Andy MacPhail Takes Over at Baltimore

Andy MacPhail hired as Chief Operations Officer for the Baltimore Orioles. At the press conference MacPhail plans on building a team that has an "identity." Unfortunately he didn't say what kind of identity. He did refer to Ozzie Guillen's remark that the Minnesota Twins were like piranhas. Hopefully he is planning on putting together a scrappy team like Baltimore has had in the past. He'll never be able to match Boston and New York for hitting power, but if he puts together a little ball team and spends money within the organization instead of trying to buy a championship.

Speaking of the press conference. When are MLB clubs going to realize they need to put a microphone in the press conference rooms throughout the league. How many times have you heard the answer to a question without any idea of what the question was? Lots of times for me. It's not like it would be that expensive.

Everyone have a nice, good day! Let's play two!

My Favorite Seats in Baseball

I've just started frequenting The Sporting News Website. I'm pretty impressed. It's more interesting than some of the sites I've seen that feature only professional writers without room for the fans to participate.

There is a lot of fan participation and I just read an article about the best seats and food in sports. I think the question and the responses are interesting.

Here is my response:

Gotta modify the question a little since I don't attend games other than baseball. For my money, the best seats in baseball are any seat where:

• The game is in the afternoon, not at night.
• People actually watch the game and talk about it.
• The big leather lunged fan sits on the other side of the park.
• People don't run in and out for concessions and bathroom breaks. A game only lasts two or three hours. Learn to hold it.
• There isn't someone behind you talking on a cell phone about everything except the game.
• The scoreboard doesn't encourage fans to make noise.
• No one does the wave.
• Someone gives me free tickets.
• Real Chicago Dogs are served and dark beer is available (these could be free too, for that matter).
• There isn't a two hour wait for the parking lot to clear out because public transportation is close by and easy to use.
• Singing take me out to the ballgame is a major part of the game.
• 
  

That sounds a lot like Wrigley Field to (except for the free tickets part). I've only been to one game at Wrigley, but it was the best.

I can't wait to go back.

While you're there, you might want to take a look at my new baseball blog, "tfedge's SportingBlog." I know the title is awful, but I haven't come up with a more clever name.

Everyone have a nice, good day! Let's play two!

First Sacked MLB Manager

The first MLB ex-manager of the 2007 season has hit the road. Sam Perlozzo, manager of the Baltimore Orioles has been fired. The O's are 15.5 back of the Red Sox with no hope of catching them. Sam won't be traveling too far as the O's have announced he will stay with the organization in some capacity.

I always liked Sam. He was with Lou Piniella here in Seattle for a while. I always liked his calm, steady presence, especially when compared to the fiery Lou Piniella.

Sam had a brief major league career, but really blossomed as a minor league manager in the Mets' organization during the eighties. He always struck me as one of those managers who teaches better than inspires. This seems to be to be increasingly important. Especially these days when fundamentals seem to have disappeared from professional baseball. Frankly, I don't see the need for a rah rah type of manager. If someone needs to be inspired to play baseball professionally, something's wrong with them.

Everyone have a nice, good day! Let's play two!

Watson Breaks the Record!

Brandon Watson broke the forty-two year old hitting streak record today in Ottawa so he's first in the International League. That ties him for eighth all-time in minor league baseball. For the all-time streak list.

Congratulations Brandon. There's got to be room for him somewhere on a MLB roster.

Everyone have a nice, good day! Let's play two!

Chicago Dogs

As a Cubs fan, I think I'm required to love Chicago Dogs. Fortunately I do love them. I've just launched a new blog dealing with one of my favorite passions, food and cooking. In honor of Chicago and the Cubbies, my first post has to do with how to make a Chicago Dog. I also found a link where it's easy to buy the necessary Sport Peppers for a genuine Chicago Dog.

Meanwhile, I'm listening to the Columbus Clippers game to see if Watson extends his hitting streak to forty-three. In his first at bat, he flied out (flew out?) to leftfield and lined out to short in the third. Ottawa seems to be scoring at will. I'll let you know how it comes out.

Do any of you recognize the young baseball player in the pitcher below? I didn't. Any guesses?

How about a very young Greg Maddux.

Everyone have a nice, good day! Let's play two!

Near No-Hitter Baseball Game and a No-hitter Brawl at Wrigley

Saturday, June 16, 2007

In case you didn't notice, Carlos Zambrano had a near no-hitter today at Wrigley. Marcus Giles hit a single in the top of the eighth to end the no-hitter. Russell Branyan's ninth inning solo home run scored the only run as the Padres defeated the Cubs 1-0.

In the fourth inning, after being hit by a Chris Young pitch, Derrek Lee charged the mound. Well, he actually sauntered along the first baseline jawing back and forth with Young. As near as I could tell, it looked like Young hit Lee by accident. As Lee walked toward third it looked like Young asked him if he was all right because Lee nodded his head smfsaid I'm okay. At that point it looked like Young made a remark about getting on down to first then. Lee took offense and threw a punch. None of the punches landed. San Diego pitcher Jake Peavy was also run.

Oddly enough, the Chicago hitting coach Gerald Perry was thrown out too. I couldn't help wondering if Perry had worked with Derrek Lee a little bit more, one of his punches would have landed.

Everyone have a nice, good day! Let's play two!

42 Game Minor-Leage Hitting Streak

Brandon Watson extended his hitting streak to 42 game hitting streak with a double in the fourth inning. Watson plays for the Columbus, Illinois Clippers the AAA team for the Washington Nationals. Forty-two games ties him with Jack Lelivelt had a 42 game streak in 1912 while playing with the Rochester Hustlers.

Brandon Watson plays outfield and currently sports .338 batting average. He doesn't have too much pop in his bat since he has no home runs or RBIs but does have 12 stolen bases. He appeared in thirty-five MLB games with a batting average of .233.

Despite Watson's remarkable achievement, the 42 game streak only ties Watson for eleventh on the all-time hitting streak. Care to guess the name of the player with the longest all-time streak? It's not Joe DiMaggio who managed a mere sixty-one game streak in 1933. It is Joe Wilhoit with sixty-nine straight games with a hit during the 1919 series when he played at Wichita.

For information about Watson's streak. For information about Lelivelt's Steak including a picture of him.

While you're at the Minor League Website. Look around. One of the great features is that you can listen lot of free minor-league games just by registering. By paying $30 for the season you can listen to hundreds of minor-league games and watch others (mostly AAA games). Monthly rates are available too. It's a great way to follow your favorite team's prospects and see who will be the players of tomorrow. By the way, it you want to practice your Spanish, you can listen to games from the AAA Mexican League.

Everyone have a nice, good day! Let's play two!

We'll Miss You at Third!

I'm greatly saddened to hear that Clete Boyer died on Monday, June 4. I remember watching him and his brother Ken each playing third base during the 1964 World Series: Ken for the Cardinals and Clete for the Yankees

I never got a chance to see either of the Boyers play, but I do remember seeing Clete Boyer as a coach for the Yankees and was thrilled to see one of Yankees I'd watched as a little boy. While growing up I was a diehard Yankees fan. There wasn't a lot of choice. The only national baseball broadcast was on Saturday and seemed to cover the Yankees' games more than anyone else. I still think of the 1961 Yankees' as my all-time favorite team. In fact I've had in the back of my mind to try and get autographs from all the team members. I just purchased a Whitey Ford autographed ball to go with my Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Moose Skowron, and Hector Lopez. As you can see, I don't have an autograph for Mr. Boyer. There's a four signature ball available for about $275 that lists the infield. I've thought about buying it, but somehow I prefer to have only one signature on a baseball. Here's a link in case you're interested.

BTW, the Cubs have gone 2-0 since Lou got suspended. He always had the knack for knowing when to get thrown out to motivate the team. When he was in Seattle there was a commercial where an actor portrayed an umpire and talked about how compassionate Lou was. The actor told a story about how when his daughter was sick, he and Lou got into an argument during which Lou called the umpire all kinds of names but ended the argument with the statement, "I hope your daughter feels better."

Finally, after posting a few links to where you can buy bubbleheads, I found a larger site you might enjoy.

Everyone have a nice, good day! Let's play two!

Lou Piniella Overcomes His Shyness in Chicago!

Lou's Suspension: I would be lax if I didn't mention Lou Piniella's suspension for an "indefinite" time. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Pagano tried to take third on a passed ball and was thrown out. Replays looked to me like the umpire got the call correct. Most importantly, it provided an opportunity for Lou to express his displeasure with the team. Ironically Lou's fit shortly after he made a statement at a press conference "you don't need to see all of the silliness on the field." In response to questions about the Zambrano-Barrett confrontation in the dug-out and locker room (see my most recent post).

There was an occasion during his spree that Lou reached out and touched the arm of an umpire. It didn't appear malicious, it was more like an attempt to push the ump's arm aside so he could step around it and get closer to the third base umpire. Still, such the rules forbid contact of an umpire and could result in an extended suspension. Except for touching the umpire, I though the Lou's performance was a little restrained. I remember one game in the King Dome when he buried the plate.

Whatever the final fine and suspension, let's hope this whole episode wasn't wasted and the Cubs will start playing like a team. BTW in case you want to re-enact the incident, you can buy a Lou Piniella bobble head figure at the site below. It's head bobs up and down just like Lou's did on Saturday. BTW MLB Manager's Joe Torre, Tony Larussa, and Terry Francona are currently available.

MLB and MILB Broadcasts This year I've been watching and listening to a lot more games than last year. In part this because of my playing a fantasy baseball game. This encourages me to look at games I normally wouldn't because I may have a player on the team. However, I've also added a subscription to MILB.com that offers many minor leagues games both video and audio. One of my favorite features is the inclusion of the MILB AAA Mexican League where the games are broadcast in Spanish. I don't speak Spanish, but I'm trying to learn. The announcers in Mexico seem much more enthusiastic than those in the States, except for Ron Santo. BTW —I'm 4 and 5 with three more weeks left in the fantasy baseball league, smack on the bubble to see if I'll be in the play-offs or not.

Everyone have a nice, good day! Let's play two!

Dugout Fight

I want to applaud both Michael Barrett and Carlos Zambrano for their recent actions. Not the thirteen hits Zambrano allowed or the passed ball and throwing error Barrett made, but in their standup response. Zambrano admitted the fight was his fault, although Barrett certainly claimed a share as well.

With current trends to deny responsibility and point fingers, it's refreshing to have people own up when they mess up.

BTW, my take on the passed ball was that Barrett had sat up on the inside of the plate, there was a left handed batter, and Zambrano threw a pitch that tailed away to the outside; it could be argued as either a passed ball or as a wild pitch. MLB has a good story about it

I also should mention that I have officially changed my allegiance from the Seattle Mariners to the Chicago Cubs.

I've been thinking about doing this for awhile. I find the American League "wait for something to happen" style of play boring. I also HATE the way fans behave at the games. The scoreboard constantly asks for noise, even in situations where it isn't called for. Fans almost always stand up when it's strike three. You might as well go to a football game. That reminds me of a quotation from Erma Brombeck who said something like "Anybody who watches three games of football in a row should be declared brain dead." It sounds right to me. It's kind of like that going to a Mariners game.

Everyone' probably focusing on the Boston-New York/Beckett-Pettite matchup, but the Dontrelle Willis v. Ben Sheets matchup with the Marlins at the Brewers looks interesting too.

Everyone have a nice, good day! Let's play two!

Baseball Exorcist

According to P-I report John Andriesen the Mariners are finally taking a positive approach to removing the curse that has inhabited the clubhouse for the last few years.

It appears that they are now trying to use an exorcist. Sounds like a good idea to me. Copy the following link into your browser to read Andriesen's column.

Read about the Mariners' attempts at exorcism here

It's time to update your baseball library and get ready for spring training and fantasy baseball. Check out these books to make 2007 your best baseball season ever.

BR Bullpen Website

I just ran across a very cool website called BR Bullpen. It has lots and lots of information about baseball throughout the world and throughout time. It's definitely worth a look for the baseball fan.

Visit the BR Bullpen, you won't be disappointed.

It's not too late to buy complete sets of Topps baseball cards.
Bring your collection up to date.

"The pitcher only had a ball, I had a bat."-Hank Aaron

Have a nice, good day and let's play two!

Lou Piniella on the North Side

I'm looking forward to seeing Lou manage the Cubs.

I watched him manage here in Seattle for several years. I'm not sure how he will do in Chicago. When he was in the American League he played big baseball. He occasionally talked about playing little baseball but it never really happened here. Of course he had some big hitters, Griffey, Arod, Jay Buhner, and Edgar.

I don't know how he'll due in the National League. I know he won the series at Cincinnati, but I've always felt like he was more comfortable in the AL.

I'm concerned about Lou with pitchers. I think there have been several young pitchers over the years that Lou pulled too early and too often so they lost there confidence and were unable to perform in the organization. He's good with older pitchers, but watch out for the young guys.

One thing for certain, he's a colorful character. I'm looking forward to seeing him bury home plate at Wrigley. He's my candidate for the "throwing a baseball fit" category in the Hall of Fame.

If your interested in buying Piniella's autobiography, try here

Whatever happens, it's sure to be interesting. I can't wait to hear Ron Santo talk about him during games.

Have a nice, good day and let's play two!

More Cool Baseball Gadgets

How fast is your best pitch?

I found another cool baseball gadget. It's the Virtual Speed Baseball. According to the blurb, it will show you the speed of your pitches and has a battery life of 100,000 pitches. If you figure an average of about 100 pitches per game, that's about a thousand games. So it should last a good long time in practice.

Warning, the ball is NOT meant to be hit with a bat, just for pitching practice.

Hall of Fame

I was just looking through the Hall of Fame ballot and was surprised to see Jay Buhner there. Frankly he doesn't have the numbers, but he sure hit some powerful home runs and was a great leader on the field and in the clubhouse.

One Mariner who might have a chance and probably should be in the hall is Dave Niehaus. Dave has been the Mariners' broadcaster since the beginning. He's broadcast more than 4,600 Mariner games. Anyone who can do that and survive deserves something. Considering that he was the first broadcaster for the Angels and spent 16 years there, he watched a lot of losing teams and still made it interesting. I listen to a lot of online games, both radio and television and find Dave is the best. Some are absolutely terrible, they talk about everything but the game.

Ripkin and Gwynn should be automatics for the hall. McGuire too, for my money. I keep hearing they'll keep him out because of steroids. I don't see that myself.

Have a nice, good day and let's play ball!

Play TV Baseball

If you're anything like me, you start itching for some baseball about this time of year. Here in Bellingham, WA it's way to wet and cold for any outdoor baseball, but playing indoor baseball sounds just about right.

I found this this TV baseball game on Amazon that looks like it might be just the ticket to engage in your own fantasy league while waiting for Spring Training. Unlike the big game systems that cost hundreds of dollars, this baseball only game is less than $50. It looks like it plugs into the front of newer TV sets and should be a lot of fun.

Have a nice, good day and let's play ball!

Curse of the Bambino!

Today is the anniversary of the beginning of the Curse of the Bambino.

86 years ago today, Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees. Think of how baseball would be today without the Babe. One of the greatest power hitters of all time. One of the greatest pitchers. And all without steroids but lots of hot dogs and beer.

Get the whole story of this and other baseball curses

The big news in the Seattle PI today was that GM Bevasi announced that they might not be done looking for talent. He said they especially need pitching. Who would have though something so obvious would make the papers.

I'm starting to get in the mood for some baseball. My own spring training is to bring out my baseball movies and watch them again.

Baseball and 4th of July

I had the great pleasure of attending a semi-pro baseball game her in Bellingham, WA today. It was great. The sun was out and the hotdogs were bad and the local team won.

Today being Independence Day I felt particularly patriotic to be at a baseball game. A few years ago I was at a game where Bob Feller was giving autographs. It was a pretty lengthy line, but he was patient, always willing to pose for a picture. The only time he stopped until the line was empty was during the playing of the national anthem. He stood, removed his hat and stood at attention.

For those of you too young to remember, Feller threw 3 no hitters. The reason I'm remembering him on Independence day is that he served 4 years in the Navy during WWII. Unlike many of the MLB players who ended up playing on barnstorming teams that entertained troops, Feller was a gunner on a navy ship and received four battle stars.

The picture above is of my wife Lorna, Bob Feller and me, taken about 15 years ago. In these days were baseball players are called "heroes" when they're really little more than public idols, Bob Feller stands well above most players and is a true hero.

I had an "aha" moment when I realized that the leather lunged fan that yells loudest at the umpire, knows the least about baseball. I'm thinking of making it a corollary to my "whoever argues loudest and most aggressively in an argument or debate it most likely to be be wrong.

I took a bath on my baseball picks yesterday. 1 and 4. Only the Astros came through for me. That makes me 20 and 20 for the year and in a tie with the dreaded coin.

No picks for today, the coin refuses to work holidays.

Happy Independence Day. Happy Baseball.

Have a nice, good day and let's play ball!

July 3 picks.

On vacation recently in Oklahoma City, I had the opportunity to visit Mickey Mantle's Steakhouse Located at #7 Mickey Mantle Dr. across from the Brickyard Baseball Park.

The food there is excellent. I had tournedos with bernaise sauce done medium rare and found with pleasure that they steak was extremely tender, genuinely able to be cut with a fork and the bernaise was very nice, but a little less strong than I'm used to. I also had a mushroom risotto that was excellent. It had been finished with cream and with the fresh parmesan, was very reminiscient of a light alfredo sauce.

Yesterday I went 2 and 3.

Y-T-D percentage is now 52% and 19 and 16. I'm still beating the dreaded coin, but the day's young.

Today's picks:

White Sox over Orioles
Yankees over Indians
Mets over Pirates
Redsox over Devil Rays
Astros over Cubs.

Have a nice, good day and let's play ball!

Cardinals Haiku-Dizzy Dean

I found a cute haiku about the the Cardinals.

Haiku.


I found myself wondering if the Dizzying referred to Dizzy Dean, the great St. Louis pitcher. He's before my time as a player, but I loved him as a national tv broadcaster in the early to mid-sixties with P.W. Reese.

"That's a blue darter!"

Have a nice, good day and let's play ball!