Category Archives: Uncategorized

BIZARRE BASEBALL CULTURE: Bartolo, C.C., and the rest of the 2002 Indians rotation in INDIANS STRIKEFORCE VS. THE SCATMAN

Posted on by
12

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.

Ultimate Sports Force. It’s the beloved and now-defunct comic book company that gave us such classics as the Cal Ripken-led Shortstop Squad, the power-filled Cosmic Slam, the Sasquatch-filled Mariners Mojo, and the Yankee retelling (with gratuitous Cal Ripken appearance) of Cosmic Slam entitled Championship Challenge. Today, we look at a Ultimate Sports giveaway comic featuring the 2002 Indians, as we read Indians Strikeforce Versus the Scatman:

StrikeforcecovYes, this is a comic in which C.C. Sabathia, Bartolo Colon, Danys Baez, and Ryan Drese have to protect Cleveland from somebody called the Scatman. It also has Bob Feller, now-retired clubhouse manager Cy Buynak, and MONKEYS MADE OUT OF MUSIC. Go below the jump to see some of the glories it brings:

Continue reading →

Famous for Something Else: Danny Kanell

Posted on by
Reply

A College Football analyst and radio co-host on ESPN who had started at QB for Florida State and who played in the NFL and Arena Football League (usually as a back-up), Danny Kanell was drafted in the 24th round of the 1995 Draft by the Yankees. While he would go on to choose football, he later would have a brief stint in independent ball in 2001 for Newark of the Atlantic League:

Year Age AgeDif Tm Lg Lev G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB
2001 27 -1.5 Newark ATLL Ind 25 79 76 11 18 2 2 1 6 2 1 3 24 .237 .266 .355 .621 27 2 0 0 0 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/3/2015.

Kanell remains somewhat involved with baseball at ESPN, occasionally commenting on games during his appearances and sometimes even serving as a color commentator for college baseball games on the networks of ESPN.

Headlines From Around The Continuum (November 2, 2015)

Posted on by
Reply

A sampling of baseball-related headlines from the Newseum, elsewhere, and occasionally some websites, with the occasional note from me on what they are talking about:

Headline: Royals win first World Series title since 1985, outlasting Harvey and Mets in Game 5

(Note: So that I don’t have a thousand papers from around the country that just say something along the lines of “Royals win World Series”, I focused on the hometown papers and papers that went a different route in their headlines.)

Kansas City Star: ROYALTY

Daily News (front): THE DARKEST KNIGHT (“Mets Amazin’ season comes crashing down in 9th, Royals take crown in 12”)

Daily News (back): CRUEL HAND LUC (on Lucas Duda’s bad throw)

NY Post (front): AMAZIN’ DISGRACE

NY Post (back): NIGHTY KNIGHT!

Newsday (front): YA GOTTA BEREAVE

Newsday (back): A ROYAL SHAME

El Diario- La Prensa (Brooklyn): Los pecados de Collins (“The sins of Collins”)

News-Leader (Springfield, MO): TOOK THE CROWN

St. Joseph (MO) News-Press: WORLD RENOWNED ROYALTY

Joplin (MO) Globe: WORLD CHAMPIONS

Hutchinson (KS) News: THEY DIDN’T QUIT

Lawrence (KS) Journal-World: NEVER-SAY-DIE ROYALS WIN WORLD SERIES

Salina (KS) Journal: CHAMPIONS!

Wichita Eagle: ROYALS RALLY FOR WORLD SERIES TITLE

The Record (Bergen County, NJ): Mets’ magic runs out

Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ): It’s all over

The Hawk Eye (Burlington, Iowa): Royals are champs

Alaska Dispatch News (Anchorage): Royals crowned champions after another late meltdown by Mets

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock): Kings of 2015

Appeal-Democrat (Marysville, CA): BASEBALL CROWNS ITS ROYALTY

Ventura County Star (CA): ROYAL THRONE

Denver Post: ROYALS REIGN

Idaho Press-Tribune (Nampa): CROWNED ROYALS

Decatur (Ill.) Herald & Review: Royals flush

Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press: ROYALS GET THEIR CROWN

The Sun (Lowell, Mass.): ROYALS!

St. Paul Pioneer Press: K.C. MASTERPIECE

Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal Star: CROWN ‘EM

Omaha World-Herald: K.C. BRINGS BACK THE CROWN

Morning Call (Allentown, PA): BASEBALL ROYALTY (This headline was also used at the Edmonton Journal in Canada)

Times-Tribune (Scranton, PA): MIGHTY K.C.

Daily Herald (Provo, Utah): ROYAL CORONATION

USA Today: ROYALS RALLY, WIN WORLD SERIES

Winnipeg Free Press: ROYALS ARE WORLD SERIES KINGS

El Heraldo (Baranquilla, Colombia): Reales de Kansas City, campeones de la Serie Mundial (“Kansas City Royals, World Series Champions”)

Novedades de Quintana Roo (Mexico): Reales se corona 30 años después (“Royal crown 30 years later”)

Milenio (Guadalajara, Mexico): REALES, CAMPEÓN (“ROYALS, CHAMPION”)

Reforma (Mexico City): Se coronan Reales (“They are crowned Royals”)

Vanguardia (Saltillo, Mexico): VUELVAN A LA GLORIA LUEGO DE 30 ANOS (“TO GLORY AGAIN AFTER 30 YEARS”)

El Nuevo Diario (Managua, Nicaragua): !REALES CAMPEONES, EN CASA DE LOS METS! (“Royals champions, in the home of the Mets!”)

El Universal (Caracas, Venezuela): Kansas City campeón (“Kansas City champion”)

Virgin Islands Daily News (Charlotte Amalie): WORLD CHAMPIONS- Baseball royalty

MR. OCTOBERS of WORLD SERIES GAME 1

Posted on by
Reply

The MR. OCTOBERs of Game 1 were Ben Zobrist and Chris Young. Ten points to each of them!

STANDINGS (PP means Position Player, P means Pitcher, * means the team has been eliminated):

PP Daniel Murphy 11

P Marcus Stroman 11*

PP Jose Bautista 11*

P Chris Young 10

PP Ben Zobrist 10

P Jeurys Familia 9

P Noah Syndergaard 8

P Jacob deGrom 8

PP Yoenis Cespedes 8

P Marco Estrada 8*

PP Troy Tulowitzki 8*

P Wade Davis 8

PP Jorge Soler 6*

PP Alex Rios 6

P Johnny Cueto 6

P Edinson Volquez 5

PP Alcides Escobar 5

PP Mike Moustakas 5

P Kelvin Herrera 5

P Matt Harvey 5

PP Travis d’Arnaud 5

PP Ryan Goins 5*

P Liam Hendriks 5*

PP Lorenzo Cain 5

PP Lucas Duda 5

P Steven Matz 5

P Dallas Keuchel 4*

P Jake Diekman 3*

PP Rougned Odor 3*

P Collin McHugh 3*

PP Kendrys Morales 3

P Shawn Tolleson 3*

PP Delino DeShields 3*

PP Salvador Perez 3

P Ryan Madson 3

P John Lackey 3*

PP Stephen Piscotty 3*

PP David Wright 3

P Travis Wood 3*

PP Adrian Gonzalez 3*

PP Chris Carter 3*

PP Carlos Correa 3*

P Roberto Osuna 3*

PP Kevin Pillar 3*

P Pedro Strop 3*

P Justin Grimm 3*

PP Javier Baez 3*

P Clayton Kershaw 3*

PP Justin Turner 3*

PP Colby Rasmus 1*

PP Kyle Schwarber 1*

P Jake Arrieta 1*

The MR. OCTOBERS of ALCS Game 6

Posted on by
Reply

The MR. OCTOBERS of yesterday’s ALCS Game 6 were Wade Davis and Jose Bautista (even though they lost and his poorly chosen throwing target were partly to blame).

So now, with the LCS round done, we go to the WORLD SERIES, where every MR. OCTOBER gets 10 points!

STANDINGS (PP means Position Player, P means Pitcher, * means the team has been eliminated):

PP Daniel Murphy 11

P Marcus Stroman 11*

PP Jose Bautista 11*

P Jeurys Familia 9

P Noah Syndergaard 8

P Jacob deGrom 8

PP Yoenis Cespedes 8

P Marco Estrada 8*

PP Troy Tulowitzki 8*

P Wade Davis 8

PP Jorge Soler 6*

PP Alex Rios 6

P Johnny Cueto 6

P Edinson Volquez 5

PP Alcides Escobar 5

PP Mike Moustakas 5

P Kelvin Herrera 5

P Matt Harvey 5

PP Travis d’Arnaud 5

PP Ryan Goins 5*

P Liam Hendriks 5*

PP Lorenzo Cain 5

PP Lucas Duda 5

P Steven Matz 5

P Dallas Keuchel 4*

P Jake Diekman 3*

PP Rougned Odor 3*

P Collin McHugh 3*

PP Kendrys Morales 3

P Shawn Tolleson 3*

PP Delino DeShields 3*

PP Salvador Perez 3

P Ryan Madson 3

P John Lackey 3*

PP Stephen Piscotty 3*

PP David Wright 3

P Travis Wood 3*

PP Adrian Gonzalez 3*

PP Chris Carter 3*

PP Carlos Correa 3*

P Roberto Osuna 3*

PP Kevin Pillar 3*

P Pedro Strop 3*

P Justin Grimm 3*

PP Javier Baez 3*

P Clayton Kershaw 3*

PP Justin Turner 3*

PP Colby Rasmus 1*

PP Kyle Schwarber 1*

P Jake Arrieta 1*

Headlines From Around The Continuum (October 22, 2015)

Posted on by
Reply

A sampling of baseball-related headlines from the Newseum, elsewhere, and occasionally some websites, with the occasional note from me on what they are talking about:

 

Headline: Mets head to first World Series since 2000, sweep Cubbies

New York Times: Suddenly Invincible, Mets Are in World Series

Daily News (Back): ALL WORLD

NY Post (Front): WORLD CLASS!

NY Post (Back): DANIEL BROOM

Newsday (Front): YA GOTTA BELIEVE!

Newsday (Back): HOW SWEEP IT IS!

AM NEW YORK: BELIEVE IT!

Metro- New York: SWEEP

Staten Island Advance: The new Mr. October? (Murphy)

Chicago Tribune: MAGIC RUNS OUT

Chicago Sun-Times (Cubs Extra e-paper): BACK TO THE FUTURE (here meant to mean “Back to the drawing board”)

Daily Herald (Suburban Chicago): TIP YOUR HAT TO THEM

Hartford (Conn.) Courant: NEXT STOP, WORLD SERIES

The Record (Bergen County, NJ): UNSTOPPABLE

News-Gazette (Champaign, Ill.): They’re gone

Jersey Journal (Jersey City): METS HEAD TO WORLD SERIES!

Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ): HOW SWEEP IT IS! (This was used by other papers as well)

Panama City (FL) News Herald: MVP Murphy leads Mets to World Series

Times Union (Albany, NY): Mets move on

Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, Ill.): CLEAN SWEEP

Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY): METS MANIA

Augusta (GA) Chronicle: MOVING ON

Times-Tribune (Scranton, PA): SWEEPING SUCCESS

USA TODAY: CUBS SWEPT BY METS IN 4 (A ironic echo of how the Back To The Future 2 USA TODAY said “CUBS SWEEP SERIES IN 5”)

Journal-Star (Peoria, Ill.): CHICAGO HOPE VANISHES

Naples (FL) Daily News: FOR CUBS, IT’S DO OR…. NEVER MIND

Daily Southern (Tinley Park, Ill.): Met their match

Quad-City Times (Davenport, Iowa): Wait until next year

Omaha World-Herald: Cubs’ dream swept away

El Vigia (Ensenada, Mexico): No se cumplió la profecía (“The prophecy is not fulfilled.”- not doubt referring to the Back To The Future Cubs joke)

El Nuevo Diario (Managua, Nicaragua): Los Mets en la Serie Mundial (“The Mets in the World Series”)

Primera Hora (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico): Los Mets en la Serie Mundial (“The Mets advance to the World Series”)

Headline: Blue Jays send ALCS back to Kansas City for Game 6

Globe and Mail: ESTRADA GEM KEEPS BLUE JAY HOPES ALIVE

National Post: JAYS NOT DONE YET

Toronto Star: EXTRAORDINARY ESTRADA

Kansas City Star: Coming home

St. Joseph (MO) News-Press: BLUE JAYS FORCE GAME 6 AT KAUFFMAN

Calgary Herald: JAYS WIN TO FORCE GAME 6

Junction City (KS) Daily Union: Volquez struggles as Blue Jays force Game 6 in ALCS

Calgary Sun: Going back to K.C.

Lawrence (KS) Journal World: 3-2

Canada’s Metro Papers: 1 DOWN, 2 TO GO

Wichita (KS) Eagle: Royals’ bats silent as Blue Jays win Game 5

Edmonton Journal: JAYS FORCE GAME 6

Guelph Mercury: Jays still alive after 7-1 win over Royals

Chronicle-Herald (Halifax): Kansas City, Here We Come

Hamilton Spectator: Blue Jays win keeps World Series hopes alive

Waterloo Region Record: Still in the game

La Presse (Montreal): Les Blue Jays S’accrochent (“The Blue Jays hang on” or “The Blue Jays cling”)

Ottawa Citizen: JAYS FANS A LITTLE LESS BLUE

Prince George Citizen: Estrada gets it done for Blue Jays

El Nacional (Caracas, Venezuela): Los Azulejos no se entregan (“The Blue Jays do not surrender”)

 

The MR. OCTOBERS of ALCS Games 1 and 2 and NLCS Game 1

Posted on by
Reply

In the LCS round, every Mr. October gets five points.

So, anyway….

ALCS Game 1: Edinson Volquez and Alcides Escobar

ALCS Game 2: Mike Moustakas and Kelvin Herrera

NLCS Game 1: Matt Harvey and Travis d’Arnaud

Standings so far (PP= Position Player, P= Pitcher, * means eliminated from playoffs):

P Jeurys Familia 9

PP Jorge Soler 6

P Marcus Stroman 6

PP Jose Bautista 6

PP Alex Rios 6

P Johnny Cueto 6

PP Daniel Murphy 6

P Edinson Volquez 5

PP Alcides Escobar 5

PP Mike Moustakas 5

P Kelvin Herrera 5

P Matt Harvey 5

PP Travis d’Arnaud 5

P Dallas Keuchel 4*

P Jake Diekman 3*

PP Rougned Odor 3*

P Collin McHugh 3*

PP Kendrys Morales 3

P Shawn Tolleson 3*

PP Delino DeShields 3*

PP Salvador Perez 3

P Ryan Madson 3

P John Lackey 3*

PP Stephen Piscotty 3*

P Jacob deGrom 3

PP David Wright 3

P Travis Wood 3

P Noah Syndergaard 3

PP Adrian Gonzalez 3*

PP Chris Carter 3*

P Marco Estrada 3

PP Troy Tulowitzki 3

P Wade Davis 3

PP Carlos Correa 3*

P Roberto Osuna 3

PP Kevin Pillar 3

P Pedro Strop 3

PP Yoenis Cespedes 3

P Justin Grimm 3

PP Javier Baez 3

P Clayton Kershaw 3*

PP Justin Turner 3*

PP Colby Rasmus 1*

PP Kyle Schwarber 1

P Jake Arrieta 1

 

Headlines From Around The Continuum (October 16, 2015)

Posted on by
Reply

A sampling of baseball-related headlines from the Newseum, elsewhere, and occasionally some websites, with the occasional note from me on what they are talking about:

Headline: Mets beat Dodgers, will face Cubs in NLCS

New York Times: Joy in Metsville

Daily News (Front): UT YOURS!

Daily News (Back): DAN-TASTIC

NY Post (Front): YOU METCHA!

NY Post (Back): DANTASTIC!

Newsday (Front): BRING ON THE CUBS!

Newsday (Back): YES!

METRO- NEW YORK: MIGHTY METS

LA Daily News: METS GIVE DODGERS THE BLUES… AGAIN (This was also used with affiliated papers.)

La Opinion (Los Angeles): Corazón roto (“Broken heart”)

Orange County Register: DODGERS’ BLUNDERS ADD UP

Bakersfield Californian: LIGHTS OUT ON DODGERS’ POSTSEASON

The Record (Bergen County, NJ): Mets’ faith pays off

Press-Enterprise (Riverside, Ca.): FIZZLING AT FINISH

Times Herald-Record (Middletown, NY): JUST AMAZIN’

Monterey (Ca.) Herald): Mets reach NLCS, send Dodgers packing

Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY): HOW ‘BOUT THE BIG APPLE?

Santa Maria (Ca.) Times: Dodgers done

Ventura County (Ca.) Star:  Season at an end

Chicago Sun-Times: NLCS SET: CUBS VS. METS

Daytona Beach (FL) News-Journal: Volusia County’s Jacob deGrom pitches Mets to NLCS

Gainesville (FL) Sun: METS EDGE DODGERS, ADVANCE TO NLCS

Headlines from Around The Continuum (October 13, 2015)

Posted on by
Reply

A sampling of baseball-related headlines from the Newseum, elsewhere, and occasionally some websites, with the occasional note from me on what they are talking about:

Headline: Royals shock Astros with rally, force Game 5

Kansas City Star: DEJA BLUE

Houston Chronicle: It was hard to watch

St. Joseph (Mo.) News-Press: ROYALS RALLY LATE

Primera Hora (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico): “Fallé la jugada, la fallé.” (“I missed the play, I failed.” This is a quote from the Puerto Rican Carlos Correa after his error proved very costly to the Astros.)

Brownsville (TX) Herald: COSTLY ERROR (Correa’s error)

The Monitor (McAllen, TX): COSTLY BLUNDER

The Hutchinson (KS) News: CALL IT A COMEBACK

Wichita (KS) Eagle: ROYALS RALLY PAST ASTROS

Lawrence (KS) Journal-World: KC FORCES GAME 5

El Nuevo Herald (Miami): Los Reales igualan serie con los Astros (“The Royals match/equal series with Astros”)

El Nuevo Diario (Managua, Nicaragua): Kansas obliga a un quinto y decisivo juego (“Kansas forcing a a fifth and deciding game”)

Headline: Blue Jays bash way to Game 5

Dallas Morning News: Oh, no — Canada

Toronto Star: THEY’RE COMING HOME

(Toronto) Globe and Mail: OFFENCE POWERS UP AS JAYS MAKE QUICK WORK OF RANGERS

National Post: Jays victory sets up Wednesday showdown

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Blue Jays win, send series to winner-take-all finale

Canada’s Metro Papers: BACK FROM THE BRINK or BOYS IN BLUE COMING HOME or JUMP FOR JOY (depending on city)

Calgary Herald: BLUE JAYS FORCE GAME 5

Ottawa Citizen: BLUE JAYS TWO-STEP IN TEXAS

Times Record News (Wichita Falls, TX): BACK TO CANADA

Le Journal de Quebec: Les Jays forcent un ultime match (“The Jays force a final game.”)

Amarillo (TX) Globe-News: JAYS FIGHT BACK

Edmonton Journal: BLUE JAYS STAY ALIVE

Winnipeg Free Press: Blue Jays hit power switch, knot series

Headline: Cubs see record six young guns go deep, one win from NLCS

Chicago Tribune: FLYIN’ HIGH

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: DEEP-SIXED

Daily Herald (Suburban Chicago): WRIGLEYVILLE SLUGGERS

Daily Chronicle (Dekalb, Ill.): CRUSHING IT

Beacon-News (Aurora, Ill.): On a real power trip

Belleville (Ill.) News-Democrat: CUBS’ SIX HOMERS BLAST CARDS

Decatur (Ill.) Herald & Review: Homer haven

Courier-News (Elgin, Ill.): Cubs have a blast at Wrigley

Journal Star (Peoria, Ill.): CUBS HAVE A BLAST

Tampa Bay Times: Maddon’s magic arrives at playoffs

Idaho Press-Tribune (Nampa): CHI-TOWN SLUGGERS

Quad-City Times (Davenport, Iowa): HIT PARADE

The Hawk Eye (Burlington, Iowa): Cubs down Cards in Wrigley matchup

Tribune-Star (Terre Haute, Ind.): BREAKING SERIES TIE

The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa): Cubs move one step closer

Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro, KY): HOMER HAPPY

Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press: THE BATTLE CONTINUES

Sioux City (Iowa) Journal: LEG UP

Register Citizen (Torrington, Conn.): Cubs move a game away from NLCS

The Times (Munster, Ind.): CUBS HOMER SIX TIMES, BEAT CARDS

Delaware State News (Dover): Cubs claw Cards in NL Div. Series

The Garden Island (Lihu’e, Hawaii): CUBS TAKE LEAD IN NLDS

 

Headline: Mets avenge Tejada not through beanballs but with offense

New York Times: Revenge of the Mets

Daily News (Front): Kicked ’em in the Uts!

Daily News (Back): CHASE THAT!

New York Post (Front): Monster mash

New York Post (Back): BREAK THIS!

Newsday (Front): METS GET REVENGE AT PLATE

Newsday (Back): TAKE THAT!

Bakersfield Californian: TO THE BRINK

Press-Telegram (Long Beach): Mets use the long ball to rout the Dodgers

The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, Ca.): Mets beat Dodgers, take lead in NLDS

The Record (Bergen County, NJ): Mets answer in big way

Press-Enterprise (Riverside, Ca.): METS DRUB DODGERS

Herald News (Woodland Park, NJ): METS FANS SAVOR THE MOMENT

Ventura County (Ca.) Star: DODGERS BLASTED IN GAME 3

Connecticut Post (Bridgeport): Mets crush Dodgers to take 2-1 lead in NLDS

Herald News (Klamath Falls, Oregon): RECORD EFFORT

 

NEXT TIME ON BREAKING OOTP: MARIO vs. PABLO SANCHEZ

Aside

Next time on BREAKING OOTP, the Seattle MARIOners from last time face off with the Backyard Baseball Kids in a 7-game series to determine who is the greatest video game baseball team ever.

Yes, you’ll hear about Princess Peach pitching to Pablo Sanchez. You will learn the result of Angela Delvecchio vs. Bowser. Pete Wheeler might challenge Petey Piranha’s arm!

Look out for it this coming weekend or so.