January 2012
5 tags
Read This Comic: Baseball Comics #1 by Will Eisner
(Previous Read This Comic installments with Bo Jackson and Ken Griffey Jr can be found here and here)
Will Eisner, the legendary comic book writer and artist whose legacy was sadly trashed by The Spirit, once tried to revolutionize the industry by creating a baseball comic around the character of Rube Rooky, an iceman turned pitching star. It’s an airtight premise.
If you’re...
6 tags
Dustin Richardson is the Keith Richards of...
It’s fairly common for baseball players to be caught for using performance enhancing drugs. It is uncommon for a baseball player to take all the performance enhancing drugs. That’s what farmhand/3 inning Major Leaguer Dustin Richardson managed to do when he was caught with five, count ‘em five, PEDs in his system..
From The New York Times:
“I’ve never seen a case like this,...
8 tags
Great Moments in Missed Marketing Opportunities
The A’s have gone ahead and made a Rollie Fingers bobblehead. This is a good thing. He is wearing his yellow pullover top. This is another good thing. He also has his mustache painted on. Yet again, a good thing. What could be missing then, you ask?
Sadly, the promotions team missed out on an opportunity to take a good thing and make it a great and remarkable thing. All that this bobble...
6 tags
4 tags
Dallas Braden's New Tattoo Is the Stuff of Legend
Apparently the way you do it in the 209 is by tattooing Rollie Fingers riding a dolphin on a rainbow:
Sadly, this looks like it’s has been done for an upcoming Athletics commercial and not ink that will mark Braden’s body for the rest of his life.
If I had to choose, I’d have to go with Eddie Murray riding a unicorn over a gorgeous sunset. With Ken Griffey’s Jr’s...
6 tags
The Dodgers Were Reportedly In on Fielder
According to Jon Heyman, the Dodgers were in on Fielder, offering 7 years with an opt-out after four, before Mike Ilitch came down and bought Prince Fielder’s dreams. No matter how the Dodgers camp spins it, I imagine this is how the conversation actually went down: Ned Colletti: Hey Prince, buddy, how are ya? We’d love to have you play in LA next year. Prince: Oh hey, man. LA...
7 tags
5 tags
UPDATED: Alex Cora Retires
UPDATE: All of those words may be for naught! Jon Heyman just tweeted:
“Alex Cora plans to play. Just said he was retiring from winter ball, not MLB. Has coaching offers, but infield interest, too.”
So…I guess hold off on reading this until I re-post it when Alex Cora does retire.
Original: Sadly, that means Alex Cora will not play in 2012 as previously reported. Unless by...
4 tags
Transactions of Note and Import
Reds sign Jeff Francis to minor league deal. Shockingly, Francis only has had two seasons with an above league average ERA. Chalk that sad fact up to arm injuries and a southpaws journey. The team also dealt Jeremy Horst to the Phillies for Wilson Valdez.
Yoenis Cespedes is officially a free agent. Now that Prince Fielder has signed, teams can really go crazy.
Marlins sign Austin Kearns. The...
4 tags
6 tags
Roy Oswalt Can Manipulate Time
At least, that’s the feeling I get after reading this from Ken Rosenthal:
“Oswalt, according to major-league sources, wants to pitch for either the Texas Rangers or St. Louis Cardinals, a stance first reported by MLB Network’s Peter Gammons.”
You could say those are his preferences because he wants to be closer to home or, more likely, it’s because he wants to pitch in...
2 tags
2 tags
FanGraphs Audio
flipflopflyball:
I spent an extremely pleasant portion of my afternoon today talking to Carson Cistulli for the FanGraphs Audio podcast. You can here it by clicking the link that follows the colon:
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/fangraphs-audio-craig-robinson-of-flip-flop-fly-ball/
Yes.
2 tags
Baseball 2012
As one of our fellow bloggers is wont to say, it’s a long season. We get 162 games of sweet, sweet baseball even before the excitement of the playoffs, and as such, the narratives within the sport can shift and constantly take on new meanings. With the sheer amount of playing time and players involved, it’s easy to latch onto these stories and use them to shape a larger, more general...
5 tags
“I feel honored to be a part of it with the names out there. You look at our...”
– Freeze frame of Gio Gionzalez jumping in the air with Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmerman, right fists caught halfway in triumphant pump.
4 tags
6 tags
4 tags
Marlins New Stadium May Finally Have Some People...
I mean, sure, they’d be homeless people, but the team has to start somewhere.
According to The Miami Herald, 23 years ago the state passed legislation that, if a stadium were to receive public funding and tax credits, on days when the stadium was not in use it was to be converted into a homeless shelter. That has obviously not been happening.
Said state representative Michael Bennett:
...
5 tags
The Best of the Costacos Bros Baseball Posters
After Sports Illustrated’s amazing retrospective on early 90s posters reminded me of the many that used to hang in my childhood bedroom, I had to go to eBay to see what else was out there. Turns out, plenty of others enjoy a good pun and bizarre, dated photo just as much as I do. Oddly enough, there is no Wikipedia entry for the Costacos Brothers, who essentially corned the market, or...
4 tags
4 tags
Transactions of Note and Import
Yoenis Cespedes establishes Dominican residence. First thing Major Leagues team ask him to do? Stop playing Dominican baseball. Are we sure it wasn’t his agent, worried about all the strikeouts?
Astros hire BP writer Mike Fast. This is a great move for the Astros as Fast is one of the best at using hitFX and PitchFX to draw meaningful conclusions. This is not good for baseball fans who like...
3 tags
7 tags
7 tags
Moneyball Receives Oscar Nominations, Joe Morgan...
Who would have thought that Michael Lewis’ little book about people who preferred computers to the company of women would not only spawn a movie, but a movie that was up for an Oscar? Not only did the film snag a Best Picture nomination, but Brad Pitt is up for best actor, Jonah Hill is up for best supporting, along with best editing, best sound mixing, and best adapted screenplay. Come on,...
Anonymous asked: I am tottally aware the Prince Fielder thing was a joke. But he is actually a vegetarian. So maybe shut down more produce stands?
6 tags
Quotes from Prince Fielder's Future Press...
(via @SI_Vault)
It must suck to be Victor Martinez. Sure, having to be hobbled by a torn ACL is bad enough, but his ego was surely stroked when pundits wondered if the Tigers would be able to secure an AL Central without him. Then Dave Dombrowski had to go out and sign Prince Fielder to a 300-year, $4.2 billion dollar contract (estimated) and now Martinez is a mere afterthought, like “who...
4 tags
4 tags
A New Kind of Crazing
Dr. S.B Talcott, superintendent of the State Lunatic Asylum in New York, in May 1892:
“I believe that baseball is a homeopathic cure for lunacy. It is a kind of craze in itself, and gives the lunatics a new kind of crazing to relieve them of the malady which afflicts their minds.”
Any one who has ever replied to Jon Heyman on Twitter knows this malady well.
(Source: The Baseball...
4 tags
Transactions of Note and Import
Orioles sign New Zealander Pita Rona. No player hailing from New Zealand has called the Majors his home, so here’s hoping Rona is the first. Even better, if he’s a defensive whiz, we can call him Pita Pocket.
O’s also pick up Wilson Betemit. For how successful Betemit is as a bench bat and injury replacement, it’s shocking that no one would give him a multi-year deal....
4 tags
Sightings of Omar Vizquel Through Time
(AP Photo)
Omar Vizquel just signed on to be the Blue Jays backup infielder for 2012. Some are shocked that Vizquel is still playing at 44. The truth of the matter is so much more shocking. For you see, Omar Vizquel is not just 44 years old and continuing to receive contracts for his slick glove and vaunted leadership, that’s merely the latest identity he’s using.
Let’s...
5 tags
Jose Canseco is in Rare Form Tonight
For those that treat Twitter as a voyueristic thrill, Jose Canseco is a rare gem.
To review (in reverse order):
Actually, he hit .312 with a home run every 13 at-bats. If you want to split hairs.
Yes, yes it is.
Apparently the first groups of people Canseco can think to compare himself to are murderers and child molesters.
And for those interested, here was Canseco’s convincing...
3 tags
Mop Up Duty: Puerto Rican Baseball Experience →
Puerto Rico was once a hotbed for baseball talent with the likes of Josh Gibson and Roberto Clemente calling it home during the winter. Sadly, thanks in part to the draft, the talent pool has dried up and the Puerto Rico Winter League features only four teams.
Determined to mine for gold, Callum Hughson traveled there for a few games and reported back his findings. It’s funny, it’s...
6 tags
New Names for the Astros
While announcing lower prices for tickets and beer, Jim Crane also stated that the team’s name and uniforms could be re-evaluated. Even though the Astrodome is dead and gone, Astros is still a pretty cool name. The brick and black pinstripe numbers could go for an update, however.
If Jim Crane does decide that the team must make an identity change, here are a few ideas to consider:
The...
7 tags
5 tags
Ten Least Likely Players to Break Up A No-Hitter →
When watching a near no-hitter, there is nothing worse than seeing that one measly little groundball trickle through in the bottom of the eighth and know that had it been hit a few inches to the left or didn’t have that o tricky hop, the batter would be out and history would be achieved.
Chris Jaffe at The Hardball Times revels in these moments, collecting the the ten least likely players...
6 tags
Bobby Valentine Addresses the Red Sox Biggest...
No, Valentine did not address who is going to play shortstop or what kind of starting rotation the Sox will have next year, instead he covered a much more critical need for the team’s success.
Before a speaking engagement at Mohegan Sun, Valentine offered this highly critical piece of information regarding the Bud Light and fried chicken that the Sox were known to consume:
...
6 tags
6 tags
4 tags
4 tags
Jose Canseco's Desperation Spiral Continues
Jose Canseco better hope Billy Beane has a Google Alert set up in his name.
Seriously, Jose, you don’t have any better way of contacting him? No agent or friend who could give you a general front office number or an email adress? Even a form letter sent to the A’s marketing department has a better chance of reaching him. Twitter links here.
More of Jose Canseco’s great...
3 tags
Things You May Have Missed While You Were Living...
While you were busy enjoying not being Billy Cundiff, the world of baseball spun on unabated.
David Eckstein retires. Maybe. He’s even gritting out his retirement announcement.
Kevin Millwood signs with the Mariners to minor league deal. Millwood may be nothing more than back of rotation fodder at this point, the Mariners and Safeco Field are quite good at making back of rotation fodder...
5 tags
Justin Verlander Protecting America's Interests at...
Though it should be noted that he has an ERA 0.59 runs lower at home than on the road.
(via Collin Balester, Bless You Boys)
6 tags
3 tags
5 tags
“You’re asking a guy who’s 6-2, 190 pounds who throws the ball 190...”
– Brady Anderson on Brian Matusz. I can’t wait to see what kind of offseason training techniques got his fastball up to that level.
(h/t BBTF)
6 tags
Red Sox Decide To Get Creative, Eliminate...
“Looking at our payroll, we thought, hey, why not put only eight men on the field. I mean, how many hits a game really do go to the shortstop? That many? Oh, shoot.” - Red Sox GM Ben Cherington after trading Marco Scutaro to the Rockies for groundballer Clayton Mortensen*.
It’s a position the Red Sox are used to, primarily playing the disappointing Julio Lugo and Nick Green at...
7 tags
Fausto Carmona's Real Identity Revealed After Hush...
Reading the above headline, you might think I was a real newsman, one who wore wide ties and gray suits and smoked cigarettes until dawn trying to finish the copy on the Gorbachev debacle. But nope, I’m still just writing about baseball.
After news of the fake Fausto Carmona’s (real name Roberto Hernandez Heredia) fraudulent identity spread earlier this week in the wake of the real...
9 tags
3 tags
