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What’s the Buzz? Vuvuzelas!

I promised myself that the word ‘vuvuzela’ would not be written on this blog anywhere. Sounds too much like the private regions of a woman. But the irony of this is too much to pass up.

First, the Yankees have decided to ban the razzy sounding horn popularized and yet hated at the World Cup from Yankee Stadium. Rumor has it that one fan had one grabbed from him by security as he entered the Yankee-Philly game.

Yet at the same time, the Florida Marlins will be giving away 15,000 similar horns, considered obnoxious by many, as part of a promotion Saturday night. This may backfire on the Marlins.

These horns won’t be exactly the same as the vuvuzelas we’ve been seeing (and most likely hearing) at the World Cup.

From the Palm Beach Post:

The horns to be given away before Florida’s game against Tampa Bay are similar to but not the same as the soccer horns, said Sean Flynn, the Marlins’ vice president for marketing.

"They’re not as buzzing as vuvuzelas, but they’re loud,’ he said.

I’m sure as usual, Major League Baseball will have to come down with an edict, making a policy in horrendous detail, what is allowed and not allowed in MLB parks resulting in more security issues at parks.

Astros fan goes to a better place

This story is a bit of a tear-jerker. Sister Damian Kuhn, a Catholic nun as well as a devout Astros fans, passed away at the age of 89.

She certainly did have a sense of humor:

“She was our No. 1 fan, and she always took it personal,” recalled (Astros owner Drayton) McLane. He told her it was time to start praying.

After a long sigh, she replied, “Drayton, my knees are bloodied. It’s going to take more than that!”

Bronx considering ‘Jeter Bridge’

Bronx officials have confirmed that they are considering naming a 512 foot bridge after Derek Jeter. Which prompted this rather ‘ugh’ comment from Angela Montefinise of the NY Post:

Big Apple women may soon be able to take a ride on Derek Jeter — the bridge, that is.

As a commenter to her article notes, what happens if he somehow ends up on the Red Sox? Yeah, yeah, Yankee fans, he’s Mr Pinstripes. Don’t forget, he’s a businessman first and foremost. Remember, Johnny Damon took the reverse route.

Good luck on the bridge thing New York fans. And have fun, ladies.

(via Circling the Bases)

Howard HR ball back in hands of owner

After being bribed with cotton candy, the kid finally gets her due.

That’s how the story goes. Jennifer Valdivia, a 12 year-old girl who caught Ryan Howard’s historic 200th homerun ball was ushered to the Phillies’ clubhouse to exchange it for another autographed one, given some cotton candy then sent on her way.

With help of attorney Norm Kent, she’s got the ball back now.

"The Philadelphia Phillies’ team representative, knowing not only the historic value of that baseball, but its financial value, sent a team representative to Marlin security to retrieve young Jennifer from the stands," Kent said. "And she was there, 12-year-old Jennifer, with her 15-year-old brother, neither of the age of majority, offered her some cotton candy and a baseball worth 100 bucks in exchange for one that was worth thousands."

Kent knows marketing too. He put this You Tube video up surreptitiously to talk about the resolution of the case of the 12 year old girl. But let’s face it, it’s good PR for his law firm too.

But good on the girl, though. She’s got her ball back.

The coolest baseball tattoo I’d never have

This tattoo belongs to an employee at my favorite coffee shop. It’s something else.

I was drawn to it initially when his shirt sleeve was down and all I saw were the baseball cleats and the stirrups. Knowing that he was a devout Yankees fan, I knew it had to be baseball related and I asked if I could see it.

Wow, imagine my surprise when he pulled up his sleeve and I saw the pretty woman barely dressed in a vintage-style baseball uniform. I’m not a tattoo person myself but I have to admit this was a conversation-starter.

He says it incorporated two of things he loved most in the world… baseball and women.

Sorry for the censorship box covering the good part. I didn’t want to offend. Here is the NSFW version (it is only a tattoo after all).

Beer-tosser sobers up, says he’s “sorry”

Johnny Macchione should have drank that last beer. That’s ironic, because had he gotten drunker, he wouldn’t be in the mess he is now.

Macchione sobered up enough Thursday to say he what he did to Phillie outfielder Shane Victorino “was a big mistake” when just two nights ago he saw fit to dump a full cup’s contents of beer on him. Funny what sobriety and the wrath of millions of baseball fans will do to your perspective.

Johnny M apologized to the Cubs team too. “Chicago Cubs, I’m sorry I disgraced you”. Part of me wonders if he’s really enjoying his notoriety. Check his My Space page, stat!

All the apologies in the world aren’t going to get Macchione out of trouble, though. He’s being charged with two misdemeanors; battery and illegal conduct within a sports facility.

Kudos to Victorino who not only CAUGHT the ball amidst the splattered rain of beer, he is also saying the right things now. He’s not holding it against the fans of Wrigley (Ozzie Guillen, are you paying attention?):

"No, I love playing here. I love the atmosphere. I love the way they go about the game."

Reading some blog comments and forums, I’m seeing some backlash especially from Cub fans who think that the reaction to what Macchione did is “over-reacting” pointing to incidents in the parks.

a) something that happened elsewhere, at another time does not make this right

b) the fact that Victorino did not get hurt also does not make it right

c) stop making excuses

I don’t think anyone reading this will take issue with me on this but the basic problem here is respect for the game of baseball. That problem permeates on all levels, management, players, and fans.

When you see a fan who thinks it’s okay to dump a beer on a player simply because he is there or because he on the other team or because the players are there for our “entertainment”, that is a prime example when a fan has lost respect for the game of baseball.

Singing at sports events

I enjoyed Chicago Tribune’s Steve Johnson’ somewhat tongue-in-cheek piece on those singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” at Cub games and what they could do to present a more melodious experience. Johnson humorously lambasted Denise Richards whose performance left something to be desired:

The syllables — we won’t call them "notes" — lurched out of the stadium, stopping old ladies and scaring small children. An ambulance siren was shocked into silence at hearing a noise more annoying than itself.

A passing legislator vowed to restore full funding to public-school music education.

But after reading the article, I was reminded of a similar subject that troubles me when I attend local sporting events.

Other fans don’t like it when I sing the words to the Star Spangled Banner before a game.

Ok, some of my friends who know me well might be a bit surprised but unlike most fans, I DO find it important to sing our national anthem for my personal reasons.

I know I don’t sing well so I don’t sing especially loud. But judging by the looks of the fans sitting ahead of me at a women’s basketball game earlier this year, you would have thought I was invading their personal space. Other times, I just get weird looks.

Maybe it’s a Midwestern thing. Or a small town thing. Sometimes I get lucky and I’m sitting next to an grizzled old veteran who has no problem belting out the song that represents our country in his raspy voice. I just try to keep up.

To me, the Star Spangled Banner should not be a song that is performed for the crowd, it should be sung and the meaning should be savored.

So the next time you attend a ballgame, consider singing the National Anthem and I won’t feel alone.

WS win aftermath

How did you know that the Phillies won last night?

A walk down Broad Street afterwards and it wasn’t hard to tell.

ESPN’s "No Love Lost" profiles Cub fans from last ten decades

For those Cub fans who enjoy fluff pieces about their team, ESPN has assembled a pretty cool multimedia ensemble called "No Love Lost" which profiles ten Cub fans who were born in each decade since the Cubs last won the World Series.

It’s rather cool in a bittersweet way for a Cub fan. Some of those profiled are well-known in their own right such as David Diaz (light welterweight boxer) and Billy Corgan (former Smashing Pumpkins singer) and others are known purely for their love of the Cubs such as Ronnie "Woo Woo" Wickers and 100-year old Richard Savage representing the 1908 season.

Savage has some pretty humorous quotes, in my opinion:

On Fukudome: "He’s always spinning around with this whirling nonsense. They have a batting coach. Why the hell can’t they teach him to stop that?"

On Soriano: "He’s had some big hits, he’s a pretty good hitter, but he plays the field like a grammar school student."

Funny, I’ve thought the same thing about Fukudome.

Link (thanks, B & T!)

11,211 OR 600 FANS

What a shame! 11,211 was the announced paid attendance yesterday for the ballgame between the Atlanta Braves and the Florida Marlins in Miami, but only 600 fans were in the stands. I do understand the Marlins have recently fallen out of playoff contention, the kids are back in school, and it’s very hot in South Florida. But really, only 600 people were willing to show up to yesterday’s major league game, that’s pitiful, this team is talking about a new stadium, how ridiculous!

The Florida Marlins are a pretty good baseball team, above .500, with All Stars at both shortstop in Hanley Ramirez and at secondbase in Dan Uggla. Ramirez in his third full season has once again reached the 29 homer mark for his 2nd straight year, and has scored more than 100 runs for the third straight time. His doubleplay partner, Dan Uggla, has hit 29 longballs, he hit 31 last year, and 27 as a rookie. Then there’s firstbaseman Mike Jacobs, who has knocked 28 balls over the wall, in his third year as a starter. Also Jorge Cantu has a solid year with the bat over at the hot corner, with 23 taters. Florida also has some pretty good young starting pitchers in Scott Olsen, Ricky Nolasco, & Josh Johnson.

But it doesn’t seem to be about the quality of the ballclub. It seems like a Florida thing. The Marlins have the second lowest paid attendance from 2000-07 at 1.6 million. The only team with worse attendance is in Tampa Bay, the Rays drew 1.1 million over the same time period.