Earl Weaver passed away this morning somewhere in the Caribbean, with his wife by his side, he was 82.
But what better way to celebrate Weaver, the Earl of Baltimore, than to showcase him as he lived: Fighting with his greatest enemy, the umpires. Note that this video has adult language and probably shouldn’t be watched with little children around.
Hockey is back!
(Crickets)
Well, anyway, there have been far fewer two-sport athletes in baseball involving hockey than there are basketball or football. In fact, there has been a grand total of one player who has spent time in the Major Leagues and the NHL. That player is Jim Riley, who spent some brief time with the St. Louis Browns and Washington Senators in the 1920s and spent a brief time with the Chicago Black Hawks (note the space) and Detroit Cougars (not yet the Red Wings) in the 1926-1927 season. Here’s what his top league statistics looked like:
In MLB:
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | TB | GDP | HBP | SH | SF | IBB | Pos | Awards | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | 26 | SLB | AL | 4 | 12 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .000 | .083 | .000 | .083 | -78 | 0 | 0 | 0 | /4 | |||||
| 1923 | 28 | WSH | AL | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | .400 | .000 | .400 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | /3 | |||||
| 1931 | Did not play in major leagues (Did Not Play) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 Yrs | 6 | 17 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | .000 | .176 | .000 | .176 | -52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| 162 Game Avg. | 162 | 459 | 378 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 81 | 81 | .000 | .176 | .000 | .176 | -52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| WSH (1 yr) | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | .400 | .000 | .400 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| SLB (1 yr) | 4 | 12 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .000 | .083 | .000 | .083 | -78 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
In the NHL:
| Season | Age | Tm | Lg | GP | G | A | PTS | GC | +/- | PIM | EV | PP | SH | GW | S | S% | TOI | ATOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1926-27 | 31 | TOT | NHL | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 14 | |||||||||
| 1926-27 | 31 | CBH | NHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| 1926-27 | 31 | DTC | NHL | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 14 | |||||||||
| Career | NHL | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 14 |
Of course, Riley also played in the minor leagues in both sports. You can find his baseball minor league stats over at Baseball Reference, and you can find his hockey stats over at hockeydb.com.
Now, although Riley is the lone man to have played in both MLB and the NHL, he is not the only player who played both sports. Not even close. Take a look after the jump for other connections between America’s pastime and Canada’s pastime:
On Sunday, March 30, 2013, Team USA and Canada will play the final Pool D game at Chase Field in Phoenix. Canada will technically be the home team. It’s entirely possible that who has advanced in the WBC would already be decided, but the sometimes erratic tie-breaking procedures of the round robin first round make it unlikely that both would be decided, and it is entirely likely that this game would decide the fates of at least one of the teams playing.
So, how might it go down? Well, using Out of the Park Baseball, I am simulating it! Go after the jump for the rest.
I was able to find the WBC provisional rosters as they are right now in this PDF file:
2013-World-Baseball-Classic-Provisional-Rosters_011713
You’re welcome.
More rosters were revealed at 4 PM, go below the jump for my quick run-down of them. It will be updated as the rosters are revealed on television. Also, note that the rosters (which I will link to when I find a good link) are NOT FINAL and could change.
So, Team USA’s roster has been released, here’s how it looks (they’ve released 27 names, the 28th will be named later):
Jeremy Affeldt – San Francisco Giants – LHP
J.P. Arencibia – Toronto Blue Jays – C
Heath Bell – Arizona Diamondbacks – RHP
Willie Bloomquist – Arizona Diamondbacks – UTL
Mitchell Boggs – St. Louis Cardinals – RHP
Ryan Braun – Milwaukee Brewers – OF
Steve Cishek – Miami Marlins – RHP
Tim Collins – Kansas City Royals – LHP
R.A. Dickey – Toronto Blue Jays – RHP
Luke Gregerson – San Diego Padres – RHP
Derek Holland – Texas Rangers – LHP
Adam Jones – Baltimore Orioles – OF
Craig Kimbrel – Atlanta Braves – RHP
Jonathan Lucroy – Milwaukee Brewers – C
Joe Mauer – Minnesota Twins – C
Kris Medlen – Atlanta Braves – RHP
Glen Perkins – Minnesota Twins – LHP
Chris Perez – Cleveland Indians – RHP
Vinnie Pestano – Cleveland Indians – RHP
Brandon Phillips – Cincinnati Reds – IF
Jimmy Rollins – Philadelphia Phillies – IF
Giancarlo Stanton – Miami Marlins – OF
Mark Teixeira – New York Yankees – IF
Shane Victorino – Boston Red Sox – OF
Ryan Vogelsong – San Francisco Giants – RHP
David Wright – New York Mets – IF
Ben Zobrist – Tampa Bay Rays – UTL
Now, go after the jump for my analysis:
To the best of my knowledge, there has never been a hoax in baseball quite like the one that is going on with Manti Te’o, but there have been a few “good” hoaxes:
Tim Johnson was the manager of the Blue Jays in 1998, guiding them to a surprising 3rd place finish that left them only four games out of the Wild Card. Throughout the year, he motivated his players with tales of his time in Vietnam. Only thing is, he’d never been to Vietnam. He’d been a reserve during the war and the most he ever did was train troops at Camp Pendleton. He was let go before the 1999 season and has never managed in the big leagues since.
Sidd Finch was a more good-natured hoax, a pitcher who was reported in the April 1, 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated to be able to throw a fastball up to 168 MPH. It was never meant to be taken seriously, an April Fools joke by George Plimpton. Still, some people apparently fell for it, despite the fact that I’m reasonably sure that a 168 MPH fastball is physically impossible for a human being to throw.
As part of his defense against his doping scandal this season, Melky Cabrera‘s handlers allegedly created a fake website that they claimed was for a supplement that Cabrera took that unknowingly contained banned substances.
There have also been phantom ballplayers, players who were reported to have played in the big leagues but who didn’t because the games weren’t official or, in some cases, were inventions of wisecracking telegraph operators. Wikipedia (which admittedly, shouldn’t be taken as a definitive source by any means) has an article on it.
Only one last bit of news tonight: Hainley Statia, a Brewers minor leaguer, will be playing for the Dutch.
Now, tomorrow’s schedule:
MLB Network’s Hot Stove will be the de-facto Team USA announcement special, with the announcement itself due at about 10 PM Eastern, barring something else coming up. I intend on having an initial profile of Team USA up by around noon, 1 PM.
The rest of the rosters will be revealed at 4 PM Eastern, also on MLB Network. I’ll probably hit most of those rosters quickly but go in more detail in the coming days.
So, until tomorrow, feel free to look at all of the content here at the Continuum, and also consider checking out Joe Connor’s guide.
Okay, some more WBC news to go over as you ponder the bizarre tale of Manti Te’o…
More WBC news if it comes out. Also, don’t forget that all 16 rosters come out tomorrow. The Continuum will have lots of coverage, so don’t forget to come here. Also, if you are a fan of international baseball, you may be interested in the guide from Joe Connor.
While we all wonder if Justin Verlander will change his mind and join the WBC (he’s leaning to no, at least for the initial round), here’s the latest news:
As usual, you can find it the whole list after the jump, and more news will be posted as it is revealed, in addition, you might be interested in Joe Connor’s World in a Ballpark:
The Baseball Continuum 