demolitionofyankeesstadium.com has recent photos of them tearing down the seats at the old Yankee Stadium.
Baseball history buffs, olâ Yankee fans and purists may want to avert their eyes. Itâs probably a tough sight to see.
Looking at the Game of Baseball from all ends of the Spectrum
demolitionofyankeesstadium.com has recent photos of them tearing down the seats at the old Yankee Stadium.
Baseball history buffs, olâ Yankee fans and purists may want to avert their eyes. Itâs probably a tough sight to see.
Washingtonâs thirdbaseman Ryan Zimmerman just got a hit off the Giants tonight to extend his hitting streak to 29 games.
Heâs hitting 45 for 122 (.369) during the streak.
I just ran across this page on Recondite Baseball which lists The âWorstâ Hitting Streaks.
Juan Pierre tops the list. In 2000, his rookie year with Colorado, he went 18 for 66 for a .273 during his 15 game hitting streak. And in 1984, Cubbie catcher Jody Davis went 16 for 57 (.281) also for a 15 game streak.
Fortunately for Washington, Zimâs hitting more than the bare minimum for his streak. Heâs gotten his batting average up to .352 for the season.
Itâs interesting to me, in light of Manny Ramirezâ suspension for performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), how certain media elements are handling the story. While some like ESPN or Sports Illustrated are taking a more hard line approach, MLB.com not surprisingly is towing the company line and taking a more conciliatory approach.
Compare these two articles that came out the day the suspension was announced, one from Sports Illustrated and the other from MLB.com.
Both are factual and to my knowledge, accurate. However, the SI makes some clear or at least implied allegations that go beyond Mr Ramirez:
Ramirez is the first major star to be suspended under baseball’s stricter drug-testing rules that went into effect in 2003. Until now, baseball and the players union have portrayed drug use as having been nearly eradicated in the past few years, pointing out that the major drug-related stories — involving Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez and the revelations in the Mitchell Report — involved drug use prior to the 2003 tightening of the program.
Itâs also interesting to note the tone of the headlines of âRelated Articlesâ from SI. Manny saga no longer funny, the sarcastic Didnât see this one coming and Do you buy Ramirezâ excuse?
MLB.comâs initial article, predictably and I guess blamelessly, has a very official and almost apologetic tone to it. There are quotes from Ramirez about his âdoctorâs excuse â and his statement of apology to the owner of the Dodgers; Joe Torre, his teammates and of course, the fans.
We also read the requisite statements from other baseball officials on how âsaddenedâ they are.
Links to other articles on MLB.com point to official documents such as Major Leagueâs official drug policy and the official statements by Ramirez and the playerâs union and the MLB. And more articles about how others are sad about thisâŚ. but not angry.
Where am I going with this? Do I think MLB is evil because they donât tell the whole story or because they sugar coat the issue? Not really. Do I think ESPN, USA Today Sports and others are the bastions of sports freedom because the speak the truth? HARDLY.
Just this and maybe itâs painfully obvious, baseball fans need to diversify their sports news input. Since MLB.com obviously has direct access to the information, itâs a great place to go for the hard facts like stats, boxscores, game wrapups etc. But for good analysis, Iâll read the columnists on the more independent (but not as independent as Iâd like) media outlets.
But for straight out-and-out opinions, Iâll read the blogs.
#27 Ohio State is coming to town this weekend (most likely, theyâre already here) to face #25 University of Illinois Fighting Illini. The biggest series of the season is almost upon us.
I did an interview of Drew Grigsby, die-hard fan Buckeye fan and he gives a rather in-depth look at our adversaries. Itâs posted at Illinois Baseball Report where youâll also find the schedule for the weekend.
The weather reports promise that the rain will clear up this afternoon so Iâm looking forward to a great weekend!
If youâre in the area, come on out this weekend and support the Illini baseball team!