Category Archives: A1 Baseball

50 Years Ago Today in Baseball History!

Posted on October 18, 2023 | 1 comment

10/18/1973 – The Mets’ Jerry Koosman and Tug McGraw combined to three-hit the Oakland A’s and take 3-2 lead in the World Series. The A’s won that World Series in 7.

I miss the good old days. Referring to 1973 as the “good old days” is a bit of a stretch but back then the World Series meant something. The teams played within their own Division, not interleague, so when it came time for the playoffs, the teams in each Division earned the right to represent their Region, eventually the Pennant and a trip to the World Series. The American League vs the National League. The World Series truly represented the “best” of each League back then.

On June 12, 1997, Interleague play was introduced.   The first MLB Interleague game took place between the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants in Arlington, Texas.

Another change in Major League Baseball was the addition of the Designated Hitter. It was first adopted by the American League in 1973 on a trial basis for three years. 50 years later we’re still stuck with it. The National League didn’t adopt it until 2022, making it universal in MLB. National League fans all knew it was coming but it didn’t make it more palatable. (See Previous Post on DH ~December 10, 2012 ~ refers to 1972:))

So much has happened in the past 50 years. The Giants won not only one or two but three World Series! And they’ll win again. In the meantime, let’s support our San Francisco Giants and all of our Major League Baseball Teams and be thankful for the entertainment they bring us each year, win or lose.

Any Niner fans out there? (I have a friend who’s asking ………:))

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SF Giants 9th Inning & that Pitcher’s Mound!

Posted on August 8, 2023 | Leave a comment

“The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Giants yesterday: The score stood two to three, with but one inning left to play“.

You get where we’re going here ~ to the 9th Inning of last night’s blowout of the L.A. Angels. It didn’t start out that way but when the Giants decided to get in the game they did it in spectacular fashion, scoring 6 runs in the 9th inning to go out in style, beating LA 8-3. Whoa! After recovering from nearly scaring Max (the dog) to death with my hooting and hollering it’s reminded me of something totally unrelated.

Throughout the game my mind kept wondering what that message on the pitcher’s mound said. After the game was over I did a TV closeup and finally figured out “714 tickets.com”, advertising on the pitcher’s mound. Seriously? In the old days the pitcher’s mound had always been considered sort of “sacred” or something. It’s where every single pitch of the game begins, where every change in pitchers takes place and where all the really important in-game discussions are held.

Back in 2003, the pitcher’s mound was the scene of a Brian Wilson’s $1,000 fine for wearing shoes that were too flashy. I remember it well. The shoes were a really bright orange and the Miami Marlins coach filed a complaint that lead to the fine. Wilson quipped later he had too much awesome on his feet and maybe the shoes should be checked out for having performance enhancing cleats!

Brian had a dry sense of humor but you have to admit that’s pretty funny:))

To tell the truth, I’m not really sure why, but after that spectacular performance the Giants put on last night, this flashy orange shoe thing is what I’m remembering the most. Go figure huh?

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Posted in A1 Baseball, A1 Baseball, General, A4 Uncategorized, Los Angeles Angels, San Francisco Giants

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ABOUT THOSE SQUATS …..

Posted on August 5, 2023 | Comments Off on ABOUT THOSE SQUATS …..

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Posted in A1 Baseball, A1 Baseball, General, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants

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The Universal DH You Say?

You may have noticed or not that I’ve been away from my blog for awhile, not because I want to, but circumstances just sometimes get in the way.  But in the Wall Street Journal this morning there was an article that made me want to pound the keys again.

Referring to the Designated Hitter, Houston Astros Pitcher Gerrit Cole says this ~  “I don’t want their pitching and their talent to be affected by having to do something they’re really not comfortable doing.”  Well, excuse me, but boo-hoo, grab a binky and get comfortable …… please.    With the MINIMUM salary a MLB Baseball player earns being in the $500,000 Range and taking into account a pitcher only plays once every 4-5 days, if he’s good, it’s hard to sympathize with this DH thing.

Official Rules of Major League Baseball.  1:00 Objectives of the Game.  1:01  1st Sentence.  Baseball is a game between two teams of nine players each  ………. and so it goes.  And so it was from the beginning until 1973 when the American League decided to adopt a new rule, Rule 5.11.  This rule allows teams to have one player, referred to as the Designated Hitter, to bat in place of the Pitcher which obviously means that team will have 10 Players listed on its Roster for that game.  This rule has never been adopted by the National League, even though efforts to force them to do so have been made regularly since 1973.  And this year is no exception.

So, you say, what’s the fuss all about?  Baseball teams play 162 games each year, and the average player plays in most of them.   Compare this to football, basketball, hockey, soccer where games are rarely played back-to-back.   And there’s no time limit in a baseball game compared to these other sports.  A baseball game can last from 2 hours to 5, 6 hours or even longer.   The common inference is that baseball is a slow, lazy game so there’s not the physical exertion required in other sports.  But when you play 4 games in a row, sometimes two in one day, that argument loses some credibility.

Why has there never been an argument for a DC, Designated Catcher?  Can you imagine squatting for 9 innings?  The catcher is probably the most athletic person on the field and most of them are pretty good batters.

My point is this.  The average MLB Pitcher probably pitches maybe 40 games per year?  And he’s only on the field maybe half the time?  These are professional athletes and they should be hired not only for their positions on the field but “especially” for their ability to bat, to hit the ball.   You want to pitch in the Majors?  Then pick up a bat.

Because Baseball is a game between two teams of nine players each.

That’s the game.  That’s what it is.

 

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Posted on July 24, 2018 in A1 Baseball, A1 Baseball, General, A4 Uncategorized

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Dodgers & the New York Yankees!

Posted on October 18, 2017 | 5 comments

Be honest. Aren’t most of you secretly hoping for a Dodger/Yankee World Series?  After all, baseball is about a whole lot of memories and what better ones to share than those of  Ebbets Field and Yankee Stadium.  I didn’t come of baseball age until the early 1950’s so I may have a tainted view of what constitutes a valid baseball memory, but believe me, the Dodgers and Yankees are right at the top.

The Yankees have won the most World Series in history and it’s not even close.  They’ve won  participated in 40 while their closest contender, the SF Giants (okay New York Giants if you’re an oldie) is second with only 20.  But no matter.  I have different thoughts on who should even be in the playoffs.  Back in those days there was only the American League and the National League.  No Divisions.  That was it.  So the team that won the most games in each league were the Pennant Winners and automatic World Series participants.

And isn’t that the way is should still be?  Good grief.  It’s bad enough having really bad Division Winners being able to compete for the Pennant.  Some teams under .500 can still compete for the Pennant depending on how bad the rest of the division is.  And forget about the Wild Card.  The only possible reason for having that competition is for gate receipts and MONEY.  MLB is good at that.  They’re running unbelievable ads during the playoffs trying to get kids, I mean 8 and 9 year olds, sucked into buying MLB products online.  MLB.com?  That’s what’s happening, reminiscent of Wheaties and Cheerios ads in the old days.  Get ’em while they’re young.  And that merchandise is expensive.  How can the average joe afford to buy this stuff for his kids?

I digress.  The teams with the best records in MLB for any given season should be the Pennant Winners for each League and they alone should advance to the World Series.  And there should be NO INTER-LEAGUE PLAY DURING THE SEASON.  Inter-league play undermines the Divisions.  How can you say the best team in any Division is one or the other if they’re all playing each other during the regular season.  That’s what the World Series is supposed to determine.

So here it is.  The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros – 2017 Pennant Winners.  That’s the way it should be. (Well, actually Houston was one off from the most league wins but they’re there so we’ll leave it alone.)

World Series winner to be determined.

 

 

 

 

 

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Posted in A1 Baseball, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees

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Oh Those Lowly Dodgers ……..

Posted on September 5, 2017 | Leave a comment

Baseball Surprises!

Recently, I asked my brother-in-law if he thought the Dodgers would be able to put together 100 wins this season.   It seemed a given, but they’ve lost 9 of their last 10 games and it reminds me of the 2008 season when the first place San Diego Padres lost 10 in a row in the last month of the season to allow the Giants to win the division, and eventually the World Series.

I know.  I get it.  Us Giants fans are supposed to hate the Dodgers so we’re always cheering for their demise, but I’m older and have a different perspective.  Back in the 1950’s when there were only 16 MLB teams, the closest being located in the Midwest, you had to be a Dodger or Yankee fan, but you couldn’t be both.  I was torn because Mickey Mantle was my hero.  But the Dodger’s were generally considered the underdog, so they had to be my team.

When the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers moved West it changed everything.   West Coast fans were of course delighted.  Since I was an Oregonian at the time the closest MLB team was now San Francisco Giants.  And that’s how it’s been since 1958, when I got to watch my first live pro baseball game between the Giants & Dodgers at Seal Stadium.

I may be the only Giants fan who’s delighted in watching  Yasiel Puig, the snot nosed rookie from Cuba, dive in over his head to become a bonafide contender against the odds.  And it wasn’t because he didn’t have the talent, he did.  But his attitude stunk up the place and we generally cheered for his demise. His numbers aren’t all that great even now, but I still pay attention when he’s at bat.  And then there’s Kershaw.  If we could have him and the D’Backs Goldschmidt we could easily be back in the saddle again.   But “what ifs” are for Fantasy players.

So this morning’s Wall Street J0urnal published a great article by Jared Diamond bringing up some memories of the 2001 Mariners and comparing that team to the current Dodgers in their win/loss record.  The semblance is striking and should make the Dodgers a bit nervous about their chances in this year’s playoffs.

After the awful season the Giants have put us through this year, I’m going to root for the Dodgers and hope I can get some sort of satisfaction through them.  I’ll just pretend it’s 1958 and start all over again.

 

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Posted in A1 Baseball, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners

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Blame it on the Catcher!

Posted on May 30, 2017 | 1 comment

Baseball nation is going nuts today over the brawl at the Giants and Nats game.  Actually the disagreement was between Bryce Harper and Hunter Strickland after Harper was hit by a pitch thrown by Strickland.  To be perfectly honest here, Bryce Harper has never been one of my favorite ball players.  In fact,  I don’t like much about the guy.  He’s an arrogant hot head that gives baseball a bad name.  Has anyone ever seen the guy crack even the smallest bit of a smile?  Didn’t think so.  But in fairness it sure looked like Strickland threw that pitch with intent to nail him, which I’m pretty sure he did.

But my words here are about the tweets, blogs and overall bad press Buster Posey is getting from his actions behind the plate.  I mean, he didn’t make any effort to step out from behind the plate to help his poor defenseless pitcher who found himself in a real bind as Harper went charging at him like a bull in a china closet.  The ESPN announcers kept bellowing about the fact that the Giants Catcher, Posey, did nothing to help his pitcher out ~ they’d just never seen anything like it, a catcher who didn’t jump in and join the fiasco.

Some thoughts about this, besides the fact Posey’s a leader so probably doesn’t feel a need to jump in the middle of the dogpile:

  1. Anyone who knows anything about baseball will remember the tragic injury Posey suffered a few years back that almost ended his playing career.  He was in rehab for a year trying to scratch and crawl his way back to the game to overcome the injuries he sustained from that incident.  I’m sure he’s been warned not to do anything stupid that might cause a relapse.  Just saying …….
  2. Looking at the play after the fact, it sure looks like Buster was calling for a fastball right down the middle of the plate.  And if a professional pitcher can’t throw one he’s in the wrong business, unless, of course, he was trying to throw the exact pitch he threw.  A little inside you say?  No kidding.
  3. Knowing the history of these two, Harper and Strickland, it’s possible there was a talk in the Giants locker room before the game that no retaliation pitches were to be thrown.  If that’s the case, Buster could easily been thinking, you want it?  You got it.
  4. This retaliation thing is rampant in the Majors.  Don’t believe me?  Just listen to Mike Krukow explain it during some of his color commentating.  It’s a thing to be proud of, according to Mike.  And no respectable pitcher would let an infraction go by without retaliating.

I mean, come on. Harper gets two home runs off Strickland two years ago and this is “pay back”?  Give me a break. Not wise since they’ll probably both get fined and worse, suspended, causing problems not just for themselves, but for the rest of the team.

And tomorrow it’s likely the players will be warned ~ no inside pitches, and/or no hit by a pitch from either side or the pitcher gets ejected.  What pitcher needs to play with that kind of pressure on him?  So even if he accidentally hits a batter, the pitcher gets ejected and the batter takes the base.

Get your smarts in order pitchers.   This is old school stupid stuff and has no place in today’s game.  In my humble opinion, of course.

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Posted in A1 Baseball, San Francisco Giants, Washington Nationals

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The First Baseman’s Stretch…….

Posted on April 29, 2017 | Leave a comment

This has been happening a lot lately.  Almost every game in fact.  The announcer bellows what a fantastic throw the shortstop has made to 1st base to throw someone out.  And it’s usually true.  They have.  And it doesn’t have to be the shortstop.  Could be the 2nd baseman, 3rd baseman catcher.  You get the picture.

But the third time it happened tonight in the Giants vs Padres game I was compelled to grab my camera and take a snapshot of the TV screen.  It was important to me to validate what a fantastic job the 1st Baseman does in catching (more like salvaging) a ball that, without his outstanding athletic ability, would have ended up in the dugout or worse.

 

I call it the First Baseman’s Stretch.  And if you’ll watch for it, you’ll be surprised how often it happens. That’s probably why it’s a really good idea to get a 6’5″, left-handed guy to handle that base.   Even while doing the splits this guy needs the wingspan of a 747 for the reach to make the play.

I just wish the commentators would be more aware of giving credit to the player that’s miraculously avoiding a pulled groin every time he stretches to make that catch while at the same time keeping at least one of his toes on that first base bag.

Above, Michael Morse makes it look easy ….. kinda …..  sort of.

 

 

 

 

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Posted in A1 Baseball, A1 Baseball, General, San Diego Padres

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Question for You Boche!

Posted on April 28, 2017 | Leave a comment

Why in the world was Michael Morse warming the bench in the 9th inning Thursday night?  Or in the 10th inning?  We’re getting used to it really, because there’s always some silly reason you know?  Like the DL injuries up the kazoo, just having an off-night, they outplayed us, outpitched us or we just plain stunk up the place.

But Thursday night was different.  Michael Morse was a Giant again, something I’ve been waiting for since the day he left.  So when he suited up at Spring Training this year there was hope.  Hope there wouldn’t be another really, really lousy year like last year.  Because now we really didn’t care if we had a really bad bullpen.  We had a power hitter.  Again.

So the line-up is announced on Opening Day and guess what?  Michael Morse isn’t in it. And it’s okay.  We’re getting used to it, remember?  But Wednesday night was different because he was back wearing a Giants uniform.  Ahhh, still hope.  And he didn’t let us down.

So Thursday night I would have been really anxious with the score tied  bottom of the 9th, but I knew Morse was in the wings and at least this time we had a chance.  It would be okay.  And we waited and waited and …… still waiting.

So I’m wondering why Michael Morse wasn’t called off the bench in the 9th inning. And I’ll bet there are thousands of other fans wondering the same thing.   No big deal. Just curious, that’s all.

 

 

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Posted in A1 Baseball, A1 Baseball, General, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants

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SF Giants – A New Hero Emerges

Posted on October 6, 2016 | Leave a comment

bum-and-synergaardHow can you explain Madison Bumgarner and his band of buddies marching to the tune of their own drum after such a pitiful showing following the All Star Break?  We knew they were in it because, after all, it is post season and they’ve done it before and in such spectacular fashion.  But how many of us truly expected a shut-out against the Citi-Field warriors Wednesday?  Not me, that’s for sure.

Looking back on this band of misfits in prior years almost every game and every series had a new hero. Most memorable for me was Sandoval’s three home runs in one game against the unhittable Justin Verlander in a World Series Game 1.   And the entire Giants team when they forced the vocal Rangers pitcher, Cliff Lee, to the bench and out of the game before the 4th inning in World Series play, back in 2010.

conor-gillaspieLast night a most unlikely hero found his way to the spotlight with a 3 run homer in the top of the 9th.  Without that hit who knows how long that game would have gone on?  Remember the 18 innings against the Nats in the 2014 NLDS?  We could have seen that last night.  Not likely, but possible.  Syndergaard had already taken the bench and Bum was headed there, but ’twas not to be.   Conor  Gillaspie, tied at $507,500, for the lowest paid man on the roster, became a hero in postseason play, alongside the legend of legends Madison Bumgarnerwhen he smacked his home run out of the park for the only score of the game.

Rough road ahead you say?  But of course.  How could it be anything else?  Chicago Cubs on the horizon?  Who cares?  This is post season and it’s the Giants and it’s an “even” year.

bochy-citifieldHow can you help but love this Giants team?  Best team in MLB the first half of the season and close to the worst the 2nd half.

It’s the stuff baseball’s made of and no one embraces it better than the San Francisco Giants.  Let the torture begin!

 

 

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Posted in A1 Baseball, A1 Baseball, General, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants

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SAY “NO” TO RYAN BRAUN ….

Posted on June 17, 2016 | Leave a comment

Ryan Braun Speaking at a Press Conference after his Appeal was upheld.

Ryan Braun Speaking at a Press Conference after his Appeal was upheld.

It’s not that he did the Peds …. it’s that he lied about it so very eloquently. He lied so well he should have been awarded the outstanding Thespian award of the decade.

I was totally taken in after that “poor little old me” speech ~ brought tears to my eyes.  How could they possibly say those awful things about him? Must be a conspiracy.  Poor dear.  See my proud post here.  “The Brewers’ Braun and Those Whinging Critics” published May 1, 2012

So much for blind faith huh?

After he admitted he lied, I wondered then and will always wonder, what the hell else does he lie about?  Who is this guy? We have a great group of guys in the Giants organization who support each other and stick together.  We don’t need a Ryan Braun.  It’s a lot about trust, you know? And we’ve done fine with our home grown talent. Let’s stick with them and let the chips fall where they may.

Hang in there Hunter Pence.  Were waiting for you!

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Posted in A1 Baseball, Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants

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Memorial Day ~ Remembering our Heroes.

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Posted on May 30, 2016 in A1 Baseball, A1 Baseball, General

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