Baseball

I am now a fan of the World Baseball Classic. I just finished watching Team USA beat Team Canada. The game was better than I expected. It seems a bit more personal this time around for Team USA. I was impressed by the emotion and desire to win that players showed.  I was impressed with how the players felt the need to represent not only this country, but this countrys past time.  Then it donned on me. For the last few weeks I have heard players "think, debate, ponder" whether or not they would play in the Classic. The reason for not playing? Most say its fear of getting injured. So I did some researched. What I found is professional baseball players have found several ways to hurt themselves while their not on the diamond. Here are a few of my favorites.

Continue reading "Attention MLB Players - Don't worry ..."

ew the modern athlete as arrogant, Babe Ruth may have actually invented athletic braggadocio.  Baseball had never seen anything like Ruth.  He shattered nearly every record the game had ever known.  In the third game of the ’32 Series, Ruth allegedly ‘called his shot’ by pointing to the centerfield bleachers.  The very next pitch he slugged clean over the centerfield fence.

Continue reading "October Moments To Remember (in 750 words or less)"

In my current quest to work as little as possible while also attending premier sporting events throughout Florida, I decided to withdraw a small portion of my dwindling bank account and scalp a ticket to the Monday night Red Sox-Rays game.  Despite having lived in Tampa, I had never been to Tropicana Field.  But let’s be honest, prior to this season, there was never really a good reason to go.  Since their inception, the Rays have never finished in anything other than last place in their division.

Continue reading "Rays Fans Are Baby Taunters!"

The sunshine state has long been a hotbed for college football.  With an abundance of high school talent leaving for college every year, Florida schools have their pick of the litter of some of the nation’s best athletes.  For as long as anyone can remember, at least one of the big three (Florida, Florida State and Miami) has been a factor in the national championship picture.  In the past ten years, all three of these schools have won national titles: Florida State in 1999, Miami in 2001 and Florida in 2006.  During that same time period, however, these three schools have traversed dramatically different paths to arrive at their current circumstance.  Furthermore, in a state where most believed that no other schools could compete in either recruiting or ranking, the Universities of Central and South Florida have both become presences in their own right.

Continue reading "College Football in Florida: A Ten ..."

up.  One problem… there’s not four outfield positions in baseball.

Major League Baseball originally established the designated hitter in 1973 to cure then struggling American League offenses.  The ‘position’ has been in existence ever since.  Has it made a difference?  Of course.  The top five hitting teams in the majors this year are all in the American League.  A.L. teams have consistently had higher team batting averages ever since the DH’s inception.  But has it dramatically changed the game?  Probably not.  No true designated hitter has ever won the Most Valuable Player award, although David Ortiz recently came close.  And the position has prolonged the careers of Hall of Fame caliber athletes, allowing fans to see more of Bernie Williams, George Brett, Edgar Martinez and Paul Molitor.

Continue reading "A Case for the Designated Hitter"

Hello, my name is Christopher and I'm a Red Sox fan. Which makes what I'm about to say so difficult.

I could not have written this five years ago. In October 2003, we Sox faithful had once again suffered another devastating defeat to our arch-rival and overall evil-doers, the New York Yankees. This time, the blow came from the bat of Aaron Boone in the American League Championship Series. Game Seven, extra innings, another loss to the Yankees, could things get any worse? Numbness ensued. Another crushing loss meant yet another year of ribbing from Yankee fans everywhere who were, and had always been, our daddies. However, five years, two World Series titles and one Ruthian exorcism later, Red Sox fans can put all that behind them and openly talk about the past, for it is now the Yankees who haven't won in ages.

Continue reading "A Tribute to the Evil Emperor"

Unless, of course, Mario and I were the only two in the stands aware that Major League Baseball still keeps stats like complete games. Or do they?

With modern athletes in better shape than their predecessors, pitchers should have the stamina to go the distance. With the Marlins up 3-1 going into the ninth and the Diamondbacks still reeling from Nolasco's impressive performance, Gregg shut them down in order. That's like Gregg getting to go home with the girl that Nolasco bought drinks for all night long. From this fan's perspective, seeing a CG on the back of Nolasco's baseball card would have been much more impressive, and entertaining, than any S under Gregg's.

Continue reading "The Lost Art of the Complete Game ..."