About danglickman

2012 Graduate of St. John Fisher College. Journalist, writer and sponge for information.

Mr. Octobers of Yesterday (October 26, 2013)

Posted on October 27, 2013 by danglickman

Well, lost in the madness of the final play of last night’s game are those players who excelled in it, the Mr. Octobers of yesterday.

Both of them are hitters: Matt Holliday, who went 2-5 but who contributed three RBIs, and Yadier Molina, who was excellent behind the plate and also had three hits and an RBI.

Standings (PP= Position Player, P= Pitcher):

PP David Ortiz– 28

PP Matt Holliday– 18

PP Carlos Beltran– 16

P Koji Uehara– 16

P Justin Verlander– 14

P Michael Wacha– 13

P Jon Lester– 13

P Clayton Kershaw– 11

P Max Scherzer– 11

PP Shane Victorino– 11

P Zack Greinke– 10

P Carlos Martinez– 10

PP Yadier Molina- 10

P Adam Wainwright– 9

PP Jhonny Peralta – 8

PP Adrian Gonzalez– 8

PP David Freese – 6

PP Miguel Cabrera– 6

P Anibal Sanchez – 5

P Hyun-jin Ryu– 5

PP Yasiel Puig– 5

P Carlos Martinez– 5

P John Lackey– 5

PP Austin Jackson– 5

P Doug Fister– 5

PP Mike Napoli– 5

P Sonny Gray-3

P Gerrit Cole– 3

PP Pedro Alvarez– 3

P Mike Minor– 3

PP Hanley Ramirez– 3

PP Yoenis Cespedes– 3

P Jason Grilli– 3

PP Carl Crawford– 3

P Chris Capuano– 3

PP Seth Smith– 3

P Dan Otero– 3

PP Jose Lobaton-3

P Jake McGee-3

PP Juan Uribe-3

PP (Position Player) Russell Martin– 1

P (Pitcher) Francisco Liriano– 1

PP Desmond Jennings– 1

P Alex Cobb– 1

Headlines from around the Continuum: October 27, 2013

Posted on October 27, 2013 by danglickman

Baseball-related headlines from the Newseum:

(Note that I try to copy the style of the paper as well, hence why some are in ALL CAPS while others aren’t. Also, I ignored extremely basic headlines like “World Series Preview” or “Cardinals Win”. I’ll occasionally make an exception for the team’s “home” newspapers)

Story: Obstruction play helps Cardinals win Game 3, take 2-1 lead

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: A LEG UP

Boston Globe: Cardinals win in wild finish

Boston Herald: FOR THE BIRDS!

The Appeal-Democrat (Marysville, CA): What a trip!

The Herald (Monterey, CA): WILD ENDING

Belleville (IL) News-Democrat: CARDS TRIP UP RED SOX

News-Gazette (Champaign, IL): SAFE AT HOME

Journal Star (Peoria, IL): WILD CARDS

Portland (Maine) Press: An ugly finish for Sox

The Sun Chronicle (Attleboro, Mass.): A tangled web in Game 3

Herald News (Fall River, Mass.): BITTER END

Cape Cod Times: WILD, WACKY, PAINFUL STUFF

Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass.): A long night (The game wasn’t done by press time for the Telegram & Gazette)

Burlington (VT) Free Press: OBSTRUCTED

Novedades de Quintana Roo (Cancun, Mexico): Triunfo cardenal de alarido (something to do with a howl or a screech, may mean “Cardinals screech to victory” or something like that)

Vanguardia (Saltillo, Mexico): POLEMICA VICTORIA (“Controversial victory”)

El Universal (Caracas, Venezuela): LOS CARDENALES TOMARON VENTAJA (“The Cardinals took advantage.”)

Quote of the Night (Obstruction)

Posted on October 27, 2013 by danglickman

OBSTRUCTION is the act of a fielder who, while not in possession of the ball and not in the act of fielding the ball, impedes the progress of any runner.
Rule 2.00 (Obstruction) Comment: If a fielder is about to receive a thrown ball and if the ball is in flight directly toward and near enough to the fielder so he must occupy his position to receive the ball he may be considered in the act of fielding a ball. It is entirely up to the judgment of the umpire as to whether a fielder is in the act of fielding a ball. After a fielder has made an attempt to field a ball and missed, he can no longer be in the act of fielding the ball. For example: If an infielder dives at a ground ball and the ball passes him and he continues to lie on the ground and delays the progress of the runner, he very likely has obstructed the runner.

A nice infographic on how fast a 95-MPH fastball is and how long a hitter has to react

Posted on October 26, 2013 by danglickman

Answer: Not very long.

Bizarre Baseball Culture: SHORTSTOP SQUAD (AKA “Ripken, Larkin, Jeter and A-Rod fight Faux-Godzilla”)

Posted on October 25, 2013 by danglickman

In Bizarre Baseball Culture, I take a look at some of the more unusual places where baseball has reared it’s head in pop culture and fiction.

In the last years of the 20th century and the first years of the 21st, there existed a company called “Ultimate Sports Force”. It is gone now, existing only in old websites and undeleted news items, but in it’s day, it was a staple advertisement in things like Sports Illustrated for Kids.

What was “Ultimate Sports Force”, you ask?

Ultimate Sports Force was a comic company that made books in which professional athletes were superheroes, that’s what! They had licenses with MLB, NBA, NFL and others, and they made comics that involved them saving the world. And then, like a shooting star across the sky, they were gone.

But, oh, man, the stuff they left behind. I’ve come into possession of many of their great products, and while their quality varies from “surprisingly good” to “OH-DEAR-GOD-KILL-IT-WITH-FIRE”, they all represent a special point in our history, a time when we could think of our sports heroes as actual superheroes, and not individuals who got into arguments, used PEDs, had tumultuous love lives, politics we disagree with or other flaws. No, Ultimate Sports Force was the last Golden Age before we all became so jaded.

Perhaps the crown jewel of Ultimate Sports Force’s non-team-affiliated content was Shortstop Squad. Truly a marvel of the Bizarre Baseball Culture arts, it paid tribute to those that went before and followed in their traditions, as Cal Ripken led his team of Barry Larkin, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez against a fish-monster that basically is meant to be fish-Godzilla.

You may think I’m being sarcastic, and you are probably right, but, well, this is SHORTSTOP SQUAD, so your logic is irrelevant.

After all, just LOOK at this cover:

Your mind is now blown.

So, let’s get started with Shortstop Squad #1 from 1999… after the jump, of course:

Continue reading →

Headlines from around the Continuum: October 25, 2013

Posted on October 25, 2013 by danglickman

Baseball-related headlines from the Newseum:

Story: Cardinals even up series with 4-2 win in Game 2

News-Gazette (Champaign, Ill.): TURNING THE TABLES

The Hawk Eye (Burlington, Iowa): A big pick-me-up

Portland (Maine) Press Herald: One for the birds: Cardinals pull even

Boston Globe: Reversal of fortune at Fenway

Boston Herald: HOUSE OF CARDS

Herald News (Fall River, Mass.): OUTGUNNED

Cape Cod Times: Fall in Fenway

Joplin (Mo.) Globe: YOUNG GUNS

Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader: CARDINAL WAY

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: SAFELY HOME (this was the Sports Page headline, shown on ESPN this morning)

Providence Journal: Not enough this time

El Expreso de Campeche (San Francisco de Campeche, Mexico): PICOTAZO (roughly translates as “PECK” or “PECKED”)

(The rest are rather generic)

Mr. Octobers of Yesterday (October 24, 2013)

Posted on October 25, 2013 by danglickman

The Mr. Octobers of last night are Carlos Martinez and David Ortiz. Yes, David Ortiz was on the losing team, but his two hits and two RBIs (the result of a HR) made him the biggest offensive force of the game. As for Martinez, he spent two innings making the Red Sox look like fools, including this utterly amazing pitch to finish Shane Victorino. It helped keep the Cardinals in the game.

Standings (PP= Position Player, P= Pitcher):

PP David Ortiz– 28

PP Carlos Beltran– 16

P Koji Uehara– 16

P Justin Verlander– 14

P Michael Wacha– 13

P Jon Lester– 13

P Clayton Kershaw– 11

P Max Scherzer– 11

PP Shane Victorino– 11

P Zack Greinke– 10

P Carlos Martinez- 10

P Adam Wainwright– 9

PP Jhonny Peralta – 8

PP Matt Holliday– 8

PP Adrian Gonzalez– 8

PP David Freese – 6

PP Miguel Cabrera– 6

P Anibal Sanchez – 5

P Hyun-jin Ryu– 5

PP Yasiel Puig– 5

P Carlos Martinez– 5

P John Lackey– 5

PP Austin Jackson– 5

P Doug Fister– 5

PP Mike Napoli– 5

P Sonny Gray-3

P Gerrit Cole– 3

PP Pedro Alvarez– 3

P Mike Minor– 3

PP Hanley Ramirez– 3

PP Yoenis Cespedes– 3

P Jason Grilli– 3

PP Carl Crawford– 3

P Chris Capuano– 3

PP Seth Smith– 3

P Dan Otero– 3

PP Jose Lobaton-3

P Jake McGee-3

PP Juan Uribe-3

PP (Position Player) Russell Martin– 1

P (Pitcher) Francisco Liriano– 1

PP Desmond Jennings– 1

P Alex Cobb– 1

2013 World Series Game 2 in one gif

Image

Holy cow, that Carlos Martinez slider is beautiful. And it also shows how much trouble the Red Sox found themselves when they ended up down after their disastrous defensive inning in the 7th: the Cardinals grow nasty relievers on trees, and that puts a monkey-wrench in the usual Red Sox strategy of working up the pitch-count of opposing starters and then going after the bullpens.

“Mr. Octobers” and “Headlines” are coming up in the coming hours, and by the end of the day, we have a very special edition of “Bizarre Baseball Culture”.

Headlines from around the Continuum: October 24, 2013

Posted on October 24, 2013 by danglickman

(Note that I try to copy the style of the paper as well, hence why some are in ALL CAPS while others aren’t. Also, I ignored extremely basic headlines like “World Series Preview”)

Story: Red Sox beat Cardinals in Game 1, 8-1

Hartford (CT) Courant: Hot Start On A Cold Night

Belleville (IL) News-Democrat: Rough start for Wainwright, Cardinals

The News-Gazette (Champaign, IL): FOR PETE’S SAKE (with image of Pete Kozma’s error)

Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, Ky.): RED SOCKED

Boston Globe: Red Sox are the whole show

The Herald News (Fall River, Mass.): Coming out swinging

Cape Cod Times: Red Sox bring it

Taunton (Mass.) Daily Gazette: STRIKING EARLY

News Tribune (Jefferson City, Mo.): CARDS SOCKED

News-Leader (Springfield, Mo.): FENWAY FIASCO

(The St. Louis Post-Dispatch had a large ad at the top talking about a poster giveaway tomorrow, and a small cartoon at the bottom depicting a Cardinal having a ball hit it’s head with the caption “Beantown Bash”.)

Concord (NH) Monitor: Strong opening statement

Texarkana Gazette: LIVING THE DREAM (on how Texarkana natives Will Middlebrooks and Michael Wacha are both in the World Series)

El Universal (Cartagena, Colombia): Los Medias Rojas pegaron primero (roughly “The Red Sox strike first”)

Vanguardia (Saltillo, Mexico): !PEGA BOSTON PRIMERO! (Roughly translates as “Boston hits first!”)

(Most others, including those from other countries, are either extremely similar to the above ones or are extremely boring.)

Mr. Octobers of Yesterday (October 23, 2013)

Posted on October 24, 2013 by danglickman

While some could argue the MVPs for the Red Sox yesterday were the Cardinals’ defense in the first three or so innings of the game, in reality the Mr. Octobers are Jon Lester (who pitched 7.2 shutout innings) and David Ortiz (who had 3 RBIs and would have had 4 more if not for Carlos Beltran sacrificing his ribs stopping a would-be grand slam).

We’re in the World Series now, so that means a 10-point addition for each of them! And that is good enough to shoot “Big Papi” to the top and place Lester above every “eliminated” player except for Justin Verlander.

Standings (PP= Position Player, P= Pitcher):

PP David Ortiz– 18

PP Carlos Beltran– 16

P Koji Uehara– 16

P Justin Verlander– 14

P Michael Wacha– 13

P Jon Lester– 13

P Clayton Kershaw– 11

P Max Scherzer– 11

PP Shane Victorino– 11

P Zack Greinke– 10

P Adam Wainwright– 9