Monthly Archives: January 2012

Baseball Dogs on Super Bowl Sunday? You Bet!

Posted on January 31, 2012 | Leave a comment

8# Strasburger!

Sorry Guys!   This blog’s been deleted.   Try this Link  instead.  It may not have the 8# Strasburger shown here, but it has some super great recipes for Super Bowl Sunday too!

Guaranteed!

 

Leave a comment

Posted in A3 Ballpark Food

Tagged , , , , ,

A SABR Day in Sunny San Francisco!

Posted on January 28, 2012 | Leave a comment

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I’ve been a member of  the Lefty O’Doul Chapter of SABR,  Society for American Baseball Research, for a year now and this was the first function I’ve been able to attend.   I mention this because I wish I’d attended all the functions this past year and I had this thought that,  if you were exposed to the idea, you’d probably like to do the same thing.

Our day included a tour of AT&T Park, a video conference with the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown,  special guest speakers Henry Schulman, sport writer for the SF Chronicle and author Michael Duca, Chapter President, Marlene Vogelsang  and SABR National Director, Paul Hirsch giving us lots of good timely information.  It was a very good day in San Francisco!

So in recognition of  “SABR Day in America 3″ this is an open invitation to anyone interested in finding out more about SABR to please check it out.   You’ll meet some really great baseball fans and be able to talk baseball all you want without having to deal with eyes rolling back in the head indicating “oh boy, here we go again”.  These guys get it! And so will you!

Leave a comment

Posted in A1 Baseball, General

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Book Review by MLB Reports

Posted on January 23, 2012 | 1 comment

Book Review

Sunday January 22, 2012  Posted by 

“Garlic Fries and Baseball: The Book” –  By Ronni Redmond  (2011)

MLB reports – Jonathan Hacohen:  From baseball blogger to author. This is the story of Ronni Redmond and her website: “Garlic Fries and Baseball.”  As you have probably guessed from the title, Ronni loves ballpark food. Heck, she loves everything baseball. I had no idea what to expect from this book. Perhaps a list of top ballpark foods. A ballpark recipe book. It could have gone in many directions. It turned out to be a bit of everything. Probably one of the easiest and funniest baseball reads you will ever find. Garlic Fries and Baseball: The Book, turned out to be an enjoyable baseball journey. Ronni threw just about everything but the kitchen sink into this one and produced a book to be proud of. Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in A4 Uncategorized

Fast Ball, Curve Ball, Slider ……What’s the Difference and Who Cares?

Posted on January 21, 2012 | Leave a comment

This video shows  a Tim Lincecum fastball and curveball delivery correlated at the release point and superimposed to provide an overlay comparison of the two motions.   The two pitches look nearly identical to my untrained eye. This YouTube video uploaded by  on June 18, 2009.

So I’m  listening to play-by-play of  a game the other day and the announcer says instantly “that was a fastball (curveball, sinker, slider, doesn’t matter … you get the point) and I’m thinking how the hell does he know that?  I mean the ball’s traveling at 90-95 mph and he’s up in the announcer booth 200 feet away.   I know this announcer used to be a pitcher  so I’m pretty sure he knows what he’s talking about, but how is that possible ~ to call the pitch instantly in split-second timing, almost before the ball’s even thrown?

I set out to research this so I might understand the difference between the  pitches and how a pitcher  might determine which pitch to throw and when to throw it. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in A1 Baseball, General

Tagged , , , , , , ,

“Who’s On First” ….. Classic Baseball Video

Posted on January 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

I intended to blog about the Texas Rangers job opening for an “accountability partner” for Josh Hamilton but had second thoughts.  It seems a little heartless to  talk about it, maybe even a little sad, so when I found this little ditty out there in YouTube land it was an easy change-over.  This is light-hearted good stuff!

So in case you’ve never seen it and even if you have here’s a wonderful version of one of Abbott & Costello’s finest routines.  Abbott and Costello performed this classic “Who’s on first?” baseball sketch in their 1945 film “The Naughty Nineties” first performed as part of their stage act.   This video now plays continuously on screens at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

In 1999, Time Magazine named the routine the “Best Comedy Sketch of the 20th century.    And who’s to argue with them?   No matter how many times I’ve seen it, it’s a classic that never gets old.

You can read all about it at Wikipedia, but not on Wednesday, January 21, as they’re having a “black-out” to protest the Freedom of Information Act being proposed in Congress.

“Who’s on First”  YouTube Video courtesy of, and uploaded by, on Feb 16, 2007.

Related articles

Leave a comment

Posted in A1 Baseball, General, A5 Baseball Videos

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

This Day in History …… Hall of Fame Voters A Little Pickayunish!

Posted on January 10, 2012 | Leave a comment

January 10, 1945.  This Day In History baseball writers fail to elect a Hall of Famer as no one receives the required 75% vote.                                        

Yesterday on Twitter someone asked why a player would be elected to the Hall of Fame in subsequent years if they weren’t chosen in the first year.  After all, nothing had changed as far as the player was concerned, his statistics remain the same.

In 1945 Frank Chance, Rube Waddell, and Ed Walsh came closest and, in fact, all three of them  were actually elected to the Hall the next year, in 1946.  What changed from 1945 to 1946 that  allowed these fellows to garner 75% of the votes, when they were unable to do so the previous year?

I found this a little puzzling and set out to research the people who actually do the nominating and selection and what the process is all about.  After about four hours, I gave up the search.  I ran into overwhelming statistics such as  only 296  have been elected to the HOF since 1936, out of a possible 17 quadrillion players (17,275,882,859,193,771 to be exact) who have played Major League Baseball.   (I’m an accountant by trade and still had to count backwards in three’s to come Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in A1 Baseball, General

Tagged ,

St. Louis Fans Missing Pujols? ….. Not so Fast!

Posted on January 3, 2012 | Leave a comment

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m a huge Albert Pujols fan.  But here’s another way to look at it, courtesy of Sully Videos with a little John Travolta thrown in.  Take a look ~

Related articles

Leave a comment

Posted in A1 Baseball, General, A5 Baseball Videos, Los Angeles Angels, St. Louis Cardinals

Tagged , , , ,

Bloggers Alliance Votes for Larkin & Bagwell For Hall of Fame

Posted on January 3, 2012 | Leave a comment

BBA RECOMMENDS LARKIN, BAGWELL FOR HALL OF FAME

In the annual polling of members of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin and former Houston Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell were recommended for induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame.  This is the third year the organization has conducted this survey of the membership.

Larkin, a 12-time All-Star who fashioned an .815 OPS over 19 seasons, received the largest percentage of votes, being named on 84.25% of the 148 ballots cast.  This is the highest percentage garnered by any player in the three years of BBA voting.

Bagwell, who hit 449 HR and had a .948 OPS in his 15 seasons in Houston, was selected on 115 ballots for a 78.77% rate.  As with the official voting done by the Baseball Writers of America, a player must be named on 75% of the ballots to be recommended by the alliance. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in A1 Baseball, General

Tagged , , , , ,

Baseball’s Top Ten News Items in 2011

Posted on January 1, 2012 | Leave a comment

2011 World Champions St Louis Cardinals

The media’s full of articles and videos of the most newsworthy items about baseball this past year.   You might think this would be those articles you and I found the most interesting and representative of baseball throughout the country, but not necessarily so.

I compiled a list from a survey today of the “top 10” from USA Today, Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated, and ESPN.

Here’s the results and below that I’ve listed my own personal “Top Ten”.  How does your list compare?

TOP TEN FROM SURVEY

  1. St. Louis Cardinals, World Series Champions
  2. Justin Verlander,  AL Cy Young and MVP Winner
  3. Game 162 collapse of the Red Sox and Braves.
  4. Game 6 World Series between the Cardinals and Rangers
  5. Derek Jeter’s 3000th hit
  6. Ryan Braun’s Drug Test
  7. Jim Thome’s 600th Home Run
  8. Shannon Stone Fatal Fall at Rangers Stadium
  9. Mariano Rivera all time saves leader
  10. Bryan Stow beating at Dodger Stadium Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in A1 Baseball, General, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Florida Marlins, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,