Tag Archives: Random Stuff

The Best Unlicensed/Unofficial Baseball Posters on the Internet

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First, there were the T-Shirts. And one day, I will return to those. But today, we are going to look at fan-designed unofficial and unlicensed posters. What type of posters? Well, go below the jump to see:

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Dear MLB Network: Steal these three ideas

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In 1928, sliced bread hit the market. Presumably, the phrase “best thing since sliced bread” was started shortly after. Amongst the things better than sliced bread: MLB Network.

But MLB Network isn’t perfect, so, if anybody from MLB Network is reading this, here are some suggestions:

1. Bring back Baseball IQ, open it to fans.

Baseball IQ was a tournament on MLB Network last offseason where representatives from the 30 MLB teams as well as organizations like the Hall of Fame had a trivia tournament, with the winning team getting money for charity.

Bring that back, only open it up for fans. Scour the Internet and SABR for people to play it. The winner of the whole thing would win a “golden pass” that allows them to attend any MLB event free of charge (these are normally given only to presidents and Hall of Famers, although they were also given to the Iranian hostages, Charles Lindbergh, etc.)

2. During the season, occasionally have “breakfast baseball” by showing games live from Japan.

Would give early-risers something to watch, and increase the exposure of international baseball to an American audience. The announcers would be in New Jersey calling it off of a Japanese feed. Wouldn’t cost all that much.

3. Have a minor league show

Most people have no idea what is going on in the minor leagues, and to most fans, even the best prospects are just names on paper. Why not have a show that showcases Minor League players and games, a sort of mini-version of MLB Tonight for the most extreme baseball aficionados who want to know how well the number seven prospect for the Royals is doing, or what’s going on in the Eastern League pennant races.

I mean, it can’t hurt, right?

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Bizarre baseball connections and other trivia

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Weird connections between baseball and other areas, most of which have nothing to do with baseball. All of these are true:

  • Victor Conte, steroid guru, was a member of the band Tower of Power for a few years in the seventies and eighties.
  • Todd Zeile is a direct descendant of President John Adams.
  • Reggie Jackson was considered for the role of Geordi LaForge in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
  • Umpire Cal Hubbard is the only man in the baseball and pro football Halls of Fame.
  • Hugo Bezdek is the only man to manage a MLB team (Pirates from 1917-1919) and NFL team (Cleveland Rams, 1937-38). He also coached college football, college basketball and college baseball at one time or another.
  • Casey Candaele, who played for the Expos, Astros and Indians during the 80s and 90s, was the son of Helen Callaghan, a player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
  • Ted Williams was John Glenn’s wingman in the Korean War.
  • Pitcher Trevor Bell, who pitched parts of the previous three seasons with the Angels but who is no longer in the majors, is the grandson of the original Bozo the Clown.
  • Todd Helton was replaced by Peyton Manning at QB at the University of Tennessee and ended up being his backup. Seth Smith was Eli Manning’s backup at Ole Miss. Helton and Smith were both on the Rockies from 2007 to 2011.
  • The Albuquerque Isotopes take their name from a episode of The Simpsons where the local baseball team, the Springfield Isotopes, almost moved to Albuquerque. Although to be fair, New Mexico certainly does have connections with nuclear isotopes.

Well, that makes sense.

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Most Baseball Reference pages for pitchers look like this:

Well, Jim Abbott wasn’t like most pitchers, due to the fact that he didn’t have a right hand. To field, he would switch his glove from his right arm onto his left hand and then switch it again to make the throw. Therefore, he wasn’t like Maddux, who obviously had his glove on his left hand. So B-Ref has a unique solution to mention this:

Makes sense.