Tag: baseball

Categories
General Sports

Forget about SkyCam, we want the audio exclusives

We propose that every major sports association makes it mandatory for coaches and players to wear microphones during every game. Call us crazy, but we’d almost rather hear the chit chat on the field than some of these loser broadcast crews. Think about it; would you rather hear Mike Tirico blabber for three hours on Monday Night Football or listen to coach Gruden ask his staff where his team is currently sitting on the field. Yeah, it happens.

Of course, if you wanna know why we don’t always mic up players and coaches, just imagine the kinds of things you’d hear come out of guys like Bobby Knight if he forgot he was wired.

Categories
General Sports

Wake up, wake up, wake up; it’s the first of the month


Hooray!! October is finally over.

Don’t get us wrong, October has its good points. First off, there was college football. And then there was college football. Oh, can’t forget college football, more college football, a little pro football and then there was college football. You get the point.

Anyways, it’s nothing personal, but sorry, No. 10, we’re over you. The MLB playoffs were kinda fun even if the World Series was a total snoozer. And like the rest of America, we were scarily close to smashing our newly purchased HD television set if we saw one more promo for Frank TV. Oh, and don’t even get us started on the stupid Dane Cook commercials; the real ones or the fake ones. Yes, yes; we know, there is only one October. That guy obviously sold his soul to the devil in return for starring roles with Jessica Alba in F- movies and, quite honestly, we can’t say we blame him.

Basically, all we’re saying is that we’re stoked to be changing our calendars to November and we’re ready to start turning our attention to the meaty portion of the BCS race (regardless of the illegitimacy of the whole system), turduckit, holidays and the fantasy football home stretch. Hooray, November!!

Until October 1, 2008 rolls around, we’re taking our Manny-O-Lantern and putting this month behind us.

Categories
All Other Sports

"If there’s grass on the field, play ball"

We know that after a summer of baseball, football is finally starting to take over the fall. Still, lots of guys out there are completely lost in the fog of baseball until a champ is crowned. To those super focused, elite fans that have nothing but bats and balls on the mind, we have six little words for you: what the hell are you thinking?

Oooooooh, they must finger joust on the side.

Categories
All Other Sports

Jose Offerman charged the mound and then got charged with assault


Former MLBer and current Long Island Ducks shortstop Jose Offerman was arrested on Tuesday night after he went ballistic and attacked Bridgeport Bluefish pitcher Matt Beech with his bat following a beaning in the second inning.

The game started off pretty good for Offerman as he homered in the first inning, but a fastball to the calf in the second caused Offerman to charge the mound, bat in hand, and a major league fight broke out in the minors. Offerman was charged with a second-degree assault and reportedly got out of the pokey after posting the $10,000 bond.

He hit him with a cut fastball in the left calf,” Bluefish manager Tommy John said. “And the next thing you know, Offerman’s going to the mound with his bat over his head taking swings at Beech. He took at least two, maybe even three [swings].

Luckily, the only thing that was seriously injured in the scuffle was Offerman’s integrity. The focus of Offerman’s fury escaped the assault with a broken middle finger on his non-throwing hand, but catcher John Nathans ended up being an unintentional victim in the whole ordeal as he went home sporting symptoms of a concussion.

It may have only been John Nathans taking one on the backswing in the head to have saved Matt Beech from really taking one in the face,” said Bluefish pitcher Mike Porzio.

Listen, we love a good dust-up as much as the next guy, but is this baseball or a reenactment of the infamous brawl in The Warriors? Whatever happened to simply charging the mound and matching fists with the guy? Maybe Offerman was afraid something like this would happen.

Links:

[NewsDay.com]: Ducks’ Offerman, wielding bat, attacks pitcher

Categories
All Other Sports

American pitcher is in the middle of a hairy situation in Japan


It’s bad enough when any professional athlete in any sport test positive for drugs. It’s even worse when someone becomes the first player to fail a drug test in the history of a sport. But the absolute worst has to be getting suspended for pissing dirty and having the banned substance turn out to be a version of Rogaine!

American pitcher Rick Guttormson became the first person in the history of Japanese baseball to fail a drug test after officials revealed that Finasteride, a hair growing agent, was found in his system following a July 13 postgame test. So, why would someone get suspended over trying to get a thick, luxurious head of hair? Well, the stuff does more than conceal bald spots, it’s also used by some as a masking agent.

Apparently, Guttormson has been taking the stuff for a couple of years now, but that doesn’t make the Japanese Bud Seligs any happier about the situation. In addition to receiving a 20-day suspension from the Japan Pacific League, his team, the Softbank Hawks, were also fined $63,000. Now, we don’t know much about the current state of the hair restoration market, but we’re going to guess that a toupee would have been a whole lot cheaper.

Links:

[NewsChannel5.com]: A hair-raising story from Japan

Categories
MLB General

Dice-K isn’t the only one with some wicked pitches

Lots of people say that baseball is boring and slow, but what they don’t understand is the level of knowledge that players and managers have when it comes to the game. There is so much strategery going on behind the scenes that people just don’t know about. One method that players in Japan have included in their arsenal is the element of surprise. And, boy, have they mastered that one.

While this guy is pretty damn innovative with the ball, we’re guessing that Pete Maravich would have tossed that pitch long ago if he had never picked up a basketball.

Links:

[Awful Announcing]: Satchel Paige Called – He Wants His Pitch Back

Categories
MLB General

You can’t play demolition derby in real life


When I was a kid, one of my favorite games at the local arcade (yes, they had these places back there where you could go with a pocketful of quarters and play video games!) was something called Demolition Derby. It was a four person game and there were four steering wheels. Your job was to ram the shit out of other cars until their radiators exploded. And I always thought it’d be cool as hell to play it in real life. Anyway, it turns out that three pitchers from the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (an independent pro team) thought so as well.

Anthony Varvaro and Terrance Kyle Parker were issued town summonses for disorderly conduct with a motor vehicle after they were spotted ramming their own vehicles in a parking lot. Steven Michael Richard, the third player who was in his room while the other two were ramming his car was charged with resisting or obstructing police.

According to team President Rob Zerjav, this isn’t the first time it’s happened and that players sometimes buy “old beaters” and play some demolition derby knowing they’re going to get rid of the cars after the season. It doesn’t sound like the three will be getting any team discipline. Hell, knowing the way baseball works, the PR staff will probably turn this into a promotion night.

By the way, in looking for the Demolition Derby game, I found this game where the object is to… wait for it… walk a dog.

Links:
[Post Crescent]: Three Wisconsin Timber Rattlers pitchers arrested in Grand Chute
[Sports By Brooks]: RATTLER, RATTLER, THUNDER, CLATTER, BOOM BOOM BOOM

[Wisonsin Timber Rattlers]: Official home page

Categories
All Other Sports

Follow the bouncing balls

You might only know Rolling Rock for green bottled beer but apparently they’ve jumped on the advertising bandwagon and put themselves together a commercial. And it’s a pretty darn funny one too. Now, it’s not a pair of hot babes wrestling around in their underwear or the Trojan Games but you can never go wrong with a perfectly placed, good ol’ fashioned baseball to the package. So, if once is funny then a whole slew of crotch shots is well on its way to hilarity.

The Magic should have forced Billy Donovan to spend his off-season hanging out at this stadium during every game in order to weasel out of his contract. Hey, and that’s pretty easy Billy; they really ought to ferret leg your ass.

Links:

[Our Book of Scrap]: Something To Wake You Out of Your “Gary Sheffield Is Still An Idiot” Fog

Categories
MLB General

You favorite baseball parks — Lego style


While MLB urns and coffins are getting all the press, we just found somethign that’s a lot cooler. You can can replicas of baseball stadiums built out of Legos and put whatever photo you want on the customized scoreboard. The “deluxe” stadium is made out of 3,500 lego blocks. Currently they have PNC Park, Heinz Field, Camden Yards, M&T Stadium, Citizens Bank Park, and Yankee Stadium but it looks like you can get them to build anything you want.

We’re waiting on a quote for our Veterans Stadium replica. We wonder if a LEGO Santa Claus or a LEGO Michael Irvin stretched out on the field costs a lot extra.

Links:
[Burik Model Design]: LEGO Sports Arenas

Categories
MLB General

Dec 7 in Sports History: Lou Gehrig inducted in the Hall of Fame


In 1939: Because of his failing health, the Baseball Hall of Fame waived its standard rule that a player must be retired two years before they can be elected to the hall for Lou Gehrig. Gehrig, who once held the record for playing in 2,130 consecutive games, suffered an incurable fatal neuromuscular disease called ALS (which became known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease). He played his final game in May of 1939, and gave his famous “luckiest man on the face of the earth” speech on July 4, in which his number four was retired by the Yankees. It was the first number ever to be retired by a sports team. Only when Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash in 1972 was the waiting period (which is now five years) waived. (lougehrig.com)

Also in 1939: On the same day Gehrig was enshrined, a brash, cocky nineteen-year-old who was killing American Association pitching was signed by the Boston Red Sox. Ted Williams went on to tear up American League pitching that year, hitting .327 with 31 HR and 145 RBI. During his Hall of Fame career, he hit .344 with 521 homers. He was the last player to hit over .400 when he hit .406 in the 1941 season. He also served in two wars (flying 39 missions in Korea) and won two triple crowns (although he didn’t win MVP either year). He was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 1966 and named the greatest hitter of all-time during baseball’s 1969 centennial celebration. (baseballlibrary.com)

Also, happy birthday to Larry Bird, who turns 50 today and let’s not forget that today is the day the German’s bombed Pearl Harbor.