December 2011
4 tags
9 tags
Transactions of Note and Import
Royals Sign Jonathan Broxton. The Royals have their hot prospects, their young guns, their gritty freeswingers, but until now they didn’t have their fat guy. For $4 million, they got their fat guy (credit to Mike on this one).
Earlier today, Jed Hoyer and Theo Epsten made their first splash with the Cubs by signing outfielder David DeJesus to a two-year, $10 million contract. The deal...
2 tags
4 tags
4 tags
2012 Hall of Fame Ballot →
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America released the 2012 Hall of Fame Ballot today. Newcomers include Bernie Williams, Tim Salmon, and Bill Mueller (a personal favorite of mine). Click through for this year’s full list and bask in the greatness.
6 tags
Anna Benson With the Dildo in the Kitchen
If you have young children, I suggest you escort them away from the computer now. Though it may be too late considering that you’ve already read the headline.
Oddly timed to the premiere of VH1’s Baseball Wives tonight, comes news of Anna Benson, former wife of the great Pirates hope Kris Benson, threatening Chuck Knoblauch’s wife with a strange assortment of weaponry. From...
November 2011
5 tags
Jim Callis: More Details on the CBA →
I’ve made no secret of my distaste for the new Major League collective bargaining agreement as it essentially punishes small market teams for scouting amateur talent; depresses baseball on the international market by severely curbing bonuses; and rewards clubs with the financial ability to sign aging free agents, but beyond all that, we still don’t have all the details. Jim Callis of...
7 tags
Brendan Ryan, Scuba Diver
Brendan Ryan, in an interview with David Laurila, gives some insight into the secret world of baseball:
“God forbid that you’re ever caught, off the field by another player, wearing a team-affiliated shirt or hat. Or if someone asks if you’re so-and-so, or if you play for so-and-so, you have to come up with something like, “No, I’m a scuba instructor.”
Considering Ryan’s...
bleacherbummed asked: rookie of the year
5 tags
7 tags
4 tags
5 tags
Greg Halman Laid to Rest
Greg Halman was laid to rest earlier today in his hometown of Driehuis wearing the #56 Mariners jersey he wore during his rookie season. It’s sadly the final chapter in the young man’s life after being stabbed to death last week.
Even more unfortunate is that that Greg’s own brother, who was suffering from mental issues in the day’s leading up to the murder and was set to...
5 tags
VH1 Finally Gives the Viewers What They Want:...
Are you the type of person who watches a ballgame and thinks, “You know what would make this better? If I could hear Anna Benson’s thoughts on a variety of topics,” or, while browsing the box scores from the night before find yourself wishing “for more yelling”? Well, then VH1 has got a surprise for you.
No longer content to showcase only the women behind NBA and NFL...
5 tags
3 tags
Transactions of Note and Import
Rays Sign Jose Molina. And this is the first thing that popped into my mind when I read the news.
Astros receive permission to speak to Andrew Freidman. Rumor is they’re offering an extra 2% over his current paycheck. Rimshot!
Seibu Lions post shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima. Supposedly he and Dee Brown had quite the home run celebration which I can sadly find no evidence on YouTube....
3 tags
“All the fat guys watch me and say to their wives, ‘See, there’s a...”
– Mickey Lolich, my new favorite player.
3 tags
Who Says Second Place Isn't Worth Anything?
Earlier today the Biz of Baseball released Major League Baseball’s postseason shares and while each St. Louis Cardinal that earned a full share received a cool $323,169, even those teams that finished in second place were given attaboys of $10,366.
Which is a pretty nice haul considering that I sat on my couch and watched the postseason for free.
6 tags
Pedro Guerrero's Airtight Logic
While playing around on Baseball-Reference, I came across this lovely little exchange between Tommy Lasorda and Pedro Guerrero when the Dodgers were trying to turn Guerrero into a third baseman and Steve Sax was struggling throwing to first base:
“Tommy: Pedro, suppose the bases are loaded. What are you thinking about the next hitter?
Pedro: I’m thinking ‘Don’t hit it...
4 tags
3 tags
Things You May Have Missed While You Were Living...
While you found a way to incorporate leftover gravy into every meal, the baseball world continued on. This is what you missed while in your food coma:
Athletics hire Chili Davis as Hitting Coach. As a fan of a robust, wintery chili, I’m a fan of this hire as well.
Indians update uniforms. It may seem like one of those “Can you spot the difference” games as the Indians,...
6 tags
Mariners Trade Josh Lueke to Rays for John Jaso
In doing so, the Mariners have made it clear that they will not stand for sexual assault of any kind, certainly not when their alleged rapists can’t even produce a league average ERA. When the fallout from last year’s trade revealed that the Mariners not only knew about Lueke’s assault but had pretended not to, scouting director Carmen Fusco was forced to take the fall. Now...
4 tags
4 tags
5 tags
Black Friday Madness
While the rest of the world stumbles into their Targets and Wal-Marts in a turkey-induced shopping coma, baseball fans can rest easy knowing that they can do the brunt of their deal hunting from the safety of their homes, curled in bed with hot chocolate, blankets, and a laptop.
I’ll be updating this list as I find other offers, so if you know of a sale, shoot me a line or leave a question...
3 tags
Happy Thanksgiving!
Old Time Family Baseball wishes you all a Happy Thanksgiving! Remember to fill up on turkey and constantly complain as your relatives watch football…whatever that is. I’m thankful for MLB, this blog, and to have all of you read this post and think, “Wow, what a pair of handsome, well-informed baseball bloggers.”
6 tags
Is this Grady Sizemore's last chance?
By now we’ve all heard the story of Grady Sizemore’s rise and fall, so there’s no need to go into it except to say that the dude was good. Realgood. And then he got injured a bunch of times. Earlier in the off season, Cleveland declined Sizemore’s $9 million option and paid his $500,000 buyout in what I can only assume was many brief cases filled with $1 bills. Then word...
5 tags
4 tags
“I’m going to go 50-50 next year. I’m telling you, y’all...”
– Matt Kemp on his plans for 2012.
7 tags
3 tags
Transactions of Note and Import
Pirates Sign Brandon Boggs, Jake Fox - The Pirates may not be able to outspend the Yankees in the draft any longer, but man, they can field quite the 4-A squad. Marlins Trade John Baker for Wade LeBlanc - Wade LeBlanc has a 6.16 ERA outside of Petco Park and John Baker was too often confused for John Buck’s twin brother. This clearly benefits both parties.
Mets Sign Adam Loewen - The Mets...
4 tags
The Hall of Fame Case for Juan "Igor" Gonzalez →
Someone out there really wants Juan Gonzalez in the Hall of Fame. Sam Miller of the OC Register and Baseball Prospectus deals with that ridiculous premise in a most appropriate way.
5 tags
Ryan Braun Wins NL MVP
(Photo by Steve Paluch)
Ho hum, so this is how we end the awards season? By announcing the NL MVP on the same day that a new, revolutionary CBA is revealed? And having it come on the heels of a highly contentious “should pitchers be considered players” debate? And the BBWAA has it go out with a whimper by selecting a player that is most certainly deserving of the honor?...
5 tags
MLB and Players Union Conspire to Write Most...
First, three cheers for continued labor peace. As we watch the NBA and NFL face lockout after lockout, it’s refreshing to know that the baseball season will happen every spring. Barring, of course, the Mayans correctly surmising that the world will end in 2012. Moving on from that, the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, while making some necessary improvements to the sport, is too heavy...
5 tags
6 tags
Transactions of Note and Import
Pirates Sign Clint Barmes - Sure, the years and price seem a bit steep to people and it’s unlikely that the road to postseason glory is paved through Barmes and Rob Barajas, but I’ve always like Barmes. Perhaps I’m putting too much stock into my memories from 2005, the year that I moved from casually obsession with the game to aggressive obsession thanks to my first experiences...
4 tags
4 tags
WatchGreg Halman’s first home run from June 15th of this year.
Halman may never have converted his considerable tools into on-field talent, and tragically, for family and fans, he’ll never have the opportunity to prove otherwise.
4 tags
All Hail Our Benevolent Leader, Justin Verlander!
Proving that merely winning a Cy Young would just not be enough to appropriately stroke his ego, Justin Verlander went on a months-long campaign to sway BBWAA voters; winning ballgames from as far north as Detroit and striking out men as deep south as Texas; hurling shutouts in rock n’ roll town of Cleveland and not allowing hits in the cleanest city in the North America, Toronto....
5 tags
3 tags
4 tags
Things You May Have Missed While You Were Living...
While you attempted to go on a pre-Thanksgiving crash diet to prepare yourself for the feast to come, baseball things continued to happen.
Why did the Cardinals hire Mike Matheny? Perhaps they were just doing him a solid after he lost his 17-room house.
Phillies acquire Ty Wigginton for PTBNL. He’s old, slow, and cherubic—Phillys is going to love him.
The new CBA is expected to be...
4 tags
4 tags
5 tags
4 tags
Curb That Nasty Draft Spending
“We have a system that works,” said Commissioner Bud Selig. ”We can’t have just a few teams destroying the game’s competitive balance by simply outspending the others. Fans in every city deserve to have a chance to see their teams contend, not just fans in places like Pittsburgh and Washington.”
New York Yankees Chief Accountant Brian Cashman expressed his support...
3 tags
4 tags
4 tags
How the 105-mph Fastball Tests the Limits of the... →
frozenrope:
(Photo by Gregory Cammett/Diamond Images/Getty Images)
The harrowing part (emphasis mine):
“Another cause of the 100-mph ceiling owes to this: the amount of torque needed to throw in excess of the century mark is greater than the amount of force the ulnar collateral ligament (the elbow ligament Strasburg tore) can withstand before giving out, according to tests Fleisig...
5 tags
