mlb-general
The hot stove has reached boiling point. Transactions are in the process of fervent dissection; dollars are flying around Disney land, the Immortal Gil Meche just signed with the Royals… for 45 million????
Indeed, the hot stove is burning a five alarm blaze impossible to contain. Here are two storylines that have specifically attracted my attention.
On Monday in Orlando, baseball’s high rollers will begin the four days of rabid negotiations that largely decide rosters. Free agents will be signed, and some major trades could go down, possibly not the ones you are expecting. Here is a preview of the excitement.
It must be that time of the year again. Hall-of-Fame ballots are out, and he gets brought up again. You know him, he wrote a book about his controversy, sold baseballs on E-Bay, and did just about everything but publicly apologize about betting on baseball. Of course I’m talking about Pete Rose. Every year, about this time, the debate begins.
I was thumbing through a recent addition to my baseball library — The Baseball Anthology: 125 Years, edited by Joseph Wallace — and came across a couple of pages devoted to the tragic death of Ray Chapman in 1920. A common misconception is that Chapman was killed right there on the field of play. David Nemec and Peter Palmer in 1001 Fascinating Baseball Facts claim he was “the only on-field fatality in major league history.” According to at least one eyewitness, though, he died not on the field but in a hospital several hours after the event. And I can think of several ballplayers who died in similar fashion. James Creighton, the 19th-century pitching phenom, comes immediately to mind.
Before Drayton McLane bought the Houston Astros in 1992, he was already one of the United States’ wealthiest individuals, having made a fortune in the grocery business. He had always been a baseball fan, ever since he was a child and the statistical nature helped him learn how to “multiply and divide.” But his presence, along with that of Houston Rockets’ owner Leslie Alexander, at a Jones Business School forum on sports management Monday at Rice University would never have attracted such an audience if he didn’t own the Astros.
“I remember several years ago, we were going to create a grocery distribution center in Phoenix,” McLane said, “and there were two reporters there and they were bored to tears. Then when we announced that we were buying the Astros, we called a press conference and there were 200 reporters packed in.”
I don’t know what was on Kenny Roger’s hand and neither does anyone else. It’s impossible to know. Was it pine tar? Was it dirt? Is there a problem with the pigment in the skin of his left hand? Honestly, I don’t really care, to me this all ties into the dirt that is on the hands of Major League Baseball.
“I’ll guarantee that nobody, but nobody, has left this ballpark… and if anyone did manage to leave early, man, he’s missin’ … the greatest! … Two strikes and a ball… Mitchell, waiting, stands deep, feet close together… Larsen is ready, gets the sign… Two strikes, ball one, here comes the pitch… Strike three! A no-hitter, a perfect game for Don Larsen! Yogi Berra runs out there, he leaps on Larsen and he’s swarmed by his teammates… Listen to this crowd roar!”
– Bob Wolff, radio broadcaster
As I write this, the Tigers are celebrating a win over the Yankees 8-1, clinching a trip to the American League Championship series. With this, a team that lost 119 games just three years ago beat the most expensive, illustrious baseball team ever put on a field.
by Trevor Freeman
Mike: Are you calling to rub it in?
Trevor: No, I’m calling because I want you to step it up. I want Jason Giambi in the Oakland Coliseum next week. Please beat the Tigers. Do it for me. Do it because all I want is for your Yankees to come to our house.
Mike: Screw you!! After we beat these Tigers, we’re going to kick you’re A’s a$$ too!!
Trevor: Don’t sing it…………bring it……..
I woke up this morning and went out to the porch to grab the newspaper. I noticed two things: it was a little chillier than usual, and the paper felt a little lighter. “This could only mean one thing!” I thought. “It must be October!” (Give me a break, I know it’s the third day of the month; I can’t process those things at 6:30 in the morning).
So with the change in weather, comes a change in baseball. The 32-team league is narrowed down to the elite eight; four from both the American and the National leagues. Every year, the postseason comes and brings along questions that begged to be answered. This year: Who will shine? Who will slump? Can the Cardinals and Tigers pick up their games? Does the loss of Pedro affect the Mets’ championship hopes?
And of course: Who will win it all? Well look no farther my humble subjects, for JDWC has all the answers to these questions and the predictions for the MLB 2006 postseason. (Yeah, I know it’s not timely, but better late than never right?)