September 2011
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Last Minute Moves
With August 31st soon to leave us behind, plunging us into the hell that is September*, teams are adding the final players to their roster so they’ll be eligible come the postseason.
My favorite part is that these are all friendship deals; players moving from teams not in contention to those that may need a spare part come the beginning of October, all with the hope that when the situations...
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August 2011
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Stauffer's Stove Tops
Ever since reading The Last Best League, a book that focused, among other things, on Tim Stauffer’s time in the Cape Cod League before injuring his arm and receiving a reduced bonus from the Padres, I’ve always been a big fan of his. I cheered last season when he became a swingman extraordinaire, posting a 1.85 ERA across 7 starts and 25 relief appearances and I cheered even more when...
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Danny Boy
(Image via BaseballBacks)
After pitching seven strong innings last night against the Rockies, Daniel Hudson now sits at 14 - 9 on the season with a tidy 3.61 ERA and a 144/40 K/BB ratio (and a 3.66 xFIP if you’re into that sort of thing). In his first full major league season, the 24-year-old has been a steady piece of Arizona’s rotation. I’m fond of saying that Hudson...
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Every year, as August settles into September, Boston area station WEEI hosts the Jimmy Fund Telethon to benefit cancer research. It’s such a worthy cause, and the patient and family stories offer a whole lot of inspiration. I encourage everyone who’s not familiar with the telethon to check it out. This is definitely a shameful plug…I’ve heard a lot of stories each year...
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Baseball In Washington During the Civil War →
I’m really left without much to say about this article other than this is everything I ever wanted to know without knowing that I wanted to know it. Ya dig?
Plus, it may not be much, but I’ll take this as a sterling endorsement from the 16th President himself:
“…there are some credible first-hand accounts regarding Lincoln’s at least passing interest and approval...
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Beer Man Saves Young Fan At Nats Game
As the Washington Post reports, with a young child choking, beer slinger Emmanuel Marlow leapt into action, giving the boy the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge whatever ballpark frank or pretzel chunk was blocking the airflow. Marlow, with steely aplomb, then stood up and returned to his beer duties. This man is the closest thing to a real-life Batman that we’re going to get.
Consider:
He...
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Dirk Hayhurst Is Released
The Garfoose is free! One day (perhaps even in the same day if you want to look at timestamps) after writing that he could never love baseball for it “will never love me back,” the Tampa Bay Rays released Dirk Hayhurst.
Today, Hayhurst pens:
“I’d like the reader to know that while getting released is not the best thing that’s ever happened to me, it’s not the worst. Baseball...
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Alex Gordon Makes Good
In 2007, Alex Gordon was the golden boy, the next George Brett. In 2008, he was the young kid who needed some seasoning in the Majors. Then 2009 came and he was a sleeper, the guy was going to slyly take his crown. Last year, even the lowly Royals gave up on Gordon, letting him hang out in AAA and learn a new position while hitting .310/.451/.567 for the Omaha Nine. And then this year came and...
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The Indians' Michael Jackson
After picking up the save in last night’s victory, Cleveland Indian closer Chris Perez moved into fifth on the team’s all-time save list with 54. It’s not a hugely impressive accomplishment, especially since he is forty behind the next man on the list, former reliever Michael Jackson, a player I have absolutely no recollection of.
Because I value knowledge the way a fishmonger...
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The Pirates Are A Plucky Bunch
Losing 7-3 to the Astros with one out in the bottom of the eighth, the Pirates smartly turned the rare unnecessary triple play.
Yeah, they’re going to lose a lot of games, but they’re going to lose them in style.
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R.A. Dickey Finally Flutters His Way Into the Win...
After five straight winless starts, all of them “Quality” outings, mind you, R.A. Dickey finally emerged victorious against the Marlins earlier today. During that time, Dickey pitched 32.1 innings, allowing 13 runs, good for a 3.62 ERA, yet the Mets could never put enough runs on the board to hand the veteran a win. But today, all of that changed as Dickey went seven scoreless innings...
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Find the swagger!: Keep Belt Awkward t-shirt →
aaatrophy:
This is the t-shirt the BELT family wears.
You can buy the t-shirt that was designed by the family and worn at the games when the San Francisco Giants were in Houston
You can call AAA Trophy in Lufkin Texas 800-594-5339 or local 936-634-5229 to get details on this…
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Stirrup Sock Hop
(image by Twin City Knitting)
If you know anything about me, you should know that I value stirrup socks the way some value god, country, and family. Most of us cannot get away with bloused pants and colorful socks in our day to day lives (and if you can, I envy you, sir or madam), and so I have trouble understanding why a baseball player would want to cover those calves up with what is...
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Dirk Hayhurst Is In Like With Baseball
Dirk Hayhurst, patron saint of the downtrodden, chose to willingly alienate himself with his fans today, posting a piece that explains that, no, he does not love baseball. It’s a dangerous stance to take, especially as so many work-a-day schmoes would give anything to trade places with him for a day.
Dirk writes:
I like baseball, and that’s as good as it’s going to get. I like it more...
hockeykissesarehelmetbumps asked: the stretching lady from the orioles video is on twitter at @stretchlady, as a side note.
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Things You May Have Missed While You Were Living...
Next weekend is Labor Day which marks the end of summer. I hope you’re making the most of these last precious drops. Unless you’re in Los Angeles like me where our days of sweltering heat is just beginning. Anyway, here is what you may have missed:
Justin Verlander won his 20th game. It was the earliest a pitcher has picked up their 20th since Curt Schilling in 2002. Now Verlander...
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David Price's World Beater Heater
(Other David Price photo by Triangle Patriot)
In the Rays 12-0 decimation of the Blue Jays yesterday, kicked off by Desmond Jenning’s game-opening home run, David Price owned the Toronto Blue Jays. That may be a tired phrase, but it’s startlingly accurate.
Price set the Rays record with 14 strikeouts, doing it only seven innings. During that time he allowed three hits, walked two,...
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Zack Greinke Is A Speed Demon
Despite doing plenty on the pitching side of the game (7.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 7 K), Zack Greinke still saved a little energy for the basepaths. With Casey Coleman paying little attention, Greinke was able to steal second base without a throw, giving him a tie for the Major League lead for pitcher steals with Cliff Lee and Ted Lilly.
It’s a title Greinke can probably count on...
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Spend a Night in Charming Rancho Cucamonga
Last night, @JDuganBarrett accompanied me to to Rancho Cucamonga for the second to last home game of the season for the Quakes. There are a lot of benefits of going to minor league stadiums, not the least of which is the $4 you’ll end up paying for parking. However, we did suffer two great injustices upon arriving at the park and they were:
It was 100 degrees at 7 pm.
The Chik-Fil-A...
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Jose Bautista is Magneto, Master of Magnetism
Photo evidence:
What’s more likely: that the photographers just happened to snap their photos as Jose Bautista tossed items onto the field of play OR that he can use powerful telekinesis to manipulate his baseball equipment?
I know how I would side.
(Photos by Tom Szczerbowski and Brad White of Getty Images, respectively).
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10 Sports Tumblrs You Absolutely Should Be... →
Hey! OTFB made it onto the list along with a bevy of wonderful other Tumblrs that you should all be following.
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Your Guide to Fair Balls
It’s a fair ball down the line. Do you touch it?
No, you do not touch it.
Good job.
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Mike Moustakas Heating Up
(Photo by Paul Miles)
Don’t look now, but Mike Moustakas may be putting all the pieces together. After starting his Major League career with a .182/.237/.227 line in his first 217 plate appearances, after going 2-for-5 with a double and 2 RBI in last night’s game, Moustakas is 14-for-27 with four doubles and four walks compared to only two strikeouts in his last eight games. Even...
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“I’ve never seen a white man that can run that fast.”
– Ozzie Guillen on Peter Bourjos.
Apparently he’s never heard of the runner Christophe Lemaitre who shows up in the first entry under a Google search for “Fastest White Man.” There is something that feels very dirty and wrong about the fact that some official governing body is...
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Joe Posnanski: The Crafty Lefty Hall of Fame →
In honor of Mike Flanagan’s passing, Joe Posnanski put together the inaugural class of Crafty Lefties. Perhaps with proper funding, Joe Posnanski can get this thing off the ground in time for next year’s Left Handers Day on August 13th.
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What are you paying more attention to?
Breaking hurricane news or the ongoing Twins-Indians trade discussions?
Jon Heyman also tweeted:
“I’m hearing twins won’t stand in way and it’ll be up to [Thome].”
Because of Jim Thome’s Extreme Power of Extra Niceness, the Twins are willing to let him go wherever he wants. Not many players in baseball history can make that kind of claim.