So, earlier today I found this pack of assorted baseball cards. I, of course, decided that I needed to do something.
I, for some reason, decided that the best way to do this would be to write Haiku-style poetry about it. Because, well, it’s my blog.
So, here we go:
1989 Topps Cap’n Crunch #20 Kirby Puckett
There you are, Kirby.
No Twins logo has your hat,
No licensing deal?
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.
Another summary/picture article on the Rochester Red Wings is up at Twinkie Town.
With apologies to Bronson Arroyo (who had the advantage of getting 11 runs of support) and A.J. Ellis and his 5 RBIs, the MVP of Yesterday is Matt Moore of the Rays, who pitched a complete game shutout, giving up only two hits in the Rays’ 3-0 victory against the Red Sox yesterday.
Standings, as always, after the jump:
In the hours since the Ryan Braun news broke, you could see a wide variety of responses. Here are the types I found… I am not including examples as a way to protect the innocent and/or guilty. In addition, many tweets may be crosses between the below.
The Purely Informational Tweet: Tells us what’s happening, how people are reacting, give us further details, etc.
The “He had it coming” Tweet: Self-explanatory.
The “He should apologize” Tweet: He should apologize to his teammates, he should apologize to that sample-collector, he should apologize to the arbitrator, he should apologize to the fans, he should apologize to his family, he should apologize to those who defended him, he should apologize to Matt Kemp for winning the 2011 MVP Award instead of him, etc.
The “Not Enough” Tweet: Suggesting that Braun got off easy. Other suggestions can range anywhere from 100 games to some who suggest expunging Braun from the record books, banning him for life and then shooting him on a rocket towards the heart of the Sun. Only slightly exaggerating.
The “Who Cares?” Tweet: Somebody either says they don’t care about PED use anymore or don’t see what the big deal is because the Brewers are already out of playoff contention.
The “A-Rod’s Next” Tweet: Self-explanatory.
The “Tie this into another event” Tweet: Ranging from the rather apt comparison of the reaction to Braun’s suspension to the reaction to the suspension of the NFL’s Von MIller to the rather silly, such as saying that this means that the Royal Baby won’t be named “Ryan”.
The “Get off your high horses” Tweet: Again, self-explanatory, usually aimed either at sportswriters or MLB itself.
The “MLB is just as bad” Tweet: Focuses on the fact that some of the methods that MLB has used in these investigation are rather suspect morally or ethically. In extreme cases this may appear to be an attack on MLB instead of a condemnation of both MLB and Braun.
The “Anti-Semitic” Tweet: I haven’t seen any, but given the fact that this is Twitter and some real scumbags are on it, I’m sure they exist.
The “Woah” Tweets: People are so stunned at this development that they just can say “wow” or “woah” or something similar.
Any types I’m missing?
BREAKING: Ryan Braun suspended rest of the season for connection to Biogenesis.
— T.J. Quinn (@TJQuinnESPN) July 22, 2013
Mike Napoli only had two hits yesterday, but both of them were HRs and one of them was the walk-off home run in the 11th inning.
Standings after the jump:
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)
C.J. Wilson went 8.1 IP, with 8 Ks and giving up on 3 hits in the Angels 2-0 win yesterday… good enough for MVP of Yesterday.
Standings after jump:
After the All-Star Break, the MVP of Yesterday feature is BACK! And the MVP of Yesterday is Astros rookie Brandon Barnes, he went 5-for-5 with a cycle (he got two singles) and drove in two runs. It wasn’t enough to give the Astros the win, but it was enough for him to be the MVP of Yesterday.
Standings, as always, after the jump:
