A new link now on the Continuum: “Just A Bit Outside”. From Fox Sports, it’s a site somewhat in the vein of Grantland, Sports On Earth, or SI’s MMQB site, only unlike those, this one only focuses on baseball. Already it has some neat stories up, so check it out.
As I work along on the next Bizarre Baseball Culture, I’ve been distracted by some great baseball articles along the way. Check them out:
Over at Slate: William Edward White was the son of a slave, but he was of mixed race and lived his life as a white man… so does his one appearance in 1879 “count” for being the first African-American major leaguer?
Michael Clair looked at the time Michael Bolton made a softball video. It may well be even weirder than Sammy Sosa Softball Slam.
And, finally, Jonah Keri tries to figure out what is going on with the Orioles.
Some things I didn’t get around to posting about this week:
Johan Santana is now a free agent, and the Twins are amongst the teams interested. You know what that means…
This 30 for 30 short on the couple that used to make MLB’s schedules is well worth watching.
Kevin Long will remain the Yankees’ hitting coach, and by all accounts he’s one of the best hitting coaches in the league.
We found out what Jake Peavy is going to do with that duck boat.
Here are some random links and stories that may interest you:
Among the 12 finalists for the “Expansion Era” ballot of the Hall of Fame Veterans’ Committee: Bobby Cox, Joe Torre, Tony LaRussa, Marvin Miller, Billy Martin, Tommy John and George Steinbrenner. I have to think that at the very least Cox, Torre and LaRussa will get in, and Miller SHOULD too (possibly others), although he should have years ago…
Brad Ausmus is now the Manager of the Detroit Tigers.
The Rakuten Eagles won the Japan Series in 7, beating out the mighty Yomiuri GIants. Masahiro Tanaka, the ace who will likely come to America this winter and who had lost in Game 6 for the first time after 30 straight starts without a loss, got the save.
However, the season isn’t over yet for Rakuten, as the Asia Series is coming up in Taiwan. The Asia Series is, as the name suggests, a tournament of the best teams in Asia, although an Australian and now a European team are also involved, partly because Mainland China’s league no longer is professional. However, the Asian Series is often treated as something of an exhibition, at least by the Japanese (Yakyu Baka notes that the Eagles won’t send Tanaka or the foreign players like Andruw Jones to it, for example), and in previous years crowds haven’t been good, especially for games not featuring the “home” team. The teams taking part in the tournament are the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions (CPBL champions), Samsung Lions (KBO champions), Fortitudo Bologna (European Cup champions, from Italy), Canberra Cavalry (last season’s Australian champions), EDA Rhinos (CPBL runners-up), and the aforementioned Rakuten Eagles (NPB champions).
Finally, there will be more Arizona Fall League on TV this week!
Do you wish you could have a bag made out of the old Metrodome roof? Well, you can now!
Just a few quick blog dealings for today:
-First off, a big thanks to everyone who has visited the Continuum this month so far. Already, January is the most successful month in the site’s history, and this has been the most successful week in the site’s history, and Thursday was the most successful day in the site’s history. So thank you for helping make these recent days so successful, but remember that this success is only because of you, the readers. So don’t forget to check back regularly and tell your friends about the site.
-Don’t forget that the Old Time Family Baseball blogathon that I mentioned yesterday is going on now, and my contribution will be up sometime tomorrow.
-The Glossary has been updated with a few more terms.
-Just another reminder that Joe Connor’s WBC guide remains for sale here at the Continuum, and can be found on this page.
-If you like what you see and would like to donate to the Continuum, you can now do so using the “Tip Jar” on the right side of the front page of the blog. All proceeds will go towards the Baseball Continuum and related expenses such as hosting, domain names and the like*.
*Well, that isn’t entirely truthful. If somebody drops thousands of dollars into it, I might use at least some of it to pay off some loans. But then again, if somebody drops thousands of dollars into the tip jar, I’ll personally do something for you on this blog.
I’ve featured links to a site that covers Japanese baseball, and a site about Korean baseball, so today, I’m putting up a link to a site on European baseball. It’s called “Mister Baseball“. It has nothing to do with that one movie about Tom Selleck playing in Japan, and instead covers all of the ups and downs of the various leagues in Europe, both the two professional ones in the Netherlands and Italy, as well as the smaller competitions elsewhere, while sometimes also giving some general baseball news.
You can find it above, or in the links section of this blog.
I’ve featured Yakyu Baka on the side of the Continuum for awhile, so now is perhaps a good time to link to perhaps it’s Korean equivalent: MyKBO.net.
MyKBO.net, as the name suggests, is about the Korean Baseball Organization and Korean baseball in general. It has links to news and blogs, has the occasional interview with a westerner playing in Korea, and also keeps standings and statistics. In addition, it’s founder, Dan Kurtz, is active on Twitter at @MyKBO and is a pretty good source of news and links on Korean baseball.
So, MyKBO.net has been added to the links part of the Continuum.
This is just a quick note: starting today the Continuum will be featured in Baseball-Reference.com’s “player news” sections, so as you are browsing B-Ref you might come across a link to this site. These links will be to articles where the player’s name was linked to their B-Ref page.
This probably won’t affect any of you whatsoever, but I thought it a good idea to let you all know.
When I am asked- and I am never asked- where to find the best sportswriting on the internet, I point (well, I would point if I was ever asked) to one of two websites.
The first, and the older of the two, is Grantland. Part of the ESPN empire and run by “Boston Sports Guy” Bill Simmons, it sports a large roster of writers writing about not only sports, but also popular culture. While it can sometimes be hit and miss, and Simmons’ himself is decidedly a mixed bag, it is still a daily destination, especially during big-time sports events.
The second, newer but more focused on sports, is Sports on Earth, a joint-venture between USA Today and Major League Baseball Advanced Media that is like Grantland, only without the pop culture. One of the biggest drawing cards for SoE is the fact that it features Joe Posnanski, one of the best sports columnists on the internet, period.
Check them out.
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