Thank You, Capitalism: Five Baseball Things You Need to Own (By Michael Clair)

And now, a special guest post by our friend Mike Clair from Old Time Family Baseball:

Sure, anyone can purchase a throwback jersey, have a wall dedicated to obscure bobbleheads, and even tattoo phrases like “TOOTBLAN” on their toot-maker (I’m talking about your butt). But in case you ever need to prove that you’re not just a baseball fan, but that you’re a tastemaker, a thought leader, and a person ready and prepared for the challenges of tomorrow, well, these are the objects you need to purchase right now.

TEAM BOOB MUG

cardinals boob mug(1)Yes, you already have your team’s beer stein and perhaps some plastic $10 souvenir cup, but until you have your club’s logo monogrammed on a mammary, well, you’ve got nothing.

Even better, not only can you choose which team you want painted on your very own Large Boob Mug, you can also choose between an open and closed nipple. That’s Freedom. That’s America.

(via Etsy)

BASEBALL DIAPER

diaper

When creating a hybrid spawn of yourself and your significant other and/or person you met one night while staying at the Ramada Inn outside of Tulsa, it’s important that they reflect your interests.

And there’s no better way to do that than with diapers! While your newborn infant may not know how to control their bowel movements, they should at least look good while…not controlling their bowel movements.

(via eBay)

SPUDS MACKENZIE POSTERspuds

Are you a 35-year-old man who, because of a hilarious mix-up, has to go back to college in order to claim an inheritance? Then make sure your new roommate knows what a rad baseball-loving party animal you are with this classic and chic Spuds Mackenzie poster.

(via eBay)

THE YOUPPI LISTENING EXPERIENCE

While some think thyouppie Expos move to Washington was a carefully executed scheme by Jeffrey Loria, the truth is actually far more sinister. It turns out that foreign spy agencies were actually forcing political prisoners to dance around in the Youppi costume while his theme song was used for sick and twisted mind control experiments. To this day, Youppi is the nuclear detonation code in some provinces.

This is all true, by the way. You just have to go to the right websites.

(via eBay)

THE MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL CASKET

casket

Because when you’re going to rot in a hole in the ground, you may as well do it with officially licensed MLB gear.

Michael Clair runs Old Time Family Baseball. To the best of the Baseball Continuum’s knowledge, he does not actually own any of these items, but you’d have to check with him to make sure. -DG

MVP of Yesterday (May 7): Matt Harvey

Okay, Matt Harvey is the MVP of Yesterday- I mean, if not for a Alex Rios infield-hit he would have had 9 perfect innings (although who knows what may have happened in the 10th, assuming he still would have pitched, which is definitely in the air). But, well, let’s take a second to look at Harvey.

He made his debut last season, and immediately impressed, giving up only 3 hits and striking out 11 in 5.1 IP in his first game. That was a new Mets record for Ks in a debut, by the way, and when you consider that Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden and Nolan Ryan have made their debut with the Mets, you realize how impressive that is, although admittedly Ryan’s debut was in relief. While his record in 2012 ended up being an unimpressive 3-5, that hides the fact that he had an impressive 2.73 ERA and a 10.6 SO/9 that would have been the league leader if he had had enough innings to be eligible.

But this year, he really has shown his stuff. Quite frankly, while the season is still young, he must be considered the early leader for NL Cy Young (barring injury or a downturn), and is a near-certainty (assuming his rotation schedule holds up) to start for the National League in Flushing this All-Star Game. He has a microscopic 1.28 ERA that is behind only Jake Westbrook, he has the lowest WHIP and H/9 in all of MLB and he has the best WAR in all of baseball when going by Baseball Reference.

If he can keep anything like this up, by the end of the year Harvey may be the king of New York. Which doesn’t happen all that often when you are a Met.

MVP standings after the jump:

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Picture of the day: Ballgame at Manzanar

During WWII, as the nation entered a hysteria after the Pearl Harbor attacks, Americans of Japanese descent were rounded up and moved into internment camps. One of the great shames of American history, the internees none-the-less formed communities inside the camps- and that included creating baseball teams, as can be seen in this famous photo by Ansel Adams, which I found on the Library of Congress feed on Flickr.

Welcome to the The Baseball Continuum 1st Anniversary Spectacular

At 4:27 PM on May 8th, 2012, the Baseball Continuum opened.

In honor of that, there will be plenty of posts today honoring this anniversary. So be sure to check back frequently!

MVP of Yesterday (May 6, 2013): Stephen Drew

Yesterday’s MVP was Stephen Drew (beating out, amongst others, Andrelton Simmons), who went 4-5 with a HR and 3 RBIs, including the game-winning double in extra innings.

MVP Standings (after jump):

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Cool Link: Diamond Mines Scouting Reports Database

Continuum Global News has been delayed until the First Anniversary Spectacular this Wednesday. In it’s stead, here is a cool link.

The Hall of Fame is opening an exhibit about scouting, which is neat. But even cooler is that they’ve started a website that has a searchable database of old scouting reports! While there aren’t that many for more recent players (you won’t find any scouting reports for Buster Posey, for example), it’s full of stuff for older players.
Here are some neat ones I’ve found:

A 1985 scouting report of the Cubs’ affiliate in Peoria: Rafael Palmeiro hits well to all fields, but Greg Maddux is not strong enough to be a starter, according to Duffy Dyer.

Orioles scout John Stokoe discusses Mariano Rivera, who he notes threw a rain-shortened no-hitter against Rochester and who he is impressed with. However, he notes that Rivera doesn’t really have any off-speed pitches, and would need one for future success. Turns out he didn’t need a true off-speed pitch. Much like everyone else, Stokoe never sees the cutter coming.

Mariners scouting report declares Alex Rodriguez is “similar to Jeter only bigger and better.”

Satchel Paige‘s faults in 1956? Too old. In 1958, a scouting report on him has “?” for age.

The Royals scout a young amateur Jim Thome… who was a shortstop at the time. Let that sink in. Jim Thome… was a shortstop. Oh, on a similar note, Frank Robinson was a 3B, and Joe Nathan was being scouted as a shortstop.

Mark McGwire pitched a bit in High School, had a body like Dave Kingman and his father was a dentist, according to a 1984 scouting report by Boston scout Joe Stephenson.

And that is just scratching the surface of what this site has… check it out.

Picture of the day (May 3, 2013): Babe Ruth at a Milk Bar

MVP of Yesterday (May 1, 2013): Jordan Zimmermann

Mike Napoli had a great day at the plate, going 3-4 with 2 HRs, but that came in a blowout win. Jordan Zimmermann, however, went 8 scoreless innings in a tight 2-0 Nationals’ win over the Braves. With Strasburg having early struggles, Zimmermann is currently the ace of the Nationals’ staff. This is Zimmermann’s 2nd MVP of Yesterday, and it makes him the first pitcher with more than one.

MVP Standings after the jump:

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One week until the 1st Anniversary Spectacular!

Why haven’t there been as many big, long articles on the Continuum of late? Well, as I’ve said earlier, it has to do with the fact that coming up is the Baseball Continuum 1st Anniversary Spectacular! It’ll have new installments of the some of the most popular and notable features of the Continuum, such as Bizarre Baseball Culture and a more in-depth version of Famous For Something Else, follow-ups on some of my favorite articles and observations, and also featuring some appearances by others from around the baseball internet who are nice enough to answer my e-mails with something other than a polite decline and/or complete silence. Yes, on May 8, you’ll see the largest number of posts on this blog in memory. And it’ll be for you, the people who have provided the Continuum tens of thousands of views over the last year.

So, uhm, yeah. May 8. 1st Anniversary Spectacular. Be there.

MVP of Yesterday (April 30): Tim Hudson

Tim Hudson threw 7 innings of 3-hit ball, giving up one run. But don’t worry, he got that run right back with a home run of his own.

MVP Standings (after jump):

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