacy to baseball went beyond being the first pitcher suspended in the post-spitball era. In 1947, he helped start the first-ever pension plan for major league players.</p> <p><strong>Joe Schultz, catcher</strong> - After being sent to Toledo by Luke Sewell in 1944, Schultz batted .315 in 93 games with 52 walks and only 18 strikeouts. He spent 1945-48 with the Browns, primarily being used as a pinch hitter. During that span Schultz was 35-for-133 (.263) as a pinch hitter. From 1947-48 he appeared in 86 games and not once did he play in the field. Schultz led the league in pinch-hit at-bats in 1945, 1947 and 1948. He led the league in pinch hits with 11 in 1945 and 10 in 1946. His 41 pinch hits make him the all-time leader in Browns history.</p> <p>Schultz is perhaps best known as the manager of the expansion Seattle Pilots in 1969, a team that was immortalized in Jim Bouton’s <em>Ball Four</em>. Schultz guided the Pilots to a 64-98-1 record in their only year as a franchise. He later managed Detroit, leading them to a 14-14 record after taking over for Billy Martin in 1974. He died of heart failure on January 10, 1996.</p> <p><strong>Alvis Newman “Tex” Shirley</strong> - Shirley was used mainly as a starter in 1945, a campaign in which he went 6-12 with a 3.63 ERA with 10 complete games. He continued to pitch for the Browns in 1946, again compiling a 6-12 record but this time with a 4.96 ERA. In 139 2/3 innings, Shirley walked 105 and struck out only 45. His wildness, combined with elbow problems and the return of major league players from the war, led Shirley to finish his professional baseball career in the minors. He died of lung cancer on November 7, 1993 at the age of 75.</p> <p><strong>Vern Stephens, shortstop</strong> - Stephens continued his power surge in 1945, hitting .289 while leading the American League in homers with 24. Then, in 1946, Stephens decided to jump to the Mexican League. He signed a five-year, $175,000 contract and received a $15,000 signing bonus to play for Vera Cruz. On April 1st, Stephens played for Vera Cruz and drove in the winning run. But after playing just two games, the 25-year-old Stephens was talked into returning to the major leagues. He snuck out of the country riding in a taxi while wearing some of his father’s old clothes to disguise his youthful appearance.</p> <p>Unlike the other major leaguers who played a year in the Mexican League then tried to return to the majors, Stephens was not suspended by commissioner “Happy” Chandler. He did, however, return a majority of the money given to him by Mexican League co-founder Jorge Pasquel. Stephens returned to the Browns and batted .307 with 14 homers and 64 RBI in 115 games. After hitting .279 with 15 homers and 83 RBI in 1947, the Browns traded him to the Boston Red Sox along with Jack Kramer in a deal that netted St. Louis six players plus $310,000.</p> <p>Stephens blossomed with the Red Sox. He hit 29 homers while scoring 114 runs and driving in 137 in 1948. In 1949, Stephens hit .290 with 31 doubles, 39 homers, 113 runs and 159 RBI, which tied for the major league lead along with teammate Ted Williams. Stephens again shared the major league RBI lead in 1950, this time with teammate Walt Dropo, with 144. He also hit .295 with 34 doubles, six triples, 30 homers and 127 runs.</p> <p>While Stephens played in just 109 games for the Red Sox in 1951, he still managed to hit .300 with 17 homers and 78 RBI. But Stephens had hit his peak. In 1952, at the age of 31, Stephens batted just .254 with seven homers in 92 games. On February 9, 1953, Boston traded Stephens to the Chicago White Sox for three players. Stephens hit just .186 in 44 games before he was sold on July 20th to the Browns for the waiver price.</p> <p>Stephens, arguably the best shortstop in Browns history, hit .321 in 46 games in the team’s final year in St. Louis. Stephens went with the club to Baltimore in 1954 and he played in 101 games, primarily at third base, with the Orioles, hitting .285 with eight homers. He played in just three games for Baltimore in 1955, finishing his career with the White Sox. He died 13 years later of a myocardial infarction, despite no previous history of heart disease, at the age of 48. His years of partying finally took their toll. “They said he’d go out like a light and he did,” said Ellis Clary. “He finished up all at once.”</p> <p><strong>Steve Sundra, pitcher</strong> - Sundra returned from his military stint in 1946 and was one of the players to take action, using the new G.I. Bill, to try and protect their old jobs. Sundra pitched just two games in relief for the Browns in 1946, allowing nine hits and three walks in four innings while striking out one. He never pitched in the majors again.</p> <p>Ironically, like Mike Chartak, the player included in the deal that sent Sundra to St. Louis, Sundra was befallen with a serious illness. He was discovered to have an “incurable kidney ailment,” which turned out to be carcinoma of the rectum. He was ill for 16 months before finally succumbing to the cancer on March 23, 1952, four days shy of his 42nd birthday.</p> <p><strong>Tom Turner, catcher</strong> - Turner entered the military in 1945 and never played major league baseball again. He died May 14, 1986.</p> <p><strong>Weldon “Lefty” West, pitcher</strong> - West returned to the Browns in 1945, posting a 4-5 record with a 3.63 ERA. He was sent to Toledo in 1946 and never resurfaced in the majors. He died July 23, 1979.</p> <p><strong>Al Zarilla, outfielder</strong> - Zarilla was inducted into the Army in 1945 but came back in 1946 to hit .259 for the Browns in 125 games. His average slumped to .224 in 1947, but he rebounded with a career-high .329 season in 1948. Zarilla also had career highs of 39 doubles, 12 homers and 11 stolen bases in ‘48. After hitting .250 in 15 games, Zarilla was traded to the Boston Red Sox for Stan Spence and cash.</p> <p>Zarilla hit .281 in 124 games for Boston in 1949 and combined to hit 10 home runs. Zarilla had perhaps his finest season in 1950 with Boston, hitting .325 with 32 doubles, 10 triples, nine homers, 92 runs and 74 RBI. Zarilla was traded in the offseason to the Chicago White Sox. He hit .257 for the White Sox in 1951, but traded to the Browns on June 15, 1952. The Browns subsequently sold him back to the Red Sox on August 31, 1952. He completed his career by hitting .194 for Boston in 1953.</p> <p>Following his playing days, Zarilla was a scout for Kansas City, Cincinnati and Philadelphia and also coached the Washington Senators. In 1972, Zarilla moved to Hawaii to become the first-base coach of the Hawaii Rainbows and a part-time scout for the Major League Scouting Bureau. He spent the final years of his life in Hawaii. He died August 28, 1996 of cancer. And despite taking all those grounders during practice at third base with the Browns in 1944, Zarilla never played anywhere but the outfield during his 10-year major league career.</p> <p><strong>Sam Zoldak, pitcher</strong> - Zoldak continued his relief role with the Browns in 1945, going 3-2 with a 3.36 ERA. He was used more as a starter from 1946-47. Zoldak went 9-11 with a 3.43 ERA in ‘46 and 9-10 with a 3.47 ERA in ‘47. He made 11 appearances for the Browns in 1948 before being shipped to Cleveland on June 15th for Bill Kennedy and $100,000. Zoldak went 9-6 for the eventual World Series champions, although Zoldak didn’t pitch in the series.</p> <p>Zoldak toiled two more seasons with Cleveland, pitching mostly out of the bullpen. Part of a three-team trade on April 30, 1951, Zoldak headed to the Philadelphia Athletics. Zoldak went 6-10 with a 3.16 ERA in ‘51, but fell to 0-6 and 4.06 in ‘52, his final season in the majors. Zoldak, who hung around noted partier Tex Shirley when they were with the Browns, died on August 25, 1966.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=gTw6XwxH99E:TMZYSMahmkE:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=gTw6XwxH99E:TMZYSMahmkE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Webster Wears Out Niagara</h1> <p>Paul Gotham — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:58:39 +0000</p> <p> <p>Dave Brust’s Webster Yankees wore out their welcome Friday night. Or, maybe they just wore out the Niagara Power pitching staff.</p> <p>Nate Koontz (Ball State) and Shawn Bailey (SUNY Cortland) led a 22-hit barrage as the Webster Yankees buried the Niagara Power 13-4 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at Sal Maglie Field.</p> <p> <p>Webster blew the game open in the sixth sending nine batters to the plate scoring five runs. Bailey led with an opposite field line drive base hit. After the Webster native stole second, Dominic Catanzarite (Ball State) sent a flair into right field plating Bailey, and the romp was on. Koontz walked, and Mike Walraven (Hofstra) brought home Catanzarite with a base hit past the outstretched glove of Power third baseman, Angelo Buscemi (Central Conn St. U).</p> <p>Jason Edwards (Toledo) and Rhett Goodmiller (Central Michigan) greeted reliever Chris Kuenzle (Hannibal-LaGrange College) with back-to-back doubles. Ricky Clark (Central Michigan) delivered Goodmiller with an infield single.</p> <p>Webster jumped on Power starter, Anthony Cimabue (Wilmington), for three runs in the first. Clark, returning to the top of the order for the first time since June 11<sup>th</sup>, singled to open the game. Bailey doubled, and Steve Muoio (Georgia C&S) walked. Koontz singled to score Clark. Ryan Chenoweth (Ball State) scored two with an opposite field double.</p> <p>Matt Jimenez (Mercyhurst) retired the last seven he faced for his second win of the season. The native of Elma, NY struck out five and walked two – surrendering four earned runs. Jimenez worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth allowing just one run.</p> <p>Niagara scored three in the third with a pair of infield singles and one hit batsman. Travis Latz (Abilene Christian) highlighted the scoring with a triple to right center.</p> <p>On June 18<sup>th</sup>, Cimabue went the distance limiting the pinstripes to two runs on seven hits as the Power took a 6-2 decision. Since then, the Yanks have taken three consecutive from their West Division rivals outscoring the Power 22-5 in the process.</p> <p>Koontz finished the game 5-5 with two doubles, a triple, 3 RBI, three runs scored, and a walk. Bailey went 4-6 with a double, three runs scored, and a stolen base.</p> <p>“This is the potential of these guys,” noted Brust. “You can only hold down this team for so long.”</p> <p>Geoff Dornes (R.I.T.) and Bryant Guilmette (UMass-Lowell) came out of the bullpen and held the Power scoreless for the final three stanzas.</p> <p>Clark returned to action Thursday night for the first time since June 11<sup>th</sup> when he was hit by a pitch. The infielder returned home to Mason, Michigan for an MRI. When tests proved negative, Clark patiently worked to regain movement in his hand.</p> <p>“It still feels a little sloppy, but it’s getting stronger,” said Clark. </p> <p>After an off day, Webster travels to Scio Sunday for a double header with the Allegany County Nitros. Scott Brothers (Ball State) gets the start in game one while Dan Jurik (St. John Fisher) takes the hill in the night cap.</p> <p><a href="http://www.pickinsplinters.com/">Pickin’ Splinters </a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=JfZTIMRzZuc:7Bm5aXsg8IE:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=JfZTIMRzZuc:7Bm5aXsg8IE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Lady’s Choice: Player Pick for June</h1> <p>Anita Y. Tsuchiya — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:10:08 +0000</p> <p>Usually, midpoint in the season, I’m faced with the decision of choosing one standout athlete over another, or several others. It is most certainly not typical to find myself casting about for inspiration. If you’ve been <u><a href="http://www.sltrib.com/bees/ci_12693828">following the team</a></u>, though, you know this been an unusual season for our ballclub.</p> <p>Thinking aloud then. . .Jeremy Hill, of late, is having some trouble holding leads. I love Francisco Rodriguez. Too bad he wasn’t around for half the month. Matt Brown and Bobby Wilson have been struggling at the plate. Reggie Willits spent two weeks nursing a sore hamstring. Freddy Sandoval and Chris Pettit are out with injuries until late July. Oh have I mentioned, the weather’s been lousy too? Sigh!</p> <p>Granted, <u><a href="http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=&sid=t561&t=p_pbp&pid=457420">Brandon Wood</a></u> has been his consistently awesome self. And I’ve noticed significant <u><a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=6592&position=3B/SS#platediscipline">improvement in plate discipline</a></u>, particularly his 23:47 BB:SO (a ratio of 1:2). In all honesty, though, it’s not like yours truly is going to add anything revelatory to the <u><a href="http://baseballdigest.com/american-league/angels/2009/what-to-do-about-brandon-wood/">well-deserved praise</a></u> for this kid’s ongoing development. And yes, I had noticed <u><a href="http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=&sid=t561&t=p_pbp&pid=488795">Brad Coon</a></u> is steadily upping his offensive production after a slow start. Not to mention, he’s an excellent guardian of our 420-foot-deep center field, just like <u><a href="http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080508&content_id=396490&vkey=pr_milb&fext=.jsp">last year</a></u>. <u><a href="http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=P&sid=t561&t=p_pbp&pid=457707">Trevor Bell</a></u>? Tempting. His <u><a href="http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090616&content_id=5363760&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&sid=t561">awesome debut</a></u> is slowly turning, start-by-start, into a Triple-A stay of real merit.</p> <p>And then I was reminded by a Salt Lake fan of having overlooked the bright ray of sunshine in our uncharacteristically cold and dreary June. . .</p> <p class="captionleft3"></p> <p>So, this month’s pick is <u><a href="http://saltlake.bees.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=LF&sid=t561&t=p_pbp&pid=445152">Adam Pavkovich</a></u>. Pavkovich was selected in 2003 from the University of Alabama by the Angels in the <u><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?query_type=franch_year&team_ID=ANA&year_ID=2003&draft_type=junreg">11th round, 330th overall pick</a></u>. He came straight to <u><a href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20030620/ai_n11400079/">Provo</a></u> for his professional debut, where the <u><a href="http://tidefans.com/forums/baseball/3759-diamond-notes-pavkovichs-two-home-runs-lead-tide-past-umass-16-2-a.html">Crimson Tide alumnus</a></u> figured out wood bats quickly enough to earn a mid-season promotion to Single-A Cedar Rapids.<strong>* </strong>He continued to move up the farm system without a hitch; a full season with <u><a href="//205.178.152.121/1134993/pavkovicha1.wmv">Advanced-A Rancho in 2004</a></u>, and just the briefest of time with <u><a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/2005odr/angels.html">Double-A Arkansas</a></u> before arriving at <u><a href="http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20051028&content_id=32112&vkey=pr_milb&fext=.jsp">Triple-A</a></u> for good in 2005.<br /> <strong>*</strong><em>Apparently he suited up for one game as a Salt Lake Stinger that year, although I don’t remember it personally.<br /> </em></p> <p>Yours truly readily admits having wanted an excuse to showcase Pavkovich for a couple seasons now. He stands out for me not only as a good ballplayer, but one who makes an extra effort to bond with his fans, <u><a href="http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_12603123">particularly the young ones</a></u>.</p> <p>A BeesGal memory. . .One afternoon in 2007, after a long wait for players to come out onto the field, one young fan literally wilted in his spot. He put his head down, cradled in his arms atop of the concrete wall, and closed his eyes. And there he rested, oblivious to the now-arrived ballplayers talking with and signing for fans along the wall.</p> <p>Pavkovich stopped and bent down, lowering his head to peer upward into the downturned face.</p> <p>“Hey,” he said gently. Getting no response, he asked again, “Hey there. Are you OK?”</p> <p>The small head popped straight up, a startled look upon the youngster’s face. Pavkovich laughed warmly, and spent a few extra minutes chatting before moving on.</p> <p class="captionleft8"></p> <p>Another from 2007. . .Pavkovich appeared a full 30 minutes prior to gametime. He walked along the wall, scanning the rows as if he was expecting to meet someone. Halfway between the dugout and bullpen he stopped. He called up to a boy who looked eight or nine years old, standing with his father about 10 rows up in the stands.</p> <p>The boy and father looked around, and then behind them. They looked back at Pavkovich, who was now holding up what looked to be a brand-new bat, its gleaming walnut finish unblemished by pine tar or ball marks.</p> <p>“Hi! Do you want this?” he called out, energetically gesturing for them to come over.</p> <p>The boy remained frozen until finally his father half-pushed them both down the stairs and to the wall. The precious gift signed and delivered, Pavkovich returned to the clubhouse to get ready for that evening’s work.</p> <p>In 2008, Pavkovich had a <u><a href="http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080401&content_id=378936&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp">break-through year</a></u> on the diamond. He flashed some power—25 doubles, 4 triples, 22 HR, 80 RBI and 225 TB—while maintaining a nice .280 AVG. That level of production earned Pavkovich his first invite to the <u><a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/org.jsp?id=ana&y=2008">Dominican Leagues</a></u> this winter and <u><a href="http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20090121&content_id=3760934&vkey=pr_ana&fext=.jsp&c_id=ana">big-league training camp</a></u> this spring.</p> <p>Fast forward to <u><a href="http://saltlake.bees.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090406&content_id=550976&vkey=pr_t561&fext=.jsp&sid=t561">Opening Day 2009</a></u>, and <u><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHIfUKaCWVo">Pavkovich begins his fourth season with the Bees</a></u>. There have been, of course, a few changes over the seasons. Harper and Nagy are gone. <u><a href="http://saltlake.bees.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=t_ros&cid=561&stn=true&sid=t561">Mitchell and Bennett</a></u> are in their second seasons as manager and pitching coach.</p> <p>On April 15th, Pavkovich played his 425th game in a Salt Lake uniform, passing former Buzz outfielder Chris Latham to become the <u><a href="http://saltlake.bees.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t561&gid=2009_04_15_lvgaaa_slcaaa_2&cid=561&t=g_box">franchise leader</a></u> in games played. As noted by longtime Salt Lake broadcaster and “voice of the Bees” <u><a href="http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090317&content_id=525412&vkey=news_t561&fext=.jsp&sid=t561">Steve Klauke</a></u>, this is a bittersweet achievement, one that underscores a <u><a href="http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/documents/2009/06/18/5401604/1/SaltLakeAll-TimeRoster94-08.pdf?sid=t561">long tenure in the bush leagues</a></u>. Pavkovich also has taken over the lead in career two-base hits (99), and tied in sacrifice flies (20) with Buzz/Twins infielder Todd Walker. His 19 sacrifice bunts leave him just three short of Buzz infielder Mike Moriarty (22) and two short of Stinger/Bees infielder Casey Smith (21). Thanks to last year’s bomber run, he also holds sixth place in career homeruns (45).</p> <p class="captionleft8"></p> <p>On the other hand, <u><a href="http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090515&content_id=585558&vkey=news_t561&fext=.jsp&sid=t561">some things haven’t changed</a></u> at all. #25 still arrives early to meet his fans at the wall, every day, win or lose, play or sit. He talks, he smiles, he jokes, <u><a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705308806/Ballplayer-hands-out-inspiration-to-his-fans.html">he inspires</a>. H</u>e’s still the young man who makes the <u><a href="http://saltlake.bees.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090629&content_id=5599234&vkey=news_t561&fext=.jsp&sid=t561">Knothole Club</a></u> something special. According to local lore, the 23-year-old infielder voluntarily assumed the role of <u><a href="http://saltlake.bees.milb.com/fans/page.jsp?ymd=20090123&content_id=499672&vkey=fans_t561&fext=.jsp&sid=t561">Knothole Club</a></u> “camp director” soon after his arrival in 2005.</p> <p>This spring, <u><a href="http://www.chiburibird.net/sporkballblog/2009/06/07/knothole-club/">Camp Director Pavkovich</a></u> once-again led kids and parents on a guided tour of a day in the life of a professional ballplayer. During the tour he was asked how many bats players receive from Anaheim.</p> <p>He replied, “Two dozen, which for a good hitter will last all season.”</p> <p>There was a pregnant pause, and his next sentence was accompanied by that warm smile, “If you’re a not-so-good hitter, you’ll need more.”</p> <p>He is a <u><a href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20070814/ai_n19467666/">man of many gloves</a></u>, having played all nine defensive positions including <u><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=pavkov001ada">catcher</a></u> (2006) and <u><a href="http://saltlake.bees.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t561&t=g_log&gid=2009_06_04_srcaaa_slcaaa_1">pitcher</a></u> (2009). He’s our bottom-of-the-ninth, clutch hitter—whether ripping a <u><a href="http://saltlake.bees.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090531&content_id=5060668&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&sid=t561">walk-off grand slam</a></u> or laying down a <u><a href="http://saltlake.bees.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2009_06_16_cspaaa_slcaaa_1">suicide-squeeze bunt for the only, and winning, run of the game</a></u>.</p> <p>What more can I say? Save perhaps, it’s been a delight having this young man in a Salt Lake uniform for all these seasons. I believe Pavkovich is eligible for <u><a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=1786">free agency</a></u> after the end of this year, his seventh since being drafted by the Angels. In that case, I certainly wish him all the best, with just the tiniest selfish hope of getting to meet again for Knothole Club, 2010<strong>…Your friend in baseball.</strong></p> <p><strong><br /> </strong></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=N5NTbVQZlEo:3-NaWqPUwac:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=N5NTbVQZlEo:3-NaWqPUwac:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Baseball and The Spectacle of Duration</h1> <p>Bryan Holt — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:41:51 +0000</p> <p>I can remember sitting in class as a 3rd grader at Lake Magdalene Elementary School. As the class was surely learning something important such as their multiplication tables or cursive, I sat reading my <em>Amazing But True Sports Stories</em> book which promised “More than 80 Stories with Lots of Photos,” a seemingly perfect concept for a simple-minded 8-year-old.</p> <p>Out of the numerous tales that filled the book, there was one that always stood out to me and kept me re-reading it like an eager grad student. The story was of a 33 inning International League baseball game that took place between the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Rochester Red Wings.</p> <p>The game included future baseball superstars Wade Boggs and Cal Ripken, Jr. and lasted an astonishing eight hours and 25 minutes (it was halted at 4:07 A.M. on April 18, 1981, and was finished on June 22). I can vividly remember envying those who were able to witness the extravaganza. I could not understand those that left or fell asleep in the stands. If I was there I would have cherished every second, every pitch, every nerve-racking inning of it, I thought to myself.</p> <p>I offer this flashback because tonight, as I do most every week night, I flipped on television’s baseball offerings at around 10 P.M. (EST) and skimmed the evening’s Major League Baseball landscape.</p> <p>I turned on ESPN’s broadcast of the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals. As the game entered the 10th inning, I experienced a natural reaction that has entranced me for as long as I can remember, the mental captivation of extra-inning baseball.</p> <p>Ever since I knew what baseball was, the possibilities of an extra inning game have fascinated me. A game entering the 10th inning can take on an endless amount of outcomes.</p> <p>The game could become an instant classic, a marathon, the baseball equivalence of cinema’s <em>Citizen Kane. </em>It can also be taken away from you quickly, leaving another forgettable contest amongst the 162-game scuffle.</p> <p>To this day, I still feel a slight bit of disappointment when an extra inning game takes the latter course after loading my mind with thoughts of a Pawtucket/Rochester recreation. This case is the most typical, as was evident in my latest prospect tonight when Colby Rasmus belted a walk-off homer into the Busch Stadium night in just the 10th inning.</p> <p>The dream does not just apply to baseball. No, over time the fascinating obsession has carried into college football, basketball, and playoff hockey. I often find myself never wanting games to end.</p> <p>I have often wondered why I have such interest in the art of a never-ending game. Why will I sit up until 4 A.M. watching a west coast baseball marathon? Why have I sat and watched the entirety of a meaningless NCAA FBS game simply because it went into seven overtimes?</p> <p>It is not because these games are better than a game that ends in regulation. There have likely been thousands of nine inning games better than the 33 inning contest that graced McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket.</p> <p>No, I have found that it is because games that seem to last forever become more than a game, they become a spectacle.</p> <p>If there is one thing that can be said about the majority of sports fans it is that they absolutely live for a picturesque spectacle, a moment that becomes larger than life. You could take the two worst teams in the National Hockey League, place their contest in a football stadium for the “Winter Classic” and it will sell-out and be a top story every time.</p> <p>The Los Angeles Coliseum drew 115,300 fans for a glorified spring training game.</p> <p>Never underestimate the power of a spectacle.</p> <p>I probably would not be extremely willing to watch a standard nine inning game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals. Make the game a 30 inning masterpiece and I would likely watch every second and tell my future grandchildren about it.</p> <p>The fascination will most likely never go away. For as long as I see baseball games go into extra innings, I will think of Wade Boggs going 4-for-12 or Dave Koza’s walk-off single in the 33rd inning to give Pawtucket a hard earned victory.</p> <p>I will think of a 33 inning classic that I never even saw but has stuck with me for years.</p> <p>That is, unless somebody plays 34…</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=q4lYR3iKloI:uk65VVqgr4Y:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=q4lYR3iKloI:uk65VVqgr4Y:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Pleasant Surprises</h1> <p>Daniel Shoptaw — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:18:05 +0000</p> <p>Much like a child who continually tests your patience, then surprises you by doing something sweet and kind (not that either of my kids would ever do that, of course), <strong>Todd Wellemeyer</strong> came out and gave a jolt to Cardinal Nation.It may have been that the <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/7740836548663948862575E800142CA0?OpenDocument">Cards got him the early lead</a> and that made a difference. It may have just been one of those rare games that he obviously still has in him. It may have been the fact that the Giants offense, though fairly untamed in the first couple of games of this series, really isn’t that strong. It <a href="http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090702&content_id=5663010&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=stl">may have been a correction</a>, a sign of things to come. Whatever it was, it was a very welcome sight last night.</p> <p>It looked for a while that the offense was going to have <a href="http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2009_07_02_sfnmlb_slnmlb_1">a big night</a>, and five runs for this club really is above average, but after a three-run first, Barry Zito settled down and the bats did as well. A couple of tallies here and there helped, especially after Aaron Rowand’s 2-run shot closed the gap in the eighth, but on a normal Wellemeyer night, it’d have been another loss for the Cards. Thankfully, it wasn’t normal.</p> <p>Another rough night for <strong>Chris Duncan</strong>, who went 0-4 and left four on base. Still, I thought Tony LaRussa’s idea of putting Yadier Molina in the fifth slot and letting Duncan go sixth was a good one. Too many times even if the person following Albert Pujols gets on, the inning still sputters. Having a solid bat like Molina’s in there would, in theory, help keep that from happening.</p> <p>Thought about going with Dennys Reyes as the Goat, since he did allow a hit to the only batter he faced, but the runner didn’t score thanks to Kyle McClellan so I’ll let it be. Still, it’s troubling how often Reyes comes in and doesn’t get the guy he was supposed to. I wouldn’t have expected Trever Miller to be the #1 lefty in the pen, but that seems to be the way it has shaken out.</p> <p>The other surprising thing from yesterday was the Cardinals’ bold move in the international market, signing <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/E3FB9AB96B70CF15862575E8000E8A2C?OpenDocument">Wagner Mateo to a large contract</a>. Mateo, only 16, received a bonus larger than any other Cardinal in history, which of course leads to those short-sighted whiners as saying why doesn’t Bill DeWitt use his money to help this team instead? Two points on that, one that a continual focus-now attitude means that you are dry in the future when you need reinforcement and two, I believe that the international budget is separate from the payroll and current team budget.</p> <p>Personally, I’m kinda intrigued on Mateo. I’m not anywhere close to a draftnik, so for informed opinion here’s the <a href="http://www.futureredbirds.net/2009/07/02/mateo-mania/">Future Redbirds thread</a>, but to have a young and extremely talented player to look forward to is a great thing. Everyone kept an eye on Colby Rasmus as he progressed through the system and I’m sure Mateo will be the same way. It’s hard to imagine that he could not make the majors for five years and still be just 21.</p> <p>Cards are off to Cincinnati this weekend as the team from MLB start getting Busch Stadium ready for the coming All-Star Game. Joel Pineiro is going for the Cardinals up there in Great American Ball Park. While Pineiro has had a very good year so far, one of his rare slipups was in Cincy earlier this year, when he allowed five runs (four earned) in six innings. Couple that with a <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/shareit/XrcG">history of Reds success</a> against him, especially Ramon Hernandez, and a struggle the last time out and there are signs of concern for tonight’s ball game.</p> <p>The Reds counter with perpetual prospect Homer Bailey. Bailey has been up and down, touted and despised, with the look of a AAAA player. He’s made two starts at the major league level this year and his ERA approaches nine, though that went down after his three-runs-in-five-innings outing last time. The Cards are going to have to put away the aggressive hitting for a night, though. Bailey walked seven in his last outing and has 13 walks to five strikeouts on the year. St. Louis has <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/shareit/yfxm">torched him in the past</a> so maybe that trend will continue.</p> <p>Speaking of Ohio, I wanted to let my regular reader know that a week from today I will be starting my vacation, a week plus journey into the Buckeye State (where my wife’s friends and family are). While I do always enjoy seeing the in-laws and spending time up there, the highlight of this trip will be at the beginning, as next Friday we are spending the day in St. Louis, mainly at FanFest. I’m very excited to see some of the All-Star trappings and festivities, even if we’ll be in Ohio for the Derby and actual game.</p> <p>All that to say that, unless I line up a guest blogger this week, there won’t be any updates here from the 10th to the 19th. Hopefully I can get one up before I leave and get back to the groove quickly on the 20th.</p> <p>Hope everyone has a wonderful, safe, and meaningful Fourth of July!</p> <p><em>Daniel Shoptaw is the founder of “C70 At The Bat,” where he regularly writes about his beloved St. Louis Cardinals. You can find more of his work<a href="http://www.cardinal70.com/" target="_blank"> here</a>.</em></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=p_KIsJwdU9c:HdN7Bp83G98:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=p_KIsJwdU9c:HdN7Bp83G98:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>The Colonel Buys the Yanks</h1> <p>Brendan Macgranachan — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:43:03 +0000</p> <p><em>Detailing the sale of the New York Yankees to Col. Jacob Ruppert in 1914.</em><br /> </p> <p>The New York Yankees arrived in their current home from Baltimore in 1903 after being purchased by Frank J. Farrell and William S. Devery. Farrell oversaw the day-to-day operations of the club while Devery was merely a stockholder in the team. The pair operated the club right up until the end of the 1914 season, where the story begins. It was reported in November that Devery, a former crooked police chief in New York, had tired of baseball and wanted to sell his share of the club. Between the Yankees and his other team, a minor league club in Jersey City, he had lost money and wanted out.</p> <p>A week later, Devery broke his silence. He refuted the New York Times report that he was trying to sell the team – sort of. While he accused the paper of “selling his property”, he did say that he would sell his shares if he got his price. Farrell had not yet been reached for comment and it wasn’t known if he would put up his share of the stocks as well. However, all of the talk generated some noise around the league and caught the attention of one man: Jacob Ruppert.</p> <p>Ruppert was a successful man. He had served in congress for four terms starting in 1898 and before that, achieved the rank of colonel in the National Guard. He had just inherited his family’s Manhattan brewery after his father’s death, which made him even more wealthy. One ambition he had yet to achieve in his life was to own a baseball club and when he heard the Yankees were possibly for sale, he decided to show an interest. He sent a close friend of his, Capt. Tillinghast Huston, to New York to chat with American League president Ban Johnson about the possibility of purchasing the Yankees. Johnson decided that in order for his league to succeed, he needed a strong team in New York. The rival National League already featured the powerhouse New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers and the NL had a stranglehold over baseball in New York.</p> <p>So while Johnson arrived in New York to met with Huston, he also came to figure out ways to give the Yankees some firm footing, something they had not had in their existence. With the help of friend and Chicago White Sox owner Charles Comiskey, Johnson began to try and think of ways to help the Yankees. The first thing they tried to do was to lure Connie Mack away from Philadelphia to come and manage the Yankees. The Athletics were selling all of their major parts and were heading into a long rebuild mode. Still, Mack declined the offer the next day, saying he wouldn’t leave Philadelphia (where he stayed and managed until 1950.)</p> <p>On December 9th, it was official: Ruppert had entered discussions about buying the team from Farrell and Devery. Farrell had agreed to sell his share along with Devery; putting the entire team up for sale. During a meeting at Hotel Belmont, with Johnson present, the two current owners put out an offer: a take-it-or-leave-it price of $500,000. If they didn’t sell for the price they wanted, they would remain the owners of the team for the 1915 season. That appeared to be too much in Huston’s eyes but Johnson was optimistic that something could be worked out within a week. It was believed that the highest offer Ruppert would take would be at the price of $450,000.</p> <p>The sides met again in New York two days later. Ruppert was supposed to make his first appearance at the bargaining table but health issues left him at his home in French Lick, Indiana. Ruppert now had another stockholder wanting to buy minority shares alongside him; his representative at the table, Huston. Speaking for to the media for the first time since the sale sign was posted was Farrell, who admitted selling the team wasn’t something he wanted to do but if he got the price he wanted, he could part from the Yankees.</p> <p>A week later, Johnson took a trip out to French Lick to meet Mr. Ruppert for the first time. At this point, it was widely believed a price, around $450,000, had been agreed upon for the sale but other things needed to be met in order for Ruppert to purchase the club. Two major things were wanted by Ruppert: a strong manager to lead his club and some players from other clubs to help strengthen the Yankees. Johnson, who’s mission was to put the Yankees near the top of the baseball map, had agreed to try and convince the other AL owners to agree to these terms. The president of the American League was also very confident that a deal was about to be closed, saying, “A final conference on the sale of the New York (Yankees) between Col. Jacob Ruppert and my parties probably will be held tomorrow.”</p> <p>However, the next day was far from what Johnson hoped. He departed for Chicago without the deal closed and the transaction might have taken a few steps back. Ruppert told the president and the other AL owners gathered at the meeting that the price was still too high. The one thing thought to be a cinch in the deal, wasn’t. He would pay $420,000 at the maximum and only once a certain manager’s services had been obtained. The manager who was wanted by Ruppert and Huston was not named but the names had ranged from Mack to A’s bench coach Ira Thomas to Joe Kelley.</p> <p>The parties negotiated in Chicago over the next week and on the 21st of December, Johnson again thought the deal had been closed. In a meeting with all parties, including most of the AL owners, it looked like all of the terms of the deal had been closed. Ruppert had submitted a list of players he wanted off of other AL teams and the owners okay’d the transfer of those individuals to the Yankees. The name of the manager whom the owners wanted during the meeting in French Lick was finally divulged: current Detroit Tiger skipper Hughie Jennings. However, Jennings declined the offer and so did Mack, again. Despite this, it was said Ruppert had found his man and was happy with the choice.</p> <p>Just when the deal seemed official, Frank Farrell made his voice heard for the first time in almost a month. He seemed puzzled as what was going on, saying that Johnson, who had power of attorney for Farrell and the Yankees, was keeping him in the dark over the negotiations. He said that the only thing he knows about the proposed sale is what he reads in the paper and he said in a statement perhaps directed at many people involved in the process, “If anyone is seriously considering buying the Yankees they better come and see me. I haven’t seen any money yet.” He continued to say:</p> <blockquote><p>“I have named my price. I am willing to sell at that figure, but up to the present time I have heard nothing that would lead me to believe that my terms are satisfactory. If my club is to be sold, I will have to be consulted in the matter, and up to the present time, I have heard nothing…as far as I know, the situation today stands the same as it did several weeks ago. I have had no price offered nor seen any sign of a probable purchase figure. I still own the Yankees, and if they are sold it will be at my price.”</p></blockquote> <p>Farrell seemed very miffed as to why Johnson was keeping him out of the bargaining process and let it be known that he was still in control. Before the Christmas holidays, Ruppert decided to take a step towards Farrell, asking him various baseball questions over the phone and then inviting him to a face-to-face meeting. With everything squared away from the American League standpoint (transfer of players, manager found, etc.), Johnson allowed Farrell and Ruppert to hammer out the final few details. So on Boxing Day at the Automobile Club in New York, the current owner and future owner met face-to-face for the first time.</p> <p>The meeting last all day and Farrell answered many questions from the prospective owners from things ranging from the cost to run a team over a season to some general baseball questions. Farrell and Ruppert declined to comment but Huston made this statement:</p> <blockquote><p>“We met Mr. Farrell and talked over the club’s affairs, but all that we can say at this time is that we made very good progress with the negotiations and will meet again on (the 28th). I don’t think it would be fair to Mr. Farrell to say anything more about the matter now, but it will be announced at the proper time. I must say this, however, that from the first we believe that Mr. Farrell has acted very fairly in this matter.”</p></blockquote> <p>Negotiations into purchasing the club had started at Hotel Belmont and the parties met there again in hopes of finally finishing the deal. But the deal hit a stumbling block somewhere, it was believed to be that Farrell still wasn’t happy with the price on the table and wanted a half-million dollars for the club. Ruppert wasn’t budging from his offer and was starting to get frustrated. He told everyone at the end of the night that if his terms weren’t met in 48 hours, he was walking away.</p> <p>Then, Ban Johnson stepped up. He accepted Ruppert’s deal and told Farrell that the American League would pay the difference between Ruppert’s offer and his. On December 31st, the deal was officially announced. Col. Jacob Ruppert and Capt. Tillinghast Huston were the new owners of the New York Yankees. In all, they paid $412,000 for the Yankees while the American League fronted Farrell the rest of his half-a-million dollar wish. Ruppert was named president of the club while Huston was given the titles of secretary and treasurer. The mystery manager was formally announced as well: former Tigers pitcher ‘Wild Bill’ Donovan, a successful major league hurler until an arm injury derailed his career in 1912.</p> <p>Despite the additions of young slugger Wally Pipp and Hugh High (two of the players given to the Yankees when Ruppert bought the team), the 1915 Yankees really had zero improvement for the year’s previous team. The team finished fifth in the AL with a 69-83 record in the first of Donovan’s three seasons with the club. He would be replaced by Miller Huggins in 1918, the man who started the glory years for the Yankees as a manager.</p> <p>As for Ruppert, he enjoyed a highly-successful stint as the club’s owner. After relations began to sour between the Yanks and Giants in the early-1920s, Ruppert and Huston decided to build a new stadium out in the Bronx. Yankee Stadium cost $2.5 million to construct and the 60,000 seat mega stadium opened in 1923. A year before that, Ruppert bought out Huston’s share of the team and the new ballpark for $1.5 million. He remained the owner until his death before the 1939 season. Until his death, Ruppert had constructed seven World Series champions, doing his part in making a winner in New York. In 1940, the Yankees commemorated Ruppert will the second monument in which would eventually become Monument Park. It reads:</p> <blockquote><p><em>To the memory of Jacob Ruppert 1867-1939</em></p> <p><em>Gentleman · American · Sportsman</em></p> <p><em>Through whose vision and courage this imposing edifice, destined to become the home of champions, was erected and dedicated to the American game of baseball.</em></p></blockquote><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=43sp9Ffa-ag:08SUO8tTP1Y:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=43sp9Ffa-ag:08SUO8tTP1Y:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Geneva Squeezes Webster</h1> <p>Paul Gotham — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:46:34 +0000</p> <p> <p>Casey Rana (U Texas – Permian Basin) tossed a complete game one-hitter, and Geneva executed a suicide squeeze in the top of the ninth to defeat Webster 4-2, in New York Collegiate Baseball League action, Thursday night.</p> <p> <p>Gordy Lahann (U Texas – Permian Basin) dropped a one-out bunt, and pinch runner, Mike Blanchard (Austin Peay), raced home with the eventual game-winning run. Eddie Bleiler (Holy Cross) worked a one-out walk off Webster reliever, Bryant Guilmette (U Mass-Lowell) before giving way to Blanchard. Chris Dudics (Toledo) came home with an insurance when Brendan McCrea (Holy Cross) hit a sacrifice fly.</p> <p>Geneva plated a run each in the sixth and seventh frames. Bleiler led the seventh with a single and scored on Lahann’s triple into left center. McCrea started the sixth with a walk off Webster starter, Brian Pullyblank (So. Illinois) and came home on a base hit by Jack Wortley (U Texas – Permian Basin).</p> <p>Webster’s runs came in the fifth when Ryan Chenoweth (Ball State) hit a blast over the fence in right field scoring Nate Koontz (Ball State). Chenoweth’s home run represented the only hit of the night for the pinstripes. Koontz reached on a throwing error in the infield.</p> <p>For the second time in as many opportunities, Rana tamed the Yankee lineup. On June 24<sup>th</sup>, the southpaw scattered nine hits for a complete game shutout as Geneva beat Webster, 4-0. Thursday, the native of Gilbert, Arizona allowed just five base runners while striking out six. Using his breaking ball early in the count Rana kept Webster batters off-balance all night.</p> <p>With the loss, Webster’s record stands at 12-5.</p> <p>Webster travels to Niagara, Friday, for a game with the Power. First pitch is set for 7 pm. Matt Jimenez (Mercyhurst) gets the start for Webster.</p> <p><a href="http://www.pickinsplinters.com/">Pickin’ Splinters </a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=B1rmrF3r8S0:LZpuB0uXyzc:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=B1rmrF3r8S0:LZpuB0uXyzc:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>The Seamheads Ballparks Database is Here!</h1> <p>KJOK — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:01:06 +0000</p> <p>The latest version of the Seamheads (aka KJOK) Ballparks database has been loaded to the site (see <a href="http://seamheads.com/db/databases.htm">http://seamheads.com/db/databases.htm</a>, then click Ballpark Stat Splits. There is also a link for the documentation file.)</p> <p>The Ballparks Database contains both team statistical data and ballpark descriptive data. For example, if you want to know how many doubles the 1915 Federal League ChiFeds hit at home, AND how many they allowed their opponents to hit at home, it’s there. Or, if you want to know what the left-center field dimensions were for Yankee Stadium in 1936, it’s there. Or, if you want to know how left-handed Detroit batters hit on the road in 1954, it’s there.</p> <p>Park factors are actually NOT in the database - the idea being that you can take the data and calculate your own park factors however you see fit (use 1 year of data, 3 years of data, a simple home vs. road calculation, or something much more complex.)</p> <p>For those already familiar with the database, here is a quick summary of the major changes:</p> <p>1. 2008 season home/away left/right data added, plus same for 1999, 1955, 1954 and 1953 NL.</p> <p>2. 1921, 1922 NL, 1923, 1924 NL, 1925, and 1926 NL home/away data.</p> <p>3. Added more dimension data points, so now the database captures up to nine separate distances to the fence per park (left field line, left center, center field, etc.)</p> <p>4. Also added two more fence/wall height data points, for a total of up to five per park.</p> <p>5. Included fair territory in square feet, where known.</p> <p>6. Added foul territory qualifier (small, normal, large).</p> <p>Over the next few months, we’ll be posting some ballpark analysis that uses the database. In the meantime, feel free to download and enjoy!</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=fw_YJRdSvsU:1-a1E59TljE:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=fw_YJRdSvsU:1-a1E59TljE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Selecting the 2009 All-Star squads</h1> <p>Kevin Wheeler — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:31:12 +0000</p> <p><em>Kevin Wheeler offers his take on how the All-Star rosters should shape up this year…</em></p> <p><br /> Every year I go through this exercise of selecting the All-Star rosters knowing full-well that things never go the way they should go. I’ve noted the starting lineups based on the latest updates on the fan voting. Even though some of the starters could change once the voting closes here today I think they’ll all still be All-Stars so things won’t change much…</p> <p>If I were selecting the teams, here’s how I’d do it:</p> <p><strong>American League</strong></p> <p>Starters:<br /> C. Joe Mauer, MIN<br /> 1B. Kevin Youkilis, BOS<br /> 2B. Ian Kinsler, TEX<br /> 3B. Evan Longoria, TB<br /> SS. Derek Jeter, NYY<br /> OF. Jason Bay, BOS<br /> OF. Ichiro Suzuki, SEA<br /> OF. Josh Hamilton, TEX</p> <p>That group isn’t terrible, with the exception of Hamilton. Maybe he’ll end up not playing because of the injury problems he’s had and thus allow for someone more deserving to be added. More on that later…</p> <p>Bench:<br /> C. Victor Martinez, CLE - No brainer as 2nd best backstop<br /> 1B. Mark Teixeira, NYY - Hard to argue the numbers<br /> 2B. Aaron Hill, TOR - Breakout season, has to be on the squad<br /> 3B. Michael Young, TEX - Took him over Brandon Inge, barely<br /> SS. Jason Bartlett, TB - Sick numbers for a guy who previously hadn’t hit like this<br /> OF. Carl Crawford, TB - Having a strong year, better than Jacoby Ellsbury<br /> OF. Torii Hunter, LAA - No brainer<br /> OF. Adam Jones, BAL - Emerging star with numbers to go with upside<br /> 1B. Miguel Cabrera, DET - One of the AL’s elite hitters<br /> 1B. Russell Branyan, SEA - Breakout season, bonus points because he can play 3B too<br /> UT. Ben Zobrist, TB - Best story in MLB this year and can play anywhere on the field<br /> OF. Adam Lind, TOR - Has turned into a nice middle of the order presence</p> <p>If Hamilton can’t go, which he shouldn’t, then I’d give Jermaine Dye his spot on the roster and slide Torii Hunter into the starting lineup.</p> <p>Pitchers:<br /> SP. Zack Greinke, KC - He gets the start for me, best in the AL so far<br /> SP. Roy Halladay, TOR - As good as it gets<br /> SP. Felix Hernandez, SEA - Getting better all the time<br /> SP. Edwin Jackson, DET - Finally putting all the gifts he has to work consistently<br /> SP. Dallas Braden, OAK - Only A’s rep, no AL starter has more quality starts<br /> SP. Justin Verlander, DET - Inconsistent but also the most dominant in AL when he’s on<br /> SP. Josh Beckett, BOS - Not his best season but still better than most<br /> SP. C.C. Sabathia, NYY - Numbers getting better every month<br /> RP. David Aardsma, SEA - Performances matches up with any RP in the AL so far<br /> RP. Bobby Jenks, CHW - Lone CHW representative<br /> RP. Jonathan Papelbon, BOS - One of the best<br /> RP. Mariano Rivera, NYY - Still as good as it gets<br /> RP. Joe Nathan, MIN - Most underrated superstar reliever in the game</p> <p><strong>National League</strong></p> <p>Starters:<br /> C. Yadier Molina, STL<br /> 1B. Albert Pujols, STL<br /> 2B. Chase Utley, PHI<br /> 3B. David Wright, NYM<br /> SS. Hanley Ramirez, FLA<br /> OF. Raul Ibanez, PHI - injured and might not play<br /> OF. Ryan Braun, MIL<br /> OF. Carlos Beltran, NYM - injured and will not play</p> <p>Bench:<br /> C. Brian McCann, ATL - Best hitting catcher in the AL backs up best glove man<br /> 1B. Adrian Gonzalez, SD - Ridiculous production in a pitcher’s park<br /> 2B. Freddy Sanchez, PIT - Lone PIT rep, having strong bounce FA season<br /> 3B. Ryan Zimmerman, WAS - Streaky at the plate but good numbers and good glove<br /> SS. Miguel Tejada, HOU - Power is gone but still hitting and defense better than expected<br /> OF. Matt Kemp, LAD - Great young player continuing to get better<br /> OF. Justin Upton, ARZ - Having the best breakout season of any young player in MLB<br /> OF. Brad Hawpe, COL - Absolutely pounding the baseball, lone COL rep<br /> UT. Pablo Sandoval, SF - Kung-Fu Panda plays 3 positions and hits from both sides<br /> 1B. Prince Fielder, MIL - Having a great season, keeps Ryan Howard out of the game<br /> 3B. Mark Reynolds, ARZ - Strikes out a ton but is 5th in MLB in HR and has good OPS<br /> OF. Hunter Pence, HOU - Really having a nice season, needs to be in this game</p> <p>If Ibanez is out of the lineup because of his injury I’d slide Justin Upton into his starting spot and create a bench spot for Adam Dunn. With Beltran definitely being out I’d slide Matt Kemp into the starting lineup and add Michael Bourn to the bench.</p> <p>Pitchers:<br /> SP. Dan Haren, ARZ - He gets the start for me, barely edging out Lincecum<br /> SP. Tim Lincecum, SF - ‘08 Cy Young winner making case for another one<br /> SP. Chad Billingsley, LAD - As tough as pitchers come these days<br /> SP. Josh Johnson, FLA - Another dominant power righty<br /> SP. Ted Lilly, CHC - Cubs only rep after they had 7 All-Stars last year<br /> SP. Jair Jurrjens, ATL - Chose him over Javier Vazquez as only ATL rep<br /> SP. Johnny Cueto, CIN - Great numbers for pitching in such a hitter-friendly park<br /> SP. Yovani Gallardo, MIL - Helping the Brewers remain in playoff hunt as #1 SP<br /> RP. Francisco Cordero, CIN - Having another excellent season<br /> RP. Jonathan Broxton, LAD - Numbers are scary good<br /> RP. Ryan Franklin, STL - Has a sub-1.00 ERA as I write this with 18 saves<br /> RP. Heath Bell, SD - Leads the league in saves with tiny little ERA<br /> RP. Francisco Rodriguez, NYM - Another great season, earning his new contract</p> <p>There are still things I hate about the All-Star Game - like the whole “this time it counts” b.s. and the Little League-like “every team must be represented” rule - but the discussion about who deserves to play in the game always interests me.</p> <p>What do you think? Where am I wrong? Feel free to throw in your own thoughts…</p> <p><strong><em>Kevin Wheeler is the host of Sports Open Line (M-F 7-9 PM ET) on News Radio 1120, KMOX in St. Louis (</em><a href="http://www.kmox.com/"><font color="#b22222"><em>www.kmox.com</em></font></a><em>) and he is a baseball instructor with All-Star Performance (</em><a href="http://www.all-starperformance.net/"><font color="#b22222"><em>www.all-starperformance.net</em></font></a><em>) and the St. Louis Gamers (</em><a href="http://www.stlgamers.net/"><font color="#b22222"><em>www.stlgamers.net</em></font></a><em>). You can reach him via e-mail at </em><a href="mailto:thebaseballgods@gmail.com"><font color="#b22222"><em>thebaseballgods@gmail.com</em></font></a></strong></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=RxTWpVe7jU4:rmxzgxmCc5E:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=RxTWpVe7jU4:rmxzgxmCc5E:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Running Down a Dream</h1> <p>Mike Lynch — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:22:11 +0000</p> <p>Emory University’s Steve Bralver was named Most Valuable Player of the Division III University Athletic Association after hitting .375 with seven homers and 61 RBIs this year, but went undrafted in Major League Baseball’s amateur draft. Instead of giving up on his dream of being a major leaguer, Bralver is embarking on a journey to the Midwest where he’ll be trying out for a handful of teams, hoping to catch someone’s eye. He’s also agreed to blog about his experience here at Seamheads.com.</p> <p>Let’s take a moment and get to know Steve a little better:</p> <table border="0" width="100%"> <tr> <td>Player:</td> <td>Steve Bralver (pronounced BRAWL-vur)</td> <td rowspan="8" align="center"></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Position:</td> <td>1B/OF</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Bats/Throws:</td> <td>R/R</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Height:</td> <td>6′ 2″</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Weight:</td> <td>195 lbs</td> </tr> <tr> <td>DOB:</td> <td>February 21, 1986</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Arm Strength:</td> <td>Top Velocity 85 MPH</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Batting Tendency:</td> <td>AVG./Gap Power</td> </tr> </table> <table width="100%"> <tr> <td></td> </tr> </table> <table width="100%"> <tr> <td colspan="11" align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7ef"><strong>College Statistics</strong></td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>Year</strong></td> <td align="center"><strong>G</strong></td> <td align="center"><strong>AB</strong></td> <td align="center"><strong>R</strong></td> <td align="center"><strong>H</strong></td> <td align="center"><strong>HR</strong></td> <td align="center"><strong>RBI</strong></td> <td align="center"><strong>SB</strong></td> <td align="center"><strong>AVG</strong></td> <td align="center"><strong>OBA</strong></td> <td align="center"><strong>SLG</strong></td> </tr> <tr> <td>2007</td> <td align="center">36</td> <td align="center">127</td> <td align="center">26</td> <td align="center">45</td> <td align="center">4</td> <td align="center">33</td> <td align="center">1</td> <td align="center">.354</td> <td align="center">.400</td> <td align="center">.535</td> </tr> <tr> <td>2008</td> <td align="center">36</td> <td align="center">110</td> <td align="center">19</td> <td align="center">29</td> <td align="center">4</td> <td align="center">20</td> <td align="center">6</td> <td align="center">.264</td> <td align="center">.374</td> <td align="center">.445</td> </tr> <tr> <td>2009</td> <td align="center">42</td> <td align="center">168</td> <td align="center">31</td> <td align="center">63</td> <td align="center">7</td> <td align="center">61</td> <td align="center">7</td> <td align="center">.375</td> <td align="center">.418</td> <td align="center">.601</td> </tr> <tr> <td><strong>Totals</strong></td> <td align="center"><strong>114</strong></td> <td align="center"><strong>405</strong></td> <td align="center"><strong>76</strong></td> <td align="center"><strong>137</strong></td> <td align="center"><strong>15</strong></td> <td align="center"><strong>114</strong></td> <td align="center"><strong>14</strong></td> <td align="center"><strong>.338</strong></td> <td align="center"><strong>.400</strong></td> <td align="center"><strong>.538</strong></td> </tr> </table> <table width="100%"> <tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7ef"><strong>Highlights</strong></td> </tr> </table> <ul> <li>Named 2009 UAA Conference MVP</li> <li>Named 2009 First Team All-Conference</li> <li>Named 2007 First Team All-Conference</li> <li>Named 2007 All-NCAA Tournament Team</li> <li>61 RBIs in 2009 was second most in Emory University history</li> <li>Owns fifth-highest career slugging percentage in Emory University history</li> <li>Owns fifth-highest career home run total in Emory University history</li> <li>Five single season marks among top five in Emory University history</li> <li>Batted .400 with a homer and six RBIs in the 2007 Division III World Series</li> <li>Drove in six runs against Rhodes College in 2009, falling one RBI short of the school record, then tied the record with a seven-RBI game later in the season</li> </ul> <table width="100%"> <tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7ef"><strong>Scouting Report</strong></td> </tr> </table> <p>Bralver is a strong, young player who has a chance to get even stronger. His 6-2, 185 lb. frame is very projectable. Bralver’s best tool is his bat. He generates good bat speed with a compact, wristy swing that has some lift and loft potential in it. We saw Bralver mostly at first base, where he did a very good job picking low throws out of the dirt. We’d like to see him more in the outfield, where his athleticism and average arm strength would be more of a factor. His hitting ability should attract a lot of interest.</p> <table width="100%"> <tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7ef"><strong>Q & A</strong></td> </tr> </table> <p><strong>Mike Lynch</strong>: I grew up in the shadow of Fenway Park, dreaming about one day playing left field for the Boston Red Sox. Was playing major league baseball a childhood dream for you as well, or was it something that only appealed to you as you got older?</p> <p><strong>Steve Bralver</strong>: I used to have this recurring dream that I was playing in a big league game and hit a line drive just left of the shortstop into center field for a base hit.</p> <p><strong>ML</strong>: You rooted for the Dodgers and Angels growing up and Eric Karros was your favorite player. Did that have anything to do with you becoming a first baseman or is that just coincidence?</p> <p><strong>SB</strong>: When I was about 7 or 8, I went to a baseball camp and Eric Karros came and took batting practice while everyone watched. He was L.A.’s first baseman, a rookie of the year, a UCLA grad, always had 30 HRS a year, he was L.A.’s guy. I was most impressed with the line drives he hit over the right field fence. As I got older, I started to play first base. Lots of similarities between his game and mine started to show up. I have a very similar swing, I make excellent plays at first, naturally I was a fan.</p> <p><strong>ML</strong>: You had a very good career at Westlake High School, which earned you a scholarship to the University of Hawaii, but you transferred to Emory University in Atlanta after two seasons with U of H. Why did you transfer and why did you choose Emory?</p> <p><strong>SB</strong>: I never got a chance to play at Hawaii. This happens at so many colleges with so many players. Coaches over-recruit. I was the first guy they signed that summer to play first base. When I got there in the fall, there were five new first basemen, all of whom where J.C. transfers. They recruited 25 players that season and I believe 19 of those recruits did not return the next year. I was one of those few who stayed on, but after another year there, it was apparent that they recruit as many players as they can with little intention of being honest about what you’re in for. I hated it. I felt lied to, college wasn’t fun, baseball wasn’t fun. My parents agreed to let me transfer but I had to go to a school where I could get a degree with some real merit, so I went to Emory.</p> <p><strong>ML</strong>: Your career at Emory was impressive. You batted .338 with 15 homers and 114 RBIs in 114 games over three years; helped lead the Eagles to a 43-10 record and a Division III College World Series appearance in 2007; were named to the World Series all-tournament team that year; then earned a First Team All Conference nod as well as UAA Conference MVP this year. Prior to your senior season at Emory, you led the Hawaiian Collegiate Summer League in hitting at .396. At what point did you realize you had major league potential?</p> <p><strong>SB</strong>: You left out that I had one really poor year at Emory. I don’t like to talk about that year. It was embarrassing. I had a lot on my plate, I wasn’t getting along with anybody, and as a result, my focus was bad. But I knew that wasn’t like me. I went home and then I tore up the Hawaii Summer League. It was that summer when I realized that I can only concentrate on one thing to be successful at it, and I gave baseball that nod. I put up numbers that no one ever believed I could except myself. It wasn’t a fluke because I did it again at Emory six months later. I’ve always known I’ve had MLB potential, but what took so long was for me was to learn how to harness that power and focus to be great.</p> <p><strong>ML</strong>: You played your final college game on April 28 and went 3-for-4 with a walk, a run, and an RBI in a 6-3 upset over Division II North Georgia College and State University. Talk about the emotions you felt knowing it was your last college game and how it felt to end your collegiate career with an outstanding performance.</p> <p><strong>SB</strong>: [North Georgia College] is a good team. Say what you want, DII baseball has great players. Our World Series team in 2007 lost only 10 games but we got the crap kicked out of us by them. Last year, they out hit us and out pitched us. No one thought we had a chance against them, especially since we had been on a drought the last few weeks. But I was seeing the ball really well that day, I made a mental adjustment at the plate, and I didn’t care who was throwing what, I was better than those pitchers. Guess what, so were the other seniors that day. We rallied a couple of times, and the next thing we knew it, we were on top in the bottom of the ninth. You wanna know about my emotions knowing it was my last college game? I was excited. I felt that it was time to play ball at the next level. And yet, I couldn’t believe that five years of college ball where done. But I was really excited, for the team win, for my good game, and for the future.</p> <p><strong>ML</strong>: You went undrafted in this year’s MLB amateur draft, mainly because scouts were concerned about the level of competition you faced in Division III ball. Was there ever any indication that you would be drafted or did teams make it clear that they want you to prove yourself in an independent league before signing you to a professional contract?</p> <p class="captionright4"></p> <p><strong>SB</strong>: I had limited interest from a few teams. Then that interest seemed to dwindle. But I had to believe I would get drafted. With the numbers I put up in the past year, and the fact that I know how to hit, I had to believe it. What I care about most is getting a chance, I don’t care how, where or with whom; the money means zero to me. I want to play baseball because that’s what I love to do.</p> <p><strong>ML</strong>: You have tryouts scheduled with a handful of teams over the next few weeks. Can you divulge which teams you’re trying out for?</p> <p><strong>SB</strong>: Teams in the Frontier League. Independent ball is a still professional baseball as far as I’m concerned.</p> <p><strong>ML</strong>: You mentioned on the Emory University web site that you have no pre-game rituals, but your in-game ritual is to eat a king-size Snickers bar after the third inning of each game. If you do make it to the majors, will you contact the people at Mars, Inc. to see if you can get an endorsement deal or will you just wait until a cameraman catches you eating a Snickers during a game and hope Mars, Inc. contacts you?</p> <p><strong>SB</strong>: Nope. The “power of the Snick” is done. I let it go once I started doing P90X (that infomercial that gets you ripped in 90 days). That’s when I learned about diet. I’d rather be a spokesman for something that improves your life than something unhealthy.</p> <p><strong>ML</strong>: If, God forbid, things don’t work out for you in baseball, what’s your fallback plan?</p> <p><strong>SB</strong>: Producing commercials or television shows.</p> <table width="100%"> <tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7ef"><strong>Steve’s Journal Entry: July 1, 2009</strong></td> </tr> </table> <p>“After 500 + phone calls to the same 12 teams, I finally got through to some people who had the power to consider giving me a look. Then what I consistently heard was ‘we’re full, sorry’ and yet they continued to sign new players everyday. I have the luxury of living on a small island in the middle of the Pacific—Oahu—a real paradise, but this works against me in my quest to get a roster spot on a team because I can’t just drive down the street to the nearest tryout or pro team.</p> <p>“But with enough persistence, talking to the same people, they finally acted and put me in touch with some names and said, ‘come show us what you’ve got.’ I quickly realized that if I could put a few workouts together, I might have a road trip ahead of me.</p> <p>“And with a little blessing, three teams who all happen to be at home and are within three hours of each other all happen to be centered around a small town in southern Illinois called Sparta where my girlfriend lives.</p> <p>“A call to the <a href="http://www.dynastyreps.com/swalley.html" target="_blank">agent</a>, a call to the girlfriend, a mileage ticket, and I’m on my way.”</p> <p><em>Editor’s Note: Steve arrived in St. Louis yesterday morning and is currently in Sparta.</em></p> <p>Follow Steve on <a href="http://twitter.com/Steve_Bralver" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=5IXS231AlAg:bRACIvSK1rA:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=5IXS231AlAg:bRACIvSK1rA:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>St. Louis Loves Their Colby Jack</h1> <p>Daniel Shoptaw — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:21:46 +0000</p> <p>As most of you know, my first name is Daniel. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel">Daniel</a>, of course, was a prophet in the Old Testament. For one night, at least, I got a chance to emulate my forbearer.During <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/UCB-Host/2009/07/02/United-Cardinal-Bloggers-Radio-Hour">last night’s UCB Radio Hour</a>, Nick from <a href="http://www.pitchershiteighth.com/2009/07/01/cards-game-80-win-giants/">Pitchers Hit Eighth</a> and I discussed the game as it was happening, including wondering about the Giants’ philosophy toward Albert Pujols in the 10th inning. Nick then asked me if I had any predictions about the bottom of the extra frame and, after a little consideration, something along this vein popped out:</p> <p>“What about Colby taking care of it?”</p> <p>Not that I expected much in the way of accuracy, but when after a long at-bat (and, I found out later, an egregious error by the Giants’ third baseman) the ball <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/2B28A2D169A59643862575E70013F32F?OpenDocument">flew out of the ballpark</a>, <strong>Colby Rasmus</strong> had indeed earned himself a Hero tag. And it’s nice to know the one time I’m actually right, it’s recorded for posterity.</p> <p>Without that personal connection, though, Adam Wainwright definitely would be getting the nod. It’s always good to see the Wagonmaker in top form. He’s been a little erratic this year, but when he gets into the groove, watch out. Twelve strikeouts, one earned run (after loading the bases with none out in the eighth) and was in command all night. Ryan Franklin also did a good job of locking down the tough part of the Giants lineup to set the stage for Rasmus’s blast.</p> <p>It’s the second time this year Wainwright has <a href="http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2009_07_01_sfnmlb_slnmlb_1">gone over 120 pitches</a>. It’s also the second time in five starts. After his last outing of that nature, the next time out he gave up one run in seven innings, so hopefully he won’t be negatively affected by the large work load. There’s also an <a href="http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090701&content_id=5649616&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=stl">extra day in there</a> for him between starts this time, so that should help as well.</p> <p>On the Goat side, it has to be <strong>Joe Thurston</strong>. No hits in four at-bats with three strikeouts, including one in the eighth when the Cards had a chance to win it.</p> <p>Quite a bit of other news in Cardinal Nation yesterday. First, the Cards made <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/commishs-hot-stove/commishs-hot-stove/2009/07/hoffpauir-recalled-mortensen-sent-out/">another roster move</a>, farming out Clayton Mortensen and promoting Jarrett Hoffpauir from Memphis. This is probably less of an indictment on Mortensen’s rough outing Monday night and more the fact that Mark DeRosa is going to be out for a few days, meaning that a short bench was that much shorter.</p> <p>DeRosa’s wrist injury, at least from all appearances and reports, <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/2AB2EB8A53525F83862575E7000D64FD?OpenDocument">isn’t as serious</a> as was first feared. Of course, we’ve learned to take a lot of the reports from the Cardinal medical staff with a silo of salt, but if it’s actually the case that he’ll be back in the lineup by early next week, St. Louis may have dodged a real bullet. John Mozeliak really doesn’t want to see this trade blow up on him this early. The fact that apparently the PTBNL is a <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/berniemiklasz/story/E91967BF92C4050B862575E70014EAB6?OpenDocument">quality pitching prospect</a> may be enough on its own to do that without DeRosa sitting for a long period of time.</p> <p>The other bit of news, which came as a surprise to me at least, was that Troy Glaus is almost ready to head out on a rehab assignment. The way the timing works, if he goes out in the next week to ten days as expected, he could be back right before the trading deadline. Whether his rehab will free up Mozeliak to make a move or help him not feel forced to do one remains to be seen. Getting a relatively healthy Glaus back into the lineup could do wonders for this team, though.</p> <p>The last home game of the first half is tonight, as the Cards head out after this one so that MLB can get everything ready for the All-Star Game. The saying goes that momentum is today’s starting pitcher, which means that the afterglow of the walk-off homer may not go too far.</p> <p>Todd Wellemeyer is on the mound for the Cardinals. Right now, you can’t even point to his few good outings, like the back-to-back seven innings, no runs games earlier in the season, and have any kind of faith that he can return to that level. You just hold your breath, hope he stays around four or so earned runs allowed, and that the offense can actually come alive. San Francisco <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/shareit/6EVC">hasn’t seen him much</a>, but they’ve hit him when they have so there is little reason to expect a pitching duel tonight.</p> <p>Barry Zito has infamously struggled since moving to the National League. This season hasn’t been much different, though he’s been better than he has in the past. He gave up three in 6.2 innings against the Cardinals earlier in the year and has been hit by them at a <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/shareit/Dcdg">.384 clip in his career</a>. It’d be nice to have DeRosa and his three career homers against Zito in the lineup, but Pujols is five for nine with two bombs so there’s still a threat. Assuming they pitch to him, of course!</p> <p><em>Daniel Shoptaw is the founder of “C70 At The Bat,” where he regularly writes about his beloved St. Louis Cardinals. You can find more of his work<a href="http://www.cardinal70.com/" target="_blank"> here</a>.</em></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=3KciYc3wJcM:1qYEIZzn1Bw:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=3KciYc3wJcM:1qYEIZzn1Bw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Webster Pounds The Power</h1> <p>Paul Gotham — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:43:25 +0000</p> <p> <p>For now, there appears to be no slowing the Webster Yankee bus.</p> <p>Three pitchers combined to hold Niagara to six hits and one run while Steve Muoio (Georgia C&S) led a 13-hit attack as the pinstripes pounded the Power 8-1 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action, Wednesday night.</p> <p> <p>Muoio’s two-out single in the first scored Geoff Dornes (R.I.T.) from second and gave the Yanks an early lead. Dornes reached second when his fly ball was mishandled in center field.</p> <p>Niagara countered in the second. Jacan Warren (Mississippi College) led with a double into left center-field gap. One out later Bobby Harper (Penn St. Brandywine) delivered with a check swing ground ball to the right side of the infield.</p> <p>That is as close as Niagara would come.</p> <p>Mike Walraven (Hofstra) led the bottom of the frame with a double. Matt Jacobs (UMass-Lowell) followed and was hit by a pitch. Both moved up on a balk. Shawn Bailey (SUNY Cortland) plated Walraven with a bunt single. Jacobs moved to third on the play and scored when Bailey stole second and the throw eluded the Andrew Ahrendt (Augustana) covering the bag.</p> <p>Webster put the game out of reach in the fourth when the first four batters rapped hits. Again, Walraven led – this time with a single. Jacobs followed with a hit and run single that scored Walraven. Chriss Soldi (UMass-Lowell) doubled scoring Jacobs. Jason Edwards (Toledo) added another run with a double of his own. Two outs later Muoio brought home Edwards with Webster’s third double of the stanza.</p> <p>In the sixth, the Yankees added one last run. Bailey rapped a one-out single, stole second, and scored on a base hit by Dominic Catanzarite (Ball State).</p> <p>Meanwhile, Lincon Rassi (Toledo) mowed down the Niagara lineup. The right hander surrendered three hits and one run while striking out four. Rassi is now 3-0 on the campaign.</p> <p>Scott Brothers (Ball State) came out of the bullpen for the first time this season. The native of Monticello, Indiana struck out three of the seven batters he faced while allowing one hit.</p> <p>Bryant Guilmette (UMass-Lowell) worked the ninth fanning a pair of would-be Power hitters.</p> <p>Muoio finished 4-4 with two RBI. Walraven went 3-4 with two runs scored.</p> <p>The win is Webster’s third consecutive and six in the last seven games. The pinstripes improved to 12-4 to strengthen their lead in the NYCBL West Division.</p> <p>Webster hosts Geneva Thursday night. First pitch is set for 7pm at Basket Road Field.</p> <p><a href="http://www.pickinsplinters.com/">Pickin’ Splinters </a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=evo8qx_gX0A:JBMafJBERqU:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=evo8qx_gX0A:JBMafJBERqU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>El juego casi perfecto de Tom Seaver (Tom Seaver’s Almost Perfect Game)</h1> <p>Alfonso L. Tusa C. — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:00:31 +0000</p> <p>Aquel miércoles 09 de julio de 1969 estudiaba la tabla de multiplicar. Al día siguiente era el examen oral de matemáticas. Cada vez que mamá se descuidaba, estiraba el cuello hacia una transmisión radial que llegaba desde la habitación de mis hermanos. “… en el primer inning Seaver retira a los Cachorros por la vía del un, dos, tres…”. Bajo la mesa de la sala un periódico desplegaba un reportaje sobre la misión Apolo 11 que daba los últimos toques para la llegada del hombre a la luna.</p> <p>Sabía que mamá estaría pendiente de mí hasta que le respondiera la tabla del 9. Pero cada vez oía comentarios más intensos de mis hermanos en el cuarto. “¿Tu crees que lo haga?”. “Verdad que está imbateable”. La próxima vez que mamá tuvo que ir a la cocina pegue la oreja de la puerta del cuarto. “…Ron Santo levanta un manso elevado al center field…”</p> <p>Los innings pasaban. Todo lo que escuchaba cuando me acercaba al cuarto era “… otro ponche de Seaver. Manso elevado al cuadro. Ya tiene 19 retirados en fila. Desde aquí se ve como sus compañeros dejan sólo a Seaver en un extremo de la banca…”</p> <p>Ahora todo me parece más emocionante. Hace unos días leí un artículo donde Seaver habla de sus impresiones de aquel juego. Entre otras cosas habla de Jimmy Qualls, de cómo aún luego de tantos años se acuerda de él, además de que muchas personas también se lo mencionan en muchas conversaciones. Pero Seaver no se lamenta porque igual fue un blanqueo de 1 hit en medio de la lucha por el banderín. Tambien recuerda como los Mets empezaron esa serie ante los Cachorros en el segundo lugar 5 juegos detrás de Chicago. Ron Santo subestimó a los Mets diciendo que la alineación de los oseznos era muy superior a la de los metropolitanos. Que su defensiva dejaba que desear. Tambien recuerda Seaver que Santo desconocía la profundidad del pitcheo metropolitano: Jerry Koosman, Gary Gentry, Nolan Ryan, Tug McGraw.</p> <p>Cuando finalmente pasé la prueba de la tabla del nueve, me fui a la cama. El radio dominaba la oscuridad de la recámara. “…que actuación la de Seaver esta noche, acaba de ponchar a Ernie Banks con la curva y a Al Spangler con una recta que se congeló antes de llegar al plato…” Felipe se sorprendió cuando trató de quitarme la almohada y le reclamé. Por lo general a esa hora andaba en el más profundo de los sueños, pero la tensión del examen oral y la emoción del juego me estiraron las pestañas. Unos días después lamenté que tanto el estudio de la tabla de multiplicar como el juego no hubiesen ocurrido la misma noche en que Neil Armstrong pisó la luna. A las diez de la noche ya habitaba la luna de los sueños.</p> <p>Seaver también rememora que mientras calentaba el brazo sintió una rigidez en el hombro que se mantuvo los dos primeros innings. Con los dos lanzamientos iniciales de Ken Holtzman, los Mets se fueron arriba 1-0 mediante triple de Tommie Agee y doble de Bobby Pfiel. En el segundo marcaron otras 2, Seaver remolcó una con un doble. En el séptimo Cleon Jones la sacó del parque para poner el juego 4-0. Sus impresiones sobre el aislamiento que trata de realizar el pitcher para neutralizar la tensión del juego, explican como a medida que avanza un juego sin hits, la situación se dificulta cada vez. En las tribunas estaban su esposa Nancy y su padre, quién había viajado desde la costa occidental. Había 60000 personas en Shea Stadium, la primera vez que Seaver lanzaba ante tanto público.</p> <p>Luego que Seaver dominara a Hundley con rolling al montículo. Me senté en la cama y estiré el oído hacia el radio, toda la tensión se desdibujó cuando el narrador dijo”… es una línea de hit de Jimmy Qualls hacia el centerfield, se acabó el perfecto, se acabó el juego sin hits. Tom Seaver mira hacia el cielo, se va detrás del montículo….” Aún sentado en la cama escuché como terminó el juego dominando a Willie Smith y Don Kessinger con elevados inofensivos.</p> <p>Seaver regresa al dugout y nota que Nancy tiene lágrimas en los ojos. “¿Por qué estás llorando? Ganamos 4-0”.</p> <p><strong>English Translation</strong></p> <p>That Wednesday July, 09th 1969 I studied for an oral math test that would take place the next morning. Each time Mom got distracted, I stretched my neck to a radio broadcast coming from my brothers bedroom. “… in the first inning Seaver retires the side before the Cubs…” Under the living room table a paper showed an article about the Apollo 11 Mission where it was said they had everything under control for the arrival of man at moon.</p> <p>I knew that Mom would be watching me until I studied the whole material that was going to be evaluated in the test. Each time I heard more intense comments from my brothers inside the bedroom. “Do you think he can make it?” “It’s true, he’s untouchable.” The next time that Mom had to go to the kitchen I attached my ear to the bedroom’s door. “Ron Santo hits a pop up to center field…”</p> <p>The game advanced inning after inning. All I heard was “…another strikeout by Seaver. High pop up to the infield. Now it’s 19 batters retired in a row. We can see how his teammates leave Seaver alone at a corner of the bench.”</p> <p>Now everything looks more exciting. Some days ago I read an article where Seaver talks about that game. Among many things he remembers Jimmy Qualls, how after many years he still knows who Qualls is, besides that many persons always mention Qualls in the interviews. But Seaver doesn’t regret because no matter it was a one-hitter shutout in the middle of the pennant’s battle. He also remembers how the Mets started a series before the Cubs being in second place, 5 games behind Chicago. Ron Santo underestimated the Mets by saying that the Cubs line up was very superior in front of the Mets. That the Mets had an under the average defense. Santo also said he didn’t know anything about the depth of Mets pitching staff: Jerry Koosman, Gary Gentry, Nolan Ryan, Tug McGraw.</p> <p>When I finally finished studying math, I went to hit the sack. The radio ruled over the room’s darkness. “…what a performance is having Tom Seaver tonight. He’s already struckout Ernie Banks with a breaking ball and Al Spangler with a fastball that got frozen before arriving to the home plate…” Felipe got surprised when he tried to take my pillow but I grabbed it with all my strength. Usually by that time I had fallen asleep, but the oral test’s tension and the game’s emotions kept me awake. Some days later I regretted that having to study math and listening to the ballgame wouldn’t have hapenned the same night Neil Armstrong arrived to the moon. At 10 o’clock I was already asleep.</p> <p>Seaver also recalls that while warming up he felt a tightness in his right shoulder. He had to hurl in that condition during the first two innings.</p> <p>The Mets scored a run with the first two pitches of Ken Holtzman. Tommie Agee hit a triple and Bobby Pfiel followed with a double. In the second frame they scored two more runs, Seaver batted in one with a double. In the seventh Cleon James smacked a dinger to put the game 4-0.</p> <p>Seaver talked about the isolation a pitcher hurling a no hitter has to practice in order to neutralize the game’s tension that raises as the contest approaches to the ninth inning. His wife Nancy and his father, who had traveled from the west coast, were among the public. There were 60,000 fans in Shea Stadium, the first time Seaver performed before such an audience.</p> <p>Once Seaver got the first out of the ninth inning, with a grounder to the mound, I sat down on the bed and stretched my ear to the radio. All the tension vanished when the announcer said: “…Jimmy Qualls hits a line drive to center field. The perfect game is over, no more no hitter. Tom Seaver looks to the sky, he goes behind the mound and take a breath.” Still sat on the bed I listened how the game ended with Willie Smith and Don Kessinger pop ups to the outfield.</p> <p>Seaver got back to the dugout and noticed that Nancy had tears in her eyes. “Why are you crying? We won 4-0.”</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=bzlp3nZCUi4:OXah0zw4ZdE:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=bzlp3nZCUi4:OXah0zw4ZdE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Scorecards are a dying art</h1> <p>Shelly Riley — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:31:27 +0000</p> <p>What has happened to tradition in our modern day lives? On a daily basis we are inundated with flashing lights, quick moving advertisements and click of a button information. Even in baseball, we are presented with the common modern day amenities that make our viewing much more joyful. Gone are the (majority of) old green and white manually operated scoreboards that used to grace every park. They have been replaced with the titantrons and mammoth sized LCD flat screens that are now commonplace not only in shiny new parks, but older parks have also been retrofitted to accommodate these new bells and whistles. </p> <p>My love of nostalgia gets the best of me and I can’t help but think, what happened to keeping score by hand? The simple art of putting an itty bitty golf pencil to paper and making a permanent memory of what happened at the game you attended is a dying art. At most parks – we will use Comerica Park in Detroit as an example, you can get your shiny cardstock scorecard and a golf pencil for a dollar right when you walk in the gate. For the most part, people buy them as a part of the programs that they will eventually keep for souvenirs. But part of me can’t help but wonder… how many of those scorecards actually get written on let alone filled out completely? How many of them actually get used at all? </p> <p>For me, scorecards and scorekeeping is a guilty pleasure. I cannot help but buy one as I walk in. A smile comes across my face when the vendor hands me that little golf pencil (I bring my own though – force of habit). I like the feel of the shiny cardstock with all the letter and instructions on it. I love the lack of wrinkles it has from over use. It’s shiny and new and I’m about to destroy it with my baseball graffiti. I love to get to my seat about a half hour before first pitch so I can fill out my card and get settled for the battle that I’m about to witness. I get psyched up as I write my favorite players names into favorable slots (Cabrera in the 3 slot, Ordonez in the 4, Granderson batting leadoff). For me, this part of the game is more important that the final out – a fresh white scorecard has the same meaning as opening day. A clean scorecard is a clean slate. And I love the fact that when the game is done, I can take it home and put it on the bookshelf with all the other scorecards that I have filled out throughout the years knowing that at any time I can go back to it and relive that particular game – because it is right there in front of me in my own pen. </p> <p>As I sit in my shiny green seat above home plate I get a kick out of watching the crowd around me. I see little kids, parents, teenagers, vendors and the older folks amongst me. Suddenly I realize that I am in the minority – I am under the age of 30 and I am keeping score just like the two 70+ yr old men in the row below me and the woman to my left who is at least 85 yr old in the big straw hat to my left. Suddenly I feel… old!!! But I am not old!!! Why aren’t the others keeping score like me? This sparks a major debate in my head. Are these people not keeping score because they have other things to do (watch the kids, drink many beers) or are they just so accustomed to the modern amenities that they feel they don’t have to (aka: lazy)? Then the light bulb goes off in my one track mind baseball lovin’ head… <em>they aren’t keeping score because they don’t know how</em>. They don’t know how because the art of keeping score is a dying art. </p> <p>Scorecards are as unique as the individual that fills them out. Like snowflakes, no two are alike. Each scorer has their own loose interpretation of exactly what each symbol means and where in the box they put it is just as important as the symbol itself. Ask me to read someone else’s scorecard and I’m sure I could figure it out, but it would take me a bit. Just as the game is seen differently by each individual that attends it (I thought it was a ball, but apparently the ump did not…). Therein lies the wonderment of a completed scorecard – when the game is done and the dust has settled they all have the same outcome. Wins and losses, 0-fers and hits, strikes and balls – its all there in one neat little paper package. </p> <p>But seeing that we are now living in the age of convenience, I realize why paper scorekeeping has gone to the wayside. Children and teens and even people my age do not know how to keep score because they were never taught how to do so by their parents or relatives or older friends who came about in the age when electronic scorekeeping was making its big boom debut. Not to mention that keeping accurate score on paper is a time commitment. You can’t get up in the middle of the 4th and stroll down to the concourse for a beer and bathroom break. By leaving your seat, you to negate the mission of completing the entire scorecard - thus making the endeavor pointless. This also goes for those parents with young children. It is impossible for one to fill out an accurate scorecard while your child is on the fly-ball Ferris wheel or dragging you to the bathroom every other inning. </p> <p>With all the new parks have to offer, why would one want to sit in their seat and keep score? But old timers and nostalgia buffs like myself will tell you that it is worth it. People who keep score on a regular basis have more of a feeling or a connection to the game. You feel that since you took the time and the effort to map the whole game out in little boxes that you were a part of it somehow, like you were not only there but you were part of the team. There is a sense of pride when you get to the bottom of the 9th and your card is almost complete. You know that you took the time and the dedication to complete your task. And ultimately you hope for your team to do the same thing. You hope that they take their time and that their dedication at completing their task of winning.</p> <p>~Shelly</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=K1_yE5QepQ0:eeQtE0U81FU:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=K1_yE5QepQ0:eeQtE0U81FU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>We Are All Witnesses</h1> <p>Daniel Shoptaw — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:21:11 +0000</p> <p>I don’t think of <strong>Albert Pujols</strong> as a home run hitter. I mean, obviously he can hit home runs, that’s never been in doubt. However, in my mind he’s a 35-40 home run guy, which is very good power, don’t get me wrong, but being that he is such an all around hitter with average, RBI, etc., the home runs don’t stand out the way they do on, say, Ryan Howard. I mean, Ted Williams had 521 homers, but power isn’t the first thing that comes to mind with him.Albert may be changing that perception some this year and not by losing anything, but by hitting so many home runs that you have to sit up and take notice. Two more last night, off of a Hall of Famer-to-be, even, pushed him to 30 before the calendar changed to July. Thirty by the end of June! We’ve already gotten to 1/3 of the marks Cardinal fans watch on him. Everyone knows by now that he’s the only one to start a season with so many consecutive years of .300, 30 HR and 100 RBI. Some years, he’s needed a little kick to get there (as in 2007 when he finished with “just” 103 RBI) but he’s always gotten there. Now, he might get there by the All-Star Break.</p> <p>That’s assuming, of course, that anyone else could get on for him to drive in. After his <a href="http://stltoday.stats.com/mlb/boxscore.asp?gamecode=290630124">three-RBI night</a>, he stands at 77. Again, though, the Cardinals only scored when Albert was in the middle of it. There were signs of hope, though, as the Cardinals almost looked like they were going to rally from a five-run deficit for the first time this year. The double play by <strong>Tyler Greene</strong> in the sixth really broke the back of the rally, though. Even a sac fly in that situation would have been nice, and it would have put the team one step closer to rolling over the lineup again to have Pujols up in the ninth.</p> <p>Greene’s double play gets Chris Carpenter off the hook for the Goat tag, but you know things are going wrong when Carp gives up six runs. As the <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/4A523DF66DABF5A1862575E6001F8FBF?OpenDocument"><em>Post-Dispatch </em>story said</a>, it’s not like he was necessarily hit around the yard, but the flares weren’t spread out enough and it led to runs. You’d like to think it was just an off-night; we’ll see what happens when Carpenter takes the mound again against the Reds this weekend.</p> <p>In what was hopefully a positive development, it was good to see Ryan Ludwick hitting the ball well. Two extra-base hits, including a triple that was just a foot away from leaving the ballpark. If he can start getting rolling, maybe that’ll help the offense put together some sustained rallies.</p> <p>Hopefully Ludwick won’t be forced to step up to replace Mark DeRosa, but apparently that’s a possibility, as DeRosa is feeling <a href="http://yourenotagolfer.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/06/derosa_injures_wrist.html">pain in his wrist</a>. DeRosa, who has run his hitless streak with the Cardinals to nine at-bats, tweaked it on a swing and will have it examined today. You have to hope that it’s nothing serious, but wrist injuries are a difficult thing. If he goes down for any length of time, you know John Mozeliak’s going to be feeling snake bit. Not pressure, because it’s one of those things, but his last two trades are DeRosa and Khalil Greene, and we know how Greene has turned out so far this year.</p> <p>Rick Ankiel had himself a rough night, didn’t he? He seemed to misplay a drive over his head that allowed a run to score, then threw to an uncovered base, allowing another run in. Add to that an 0-2 and, well, not one you want to put in the scrapbook.</p> <p>It doesn’t get much easier for the Cardinals tonight. Matt Cain goes for the Giants against Adam Wainwright in a game that can be seen on ESPN. While Cain’s numbers against the Cardinals <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/shareit/zbCS">aren’t that impressive</a>, a lot of that comes from the beating St. Louis put on him last year. Cain faced the Cardinals earlier this year and allowed two runs (one earned) in six and a third. On the plus side, DeRosa doesn’t hit him so it’s a good night for him to be sitting.</p> <p>Wainwright, who hit his first major league home run in San Francisco, didn’t have as much success in his first outing against the Giants this year. He allowed four runs in seven innings as the Cards took the loss. Historically, the Giants <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/shareit/eyce">have been tough</a> on him as well, but no home runs allowed at least.</p> <p>So it should be a good game. If nothing else, you have to tune in to see just what Albert is going to do tonight.</p> <p><em>Daniel Shoptaw is the founder of “C70 At The Bat,” where he regularly writes about his beloved St. Louis Cardinals. You can find more of his work<a href="http://www.cardinal70.com/" target="_blank"> here</a>.</em></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=E9bXQbMNxxs:R-zgbrPhZhw:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=E9bXQbMNxxs:R-zgbrPhZhw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>It Ain’t Cricket: The Trolley Dodgers</h1> <p>Fredric M. London — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:00:49 +0000</p> <p>The wildest year in baseball history was 1884. Pitchers reached milestones never heard of before, and within a few years would be unheard of again. Old Hoss Radbourne, 29, in his fourth major league season, set a National League strikeout record which still stands, 441. What is the only year in which a pitcher struck out more batters in the National or American Leagues than Nolan Ryan in his best year? RIGHT, 1884, and Radbourne was one of two to top Ryan. Hoss also set the all time record for total victories in a major league season, 60.</p> <p>Hitters also went haywire. The pre-1919 season home run record was set in 1884, 27, by Ned Williamson of the Cubs. He was one of four Cubs to reach the twenty-home run level that year, which had never been reached before. It would be achieved again a total of four more times from 1885-1918, never more than once in any season. There was never a season like 1884. In 1883, baseball was the same size it would be in 1960, two eight-team leagues. From 1871 on, the most new teams in any given year occurred in 1871 when the National Association started as a nine-team league. From 1872 on, the total amount of new teams was never higher than eight per year, that figure representing the presence of a new league.</p> <p>There was one year that was an exception. You guessed correctly, 1884. The American Association, only six teams in 1882, had a Nineteenth Century record-tying 13 teams in 1884, including five new teams, an all-time record for an existing league’s expansion. Also new to the scene in 1884 was another league, the Union Association, which was the largest brand new league ever attempted with 12 teams. Baseball in 1884 consisted of 33 teams, the most ever. More than half of these teams, 17, were brand new. Of the 17, only one still existed in 1885.</p> <p>One of the top five franchises in baseball, year after year, is one of the few playing in a privately owned stadium, the only privately owned stadium built in the major leagues from 1923-99. When someone in this franchise is blue, it does not represent a depressed state. This Rolls Royce of sports franchises naturally started out as a minor league team. In 1883, playing in the City of Brooklyn, New York, in the Interstate League, a minor league feeder league for the then major league A.A., the team won a pennant in their very first year.</p> <p>Following the 1883 season, it decided to take the plunge and graduate to the major leagues. In 1884, Brooklyn entered the American Association; one of five new teams added that year, and one of seventeen new major league teams in 1884. Of these seventeen, it was the only one still playing baseball in 1885. During its first decade, the Brooklyn franchise played in a ballpark near the intersection of several trolley lines. This gave rise to one of the team’s many nicknames. Brooklyn has been called the Bridegrooms, Superbas, Robins, and Brooks, to name a few.</p> <p>The one, which stuck, started out as Trolley Dodgers, shortened over time to its current incarnation. Ironically, of the sixteen old team names, this was the last to become commonplace. Dodgers have been the generally accepted nickname for this franchise only since 1932. By then, much history had been experienced.</p> <p>The Dodgers of the 1880s gradually built towards respectability. When Chris Von der Ahe became disenchanted with his Browns’ performance in 1888, he began to dismantle the team. Brooklyn, which had finished second that year, became the primary beneficiary of Von der Ahe’s actions. In 1889, they won their first pennant. Their rivals for the World Championship that year played across the river in upper Manhattan, then the separate City of New York.</p> <p>Heretofore, playing in separate cities in separate leagues, these two franchises had little reason to be involved with each other. This World Series changed that forever. In the great granddaddy of 1951, the Giants bested the Dodgers in postseason 1889. A great rivalry was born. At the end of the season, following the lead of the Pirates and the Spiders, two teams jumped from the American Association to the National League. One of the two was the Dodgers.</p> <p>Aided by the effects of the Players League, and Brooklyn’s relatively small loss, the team became the first in history to win consecutive pennants in different leagues. Some Dodger enthusiasts have gloated the team beat out their nemesis, the Giants, for the pennant. As pennant winners they did beat the Giants, but only because they beat all other National League teams. The badly-depleted Giants finished sixth in the eight-team league, 24 games out, and were never in the race.</p> <p>The Dodgers won their only Brooklyn championship in 1955. However, prior to 1955, the only World Series Brooklyn participated in but did not lose was in 1890. That year the Dodgers played their successors at the helm of the American Association, the Louisville Colonels, to a tie. It was the first World Series in five years to end in a draw, and the last ever. It was also the last Series prior to 1903.</p> <p>The coming and going of the Players League drastically changed the structure of the game. Playing in 1890, with almost every major star of the period, the league altered baseball forever. Upon its arrival, baseball consisted of two relatively stable leagues. The American Association had experienced some setbacks, namely the loss of two of its franchises to the National League in the late 1880s, but had demonstrated its staying power. Through the World Series of 1882-’90, the AA had played the NL tough, won the championship in 1886, and forced three other Series to draws.</p> <p>Due to National League manipulations, the collapse of the PL greatly benefited them, and left the AA in dire straits. The AA signed their own death sentence by withdrawing from the National Agreement. Dealing from a position of weakness, this act ensured its demise. By 1892, baseball was half its size of 1890, and the National League held a monopoly. On a more micro level, existing teams changed drastically. If one peruses a baseball encyclopedia, the changes in team status could be extreme.</p> <p>The Braves went from second, to fifth, to first during the 1889-91 period. The Pirates crashed to the worst level in franchise history, and did not rebound in 1891. The Giants crashed to 6th and rebounded to third. The Dodgers, pennant winners in 1890, dropped to 6th, taking New York‘s place. The 1890s was not a period of glory for Brooklyn. In fact, the reputation of “Bums” began during this time, as did their association with Charlie Ebbets, who started out selling tickets, but went on to own the team and build a park which bore his name. This reputation saw little interruption for half a century.</p> <p>Business in the 19th century, as most people have forgotten, was built on trust. Excuse me, make that trusts. The robber barons increasingly moved towards monopolies as a means of maximizing their profits. Baseball is, and was, a business. Its owners, then as now, generally acquired wealth through other business endeavors. As the game itself had become rougher during the latter part of the century, the business end also reflected the trends of other businesses. A concept called syndicate baseball was proposed. Had it been implemented, all major league teams would have merged into one league entity, with teams becoming branch offices.</p> <p>A total bottom line for the league would have been paramount, and individual teams would exist to serve the greater good. As all owners would become stockholders in this league, their interests would become synonymous. What benefited one would benefit all. Pennant races would proceed in a manner to guarantee the most profits, and teams would be provided with players by stockholder agreement. The idea came close to succeeding around the turn of the century, but was not adopted.</p> <p>However, parts of the plan had been occurring throughout the 1890s in the form of overlapping ownership. This involved men, such as John Brush, owning parts of different teams. In a few cases, one man would be the decision maker for more than one National League team. This came to be the case in Baltimore and Brooklyn.</p> <p>For some reason, these two cities were somehow linked. The Baltimore Orioles were a charter AA member in 1882. A nondescript team, it was moved to Brooklyn following the 1889 season to replace the Dodgers. This arrangement did not work out, and they returned to Baltimore during the 1890 season. In the early 1890s, the team was lackluster.</p> <p>In 1894, the team came from out of nowhere to dominate the league. Led by relatively small players, they introduced a brand of rough and dirty baseball known as the inside game. Umpires would be baited, spat upon, and assaulted. Any trick possible was tried. A player rounding first on a long hit would find himself motionless, held back by his belt. Slides included kicks and deliberate spikings. The legendary Baltimore Orioles were born.</p> <p>They won pennants in 1894, 1895, and 1896. Taking the first two Temple Cup Playoffs lightly, the Orioles woke up to win this series in 1896. Having just missed the pennant in 1897, the Orioles compensated their fans by winning the Cup again that year.</p> <p>During this period, the Dodgers’ mediocrity continued. As the decade drew to a close, the team sunk to near the cellar of the twelve-team league, over thirty games from the flag. Also during this time, ownership of the two teams became virtually synonymous. Looking at the bottom line, it was discovered the Dodgers drew nearly as well as the high-flying Orioles. How much better would Brooklyn do with a winner? The syndicate decided to find out.</p> <p><em>This is the first of a three-part series. On deck: “It Ain’t Cricket: The Bums” </em></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=6UfuAuRUqdo:Smjnaav57QM:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=6UfuAuRUqdo:Smjnaav57QM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Simulation Baseball</h1> <p>Ivar Anderson — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:49:12 +0000</p> <p> All Time Baseball League-simulation baseball</p> <p>Many years ago, I bought my first computer, a Commodore 64. This was back in the early ’80s, and the best part about having a computer was the ability to play games. I had purchased an external floppy drive for my C64 just so I could run a baseball simulation game. The game came on a huge 5 1/4 inch floppy disk, and these things were fragile (unlike the small 3 1/2 disks of my early word processing days). I had seen an ad for the baseball game in some computer magazine (we didn’t have the fantastic internet resources of today back in the early days of personal computing) and I had to snail-mail my order and wait for the disk to arrive for what seemed forever. But when I received the game, I was well rewarded for my patience. The best part about the game was the ability to assemble All-Star teams to play against the computer, set your lineups, pull your starter for a middle reliever, pinch hit, hit and run…you get the idea. For such a simple program, it had a lot of options and I played it until the disk wore out. At that point, video games had begun to arrive, although I never found one that was a simple to play and had the complexity of options until my sons began to acquire PlayStations and X Boxes for birthdays and Christmas.</p> <p>During my younger days, I played APBA and Strat-O-Matic baseball with friends or solo for many hours. Of course, the neighborhood kids played baseball and football outside when the weather was good (or at least not terrible), but rainy days and late summer evenings were special times to indulge in baseball simulations.</p> <p>I began to play fantasy baseball seriously 5 years ago and that has proven to be a rewarding if time-consuming pastime. While trolling the internet for fantasy baseball information, I discovered a site run by Lou Poulas entitled <a href="http://www.fbhof.com/" title="FBHoF">Sweet Lou’s Baseball Lab</a> (that site, unfortunately, no longer exists, but the link will take you to his new site, Fantasy Baseball Hall of Fame). On one of his posts, Lou talked about a baseball simulation league he ran, The All Time Baseball League (<a href="http://www.alltimebaseballsim.net/index.htm" title="ATB">ATB</a>, for shortcut purposes) and was asking if any readers wanted to join him and his friends in playing a simulated baseball season. I immediately applied and was accepted, increasing my level of joy by many degrees.</p> <p>The software that makes the simulation possible is Diamond Mind Baseball (much more information about <a href="http://www.diamond-mind.com/products/inside.htm" title="Diamond Mind Baseball">DMB</a> can be found on the internet). The software is simply amazing: not only does it handle player stats, it also makes allowances for ballpark factors, hitter and pitcher production by era, fielding abilities of players, and many other esoteric permutations concerning a team or player’s performance. I recently starting reading <em>Fantasyland </em>by Sam Walker and was not all that surprised to learn that the software was used in preparing for the Tout Wars draft by the author.</p> <p>Injuries also play a major role in DMB and by extension, ATB. If your ace goes down with an injury, you need to pray that your 6th starter can fill in for you until the injury timeframe expires. This season, at last count, two teams had lost 131 games to injury, and my squad had lost its ace, Greg Maddox for 12 games in May (thank goodness for Liriano!) and my starting catcher, Jason Kendall, for 53 games.</p> <p>Players will invariably slump during the simulated season, as well as go on hot streaks. This season, we are playing 4 simulation sets per week, which results in 15 games or so being played per week (rainouts are an infrequent, but expected occurance, depending upon the home team’s ballpark). The key, as in all baseball, is to ride out the hot streak and bench the struggling players. The commissioner has set up a nifty lineup spread sheet that is to be submitted prior to the week’s simulation, but this year, I’ve pretty much left my original lineup choices intact.</p> <p>For this season, my team is playing consistently well. I am, unfortunately, in the division with the best team in the league so far, so have had no chance to taste first place, but barring a horrible collapse, should place as a wild card team. I base this optimism on the manner in which I drafted my team this year. In my first year, I was so enamored with being able to draft my favorite players that I rashly added players to my team that had never performed well in the world of ATB, like Denny McLain and Jose Reyes (granted, Reyes was a very late round pick, who I added as a potential pinch runner). I started off hot that season, but soon dropped to mediocrity even with Barry Bonds on my team. I missed the playoffs, having played 17 of my last 29 games on the road.</p> <p>The next year was an unmitigated disaster. I joined with another fantasy baseball player I know well, and we pooled our knowledge to draft what we thought was a great squad. We went with power hitters and pitchers with lots of strikeouts and low WHIPs. We finished dead last in our division, having ignored the adomnition to draft for defense.</p> <p>My third attempt has been much more rewarding. I don’t take the algorithms to the extreme that our commish, Lou, does in determining player values, but for my draft technique this year, after the first few rounds where the absolute studs are selected, I tried a new tack. I drafted the best available player that had an excellent or very good defensive rating and who batted from the opposite side of the plate of my starter for hitters. As for pitching, I selected thsoe starters with the best WHIP and RC27 ratings possible, using ERA and K/9 as secondary selection qualifiers. I was pleased when at the conclusion of the draft, Lou told me he liked my team (not as much as his, since he has the best squad to date).</p> <p>One thing that my ATB participation has done for me, as a fantasy player, is improve my Excel skills, since with all the information available, and all the players that have histories in the simulation, an owner can get overwhelmed with data if hs isn’t selective at what he uses to value his draft picks. My team, as drafted for anyone interested, is as follows:</p> <p>  </p> <p><strong>Batter</strong><strong> </strong> <strong> </strong><strong>P</strong></p> <p>Ben Chapman 2b</p> <p>Dave Concepcion ss</p> <p>Jim Edmonds cf</p> <p>Gary Gaetti 3b</p> <p>Mark Grace 1b</p> <p>Pete Hill cf</p> <p>Jason Kendall c</p> <p>Buck Leonard 1b</p> <p>Eddie Mathews 3b</p> <p>Darrell Porter c</p> <p>Joe Tinker ss</p> <p>Chase Utley 2b</p> <p>Larry Walker rf</p> <p>Zack Wheat lf</p> <p>Frank White 2b</p> <p>Willie Wilson lf</p> <p>Rudy York 1b</p> <p><strong>Pitcher P T</strong></p> <p>Manuel Corpas rp R</p> <p>Octavio Dotel rp R</p> <p>Joey Eischen rp L</p> <p>Chad Fox rp R</p> <p>Joe Horlen sp R</p> <p>Al Hrabosky rp L</p> <p>Francisco Liriano rp L</p> <p>Greg Maddux sp R</p> <p>Tom Niedenfuer rp R</p> <p>Fritz Peterson sp L</p> <p>J.J. Putz cl R</p> <p>Charley Radbourn sp R</p> <p>Jose Rijo sp R</p> <p>I drafted Maddux first, and followed that pick with Eddie Mathews. At that point, I proceeded to fill my lineup, except for catcher, which after the top 5 or 6 really drops off in quality. I grabbed pitchers at what I thought were proper value points in the draft, never reaching but always trying to snag a quality arm that would give consistent results.</p> <p>Currently my team is at 45-34, with a devastating 4 loss streak at the end of the last sim to overcome. That losing streak coupled with a 10 game win streak by the current second place team in my division leaves me 14 1/2 games behind the leader, but still in second place for a wildcard berth.</p> <p>Time to scour the free agent market for a backup catcher, as I now only have Darrell Porter as my backstop and that concerns me.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=kMS7l_YtBJ0:MrR1WHKPxl0:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=kMS7l_YtBJ0:MrR1WHKPxl0:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Playing It Forward, Giving Some Back: A Good Works Campaign by Garrett Berger</h1> <p>Anita Y. Tsuchiya — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:10:29 +0000</p> <p></p> <p align="left">I’d like to mention Garrett is a friend. He is one of those rare athletes who seems to grasp the importance of a well-balanced perspective, whether it’s in baseball, business, life. In <strong><a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090217&content_id=3838914&vkey=news_fla&fext=.jsp&c_id=fla">Garrett’s World</a></strong>, looking out for others is not an obligation or responsibility—it’s just done. And with that lead-in, I invite you to join us in supporting two very worthy causes: USA Cares and A Glove of Their Own.</p> <p align="center"><u>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</u></p> <table width="75%" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td>Contact: Garrett Berger</td> <td>iFungo, LLC</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Cell: 317-538-4284</td> <td>2420 Stringtown Pike</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Fax: 866-597-0959</td> <td>Cicero, IN 46034</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Email: <a href="mailto:gberger@ifungo.com">gberger@ifungo.com</a></td> <td><a href="http://www.ifungo.com/">www.iFungo.com</a></td> </tr> </table> <p><strong>iFungo.com Supports the Troops! iFungo.com has teamed up with USA Cares with their new bat line, the iFungo Ordinance Bats</strong></p> <p>Cicero, IN — June 18, 2009 –- <a href="http://www.ifungo.com/"><strong><font color="#0000cc">iFungo.com</font></strong></a> has teamed up with <a href="http://www.usacares.org/"><strong><font color="#cc0000">USA Cares</font></strong></a>, a charity for military families in need, and are offering a new line of bats geared towards supporting our troops and families. “<a href="http://www.ifungo.com/p-893-ifungo-ordinance-bats-with-stars-and-stripes-logo.aspx">The iFungo Ordinance Bats</a>” will feature a stars and stripes logo and personalization at the end of the bat. The first line will feature the soldiers name and rank followed by the second line, which the purchaser will be able to display a message to their soldier.</p> <p>“We take pride in the fact we don’t just offer premium baseball equipment to the masses,” explained iFungo CEO and founder Garret Berger. “Any ability we have to help out a worthy cause we jump at. USA Cares is a very reputable charity and when we presented the idea to them they immediately fell in love with the idea. Baseball is very much still America’s favorite pastime, and in my opinion it’s about time we helped our own soldiers in the process.”</p> <p>In the interest of maintaining the integrity of the game, iFungo.com offers the following gift to everyone who purchases a glove of equal to or more than $100 from us—the children’s book, <a href="http://www.agloveoftheirown.com/"><em><font color="#cc6600"><strong>A Glove of Their Own</strong></font></em></a>. This beautifully illustrated book, written by a group of baseball parents, revolves around the amazing power of ‘paying it forward. $3 of these efforts also will be donated to USA Cares.’”</p> <p>The iFungo.com product page also states that soldiers can purchase these bats for their children. When asked about this Berger said, “There is nothing better than a child of a soldier wanting to honor their father or mother by using a bat with their name on it. I hope these bats will provide them with the same courage and grit their fathers/mothers possess to help them get through an at bat or the entire season. Baseball has stood the test of time and we only hope that this will provide the same strength to these families to get through this time.”</p> <p>For more information, please contact Garrett Berger via email (<a href="mailto:gberger@ifungo.com">gberger@ifungo.com</a>).</p> <p align="center"> # # #</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=xEkrv93Qapc:x1B4uJ0aQd8:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=xEkrv93Qapc:x1B4uJ0aQd8:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Deconstucting Bowden</h1> <p>Ted Leavengood — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:56:27 +0000</p> <p><em>Deconstructing Jim Bowden in Washington is starting to look like fun. The trade of Lastings Milledge to Pittsburgh for Nyjer Morgan separates the Nationals from another of the troubled players that were drawn to Bowden like flies. More importantly, it gives the team better up the middle defense and a legit lead-off hitter. Three birds, one shot. Nice work Mike Rizzo.</em></p> <p>The audacity of hope is more than a book by the President, but a mood for DC baseball fans watching the subtle changes being wrought by the Nationals front office. The winning percentage is hovering below .300, but there is something afoot here in the nation’s capital. The winds of change are blowing.</p> <p>Tom Boswell, in his column several weeks ago sent a shot across the bow of Stan Kasten and the Lerners. He called not for new management, but for change “at the top.” Boz was not interested in canning Manny Acta so much as a new attitude from Stan Kasten and the Lerners. Boswell may not have seen Mike Rizzo as the answer, but the interim GM is acting like may have been reading Boswell’s mail.</p> <p>The firing of Randy St. Claire looked like an innocuous event when it happened three weeks ago–scapegoating, deck chairs being rearranged, but no real change. Now with the inclusion of Joel Hanrahan in the trade with Pittsburgh it is as though another piece of a slow face lift has fallen into place for the Nationals.</p> <p>The bullpen St. Claire had put in place with Hanrahan as closer was a disaster. Whoever thought that Mike MacDougal was the answer, whether it was Rizzo or new pitching coach McCatty, having someone come into the ninth inning and close out a ballgame–now that is change we can believe in.</p> <p>Hanrahan needed new scenery. He has the stuff, but not the makeup, at least not for the moment. McCatty has told MacDougal to throw nothing but 97 mph fast balls and it is working. The reconstructed MacDougal has converted three of three save opportunities to a 1.32 ERA. Beimel is back in the role he belongs in along with Tavarez and Villone. Uncanny how it almost makes sense.</p> <p>Josh Bard is another castoff that has proven invaluable as he has stepped in behind the plate for Jesus Flores who is likely out for the year. Bard does not have the defensive skills of Flores, but he can hit and is no slouch with the mitt.</p> <p>So Nyjer Morgan becomes a more important piece of the puzzle when you look at the rest of the emerging picture. Bard catching, MacDougal closing, Morgan running down balls in center, it is almost as if someone had a strategy for how to put this team back together.</p> <p>And somebody has to take responsibility for Scott Olsen regaining a few notches back on the fast ball. Olsen pitched well in his return from injury this week. Jordan Zimmermann is starting to look like he belongs at the front end of a major league rotation and John Lannan is looking more and more like a poor man’s Tom Glavine. With a little luck this rotation will come around. It’s a team that could surprise some folks in the second half.</p> <p>Karnac sees a man in charge. His picture is emerging from the mist. It is the President at Nationals Park. No it is not team president Stan Kasten. He is there but Mike Rizzo is the one with Obama. He is explaining to the President–the real author of the <em>Audacity of Hope–</em>how he engineered one of the most remarkable turnabouts in baseball. That’s a book someone should be writing.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=Frk5SaePPEY:X6xNhQqWgHM:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=Frk5SaePPEY:X6xNhQqWgHM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Turkey and the Mule</h1> <p>Justin Murphy — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:35:55 +0000</p> <p>Mule Suttles and Turkey Stearnes; Turkey Stearnes and Mule Suttles. Which one is it? In 1930, this was a question of no little importance. The two were the premier sluggers in black baseball, and a seven game Negro National League championship series between Stearnes’ Detroit Stars and Suttles’ St. Louis Stars promised to help settle the question of precedence.</p> <p> Suttles, a hulk from the coal mines of Alabama who swung a 50 ounce bat, had hit .384 with twenty home runs in 57 regular season games for St. Louis and Baltimore in 1930. What’s more, he’d reportedly hit a ball 600 feet the previous winter in Havana, over a 60 foot wall 500 feet from home plate. Numerous teammates and opponents who saw him play attest that no one hit a ball harder, higher or farther. Not Josh Gibson, not Babe Ruth—no one. A short anecdote, related by Buck Leonard and taken from John Holway’s <em>Blackball Stars</em>:</p> <p><em>[Suttles] hit a home run one night in Buffalo [that] hit the house across the street and came back in the ball park. We got the ball and held him to two bases. The ball went out of the park and hit the house so quickly and came back into the park that the umpire…thought it hit the fence.</em></p> <p>His teammates on the St. Louis club included Willie Wells, ‘Double Duty’ Radcliffe, and Cool Papa Bell. They won the first half pennant in a romp, going 41-15.</p> <p>Stearnes cut an entirely different figure than Suttles. Just 5’9” and 165 pounds, he had broad shoulders and whipped his bat through the strike zone with tremendous speed. He played for teams in Montgomery and Memphis in 1921 and 1922 before signing with Detroit for the following season. According to Satchel Paige, “he was as good as Josh [Gibson]. He was as good as anybody who ever played baseball.”</p> <p>Besides Stearnes, Detroit featured first baseman/pitcher Ed Rile, pitcher Ted Shaw, and outfielder Crush Holloway. Crush was really his given name—on the day he was born, his father saw a train crash in Hillsboro, Texas, his home town.</p> <p>The Motor City outfit was a decided underdog going into the series. They had tied St. Louis in the second half with a 24-7 record, but were 50-33 over the full year, compared to 65-22 for St. Louis. Their first half troubles were due in large part to Stearnes’ absence; he began the season with the New York Lincoln Giants, and only rejoined Detroit partway through the season.</p> <p>Besides the matchup it provided on the field, the 1930 NNL championship was important in Depression-era black America. The financial crisis sweeping the country had fallen with particular force on blacks, who were often among the first laid off from jobs. Lawrence Hogan notes in <em>Shades of Glory </em>that “black entrepreneurs were seriously handicapped by their reliance on a largely impoverished population with limited income.”</p> <p>In this context, professional black baseball was suffering badly at the gate. For instance, in 1927, The Atlantic City Bacharach Giants received only $42 each for playing in a championship series against the Chicago American Giants. The 1930 series had star power to spare, and hopes were high that it could net the teams and players a decent pay day.</p> <p>The first game was played in St. Louis. Stearnes immediately disquieted the home crowd by cracking a two run homer off Radcliffe, his nephew, in the first inning. St. Louis rebounded, though, and ace pitcher Ted Trent led them to a 5-4 victory. Stearnes was 3-4, including the home run, and Suttles was 1-2 with a single.</p> <p>The second game was all Stearnes, and by extension all Detroit. Turkey had five hits, including a double and a home run, and the visitors evened the series at one game apiece with an 11-7 victory. Suttles was 2-6.</p> <p>This game also featured one of the most astonishing plays ever made, in the Negro Leagues or elsewhere. With men on second and third and none out in the eighth, the St. Louis batter smashed a line drive over the bag at third. Detroit’s Bobbie Robinson dove, caught it in the air, and landed on the base to double off Cool Papa Bell. Not satisfied, he whipped the ball to second base, forcing runner John Henry Russell for an inning-ending triple play. Several major league players in the stands demanded that Robinson come shake their hands.</p> <p>In the next game, Suttles hit his first home run, Stearnes managed just one hit, and St. Louis’ Trent shut down Detroit once more to re-take the series lead. After a fourth game in which, apparently, neither Stearnes nor Suttles played, the ballplayers moved to Detroit with the series tied at two.</p> <p>The setting there was Hamtramck Stadium, named for the working class Polish neighborhood in which it stood. It had been built that very year after the previous stadium, Mack Park, burned to the ground in a terrifying fire that injured 220 spectators. Hamtramck, also known as Roesink Stadium after the man who built it, presented certain challenges to left-handed sluggers like Turkey. It was 407 feet down the right field line, and the fence was ten feet high. Down the other foul line, it was just 315 feet. Suttles hit right-handed.</p> <p>In Game Five, Detroit finally got to Trent, who was pitching for the third time. Stearnes doubled twice, and the northerners overcame a Suttles home run (to left field) to win 7-5 and earn their first series lead, 3-2. In Game Six, Stearnes drove in three runs, but St. Louis won the game, 4-3. One of his hits was a blast over the distant right field wall, the first time anyone had reached it. All for naught, though—the series was tied, with one game to play.</p> <p>Through the first six games, Stearnes was batting .581, with a sickening 1.273 slugging percentage. Eight of his 13 hits had gone for extra bases. In the last game, though, he was hitless in five at-bats, and St. Louis won 13-7 on the road to take the championship.</p> <p>Detroit was therefore disappointed on the field in their best shot at a pennant. At the ticket office, the news was no better. Already hurt by the Mack Park fire, the construction of the new stadium, and a three-week boycott by fans that August, poor weather and the Depression combined to keep spectators away. Detroit owner John Roesink sold the team after the season.</p> <p>League-wide, the news was similarly grim. Chicago and Kansas City were both forced to withdraw from the league during the 1931 season. Cost-cutting and anxiety were taking a serious toll; observer Fay Young wrote that the NNL “hasn’t any real schedule, doesn’t live up to its own rules, [and] pays little attention to the needs and wants of the fans.” Sure enough, the entire league went under in March 1932.</p> <p>As it was happening, the 1930 NNL championship seemed a lot of things. Most evidently, it was a meeting between the two most feared sluggers in black baseball, and neither man disappointed. It was an opportunity for the teams, and the league, to dig themselves out of a deepening financial hole. 1930 could have been a major moment in time.</p> <p>Looking back, though, it’s remembered differently. Rather than a saving grace, the series was a sort of last hurrah for the NNL before it folded a year later. It was also a final curtain call for some of the great black players of the 1920s, such as Suttles and Stearnes. Soon enough, a new wave of Negro League stars, led by Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige, took the spotlight and held it until integration in 1947.</p> <p><em>In addition to the fine books mentioned, I used Richard Bak’s</em> Turkey Stearnes and the Detroit Stars<em> in researching this article.</em></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=sy7eC0G3ASs:_Puu-9gxfzk:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=sy7eC0G3ASs:_Puu-9gxfzk:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Cardinals Still Searching</h1> <p>Daniel Shoptaw — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:45:35 +0000</p> <p>After a weekend (and a Monday) where the Cardinals scored eight runs in four games, it’s obvious that there are still some issues. A quick rundown of the games, in the typical style:</p> <p><u>Friday vs. Minnesota (<a href="http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2009_06_26_minmlb_slnmlb_1">3-1 loss</a>)</u><br /> Hero: <strong>Rick Ankiel</strong>. Two hits and drove in the only run. You know it’s probably been a rough day when Rick’s almost all the offense you can muster.<br /> Goat: <strong>Ryan Ludwick</strong>. Zero for four and left three on. To be fair, there were a number that contended for this.<br /> Notes: Adam Wainwright pitched <a href="http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090626&content_id=5550848&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=stl">better than he has</a> in some outings this year, but he still walked too many people and, unfortunately, the smallest glitch and the Cards are in trouble. There have been too many games where the Cards are down after one and you don’t feel like they can come back.</p> <p><u>Saturday vs. Minnesota (<a href="http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2009_06_27_minmlb_slnmlb_1">5-3 win</a>)</u><br /> Hero: <strong>Albert Pujols</strong>. The <a href="http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090627&content_id=5564070&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=stl">only thing</a> keeping the Cards from being in the midst of a six-game losing streak.<br /> Goat: <strong>Todd Wellemeyer</strong>. When you get the hook after 2.1 innings when you know your job is on the line, it’s not a good day.<br /> Notes: Lost in the Pujols furor was the fact that Skip Schumaker was on both times Pujols went yard as part of his three for four day. Lost in the Wellemeyer furor was the fact that Colby Rasmus went 0 for 5 and left 6 on.</p> <p><u>Sunday vs. Minnesota (<a href="http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2009_06_28_minmlb_slnmlb_1">6-2 loss</a>)</u><br /> Hero: <strong>Jason LaRue</strong>. Two hits and an RBI. If he was just a little faster, he could have probably scored a run as well.<br /> Goat: <strong>Joel Pineiro</strong>. You hate to give it to a guy who basically made one mistake, but when the Cards have only come back from three down twice this season, being down 3-0 <a href="http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090628&content_id=5580218&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=stl">before they get an at-bat</a> makes for a long afternoon.<br /> Notes: Neither ends of the lineup were very good. Skip as leadoff was 0-4 and Tyler Greene at the 9 hole was 0-3. So that doesn’t really help the lineup turn over when those guys aren’t getting on. Nice to see a solid inning out of Blake Hawksworth.</p> <p><u>Monday vs. San Francisco (<a href="http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2009_06_29_sfnmlb_slnmlb_1">10-0 loss</a>)</u><br /> Hero: <strong>Albert Pujols</strong>, basically by default. He got one of two hits and the only extra-base hit.<br /> Goat: <strong>Chris Duncan</strong>, who had two of the eight strikeouts. But it was Tim Lincecum–the <a href="http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090629&content_id=5602388&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=stl">whole team looked bad</a>.<br /> Notes: What can you say besides glad they didn’t get no-hit? I didn’t get to see Clayton Mortensen’s debut, but it sounds like there were some positives out of it.</p> <p>Of course, the biggest news from the weekend was the <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/117F9AE71016944D862575E300170139?OpenDocument">trade for Mark DeRosa</a>. While it’s obvious that it wasn’t an immediate impact on the offense (he’s 0-7 since slipping on the Birds on the Bat), it was a pretty nice move for John Mozeliak. The team may regret losing Chris Perez in the future (though, perhaps, not as much as a <a href="http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=290629105">couple of White Sox batters</a> regret the Indians getting him) but it was a move that needed to be done and right-handed relief pitching is one of the strengths of the organization. If Jason Motte ever develops a good secondary pitch, chances are he’ll take over that closer of the future designation anyway. I will say I am a bit concerned about the player to be named later, though.</p> <p>Khalil Greene returned to the disabled list just a little over a week after he was activated from it. Those that said that he wasn’t ready, that the team was rushing him, definitely have more ammunition now. After that Kansas City series, things looked pretty good, but apparently something triggered a relapse. I would hope that they will be a little more cautious in his return next time. It’s possible, though I expect unlikely, that we won’t see him again this season.</p> <p>So what is it about this offense? Like I’ve noted above (and many other times), they’ve rallied from three runs down twice this season and none since April. The Cards are 2-19 (.095) when they are behind at the start of the second inning. Compare that to the other NL Central teams:</p> <p>Milwaukee 9-12 (.429)<br /> Chicago 7-13 (.350)<br /> Cincinnati 4-20 (.167)<br /> Houston 6-16 (.273)<br /> Pittsburgh 6-16 (.273)</p> <p>All the teams have roughly 20-25 games like this, where they’ve trailed going into the second. Yet all the other teams, even Pittsburgh, are able to at least occasionally make a run and come back in the game. The Cards have really struggled in this regard.</p> <p>When the offense is clicking, the team is good. If they score the serious number or more, they are 18-3. But the Brewers are 21-3, the Cubs 24-3, the Reds 19-5 in those situations, again showing that they are able to put up the runs on a more consistent basis.</p> <p>I don’t know what the answer is. I do think that perhaps the aggressive approach isn’t quite cutting it. I know Tim Lincecum is good, but to throw a complete game in 95 pitches? The Cardinals have seen the <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/2009-pitches-batting.shtml">fourth-fewest pitches</a> in the National League. Houston, Atlanta and the Giants are the only teams below them, and only the Giants are being very successful, which is because of their dominating pitching, not their offensive prowness (last night’s result notwithstanding).</p> <p>When you break it down into pitches per plate appearance, it gets even worse, as only the Giants have seen fewer than the 3.63 St. Louis has. Obviously, that’s not necessarily the be-all and end-all since Washington leads the pack, but the second and third teams are the Rockies and Dodgers, two teams that have had quite a bit of success this year.</p> <p>I understand the theory about being aggressive and you may only get one pitch, but on the whole, the pitches that the Cardinals are facing aren’t necessarily that good. Just because you take one good pitch doesn’t mean you won’t be getting another one. Last night, with Lincecum, OK, but people like Francisco Liriano, who has struggled so much this season? Tim Redding, who held the Cards in check during the Mets series?</p> <p>Many of you in the St. Louis area have seen the commemorative arches that have been scattered around the town to honor the upcoming All-Star Game. If you want to make sure you see them all, Pip at Fungoes <a href="http://stl-sabr.bajink.com/fungoes/?p=1854">has compiled a map for you</a>. I’ll be consulting this when the family heads to FanFest next week.</p> <p>Speaking of FanFest, if you haven’t gotten your tickets for it yet, how about <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/commishs-hot-stove/commishs-hot-stove/2009/06/pujols-to-distribute-fanfest-tickets-on-tuesday/">buying them from Albert Pujols</a>? The first 100 get to have theirs handed to them by the Cardinal slugger. No autographs or pictures, so basically just a “Thanks, Albert” will be the limit of your interaction, it appears. Still, pretty neat if you were going anyway.</p> <p>More Hardball <a href="http://morehardball.blogspot.com/2009/06/hardball-heroes-lee-smith.html">takes a look at Lee Smith</a> and wonders exactly why he isn’t in the Hall of Fame. Bruce Sutter talked a little about that with Mike on last week’s <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/UCB-Host/2009/06/23/UCB-Radio-Hour-Special-Edition">special UCB Radio Hour</a>.</p> <p>Another special UCB show is on tap for today, as Nick from <a href="http://www.pitchershiteighth.com/2009/06/29/al-hrabosky-ucb-radio-hour-0630/">Pitchers Hit Eighth</a> gets to interview the Mad One himself, Al Hrbrosky. <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/UCB-Host/2009/06/30/United-Cardinal-Bloggers-Radio-Hour-Special-Edition-063009">Click here</a> for the interview that should be happening around 12:15 Central time. And, of course, our regular show is still on tap for tomorrow night.</p> <p>If you are in St. Louis, you can meet Hrbrosky and race car driver Kenny Wallace at a couple of Bank of Americas today. Concord Village from 11-12 and Fenton Commons from 12:30 to 1:30. I’m guessing Al will be doing the interview with Nick in transit between the two locales.</p> <p>Chris Carpenter’s run of facing stud pitchers continues today as he takes on Randy Johnson. Carpenter <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/shareit/shR7">has been pretty tough</a> on the Giants in his career, though Aaron Rowand has done well in limited time against him. Taking Pujols and Ludwick out of the equation, Johnson’s been <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/shareit/ZrR8">just as tough on the Cardinals</a>. However, Ludwick’s 2 for 5 with a HR and Albert, well, Albert’s been tough on the Unit since his <a href="http://www.cardinal70.com/stlouiscardinals/ucb-june-project-cardinal-memo.php#more">second at-bat against him</a>. He’s hitting .429 with 3 HR, so I’m sure the Giants won’t pitch to him at all if they can help it.</p> <p>Hopefully the Cardinals will able to put together a good offensive showing. With Matt Cain and Barry Zito still looming in this series, there aren’t going to be too many chances to put up crooked numbers.</p> <p><em>Daniel Shoptaw is the founder of “C70 At The Bat,” where he regularly writes about his beloved St. Louis Cardinals. You can find more of his work<a href="http://www.cardinal70.com/" target="_blank"> here</a>.</em></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=xTLbvYkdC-0:wjjjXjK8q0I:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=xTLbvYkdC-0:wjjjXjK8q0I:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Hot Times, Summer in St. Louis</h1> <p>Josh Deitch — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:54:35 +0000</p> <p>Did you hear about <a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-bbo-busch-fan-fall,0,1815919.story">this</a>? Prior to Friday night’s game between the Cardinals and Twins at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, a fan fell almost a story from the upper deck to the lower concourse.  Apparently, he had fainted in the 92-degree heat and more than 100-degree heat index. Luckily, he was conscious when team officials wheeled him from the stadium at the end of the game.</p> <p>I don’t blame the guy. Have you ever been to St. Louis in the summer? The heat is unbearable. The temperature typically reaches the mid-90s and often touches 100 degrees. Honestly, though, you could deal with the heat. If it was dry. It’s not. From about the first week in June through early September, the humidity remains constant at 100%. A St. Louis summer could easily double as a sauna. Sitting on the Metro, I always expected to see old men wearing nothing but white towels wrapped around their waists.</p> <p>Summer weather in St. Louis makes a person thank whatever god may exist for the invention of central air conditioning. Exiting a cool building to walk to a car feels like someone dropped a 50-pound flannel blanket on your head. To accurately approximate the combination of the aridity with the suffocating air, you’d have to put yourself in the shoes of Zach Galifianakis’s Alan when Mike Tyson knocked him out in “The Hangover.”</p> <p>Amidst all this, Albert Pujols never overheats. He doesn’t steam, doesn’t singe, doesn’t sear. I don’t even think he sweats. Disobedient prisoners working on labor camps in the Old West spent less time baking in the sun than the Cardinals’ first baseman. Yet, in the type of weather that would make normal men wilt and crawl haplessly towards the freezer, hoping to bathe in a blast of cool dry air, Pujols remains a bastion of consistency.</p> <p>In his nine seasons in the Major Leagues, Pujols has amassed astounding numbers. He’s hit .334, while averaging 6.43 homeruns and 19.46 RBI per month, while piling up a 1.056 OPS. At this rate, Pujols is a shoe-in for Cooperstown, and, with Alex Rodirguez’s admission of steroid use and subsequent hip injury; he is undeniably the best player in baseball. Remove the chemical enhancements of Rodriguez and Barry Bonds before him, and Pujols probably deserves to hold that title for longer than he has. Take his numbers in the months of June, July, and August—the most unbearably hot months of the year. In summer, Pujols has a .337 batting average, belted 6.30 homeruns per month, drove in 18.9 runs per month, and built up a 1.058 OPS. That means in the swelter that is the St. Louis summer and in the grind that are the dog days of August, Pujols raises his batting average by three points and his OPS by six points, while only losing an almost negligible .13 homeruns and .4 RBI per month.</p> <p>I’m the kind of guy that whenever I play pick-up basketball, I pack two extra shirts. If I go to any outdoor summer party, I toss an additional polo shirt into the back of my car. When the temperature in my classroom breaks 75 degrees, I desperately need a towel and a reapplication of deodorant by third period. During the summer—especially in the month of August—all I want to do is stay inside and hug my air conditioner. Meanwhile, in August, Albert Pujols hits .344, averaging 7 homers and 19.4 RBI per month, and builds a 1.083 OPS. Thus, when I typically just want to sit at the bottom of some secluded swimming pool, Pujols bests his career averages by 9 batting average and 27 OPS points, as well as .64 homeruns.</p> <p>In weather that causes men to literally fall from the sky, Pujols redefines the meaning of the term “hot hitter.” Albert Pujols altering our perceptions of offensive success, what else is new?</p> <p><em>Josh Deitch thanks the Norse Gods for air conditioning…makes sense, right?</em> <em>Follow him on <a href="http://twitter.com/jdeitch31">Twitter</a> or find him on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/srch.php?nm=Joshua+Deitch&s=0&sid=eacb00926e553a04285e2e155552a956#/profile.php?id=505464253&hiq=joshua%2Cdeitch">Facebook</a>.</em></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=0ugWyNfxRoQ:zInj7Q5QvkY:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=0ugWyNfxRoQ:zInj7Q5QvkY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Ten Baseball Players Who Barely Made It into the Hall of Fame</h1> <p>Mike Lynch — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:22:15 +0000</p> <p>Here’s an <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/208602-10-players-who-barely-made-it-to-the-hall-of-fame" target="_blank">interesting article</a> by Paul Swaney over at <a href="http://bleacherreport.com" target="_blank">bleacherreport.com</a> that looks at 10 great players, some legendary, who didn’t receive as much Hall of Fame support as they deserved.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=OqBFBXAfpVg:feHneDwnIWM:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=OqBFBXAfpVg:feHneDwnIWM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Babe Being Babe</h1> <p>Mike Lynch — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:00:38 +0000</p> <p><em>Eighty-eight years before “Manny Being Manny” finally put Ramirez in the commissioner’s dog house, another popular slugger thumbed his nose at the baseball establishment in 1921 and drew a six-week suspension. It was just another case of Babe being Babe.</em></p> <p>Bryan Holt’s <a href="http://seamheads.com/blog/2009/06/26/heroic-welcome-for-manny-ramirez-in-albuquerque-is-a-disgrace/" target="_blank">fantastic article about Manny Ramirez</a> coupled with a question from a friend reminded me of an incident that occurred during the offseason between 1921 and 1922. Larry Richards wondered about the public’s reaction to Ramirez’s stint in the minors in relation to previous incidents: “I’m just wondering if this pathetic fan behavior has always been around or if this is something relatively new,” he wrote. I’m sure there are many examples of how fans reacted to the return of their fallen heroes, but here’s one I’ve actually researched.</p> <p>Upon completion of the 1921 World Series, Yankees slugger Babe Ruth announced that he planned on taking a handful of teammates with him to Buffalo to begin a barnstorming tour. That was problematic because the rules prohibited the two World Series participants from engaging in the practice of barnstorming so that the integrity of the postseason games wouldn’t be cheapened by a series of staged exhibitions. Kenesaw Mountain Landis warned Ruth about the rule, but Ruth stood firm and insisted that they’d be playing baseball until November 1 and there was nothing Landis could do about it.</p> <p>Landis warned him again, “If you do, it will be the sorriest thing you’ve ever done in baseball.” Legend has it that sportswriter Fred Lieb was with Landis when he refused Ruth permission to go on the trip. Lieb rushed over to Yankee co-owner Tillinghast Huston’s room at the Martinique Hotel in Manhattan to convince him to stop Ruth only to find Huston and Boston Red Sox owner and drinking buddy Harry Frazee passed out in a drunken stupor.</p> <p>Carl Mays and Wally Schang, who were supposed to accompany Ruth on the trip, wisely reconsidered and dropped out. Outfielder Bob Meusel and pitchers Bill Piercy and Tom Sheehan continued onward to Buffalo with Ruth. Public opinion swayed in Landis’ favor. “He [Ruth] will not gain friends, neither among fans or elsewhere, by an attitude of defiance towards the commissioner, who has taken upon himself the task of ridding baseball of abuses and keeping it free from them,” opined a newspaper editorial. “Baseball needs a Landis much more than it does a Ruth.”</p> <p>Meanwhile Huston and his partner Jacob Ruppert were frantic. They did everything they could to talk their slugger out of making the trip, but Ruth was persistent. “I still think I’m in the right and Judge Landis is wrong,” the slugger decreed. “I see no reason why this rule should be invoked against us when [George] Sisler of St. Louis, and others, who shared in the world’s series money are playing exhibition games unmolested by Judge Landis.”</p> <p>Landis had threatened to fine Ruth his World Series share, but the Babe would earn almost as much in his first three exhibition games, so he was willing to make the sacrifice for a larger chunk of change. But it wasn’t a fine Huston was worried about; it was the thought of a suspension, which he feared might be for the entire season. The Colonel traveled to Pennsylvania to convince Ruth to stop the tour, which he eventually did by paying off the promoters and the players involved. But it was too late.</p> <p>Landis suspended Ruth, Meusel, and Piercy for the first six weeks of the 1922 season and fined them their World Series shares. Since Sheehan was not on the Yankees’ World Series roster, he was neither fined nor suspended. The Red Sox also suffered from Landis’ ruling; Piercy was acquired in a trade that sent Everett Scott, “Bullet Joe” Bush, and “Sad Sam” Jones to the Yankees on December 20 and now the Sox were without his services until May 20.</p> <p>With Ruth and Meusel on the ineligible list, the Yankees were without two-thirds of their outfield and their two best hitters for the first six weeks of the season. The team responded well, however, and jumped out to a 22-11 mark thanks to the hitting of center fielder Whitey Witt and the pitching of Jones and Waite Hoyt. The day before Ruth and Meusel returned to the lineup, the Yankees trounced Cleveland, 12-4, and increased their lead to two games over the second-place Browns.</p> <p>Some newspapers trumpeted Ruth’s return like that of a conquering hero. “There is joy in Gotham and also in Mudville,” wrote the <em>Boston Globe</em>. “On this day the exile of the King of Swat expires, and the fans are crowding at the gates or waiting expectantly for news, confident that the Babe will knock one, perhaps two, out of the lot.” And the <em>New York Times</em> celebrated the occasion. “It was a long time coming, but the baseball season will finally start this afternoon—the real season that is, with Babe Ruth, Bob Meusel and the Ruthian home runs as the decorative trimmings.”</p> <p>But the <em>Philadelphia Inquirer</em> was less than excited about the fans’ reaction to the behemoth’s return, calling his rise in popularity despite his disruptive behavior “deplorable” and accusing him of being “one of the spoiled darlings of the fickle public.”</p> <p>Before his first game, Ruth received a silver loving cup filled with dirt from his old baseball diamond at St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys in Baltimore. He was also given a silver bat and a floral wreath shaped like a diamond from the National Vaudeville Association. But that’s where the love ended; Ruth wasn’t greeted by fans as warmly as expected. The Polo Grounds stands were packed with 38,000 patrons, who were “willing to cheer the returned warrior, but were not willing to worship at his shrine…they broke out into a storm of applause when he toed the plate for the first time. But it was a storm and not a hurricane.”</p> <p>Perhaps the <em>Inquirer</em> owed the New York fans an apology; they weren’t so fickle after all.</p> <p>Ruth and Meusel went hitless in an 8-2 loss to the Browns, who were nipping at the Yankees’ heels; at 20-12, St. Louis was only a game behind New York with three games left in the series. Ruth doubled in his second game back, a 6-5 win over the Browns, then hit his first homer of the season in a 4-3 victory on May 22. But he was struggling at the plate and the fans were getting on him. Ruth doffed his cap sarcastically a couple of times when fans derisively cheered two routine catches he made prior to hitting his first circuit clout. It was obvious that they were bitter about his suspension, and the fact that he wasn’t hitting home runs at will, as if any batter could, made matters worse.</p> <p>Three days later the slugger finally snapped. In the third inning of New York’s game against the Washington Senators, Ruth slapped a single to center and attempted to advance to second when outfielder Sam Rice fumbled the ball. Rice recovered and his throw nipped Ruth at the bag. Umpire George Hildebrand called Ruth out, which prompted the slugger to throw dirt in Hildebrand’s face. Hildebrand immediately ejected Ruth from the game and the booing began immediately. “Every step of the journey was a signal to the crowd to jeer and hoot,” wrote the <em>Times</em>. “To this demonstration Ruth…lifted his cap in courtly manner; a satirical gesture that had only the effect of increasing the volume of jeers and hisses.”</p> <p>Things went from bad to worse in a hurry. Insults rang out from behind the Yankees’ dugout; Ruth turned his attention to two Pullman car conductors who were particularly harsh. He jumped into the stands to confront the men, who scampered to a safe distance before being verbally pummeled by the irate slugger. The fans seemed to be on the conductors’ side—someone yelled out “Hit the big stiff!”—but other than to stand between Ruth and the target of his ire, no one dared challenge him. He jumped back onto the field and began the long march across the diamond to the clubhouse, which was located beyond center field. Again the fans booed, although some cheered and applauded. To those few admirers, he lifted his cap.</p> <p>“They can boo and hoot me all they want,” Ruth later told reporters at the Ansonia Hotel where he had an apartment. “That doesn’t matter to me. But when a fan calls insulting names from the grandstand and becomes abusive I don’t intend to stand for it. This fellow today, whoever he was, called me a ‘low-down bum’ and other names that got me mad, and when I went after him he ran.”</p> <p><em>The Sporting News</em> took him to task, claiming that he was “under the delusion that he owned the national game” and that he had “made a fool of himself” by going into the stands to confront the hecklers. The weekly also opined that it would take “exemplary conduct” and a return to form in the batter’s box for Ruth to regain the adoration of fans, or he’d lose out to new heroes who were hitting the ball out of the park.”</p> <p>The 1922 season proved to be Ruth’s worst in the seven-year period from 1918-1924, but he overcame it all, and indeed regained the adoration of fans. The Yankees overcame it as well, winning their second straight American League pennant. And TSN’s claim that Ruth would “lose out to new heroes who were hitting the ball out of the park?” The Bambino enjoyed a full season in 1923 and smashed a league-leading 41 four-baggers, then continued his assault on the record books with seven more home run crowns, including 1927 when he belted a record 60 roundtrippers. From 1923 to 1934, his last with the Yankees, Ruth blasted 511 home runs, 163 more than runner-up and teammate Lou Gehrig.</p> <p>Ruth belted six more homers at the age of 40 for the 1935 Boston Braves before calling it quits in late May with a career total of 714. At the conclusion of the ‘35 season, Gehrig was a distant second on the all-time list with “only” 378 home runs. So much for “new heroes.”</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=4DenwOnohuw:QwiYjpCeMUM:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=4DenwOnohuw:QwiYjpCeMUM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Baseball on Roller Skates</h1> <p>Dennis Pajot — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:28:35 +0000</p> <p>It is no doubt safe to say we will never see major leaguers playing an exhibition game on roller skates. Just as likely the prospect of minor league prospects risking a serious injury is considerably slimmer than winning the lottery. But in a different time–can I say a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away– a roller skate baseball game in Milwaukee on May 6, 1885, was played, watched and reported on with a good sense of humor.</p> <p>On Monday, May 4 the <em>Evening Wisconsin</em> reported manager Tom Loftus (of the Milwaukee Western League team) and Dan O’Leary (of Toledo, who were in town playing regular baseball with the Grays) “arranged to play a game of base ball on rollers at the Exposition rink Wednesday evening”. According to the newspaper “a soft ball and light bat will be used in lieu of the regulation League ball and stick, and netting will be stretched before the audience at the first and third bases”. </p> <p>Further, the players were “utilizing all their reserve time practicing at the rink and all promise to become proficient before the beginning of the contest”. Obviously the players were getting into a jolly mood, as it was reported “Manager Loftus will prance about in spangled tights, and Schoeneck will wear skates on the back of his neck to facilitate his base running to second. Manager O’Leary’s fairy form will gracefully pose on third bag and McSorley has arranged to give a tumbling exhibition”. </p> <p>The <em>Evening Wisconsin</em> reported (tongue in cheek?): “The players will ride in carriages to the rink, leaving the Kirby House at half past seven, and preceded by two military bands. Mr. O’Leary has procured a number of the recently invented red-fire bogs, which will be burned along the route”. The next day the paper wrote “Archie Foster, the <em>Sentinel’s</em> horse reporter, has consented to act in the capacity of umpire and be disliked forever afterwards”.</p> <p>The game itself appeared to have been a fun evening. Dan O’Leary’s “combination of bicycle riders, roller skaters and foot racers” won the 5-inning game 7 to 3. Toledo showed excellent base running, “while the Milwaukees, although batting hard, were unable to secure more than three times, as the bulk of the players invariably sat down midway between the plate and Faatz’s corner”. On the whole “the players’ work on skates [was] surprisingly good, considering the small amount of practice they had before the game”. </p> <p>There were some mishaps. “Manager O’Leary carried off the fielding honors by missing several hot grounders, but he was at home handling red hot carbon when a hit by Schoeneck smashed an electric light to smithereens”. </p> <p>Billy Furlong–not the <em>Milwaukee Sentinel</em> horse reporter–actually umpired the game. Furlong was an old Milwaukee favorite, having played with the local semi-professional West End Club in 1876 and ‘77, and was one of the three chosen umpires for the Milwaukee Grays 1878 National League season. Billy’s umpiring “was eminently satisfactory” according to the <em>Evening Wisconsin</em>.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=2aak5LHGKUg:HtvUVp_--SA:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=2aak5LHGKUg:HtvUVp_--SA:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Craig and Muoio Lead Webster</h1> <p>Paul Gotham — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:50:37 +0000</p> <p>A non-weather-related delay and showers could not stop the Webster Yankees Sunday afternoon at Basket Road Field.Michael Craig (St. John Fisher) went the distance while Steve Muoio (Georgia C & S) collected two hits and the game-winning RBI as the pinstripes triumphed over the Alfred Oilers, 2-0 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action.After a miscommunication prevented players from entering the stadium until an hour before the scheduled first pitch, the Yankees started sluggishly managing just two hits in the first six innings.Fortunately, Craig held the Oilers in check allowing just five base runners during those same five frames. Alfred never advanced past second on the right hander from Getzville, New York.When talking about the 11 ground ball outs induced by Craig, head coach Dave Brust commented: “He uses the field well. They’re not going to take him out of the yard, and he throws strikes.”Craig finished with four strike outs on the day including three of the last six batters sent to the plate. Alfred put multiple runners on base in only one inning – the fifth when Frank Darden (Louisiana Tech) worked a two-out walk and Nate Hillery (Taylor) followed with a single. Craig stranded the two runners. With the win, Craig improves to 3-0.Webster struck in the sixth when Chriss Soldi (UMass-Lowell) led off and was hit by a pitch. After the native of Clinton, Mass. stole second, he moved to third on a come-backer by Geoff Dornes (R.I.T.). Muoio delivered with a two-out single through the right side of the infield.Soldi’s effort exemplifies the personality of the 2009 version of the Webster Yankees. Mired in a 0-12 slump that spans his last two games, the center-fielder looked to do anything to help his team. After the free pass, he stole second easily.“He’s a hard-nosed player,” noted Brust. He’s had some good at bats. A lot of his hard hit balls are right at people. Give him time. He’ll get hot.”Soldi also supplied one of the day’s best defensive efforts. In the top of the seventh, Nathan Papadeas (Texas-Tyler) hit a towering drive into the deepest part of the park that Soldi chased down for the out.“He ran a long way with rain drops poking him in the eyes,” added Brust.Webster added an insurance run after the seventh-inning stretch. Dominic Catanzarite (Ball State) chased Alfred starter, Josh Matthews (Northwood) with a one-out triple. Mike Walraven (Hofstra) greeted Matt MaLossi (Wheaton) with a double off the fence in right center. For Catanzarite, the run represented his first time crossing the plate this summer.Pitching through a downpour, Craig retired six of the last seven he faced.Webster stays atop the NYCBL’s West Division with a record of 11-3.After two days off the home nine hosts the Brockport Riverbats on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 7pm at Basket Road Field. Out-of-town fans can listen to games <a href="http://www.teamline.cc/sportpage?teamcode=8815&eventcode=5">here</a>.<a href="http://www.pickinsplinters.com/">Pickin’ Splinters </a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=POIXUZScTqQ:QjiJseH_vyE:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=POIXUZScTqQ:QjiJseH_vyE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Rambling On About My Glory Days: Great Snap</h1> <p>Jack Perconte — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:00:32 +0000</p> <p>Sooner or later all players snap. Frustration sets in and players just “lose it” for a short period of time. Often, this snap is a string of four letter words that, once spoken, makes players feel better and then they move on. Sometimes, fans see a player or coach “go off” on the field or in the dugout. Most of the time, though, these bits of frustration occur out of sight of fans, in or around the players’ locker room. One of the great snaps I was ever around occurred out of sight of players and fans, but could be heard by all. Here is how it went down.</p> <p>Our starting pitcher was cruising along in the game with a 5 – 0 lead into the 5th inning. After getting two quick outs in the fifth, things started to fall apart for the pitcher. Most good baseball fans know that a starting pitcher has to complete 5 innings of a nine inning game to be eligible for a win and obviously, our pitcher was fully aware of this too. After a visit from the pitching coach didn’t help, our pitcher was taken out of the game with the score tied 5 to 5. There would be no win for the pitcher in that game and possibly even a loss on his record.</p> <p>Baseball and life move on, but our pitcher’s frustration level had hit the wall or I should say had “hit the locker.” After being removed from the game and retiring to our locker room, there was this loud sound coming from the locker room for all to hear. It was obviously a noise created by someone swinging a baseball bat at an immovable object. As mentioned, this kind of “snapping” happens often in baseball, especially as the season wears on.</p> <p>After we finally finished the 5th inning, I proceeded from my second base position into the dugout where I was met by one of my teammates. “Jack, you have to go see the locker room.” Obviously, I knew he was referring to the loud sounds that had come from there the previous inning. Up I tiptoed into the locker room only to notice nothing out of the ordinary. When I came back to the dugout I told my teammate that I didn’t see anything. “Did you count the number of lockers?” he asked. Obviously not, but it so happens that where there were once 10 or so wooden lockers in a row along one side of the locker room. There was now one less. Our starting pitcher had totally destroyed one locker and had already removed any remains of the deceased.</p> <p>The pitcher received many congratulatory comments from teammates for the great snap and great contact made with the bat, of course. He also received a nice fine for the amount of replacing the locker. Life moved on as the circus, I mean season, continued.</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=yVKfHmbaVSs:VCJS5eFOIUo:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=yVKfHmbaVSs:VCJS5eFOIUo:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>The 1982 California Angels</h1> <p>Derek Bain — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 12:59:35 +0000</p> <p><em>Two consecutive years of disappointment prompted the Angels ownership to react with a sense of urgency in the 1982 off-season. They made a big splash in the free agent pool, and several key trades positioned the franchise within reach of their first World Series appearance. </em></p> <p><strong>Jackson and DeCinces </strong></p> <p>Gene Autry outbid George Steinbrenner for Reggie Jackson’s services, signing Jackson to a five-year deal on January 22, 1982. Reggie crushed 39 homers and knocked in 101 runs in his debut season for the Angels. Realizing that Butch Hobson was not the answer at third base, Angels GM Buzzie Bavasi traded OF Dan Ford to the Orioles in exchange for Doug DeCinces. DeCinces would establish career highs in virtually every batting category in 1982. He cracked 42 doubles, 5 triples, and 30 home runs, batting .301 with an OPS of .916!</p> <p>Bob Boone was purchased from Philadelphia, and he provided gold glove defense behind the plate. Boone cut down 58% off opposition base stealers. Bavasi acquired shortstop Tim Foli from Pittsburgh in exchange for Brian Harper, after allowing utility infielder Bert Campaneris to leave as a free agent. Foli ended up as the starting shortstop after Rick Burleson injured his right shoulder.</p> <p>The Angels were left without a backup infielder, so they dealt prospects Tom Brunansky, Mike Walters, and $400,000 to Minnesota, in exchange for Rob Wilfong and Doug Corbett. Brunansky paid immediate dividends for the Twins, as the right fielder slammed at least 20 home runs in nine straight seasons (1982-1990). Wilfong filled in at multiple positions, but only managed a .208 batting average.</p> <p><strong>Downing Sets The Table</strong></p> <p>Left fielder Brian Downing, no longer dealing with the wear and tear of catching on a daily basis, busted out with 37 doubles and 28 home runs (his previous career bests were 27 and 12, respectively). Downing scored 109 runs as the leadoff hitter, assuming the role after Burleson landed on the disabled list in early April. After batting third in the lineup for most of April, Rod Carew settled into the second slot in the order, leading the Halos with a .319 average and a .396 OBP.</p> <p>Fred Lynn rebounded from a poor showing in ’81, contributing a .299 average with 21 homers and 86 runs batted in. Bobby Grich tallied 19 round-trippers, but his overall numbers were well off the pace from the previous season. Don Baylor pounded 24 long balls and drove in 93 runs as the full-time designated hitter. It was Baylor’s final season with California, as he became a free agent and signed a deal with the Yankees in December 1982.</p> <p><strong>Zahn In The Zone</strong></p> <p>Geoff Zahn anchored the starting rotation, winning a career-high 18 games with a 3.73 ERA. Ken Forsch compiled a 13-11 record in 35 starts, with a 3.87 ERA. Zahn and Forsch each hurled 4 shutouts and completed 12 games. 21-year-old Mike Witt managed a 3.51 ERA and 8 wins. Steve Renko rounded out the starting staff with an 11-6 effort, albeit with a 4.44 ERA. Bruce Kison split time between the rotation and bullpen, finishing with a 10-5 mark and a staff-best ERA of 3.17.</p> <p>The bullpen consisted of mid-May acquisition Doug Corbett, and holdovers Don Aase, Andy Hassler, and Luis Sanchez. Corbett led the Halos with 8 saves, but he was pummeled for a 5.05 earned run average. Aase blew out his elbow in mid-July, and he would sit out the entire 1983 season and the first two months in 1984. Hassler led the relief corps with a 2.78 ERA, but he walked more batters (40) than he struck out (38). Sanchez saved 5 games and won 7, while swingman Dave Goltz vultured 8 wins pitching mostly in relief.</p> <p>The Angels picked up Luis Tiant in early August. In his final major league season, “El Tiante” made 5 starts and struck out a batter per inning, but he did not appear in a game after September 4. On August 31, the Yankees traded starting pitcher Tommy John to the Angels for a player to be named later (minor league SP Dennis Rasmussen). John started 7 games, earning 4 victories while scattering 49 hits in 35 innings. In stark contrast to the Ryan and Tanana years, no Angels pitcher managed to strike out 100 batters. They let the opposing team put the ball in play, where the excellent Angels defense gobbled up the ball like Pac-men.</p> <p>The Angels finished second in the American League with a .983 fielding percentage. Brian Downing accepted 330 chances in left field without an error.</p> <p><strong>Down on the Farm</strong></p> <p>C-OF Brian Harper teed off against Pacific Coast League pitching in 1981 (.350/28/122). He bounced around in several organizations for six seasons, until he finally earned a full-time assignment with a .325 batting average as the Minnesota Twins’ starting catcher in 1989. OF Gary Pettis stole 55 bases for the Holyoke Millers (AA) in 1981, and swiped 53 the following season for Triple-A Spokane. Pettis utilized his speed and gold-glove defensive skills as the Angels starting center fielder from 1984-1987. 20-year-old starting pitcher Ron Romanick won 15 games with a 2.90 ERA for the Redwood Pioneers (A), in his first professional season.</p> <p><strong>Pennant Race</strong></p> <p>Three teams were within 5 games of the division-leading Angels on July 1, 1982. The Kansas City Royals were 2 games back, followed by the Chicago White Sox (4 GB) and the Seattle Mariners (4.5 GB). The White Sox remained in the race until the last week of September, finishing 6 games behind. The Mariners fell below .500 on August 17, losing 7 straight and ending the season in fourth place (17 GB).</p> <p>On September 15, 1982, the Royals led the Angels by 2 games in the American League Western division standings. Kansas City proceeded to lose 10 of their next 11 games, including 4 losses to California. Tommy John defeated them twice. The Angels won 8 of 12 in that stretch, moving 4.5 games ahead of Kansas City. The Royals applied the pressure, winning 5 of 6 to close out the season, but the Angels swept the Texas Rangers and clinched the division on October 2 (game 161 of their season).</p> <p><strong>Championship Series</strong></p> <p>California faced Milwaukee in the 1982 American League Championship Series, with the Angels hosting game 1 and 2 in Anaheim. The Brewers topped the American League with 95 wins (2 better than the Angels). The “Brew Crew” bashed their way to the division crown, leading the AL in runs scored (891) and home runs (216).</p> <p>Five Brewers surpassed 20 home runs and 90 RBI, including 1B Cecil Cooper, SS Robin Yount, LF Ben Oglivie, CF Gorman Thomas, and C Ted Simmons. 3B Paul Molitor was the American League leader in runs scored (136). On the Milwaukee pitching staff, Pete Vuckovich was the AL Cy Young award winner, posting an 18-6 record with a 3.34 ERA. Mike Caldwell earned 17 victories, and Rollie Fingers saved 29 games. An early September elbow injury to Fingers would prevent him from appearing in the playoffs.</p> <p>California skipper Gene Mauch elected to start Tommy John in Game 1, while Milwaukee manager Harvey Kuenn countered with Caldwell. The Brewers quickly jumped out to a 3-1 lead by the middle of the third inning, on the strength of a Gorman Thomas home run and a Cecil Cooper groundout. The Angels scored 7 unanswered runs in the next three frames. Don Baylor knocked home 3 runs with a triple and a single, and Fred Lynn capped the scoring with a solo round-tripper off reliever Jim Slaton in the bottom of the fifth. John pitched a complete game 7-hitter, and the Angels won, 8-3.</p> <p>Bruce Kison squared off against Vuckovich in Game 2. Vuckovich’s win total was deceptive. He allowed 234 hits and 102 walks in 223.2 innings, with a ratio of 1.502! California jumped on “Vuke” for 4 runs in the first four innings, including a Reggie Jackson solo shot, and a Bob Boone sacrifice bunt with the bases loaded. Milwaukee battled back with a 2-run inside the park home run in the fifth inning. Kison proceeded to set down the final 13 Brewers in order, and the Angels led the series, 2 games to none.</p> <p>The action shifted to Milwaukee, as the Brew Crew would host the final three games (if necessary) of the 5 game series. Geoff Zahn would face off against 17-game winner and future Hall-of-Famer Don Sutton, who was acquired from the Houston Astros one month prior. Both starting pitchers allowed one hit through the first three innings.</p> <p>In the bottom of the fourth, the Brewers chased Zahn from the hill with 3 runs on 3 hits, a walk, and 2 sacrifice flies. Mike Witt struck out Charlie Moore swinging to end the threat. The Halos were having all sorts of problems with Sutton, managing just three hits and a walk through seven innings. Paul Molitor cranked a 2-run homer in the bottom of the seventh.</p> <p>With Milwaukee leading 5-0, the Angels began to mount a comeback. Boone delivered a solo home run. Downing flied out to center field, and Carew followed with a single. Jackson struck out, then Lynn and Baylor hit back-to-back doubles to left field. DeCinces grounded to Molitor at third base to end the inning, with California trailing 5-3. Andy Hassler retired the Brewers in order in the bottom of the eighth. Pete Ladd would do the same to the Angels in the ninth. Bob Grich grounded out to Jim Gantner at second base, then Rob Wilfong (batting for Tim Foli) and Boone both struck out swinging to end the ballgame. California still led the series 2-1.</p> <p>The second-guessing of manager Gene Mauch would begin with his announcement that John would take the mound on 3 days rest. Ken Forsch was available and well-rested. After an uneventful first inning, “Harvey’s Wallbangers” scored 3 runs on a wild play in the bottom of the second. John issued walks to Ted Simmons and Don Money, which set the stage for Mark Brouhard. Ben Oglivie took a seat against the lefthander, and Brouhard was playing in his first and only career postseason game.</p> <p>Brouhard grounded a single to center field, scoring Simmons. Money attempted to go from first to third. Lynn threw wildly to third baseman DeCinces, who poured gasoline on the fire, throwing errantly to catcher Boone. When the dust settled, Money scored and Brouhard had circled the bases as well! The Brewers scratched out three more runs in the fourth inning, aided by 2 walks and 2 wild pitches. Mauch pulled the plug on John, calling for Dave Goltz with Milwaukee ahead, 6-0.</p> <p>In the sixth inning, Lynn put California on the scoreboard with a double to right field, driving in Reggie Jackson. But the Brewers came right back in the bottom of the frame, with a Jim Gantner single to score Brouhard. Moose Haas ran into trouble in the top of the eighth inning. Downing led off with a single, followed by a Carew double, putting runners on second and third. Jackson struck out, then Haas walked Lynn to load the bases. Baylor stepped up to the plate and delivered. On Haas’ first pitch, Baylor crushed a grand slam home run, bringing the Angels within striking distance at 7-5. Slaton relieved Haas, and escaped the inning without further damage. To cap Brouhard’s magical day, he cranked a two-run homer off Goltz in the bottom of the eighth. Slaton set the Halos down in order in the ninth, and the Brewers had knotted the series at two games apiece.</p> <p>In a rematch of Game 2, Kison would face Vuckovich. The Angels drew first blood. Downing led off the game with a double to right, and two outs later, Lynn drove him home with a single to left field. Simmons’ sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first tied the score at 1-1. Another Lynn single in the top of the third plated Boone with the second run for the Halos. California struck again in the fourth, as DeCinces doubled and came around on a Boone base hit.</p> <p>A long ball off the bat of Oglivie in the bottom of the fourth trimmed the Angels lead to 3-2. Mauch removed Kison from the game in the bottom of the sixth, replacing him with Luis Sanchez. Sanchez retired the middle of the Brewers lineup in order. Kuenn brought southpaw Bob McClure in from the bullpen after Carew worked a one-out walk from Vuckovich. Jackson grounded into an inning-ending double play, and the Angels were clinging to their slim lead.</p> <p>Don Money led off the bottom of the seventh, and popped out to Carew. Charlie Moore and Jim Gantner hit consecutive singles, then Molitor flew out to Downing in foul territory. Robin Yount battled Sanchez in an 8-pitch at bat, drawing a walk to load the bases with two outs. Left-hander Andy Hassler was warming up in the pen, but Mauch elected to stay with Sanchez to face Cecil Cooper. On the 1-1 offering, Cooper delivered a two-run single to left field, scoring Moore and Gantner, and Milwaukee had the 4-3 advantage.</p> <p>Mauch visited the mound and called for Hassler to pitch to Ted Simmons. “Simba” struck out, but the Angels had only six outs remaining to keep their season alive. The Angels and Brewers went quietly in the eighth. Ron Jackson, batting for Tim Foli, led off the ninth with a single to center field. Mauch sent Wilfong into the game as a pinch runner. Pete Ladd relieved McClure. Boone sacrificed Wilfong to second. Downing grounded out to third, bringing Carew to the plate with two outs. Carew tried to slice a hard grounder to the opposite field, but Robin Yount corralled the ball, and threw to first to seal the victory for the Brewers. Carew stated “… it was a hard, one-hop ground ball, and if Yount had moved like I thought he would, it would have gone through for a hit and we would have tied it.”</p> <p>In the off-season, Mauch resigned as manager, and California hired John McNamara as his replacement for the 1983 season.</p> <p><strong>Silver Lining</strong></p> <p>Mauch brought the Angels to the brink of reaching the World Series in 1982. It wouldn’t be the only time that he would lead them this far…</p> <p><strong>On Deck</strong></p> <p>Tony LaRussa and the White Sox steamroll the A.L. West in 1983, as the Angels are left wondering what happened in their attempt to repeat as division champions.</p> <p><strong>References and Resources</strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/" target="_blank">Baseball-Reference</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/execdb/?show=franchise&fid=laa" target="_blank">Baseball America – Executive Database </a></p> <p>The Rod Carew quote is from Robert Goldman, <em>Once They Were Angels</em>, Sports Publishing L.L.C., 2006, pp. 158</p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=WLLdXJ5AdeM:xt68SiLOtMY:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=WLLdXJ5AdeM:xt68SiLOtMY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Webster Tops Allegany County</h1> <p>Paul Gotham — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 04:24:41 +0000</p> <p> <p>Saturday night’s New York Collegiate Baseball League match up at Basket Road Field pitted the West Division’s second-place Allegany County Nitros and the first-place Webster Yankees.</p> <p>Coming off a pair of rainouts, Webster skipper, Dave Brust, had concern for his team’s performance in this pivotal game.</p> <p> <p>The Yankees responded with a 13-hit outburst en route to an 8-4 victory.</p> <p>Steve Muoio (Georgia C&S) and Ollie Bertrand (Monroe CC) led the way with three hits apiece and Rhett Goodmiller (Central Michigan) scored three times while driving in two as the Yankees won their tenth game of the season.</p> <p>Webster sent eight batters to the plate in a four-run fifth and never looked back from there.</p> <p>Matt Jacobs (UMass-Lowell) led with a walk before Goodmiller earned a pass when hit by a pitch. Thomas Kufel (Mercyhurst) dropped a sacrifice bunt, but Nitro starter, A.J. Dusablon (S. N.H. University) sent the throw down the first base line allowing Jacobs to score, and Goodmiller to move to third.</p> <p> Jason Edwards (Toledo) delivered two more runs with a single into right field. One out later, Muoio brought home Edwards with his first of two doubles on the night.</p> <p> Webster tacked on two more runs in the sixth. Ryan Chenoweth (Ball State) opened the frame with a triple to deep left center. One out later Goodmiller plated Chenoweth with a seeing-eye single into right field. After Kufel and Goodmiller executed the hit and run, Edwards singled into center bringing home Goodmiller for the 6-3 lead. Edwards has seven hits over the last three games.</p> <p>Allegany County closed the gap the in the top half of the seventh. Martin Gordon (Francis Marion) worked a leadoff walk. With the hit and run on, Gordon advanced to second before stealing third. The center fielder came home on a ground ball in the infield.</p> <p>Webster added insurance runs in the seventh. Bertrand led with a single and moved to second on Chenoweth’s single. Goodmiller plated Bertrand with a two-out base rap. After moving to second on a wild pitch, Goodmiller stole third and scored on an error.</p> <p>“I went up there looking to be patient,” said Goodmiller. “I worked the count just looking for a pitch that I could put the bat on the ball.”</p> <p>Brian Pullyblank (So. Illinois) struck out six and walked three for his second win of the season. The right-hander held the Nitros hitless for the first three innings – running his streak to 12. Pullyblank tossed a no-hitter in his last outing on June 19<sup>th</sup>. Allegany County’s run in the fourth was the first surrendered by Pullyblank this season – a string that lasted 17 innings.</p> <p>Bryant Guilmette worked the ninth striking out two of the three he faced.</p> <p>“We’re playing good baseball,” said assistant coach, Bob Shaffer. “That’s the second-best team in the league, and we outplayed them. Our hitters are coming around.”</p> <p>Webster hosts Alfred on Sunday. First pitch is set for 1pm at Basket Road Field. Michael Craig (St. John Fisher) will get the start for the home nine.</p> <p><a href="http://www.pickinsplinters.com/">Pickin’ Splinters</a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=nKMmgMTT1WE:Gm1ovc7UodI:yIl2AUoC8zA"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/seamheads?a=nKMmgMTT1WE:Gm1ovc7UodI:gIN9vFwOqvQ"></img></a> </div> </article> </main></body></html>