Looking at the Game of Baseball from all ends of the Spectrum
The University of Illinois baseball team just defeated #1 LSU tonight thanks to continued dominant pitching by starter Phil Haig and a down-to-the-wire, ninth inning, two-run homer by catcher Aaron Johnson.
More on that and me kvetching about streaming content delivery systems at the Illinois Baseball Report.
No one knows who actually exactly invented the game of T-ball. But many credit Sacharski for popularizing it in his hometown of Albion, Wisconsin where he was teacher and coach. It is said that here in Albion is where it was first played as an organized sport.
US Rep. Nick Smith even offered a tribute to Jerome Sacharski for his contributions:
“After he started teaching, Jerry took it upon himself in 1954 to head up the Albion recreation department’s summer baseball program,” Smith said at the time. “Because of this position, he was able to see the lack of opportunity for younger children that two years later would drive him to develop one of the largest innovations in youth sports.”
T-ball is similar in so many ways to baseball yet made simpler for younger kids by giving them a fighting chance to hit the ball by hitting a ball off a tee rather than a thrown ball. Today, millions of boys and girls play the game which emphasizes fairness and education of the game over competition.
So for all the parents (and for that matter, kids who have grown up) out there going back all those years, I say thanks Mr Sacharski. That tee made it sooo much easier to hit.
Joel Gillespie of the local online magazine, Smile Politely sat down with me Saturday and interviewed me for what can be best described as a “get-to-know-your-local-blogger” profile. The end product, Zealous about Illini baseball turned out really well in my opinion.
It was a fun chat. Joel as it turns out was a baseball fan himself. An Iowa product, he roots for the Twins. I tried to goad him into talking trash about the White Sox but to his credit, he would have none of it.
It also seems that he follows the Illinois baseball team. It won’t be long before they start playing at Illinois Field so I’ll have to invite him out for a home game sometime.
thanks for the great article, Joel!
-Curt Schilling says he’s not sure he’s coming back but if does, the Cubs are on his short list.
-“I’m going to strike him out. I’m going to try. He’ll be the enemy out there.” Marmol said this with a smile about Geovany Soto. The two of them may face each other in the World Baseball Classic.
-Carlos Zambrano pitched a near perfect two innings Monday in his first appearance in 2009. Big Z only sin was giving up a walk and he struck out three. Lou Piniella is still debating the Opening Day starter issue, though. It’s ok, Lou. You still have about a month.
-Finally, Lou Piniella supports Carlos Marmol’s decision to attend the WBC.
“It’s an honor to represent your country. He’s here competing for a job, and he was a little concerned. I said, ‘Lay your fears to rest. We’ll let you compete for that job when you get back and we’ll make a decision then.’ No decision will be made without Marmol being here.”
Now, just stay healthy, Carlos.
The University of Illinois baseball squad went 3-0 this weekend down in Texas at the Al Ogletree Tournament.
Their pitching carried them as they allowed only two earned runs for the 27 innings. Also, frosh 2B Josh Parr went 7 for 10 for the weekend.
You can read my full story over at the Illinois Baseball Report.
If you’re interested, The Biz of Baseball (becoming one of my favorite blogs on topic of what goes on in the ivory towers of baseball) has compiled a Final Payroll by Year of each MLB team.
The list is sorted and goes back to 2002.
This has been getting a lot of attention especially among Reds’ bloggers…
Brandon Phillips of the Reds:
“I don’t believe that on-base percentage stuff. That’s overrated to me. If you get hits, you’ll be on base. That’s what it’s about.”
Some of Baker’s influence there??
Many have mentioned that while they don’t doubt Phillips is a talented player, he HAS led the Reds in outs in the past two seasons. And while he does have some tasty stats, his OBP is not one of them. Last year, it was an abysmal .312 and the year before it wasn’t much better at .331.
Hmm. Baltimore Oriole and former Cub Rich Hill was scratched from his start today.
It was due to “stiffness in his left elbow” and it’s “just precautionary”.
And so begins his time with the Orioles. Any bets on how long before he sees time with their farm teams?
It was pretty much a perfect baseball day for me. The University of Illinois beat the University of Stephen F Austin Lumberjacks 4-2 behind the phenomal pitching of Aaron Martin (read my recap of the game over at illinoisbaseballreport.com <– shameless plug).
Then to cap it off, the Cubs beat the pants off the White Sox. With a score like, 13-0, it didn’t even seem like the Sox had a chance. HoHoKam was filled to a record 13,010 fans to see that drubbing.
More importantly, Aaron Heilman gave a good showing allowing one hit in two innings and striking out four. I wasn’t too thrilled with the prospect of the Heilman trade but I know others who think differently. I know two innings a season does not make but first impressions can go a long a way.
Corey Koskie
In other Cub news, I see they signed veteran Corey Koskie to a minor league contract. The contract stipulated he will get a chance in Spring Training but if he doesn’t make it in the bigs, he’ll get shipped to the Triple-A team.
To me, it seems that Koskie’s been around forever but checking out his stats, he’s only been in the majors for nine years (really eight, he was up for a small cup of coffee in 1998). And he’s only 35. His career derailed when he suffered a concussion after falling when chasing a pop fly. Post concussion syndrome put any thought of baseball out of mind for a while.
Now he’s back. A hard nosed thirdbaseman with a little bit of pop and who knows how to take a walk. Let’s see how far he can go.
