The Cape Cod League: Pure Concentrated Americana

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Over the last week, I’ve been vacationing in Massachusetts. And, of course, I made sure to see all of the sites: the USS Constitution, Quincy Market, the Old North Church, the JFK Library and Museum, and, of course, Fenway Park. I even went to a restaurant that is a replica of the bar on Cheers. I’ll write about all of that later, but first, I must tell you about a few innings in what might be the purest baseball this side of an old neighborhood pick-up game: The Cape Cod League.

(JUMP- note that this post is image intensive)

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Projecting the Puerto Rican 2013 WBC Team

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Puerto Rico isn’t the baseball factory it once was. Once Puerto Rico was included as part of the draft, it ceased to produce as many prospects and as a result the entire culture of baseball on the island has suffered. Thankfully, this might be changing as MLB has helped set up baseball academies on the island, and it appears to be working: Carlos Correa was the top pick of this year’s draft, and he was an alum of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy.

However, despite this, Puerto Rico still has some advantages in the tournament. For one, many of the players will have also played winter ball, so will be more fresh and ready than some of the other teams. For another, it’s possible that the Puerto Ricans will be hosting a part of the tournament- they have the past two times- and if so they will no doubt have a rabid fan base behind them. And, finally, they will have Carlos Beltran, who is still a good enough player to be able to turn a game around single-handedly.

So, anyway, with all of this in mind and after much research, I’ve put together a possible roster for the Puerto Ricans:

  • Any player coming off a major injury or who has a history of injuries is unlikely to participate. This is especially true for the pitchers.
  • Players that will be on new teams are less likely to participate, but shouldn’t be completely ignored, with the exception of pitchers.
  • Teams are made up of 28 players, of which 13 of them must be pitchers and two of them catchers.
  • The pitch count rules make relievers extremely important.

More after the jump.

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An act of unnecessary baseball research: Miguel Tejada and Aaron Sorkin

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During the pilot episode of Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom (a good show, if a little soapboxy), newsman Will McAvoy is reminiscing with his old flame/new executive producer MacKenzie McHale and remembers that he once went to an Orioles game with her father, which ended with Miguel Tejada hitting a double to win the game 4-3, driving home runners who were on first and third.

However, either McAvoy’s memory isn’t as sharp as he’d like to believe, or the universe of The Newsroom isn’t just different because there is a fictional news network around… because no such thing ever happened. From 2004 (when Tejada joined the Orioles) to 2007 (it’s said the two of them haven’t seen each other in three years, so presumably that’s the latest such a game could have happened), Tejada didn’t hit any walk-off doubles for the Orioles.

However, just for the sake of argument, here are some possibilities of what he actually was talking about:

The only time that Miguel Tejada ever had a walk-off double with men on first and third was when he was with the Athletics. Given the fact that McAvoy so clearly remembers it being an Orioles game, and the fact that all of these characters appear to be based on the East Coast, he probably didn’t mean that.

He hit a walk-off home run against the Tigers in 2004, but the men were on 1st and 2nd, it ended the game by the score of 7-5, and, let’s face it, it’s hard to believe somebody would think it was a double.

Personally, I think it was likely this game from August 2006. The Orioles, like in the game remembered by McAvoy, won by one. Two men were on when he had the hit (a single). It’s entirely possible that, in the madness that so often follows a walk-off hit, that McAvoy would think that Tejada had gone to second. As for all of the other inconsistencies in McAvoy’s memories, well, he mentions that he and Mackenzie’s father had been drinking a lot that day, so, well, there you go.

So, there you go, the answer to a baseball question nobody asked.

Jim Thome: Just another 500 HR hitter to play for the Orioles

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Jim Thome is, according to MLB Network, going to the Baltimore Orioles. It makes sense: the Phillies have been floundering with their bats on the DL and every starting pitcher not named Cole Hamels either hurt or having a sub-par season (if they continue to rest in the basement, look for Hamels to get shopped around too). The Orioles, having fallen behind New York but still fighting everybody else in the AL East, could always use another bat.

Or maybe they are just continuing the long Orioles tradition of having a member of the 500 Home Run Club play for them at one point or another during their career. Check the jump for what I mean.

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Other baseball movies that need to happen

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After Moneyball drew widespread acclaim and pretty good box office, baseball movies seem to be having a renaissance.A movie on Jackie Robinson is in the works (with Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey and Chadwick Boseman starring as Jackie). Disney is working on a movie about the two Indian pitchers that the Pirates signed after they came over to the states after winning a reality TV show. Ben Affleck is trying to make a movie on the infamous Mike Kekich/Fritz Peterson “wife swap” (Kekich isn’t happy). And now his brother, Casey, is apparently trying to make a movie about Josh Hamilton.

Hamilton’s tale, of course, is perfect for a movie, as it could draw so many different types of people in. Every baseball fan would go to it just because it’s a baseball movie, everybody loves an underdog story, the struggles with substance abuse would play well with critics if done right and Hamilton’s faith would bring in church groups. Of course, there’s the slight problem that the story isn’t done yet: how do you end it? With him winning America’s hearts (but not the trophy) in that Yankee Stadium home run derby? With the 4-home run game? Had that home run of his in Game 6 last season won it for the Rangers, that would have been perfect, but then the Cardinals made their comeback.

But anyway, I’m getting off-topic. The thing with baseball is that there are so many stories that would make great movies. Here are some that should be considered (after the jump):

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Random Video of the Undetermined Amount of Time: Game 6 of the 1986 World Series… in RBI Baseball

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RBI Baseball was one of the great baseball video games of all time. A few years back, somebody used the game to recreate the final inning of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, complete with Vin Scully commentary.

Back then: Fenway Park 100 years ago

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From the Library of Congress is this image of Fenway Park in 1912- 100 years ago! The photo is from what is now right field. A larger version can be seen here.

Yes, that gigantic wall filled with advertisements is what we now know as the Green Monster. And, yes, those are seats in front of it. And there is no overhang on the third-base seats.

But, rest assured, it is Fenway. There is a site here that shows how that stadium has evolved over time.

2013 WBC Projections: Mexico

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Mexico is a bit of an engima. They play lots of baseball in Mexico, but it’s still far from the passion they have for futbol. They have a big professional league of their own that is regarded by MLB as being about AAA level, yet they don’t have that many Major Leaguers, although they are bolstered by some players who were born in the USA but spent much of their childhood in Mexico.

Therefore, Mexico is a bit harder to project, as they have very few MLB players but plenty of ballplayers overall. Thus this involved far more research and statistical searching to compile than, say, the previous WBC projections. That said, I have come up with a roster that fits the criteria I have been following so far:

As always, these are the rules of how I pick this roster, a combination of the official WBC rules on rosters and some unwritten rules that emerged during the first two tournaments:

  • Any player coming off a major injury or who has a history of injuries is unlikely to participate. This is especially true for the pitchers.
  • Players that will be on new teams are less likely to participate, but shouldn’t be completely ignored, with the exception of pitchers.
  • Teams are made up of 28 players, of which 13 of them must be pitchers and two of them catchers.
  • The pitch count rules make relievers extremely important.

Therefore, without further ado, my projections for the 2013 Mexican National Team (after the jump)

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What Franchise has the best Championship Percentage?

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The New York Yankees, are of course, the most successful sports franchise in North America (if not the world) by number of titles: 27. And it’s entirely possible that they could have gotten another one in 1994 had the strike not intervened (of course the same could be said for the Montreal Expos and several other teams). But here’s something that’s always bugged me: The Yankees and most other baseball teams have a big headstart against everyone else. So with the NHL and NBA now done with their postseasons, it’s time to take a look at what team has the best “Championship Percentage”. In other words, what teams have the most championships per year in existence where a championship was possible. Read on for more:

First, some guidelines:

  • Only “Big 4” teams are counted in this. That means foreign teams (Japanese baseball, European soccer, etc.) and minor league teams aren’t counted, nor are teams from the MLS, WNBA, NLL, Arena Football League, etc.
  • Championships will only count in years where the championship as we know it existed. That means that only modern-day World Series count for MLB, only Super Bowls count for NFL, only the Finals count for the NBA and only Stanley Cups from 1927 onward (when it became an NHL-only affair) count for the NHL. Years in which a championship was cancelled don’t count.
  • Years in a league that didn’t have a game in the championship (Pre-Super Bowl AFL, the ABA, the WHA…) don’t count.
  • This is for franchises, not teams. So, for example, the Lakers have the titles from their time in Minneapolis. The only exceptions to this are in those cases where the league has said specifically that they are separate franchises. For example, the Baltimore Ravens are treated by the NFL as if they were a expansion franchise, and the Cleveland Browns are treated as if they never left Cleveland and that they just sort of took a break for a few years in the nineties. Of course, you will not be seeing the Browns at all from this point on, anyway.
  • Teams that haven’t won at all won’t be counted.

More after the jump:

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Great Predictions in History: Umpires work both leagues

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It seems surprising now, but until relatively recently the AL and NL had different sets of umpires, often trained by different people and using different equipment. It wasn’t until 2000 that the two leagues unified the umpiring crews.

That said, it’s not like people hadn’t thought about it before. Just look at this headline from a 1949 issue of Baseball Digest: