What’s going to happen in this, the 2013 Major League Baseball Season? Well, I have 162 ideas- ranging from the serious to the sarcastic. At the end of the year, I’ll look at what my record was. Hopefully I will do better than the Astros.
This is a big and long post, so it can be found UNDER THE JUMP.
Today’s random find from the Library of Congress Flickr feed: A picture of Grover Cleveland Alexander.
Today’s link is of sports team territories. It is basically based on the idea of what the “territory” of each sports team (they have NFL and NBA in addition to MLB) would be if it was actually based off of proximity to a team’s stadium. It’s an interesting contrast to the haphazard, unfair and antiquated television territory maps that exist today.
Today’s random photo from the Library of Congress Flickr Feed is of 1910s second-basemen Morrie Rath.
Today’s random picture from the Library of Congress Flickr Feed is of Orval Overall, who has one of the most fun-to-say names in baseball history.
This picture, which I found on the Library of Congress Flickr feed and basically chose just because I felt like it, is of the stands of the Polo Grounds during the 1912 World Series. Look at all those hats!
Okay, time to play a bit of a game with myself: For every team in Major League Baseball, I type out the first (printable) thought I have on them. Sometimes they will actually have to do with the coming season, other times they will just be random observations or the name of their best player. This is acting as part 1 of a series of unknown length that will constitute my preview of the 2013 season.
So, here we go:
Arizona Diamondbacks: Kirk Gibson likes guys who are gritty.
Atlanta Braves: No Chipper but 2 Uptons.
Baltimore Orioles: There’s no way they can do it again, right?
Chicago Cubs: Will trade Alfonso Soriano sometime.
Chicago White Sox: Won’t be better than the Tigers.
Cincinnati Reds: Could win the division again.
Cleveland Indians: Terry Francona.
Colorado Rockies: Carlos Gonzalez. Todd Helton is still playing.
Detroit Tigers: World Series favorite.
Houston Astros: Welcome the American League, enjoy last place.
Kansas City Royals: Better but not going to be nearly good enough.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, California: Great lineup, suspect pitching after Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson.
Los Angeles Dodgers: Magic, Money, and Matt Kemp.
Miami Marlins: Pity poor Giancarlo Stanton.
Milwaukee Brewers: Major League Baseball is coming for Ryan Braun.
Minnesota Twins: Rebuilding in progress.
New York Mets: David Wright.
New York Yankees: Robinson Cano and some old guys. Also: Mariano Rivera‘s last stand.
Oakland Athletics: The beard of Josh Reddick.
Philadelphia Phillies: Is Roy Halladay over the hill?
Pittsburgh Pirates: Andrew McCutchen.
San Diego Padres: Chase Headley.
San Francisco Giants: The defending champs.
Seattle Mariners: Felix Hernandez.
St. Louis Cardinals: Albert who?
Texas Rangers: Not what they have been.
Toronto Blue Jays: I need to get a passport so I can go watch them play.
Washington Nationals: The other World Series favorite.
Come back in the coming days for more thoughts and previews of the 2013 MLB season.
Before last night, the main athletic claim to fame for Florida Gulf Coast University was that it produced White Sox pitcher Chris Sale. Y’know, this guy:
This picture, taken by Keith Allison, is used under a Creative Commons license.
Eddie Grant was probably the best MLB player to ever come from Harvard, and was even called “Harvard Eddie” during his career. Sadly, both his life and his career were cut short when he died during World War I.
(Picture from the Library of Congress Flickr Feed)
Just in time for March Madness, here’s a weird connection between hoops and Major League Baseball.
To be more specific, one year (1996), the Philadelphia 76ers drafted two college basketball stars who eventually made the rosters of Major League Baseball teams:
In case you can’t see it, that is Mark Hendrickson and Ryan Minor being drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers, drafted one right after the other. Minor- who’s main claim to fame was starting at third the day that Cal Ripken‘s streak ended- went straight to baseball, but Hendrickson- who has been pitching in camp for the Orioles this spring- had a brief NBA career (go below the jump for the stats):
The Baseball Continuum 
