Looking at the Game of Baseball from all ends of the Spectrum
Many jokes take place about the umps being blind… but the players?? Well, that’s the case with the 2007 National Beep Baseball Association which is now holding its World Series. The series takes place in Rochester, MN. See a slideshow of photos of some action courtesy of Chicago Public Radio.
Many jokes take place about the umps being blind… but the players??
Well, that’s the case with the 2007 National Beep Baseball Association which is now holding its World Series. The series takes place in Rochester, MN.
See a slideshow of photos of some action courtesy of Chicago Public Radio.
Brandon Wikoff You can get a very thorough wrap-up of the 2007 University of Illinois baseball season on their web site now. It covers team and player highlights, series summaries, awards, record breakers, you name it. Also, they have another installment of Summer Diamond Notes. These are the periodic writings of Illini players who are … Continue reading “Illini Notes”
Brandon Wikoff
You can get a very thorough wrap-up of the 2007 University of Illinois baseball season on their web site now. It covers team and player highlights, series summaries, awards, record breakers, you name it.
Also, they have another installment of Summer Diamond Notes. These are the periodic writings of Illini players who are now playing in college summer leagues. This time around, Brandon Wikoff checks in from the Northwoods League where he plays for the Madison Mallards.
Brando was a freshman last year but it didn’t take long for him to make a difference for the Illini. He started at thirdbase and led off for the team, hitting a healthy .286.
(Photo:NBC News) A host of Cubs fans are auditioning for a chance to sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame during the seventh inning stretch at the September 22 ballgame. As many as 2700 fans are auditioning and the organization will narrow it down to 50 semi-finalists which will be voted on by fans. Singing ability will not be … Continue reading “Thousands of Cub fans audition to sing during the 7th inning stretch”
(Photo:NBC News)
A host of Cubs fans are auditioning for a chance to sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame during the seventh inning stretch at the September 22 ballgame.
As many as 2700 fans are auditioning and the organization will narrow it down to 50 semi-finalists which will be voted on by fans.
Singing ability will not be a pre-requisite:
“Harry wasn’t Pavoratti. It’s not necessarily about singing ability. It’s about passion and enthusiasm for the Cubs and I think you’ve seen that from a lot of our contestants today,” added (Cub’s Jay) Blunk.
That last point can’t be stressed more. Anybody will be better than country singer Kellie “They call that the outfield, right?” Pickler, right?
If you’re interested in listening to Tony Gwynn’s or Cal Ripken’s acceptance speeches at the Hall of Fame ceremonies, MLB.com has it available for download. The text of the speeches (Denny Matthews’ and Rick Hummel’s too) is available from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum website.
If you’re interested in listening to Tony Gwynn’s or Cal Ripken’s acceptance speeches at the Hall of Fame ceremonies, MLB.com has it available for download.
The text of the speeches (Denny Matthews’ and Rick Hummel’s too) is available from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum website.
As he says, Professor Alan Nathan has been a physicist for all his career but a baseball fan all his life. What started out for him ten years ago as a one-time gig lecture on the physics of baseball at the University of Illinois, it has mushroomed into ongoing series of lectures and projects focusing on the topic.
This was a very interesting interview for me despite my initial trepidation of not knowing ANY physics. Never fear, Alan broke it down so even I could understand it.
Here are the show notes for Show 26:
Hosts: Tom and Shawn
Summary: Alan Nathan is a professor of physics at the University of Illinois who lectures often on the physics of baseball. During our interview with Alan, we cover the effects of spin on the flight of the baseball, wood versus aluminum bats, and “Is there such a thing as a rising fastball?”.
Definitely, take a listen to our interview with Alan as he has a unique way of looking at the game. Afterwards, swing on by his website entitled The Physics of Baseball. There’s a plethora of info related to his field.
At the end of the show, Alan mentioned that MLB was making a lot of data from Gameday available to the public. Alan provided me this link to an article on Friar Watch which explains how to access the data and how to use it.
Much thanks to Alan Nathan for his time. I found the interview very insightful and hope you do too.
Thanks for listening!!
Time: 46:39
Date Recorded: 7/24/07
With the subject line “College Records”, Justin writes:
Who holds the record for most stolen bases in a season and how many?
I’ve been having this argument with a colleague and we need an answer.
Justin
I honestly didn’t know the answer though I did know that Shawn Roof now holds the record for single season steals in the Big Ten. For all of NCAA, I turned to Brian Foley of The College Baseball Blog.
Brian came through with the answer in short time:
I would think Boomer Whiting would hold the record as he had a ton this season but that is not true. The person who holds the single season record is Dan Guillot from Texas-Pan American in 1987 with 107 in 60 games and the record for a career is held by Phil Stephenson from Wichita State with 206.
Brian
Thanks for writing, Justin and thanks for the timely answer, Brian!
The Fayetteville Observer has a nice article about Illini pitcher Ben Reeser. In between pitching for the Fayetteville Swampdogs, he is busy helping out the local Habitat for Humanity.
The Fayetteville Observer has a nice article about Illini pitcher Ben Reeser.
In between pitching for the Fayetteville Swampdogs, he is busy helping out the local Habitat for Humanity.
Rollie Stiles, known to be the oldest former big league player died on Sunday. Stiles’ MLB stats for his 3 year career My first thought after reading this was… Who is the oldest now? (hat tip, Baseball Musings) Update: Wikipedia has the (now updated) list of 31 oldest living MLB players. Right now, 99-year Billy … Continue reading “Oldest ex-MLB player Stiles passes”
Rollie Stiles, known to be the oldest former big league player died on Sunday.
Stiles’ MLB stats for his 3 year career
My first thought after reading this was… Who is the oldest now?
(hat tip, Baseball Musings)
Update: Wikipedia has the (now updated) list of 31 oldest living MLB players. Right now, 99-year Billy Werber tops the list.
Werber played 1295 games from 1930 to 1942 and played for the Yankees, Red Sox, Athletics, Reds, and Giants.
The University of Illinois have signed catcher Aaron Johnson from New Brunswick, Canada. Aaron will be the third catcher in recent memory to don the orange and blue tools of ignorance from Canada. The first two worked out so well I’m not surprised the Illini went north again. Both Chris Robinson and Lars Davis were … Continue reading “Deja vu: Illini sign Canadian catcher”
The University of Illinois have signed catcher Aaron Johnson from New Brunswick, Canada. Aaron will be the third catcher in recent memory to don the orange and blue tools of ignorance from Canada.
The first two worked out so well I’m not surprised the Illini went north again. Both Chris Robinson and Lars Davis were All-Big Ten selections and were drafted by the majors.
“He’s along the lines of our former Canadian catchers,” said Illinois assistant coach Eric Snider, who was the lead recruiter on Johnson. “He can catch and throw, and he handles the bat very well.”
Johnson is currently playing for the first place Lethbridge Bulls in the Western Major Baseball League.
Clear inventor Patrick Arnold has suddenly come on the scene and made his opinion known regarding Bonds and steroids.
“To me it was always implicit that an athlete that Victor was working with was on the program,” Arnold told ESPN Radio.
Arnold told ESPN Radio that the program included a variety of drugs, including growth hormones, EPO, steroids like the “clear” and the “cream” and stimulants.
That said, the article contains many disclaimers from Arnold who by the way hails from Champaign, Illinois. He claims that it was “an opinion”. In addition, Arnold has his own agenda.
This article will generate readers for ESPN. Given the timing of this article, that’s the bottom line.