Poll Predicts McLouth Breakout Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The first pitch of the Pirates' season came from Tom Glavine's hand to Nate McLouth's bat. And, to hear McLouth's teammates tell it, that could be the beginning of something special.
A City Hangs on Vin Scully's Every Word Los Angeles Times His voice belongs to then and now, an audio clip that carries us back to a bygone era even as it keeps us up-to-the-minute updated. It has been there as long as big-league baseball has been in this city, actually pre-dating the Los Angeles Dodgers by several years, which was the biggest advantage the Dodgers had when they first arrived in 1958, certainly more important than any of the fading stars on the playing roster.
A Century of Ineptitude Chicago Sun-Times It was Oct. 11, 1969, and Ron Santo knew only one thing. The last place he wanted to be for Game 1 of the World Series was Chicago. So the Cubs' All-Star third baseman and his roommate, second baseman Glenn Beckert, whisked their wives to Las Vegas.
A brief history of April Fool's Day, what it means, and a few suggestions of what to do about it.
 by Jonathan Isles |
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 by rings90 |
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 by Matt |
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April 02, 2008
I get that itch about now and find myself gingerly reaching, past my complete Chip Hiltons, for my prized first edition of the best baseball book ever written, Ball Four.
And start laughing all over again.
Ball Four never fails to remind me what baseball is all about: Staying 9 years old all your life. And, maybe most of all, the power of dreams.
It’s the reasons we watch Field of Dreams every single time it’s on. We wade through all the lovely nonsense just to get to the ending. So we can feel that familiar catch in our throat, when we find out that everything happened just so a boy can play catch with his father.
It could be because I played some ball myself in the minors for the Pittsburgh Pirates, or I’m just a sentimentalist at heart. Either way, I think I’d come to the same conclusion: Baseball is the best game.
No other game stimulates the senses like baseball — the sights on a sunny warm afternoon, the smell and taste of the food. Why wouldn’t Ernie Banks want to play two? And baseball, unlike other sports, has no time constraints; You don’t play against the clock, you play against your opponent.
Baseball survived the Black Sox scandal. It survived the 1985 Cocaine scandal, the Pete Rose gambling scandal. It survived segregation. It survived lights at Wrigley Field. The Casey Stengel/Mickey Mantle show in Congress. And, even, Tony Perkins throwing a baseball in Fear Strikes Out.
It’ll survive more mindless Congressional Committees. The Steroid Era. The Human Growth Era. And eras yet to be named.
Because it’s baseball—that's the reason why we still call it The Great America’s Pastime.
Football starts in the fall. Basketball, we’re never quite sure. Hockey, which is not even our sport, sort of sneaks up on us when we’re not looking.
Baseball is the only major sport that starts in the spring; a sure sign that you don’t have to shovel snow any more. When all things are possible, and your 58 and 104 team hasn’t lost a single game.
The forever “Aging Knuckleballer” himself, Jim Bouton understood baseball as well as anyone and chased his dream right to the end.
“You spend your whole life gripping a baseball,” he said, “then in the end you find out it’s been gripping you.”
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The Most Wonderful Time of Year Tribe Fan in Yankeeland Opening Day, in all its glory. Clearly the best day of the year. A day that should be a national holiday. I mean, would you rather have President's Day off, or Opening Day? It's a no- brainer.
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Bart Giamatti, the late baseball commissioner, said: "The largest thing I've learned is the en...
Apr. 02, 2008 12:51 AM
What's your favorite baseball book?
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Bart Giamatti, the late baseball commissioner, said: "The largest thing I've learned is the enormous grip this game has on people, the extent to which it really is very important. It goes way down deep. It really does bind together."
He also said that just when you need it most, (when Summer turns to Autumn and the leaves begin to fall), it ends. It breaks your heart.
There is nothing like that sound when the bat hits the ball in a stadium. You have to be there to hear it. It could be a home run. It's worth the price of admission. It's what the dream is really all about.
more on the honor rollI was sitting in the upper deck in RFK last season cheering the Nationals against the Yankees. I was one seat in left from the foul pole, and next to me was a Yankees fan. We had been chit-chatting the whole time, and he was a nice fella. Well, bottom of the ninth, one out, one man on, and the Nats are down by 2. Ryan Zimmerman steps up and we hear the loud crack. I can't figure out what happened, because the ball just stayed there. Then I realize that it hasn't moved because it was hit directly at me. I don't know which of us was more excited, that Yankees fan or myself. In that moment, we were both happy just to have been in the right place at the right time.
That's what's so wonderful about Baseball. It's not the National Sport, it's the National Pastime. The pastime itself isn't playing baseball, it's watching baseball. It's the cheering, the heckling, the fan camaraderie. It's sitting with the old timer and arguing over whether that was an error on the shortstop or unreasonable effort, and hearing that he saw Cal Ripken make that same play his rookie year. It's going to the ballpark that still knows its roots and hearing the organ play, and the fans all sing along. It's yelling something out to the players or coaches, and getting a response. I can't think of a better way to spend a summer night.
reedd said...
GO RED SOX!!!
MACKDADDY1 said...
IF LIFE WAS AS SIMPLE AND LAID BACK AS A DAY AT THE BASEBALL PARK THIS WORLD BE A MUCH BETTER PLACE TO LIVE. THE SIGHTS... THE SOUNDS... THE SMELL OF HOTDOGS AND BEER...THE CRISP COOL NIGHTS OR THE SULTRY AFTERNOONS SITTING WITH YOUR WIDE-EYED GRANDKIDS ARE WHAT BASEBALL IS ALL ABOUT. YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THE GAME, IT'S MULTITUDE OF STATS, OR KNOW THE PLAYERS, OR THE SOMETIMES PERPLEXING RULES TO ENJOY IT. WHEN YOU HEAR THE SOUND OF THE BALL HITTING THE BAT (MO MATTER WHICH TEAM YOU ARE FOR) AND THE CROWD CHEERS IT IS JUST A UNDENIABLE FEELING OF EXCITEMENT.
I REMEMBER WHEN MY DAUGHTER WAS 9 YEARS OLD. SHE COULD RECITE EVERY SINGLE CURRENT BASEBALL STAT TO YOU JUST AS GOOD AS ANY BASEBALL COMMENTATOR. I HAD TAKEN HER TO CINCINATTI TO SHOP ONE SATURDAY. AS WE WERE WALKING THROUGH THE HYATT REGENCY HOTEL, SHE SPOTTED A YOUNG ROOKIE NAMED BARRY LARKIN BY THE ESCALATOR. HE WAS DRESSED TO THE NINES IN AN ARMANI SUIT AND WAS SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS FOR ABOUT 50 LITTLE BOYS. WHEN SHE WALKED UP TO THE CROWD, PATIENTLY BUT ANXIOUSLY WAITING TO SPEAK TO HIM, HE PULLED HER THROUGH THE CROWD AND SPOKE TO HER FOR AWHILE. HE ASKED ME IF WE WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND A VERY SPECIAL BANQUET UPSTAIRS AT THE HOTEL FOR THE ENTIRE CINCINATTI REDS BASEBALL TEAM. NEEDLESS TO SAY THAT A LITTLE GIRLS DREAMS CAME TRUE THAT VERY DAY. SHE GOT TO MEET THE ENTIRE TEAM. SHE RECEIVED ALL KINDS OF GIFTS AND AUTOGRAPHS FROM THE WHOLE TEAM (EXCEPT PETE ROSE, WHO EXPECTED US TO PAY $10 FOR HIS AUTOGRAPH...NOT!). THEY MADE A MEMORY THAT WILL LAST MY DAUGHTER'S ENTIRE LIFETIME THAT VERY DAY.
SADLY, A BIG PART OF THAT DAY PAST AWAY A FEW MONTHS AGO, JOE NUXHALL. HE WAS AN ICON THAT HELPED MAKE BASEBALL WHAT IT IS TODAY. FROM BEING THE YOUNGEST BASEBALL PLAYER EVER, TO HIS MANY AWARDS, TO HIS CALLING THE MANY YEARS OF BASEBALL GAMES. HE WILL SADLY BE MISSED BY ALL WHO LOVE THE SPORT.
BUT BACK TO THE UP SIDE...BASEBALL IS UNDOUBTEDLY AMERICAS FAVORITE PASTIME. IT IS A SPECIAL MEMORY FOR MY DAUGHTER AND I AM SURE MY THREE GRANDSONS WILL LIVE THE DREAM AS WELL.
PLAY BALL!!!!
I have stood on the pitchers mound, at the Field of Dreams. The only sound, was the sound of the wind dancing through the fields of corn, or was that footsteps that I heard?
I have heard the wind dance through the corn fields surrounding the Field of Dreams, or did I hear the footsteps of some of the greats? Standing out there, you DO wonder.
Seeing that I have posted twice, in error, I do feel like a rerun of The Field of Dreams....or would that be a foul!?!
In this game, three strikes and you're still very much in. Thanks for the interest La Donna.
In other words, it was fair by a mile.
Thank You
Spinner said...
I don't know... the scratching,...the spitting... Sorry, but I just don't get it.