If Felix Hernandez is worth $175 million dollars over 7 years…
… just how much will Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander be worth?
(The answer: At least that.)
And now, a quick thought…
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Category Archives: MLB
The grand World Baseball Classic Question and Answer (Part 2: The Game Rules)
Okay, if you saw yesterday’s post, you are no doubt prepared for another round of questions and answers about the World Baseball Classic. Today, we look at some of the rules and regulations of the tournament… after the jump:
Picture of the day: Walter Johnson gets a car
Another image from the Library of Congress Flickr stream, this one is of Walter Johnson receiving a car.
But why is he receiving a car? Well, from 1911 to 1914, the MVP was awarded a car from Chalmers Automobile. The winner of the AL MVP in 1913? Walter Johnson. This is him receiving that car.
The grand World Baseball Classic Question and Answer (Part 1: The Basics)
The World Baseball Classic, and people’s coverage of it, is often filled with innuendo, missed information or taking hearsay as fact. It’s happened to me, it’s happened to the actual media, and it’s happened even to Major League Baseball itself.
It’s not hard to see why. It’s still a relatively new event, after all, not a yearly decades-old baseball mainstay like the All-Star Game, or like other events like the Olympics, which have been going on for over a century. In addition, it isn’t as centralized, and information is often crossing linguistic and national borders. So something about a roster change in one country might not reach the rest until later, or a claim by a player in one language might lose it’s nuance when translated into English.
So, anyway, to clear things up, go after the jump for part 1 of a Q&A on the WBC.
Worry: Will U of Miami grads simply be assumed to be guilty?
One thing that noticed- and worries me- in the recent wave of PED news is that many of the players have a big connection: The University of Miami.
Ryan Braun played for the University of Miami.
Yasmani Grandal played for the University of Miami.
Danny Valencia played for the University of Miami.
Cesar Carrillo, a minor leaguer who has been connected to BioGenesis, went to the University of Miami.
Alex Rodriguez has been a major financial donor to the University of Miami baseball program- their park even bears his name.
Jimmy Goins, named in the Biogenesis reports, is the strength and conditioning coach for the University of Miami.
I’m hardly the first to notice this, look at what Tim Brown and Jeff Passan wrote at Yahoo!:
The early portion of MLB’s investigation has focused on the web of connections to the University of Miami, where Braun attended college. Carrillo, a pitcher in the Detroit Tigers organization, was Braun’s road roommate for three years. Jimmy Goins, a strength-and-conditioning coach at the school and alleged client of Bosch’s, worked with Braun during his three years at Miami. Goins has denied a connection to Bosch.
And this leads to my concern: Will others consider former Hurricanes players to be guilty until proven innocent? Will a new star who comes to the majors, having played at “The U”, have whispers behind their back?
Because that would not be healthy for the sport. There still needs to be evidence, one cannot just assume that because player X went to college Y he must be on PEDs. And we must never forget that.
Picture of the day: Connie Mack didn’t need a uniform
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?
Famous for something else: Kurt Russell
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.
Humor: WHERE IN THE WORLD IS ALEX RODRIGUEZ?
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.
One week until pitchers and catchers!
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!
Picture of the day: Medicine Ball
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?
The Baseball Continuum 
