Tag Archives: pete rose

PAHLAJOHNNY ON BASEBALL

To tell you the truth, I’m not really into hip-hop, heavy metal, alternative or other stuff such as “rap” but this video sort of fell into my lap last week and it  got my attention.

This one’s about Pete Rose and it’s definitely “rap”.  It’s written, performed and produced by PahlaJohnny and it has me mesmerized.   He generously contributed this work to our “Sounds of Baseball” website and it’s been getting some attention so I wanted to share it with you.

Be sure and check out his website, PahlaJohnny.com.  And it’s not just baseball he’s into ~”Hoops India” section is a good one.  Over his career, he has designed live video streaming products for companies like Red Bull and ESPN, worked with Kenzo Digital on the NYC screening of City of Godson, launched Hoops India in Delhi and Mumbai.

I have to rethink this rap stuff.  Wonder if he has anything on MadBum & Posey?

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

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 ChanceRube 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

“Batting Stance Guy”

I rarely find a book that I like that’s been recommended by someone else.  Books and movies are personal in nature and everyone relates to whatever they relate to  regardless of what the other guy likes. 

So a few weeks ago when I read a book review by a fellow blogger about how hilarious the “Batting Stance Guy” was, I went to Amazon Reviews to check it out and sure enough, 15 reviews, 5 stars.    So I had very high expectations when I starting reading the book and immediately was disappointed.  I mean when someone says a book is hilarious, rolling on the floor laugh-out-loud funny, I planned to be entertained.  It took me awhile to warm up to the book, but in the end I have to admit, it was pretty darn funny.   Here’s a sampling;

  • “Can one player have too much style?  I think so.  (If there weren’t MLB rules in place) Ichiro would come to the plate in a smoking jacket and Ray-Bans.  He’d be like Hugh Hefner.  Either that or he’d be like Michael Jackson – weird Michael, not creepy Michael.  He’d wear a jewel-encrusted batting glove, swing a fluorescent bat, and moonwalk to first base.”
  • “July 7, 1991; the first time I ever sneaked onto a major league baseball field.  The A’s were out-of-town, the back gate was open, and there was no security in sight.  The terrorists really have won now that moments like this aren’t possible anymore.” 
  • “About Ivan Calderon.  Calderon is Puerto Rican.  How do you say Magnum P.I. in Spanish?”
  • An open letter to Bud Selig about Pete Rose:  “Dear Bud, What is Bud short for?  Budrich? Buddadiah?  Pete won the Rookie of the Year, was an MVP, a two-time Gold Glover, a 17-time All Star, and won three World Series rings…..  If you’re not going to reinstate him because he bet on baseball, at least reinstate his hair, because it was awesome. “
  • On Mickey Tettleton; …..”he’s not just about the game, he’s a lifestyle.  He’s tough, a catcher and a cowboy.  You just don’t mess with him…..He only eats meat, and only if it’s raw.  He only drinks motor oil…..  You don’t mess with Tettleton.  I’m actually afraid to imitate his stance.”

The Batting Stance Guy, © 2010, by George A. Ryness IV and Caleb Dewart, Published by Simon and Schuster, Inc.  

If  you like baseball, you’re gonna like this book!  No, really!  Trust me ♥

Today in history 1984 …..Pete Rose passes Ty Cobb’s single hits record.

The record at that time was 3,053.   Pete Rose has a lot of major league records.   He’s the all time Major League leader in hits (4,256), in games played (3,562) in at-bats (14,053) and in outs (10,328).   Rose went on to hit another 162 singles and still holds that record of 3,215.  Pete Rose is one of baseball’s most controversial figures after publicly admitting in 2004 that he had bet on baseball and on his own team, the Cincinnati Reds. 

On  August 31, 1989, after weeks of  legal wrangling, Commissioner Bart Giamatti permanently bans Pete Rose from baseball for his alleged gambling on major league games. Although the five-page document signed by both parties includes no formal findings, Giamatti says that he considers Rose’s acceptance of the ban to be a no-contest plea to the charges

But here’s what’s interesting.   Rose played from 1963 to 1986.  That’s 24 years.  And these records plus others listed below still hold.   We’ve seen lots of talent in the past 50 years and still, Pete Rose holds all these records.  Think of baseball greats like Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Cal Ripken, Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, Rickey Henderson, Carl Yazstremski, Ken Griffey, Brooks Rob inson, and on and on.   I guess that’s why I find this day in history interesting and just a little disturbing.   I’m thinking particularly of  Baseball’s Hall of Fame.  Take a look at the following records that Pete Rose holds today:

Major League records:

    • Most career hits – 4,256
    • Most career outs – 10,328
    • Most career games played – 3,562
    • Most career at bats – 14,053
    • Most career singles – 3,215
    • Most career runs by a switch hitter – 2,165
    • Most career doubles by a switch hitter – 746
    • Most career walks by a switch hitter – 1,566
    • Most career total bases by a switch hitter – 5,752
    • Most seasons of 200 or more hits – 10
    • Most consecutive seasons of 100 or more hits – 23
    • Most consecutive seasons with 600 or more at bats – 13 (1968–1980)
    • Most seasons with 600 at bats – 17
    • Most seasons with 150 or more games played – 17
    • Most seasons with 100 or more games played – 23
    • Record for playing in the most winning games – 1,972
    • Only player in major league history to play more than 500 games at five different positions – 1B (939), LF (671), 3B (634), 2B (628), RF (595)
  • National League records:
  •  
    • Most years played – 24
    • Most consecutive years played – 24
    • Most career runs – 2,165
    • Most career doubles – 746
    • Most career games with 5 or more hits – 10
    • Modern (post-1900) record for longest consecutive game hitting streak – 44
    • Modern record for most consecutive hitting streaks of 20 or more games – 7

The National Baseball Hall of Fame honors  persons who have excelled in playing, managing, and serving the sport.  The Hall’s Motto:  “Preserving History, Honoring Excellence, Connecting Generations”.    I don’t know about you, but I don’t think history’s meant to be “selective”.   I don’t have a problem with the asterisk crowd ~ oh, okay, go ahead and put an asterisk by the name and list what you want,  but for pete’s sake (no pun intended) list the accomplishments as accomplishments, and the small stuff  if you must.   But fame is fame and if the Hall of Fame is to be truly a Hall of Fame shouldn’t it  include those records and achievements that are so substantial they remain as unbeaten records 26 years later?