Posts belonging to Category Major League Baseball

“Love has its sonnets galore. War has its epics in heroic verse. Tragedy its sombre story in measured lines. Baseball has Casey at the Bat.” – Albert Spalding

This is my modern take (my remix, if you will) on Ernest L. Thayer’s classic 1888 poem, Casey at the Bat. Anyone that takes the time to check their fantasy squad daily (or multiple times daily for you real nerds) but has never taken the 60 seconds required to read this poetic piece of baseball lore should offer up their testicles (or ovaries, ladies) for batting practice.  After reading Señor Towel’s piece, mentioning baseball’s most sacred stanzas, I got to wondering what it would be like if Casey had played in my lifetime instead of Wee Willie Keeler’s.  And I’m sorry Wee Willie but these days – chicks dig the long ball!

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It’s official.  Baseball is back in the nation’s capital.

A casual fan might point out that no, baseball actually returned to Washington in April of 2005, when the Nationals played their first game in DC after 36 years as the Montreal Expos.  Others might say that it came on March 30, 2008, when they played their first game at Nationals Park, a 3-2 win over the Braves on Opening Night that ended with a walk-off home run off the bat of Ryan Zimmerman. And those fans might have had a point before last night.  But on June 8, 2010, that all changed as former number-one draft pick Stephen Strasburg made his major league debut.

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Legendary college hoops coach John Wooden passed away last Friday, June 4.  The renowned strategist and mentor, best known for his 10 titles in 12 seasons at UCLA, was ninety nine years young.  Wooden was revered by those who played under his tutelage, remembered fondly as a strict disciplinarian and master motivator.  He accumulated a vast amount of wisdom throughout his years, eventually earning the nickname the Wizard of Westwood.  Since his death many articles have been written sharing some of his greatest nuggets of knowledge.  The old man really was a modern day Confucius, and his words will surely be passed down for generations to come.  While reflecting on some of these axioms, it occurred to me that many could be useful in either describing or advising some of our greatest sports heroes.  So call me Big Pun, because what we’ve got here is a list of proverbs from Mr. Wooden himself dedicated to some of sport’s biggest stars

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Even though Votto has not notched a sombrero, he sure looks good in that hat

After watching both Jason Heyward and Mark Teixeira fall victim to the Platinum Sombrero over the weekend, I thought it would only be appropriate to reflect on all of the golden and platinum sombrero performances this season.  Some of the names on the list may surprise you, most of them will not.  For those of you who may not have noticed, there is a scrolling ticker in the top, left-hand corner of the site that offers an up-to-date list of every player that has notched either a 4 or 5 strikeout game.  Regardless, here is the current, chronological list in an easy to read format, as well as a few notes about its constituents.

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“Hell, If I’d known 40-40 was going to be a big deal, I’d have done it every year!”- Mickey Mantle

“40/40 club/ESPN on the seats”

This is exclusivity at it’s best.  Fellow blogger Brett (aka my lil brother) wrote a piece on baseball’s influence over hip-hop music.  I felt that out of tribute, I should find my own quote from this same influence.  The above quote is from Jay-Z.  He is rapping about how he is above the rest.  He spits about pushing weight (crack-cocaine to be exact) to promote his growth as an exclusive member.  He is actually the owner of a NY night club called The 40/40 club.  Can you name all of the club member VIP’s?  Jay-Z probably couldn’t either, so it’s all money.

The 40/40 club is exclusive.  So exclusive in fact, that it only has 4 members. Quick, what do Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, and Alfonso Soriano have in common?  If you guessed being homos you were close, but not correct.  They have all been linked in one way or another to steroids.  (As a responsible reporter, ehhh, I should note here that Soriano has only been indirectly linked to ‘roids.)  That’s right; the 40/40 club is the prime example of what the steroid era meant for baseball.  Sure, Willie Mays, Bobby Bonds, Darryl Strawberry, Eric Davis, Vlad Guerrero, Alfonso Soriano (for a 2^nd time) and Carlos Beltran all came close.  But that is no horseshoe or hand grenade throwing.  These 4 men (using the term loosely) are the only  to achieve such asterisk laced glory.

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