Sarah Palin is flip-floppin’ on the big issues… like like the ALCS.
Month: October 2008
Bad is Good
Seamheads.com has their list of SS with the best careers. They base their list on a couple of esoteric stats which pretty much derive from career win shares.
The highest ranked non-active shortstop not in the Hall?
Bad Bill Dahlen at #9. Dahlen, who debuted with the Chicago Colts in 1891, is to be considered for induction by the Veterans committee this year. We’ll find out December 8 whether he gets in.
APBA Fans: Check out The APBA Blog
I’ve launched a new blog centered around the sports tabletop game APBA.
If you play APBA (either in a league or solitaire), please take the time to go to The APBA Blog. With the help of Teddy Ballgame and Cluke and probably others in the the future, The APBA Blog will hit topics like leagues, replays, APBA product releases and innovations to the game.
I’m excited about the project that deals with the game I’ve played since I was a kid. The site is in its infancy so check back often for updates.
-tbz
Schedule Searching
Search technology expert (and baseball fan) John Battelle writes on his website Searchblog about his attempt to search on Google for the NLCS schedule.
Results were mixed depending on the search words he used. And sometimes the best result was a paid link.
Some might find this kind of thing a bit esoteric and techy but I eat this stuff up.
Homecoming weekend in Illini country
In the “not baseball-related” category, it’s Homecoming Weekend now at the University of Illinois. As tradition with our family, we attended Friday night’s Homecoming Parade.
Lots of fun as usual. Some photos:
Game time is at noon and it will be televised on ESPN.
Go Illini! Whack the Gophers!
Piniella: "Don’t abandon ship"
In his post-playoff interview with WGN’s Steve Cochrane, Cubs manager Lou Piniella encouraged Cubs fans to stay with the team in 2009.
His latest weekly interview with the flagship station started out rather routinely with Lou and Steve discussing the Cubs picking up Rich Harden’s option and looking toward next year as far as the Cubbie pitching staff was concerned.
But as the interview wore on, Piniella began to wear his heart on his sleeve. It is apparent losing the playoffs meant a lot to Lou and more importantly, he knows that the ones it hit hardest were the fans.
That said, Lou encourages fans to come back next year. "Don’t abandon ship", he said.
You can hear Steve Cochrane’s interview with Lou Piniella (the last regular one of the year) at WGN Radio’s web site.
The Stupid Vote
This segment by the always funny John Oliver of the Daily Show is quite hilarious. But for me, the real punch line (and what makes it relevant to this this forum) came at around 1:35.
And I laughed in spite of myself.
Etchin’ the Cubs
George Vlosich uses his talent with an Etch-a-Sketch to commemorate the year (albeit not the playoffs) the the Cubs had.
Pretty impressive. He has other baseball related sketches, too.
Vlosich is apparently a Cub fan. This sketch was done prior to the playoffs which explains the smile on his face.
You can see more of Vlosich’s work at gvetchedintime.com.
The White Sox have left the CELL-ding
The White Sox were forced into a do or die situation by losing the first two games in Tampa versus the Rays in Florida. They came back home Monday behind John Danks to win, putting the series at a 2-1 deficit. But on Tuesday the baseball in Chicago came to an end, the White Sox were eliminated.
Like I’ve stated before I enjoy going to the last game of the season, this one was different, everybody was there, it still mattered, till it was over, then it was over. There would be no game tomorrow, wait’ll next year.
The response from the crowd was much different on the southside of Chicago than it was on the northside of the city when the Cubbies were eliminated. The expectations were different. The Cubs were expected to win, they had won their division last year, this was the year to win it all, ending a century of frustration. While the White Sox gave up last year, traded away one of their pitchers from their rotation, didn’t get Torii Hunter, and looked to be going nowhere. As fate would have it both teams won their respective Central Division crowns.
“It’s Gonna Happen” was the rallying cry for the Cubbies. Kosuke Fukudome was brought on to play rightfield, one of the Cardinal devils Jim Edmonds was brought on to play center, Geovany Soto was ready to take over behind the plate, and Rich Harden was brought in down the stretch to anchor the rotation. While the White Sox brought on Alexei Ramirez for only $1,000,000 per year for four years because nobody thought the Cuban star could play, missed out on getting Hunter (as I mentioned before) & Miguel Cabrera, instead adding Orlando Cabrera, nobody knew whether Joe Crede could rebound from his bad back, Carlos Quentin was a talent who always got hurt, and adding Ken Griffey, Jr. down the stretch at the expense of trading a relief pitcher, this team’s chances were suspect at best.
I rode to, what would be, the last game of the year with Rob & CLuke’s daughter Kate. Inside the ballpark, next to Nancy, were the usual subjects, Tade, Steve, Dick & Bea, Caramel Corn Mike & his brothers, George & Debbie & Debbie’s son, Terry, & Phil. But Al & his son Anthony were nowhere in sight, so I called Anthony’s Cell in the 3rd inning, they were in the upperdeck, security wouldn’t let them downstairs, even though they were season ticket holders, seems upperdeck season ticket holders only had first level access during the regular season. After Al almost got arrested for debating this position with an off duty police officer, Tade went upstairs, bringing down Al & Anthony, now we were all where we belonged.
Gavin Floyd was a little off, B.J. Upton was a little on, and soon the baseball season in Chicago was over. We all said our goodbyes, promising to stay in touch in the offseason, we’re going to get together to watch a Bulls, Hawks, or Bears game from a Wings. Nancy said she’d come and she even gave me a kiss goodbye, till next year.
Two other notes…
Minnie Minoso was watching the ballgame from the concourse behind homeplate, so I approached him. I’d ordered three teeshirts from www.minoso.com about one month ago, but never got them, the check never cleared either. Minnie told me, he’d look into it, and give me a call.
The next baseball I’ll see in person will be in about one month in Arizona at the Arizona Fall League. I love prospects and really enjoy seeing youngsters before they become stars. One youngster I saw last year was a middle infielder for the Boston Red Sox with some pop in his bat, he ripped a game winning homer in an AFL game, so it was kind of a full circle moment when Jed Lowrie ripped a game winning single to advance the BoSox past the Halos in last night’s ballgame.
Book Review: What if the Babe had kept his Red Sox?
Bill Gutman has penned an interesting and thought provoking series of “What if?” questions related to all of the major sports in his new book: What if the Babe had kept his Red Sox? (And other Fascinating Alternate Histories from the World of Sports)
(Skyhorse Publishing– Paperback 2008).
Gutman includes all major sports and is sure to satisfy the Sports Historian in your family. He includes such eclectic and intriguing topics such as “What if Sonny Liston had knocked off Muhammad Ali (not as far-fetched as you would think given Liston’s punching ability) and What if Vince Lombardi had left Green Bay after two seasons to take the vacant New York Giants job- also within the line of logic and reason since St. Vincent had long roots to the east coast and specifically to the Giants and their owners . Don’t worry basketball golf and even hockey fans (and you two guys know who you are.) Gutman has something for you as well!
Since the Baseball Zealot is where we’re at, I want to hone in on some of the book’s baseball questions and possibilities. Gutman has plenty of these conundrums to satisfy all baseball fans. Do baseball fans discuss their sport’s history more than fans of any other sport? I think so.
Gutman discusses what the ramifications would be for the Yankees and the Red Sox if Babe Ruth stayed with the Red Sox,.hence the title of the book. (Coming from
Continuing on to other plausible national pastime scenarios, Gutman discusses what the potential impact would have been if the Phillies would have signed Negro league Hall of Famers Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson (The so-called Black Babe Ruth) to major league contracts back in 1936!
I’ll let the reader discover the many other nuggets included in this book but a couple of other “What if’s” to further whet the appetite are what it would be like if Sandy Koufax and Dizzy Dean and even football great Gale Sayers did not have their careers cut short by injuries.
How about what if John Smoltz never made it to the Braves from the Tigers. (Who remembers that deal?)
All in all Gutman has put together an enjoyable read for the serious sports fan or dare I say the Sports historian. He ha buttressed his arguments with nice accompanying background information and stats and has made plausible summarie son what might have occurred and why. I was skeptical at first at the book’s premise of What If’s but was pleasantly surprised after I dug into the text. A nice nugget to put on anyone’s Christmas list. (At least those of us sports/baseball nuts who frequent the Zealot).
You can find this book on Amazon or at Skyhorse Publishing.
Rating:
Three bats.
-CLuke