Looking at the Game of Baseball from all ends of the Spectrum
No doubt, I enjoy ābest ofā lists but I have a morbid fascination with āworstā lists, too.
As always, Andy from the Baseball Reference Blog comes through with his ā2010 Least Valuable Playerā post. Be prepared to make your arguments because most likely, a favorite player will be on this list.
Somehow, I knew former Cub Ryan Theriot would be on this list.
What to think about the hiring of Mike Quade?? Well, letās start with the detailsā¦ Heās getting a two-year contract from the Cubs with an option for 2013. At this point, no money considerations have been discussed.
I like the deal. Iāve been struggling to evaluate the move on its merits alone. As a natural born cynic, Iāve tried to distance myself from my perceptions of the Cubsā potential motives of hiring Ryne Sandberg (should they have done so). Letās face it, Ryno has proven himself as manager in minors the last few years. Hiring him would have been more than just a public relations move as Iāve insinuated to my friends. Honestly, Sandberg wouldnāt have been a bad choice at all.
But when it came down to it, I favored hiring Mike Quade as manager of the Cubs and now that the deal is done, I still like it. Forget the 24-13 record he posted at the end of 2010, the 53-year old Evanston, IL native has the goods without it. Quade has experience. Heās managed a prolific 2,378 games in the minors. But more importantly, he has a reputation of possessing strong leadership skills and being a good on-the-field manager, all which comes with experience.
Earlier, I said forget Quadeās 24-13 run with the Cubs in 2010. But maybe donāt dismiss it completely. The Cub players responded quite well to Quadeās leadership and even said so to the press. The cynics among us have said that perhaps it was more the lack of Piniella that players were responding to and that is a point well taken. Yet, no one can dismiss the support that he got both implicitly and explicitly.
What does Cub Nation think about the Quade hiring?? If you take Bleed Cubbie Blueās vast readership as any indication, you can check out its poll on the hiring of Quade. BCB readers support itā¦ kinda. A whopping 38% supported the hiring of Quade while 19% didnāt (41% didnāt really have an opinion. An indecisive bunch, these Cub fans).
A few questions remain:
At any rate, I wish Mike Quade well. Heās (officially) stepping into some big shoes and doesnāt have an easy row to hoe in 2011.
Charles Braxton points out in a TBZ comment that there is a nice summary on the Three-I League in Baseball Referenceās Bullpen section.
You usually donāt find a lot of documentation on the now defunct Midwest-based league anymore so Iām happy to see this. Indeed, youāll find standings and league leaders for each year of its sixty-year history at the BR Bullpen.
If you browse the page, baseball historians will most likely find names they recognize. Hank Majeski, Joe Vosmik, Tony Kubek, Mudcat Grant,.. and some pitcher named Warren Spahn.
And only in the early-to-mid 1900s Midwest would have team names like the Peoria Tractors, Moline Ploughboys and Bloomington Bloomers.
thanks for passing this on, Charles! A real gem!
For those in the Champaign-Urbana area, professor and noted author Adrian Burgos will be giving a talk at the Y Friday Forum this week. The title of the talk is āPlaying for the Dream? Baseball, Latinos, Immigration and the American Dreamā.
Burgos is an associate professor at the University of Illinois and has wrote Playing Americaās Game: Baseball, Latinos and the Color Line (a good book if you havenāt read it). He specializes in Latino and race relations and yes, baseball,
Sports columnist Terence Moore has it right when it comes to umpires, instant replay and when it comes down to it, fan respect. And he quite succinctly makes his point in his first two sentences of his article posted today (my emphasis):
This umpire mess has to stop. Not the questionable calls or even the horrible ones, but the whining over it all.
As a person who works in a technology field, I should probably embrace instant replay over the inconsistencies of human judgment, But I donāt. Call me a traditionalist but thatās just not how baseball is played.
My special concern is WHY the idea of instant replay is gaining so much ground now.
1. The mob mentality.. Now that the issue has come to light, many fans have seized on it and thrown it back into the umpsā face. Instead of āwhere are your glasses, Blue?ā fans are yelling āReplay! Replay Replay!ā It gives them something else to be angry about.
2. Major League Baseball, in their effort to appear to please everyone all the time (without really doing so) is slowly jerking their knee and responding. āSee weāre doing something about it?ā
(In complete fairness, I know of plenty of knowledgeable, even-thinking people who support the idea of Instant Replay and have logical, thought-out reasons why they support it. I certainly would not clump them in with the first group.)
Whether or not one supports Instant Replay should not give a fan license to treat an ump with disrespect as Terence Mooreās piece describes in detail. Now, I go to 20 or so college baseball games a year and sure, Iāve been known to call out an ump on a questionable call. But though I do not like his particular decision at the time, he has my respect for the tough job that he does.
Even Frank Robinson from the MLB commissionerās office weighed in on the umpiresā treatment.
"From fans, players, managers, coaches and front office people, I’ve never seen so much hostility toward umpires that I’ve seen this year. "All of this (umpire bashing) is very, very unfair. Do they miss calls? Of course they do. One thing people forget: Umpires are human beings.ā
So letās proceed with the Instant Replay discussion carefully and thoughtfully. And if youāre lucky enough to be out at park this year, donāt take it out on the ump.
Heās breaking records in Japan, thatās what
On Tuesday, former Cub outfielder Matt Murton broke the Japanese professional baseball record for most hits in a single season. That record had formerly been held by none other than Ichiro Suzuki.
Murton got his 211th hit for the Hanshin Tigers on Tuesday. Ichiroās former record of 210 hits was accomplished in 1994.
One monkey wrench thrown into the whole record businessā¦ Japanese baseball has extended the season 14 games since 1994. Ichiro got his 210 hits in only 130 games while Murton hit his record-breaker in his 142nd game. I donāt know if Japanese baseball culture is hung up on that kind of thing like we were here in America ala āthe asteriskā.
Humble Matt gave credit to Ichiro:
"1994 and 2010 are two different seasons. He did it in 130 games. It is what it is, it’s a great honor. In terms of Ichiro, this doesn’t change anything. He’s one of the best players in baseball."
142 games or not, Iāll bet the Cubs would like to have some of that hitting action.
I sat first row in Game 1 of the World Series today. Ok, maybe it was University of Illinois baseballās annual āOrange and Blue World Seriesā but it was still a baseball game. The O&B WS is the Illiniās split squad series they play at this time of year.
I took some photos and did a write-up over at IllinoisBaseballReport.com if you want to see more details.
This was passed on to me and I got a good chuckle out of it
From the warped minds at The Heckler:
heh, āepic journey to fifth placeā.
Speaking of retirements, Brad Ausmus is hanging up his tools of ignorance for the last time today.
Never a big stick (he hit .251 for his career), Ausmus will be more known for slick glove behind the plate. He won three Gold Gloves in his career. More amazing to me though is the fact that Ausmus caught 1,938 games in his 18 year career. That ranks 10th among all catchers all time. Look through his stat board and youāll see that he often led his league in many defensive categories like catcher putouts and catcher assists.
Ausmus participated in six postseasons and one World Series (in 2005 with the Astros).