Teddy Ballgame | The Baseball Zealot

MAYBE YOU HAD TO BE THERE

My Dad was in the hospital over the weekend having a carotid artery cleaned out, he’s home now, and everything’s OK. Saturday we were watching the Cardinals play the Cubs on FOX. In the 7th inning the Cardinals were leading 4-2, with 1st & 3rd, nobody out for the Redbirds, and Albert Pujols was batting. The camera panned to the Cubs dugout where the pitching coach picked up the telephone. That’s when my Dad’s roommate Polish Andy in very broken English chimed in with, “Who is he calling? Maybe he’s calling his Mommy?”. We all busted out laughing! Pujols struck out, but the Cubs allowed another run, making it 5-2, which was the final score.

WHITE SOX FIGHT SONG

Here are the lyrics of the Chicago White Sox fight song
by Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers (1959)

The official fight song of White Sox Interactive!

WHITE SOX WHITE SOX GO-GO WHITE SOX
LET’S GO GO-GO WHITE SOX
WE’RE WITH YOU ALL THE WAY
THEY’RE ALWAYS IN THERE FIGHTING
AND YOU DO YOUR BEST
WE’RE GLAD TO HAVE YOU OUT HERE
IN THE MIDDLE WEST
WE’RE GONNA ROOT ROOT ROOT ROOT WHITE SOX
AND CHEER YOU OUT TO VICTORY
WHEN WE’RE IN THE STANDS
WE’LL MAKE THOSE RAFTERS RING
ALL THROUGH THE SEASON
YOU WILL HEAR US SING
LET’S GO GO-GO WHITE SOX
CHICAGO’S PROUD OF YOU
WHITE SOX WHITE SOX GO-GO WHITE SOX
ROOT ROOT ROOT FOR THE WHITE SOX
WE’LL CHEER YO OUT TO VICTORY
WHEN WE’RE IN THE STANDS
WE’LL MAKE THOSE RAFTERS RING
ALL THROUGH THE SEASON
YOU WILL HEAR US SING
LET’S GO GO-GO WHITE SOX
CHICAGO’S PROUD OF YOU
PLAY BALL!!!
WHITE SOX WHITE SOX GO-GO WHITE SOX
LET’S GO GO-GO WHITE SOX
CHICAGO IS PROUD OF YOU

Visit White Sox Interactive to hear the White Sox Fight Song

You can also download an mp3 version of the song from here. -tbz

Followup: Commenter Linda asks how to get to this mp3 into iTunes. I’ll do a quick step-by-step tutorial.

1. Right-click on the above mp3 link and choose “Save link as…”. Save it somewhere on C: drive (like your desktop).
2. In iTunes, click on File then Add File to Library.
3. Browse to where you saved the mp3 file. Then click Ok.
4. Voila! The mp3 is in your iTunes library. You can then drag the mp3 file to your iPod if you want.

Hope this helps.
-tbz

STITCHES ON A BASEBALL

How many stitches are there on a baseball???

And the answer is… 108 DOUBLE STITCHES!!!

GOODBYE DOUBLE DUTY

Former Negro League star Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe died yesterday in his Chicago home at 103 years of age. In the 1932 Negro World Series he caught Satchel Paige in the first game of a doubleheader, then pitched a shutout in the second game. This performance prompted sportswriter Damon Runyon to provide the nickname “Double Duty”. Radcliffe pitched & caught multiple no-hitters in his career, won more than 400 games on the mound, batted over .300 lifetime with more than 400 homeruns. He belongs in the Baseball Hall of Hame. It’s just a shame that Double Duty didn’t live long enough to see himself enshrined into the Hall.

8/11 Linescore of the Day – Jason Kendall

Jason Kendall, Oakland A’s 2 for 4, 2 runs, 1 mad dash for 1st place With 2nd & 3rd and two outs in the bottom of the 9th in a tie game Jason Kendall streaked home from 3rd with the winning run when pitcher Francisco Rodriguez dropped a throw back to him from his catcher … Continue reading “8/11 Linescore of the Day – Jason Kendall”

Jason Kendall, Oakland A’s

2 for 4, 2 runs, 1 mad dash for 1st place

With 2nd & 3rd and two outs in the bottom of the 9th in a tie game Jason Kendall streaked home from 3rd with the winning run when pitcher Francisco Rodriguez dropped a throw back to him from his catcher Jose Molina. The win by the Oakland A’s over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim put the A’s in sole possession of first place in the AL West. It was a timely heads up play by Jason Kendall.

8/10 Rookie Watch – Ryan Howard

With the score tied, bases loaded, nobody out, in the top of the 9th rookie Ryan Howard stepped to the plate for the Philadelphia Phillies against Los Angeles reliever Yhency Brazoban. A moment later the Phillies were up by four as the big rookie creamed a homer deep over the right centerfield fence. Final score … Continue reading “8/10 Rookie Watch – Ryan Howard”

With the score tied, bases loaded, nobody out, in the top of the 9th rookie Ryan Howard stepped to the plate for the Philadelphia Phillies against Los Angeles reliever Yhency Brazoban. A moment later the Phillies were up by four as the big rookie creamed a homer deep over the right centerfield fence. Final score Phillies 9 Dodgers 5. It was Howard’s 8th home run since being called up July 1st to fill in for Jim Thome.

BERNIE BREWER

Bernie Brewer used to slide into a stein of frosty beer whenever a Brewer hit a home run. It’s nice to see Bernie is till sliding down his slide after every homer even if it’s not into a beer. Bernie getting ready to do his thing.

Bernie Brewer used to slide into a stein of frosty beer whenever a Brewer hit a home run. It’s nice to see Bernie is till sliding down his slide after every homer even if it’s not into a beer.

Bernie getting ready to do his thing.

8/10 Linescore of the Day – David Wright

David Wright, New York Mets

4 for 5, 1 HR, 1 2B, 6 RBI, 3 runs, 1 SB

David Wright hit his 30th double, 17th homer, drove in six, stole his 12th base, and was a triple away from the cycle. Wright paced the New York Mets to a 9-1 over the San Diego Padres. David said he was motivated when Cliff Floyd was intentionally walked ahead of him, not a good idea, as Wright launched a three run shot over the leftfield fence.

8/9 Linescore of the Day – 9th Inning

9th Inning, Cleveland Indians 8 for 12, 11 runs, 1 homer, 3 doubles, 2 walks Cleveland trailed the Royals 7-2 in the 9th inning in Kansas City. Mike MacDougal was brought on to close out the game. But then the Tribe woke up scoring 11 runs for a 13-7 win. Casey Blake and Grady Sizemore … Continue reading “8/9 Linescore of the Day – 9th Inning”

9th Inning, Cleveland Indians

8 for 12, 11 runs, 1 homer, 3 doubles, 2 walks

Cleveland trailed the Royals 7-2 in the 9th inning in Kansas City. Mike MacDougal was brought on to close out the game. But then the Tribe woke up scoring 11 runs for a 13-7 win. Casey Blake and Grady Sizemore opened the frame with back to back doubles. Coco Crisp singled. Jhonny Peralta struck out before a double by Travis Hafner and a single by Victor Martinez. Ronnie Belliard grounded into a FC for the 2nd out. Jeff Liefer got on base on an error. Aaron Boone doubled. Jimmy Gobble was brought on to intentionally walk Casey Blake, Grady Sizemore singled, Coco Crisp walked, Jhonny Peralta homered, and mercifully Travis Hafner struck out to put an end to the carnage. Now the Royals know what Custer must’ve felt like.

8/9 Rookie Watch – Felix Hernandez

Felix Hernandez lowered his ERA to 0.69 pitching 8 innings of shutout ball against the Minnesota Twins before turning the game over to Everyday Eddie. The Seattle Mariners and this 19 year old phenom bested tough luck loser Kyle Lohse 1-0. Jeremy Reed doubled with 2 outs in the 7th and rookie Yuniesky Betancourt tripled to drive in the only run of the game. Hernandez has electric stuff, featuring a 97 MPH fastball and a sharp breaking curve. Felix showed amazing poise getting out of a bases loaded jam along the way. Matt LeCroy & Jacque Jones singled opened with singles, Lew Ford attempted to bunt the runners up, but Felix the Cat pounced off the mound & fired to Adrian Beltre to force LeCroy. The kid then struck out Justin Morneau on a heater. Terry Tiffee hit a two out grounder to Beltre, Adrian tried to beat the runner to 3rd before throwing to first too late & off the bag for an error to fill the bases. Hernandez jumped into the air to snag a comebacker off the bat of Jason Bartlett to get out of the jam. Eddie Guardado converted his 27th consecutive save and 28th in 29 tries with a perfect 9th. But the real story was Felix Hernandez who struck out six, walked nobody, and allowed only five singles in eight innings of work.