Peter Gammons now has a Grantland-style website.
That is all.
Link
Peter Gammons now has a Grantland-style website.
That is all.
Category Archives: All-Encompassing
Can I interest you in Cy Young’s Coffee Pot? (Semi-Humor*)
5
While checking eBay for a share to Rochester Community Baseball (no luck!), I instead came across this.
If you don’t want to look at it or the link has gone dead, here’s what it is:
It’s a coffee pot that belonged to Cy Young‘s estate, and thus, presumably, Cy Young himself. Yes, you too can pour coffee from the same pot as the winningest pitcher of all time for the low, low price of $999! You may think that price absurd, but you are forgetting that you would be having coffee from the same pot as A BASEBALL GOD. Just like how you will be getting the WORKSMANSHIP OF A BASEBALL GOD if you buy a toolbox from the Cy Young estate.
And that’s not all! Thanks to eBay, you also have the chance of having a flower vase that once belonged to Young, for the low price of $199.99! That’s the same price that can get you a hack saw made in 1879 that also was no doubt passed down through the Young family. Throw in an extra $375 and you can get Cy Young’s tie-clasp!
But, these are nothing compared to the crown jewel of Cy Young’s estate on eBay. No, they all pale in comparison to this:
CY YOUNG’S POCKET KNIFE.
Yes, you can buy CY YOUNG’S POCKET KNIFE off of eBay. Just imagine what this knife has been used for! For all we know, Denton True Young may once have gotten into a knife-fight with Ty Cobb using this. I mean, we’ll never know for sure, but it can’t be totally discounted, right?
However, my enthusiasm is dampened by the horrible truth that you may not have been able to glean from the above image. No, to see the truth, you must… ENHANCE!
Las Vegas, Nevada. What would Cy Young’s knife be doing in Sin City? Well, the truth is, it’s only in Las Vegas a nice legal fiction to hide the truth from us. You see, the real location of Cy Young’s pocket knife is actually about 83 miles northwest of Vegas at a US Military Facility. You know it better as AREA 51. And, deep below A51, a secret alliance of the Illuminati, Knights Templar and the Boras Corporation used blood on the knife to begin a cloning process of Cy Young. Sometime in the next 18 to 22 years, a wave of Cy Young clones will enter the majors, bringing with them the ability to throw complete games on short rest. The entire pitching economy will be overthrown, closers and relievers will be driven to the street, the Rolaids Relief Man award will go unawarded… while the conspirators will profit all the while…
You see, that is why they are now selling it, to get the evidence away from themselves.
“But,” you say, “why would they make it so expensive? It’s over 23 hundred dollars!”
And I say: Gambling debts. Even secret conspiracies did not see Florida Gulf Coast coming this March.
…Anyway. Now you know the truth. Yes… the truth.
Use it as you will.
*I say “semi-humor” because while I make several bad jokes and go on at least one bizarre tangent, it is true that this stuff is on sale on eBay.
Britain moves up and Russia shows up on Continuum Baseball Rankings after European B-Levels
(For information on the Continuum Rankings and how they are figured out, go here.)
Over the past month or so, there have been qualifiers for Europe’s baseball championships that will take place next year, with two qualifying competitions in Europe’s “B-Level” of baseball competition. Great Britain and Russia won their pools, and they benefited from it greatly in the Continuum Baseball Rankings, with the British jumping from 20th overall to 18th overall, and Russia entering the rankings at 32.
If you are curious, the countries that had not been in the rankings before today were given initial scores based on how far back they were of Indonesia and France in the IBAF world rankings.
Anyway, to see the latest ratings/rankings, go below the jump.
A Quick Book Review: “Cellar Dwellers” by Jonathan Weeks
So, I finally broke down and started reading eBooks. I dunno how I’ll do with it, since I so much like the feel of the paper page and reading things on a computer always seems to lead me to getting distracted a lot, but, hey, it’ll let me read some books I otherwise wouldn’t have read, such as this one: Cellar Dwellers, by Jonathan Weeks
As the name suggests, this book is about the crummiest teams in baseball history, ranging from the 1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys to the 2003 Tigers. Each chapters is about a team, and gives some background on how the team became so crummy, some bright spots (for example, a 21-year-old Walter Johnson went 13-25 on the 1909 Senators despite a 2.22 ERA) and particularly bad players, while also spreading in some color about how baseball was at the time.
Overall, it’s a good breezy read, full of little anecdotes (some of which may be apocryphal, given old-time baseball writers love of exaggeration) and horrific statistics that further show how bad some of the teams covered were. There is even a bit at the end that features “dishonorable mentions”.
However, there are some sins of omission, with some of my favorite stories or bad teams not making the cut. For example, Weeks does not include Eddie Kolb of the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, who was a clerk and semi-pro player who was hired from a local tobacco shop to pitch the final game of the season. Seriously, that really happened, and I was kind of disappointed it wasn’t included.
That is a small quibble, however. Overall, while hardly a groundbreaking work by any means, I’d recommend Cellar Dwellers to anybody looking for a quick read about bad teams.
This book was reviewed using an eBook from my local library’s website.
REVIEW: Out of the Park Baseball 2014
Prologue:
(Note: If you want the review, just go to the jump)
September 8, 2015. Another lost season for the Buffalo Upstatesmen, the long-time butt of jokes in the Northeast Division of the Eastern Association of the Unified North American League. 38 games out of first, over 24 games out of the Wild Card. They were going to, barring some sort of 0-for-the-rest-of-the-season streak, finally finish with fewer than 100 losses, the first time in god-knows-when, but, still, a lost season. All that was left now was to avoid having the worst record in the league and maybe give some of the young guns some good September-callup experience.
Now, they were in the top of the 10th, tied 5-5 against the Atlanta Georgians. At one point, they’d held a 5-2 lead, but then a 3-run homer by Barry Davis off Bryan Absher tied it up. If there was one thing that the Upstatesmen had going for them, though, it was their bullpen, so the team’s skipper was hopeful. Jorge Apodaca, the star reliever of the Upstatesmen who’s stamina on the mound was good enough where he had been used as a starter once or twice, now was going to begin his second inning. Just in case, Shawn Gardner had begun warming up in the ‘pen.
The inning didn’t start well- Juan Martinez got to first on an infield hit and then was replaced by the speedier Jorge Gonzalez, who’d been rated as a 20-20 threat on the basepaths by the scouting department. Thankfully, Zachary Jenkins then had a weak flyout. Next came a pinch-hitter for the pitcher-spot (which had moved up to the 6-slot earlier in the game on a double switch): Gabriel Garcia. An okay hitter, batting .280 on the year with four homers.
He wouldn’t do anything, however. On the first pitch, Gonzalez stole second. Immediately, Apodaca was ordered to walk Garcia to set up a double play. Now up to the plate came Jorge Lujan, a September call-up. The first pitch was a strike… and Gonzalez stole third without a throw. For a second, Buffalo’s skipper considered walking Lujan to set up a force at any base. But he had faith in Apodaca, and he was rewarded with the strikeout.
2 outs, men at the corners. The light-hitting Juan Lopez coming up. Apodaca wouldn’t let him reach base- he struck him out.
To the bottom of the 11th they went, facing righty Jorge Rodriguez: Jeff Cochran flew out, pinch-hitter Bill Hatcher grounded out. Up came Bruce Cunningham. Once the number two prospect in the league, he’d been disappointing during his previous stints in the bigs. This was his third September call-up, and he’d yet to get a permanent position.
Whack! The ball chopped on the ground, past the second baseman, and into right. A man was now on with two out. Walt McKay was now coming to the plate. Like Cunningham, McKay was a top prospect who had had trouble in the big leagues, although his ability to hit righties had kept him with a constant position ever since he had been drafted. There would be no heroism here, however, as he grounded out to end the 11th inning.
Shawn Gardner came in for the top of the twelfth, along with Hayden Caswell, the ordinary 2nd Baseman, who was being brought in as a defensive replacement. Gardner worked around a leadoff single, and to the bottom of the 12th the game went. Cornell Goodwin grounded out, but then Vicente Candelaria, the slow-moving slugger from Massachusetts, somehow got on with an infield hit, and was pinch-hit for by Mike Dunn. Ricardo Gonzalez, the hard-hitting Puerto Rican 3B, stepped to the plate… and fanned. Bryan Castle didn’t fare much better.
Gardner pitched a scoreless top of the 13th. Meanwhile, some of the starters ran out to the bullpen. Collin Perry came out to pitch for the Georgians, and promptly walked Hayden Caswell. Cochran would line out and then Christian Martin- pinch-hitting for Gardner- grounded out (moving Caswell to second), but Bruce Cunningham flew out, ending the inning.
Eugene O’Neal pitched a scoreless top of the inning, and then the bottom half started promisingly, as McKay doubled. The Georgians intentionally walked Cornell Goodwin, and then came Mike Dunn, who had earlier pinch-run for Candelaria. The skipper for the Upstatesmen regretted the move, as he could have used the big bat that had hit 25 home runs so far this year. Thankfully, he had another bat on the bench: Manuel Leon, a big slugger they’d found doing well in the Venezuelan League and had given a shot… and had not been disappointed, at least at the plate: with 18 HRs this year despite a pitiful .238 batting average.
He shot the ball on the ground through the box and into the outfield. The speedy McKay was waved home, but the good arm of centerfielder Jorge Ortiz was ready. It was a close play, a slide, a gasp going through the stadium….
and then the Umpire’s call: OUT!
The Upstatesmen had gambled, trying to get a final victory… but had failed. At least for now. Ricardo Gonzalez came to the plate, with two men still on and one out. He too, hit a sharp grounder, but unlike Leon, his ball wouldn’t find the outfield, as the Atlanta 2B snagged it and got him at first. There were now two men in scoring position, but now there were two outs. Brian Castle stepped to the plate… and popped out.
Out of the bullpen now came Jack Hoffman, a crummy starter with an okay cutter but not much else. Two years ago, he’d lost 21 games. The hope, the manager for the Upstatesmen had, was that maybe he could go an inning before he was pinch-hit for in the bottom half.
In a minor miracle, Hoffman just gave up one hit, and the game went into the bottom of the 15th tied. Not like it mattered, as the Upstatesmen went down 1-2-3. Jack Bray, a lefty picked up from St. Louis earlier in the year, worked a scoreless top of the 16th.. but, once again, the Upstatesmen couldn’t capitalize.
Ty “Tank” Edwards, a long-reliever who also was the Upstatesmen 5th starter on weeks when the starting rotation was being hit by injuries. He sent down the Georgians one-two-three. To the bottom of the 17th the game went. Leon struck out, Gonzalez walked, and then up came Brian Castle, who quickly worked a 2-1 count.
AND THEN HE FOUND A GOOD FASTBALL!
The ball flew deep, deep into the night to right-center… and over the fence! The Upstatesmen had won it 7-5 in 17 innings!
….
(JUMP)
Continuum Week In Review (7/8-7/14) and Week Ahead (7/15-7/21)
This week on the Continuum…
- MVPs of Yesterday included Tim Lincecum, Freddie Freeman, Buster Posey and Robinson Cano.
- OOTP Baseball went on sale here.
- I went off-topic and raved about Pacific Rim.
- The Twins won their first series in the Bronx in a long, long time.
This coming week:
- The usual features
- All-Star Stuff
- Some things that I had meant to have this past week but had to be pushed back, including a Bizarre Baseball Culture, a book review, and a full review of Out of the Park Baseball 14.
- Things to watch for in the second half
- And more!
Continuum Week In Review (7/1-7/7) and Week Ahead (7/8-7/14)
This past week on the Continuum:
- MVPs of Yesterday included Homer Bailey, Robinson Cano, and Justin Ruggiano.
- I looked at some baseball-related food feats.
- I remembered Rookie of the Year.
- Cal Ripken and Batman team-up.
- And more!
Coming up this coming week on the Continuum:
- The usual MVP of Yesterday features
- Another of the ever-popular Bizarre Baseball Culture feature
- A Review of Out of the Park Baseball 2014
- A book review (not sure what, though)
- And more!
It’s the 20th Anniversary of “Rookie Of The Year”, here’s what I have to say about that
Pulling the curtain for a second, an admission:
I originally had this big plan where I would watch the now-20-year-old kid-baseball classic Rookie of the Year and figure out the statistics for it’s main character, Henry Rowengartner. But, alas, it was not to be: I inadvertently deleted it from my DVR, ruining my opportunity to bring the world such great baseball scholarship. One day, perhaps.
Still, some thoughts on Rookie of the Year:
Rookie of the Year was part of an early 90s mini-fad of baseball movies sparked by the late-80s success of Kevin Costner’s films and Major League. Other baseball movies from this time period include The Sandlot, A League of Their Own and Little Big League. I saw them on VHS when I was like five or six, possibly more times than was healthy. And, although in hindsight The Sandlot and A League of Their Own* were the best of the early 90s bunch, I think I watched Rookie of the Year and Little Big League more. It makes sense, come to think of it: They were wish-fulfillment tales. Who doesn’t wish to make it to the big leagues in some way? Heck, who doesn’t wish they could be doing it when they are still kids?
Anyway, for those of you who don’t know the story, Rookie of the Year is a semi-remake of an obscure movie called Roogie’s Bump. In the film, Henry Rowengartner, a baseball-loving boy in his early teens, suffers a strange injury that heals in such a way that his arm suddenly becomes able to throw MLB-level heat. The Cubs sign him, and, well, you can probably guess how the rest of the story goes.
While the film is unrealistic and pretty formulaic, it still is a fun watch, especially with John Candy as an announcer for the Cubs who opens up the movie with this ever-so-true line:
Opening Day at Wrigley, and oh what a sight! The diamond, the decorations, and the dread of yet another losing season.
Really, there isn’t much more that can be said, other than that as part of the Anniversary there have been a few articles about it.
For example, Yahoo!’s Mike Oz talked a bit to star Thomas Ian Nicholas (who has since gone on to star in the American Pie films) and director/supporting actor Daniel Stern about it. From it, I learned that, for example, John Candy was not originally involved with the film, but the studio liked the close-to-finished product enough that they let the producers hire John Candy to film a few scenes and voiceovers for the film.
Meanwhile, as a extra to Sports Illustrated‘s “Where Are They Now” issue, screenwriter Sam Harper revealed what happened to Henry after the film. Turns out that similar injuries led to him having brief careers in football and bowling.
So, if you see Rookie of the Year on cable in the coming days, feel free to think back to this post and those other articles. And also think how funky-buttloving (you’d get it if you saw the movie) awesome my look at Henry Rowengartner’s stats would have been.
*True story: I almost had a cameo in A League of Their Own as a redheaded toddler grandchild in the Cooperstown scenes at the end. But according to family legend, my parents didn’t want to drive all the way to Cooperstown for the shoot, especially since if I cried they’d probably just have some other 1-year-old do it and they’d have driven all the way to Cooperstown for nothing. And that, friends, is why Daniel J. Glickman doesn’t have an IMDB page noting his uncredited cameo in A League of Their Own.
Updating the Twitter List
Last year, I talked about good Twitter accounts to follow. For the most part, those are still true. So, in addition to those, I add in these suggestions. They are by no means the only ones to follow… consider it more of a sampling:
- @VinScullyTweet, a feed I recently discovered that tweets out gems of sweet goodness that Vin Scully says on the air.
- @RichardDeitsch, run by SI‘s sports journalism and media reporter (Richard Deitsch, obviously), is about all types of sports and how they are covered by the media. He doesn’t pull any punches in giving his opinions on sports media.
- Writer Jon Bernhardt (@JonBernhardt) of Sports On Earth (amongst others) writes hilarious and sometimes cynical takes on baseball, focusing primarily on the Baltimore Orioles. A good follow during their games.
- Matt Sussman (@Suss2Hyphens) is similar, albeit a fan of the Tigers.
- @BizBallMaury AKA Maury Brown covers the business side of sports very well.
- @ThisDateInBBall brings you “This Date In History”-style tidbits about baseball.
- @Jay_Jaffe and @EmmaSpan are both great baseball writers and tweeters. They also live with each other. Sadly, no sitcom is yet in the works.
- Our good friend Michael Clair of “Old Time Family Baseball” can be found at @ClairBearAttack.
- And, finally, there are the Twitter accounts of “You Can’t Predict Baseball” (which tweets out weird happenings, such as a Molina brother stealing a base) and @CanPredictBall, which tweets out things you totally could see coming, like Manny Machado hitting a double or Adam Dunn having a homer, strikeout and a walk during a game.
The Grandest Question: Who would win in a fight? (Humor)
Introduction:
Superman vs. Batman. Godzilla vs. King Kong. Kirk vs. Picard.
Questions such as these have raged since the beginning of time. All types of media have tried to answer questions such as this. Heck, recently Nintendo released the first trailers for the latest incarnation of Super Smash Brothers, a series based entirely on the question of whether Mario could beat the snot out of Pikachu (amongst others) and similar questions.
But to the best of my memory, nobody has ever answered the question of who would win in a fight between all of the team-names of Major League Baseball. From the Atlanta Braves to the Washington Nationals, what would win?
Truly, this had to be a massive undertaking, taking into account history, science, tradition and countless other areas of knowledge. Nothing less than the most complete look at each of the warriors could do justice. Well, sort of.
You see, I am automatically going to disqualify teams that are inanimate objects. Therefore, the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals (which is technically named after the American Royal Livestock Show, and not the idea of being kings), Oakland Athletics (which is just derived from being an Athletic club), Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds (given that they are not actually communists), Washington Nationals (derived from being in the National League) and Colorado Rockies are all tied for last place. Now, let us go below the jump to take a look at our combatants:
The Baseball Continuum 