Tag Archives: baseball

Speculating on future All-Star Game Locations

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This year, the All-Star Game is in Minnesota. In 2015, it’ll be in Cincinnati.

So what’s after that? Well, Commissioner Selig has said that they want to keep it on the NL-AL-NL-AL rotation, but that leads to this little problem: there are more stadiums in the National League that haven’t hosted the ASG than the American League: After this year, the AL will have only two stadiums (New Yankee Stadium and Tropicana Field) that haven’t hosted an All-Star Game- and practically that just means that there is just one AL stadium still to host, since I doubt Tropicana will get ever get one. Meanwhile, the NL will, after next year, still have four stadiums (Philly, San Diego, DC, Miami) and will have another (the new Braves park) on the way.

 

So, it’s looking like the next decade or so will see a pattern of new stadiums (in NL years) followed by old stadiums (in AL years), with the exception of the year that New Yankee Stadium gets it or (less likely) in new Athletics or Rays parks.

 

Let’s look into the Crystal Ball (speculation is:

 

2014: Target Field, Minneapolis

This, of course, is already set.

2015: Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati

This also is already set.

2016: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore

Type in “2016 MLB All-Star Game” into Google, and the front page is almost entirely of articles talking about how Baltimore and Camden Yards are the front-runners for the game. The only other place mentioned is Wrigley Field (as 2016 would be the 100th Anniversary of the Cubs playing there), but that was from an article in 2011, and goes against the current schedule and also doesn’t take into account that Wrigley will be heavily remodeled in the next few years.

2017: PETCO Park, San Diego

The only things I could find on early 2017 speculation was around Nationals Park and Marlins Park. I don’t think either will get it. The Nationals won’t get it because I doubt MLB would have an All-Star Game site so close to the previous year’s site. The Marlins probably wouldn’t get it because it’s likely that the rest of baseball’s owners will still be angry at Jeffrey Loria, should he still own them, for being a constant PR nightmare who blows up teams every few years. By the way, if my current prediction is correct, the next Marlins fire sale should be in either 2016 or 2017.

So, instead, the game would go to PETCO Park in San Diego, partially due to process of elimination, and partially because San Diego is gorgeous.

2018: New Yankee Stadium, New York City

By 2018, it’ll have been five All-Star Games since the Mets hosted the All-Star Game in 2013. That, coincidentally, is also the span of time between when old Yankee Stadium hosted and when the Mets had it. So, by 2018, it should be safe for the All-Star Game to come back to the Bronx.

2019: New Atlanta Braves Stadium, Cobb County GA

With the exception of teams that are unlucky enough to have new stadiums dangerously close to when their neighbors gets All-Star Games or that are borderline pariahs (the Marlins), Major League Baseball likes getting the All-Star Game to them, particularly if the local government paid for most of the stadium’s construction. So, the new Braves Stadium, due to open in 2017, would be a prime candidate in 2019. Another possibility: Wrigley Field.

2020: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Canada

By 2020, the Blue Jays will be playing on grass, not turf! That will change a lot about the once-Skydome, and will make it a more appealing place to hold an All-Star Game.

2021: Nationals Stadium, Washington DC

By 2021, it’ll have been long enough since the Orioles’ held it for DC to hold the ASG. Alternate possibility: renovated Wrigley Field.

2022: New Athletics Stadium, Who-Knows-Where

Technically, the Athletics recently signed a 10 year extension to their captivity at the Oakland Coliseum, but, I’m sorry, if the Athletics stay in the Oakland Coliseum as it currently is for the next 10 years, I’ll eat my hat. Maybe the Raiders will move to LA (again) and they’ll blow up Mount Davis and turn the Coliseum into a baseball-only venue. Maybe they’ll finally move to San Jose. Maybe they’ll go to Montreal, San Antonio, San Juan, Las Vegas, Portland or any of the other bugaboos that are drummed up anytime a team wants a new stadium. I don’t know, but I’m guessing that by 2022 the Athletics will be in a new place.

If not, uh, I dunno, Texas maybe? Or Cleveland?

2023: Marlins Park, Miami

Loria will have either sold the Marlins or died by this point, and even if he hadn’t the turnover in MLB ownership would have been enough where maybe there won’t be enough people who dislike him enough to keep the All-Star Game away from him. If neither of those things are true: Wrigley Field.

2024: Fenway Park, Boston

It’ll be the 25th Anniversary of the 1999 All-Star Game at Fenway Park. That was the All-Star Game when Ted Williams came out and waved to the crowd. I can only presume that he can be stitched back together and unthawed in time to repeat the feat in 2024.

 

…

So, what do you think of these predictions? Too pessimistic on the chances for Miami or DC?

Also, if you are wondering why Philadelphia isn’t listed, it’s because they are on record as wanting the game in 2026, as part of America’s 250th birthday. Of course, that would require a break in the current rotation of AL-NL, but, hey, there’s 12 years to figure that out.

 

Somebody is selling a trading card of Mike Trout in Little League

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In yet another case of eBay providing mankind access to anything possible, we now see the ultimate souvenir for the discerning Mike Trout aficionado (which is, to say, everyone): a card of the Millville Meteor back when he was a Cub.

“When was Mike Trout a Cub?”, you ask? I can understand, after all, as likely as it is that the Cubs would be able to squander away Mike Trout, it feels like that’s something you’d remember, right?

Well, that’s because it’s not the Chicago Cubs, but rather the Steelman Photo Cubs of the Millville American Cal Ripken League. Yes, it’s a baseball card of 11-year-old Mike Trout:

 

And it’s all available for the low, low, price of $8,927.27! It’s signed too! Yes, somebody not only went through the trouble to somehow track down a little league trading card from 2003, but they got Mike Trout to sign it. As far as I know, there are only a few types of people who would have been able to do that:

A) Mike Trout himself.

B) Mike Trout’s immediate family.

C) Mike Trout’s Little League teammates and coaches.

D) The guy who was hired to make and print these cards in the first place, who keeps copies of them just in case any of the kids become the greatest player on the planet.

E) A local bully who beat up Mike Trout and then took his lunch money and baseball card, which Trout had signed because he believed that if he became a big-leaguer one day, he’d better have had practiced his signature.

F) Somebody who Mike Trout should really consider putting a restraining order on.

Logically, one of them is who put this up on eBay.

Sadly, whoever acquired this didn’t find the true holy grail, as something that needs to be noted here is that this card lacks Trout’s Little League statistics. This is very important. I remember when I was growing up (and I’m, alas, older than Trout), I got my statistics on the back of my card. But, nope, all we get for Trout is this:

All that we can learn from this is that Mike Trout, when he was 11, was 5’1” and weighed 102 lbs. So, guess what, folks? Young Mike Trout was not fat! In fact, he was a little slim! That’s nice and all, but I wanted to see what his stats were. Was he a Pablo Sanchez-level secret weapon? We may never know…

Ever wondered what Mickey Mantle’s favorite music was? Wonder no more.

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While it’s certainly no Stan Musial Wallet, this little thing now on eBay also is, uhm, unique: My Favorite Hits from Mickey Mantle. It’s…

a 1958 LP.

Of Mickey Mantle‘s favorite music.

So, what’s on it? Well, I’m sure as hell not paying $179.99 to find out the exact recordings (or even if there is a sale), but based on what the back of the sleeve says, I can figure it out and give you a reasonably good proximity of what sort of music (hint: a bit of jazz, country and pre-Rock’n’Roll pop) the Mick liked to listen to…

(JUMP)

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Famous For Something Else: Frank Borghi, the washed-up catcher who helped Team USA pull off one of the greatest upsets in the history of Soccer

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The World Cup is going on now in Brazil, so perhaps there is no better time than now to talk about Frank Borghi.

Who is Frank Borghi?

Well, let’s go back to 1950. It was a World Cup year, with the tournament in Brazil then, as it is now. And Team USA was in it then, as it is now. However, this was decades before the United States was even semi-competitive in international competitions, and the team was made up entirely of amateurs or semi-pros, many of them from St. Louis, a hotbed of soccer much like it is a hotbed of baseball.

It was from St. Louis that Frank Borghi came into the picture. Borghi was the team’s goalkeeper, primarily because he lacked much leg strength to actually kick the ball well. Of course, that wasn’t his main profession- he made his living in the funeral home business, and at the time was driving a hearse as his day-job.

Not surprisingly, his relative inexperience showed early on, as he had given up 3 goals to Spain in a 3-1 loss. It wasn’t looking any easier, with England coming up and with a team made entirely of their top professional players, having already beaten Chile 2-0.

But a funny thing happened: the United States won, 1-0, on the strength of a goal in the 38th minute by Joe Gaetjen, a Haitian cook (others say he was a dishwasher or student, or possibly all three) who lived in New York and was only on the team due to the lax FIFA citizenship regulations of the time. The win wouldn’t have been possible without Borghi, who constantly stopped the English onslaught, holding them scoreless despite 20 shots on goal.

The end result was a shocker. It is said (possibly inaccurately) that many newspapers around the world, not believing the result, printed it as a 10-0 win for England, having thought there was a mistake. It probably looked even more shocking a few days later, when the USA was trounced by Chile, 5-0.

Which brings us back to Borghi. After all, he was a goalie mainly because he didn’t have much leg strength, which begs the question of how he got into soccer in the first place?

The answer is that originally he didn’t. No, his true love was baseball- soccer was initially just a hobby to stay fit during the off-season. In fact, Borghi was a good enough player that he was briefly a professional, playing catcher in the very low minors of the Cardinals system in 1946:

Year Age AgeDif Tm Lg Lev Aff G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB
1946 21 -1.4 Carthage KOML D STL 103 272 71 9 6 0 .261 .338 92
1 Season 103 272 272 71 9 6 0 .261 .261 .338 .599 92
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/23/2014.

While in Carthage, Borghi would have likely caught for future MLB pitchers Cloyd Boyer and Bob Habenicht. Borghi, however, would never reach anywhere close to the bigs as a baseball player- according to Baseball Reference, 1946 would be his only year professionally (other sources say that he played more than that year, but it’s possible that those were in non-affiliated leagues or simply have been lost due to the haphazard score-keeping and coverage of the minors at the time). After his professional baseball career ended, he spent more of his time on soccer… which is how a washed-up catcher helped Team USA pull off one of the biggest upsets in soccer history.

Borghi still lives in St. Louis and is a member of the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame and the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

 

Bizarre Baseball Culture: Hideki Matsui’s Godzilla Cameo

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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.

Godzilla came out last weekend, it was a big hit, it was (in my opinion) very good, and there are sequels already on the way and it’s director has also been hired to do a Star Wars spin-off.

But, of course, when most baseball fans think of Godzilla, they think of Hideki Matsui, the great Japanese slugger who had it as his nickname.

Did you know, however, that “Godzilla” actually once had a cameo in a Godzilla movie? In 2002’s Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, he made this cameo (shown below in dubbed form):

Actually, he made two cameos: Later in the movie he shows up again practicing his swing indoors while the lights go out since Mechagodzilla is drawing upon Tokyo’s power-grid, if memory serves.

So, there you go: Hideki Matsui’s Godzilla cameo.

…Okay, so I guess you probably wish there was more here, so, without further ado, here are other connections between Godzilla and Baseball (I would like to thank the internet for basically giving me all of this information):

  • Shea Stadium was destroyed during a monster fight in Godzilla: The Series, the cartoon series that came out after the horrible 1998 movie that claimed to feature Godzilla but just featured an imposter that had his name.
  • Former NPB player Satoshi Kuroda is married to Chiharu Niiyama, who starred in 2001’s Godzilla Mothra King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack.
  • Oscar-Nominated Actor Nick Adams, who ended up starring in Invasion of Astro-Monster (AKA Godzilla vs. Monster Zero) in 1966 (hey, he needed money), at one point turned down a offer from the St. Louis Cardinals to play minor league ball, mainly because he didn’t like the low pay offered.
  • David Straithairn, who plays a military leader in the new Godzilla film, was Eddie Cicotte in Eight Men Out and also had a role as Ira Lowenstein in A League of Their Own.
  • Thomas Tull, the CEO of Legendary Films and producer of the new film, tried out to be a replacement player for the Braves during the 1994-95 strike, and also made a failed bid to buy the Padres in 2012.

There are probably others that I’m missing, but those are the ones I found relatively quickly.

NEXT TIME ON BIZARRE BASEBALL CULTURE: …I’m not sure yet.

Previously on Bizarre Baseball Culture:

Prologue: “Rockets on the Mound” (short story)

1: Captain Marvel teaches baseball to Martians

2: Fantom of the Fair and exploding baseballs

3: Doll Man fights the Baseball Bandits

4: Tony Stark- Baseball Fan

5: The Other Guys

6: The Little Wise Guys and the Absent-Minded Natural

7. Pokémon: “The Double Trouble Header”

8. Dash Dartwell’s PED use for justice

9. The Shield and the Ballpark Murders

10. 2007′s Triple-A Baseball Heroes

11. 2008′s Triple-A Baseball Heroes

12. The Batman and Cal Ripken join forces

13. Sub-Zero and Blasted Bulbs

14. “Pinky at the Bat”

15. How To Play Baseball 

16. Action Comics #50

17. Superman Adventures #13

18. Billy the Marlin (guest-starring Spider-Man)

19. Brittle Innings by Michael Bishop

20. Shortstop Squad

21. Cosmic Slam

22. Thanksgiving Doubleheader (Dick Blaze and Franklin Richards)

23. Mariners Mojo

24. Ozzie Smith and Tony the Tiger

25. 25th Installment!

26. Stuart Taylor travels through time

27. Captain America in “Death Loads the Bases”

28. Captain America in “High Heat”

29. Spider-Man, Uncle Ben, and the Mets

30. Green Arrow and Elongated Man

31. Hideki Matsui’s Godzilla Cameo (you are here)

 

Bizarre Baseball Culture: Spider-Man, Uncle Ben, and the Mets

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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.

(Note: This article may have spoilers to Amazing Spider-Man 2, since I reference a major storyline that I’m going to guess shows up in the movie. It’s in the second-to-final paragraph before the jump, if you want to know what to skip to avoid the spoiler.)

As the sequel to the reboot of Spider-Man comes out, entitled The Amazing Spider-Man 2, now is as good as any to do a Bizarre Baseball Culture on a comic entirely about Spider-Man and his baseball fandom. Now, ole’ Web-Head is no stranger to Bizarre Baseball Culture, having shown up in the past on at least three occasions (most recently fighting Doctor Doom alongside Billy the Marlin), but those were promotional comics that happened to feature Spider-Man. This time, we are looking at an honest-to-goodness Spider-Man comic: Peter Parker Spider-Man (Volume 2) #33. This issue from 2001 is about Peter Parker’s relation with his late Uncle Ben, and how baseball was a bond between them.

Now, before we begin, I’d like to write a bit about Spider-Man in general. What made the Marvel characters different when they first started appearing in the 1960s was that they were, in general, more relatable and flawed than the DC counterparts and the Marvel superheroes that had been created in the 30s and 40s. The Fantastic Four was often bickering with each other (like an family does), the X-Men were shunned by most of society (Stan Lee has said that being a mutant is basically meant to be a stand-in for being a minority), the Hulk was shunned by basically all of society… and Spider-Man, for lack of a better term, was a loser.

Okay, maybe not a loser, but definitely the closest thing there had been up to that point: an unpopular kid with no parents, only one family member of any sort (Aunt May) and little money. To make matters worse, when supervillains weren’t coming after him, the press and/or the police were. If things could go wrong for Peter Parker, they probably have. Parents? Dead. Uncle? Dead. Aunt? Perpetually sick. First true love (Gwen Stacy)? Murdered (and, amazingly, never came back to life). Second true love (Mary Jane)? Marriage magically annulled in a story far too stupid to talk about. Heck, while I haven’t read it, apparently most recently poor Peter Parker saw his body body-snatched by Doctor Ocopus while he was forced to die in “Doc Ock’s” cancer-ridden body (don’t worry, he got better). But all of this pales in comparison to the greatest, most horrible fate to ever fall upon Spider-Man:

Being a fan of the New York Mets.

(JUMP)

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Bizarre Baseball Culture: Captain America saves a HS ballplayer from Drugs!

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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.

Previously, we covered a Golden Age adventure featuring Captain America, but now it’s time to look at one that takes place in post WWII. This time, we take a look a comic book in which Captain America must protect a high school baseball player from the great threat of… DRUGS!

Yes, drugs. And I don’t mean the performance-enhancing kind, I’m talking cocaine and other fun stuff like that. And, before you ask, yes, this was a comic made specifically to give an anti-drug message, specially in cooperation with the FBI and New York State Life Underwriters. It’s right on the cover:

CapDrugsCover

So, anyway, go below the jump for a look at the 1990 Anti-Drug comic, “High Heat”.

(Get it? High Heat? Because of drugs and because it’s about a baseball player? Oh, nevermind.)

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So, where exactly was this picture taken? AKA: Where the heck would they play baseball in Dubai?

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You may have seen this picture online a few days ago (click to enlarge):

As you can see, it’s a baseball game being played outside of Dubai, with the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa (formerly known as the Burj Dubai) rising in the distance.

Of course, the United Arab Emirates isn’t exactly a baseball hot bed. So I was wondering where this picture was taken. So I did some research… and found it!

Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 1.26.41 PMAt Al Quoz Pond Park south of Dubai’s downtown is the site of the Dubai Little League. To be more specific, the picture of the game with the Burj in the distance was taken at the large, adult-sized north field. As you can see below, this Little League facility is definitely close enough and in the right direction relative to Dubai’s downtown where the view in the top picture is what batters would see:

Screen Shot 2014-04-24 at 1.31.21 PMSo, there you have it: Not only are there baseball fields in Dubai, but at least one of them has a killer view.

Bizarre Baseball Culture: Captain America in a Golden Age Tale

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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.

With the upcoming release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, now is the best possible time to unleash upon you not one but TWO stories featuring the Super Soldier of World War Two. One of them features Cap back during the “Golden Age” of the 1940s, while another takes place after he had been unfrozen from a decades-long ice-sleep.

And, man, what a doozy this one is, from Captain America Comics #7 in October 1941 (I read it as a reprint in a 2009 commemorative issue celebrating 70 years of Marvel comics). This is very early in the history of Captain America, before his trademark shield had it’s most notable look and even before Pearl Harbor. Yes, Captain America was punching Nazis before the United States was even in the war. No Nazis in this story, though, nor are there any Japanese or Italians. No, this story has Captain America and Bucky face off against the hooded villainy of… the Black Toad! You know of the Black Toad, right? Right?

Anyway, this is in…. DEATH LOADS THE BASES.

(GO BELOW THE JUMP FOR MORE)

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2014 SEASON PREVIEW (PART 10): Predictions for the Season, without any further explanations (except one)

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It’s time. Who will be the division winners? Who will win the World Series? Time to see my predictions… without further explanation (except for one).

 

AL East: Boston Red Sox

AL Central: Detroit Tigers

AL West: Texas Rangers

AL Wild Cards: Tampa Rays, Oakland Athletics

AL Champion: Detroit Tigers

NL East: Washington Nationals

NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals

NL West: LA Dodgers

NL Wild Cards: Reds and Giants

NL Champion: St. Louis Cardinals

 

And finally….
World Series Champion: St. Louis Cardinals

 

So why do I think the Cardinals are going to win it all this year? Well, it’s partly my gut, but there is also plenty of good logic behind it. While they have lost Carlos Beltran, the fact remains that their young players- and they have some good ones- will be one more year experienced. And, what’s more, many of those young players are pitchers (such as 2013’s postseason hero Michael Wacha and fire-balling reliever Trevor Rosenthal), and as always pitching is the way to October success. Mix that with their experienced players like Adam Wainwright and Matt Holliday, and you have a team that should be one of the favorites to win the World Series in 2014.