Category Archives: Baseball

And now, some thoughts and suggestions on the World Baseball Classic

Posted on by
14

The Dominican Republic can lay claim to being the champions of the 2013 World Baseball Classic, going undefeated in the tournament and shutting out Puerto Rico in the final game, 3-0. Robinson Cano was rightfully named tourney MVP, although one could also have made a case for Fernando Rodney, who saved seven games during the tournament.

While it was far from a perfect tournament, it had some great moments. There were the honkbal Dutch, proving that 2009 was far from a fluke by making it to the semi-finals, defeating the mighty Cubans twice on the way. There was Italy’s similarly amazing run. There were the great fans, who even in the less-attended games made the crowd seem several times bigger. And it had high drama, with Davids facing Goliaths, the old facing the young, and, in some cases, entire nations sitting on the edge of their seats.

And, yes, all of my reasons while the WBC is going to be sticking around are still valid.

Still, the WBC does definitely have room for improvement, so go below the jump for some of my suggestions:

Continue reading →

When were record chases first noticed?: Cal Ripken’s Consecutive Game Streak

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve been looking through the old SI Vault, curious as to when various record chases were first noticed by Sports Illustrated. So, in this new feature, I look at when the first reference to Cal Ripken‘s pursuit of Lou Gehrig‘s consecutive game streak began.

Ripken’s Consecutive Games Streak

For example, take Cal Ripken and his pursuit of Lou Gehrig’s record. It was first hinted at in 1989, when the fact he was third overall in consecutive games played was referenced in a Peter Gammons article. The next year, in the June 18 issue, there was a whole article about his streak, including how many already were having doubts about whether it was helping or hurting the Orioles. By 1992, Gehrig’s record was clearly in danger, which, along with the fact that Bob Beamon’s long-jump record had been broken, led to an SI article listing 10 records that were never going to be broken.

Of note is that, from that list, one of those supposedly unbreakable records (Roger Maris‘ 61 HRs) has been broken (albeit with the alleged aid of PEDs), another (the Lakers’ 33 straight wins) is currently under assault, and a third (Jack Nicklaus’ majors) could conceivably be broken.

Picture of the day: Remember the Maine

Posted on by
Reply

Much of baseball’s spread in the Caribbean was at least partially because of the United States’ increased presence in the region after the Spanish-American War. And that war, at least officially, was started because of the destruction of the USS Maine. While it was later found that it was unlikely that the Maine had been destroyed due to sabotage, the destruction of the ship started a rallying cry amongst the American populace that helped lead to the war.

But, before that, the Maine was the defending champion of the Navy when it came to baseball. Here’s a photo from the Library of Congress Flickr stream of that final team- most of the players died in the ship’s destruction. Notice how it was an integrated team.

WBC Finals Preview: Dominican Republic vs. Puerto Rico

Posted on by
Reply

It’s all come down to this:  Dominican Republic vs. Puerto Rico for the WBC title. The Dominican is going for a perfect tournament, but Puerto Rico, with a win, could make all those previous games for the Dominican irrelevant. It’s one game, winner take all. Go below the jump for the tale of the tape:

Continue reading →

Picture of the day: The World Tour comes to Japan

Posted on by
Reply

I was so sure that Japan was going to beat Puerto Rico that I had been planning on having this photo of the 1913-14 World Tour players from the White Sox and Giants with members of Japan’s Keio University… whoops. Oh well, still an interesting picture, with John McGraw, Tris Speaker, Jim Thorpe, Sam Crawford and Buck Weaver in it. So, from the Library of Congress Flickr feed, here is the photo:

If anybody in Japan would like to blame their team’s loss on my blog (I mean, between this and yesterday’s article on how Pokémon had an episode that seeped with Japanese baseball references, I seemed to have been tempting fate), go ahead.

WBC Semi-Final Preview: Dominican Republic vs. Kingdom of the Netherlands

Posted on by
1

It’s a showdown tonight, a grudge match four years in the making. In one corner, the mighty Dominican, now by far the biggest fish in the increasingly small WBC pond. In the other corner, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the upstart amalgamation of the Netherlands, Curacao and Aruba. Four years ago, the Dutch upset the Dominican twice, and now the Dominican has a chance for revenge. They probably will get it, but as we saw in Puerto Rico-Japan (and Puerto Rico-USA, and Netherlands-Cuba, and… you get the idea), there are no guarantees in baseball.

Go below the jump for the tale of the tape:

Continue reading →

Picture of the day: WBC Trophy

Posted on by
Reply

The first two World Baseball Classic trophies went to Japan, where will this one go?

This picture was taken by Geoff Livingston, and is under a creative commons license.

WBC Semi-Final Preview: Japan vs. Puerto Rico

Posted on by
11

The game between Japan and Puerto Rico, on paper, should belong to the Japanese team, a seasoned squad that relatively breezed into the San Francisco round and which will be playing with far more rest than Puerto Rico, which will be playing it’s third game in as many days. But, as has been shown time and time again, in baseball weird and unexpected things can happen. Go below the jump for a more in-depth preview.

Continue reading →

Bizarre Baseball Culture: Crummy Teams, Fanatics, and Pokémon in “The Double Trouble Header”

Posted on by
49

In Bizarre Baseball Culture, I take a look at some of the more unusual places where baseball has reared it’s head in pop culture and fiction.

In a first for Bizarre Baseball Culture, we’re going international to look at one of the more strange appearances of baseball in Japanese culture. To be more exact, we’re looking at an old episode of the Pokémon anime, entitled “The Double Trouble Header”.

…

Okay, are you done laughing/rolling your eyes? Good. Now go below the jump for this installment, which has been weeks in the making:

Continue reading →

Picture of the day: I got it!

Posted on by
Reply

Roger Bernadina, of the Nationals (and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, it should be noted), underneath a fly ball.

Photo by “Afagen”, used under a Creative Commons license.