Al from Bleed Cubbie Blue got a great photo of Micah Hoffpauir’s grand slam at HoHoKam on the first day of spring training.
Author: The Baseball Zealot
Alyssa Milano can write (a book)
Alyssa Milano is cashing in on her peripheral connection to baseball releasing a book she has written on the game we love. Apparently she loves it too… at least a few of players that play it.
The book, “Safe at Home: Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic,”, details Milano’s “lifelong obsession with baseball, revealing what the game has meant to her” etc etc.
Joe Torre has given his tacit approval by writing the foreword. The least he could have done is let her write the foreword for his. Fair is fair.
And no, I’m not going to link to it. If you really want it, you can google it.
Injuries abound early in 2009
Every year it’s the same but more. Earlier and earlier, injuries are taking their toll on the players. Reading the baseball news is like a who’s who in the injury report. Santana, Wood, Bonderman, the list goes on…
Now we hear Boof Bonser is out for 2009.
Milton Bradley barely made it out of the dugout in the first game before coming out because of tightness in his quad. (To add insult to injury, Mark DeRosa is off to a good start, with a homerun under his belt).
Granted, some of these are not serious and for the most part precautionary moves to prevent something that would impact their teams down the road. That said, playing these kind of games this early in the (pre-) season doesn’t bode well for any (ok, most) teams who have to deal with this.
Query: How much does steroids (or maybe, the withdrawal of steroids) have to do with increase of injuries in the MLB right now?
Looking back: Cubs at Catalina Island
Apparently, this was a Jeopardy question a couple days back. I missed it, it was brought to my attention by a colleague and I just had to look it up. I’m glad I did because it’s a great story and probably something I should have known.
A piece of Cubs history I was not familiar with as it was before my time, I learned the Cubs for more than 30 years (1921-1951) spent their spring training at Catalina Island.
Springtrainingmagazine.com has an excellent article on the subject of Cubs’ history of spring training at Catalina Island. It was actually first published in 1997 with contributions from those who actually live on Catalina Island.
When the Cubs first stepped off the steamer onto the Avalon wharf in 1921, they were struck by the rugged beauty of the place. Over the years they got to know it intimately, because Cubs managers liked to use the rough terrain and mountain trails for conditioning. The island is home to mountain goats, and winter-softened Cubbies often suffered long workouts hiking along goat paths. Third baseman Randy Jackson complained of shin splints, and Hall of Fame catcher Gabby Hartnett anguished, “I hope they’ve got banked turns in the National League infields, because one of my legs is shorter than the other from trying to navigate those damn hills.”
The Cubs left Catalina Island in 1952 after several years of bad weather including snow in 1951. Philip K Wrigley had contacts in Arizona and moved to Mesa where they are today.
Crede falls to the dark side
I’m curious what Sox think of this.
Not so much that Crede won’t be with Chicago any more. I think that song was written a few months ago. But now he’ll be playing for their arch-rivals Minnesota Twins.
Comments from the South side?
Oh, from the article (emphasis mine):
Crede, who provided stellar defense and was a clutch hitter during his tenure with the Sox…
I’ve heard from more than one Sox fan that Crede’s defense had been lacking in 2008 at least in comparison to his past years. Perhaps that’s true? Or maybe that was due to his injury??
For what it’s worth, Crede does say he’s almost back to 100%.
Some words of calm wisdom from Tom Glavine… or is it damage control?
Tom Glavine talked to the press Friday about PED testing standards in the major leagues.
“I think that it’s easy to sit on the outside, look at what has happened and blame Bud Selig or Don Fehr and the Players Association by saying that one of these guys or all of these guys knew more and should have known more,” Glavine said. “You know what? I don’t think it’s fair to say that.
While I’m certainly not ready to absolve Bud Selig on the matter especially considering what he said the other day about not taking responsibility on the steroid issue, Glavine’s point is somewhat well taken. The fans and the media are busy playing the blame game and most of the dialogue I hear is more directed at hatin’ on the player rather than solving the problem.
My friend Nick once told me, “C’mon, fans like to boo!”. Of course, he was talking about within a ballgame. However, you could extend his point to the broader context of Major League Baseball and problems it faces. A lot of fans (most?) would just as soon read the headlines and listen to the sound bites throw ARod to the wolves. Most of the media, unfortunately, is complicit in this as well, fueling the fire of contempt rather than providing good solutions to the issue.
I’m not an ARod fan and I’m certainly not condoning what he did. I’ve just seen and heard what has happened in the past with similar issues. Bonds, McGwire, the list is long and problem is still here.
Glavine does advocate for consequences for Alex Rodriguez, as well he should,
“There comes a time for everybody in life — I don’t care where you are or what you do — that you have choices to make, and sometimes people make bad choices. If you make a bad choice, then that’s your responsibility to deal with the consequences of that bad choice, and certainly Alex is having to deal with that.
However, baseball management was definitely responsible, at least in part, for not quelling the steroid issue at some point. With his statement to the press, Glavine needs to be careful while he treads a fine line between calm, reasoned thought and being a ‘yes’ man for the MLB (ironic since he is the player rep for the NL).
All parties need to take responsibility…
Illinois full of win … and a bit o’ trivia
Illinois won their season opener 8-3 against Iowa. Yippie!
I did a recap over at the Illinois Baseball Report.
Tonight, the Fighting Illini play the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. That’s unusual in of itself since both team name don’t end in ‘S’.
How many NCAA team names can you think of that don’t end in the letter ‘S’? There are about fifteen.
Ten Reasons why I like college baseball (and the Illini)
In celebration of opening day of college baseball I present to you my top ten list of what makes college baseball (and Illinois baseball in particular) so fun.
1. It’s affordable.
In this day of rising costs of attending Major League Baseball games, you can’t discount this. I can’t speak for other Big Ten teams but at the University of Illinois, you can get into a game for six bucks or so. Parking is thrown in for free.
And, if you’re lucky enough (and smart enough) to get the Go Illini family card for $50, it gets your whole family into all home games for the season. Whatta deal!
2. You can get so close to the action.
3. It’s my style of baseball.
While the major leagues have gravitated toward power, power and more power, I find that college baseball has a more balanced attack maybe even favoring the “small ball” style of play.
I like the homerun just as much as everybody else but I also enjoy a well-executed hit-and-run or a double steal.
A perfect example of this small ball action was two years ago in a non-conference game against Robert Morris College when Shawn Roof took it upon himself to score the winning run in the bottom of the eighth.
From an article I wrote after the Robert Morris game:
Shawn Roof led off the bottom of the 8th. Robert Morris pitcher Chris Murchek plunked Roof in the upper arm and Roof took his base. I leaned over to Brando and said, “Here he goes!”. And Roof stole second on the first pitch. Brando and I wondered to each other will batter Ryan Hastings bunt in this situation? In a lot of situations, it would make sense but Hastings has been good with the stick so I didn’t think he would. Hastings didn’t square for the next pitch, he took it for a strike.
The next pitch, though, he squared for the bunt and the thirdbaseman rushed to cover for the bunt. The key here is that the shortstop didn’t cover third and Roof was banking on that. He stole third easily.
The very next pitch Murchek threw a wild pitch and Roof scored what proved to be the winning run.
Now THAT’S exciting!
Another point, since not all college hitters are sluggers, it gives more value to the homerun capability of those cleanup hitters in the college ranks. You really fear them!
4. The players are friendly.
Ok, maybe that’s a generalization but in my experience, many I’ve met have been nice and some have been downright decent. A couple that I’ve met I’ve maintained friendships after they’ve left the U of I.
5. It brought back my “school spirit”.
I’ll admit it. I root for the Illini football and basketball teams but I don’t intensely follow them like some of my sports fan friends follow their alums. Illini baseball is MY college sport that I follow.
When I’m asked at work, “Did you hear how the Illini did last night?”. I’ll go on about the slugfest this or the one-run game that and get a quizzical look. Then I realize they were talking about the OTHER sport.
I don’t care. Baseball is my college sport.
6. No salaries, no contract disputes, no arbitrations
It’s true, college baseball players play baseball for different reasons. Those with a future ahead of them are looking ahead to a possible MLB draft. Others are just playing because they love the game.
But what’s really great is when you see the really rare player who steps up and assumes a leadership role on the team. Those players are destined to go somewhere in baseball.
7. Gametracker
If it’s a road game and I can’t be there, at least I can follow the game via CSTV’s Gametracker which rivals MLB’s Gameday…sorta.
8. Meeting the players’ parents
I’ve enjoyed meeting the moms and dads of the players the last few years. I don’t restrict myself to Illinois parents either. Sometimes I’ll introduce myself to the opposition’s parents sometimes and (if it’s a home game) welcome them to Illinois Field. I almost always get a good conversation going and learn something I didn’t know before.
Like players, parents come in different varieties. There are competitive types and then the more laid back types. Interesting to see the similarities (and differences, I guess) between parent and son.
9. No Wisconsin
Haha! Just kidding, Badger fans!
10. Just try to show me a better time!
For my money, there’s not a better time. Whether I’m hanging with my buddies, taking my family or just taking in a game by myself, it’s a lot of fun. The baseball program at the University of Illinois have done a fantastic job putting a quality product on the field not to mention a fun time all round (yes, they do promotions… the days when the players play wiffleball with the kids after a game are a big hit, so to speak).
So before you complain to me about those outrageous prices of major league games and the exorbitant salaries the big league athletes make, try a college baseball game on for size.
It might be a perfect fit.
Event to honor surviving St Louis Browns on pennant anniversary
Babe Martin of the St Louis Browns
The last two surviving members of the St Louis Browns will be honored at an event on April 28 in recognition of the 65th anniversary of their pennant-winning season.
It’s being put on by the St Louis Browns Fan Club (who knew?) and the event will be billed as “Lunch with the Browns”. The Browns attending: Babe Martin who broke in the bigs in 1944, the year of their pennant and pitcher Al LaMacchia, who played for the Browns between 1943-1946.
You can find out more about who, when, and where at the St Louis Browns Fan Club blog.
Blackjack’s a rocker
A friend and colleague of mine sent this link to a CD. He found out about my interest in baseball and thought I might get a kick out of it.
You see, my friend was in a band back in the day and one of his bands’ songs made it onto a CD compilation along with none other than former MLB pitcher Jack McDowell. McDowell at the time was playing with a band called Stickfigure. His song is called “Hey Man”.
The CD is called Small, My Table and some proceeds are going towards Riley’s Hospital of Indianapolis.
It brought back memories of back in the late 80’s (during the off-season), McDowell came down to play at the campus town club (the now defunct Mabel’s for C-U townies). His band if memory serves, was called “Thrash”. I wasn’t heavy into the music scene or anything like that but he had an ok sound.
Music obviously has a pretty important part of Blackjack’s life if 15 years later, he was still playing (and putting out CDs).