Blog Archives
To Cap Or Not To Cap? That Is The Question!
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Follow @mlbreportsSunday Mar.24/2013
I was listening to my local sports talk radio station the other day and the show host, who, in my opinion, doesn’t know what the heck he’s talking about most of the time, actually said something that made sense. He pointed out that in the leagues with the salary caps, the playing field is more level.
Think about it for a second. Who are always the teams that are in the playoffs year after year in the MLB? You have the Yankees (large market), Red Sox (large market), California teams (the entire state is a large market). Even Detroit, with all the economic struggles that the city has had of late, is still a large market team that can draw 3 Million plus fans.
By Robert Whitmer (MLB Reports Writer): Follow @rwhitmer
We have reached a crossroads in the game of baseball.
There is a poem by Robert Frost that goes as follows, ” Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler, long I stood and looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim because it was grassy and wanted wear, though as for that the passing there had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”
Should there be a Salary Cap in the MLB?:
The Red Sox Are Getting Thrown Into The Dirty Laundry Bag!
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Follow @mlbreportsSaturday, March.23/2013
Bobby Valentine may have been happy to start the year as skipper of the Red Sox, but the 2012 season was nothing to smile about at.
MLB Reports: Welcome to our newest Kids writer Jason Alpert-Wisnia – for being selected to join our MLB Reports Kids Writing team. We are pleased to present the readers with a youthful look to the game of baseball. Moms and Dad’s – if you have a young kid who loves baseball and wants to write about the game, please email us at mlbreports@gmail.com. We will be selecting three more kid writers for our website this year.
By Jason Alpert-Wisnia (AKA “JAWS”): (MLB Reports Kids Writer – visit his website here )
The Red Sox in the 2011 season were managed by the Luckless Losing manager Bobby Valentine and made them lose with a HORRID and CRAPPY Season Record of 69-93 putting them in last (5th) place in the AL East. They, are guessed to be going on another losing streak and get 5th place in the AL East again.
Youkilis reaction to a question about Bobby Valentine – Returns to Boston:
An American Hobby: Baseball Memorabilia – Mickey Mantle: “The Mick” Card
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Follow @mlbreportsMonday, March.18, 2013
Mickey Mantle is the ALL – Time HR leader amongst switch hitters. He was a 3 Time AL MVP with 6 other top 5 finishes. He won the Triple Crown in 1956 for the Yankees. In an era that was not known for Stealing, he held himself back – or he could have been Baseballs first 40/40 Man. Mantle slugged over 1.000 OPS in 8 years and held a Career 3 Slash line of .298/.421/.977. Mantle won 7 World Series and appeared in a total of 12 Fall Classics – hitting 18 HRs (a record that stood for 3 decades by a Post Season Career and still is a WS Record.) Mantle made just over $1 MIL in earnings for his 18 years.
By Lee Edelstein (‘Baseball Memorabilia Enthusiast’ – visit his website here) Follow @chinmusicstory
MLB Reports: We are pleased to present you with Baseball Author Lee Edelstein as the newest writer with us at the Reports. Lee will be providing us with great stories about baseball memorabilia on a regular basis.
MLB Reports
An American Hobby
Blog 5
Just as Joe DiMaggio was winding down his career in 1951, a nineteen-year-old wunderkind burst upon the MLB scene. His name was Mickey Mantle, he hailed from Commerce, Oklahoma, and he was the walking, talking personification of the All-American boy. The Mick was boyishly handsome, strong, sleek, and fast as the wind.
And he could hit Home Runs further than anyone in the game. When he won the Triple Crown in 1956 he captured the hearts and souls of an entire generation of youngsters who would go on to be known as the Baby Boomers. But just like Roy Hobbs, The Natural, in Bernard Malamud’s 1952 story, his personality flaws along with injuries, would keep Mantle from realizing his full potential.
The Yankees seemed to be blessed with sterling talent that showed up at just the right time. As Babe Ruth’s career with the Bronx Bombers wound down, Lou Gehrig was there to carry the team forward. When Gehrig’s career came to an abrupt and tragic end, Joe DiMaggio was just establishing himself as the preeminent Center Fielder of his day.
Mickey Mantle’s 500th HR(3rd one in) is amongst these 7 Mantle videos :
An American Hobby: Baseball Memorabilia – Honus Wagner: The Most Expensive Card Ever
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Follow @mlbreportsSaturday, March.09, 2013
Honus Wagner was an 8 time Batting Average Champion – who was a Doubles (643, 9th ALL – Time) and Triples (252, 3rd ALL-Time) Machine. He Stole 723 Bases (10th ALL – Time).. He is ranked as the #4 Hitter in the history of baseball by baseballreference.com (Ruth, Mays and Williams Top 3).
By Lee Edelstein (‘Baseball MemorabiliaEnthusiast’ – visit his website here) Follow @chinmusicstory
MLB Reports: We are pleased to present you with Baseball Author Lee Edelstein as the newest writer with us at the Reports. Lee will be providing us with great stories about baseball memorabilia on a regular basis.
MLB Reports
An American Hobby
Blog 4
Flipping Over Cards – The T206 Wagner The Most Expensive Card of All
As a kid I wasn’t much of a ballplayer, but when it came to collecting baseball cards I was an All-Star. As a matter of fact, over half a century later, I still collect them. Of course, the hobby has changed a bit over the years.
For a five-year period, from 1954-58, baseball cards were the most important thing in my life. As winter turned to spring training, I, along with most of my friends, would bug our parents to take us to the candy store, to see if the Topps cards for the upcoming season had arrived. Each year, those first cards, sealed in that season’s unique wax pack wrapper, were objects of unbearable anticipation.
I would arrange my new stack of cards in numerical order, tossing the duplicates into a separate pile. A few minutes admiring the pictures of the players, a rubber band wound tightly around them to secure my precious items, and off I went to catch up with my friends to compare, trade from my pile of duplicates, and flip. We’d attach triplicates to the spokes of our bicycle wheels so that they sounded like full-throated motorcycles as we sped down the street. As the baseball season progressed, our piles got large enough that we employed shoe boxes to store our cache.
Wagner T206 Card mystery video
An American Hobby: Baseball Memorabilia And The Great Bambino
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Follow @mlbreportsSunday, February.17, 2013
The baseball memorabilia industry may be slowing down from recent generations of over production – but that does not mean that the hobby is dying. There are Millions of valuable collectibles out there like this painting of Ted Williams and The Babe.
By Lee Edelstein (‘Baseball Memorabilia Enthusiast’ – visit his website here) Follow @chinmusicstory
MLB Reports: We are pleased to present you with Baseball Author Lee Edelstein as the newest writer with us at the Reports. Lee will be providing us with great stories about baseball memorabilia on a regular basis.
MLB Reports
An American Hobby
Blog 1
Collecting baseball cards is a uniquely American hobby. As a kid growing up in the 1950’s I had shoeboxes full of them. All of my friends did, too. We had so many cards that, when we got older and our interests shifted to teenage pursuits, our moms decided to clean house. Literally. Out went the cards which they considered to be nothing more than junk. Today, we wax nostalgic over those cardboard canvasses of our heroes that we treated so casually. That’s also why, in good condition, they are worth small fortunes.
I renewed my interest in card collecting a few years ago when I decided to build a collection of the elites of the game – the ballplayers who are members of three very exclusive clubs: 300 Wins, 3,000 Hits, and 500 Home Runs. It’s an exclusive membership that includes players from before the turn of the twentieth century (Kid Nichols and Pud Galvin are tied for #7 with 361 wins) through players who are active today (Derek Jeter is currently #11 on the ALL-Time Hit list with 3,304. He is only 11 hits behind Eddie Collins (10th) and 15 behind Paul Molitor (9th):
- 300 Wins – 24 players
- 3,000 Hits – 28 players
- 500 Home Runs – 25 players
Each week, I’ll feature a baseball card of one of these all-time greats. Along the way, we’ll talk about other aspects of America’s Hobby, why it continues to grow in popularity, and answer any questions you may have.
The Great Bambino Highlights and pictures:
Adam Dunn: The New Dave Kingman?
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Follow @mlbreportsWednesday, February.06/2013
Adam Dunn has hit 40+ HRs 6 times in his career and 38+ HRs in 8 of the last 9 years. He is the Classic ’3TO’ Guy. AKA 3 True Outs Guy: HR/BB or SO. At The MLB Reports, we call it a ‘Dunn Trick’ when he does all 3 in a game.
By Brian Madsen (White Sox Correspondent): Follow @brianm731
.159 Batting Average, 11 HRs, 42 RBI, 177 SO, $12 Million. Those are the #’s posted by Adam Dunn in 2011 during his first season with the Chicago White Sox in just 415 AB or two-thirds of a season. Quite possibly one of the worst statistical seasons in MLB history. Far from Dunn’s previous season averages leading up to that point in his career: .248 Batting Average – with 33 HRs and 82 RBI. These were not the #’s the White Sox thought they were getting when they signed Dunn to a 4 YR/$56 Million Contract prior to the 2011 season. Dunn never was a high average kind of guy, has always struck out a lot (as a lot of power hitters do), but also walks a lot. Much to Dunn’s credit, he turned everything around in 2012 hitting (only) .204, but with 41 HRs and 96 RBI. His turnaround season was a big reason for Chicago’s success in 2012.
Dunn has been one of the game’s premiere power hitters since 2004. Yet, to this date, has never been on a playoff team. He and the Sox came close in 2012, but fell short behind the Tigers. Dunn surpassed 400 HRss last year for the Sox, ( the same year that his teammate Paul Konerko hit his 400th. Konerko actually hit his 300th HR in the same game, back-to-back with, then teammate, Jermaine Dye) and has a great chance to surpass 500 HR’s. While Dunn will probably fall short of 500 HRs in his next 2 seasons with the Sox, you have to figure he’ll catch on with a team in 2015 and get there. A common complaint about Dunn is, and has been, his average. Last year Dunn hit a “robust” .204, yet still managed to have an OBP of .333. Not quite as good as his career OBP of .370, but not awful either. For a guy that strikes out as much as he does, Dunn sure walks a lot. Though Dunn walked 105 times last year, his K’s more than doubled that amount with 222.
Adam Dunn Highlights: Mature Lyrics – Parental Guidance is Advised:
The Most Underrated Statistic: Extra Base Hits (XBH)
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Follow @mlbreportsSaturday, February.02/2013
Alex Rodriguez is the Active Leader for XBH with 1190, however who knows when he will have a chance to resume his career again with injuries + allegations of PED use perhaps sparking an investigation/suspension for the MLB and is still owed 114 Million Dollars over the next 5 years.
By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
I have nothing against sabermetrics in baseball. Yes I know they are not going away and I will probably learn them one day as someone who can comprehend Math pretty good. However, I understand the frustration of the casual fan who will not set a foot near them – although they know what Home Runs and Runs Batted In are. I have thrown the topic out for discussion on Twitter – and am extremely curious to see what percentage of fans actually follow the new numbers formats. This site totally allows our writers to convey any form of statistical analysis they want. The only thing that I request, is that if they use sabermetrics, to also add some regular stats with them.
One of the stats that can gauge any era since the beginning of baseball is Extra Base Hits. Before the fences were brought in (or even put up), Doubles and Triples could be hit at any time. Singles are great in the game too. There have been several great baseball players that are singles hitters, that also compiled a bunch of Doubles and Triples. That is why this statistic is fairest to all of the hitters in the history of the game and the most comparable. Like the old saying, (hit’em where they ain’t), players that can hit the baseball into the open areas of the outfield are special. Babe Ruth re-coined the phrase later when he said “Well they ain’t over the fence, so that’s where I hit them!” The Bambino was right. In the course of this article, we will list the top active list for this category – and some underrated hitters that may stack up nicely against historical hitters.
(Pete Rose Highlights):
Pedro Martinez Rejoins The Red Sox Organization: Meets Up With Francona At Boston Book Signing
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Sunday, January.27, 2013
Tito autographs a copy of Red Sox Rule: Terry Francona and Boston’s Rise to Dominance – for his former ace pitcher.
By Saul Wisnia, Red Sox Correspondent (Read his blog ‘Fenway Reflections’ here): Follow @SaulWizz
What a roller-coaster week for Red Sox fans — enough to make you reach for the Rolaids. First came the early excerpts from former manager Terry Francona‘s book, revealing that during the 2010 offseason, Sox ownership took the advice of a media consultant to boost its sagging TV ratings by loading the team with “sexy” stars like Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford. For those who looked forward to hearing Francona’s memories of the 2004 and 2007 World Series runs, this mudslinging was just another reminder of how dreadful life has been on Yawkey Way the last 15 months.
Then there were the reports that contract negotiations with free agent first baseman Mike Napoli had finally been settled — and that the early rumors of his injuries were even worse than expected. Napoli was found to have a more serious hip problem than originally thought, a development that whittled down Boston’s original three-year, $39 Million offer to one year at $5 Million – plus a ballbag full of incentives.
Terry Francona Interviews on Jan.22/2013:
Roger Clemens: A Cardboard God Comes Into Focus
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Saturday, January.12, 2013
The Topps 1987 Card.
By Saul Wisnia, Red Sox Correspondent (Read his blog ‘Fenway Reflections’ here): Follow @SaulWizz
I took the photo in Cooperstown, after driving from Boston to baseball’s Mayberry with three buddies for my first look at the game’s red-bricked shrine. When we entered the Hall of Fame Plaque Gallery, just off the museum’s lobby, I instinctively knew which of the immortals I wanted to visit first. Walking through the years to the 1966 induction class, I found him on the wall right alongside Casey Stengel:
The picture stands today as the symbol of an era — and innocence — lost. In it, Roger Clemens and Ted Williams share confident, youthful smiles. Williams is, quite literally, a bronzed God, staring out at the photographer in his tanned, All-American glory. Clemens, wearing a fresh, clean Red Sox uniform, also has the look of a man who knows exactly what he wants out of life.
Williams yearned to be the world’s greatest hitter; Clemens the top pitcher. At the time of the picture, in 1988, both had reached their goal.
Ted Williams Tribute Piece from 2002:
Projected Boston Red Sox Lineup For 2013: State Of The Union Part 1 – The Hitters
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Sunday, January.06, 2013
Will Victorino help point the way out of the cellar?By Saul Wisnia, Red Sox Correspondent (Read his blog ‘Fenway Reflections’ here): Follow @SaulWizz
It has become trendy in recent weeks for experts to declare the Red Sox not only big players during the recent flurry of off-season transactions, but also big winners.
This may be wishful thinking, however, since it’s hard to imagine another season as dreadful as the 69-93 last-place debacle of 2012. It’s true Boston picked up strong character guys in Shane Victorino and Jonny Gomes, along with a few streaky power-hitter types in Stephen Drew and Mike Napoli. But the revamped Boston lineup still has plenty of uncertainties with spring training a little over a month away.
Let’s take a look around the diamond as things currently stand (projected starters in bold):
At First Base – the newcomer Napoli, who can also catch, will likely get the nod provided Boston and his agent come to terms over his contract. Health may be an issue; while Napoli hit HRs last year and 30 in 2011, he’s played more than 114 games just once in seven MLB seasons (140 in 2010). Current backup Mauro Gomez was the International League MVP at Pawtucket last summer, but in 102 at-bats with Boston posted only 2 HRs. Mark Hamilton has shown bursts of power in the minors but has hit .197 in two call-ups with St. Louis.
Mike Napoli Highlights from 2012:
Who Have Been The Toughest Former Red Sox To See In A Yankees Uniform?
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Follow @mlbreportsSaturday, December.15/2012
By Saul Wisnia, Red Sox Correspondent (Read his blog ‘Fenway Reflections’ here): Follow @SaulWizz
Pending a failed physical or other unforeseen mishap, Kevin Youkilis will be manning third base and wearing pinstripes when the Red Sox open the 2013 season at Yankee Stadium on April 1. Amazingly, it won’t be until July 19 that the teams will square off in Boston, giving Fenway Park fans their first chance to see their former favorite son in a New York uniform.
Red Sox Nation had an opportunity to adjust to life with Youk in the visitor’s dugout when the White Sox visited Fenway shortly after his trade to Chicago last summer, but this is a much different situation. Boston fans may develop a kinder, gentler hatred for the Yankees since 2004, but there is something about seeing a former Red Sox in enemy colors that still tugs at the heartstrings.
Here’s a look back at some of the biggest Boston heroes to wind up in the Bronx — and how they fared on their Fenway returns.
Read the rest of this entry
Part 1 of a Series: All-Time All-Star Teams By Regionality
Friday November 23th, 2012
Note from Alex Mednick: I am going to be putting together a small project that accumulates all the best players of all time, and puts them together on teams according to their birthplace. For example, in this first edition I will be breaking down players from the United States of America into teams from the 1) Northeast, 2) Southeast, 3) Midwest, and 4) Southwest…(sorry, there really is not enough quality coming out of the northwest to compete with these teams…maybe I will put a Northwestern United States team in a later edition with less competitive teams). Later on I will bring you teams assembled from the all-time greats out Central and South American (Mexico, Venezuela, Panama, Panama Canal Zone, etc.) and the All-Caribbean Team (Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Curacao, etc). Also look forward to teams from Japan, Canada and the EU. Should be fun to sort of assemble an “Olympics” of Baseball. I love watching the World Baseball Classic and seeing players fight for their nations pride…but by grouping the teams by region, it might make the teams more competitive. Of course, this is all for the sake of speculation; Babe Ruth was a great player, but I don’t think he will be taking any at-bat’s soon. (Also, please note that I do not lend consideration to relief pitchers in this analysis). Read the rest of this entry
Enough With The Early Round Champagne Celebrations MLB!
Saturday, October.13/2012
This celebration of the Tigers was the final straw to me writing this article. The Tigers should count their lucky stars they won a weak division and that they drew the Athletics in the ALDS. Since when did these excessive celebrations for early round wins of the playoffs begin?
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer): Follow @chuckbooth3024
I am 36 years old. In no way would I consider myself 100% a traditionalist when it comes to Major League Baseball. I like the 2 Wild Card Slots, I like the Designated Hitter, as for Interleague play, I wish they had more of it so I could see every team waddle through Seattle every so often. This doesn’t mean that I don’t agree with some ‘old school’ philosophies and certain underwritten rules about the game. One thing that has really set me off in watching the end of the season and the playoffs is the excessive Champagne Celebrations of the clubs once they win any series or clinch any playoff spot? I mean come on fellas, you are celebrating like you have won everything in the game and we are not even into the League Championships Series.
I am out of line in thinking that this isn’t a new trend? I don’t remember this many corks being popped off in previous years. I have no problem with a team celebrating divisional and the World Series crowns with a party. This has been a time-long tradition in the Major Leagues back to the start of the games existence. Where I first starting seeing this epidemic fly was when the Braves clinched a playoff spot and then went hog-wild in their dressing room after the game. I was surprised at their actions but almost dismissed it. I understood that after last years collapse, plus the added pressure of trying to make the playoffs for Chipper’s last chance, that maybe they were just blowing off some steam. If I were a player, I would be happy to be in the playoffs, however If I made it in via Wild Card, I would not carry on with an alcohol bender! I would be made I still lost the division. Read the rest of this entry
Miguel Cabrera: Baseball Royalty is Ready to Take the AL Triple Crown and a Spot in Cooperstown
Tuesday September 25, 2012
Alex Mednick: 1967 was the year that boxer Muhammad Ali was stripped of his boxing world championship because he refused to join the U.S. Army. There were 475,000 US Troops in Vietnam. The Beatles had just come out with Sargeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the Woodstock music festival was still 2 years away. Never had a man stepped foot on the moon, a gallon of gas cost $0.33 and Federal Minimum Wage was $1.40 per hour. It was also the last time that any professional ballplayer was awarded the triple crown: Carl Yastrzemski.
Carl Yastrzemski was the last major league baseball player to ever win the triple crown, 45 years ago in 1967.
Here we are, in present day 2012, and 29-year-old phenom Miguel Cabrera is vying to be the first man to hit for the triple crown since 1967…after almost a half century. Back in 1998 when Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire reignited national interest in our pastime, they were pursuing Roger Maris’ single season record for most home runs. Without deducting any valor from the record which I believe still belongs to Mr. Maris, the triple crown does not only take home run power into consideration; rather the triple crown validates a hitter based upon the three most important (Sabremetrician’s may disagree) measures of a hitters overall productivity. Read the rest of this entry
Ted Williams
Sunday September 9th, 2012
Robert Whitmer: Have you ever had the thought of “what if?” That old thought of what could have been, or even what should have been. Everyone has it and its ok. Some think of a love that was had and lost, others think of opportunities that were available to them that they didn’t take for one reason or another. Don’t feel bad about thinking this way. It’s human nature to think what could have happened if something else had gone differently. Some people obsess over this and think about it constantly and allow it to take over their lives. Others just chalk up the so-called missed opportunities as all part of the plan of a supreme being because that is what was meant to happen. What would have happened had the United States not dropped the atomic bomb on Japan twice? How long would the conflict have gone on? Would the U.S. and the Soviet Union have gone into a 50 year cold war? On the flip side though, how many lives did it save? If we look at the sports world, what would the basketball years of the 90’s look like had we not had Michael Jordan flying through the sky with his tongue hanging out of his mouth? What if he did play but it was for the Celtics instead of the Bulls? How different would the 90’s have been? Let’s take this to baseball because we all know that’s why you are here. How would the results have been different if the Red Sox would have had Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter instead of the Yankees? It is questions like this that keep people like me busy because I get to write articles such as this one.
I like games especially of the “what if” variety and we are going to play this game with Ted Williams. Before we get started though, we will dissect this man as a player and look at the career numbers that he put up. There are very few people who put up the career numbers that Williams did. He carries a career average of .344 with 37 home runs and 130 RBIs. How many players right now would kill for even one season of those numbers let alone career averages? According to www.baseballreference.com he ranks as the 8th best hitter by the numbers in the history of the game. He only trails the guys that we know only by their last name: Ruth, Mays, Cobb, Hornsby, Wagner, Musial, and Gehrig. So in order to play this game, we have to establish some general information about Williams. First fact is that he played in 22 active MLB seasons. Second fact is that he missed three seasons due to military service in World War 2. Now remember that he missed these three seasons in the prime of his career. He would have been 24, 25, and 26 in these seasons. Why do I bring this up? Those three seasons came right after he had probably the most prolific offensive career in the history of the game of baseball. In one season he scored 135 runs, hit 37 home runs, knocked in 137 while drawing 145 walks. Oh yeah… he hit .406 that year with an OPS of 1.287! Coming off of a season like that one, we can only imagine what he would have done during those following three years. So are you ready to play “what if?” Read the rest of this entry
The Aftermath Of The Stephen Strasburg(less) Nationals sweep in the NLDS Oct 2012
Thursday, September.06/2012
Stephen Strasburg is eligible for Arbitration after the 2013 season. He originally signed a 4 Year/14 Million Dollar Entry Level Deal after he was drafted in 2009. The salary hit for the Nats in 2013 places him tied for 3rd on the team with Mike Morse. He will be Unrestricted Free Agent in 2017, will he remain a National?
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer): Follow @chuckbooth3024
The Nationals are my favorite National League team. It is my firm belief that you are allowed 1 team in each League to cheer for. The Yankees are my team in the American League. The love for the Nationals goes back to when they were the Montreal Expos. It was a lean time for a lot of us fans until the last few years have given us hope. So before I go on about the contracts and payroll for 2013 tomorrow, I officially am going on record in saying that shutting Strasburg down is completely wrong. I don’t care about ramifications of the pitcher throwing his arm out. You never know when injuries are going to occur. The Babying method never worked for Strasburg the first time, or for Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes for that matter. This all stems back to the over using of Kerry Wood and Mark Prior by Dusty Baker in the 2003 year. Innings limits were soon introduced in every franchise to protect the players and managers from going after a championship and maybe shortening their career. It also has a lot to do with teams not being able to insure players any more.
Insurance companies (like Lloyd’s of London) realize that they will pay out teams at a less than profitable rate for Major League Baseball players based on how much these guys make now, so they will not cover any baseball player anymore. So Washington is freely shutting him down because they think it is the best thing to do for the player and the club. They think by preserving him from any injury at all, that this will prolong his shelf life and thus make the baseball team more profitable in the long run. This is a major role of the dice and could end up setting the fan base back with a sour taste in their mouth for generations. If Washington wins the World Series, this would be the only scenario where the question would not be brought up again. Anything short of this and it is going to start an epic debate. Read the rest of this entry
The Philadelphia Phillies Franchise Part 2 of 4: The Hitters
Friday August.24/2012
Note from Chuck Booth: I am attempting to bring the history for each of the 30 MLB Franchises into a 5 part series that will focus on 1. The teams history. 2. The hitters 3. The pitchers. 4. The Teams Payroll going into 2013 and 5.The Ball Park that they play in. (The stadium articles will all be done next summer when I go to all of the parks in under a month again.) Be sure to check my author page with a list of all of my archived articles here.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer): Follow @chuckbooth3024-The Phillies have had an incredible run in the last decade of baseball. Most of that time has been spent at Citizens Bank Ball Park which is a very hitter-friendly park. The management was smart enough to draft a whole bunch of offensive talent like Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Pat Burrell, Scott Rolen, Jimmy Rollins and even J.D Drew(who never signed in 1997 with the Phillies and went back into the 1998 draft.) They also traded Scott Rolen for Placido Polanco. These guys have all taken advantage of the new baseball cathedral. Ryan Howard leads all active players in HRs per AB in the Major Leagues with hitting a HR per just a little over 13 AB. There is still a long way to go to chase down Michael Jack Schmidt. His 548 Career HRs and 1595 RBI lead the ALL-Time totals on the Phillies by quite a big margin.
Criteria for being put on this list was quite simple. You had to be a player of significance on the Franchise. Great watermarks are: 1000 hits, 100 HRs, 1000 games, if you led the league in any category for a few seasons or batted .285 or higher for the duration of your time. This is what I was looking for to include the players on the list. It has taken me a lengthy period of time to siphon through 130 years of baseball to bring you this list. From Ed Delahanty and Billy Hamilton, to Richie Ashburn and Dick Allen, to Mike Schmidt and Greg Luzinki, to Von Hayes, to John Kruk and Lenny Dykstra, to Bobby Abreu and Scott Rolen-to finally get us to the gentlemen aforementioned in the first paragraph. I want this study to be as interactive as I can with the readers. If you feel that there is someone worthy of being included in the list for hitters, please feel free to comment or send me an email to booth7629@gmail.com. I would be glad to edit this post and add to it. After all, if you are reading this, chances are you are a Phillies fan, I am just a baseball historian.
For Part 1 of The 4 Part Phillies Article Series: The Franchise- click here
For Part 3 of The 4 Part Phillies Article Series: The Pitchers- click here
For Part 4 of the Phillies Article Series: Team Payroll and Contractual Statuses click here
Ryan Howard Highlight reel
Baseball in the Olympics: Born in 1904 to Elimination in 2008
Monday August 6th, 2012
Robert Whitmer: Have you ever loved something so much that the only way to see if it loved you back was to set it free and see if it came back to you? Most people apply this concept to human relationships. The strongest emotions possible by a human are between family members. Husband and wife, parent and child, even sibling to sibling; the emotion of love runs the entire world. Wars have been fought and countries destroyed because of an emotion. If I could, for a moment, steal a set of lines from The Matrix: Revolutions about love. “It’s a… human emotion. Rama-Kandra: No, it is a word. What matters is the connection the word implies. I see that you are in love. Can you tell me what you would give to hold on to that connection?” What would you give? This word is often times tossed around with reckless abandon. We often say it without considering the aforementioned connection that the word implies. When someone or something that we have connected this word to leaves us, or is no longer available to us, we go through a withdrawal. We yearn for it, strive for it, and in the most extreme of circumstances, kill for it. You are reading this right now because you have a love for a sport. Don’t deny it, because you know that it’s true. You watch it, study it, and put aside mere mundane tasks to be near it. Isn’t that what you do for things that you love? You… no we are here because we love the sport of baseball but has it always loved us back?
We are about a week into the 30th Olympiad. We have our usual events that grab out attention for three weeks out of every four years. If you try to sit there and tell me that you follow USA handball team then I will sit here and call you a liar. I can probably count on one hand the number of sports that are in the Olympics that are even on TV in those four years. Only because of national pride do the Olympics get the ratings that it does. There has been talk of including new sports and events into the Olympics but then they continue to take events out. One of the more recent sports to get the axe was baseball. During a 2005 IOC meeting, it was decided that baseball and softball would no longer (starting in 2012) be included in the Olympic Games. This is not going to be a bash the Olympics read, but more represent a discussion as to why I feel that baseball is not an Olympic event. To understand this, we must start at the beginning. Let us hop in our time machine and travel back to a time when baseball was king. Read the rest of this entry
The Washington Nationals Franchise 2005-2012: (Part 4 of The Expos/Nats Series)
Friday, July.20/2012
Note from Chuck Booth: I am attempting to bring the history for each of the 30 MLB Franchises into a 5 part series that will focus on 1. The teams history. 2. The hitters 3. The pitchers. 4. The Team’s Payroll going into in 2013 and 5. (The stadium articles will all be done next summer when I go to all of the parks in under a month again.) To follow all of the updates, be sure to check my author page with a list of all archived articles here.
Stephen Strasburg is the new face of the Washington Nationals. Will Bryce Harper and he be able to bring a World Series to Washington?
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)- At the beginning of 2005, MLB returned to Washington for the first time since 1971. So how was this time going to be any different from the first two times in DC? The Minnesota Twins first moved from the old Washington in 1961 and the Texas Rangers moved in 1971 from Washington a decade later. The Washington Nationals (or Senators in the early 20′s where the won a World Series in 1924. The first and only WS the city of Washington has seen) had hall of fame players such as: Goose Goslin, Sam Rice and Joe Cronin to accompany the great Walter Johnston. By the time the team moved to Minnesota before the start of the 1961 season, the club had young phenoms Harmon Killebrew and Bob Allison seen as their nucleus of a young Washington team before moving.
Washington’s second go around (in the American League this time) lasted from 1961-1971. The Washington fans were granted an AL Expansion team by MLB-to hold ontotheir anti-trust exemption status. The Los Angeles Angels were their expansion cousins. These AL Washington teams were awful and only were saved by Frank Howard and his 6 foot 7 frame smashing home runs for the years of 1965-1971 as their first baseman/outfielder. The team only managed one winning season in a decade and that was under the managerial guide of Ted Williams. Bob Short had acquired the team with 9.4 Million Dollars that was all borrowed after the previous owner had died in 1967. Short promptly named himself the General Manager. Finances caught up to him and he eventually traded away some of the best talent before selling the club to the city of Arlington after the 1971 season. Washington would be without baseball for 33 years until the Expos moved back into RFK Stadium and changed their name to the Nationals in 2005.
For Part 1 of the Article Series, The Expos Hitters: click here
For Part 2 of the Article Series, The Expos Pitchers: click here
For Part 3 of the Article Series, The Demise of the Montreal Expos: click here
For Part 5 of the Article Series, 2005-2012 Nats Best 25 Man Roster click here
2012 MLB All-Star Game Preview: Comparisons, Winners, and the “Reallys”
Monday July 9th, 2012
Robert Whitmer: The same thing happens every year. We sit down and watch baseball for the first 2 months of the season, then the campaigning begins. It starts with the television and radio commercials telling us to vote for the local teams stars and send them to whatever city the all-star game is at that year. Then you have the players themselves doing the endorsing for them or their teammates. More recently you have the players taking to the social media sites such as twitter and asking g their followers to vote for them or their teammates. Is it really all that it is cracked up to be though? We only sit here and think we have the power in our hands to send our guys to the game. Now don’t get me wrong, the vote does send players there, but isn’t it the managers decision who plays and for how long? The all-star game is the MLB version of a reality show. It reminds me of a singing competition that carries the same initials as Akinori Iwamura. If you read the credits at the end of the show, they say that no matter how we vote, the producers have the final say on who moves on. The managers are the producers. They are the ones, in the end, who decides who we see play the game and for how long. This hallowed yearly occurence that has seen the likes of Teddy Williams, Babe Ruth, and Barry Bonds walk onto the field wearing its uniform. We have created a game within a game; a popularity contest amongst some of the most athletically gifted people of our generation. It will continue in such manner of wanting the popular players, which just so happen to be the most gifted at their craft, to go and play once a year for our viewing pleasure. So long as this continues writers like me will get the honor to break it all down and pick it apart like a vulture does to a rotting carcass. Let the picking begin. Read the rest of this entry
