Looking at the Game of Baseball from all ends of the Spectrum
Hmmā¦ Sandy Alderson. The Mets could have a whole lot worse.
Texas gets a win. MLB interviews with Lewis, Washington and Moreland.
2010 first pick Bryce Harper gets his first pro dinger in the Arizona Fall League
Jose Bautista had his monster year in 2010 but do you know who came in second in homers in the AL? Paul Konerko did. And the Diamondbacks are interested in him.
Thereās a creepy looking costume of Ron Washingtonā¦ but fortunately heās flattered.
What is it with Cubs catchers and pot?
Cubs bullpen catcher Corey Miller was busted with 8.4 pounds of marijuana in the state of Nebraska. They frown on that kind of thing there. Even if you are a member of the Cubs organizationā¦ which will pretty much be in doubt at this point.
Millerās conveniently contract expires tomorrow
This postseason, the baseball blogosphere (guh, I wince when I use that word but it fits here) has had a fascination with presenting data in a visual fashion. It seems to be a trend to almost move away from traditional numbers tables and go to more eye-pleasing visual presentations. The Hardball Times has a whole series of them during the 2010 postseason (a good example is their Paintomatic series).
But THT isnāt the only ones to incorporate this new brand of āvisual baseball dataā. You can find examples of this at The Biz of Baseball and even Baseball Referenceās blog.
Baseball history buffs should check out the Library of Congressā archives of Spalding Base Ball Guides. These archives range from 1889 to 1939 and contain a wealth of historical information on National and American League base ball when the game we loved was spelled with two words) as well as some minor league info too.
Be forewarned, the pages of Spaldingās are scanned images and therefore not searchable or indexed. If you want to find something youāll have look for it, But I guarantee if youāre a fan of old time base ball, the search itself will be worth it. Youāll run across some neat news tidbits and photos along the way.
Thanks to Cluke for passing this along! He wrote:
I was just geeky enough as a 14 year old and then later to spend many hours looking up old microfilm of newspapers and getting into the sports section (and other stuff) for hours at a time.If it’s old baseball stats- I never tire of it. The digital age is great for browsing from home but there’s nothing like the old micro film of the Trib and the times to follow along with past seasons of the Sox.
-There is some baseball happening in the south that doesnāt involve the Rangers. The Arizona Fall League season has started.
-Speaking of the Rangers, thereās no doubt they got the most bang for their buck in 2010.
-I guess we arenāt ready to forget the Cubsā collapse in the 2003 postseasonā¦ but our remembrance might be delayed. Steve Bartman: Catching Hell, the documentary on the unfortunate affair, will be postponed till next year. Could they possibly wait till after the Cubs win a World Series (that way, we might not see it)?
-No surprise here: The columnists at the Sun-Times and Tribune respectively have differing opinions on Mike Quadeās hiring. Post-Trib (owned by ST) column headline: āSandberg got Sandbaggedā. The Trib column claims that Quade is a āgood fitā.
Old habits die hard.
-Finally, some Chicago tattoo artists apparently arenāt Sox fans.
If anyone is interested in plopping down $10,000, you could own parts of Sammy Sosaās corked bat that he used in the game he caught using it. The auction at Schulte Auctions is still going on and the bid at the moment is $9.840. Hurry, Hurry though! The auction ends October 31.
The current owner of the bat? Former reliever from the Cubs (and pretty much every other NL team) Mike Remlinger, who won the game that night against Tampa Bay. He had the foresight to pick up the barrel of the bat (MLB confiscated the rest of the bat.
The Cardboard Connection has a good write-up on the story.
No doubt, I enjoy ābest ofā lists but I have a morbid fascination with āworstā lists, too.
As always, Andy from the Baseball Reference Blog comes through with his ā2010 Least Valuable Playerā post. Be prepared to make your arguments because most likely, a favorite player will be on this list.
Somehow, I knew former Cub Ryan Theriot would be on this list.
What to think about the hiring of Mike Quade?? Well, letās start with the detailsā¦ Heās getting a two-year contract from the Cubs with an option for 2013. At this point, no money considerations have been discussed.
I like the deal. Iāve been struggling to evaluate the move on its merits alone. As a natural born cynic, Iāve tried to distance myself from my perceptions of the Cubsā potential motives of hiring Ryne Sandberg (should they have done so). Letās face it, Ryno has proven himself as manager in minors the last few years. Hiring him would have been more than just a public relations move as Iāve insinuated to my friends. Honestly, Sandberg wouldnāt have been a bad choice at all.
But when it came down to it, I favored hiring Mike Quade as manager of the Cubs and now that the deal is done, I still like it. Forget the 24-13 record he posted at the end of 2010, the 53-year old Evanston, IL native has the goods without it. Quade has experience. Heās managed a prolific 2,378 games in the minors. But more importantly, he has a reputation of possessing strong leadership skills and being a good on-the-field manager, all which comes with experience.
Earlier, I said forget Quadeās 24-13 run with the Cubs in 2010. But maybe donāt dismiss it completely. The Cub players responded quite well to Quadeās leadership and even said so to the press. The cynics among us have said that perhaps it was more the lack of Piniella that players were responding to and that is a point well taken. Yet, no one can dismiss the support that he got both implicitly and explicitly.
What does Cub Nation think about the Quade hiring?? If you take Bleed Cubbie Blueās vast readership as any indication, you can check out its poll on the hiring of Quade. BCB readers support itā¦ kinda. A whopping 38% supported the hiring of Quade while 19% didnāt (41% didnāt really have an opinion. An indecisive bunch, these Cub fans).
A few questions remain:
At any rate, I wish Mike Quade well. Heās (officially) stepping into some big shoes and doesnāt have an easy row to hoe in 2011.
Charles Braxton points out in a TBZ comment that there is a nice summary on the Three-I League in Baseball Referenceās Bullpen section.
You usually donāt find a lot of documentation on the now defunct Midwest-based league anymore so Iām happy to see this. Indeed, youāll find standings and league leaders for each year of its sixty-year history at the BR Bullpen.
If you browse the page, baseball historians will most likely find names they recognize. Hank Majeski, Joe Vosmik, Tony Kubek, Mudcat Grant,.. and some pitcher named Warren Spahn.
And only in the early-to-mid 1900s Midwest would have team names like the Peoria Tractors, Moline Ploughboys and Bloomington Bloomers.
thanks for passing this on, Charles! A real gem!
For those in the Champaign-Urbana area, professor and noted author Adrian Burgos will be giving a talk at the Y Friday Forum this week. The title of the talk is āPlaying for the Dream? Baseball, Latinos, Immigration and the American Dreamā.
Burgos is an associate professor at the University of Illinois and has wrote Playing Americaās Game: Baseball, Latinos and the Color Line (a good book if you havenāt read it). He specializes in Latino and race relations and yes, baseball,