Another picture from the Library of Congress Flickr stream. This time, it’s of Connie Mack, who didn’t wear a uniform during his long managerial career, instead famously opting for a fancy suit. Can you imagine if Joe Girardi or Charlie Manuel did this?
Kurt Russell is an actor who has starred in films like Miracle, Escape from New York and Big Trouble in Little China, but in his youth, he played minor league baseball:
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | Lev | Aff | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | TB | GDP | HBP | SH | SF | IBB | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 20 | Bend | NORW | A- | CAL | 51 | 212 | 179 | 30 | 51 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 29 | 33 | .285 | .385 | .363 | .748 | 65 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 1972 | 21 | Walla Walla | NORW | A- | 29 | 91 | 77 | 12 | 25 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 7 | .325 | .389 | .377 | .766 | 29 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||
| 1973 | 22 | 2 Teams | 2 Lgs | A–AA | CAL | 29 | 99 | 4 | 28 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .283 | .364 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 1973 | 22 | Portland | NORW | A- | 23 | 83 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .229 | .253 | 21 | |||||||||||||||
| 1973 | 22 | El Paso | TL | AA | CAL | 6 | 17 | 16 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .563 | .588 | .938 | 1.526 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1977 | 26 | Portland | NORW | A- | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 4 Seasons | 110 | 404 | 356 | 46 | 104 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 32 | 4 | 6 | 38 | 41 | .292 | .361 | .365 | .726 | 130 | 2 | 5 | 3 | |||||||
| A- (4 seasons) | A- | 104 | 387 | 340 | 42 | 95 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 28 | 3 | 4 | 37 | 40 | .279 | .351 | .338 | .689 | 115 | 2 | 5 | 3 | ||||||
| AA (1 season) | AA | 6 | 17 | 16 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .563 | .588 | .938 | 1.526 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
What’s interesting about Russell’s baseball career is that it happened DURING his acting career. He had been on TV, and had starred in Disney movies like The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, which came out in 1969. As you can see, he actually did pretty well, but a rotator cuff injury derailed him.
But that isn’t all. His father, actor Bing Russell, owned a minor league baseball team, and his nephew, Matt Franco, played in the big leagues for the Cubs, Mets and Braves.
The Yankees have seemingly sent Alex Rodriguez into hiding, to keep him away from reporters and paparazzi.
Not going to stop me.
I know EXACTLY where Alex Rodriguez is. He’s somewhere here:
Yes, Alex Rodriguez is somewhere on Planet Earth. Oh, sure, it is not impossible, given his great wealth, that he has fled to Mars, Alpha Centauri or Altair IV, but there is no evidence he has done so, as we would have been able to see his Warp Signature, or something (any Star Trek fans out there, feel free to correct me).
So, where on Earth is Alex Rodriguez? Has he donned a red hat and coat? Or is he going the red-and-white shirt route?
Nobody knows.
That said, let’s face it, this is Alex Rodriguez. He lives in Florida (especially Miami) but reportedly has houses or apartments in the New York Metropolitan Area and near Los Angeles. So, uh… start there.
So, yeah, not specific, but there you go.
As we near pitchers and catchers, we now have a countdown to 8:00 AM of February 11 over on the side of the page. The 8:00 AM time is just some random time, since just putting it at midnight wouldn’t be be quite true.
So, yeah, we are in the home stretch, everyone!
That’s my prediction, anyway.
The Continuum kicks back into high gear on Monday, with more WBC stuff, more “Bizarre Baseball Culture” and various other stuff. Apologies for how the last few days have not been to the usual standards, but sometimes, you need to rest up and conserve energy, to prepare for big things.
Those big things are coming. Oh, yes, they are coming.
Just a reminder, by the way, that Joe Connor’s WBC guide is still for sale to anybody with either a credit card or a Paypal account.
Today’s picture is a random little thing from Library of Congress Flickr stream of a medicine ball being sent to Reds manager Joe Tinker, circa 1913.
Weird, huh?
According to an article linked to from MyKBO, there are some talks in the works by the KIA Tigers to try to get an MLB team to travel to Korea to play them in an exhibition game to open the Tigers’ new stadium.
Now, no team is mentioned, although it’s said that it’s likely to be a team popular in Korea. Of course, who knows if it will happen due to logistics and other issues.
What will probably happen- at least some time in the next few years (possibly as early as next year) there will be games in the Netherlands. These games, which will be the first in Europe, will likely involve AL or NL East teams, will be played at a new stadium being built in Hoofddorp that will be able to be expanded temporarily to a 30,000 seat stadium.
It’ll be interesting to see how all of this turns out, especially given the upcoming World Baseball Classic.
John Lynch made 9 Pro Bowls and won a Super Bowl during his career as a strong safety in the NFL, and he now does some broadcasting on FOX. But he does hold a unique spot in baseball history as well: He threw the first pitch in the history of the Florida (now Miami) Marlins.
Well, sort of. You see, in order to let expansion teams get a farm system up and running, it’s not uncommon for them to have farm teams that play even before the parent club does. They also are able to draft players as well.
The Marlins’ first farm team was the 1992 Erie Sailors (remember, the Marlins started play in 1993). And the pitcher who threw out the first pitch for the Sailors in 1992 was… John Lynch. YouTube has video of the event here.
Like most individuals in “Famous for Something Else”, Lynch’s career was short on the diamond, and he probably made a good choice by going into football (although he did do pretty well in his short career).
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | Lev | Aff | W | L | G | GS | GF | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | IBB | SO | HBP | BK | WP | BF | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 20 | Erie | NYPL | A- | 0 | 3 | .000 | 2.15 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29.1 | 24 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 128 | 1.398 | 7.4 | 0.3 | 5.2 | 4.9 | 0.94 | |
| 1993 | 21 | Kane County | MIDW | A | FLA | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 3.00 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.0 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 1.778 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 12.0 | 3.0 | 0.25 |
| 2 Seasons | 1 | 3 | .250 | 2.35 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38.1 | 28 | 19 | 10 | 2 | 29 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 171 | 1.487 | 6.6 | 0.5 | 6.8 | 4.5 | 0.66 | |||||
Unlike some other failed two-sport athletes, John Elway’s stats in the minors were actually pretty good. That said, I’d say he probably made a good decision focusing on the NFL.
The Baseball Continuum 
