Tag Archives: baseball

Recurring Characters of the OOTP International Baseball Competition

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Many of you have likely been following the International Baseball Competition here, in which I simulate a season-long World Baseball Classic-style competition between national baseball teams and also add in some storylines and cast of characters to spice things up. But if you haven’t read all of them, or simply are having trouble remembering, there’s a rundown of some of the cast of characters after the jump. It will be updated occasionally as the IBC season goes on:

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OOTP International Baseball Competition Part 5: The Haunting of Joe Maddon by the Bambino George H. Ruth

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Throughout the year, I’ll be posting updates of a simulated league from Out Of The Park Baseball 2016 made up of national “dream teams” to determine what the greatest baseball country on Earth is… or something like that. Previous installments can be found here. This is a long post, so there is a JUMP after the first day. Also, hit any picture to make it bigger and more readable.

April 20

Another week of IBC action also began a new set of series: Panama at Korea, USA at Taiwan, Dominican at Colombia, Mexico at Netherlands, Australia at Italy, Cuba at Venezuela, Japan at Canada and Puerto Rico at Rest-Of-World.

Korea started the action with a 9-1 win over Panama, taking advantage of an 8-run 4th inning.

In Taiwan, Team USA again steamrolled a hapless opponent, routing Taiwan 13-0 with home runs by Matt Kemp (his 5th) and Paul Goldschmidt (his 3rd) along the way with Matt Harvey going 8.1 IP with 8 Ks and only 6 hits given up. Late in the game, Joe Maddon sent Josh Donaldson up to pinch-hit for Evan Longoria, “just so that I have something to do today.” He also put in Sean Doolittle to end the game after Harvey hit his pitch-count.

Nelson Cruz homered twice and Adrian Beltre and Starling Marte also hit round-trippers in a 11-1 Dominican win over Colombia, but Jose Bautista had to leave the game after getting hit by a pitch. His diagnosis was pending.

The Netherlands’ funk continued, as they lost to Mexico, 4-2. After beginning the season 9-0,  the Dutch had gone 4-6.

In Nettuno, the Italians found themselves down to the Australian, 5-4, going into the bottom of the 9th. Three Grant Balfour strikeouts later, and it was over. Ned Kelly O’Shaughessy, of course, celebrated by drinking some of the local wine.

Later, in the Western Hemisphere, Jhoulys Chacin had a heck of a game as Venezuela beat Cuba 8-0, giving up only 4 hits over seven innings of work.

Up in Toronto, the Canadians upset Japan, 3-1, on the strength of a 2-run HR by Justin Morneau in the first inning and a nice performance by Shawn Hill and the Canadian bullpen.

A 3-run 8th by Team Rest-Of-World tied up the game with Puerto Rico at 3-3…. and that would be all until the bottom of the 10ths, where Jonathan Albaladejo walked Jabari Blash with the bases loaded for a walk-off walk and a 4-3 Rest-Of-World victory. Edwin Rodriguez could be seen with his face in his palm as the winning run walked across the plate. What a way to go.

(GO BELOW THE JUMP FOR MORE)

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There was a baseball reference on Arrow tonight….

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20150415_213952You may have trouble seeing it in my crummy phone camera picture there, but it says up there that the evil laser-eye-shooting killer from tonight’s episode of Arrow was last seen at Gantner and Yount.

Obviously, somebody in the Arrow writing room is a fan of the Brewers teams of the 1980s.

(Also, a requisite link to the Green Arrow installment of Bizarre Baseball Culture.)

 

 

On the Red Sox-Yankees 19-inning marathon

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It’s all my fault. Sometime late in the 6th inning, I wrote this:

God, I was so stupid. Because I then went and watched the first episode of Daredevil, and when that was over, we turned to ABC WHAM-13 (which the Yankee game was simulcasting on here in Rochester) expecting to see the end of the news. And not only was the game on and in extra innings, they were in a blackout delay because of some problems with the lights.

  And when they did start again, the game went on, and on… and on…

David Ortiz hit a home run, but the Yankees then tied it up. The game went to the 17th inning.

 

Some began to lose it:

Other became philosophical:

Some tried to look towards survival:

But, eventually, it finally ended:

What do we do, indeed. Oh, and kudos to Dutch actress Clarice Van Houten (AKA Melisandre from Game of Thrones), who proved her Honkbal cred by staying for the entire game:

And now…maybe, we can go to sleep.

 

NAAAAAAHHHH, more games start today at one! We can sleep during the off-season!

Book Review: The Essential W.P. Kinsella

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W.P. Kinsella is best known as the writer of Shoeless Joe, the book that Field of Dreams was based on. However, that just scratches the surface of the many short stories and novels he has written over the years, not just on baseball, but also on others subjects, such as those related to the “First Nations” of his homeland of Canada.

And for Kinsella’s 80th birthday and the 25th anniversary of the release of Field of Dreams, many of his short stories have been put together in Tachyon Press’ The Essential W.P. Kinsella.

While I, of course, was most interested in the baseball stories within and only skimmed some of the other works, rest assured that this is a big and comprehensive collection of many of Kinsella’s works, and while some are better than others, you cannot deny that this is a big and diverse assortment of stories that Kinsella clearly put a lot of care into.

So, without further ado, here are some thoughts and reviews on some (not all- I’ll admit two or three of the stories just sort of failed to stick with me) of the baseball stories within Essential W.P. Kinsella:

The first baseball story in the collection is “How I Got My Nickname”, a strange fantasy tale where a dream-version of W.P. Kinsella talks about playing with the 1951 Giants, who all share his family’s love of books and languages. A weird story, but kind of cute when you think of it as a childhood fantasy.

In “The Night Manny Mota Tied The Record”, a writer (again likely a thinly-veiled Kinsella) is given the opportunity by some sort of cosmic arbiter to die in Thurman Munson’s place, and that such a opportunity is given to people anytime a well-known figure dies a premature death. An interesting concept, and in some cases it feels like something that would be better suited for a individual bigger than Thurman Munson (they off-handedly remark on presidents and civil rights leaders that had been spared or condemned due to how their cosmic substitutes decided). I wasn’t sure what to think about this story, and the ending was pretty corny. Still, a neat concept.

“Searching for January”-which runs with the fact that no trace of Roberto Clemente was ever found- is about a man in the late 1980s who discovers a time-lost Clemente drifting onto a Latin American beach, having apparently not aged a day since his fateful flight and thinking it’s now January 1973. This set-up actually ends up being much better than it sounds, and this is arguably my favorite baseball story in the collection, although the ending is just like an episode of The Twilight Zone I remember seeing. Despite that, it’s a great little gem of a story, and I’m somewhat surprised it hasn’t been made into a short film or anything.

Oh, and if anybody wants to make this into a short film, call me, I’ll write the screenplay.

“Distances” is about a old pitcher with the uncanny ability to remember the distances between major city who convinces a Iowa high school team to let him pitch for them in a game against a company team. It’s alright, I guess, but is a bit plodding at times.

“How Manny Embarquadero Overcame” is a twist on the the tale of a Latin American player lying about his age or identity, except it also involves voodoo, Detroit, and an ugly dog. It has a great first line that pulls you right in, but sadly the story doesn’t quite pay off the good lede.

Whether “K Mart” is a story about baseball or merely a story that involves baseball is a question the story itself asks. It’s more about the growing up and regrets of a guy who returns to the town where he played pick-up ball for the funeral of his first crush, if you ask me.

The final story of the collection is “Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes To Iowa”, the story that was later expanded into Shoeless Joe and then adapted into Field of Dreams. It is roughly (if I remember Shoeless Joe correctly) the first chapter of that book, in which Ray Kinsella builds the field and then Joe Jackson shows up, eventually asking if he was in heaven (“No, it’s Iowa.”). It’s a good read and you definitely could see why it was ultimately made into a full book and then the movie, although you can’t help but look at some of the parts that are dated or different from the movie that eventually was made from it (for example, in the story, it’s mentioned that Wrigley Field doesn’t have lights, but in the movie, it’s specifically mentioned that even Wrigley Field now has lights).

Speaking of which, at the end of the collection, there is a short piece by W.P. Kinsella about that story, the book, and the movie adaptation, and I learned some things from it. For example, his working title was The Kidnapping of J.D. Salinger (Salinger would become the Terrance Mann character played by James Earl Jones in the film), and the voice in the film that speaks to Ray was Ed Harris.

Overall, I found The Essential W.P. Kinsella something of a mixed bag. Kinsella’s writing is great when it’s on, but can be a bit grating and hokey when it isn’t, and while there are a lot of good ideas in his stories, not all of them are always followed upon. Still, I’d recommend this book, especially if you liked Field of Dreams and the semi-magical properties it ascribes baseball.

Note: I was provided a review copy of this book.

OOTP International Baseball Competition Part 4: Can Italy finally win a game?

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Throughout the year, I’ll be posting updates of a simulated league from Out Of The Park Baseball 2016 made up of national “dream teams” to determine what the greatest baseball country on Earth is… or something like that. Previous installments can be found here. This is a long post, so there is a JUMP after the first day. Also, hit any picture to make it bigger and more readable.

April 13

A day of rest across the Competition. Some minor moves here and there, such as Australia placing Brendan Wise on the DL and Mexico doing the same with Luis Alfonzo Garcia, but nothing Earth shattering. Instead, teams prepared for their next series: Dominican Republic at Australia, Rest-Of-World at South Korea, Mexico at Taiwan, Japan at Italy, Cuba at Netherlands, Panama at USA, Venezuela at Canada, Puerto Rico at Colombia. The best series of the bunch, most agreed, would be Cuba-Netherlands. However, a morbid curiosity had taken hold with Team Italy, the only team still without a win, as they were to host Japan, 9-3 and with their only losses coming against the Dominican… who, it should be noted, were waiting for Italy after the Japan series.

It’s not like they hadn’t had chances: they’d lost by just one to the Netherlands early in the season, and had at one point held a 5-0 lead on Puerto Rico. But, in the end, without fail, every time the final out was recorded, Marco Nanni’s team had lost.

But, hey, maybe this would be the week!

MORE AFTER JUMP:

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OOTP International Baseball Competition Part 3: Week 2

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Throughout the year, I’ll be posting updates of a simulated league from Out Of The Park Baseball 2016 made up of national “dream teams” to determine what the greatest baseball country on Earth is… or something like that. Previous installments can be found here. This is a long post, so there is a JUMP after the first day. Also, hit any picture to make it bigger and more readable.

April 6:

The final games of the second series of the season actually started the day before, as Italy at Korea and Taiwan at Japan both began at 11:05 Eastern time on Sunday night.

In Tokyo, it was the Masahiro Tanaka show, as he struck out 14 Taiwanese, a record for the young season, while the Japanese offense got to Wei-Yin Chen and the Taiwanese bullpen to get the 8-0 win in a crisp two-and-a-half hour game. Japan thus remained undefeated at 6-0, while the Taiwanese fell to 2-4 on the year.

In Seoul, Italy remained without a victory, as Korea bludgeoned them, 12-2. Byung-Ho Park and Yong-Taek Park hit home runs, while Hyun-Jin Ryu (who wasn’t on the DL when this simulation started, and thus isn’t on the DL in the simulation) got the win.

Several hours later, in the visitor’s clubhouse of Rogers Centre, Team USA manager Joe Maddon sat in his office with his Bench Coach, the esteemed Buck Showalter. It was, to be sure, an unusual pair- the personable and quirky Maddon and the outwardly gruff Showalter. But Team USA hadn’t lost a game yet, and there hadn’t been any complaints or anything from those who had been on the bench the whole time!

And there were many: Matt Holliday hadn’t played yet. Joe Mauer hadn’t played yet. Jonathan Lucroy and David Wright hadn’t played yet either. Luke Donaldson had only played once. Long-reliever Madison Bumgarner (“I wish I had this much depth in the real world,” said Joe) and middle set-up man Steve Cishek had yet to leave the bullpen.

In fact, the discussion today seemed to be whether maybe they should shake up the starting line-up. They decided not to.

And then Joe Maddon spoke:

“Man, this is very cool, it’s like a computer-enhanced situation that’s perfect.”

Buck Showalter just let out a “Mmmm-hmmmm”.

Not long after the discussion in Toronto, the mid-day game in Caracas started between Venezuela and Australia. Liam Hendriks pitched well for Australia, giving up only 7 hits, but sadly for him, he allowed two runs, while Felix Hernandez allowed only one. And, to make matters worse, Hendriks left the game with an injury, at the time not yet disclosed. Ned Kelly O’Shaughessy didn’t take the news well, needless to say, and at one point screamed at God, saying that he volunteered to have inflicted upon him any injury that had hit one of Australia’s few starting pitchers with MLB experience. At the end of the game, he teared up while saying: “Well, mates, our boys lost 2-1 today, but it feels like 20-1. I need a drink.”

Up in Canada, meanwhile, it looked like Joe and Buck’s decision to keep with the usual line-up was working out just fine. After 4 innings, Team USA led 6-1, and Canada was already putting in it’s 3rd pitcher of the day in Chris LeRoux. A Paul Goldschmidt single and a Andrew McCutchen home run later, and it was 8-1.

“Alright, alright, alright,” said Joe Maddon. Buck kept the same expression he always has:

Team USA bench coach Buck Showalter, simply delighted by a 8-1 lead with Clayton Kershaw on the mound.

Team USA bench coach Buck Showalter, simply delighted by a 8-1 lead with Clayton Kershaw on the mound.

As the game went on, it became even more of a rout: Buster Posey and Giancarlo Stanton went back-to-back off Scott Richmond in the 6th and two more runs were added off Dustin Molleken in the 8th. Kershaw, meanwhile, taking Tanaka’s earlier performance for a challenge, went and struck out 15 Canadians, resetting the record not even 24 hours after it had been set.

Post-game, Maddon quipped that the 3-game sweep of Canada was America’s revenge for Queenston Heights. No American sports writer had any goddamn idea what he was talking about.

In Latin American night games:

The Dominican Republic scored two runs in the 8th and one in the 9th to edge out a 5-4 victory over the Puerto Ricans, who fell to 0-6. Robinson Cano had two home runs.

Colombia also remained winless, as they were beat by Rick Vandenhurk and the Dutch 2-1.

Cuba demolished Panama, 16-3, but received a scare as Odrisamer Despaigne had to leave early with a tender shoulder. He was listed as day-to-day after the game.

But in Nicaragua, the game was going into the Bottom of the 9th and the home-team Rest-Of-Worlders were tied up with Mexico, 3-3. However, Rene Leveret (a French-born 1B who plays in the Indy leagues) and Cheslor Cuthbert (a Nicaraguan Royals prospect) died with groundouts, and a Antoan Richardson (Bahaman, Rangers Organization) single was for naught when pinch-hitter Kai Gronauer (German, formerly of the Mets organization) flew out to right. To extra-innings the game went, and there a Jorge Cantu double brought home the winning run for Mexico as they stood victorious 4-3 over the still winless Rest-Of-Worlders.

(GO BELOW THE JUMP FOR MORE)

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“30 Teams, 30 Posts” (2015): A request to the Minnesota Twins, from a Rochester Red Wings Fan

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In 30 Teams, 30 Posts, I write a post about every MLB team in some way in the lead-up to the beginning of the 2015 season. Previous installments can be found here. Today, in the final installment, an open letter from a Rochester Red Wings fan to their parent club.

TO: Minnesota Twins

CC: General Manager Terry Ryan, CEO Jim Pohlad, Director of Minor League Operations Brad Stell, Manager Paul Molitor

SUBJECT: Sano and Buxton

Hello,

I am writing as a fan of the Rochester Red Wings, your AAA club. You’ve been good to us over the years. We’ve made the playoffs twice and come close a few other times since this affiliation began, and we’ve been lucky enough to see Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer, Brian Dozier, Francisco Liriano, Denard Span, Grant Balfour, Glen Perkins, and many other fine players. We even got to have Joe Mauer and Joe Nathan stop by briefly on rehab assignments, which was nice.

But, not to sound ungrateful, we have a simple request for this coming season: Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton. We very much would like it if you had them stop here before you inevitably call them up in September (if not earlier), perhaps never to grace minor league fields again.

Now, we understand. Neither of them have been able to put much time in AA yet, and with a new affiliate in the Chattanooga Lookouts, you no doubt are looking to make a good first impression. And, what’s more, Chattanooga’s climate is probably way better for a young baseball player in April and May than Rochester’s is.

Seriously, the weather here in April can never seem to remember what season it is. Yesterday, I was in shorts, but this weekend, it could snow.

However, that doesn’t change the fact that, come June, Rochester would be the perfect place for Minnesota’s two biggest prospects since Mauer to prepare for the big leagues. The weather will be getting warmer, schools will start letting out, and Frontier Field will start getting packed. By the 4th of July, the stadium will be full basically every Friday night, with some fans packing cowbells and giveaway thunder-stix, much to the annoyance of some people.

And it’ll be even more special if we have Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano to cheer on. Some of us have been waiting for years to see them. So, please, if at all possible, don’t make them bypass AAA.

Thank you, and good luck on your upcoming season,

-A Rochester Red Wings Fan

“30 Teams, 30 Posts” (2015): The Cubs won’t be boring

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In 30 Teams, 30 Posts, I write a post about every MLB team in some way in the lead-up to the beginning of the 2015 season. Previous installments can be found here. Today, the Cubs.

There is a saying that a work of fiction can be good or bad, but the worst thing it can be is be boring. The same could be said for baseball teams. And, well, the Cubs may be many things this season, but they will not be boring.

After all, this is a team with Joe Maddon as manager. He’s never boring. He’s always doing crazy shifts, having his team do themed road-trips where they dress up as 1890s gentlemen or Hawaiian beach bums or whatever.

They have wonder-prospect Kris Bryant. Or, at least, they will. It’s complicated, but basically they’ll call him up within a few weeks, when they’ll be able to start his service clock late enough where they’ll be able to keep him from free agency for an extra year.

They have Wrigley Field still under heavy renovation. The bleachers won’t be done for at least two months. What the heck! How does this happen? Still, not boring.

And, of course, they have their endless quest to finally win their first World Series since 1908, and, perhaps more importantly, the quest to prove Back To The Future II correct.

So, yes… the Cubs are not going to be boring this year. That is for sure.

“30 Teams, 30 Posts” (2015): The Padres do exist! Let’s remember when we thought otherwise!

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In 30 Teams, 30 Posts, I write a post about every MLB team in some way in the lead-up to the beginning of the 2015 season. Previous installments can be found here. Today, the Padres.

It’s nice to see that San Diego, one of the most beautiful cities in America, has finally gotten a MLB team again. I mean, maybe they’ve had one the last few years, but I honestly can’t remember. After all, the Padres were like extras in a movie: there, but unnoticed.

So, let’s remember the years where San Diego only technically had a Major League team, because we all forgot they existed:

2007: The last year I can truly remember the Padres existing before this year. They got into a tie-breaker playoff against the Rockies and lost in 13 innings. The age of darkness began.

2008: 63-99 and last place. America only recognized their existence when Jake Peavy or late-career Greg Maddux pitched, along with the occasional Trevor Hoffman milestone.

2009: 75-87, 4th place. The most notable thing listed about them on their Wikipedia page is that Jody Gerut became the first player in history to have a lead-off home run in a new stadium when he led off the first game at CitiField with a homer off of Mike Pelfrey. Jake Peavy was traded this year and Trevor Hoffman had gone to the Brewers. The sinkage into obscurity seemed to be in full swing.

2010: Actually a pretty good year, as they went 90-72 and finished in second place, a beacon of relevance in a ocean of meh. Oh, but they blew a 6.5 game lead late in the season and lost the division to the Giants, and then Adrian Gonzalez was traded after the season. And then they returned to obscuresville.

2011: 71-91, last place. I cannot remember a thing about this team.

2012: 76-86, 4th place. This was Chase Headley’s breakout year, if I remember correctly. Other than that, I can’t think of anything special about the Padres in 2012.

2013: 76-86, 3rd place. Was this the year they had the fight with the Dodgers? I think this was the year they had a fight with the Dodgers. Otherwise, I can’t remember a thing about them.

2014: 77-85, 3rd place. Tony Gwynn died and everything was terrible. Otherwise, I can’t remember much about them.

…And then there is 2015. I guess we’ll see how that turns out, huh?

Next time: The Cubs.