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Baseball Zealot Radio interviews Brian DeCaussin from Big Ten Hardball

One of the perks as a blogger and a podcaster is that I get to meet (at least virtually) and talk to a variety of people in the baseball world. That includes players and coaches, broadcasters, and fellow bloggers and podcasters. The one thing they all share is the love of the game of baseball. … Continue reading “Baseball Zealot Radio interviews Brian DeCaussin from Big Ten Hardball”

One of the perks as a blogger and a podcaster is that I get to meet (at least virtually) and talk to a variety of people in the baseball world. That includes players and coaches, broadcasters, and fellow bloggers and podcasters. The one thing they all share is the love of the game of baseball. This week’s guest, Brian DeCaussin of Big Ten Hardball, is no exception.

If you have any interest in college baseball, especially Big Ten baseball, a visit to Big Ten Hardball is a definite must. Brian does a great job reporting on and analyzing the Big Ten conference. Week in and week out, he summarizes each conference game and highlights. His web site is worth the trip just for the wealth of useful links that adorn the side of his site.

Brian and I got a chance to chat about his interest in Big Ten baseball, how the teams will shake out in 2007, and the status of the sport of baseball in the Big Ten.

You can download the show from the Baseball Zealot Radio website

You can listen via iTunes.

Summer Ball’s new website

For those of you who occasionally frequent Summer Ball, they have changed their web address as well as converted to a neato blog format. You can now find Summer Ball here. Summer Ball is a fine website that concentrates their efforts on college summer leagues.

For those of you who occasionally frequent Summer Ball, they have changed their web address as well as converted to a neato blog format. You can now find Summer Ball here.

Summer Ball is a fine website that concentrates their efforts on college summer leagues.

BZR chats with Larry Borowski of Viva El Birdos

The Baseball Zealot “think tank” is pretty eclectic. Among our group, our fandom represents a variety of teams. The Cubs, Sox, Pirates, Angels, and Yankees. But bein’s we’re based in downstate Illinois and we don’t have a good St Louis Cardinal rep, I figured we get an expert on Baseball Zealot Radio and give a … Continue reading “BZR chats with Larry Borowski of Viva El Birdos”

The Baseball Zealot “think tank” is pretty eclectic. Among our group, our fandom represents a variety of teams. The Cubs, Sox, Pirates, Angels, and Yankees. But bein’s we’re based in downstate Illinois and we don’t have a good St Louis Cardinal rep, I figured we get an expert on Baseball Zealot Radio and give a good rundown on the Cardinals. Larry Borowski of Viva El Birdos readily agreed…

… and did a fantastic job I might add. Larry covers the gamut from last year’s World Series to the Redbirds’ outlook for 2007.

We even talk about the Cubs. Go figger.

Anyway, I’d wish Larry good luck on his blog but I don’t think he needs it. This past week, Viva El Birdos was listed #5 in the Top Ten baseball blogs by Sports Media Challenge. Nice work!

You can download the latest episode from Baseball Zealot Radio’s website.

You can also listen to it via iTunes.

US Celluar Field has Y2K issue

Rich B from the Home Run Derby crunches the home run numbers on US Celluar Field. Apparently, they are WAY up since year 2000. The most impressive renovation was in 2004 with the removal of the last eight rows of the stadium (6,600 seats the Sox weren’t selling anyway) and the addition of a roof … Continue reading “US Celluar Field has Y2K issue”

Rich B from the Home Run Derby crunches the home run numbers on US Celluar Field. Apparently, they are WAY up since year 2000.

The most impressive renovation was in 2004 with the removal of the last eight rows of the stadium (6,600 seats the Sox weren’t selling anyway) and the addition of a roof which covered almost the entire upper deck. The roof and other adjustments have made the park both more aesthetic and much more potent …

US Cellular HR Numbers

1991-1999: 150.9 HR/YR, 34.85 AB/HR

2000-2006: 232.3 HR/YR, 23.92 AB/HR

Honestly, I have never noticed this before. Surprised none of my Sox friends brought this up.

Anyway, Rich has a simply snarky tone in his posts. That’s not ALWAYS bad, is it? Not if you have the numbers to back it up, I guess.

Ducksnorts: 2007 Baseball Annual out

Just so you know… I haven’t forgotten 1984… That said, I’ll still help out Geoff Young from Ducksnorts. Ducksnorts, if you haven’t checked it out is probably the best San Diego Padres blog out there. And now, Geoff’s got a book out called Ducksnorts: 2007 Baseball Annual . Here’s the summary: Recap of the 2006 … Continue reading “Ducksnorts: 2007 Baseball Annual out”

Ducksnorts

Just so you know… I haven’t forgotten 1984…

That said, I’ll still help out Geoff Young from Ducksnorts.

Ducksnorts, if you haven’t checked it out is probably the best San Diego Padres blog out there. And now, Geoff’s got a book out called Ducksnorts: 2007 Baseball Annual . Here’s the summary:

Recap of the 2006 season * In-depth look at the Padres’ game of the year against Colorado on September 4, 2006 * Retrospective of the Padres’ 1998 World Series appearance and Tony Gwynn’s 3000th hit * Analysis of Kevin Towers’ trades as Padres’ GM * Best by position through Padres’ history * Deconstruction of pitching prospects * How to succeed despite having limited resources, including the art of building a bullpen for cheap Featuring a foreword by Padres CEO Sandy Alderson, the Ducksnorts 2007 Baseball Annual
will make an excellent companion for any fan of the Padres throughout the ’07 season and beyond. It will also be of interest to general baseball fans who want to learn what makes one organization tick.

You can order the book here.

The Saberoticians have advice I needed last weekend

I wish I had seen The Saberoticians’ post on relievers BEFORE last weekend. I might not have been so gun shy on picking Takashi Saito in my APBA draft. As it was I ended up picking Pat Neshek who doesn’t even appear on their list. Well, if it’s not too late for you, take a … Continue reading “The Saberoticians have advice I needed last weekend”

Well, if it’s not too late for you, take a look at Fantasy Baseball Rankings – Closers by The Saberoticians.

I get interviewed by Big Ten Hardball

I did a Q&A for Big Ten Hardball on the University of Illinois baseball team. Thanks to Brian from BTH for the opportunity to do this. I really appreciate his website. It’s a very comprehensive site and the only site of its caliber I know of that exclusively covers Big Ten baseball. I think BTH’s … Continue reading “I get interviewed by Big Ten Hardball”

I did a Q&A for Big Ten Hardball on the University of Illinois baseball team.

Thanks to Brian from BTH for the opportunity to do this. I really appreciate his website. It’s a very comprehensive site and the only site of its caliber I know of that exclusively covers Big Ten baseball.

I think BTH’s plan is to interview fans from other Big Ten teams so stay tuned if the Illini is not your gig.

Big Ten Hardball previews the Illini

As we head into the college baseball season, Big Ten Hardball has been busy previewing the Big Ten teams. Today it was Illinois’ turn. As an Illini fan, I’m biased, of course. So it was nice to see these words in the review: Illinois is my dark horse choice in the Big Ten. Coach Hartleb … Continue reading “Big Ten Hardball previews the Illini”

As we head into the college baseball season, Big Ten Hardball has been busy previewing the Big Ten teams. Today it was Illinois’ turn.

As an Illini fan, I’m biased, of course. So it was nice to see these words in the review:

Illinois is my dark horse choice in the Big Ten. Coach Hartleb returns a balanced ball club — they can run, hit, catch and pitch. I would certainly expect Illinois to qualify for the conference tournament. It will be difficult to overtake both Michigan and Ohio State, but if a couple of players step-up, Illinois might be in the running for the top spot overall.

I think this is spot on. The Wolverines and Buckeyes will not be easy to overtake (even Coach Hartleb alluded to this in his interview on our podcast). But given the chance and the motivation, it’s very possible.

Here are Big Ten Hardball’s previews for all the Big Ten teams

Looking past ARod and Jeter

You and I as baseball fans have patiently waited through winter where there has been relatively little actual baseball news. Sure, there was the winter meetings, the winter leagues and of course the hot stove leagues. But no real action on the ball field since the 2006 postseason. You and I and the media put … Continue reading “Looking past ARod and Jeter”

But now, when spring training is about to start, when players are beginning to report, when there is actual news to report, what does the sports media decide to focus their attention on? They take a innocent comment taken from Alex Rodriguez about his relationship with a teammate, twist its meaning, and throw it back in his face.

I would like to say the sports media should take a good look at itself but let’s face it, they do it for a reason. For the same reason, we get to see 24/7 coverage of Anna Nicole Smith on regular news channels when we have major issues in this country. People buy it.

And people wonder why I don’t watch ESPN.

One Yankee person who IS spending a little time beyond the ARod/Jeter debacle is Cliff Corcoran from Bronx Banter. He sums up the players who are reporting for physicals for the Yankees’ spring camp. I couldn’t help noticing one name on that list. Chris Basak.

basak

Infielder Chris Basak is a University of Illinois alum. He played for Itch Jones’ squad in 1999-2000. That was when I started watching the Illini and I vaguely remember Basak playing. He stroked .393 in 1999 and .329 in 2000.

Good luck, Chris. And stay away from the media if you can help it.

BCB’s Top 100 Cubs list reaches #1!

Everyone loves lists. And when it has to to do with baseball, it’s all the better. But when it involves the Cubs, well, that’s nirvana. That’s what Bleed Cubbie Blue has done. I’ve mentioned this list that Al from BCB has been doing all winter before. Since the end of the season last year, he’s … Continue reading “BCB’s Top 100 Cubs list reaches #1!”

Everyone loves lists. And when it has to to do with baseball, it’s all the better.

But when it involves the Cubs, well, that’s nirvana. That’s what Bleed Cubbie Blue has done. I’ve mentioned this list that Al from BCB has been doing all winter before. Since the end of the season last year, he’s been counting down the top 100 Cubs of all time.

banks

And today, he’s reached #1. Ernie Banks. No surprise there.

Ernie Banks is my first baseball memory. I must have been about 5. I was at Wrigley Field with the rest of my family. The only thing I can remember is that Ernie Banks hit a grand slam and my mom missed it because she went to the restroom. And the Cubs won. I remember that, too.

Ernie Banks was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1977. I was there. That was my first visit to the Hall. I remember while waiting for the ceremonies to start, a Chicago Tribune reporter was looking for people who had traveled to Cooperstown just to see Banks inducted and I got his attention. I ended up being interviewed by him.

By the way, if you’re interested, Cap Anson was #2. Knowing Cap, he might feel a tad uncomfortable wedged in between Banks and Sosa. Chances are, he’d ask for a different seat.

Bleed Cubbie Blue’s Top 100 Cubs