Archive for August, 2009
Nick Kappel’s Fantasy Focus: The All-August Free Agent Team
Joe Mauer, Ryan Howard, and Mark Reynolds. Everyone knows their names, and most people know they’ve played exceptionally well in August. What most people don’t know, however, is that Will Venable has batted .311 with six HR and 17 RBI in August. Being able to scour players like Venable from the waiver wire is a [...]
Time For MLB To Play Hardball
ByCharles S. Farrell Volume II, Issue 16: A Publication For Your Reading Enjoyment Major League Baseball recently held its annual midsummer celebration of the game of hardball and, as usual, Dominicans were well represented on the All Star teams selected as the best of the best. The numbers are testament to the contribution the Dominican [...]
Forgotten No More: The Story of Baseball in Baltimore
The history of baseball in Baltimore since the St. Louis Browns moved to the city in 1954 has been well chronicled. However, until now, the great history of baseball in Baltimore prior to the arrival of Major League Baseball has gone largely unrecognized. That is about to change with the release this fall of the [...]
Friday Night Links
This edition of Friday Night Links introduce you to a new baseball site that has just recently launched. If you’re an NBA fan, have visited The Hoop Doctors and have enjoyed your treatment the doctors there have provided then you will be happy to know that they have multiple spinoff sites. But, before that be [...]
What If? The Lost Years of Williams, DiMaggio and Feller
The names Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio and Bob Feller conjure up images of greatness on the baseball diamond, but a lack of overwhelming career statistics often hurts these superstars when the discussion turns to the greatest players in baseball history. What is generally forgotten is that all three missed significant time in the prime of [...]
WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon
Image by wallyg via Flickr Join me in raising the awareness to the wonderful work of The Jimmy Fund, the Boston Red Sox official charity for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The Jimmy Fund was founded in 1948 and made popular by the generosity and support of the late great Red Sox LF Ted Williams. To [...]
Jacoby Ellsbury Sets A New Red Sox SB Record
On Tuesday, August 25th, “the human spark plug”, Jacoby Ellsbury made Red Sox history by stealing third base for his 55th stolen base of the season. The previous mark was set by former first base coach Tommy Harper who had secured the record over the past 35 years, but he knew Ellsbury was going to [...]
Blue Jays Reflections: Playing for Next Year?
Hi all. Time for our monthly look in from north of the border. Actually, it is well past time. Sorry, I’ve been on holiday and then I tried to catch up on everything that wasn’t being done over the holiday. And I’m lazy. But I digress. What has happened in the world of the Jays [...]
WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon
Image by GregPC via Flickr Join me in raising the awareness to the wonderful work of The Jimmy Fund, the Boston Red Sox official charity for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The Jimmy Fund was founded in 1948 and made popular by the generosity and support of the late great Red Sox LF Ted Williams. To [...]
Royals Are Laughingstocks Once More
When Dayton Moore was hired as general manager and David Glass decided it was okay to spend a little money, most of us were sure that the Royals were on the road back to respectability. Bolstered by a better than it really was September, the Royals won more games in 2008 than they had since [...]
The Cardinals Are Picking Up Steam
On the morning of August 1, the St. Louis Cardinals awoke to find themselves clinging to a half-game lead in the NL Central. While there had been a boost of energy and enthusiasm following the deal for Matt Holliday and, to a lesser extent, Julio Lugo, the Cards still had their hands full with the [...]
Nick Kappel’s Fantasy Focus: The All-Overappreciated Team
In last week’s Fantasy Focus, I announced the 2009 All-Underappreciated Team. This week we shift gears, as I present to you the All-Overappreciated Team: Catcher – Russell Martin Martin was the No. 1 drafted catcher in most leagues this year, but has failed to live up to those expectations. The 26-year-old is currently [...]
The Steve Garvey Interview
Image via Wikipedia I recently had the privilege of asking Dodger great, Steve Garvey (1B) a few questions. I was put in contact with Mr. Garvey by Athlete Promotions. AthletePromotions manages the website, corporate appearances, speaking engagements and endorsement deals for 10 time All-Star, Steve Garvey. To see who else Athlete Promotions represents please [...]
Putting A Finger On A Problem
A guest article by Charles S. Farrell from the DRSEA Informer Volume II, Issue 17: A Publication For Your Reading Enjoyment Major League Baseball finds itself between a rock and a hard place as it tries to address the problem of age and identity falsification among prospects in the Dominican Republic. At the same time, [...]
A Glove of Their Own: A Book Review
If you think that youth baseball today has gotten too competitive and structured with All Star Leagues and travel teams, allow me to bring you back to a simpler time. Have any of you ever played just for the fun of the game in a non-league setting? Do you remember playing pick-up games with less [...]
Interview with Greg Rajan of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times
Today we’re featuring an incredible interview with Greg Rajan, sports writer for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. He has covered the team since its inception, and we’ve done these e-mail interviews with a number of people – this is, by far, the most extensive. Captip to Greg for taking the time to answer these questions thoroughly. [...]
Thoughts On The Trade Deadline: The Angels
Another trade deadline passed, another swirl of rumors connecting the Angels to nearly every premium player out there, and disappointingly but not unexpectedly – another stretch run in which the Angels have decided to sit on their hands and stand pat. Last year’s acquisition of Mark Teixiera not withstanding, the Angels have been quiet more [...]
Four Burning Questions Facing The Baltimore Orioles
As the Baltimore Orioles complete another disappointing season and prepare for 2010, there are 4 key questions that team president Andy MacPhail must answer. Can The O’s Contend in 2010? Before any other decisions about the team’s future can be addressed, MacPhail and the Baltimore front office must assess the team and realistically determine if [...]
Can the Florida Marlins Win the NL East
With seven weeks left in the baseball season, the young Florida Marlins seem to be poised to stay in the hunt down to the wire in the National League East. However, the question is whether the Marlins have the experience needed to catapult pass the Phillies and claim the title. At the start of the [...]
Helton Reaches Career Milestone
Amidst the ups and downs of playing for a small-medium market club for your career Todd Helton has been about the only constant in a Colorado Rockies uniform. Todd’s 13 year MLB career in my opinion has been Cooperstown worthy. He is a career .320 hitter, 300 plus home-runs and 500 doubles and counting. Image [...]
Nick Kappel’s Fantasy Focus: The All-Underappreciated Team
America loves the underdog; it’s a fact. More importantly, fantasy owners love the underdog. Not only are they fun to root for, but they often come much cheaper than what they should. If there’s one thing you’ve learned from me this season, it better be the importance of value. Lucky for you, this week’s Fantasy Focus is a perfect [...]
Reminder: Keychain Raffle Has Only 8 Days Left!
Welcome to the first, and hopefully not last, Baseball Reflections Keychain Raffle sponsored by WholesaleKeychain.com. We will be raffling off 9 MLB team keychains. There will be links below to the WholesaleKeychain.com page of the 9 teams (these links will open up in a new tab or page) selected for this raffle. There will be [...]
The “Mess” Which Transpired in Queens
Do we ever hear enough “Meet the Mess,” jokes? The line does become overplayed like the latest Lady GaGa track and unfortunately for the Mets, they have not done much to have us believe otherwise. I mean, let’s face it. It has been more than a disappointing season for the team with the second highest [...]
Rollie’s Follies: An Interview with Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers
**The Quotes as presented are direct from Rollie Fingers courtesy of an interview that he was kind enough to grant me in conjunction with his new book.** When people approach professional athletes, they are usually looking for a career retrospective or a biography. That is exactly what Yellowstone Ritter had in mind when he contacted [...]
Interview With Buddy Biancalana of PMPM Sports
Have you ever been playing sports and experienced a feeling that you thought was only seen in the movies that is called being “in the zone”? If you have or even if you’d like to read more about people who have experienced this, please read on. I recently had the pleasure and privelidge of interviewing [...]
Reminder: MLB Keychain Raffle
Welcome to the first, and hopefully not last, Baseball Reflections Keychain Raffle sponsored by WholesaleKeychain.com. We will be raffling off 9 MLB team keychains. There will be links below to the WholesaleKeychain.com page of the 9 teams (these links will open up in a new tab or page) selected for this raffle. There will be [...]
The Rangers Still Have Hope For A Playoff Chance
The Texas Rangers have traditionally had a rough time with the second half of the season, but this season seems to be a little different. While they are winners of 7 out of 10 games, they do have hit a bump in the road with the AL-worst Oakland Athletics. The Rangers were quiet during the [...]
The LaRoche Rule
Image by SD Dirk via Flickr Recently, Adam LaRoche was traded back to the National League after spending less than 2 weeks in the American League. As you would know, this does not happen often, and, inadvertently set up a fun scenario in the two fantasy leagues I play in – one auction, one draft. [...]
Nick Kappel’s Fantasy Focus: The Art of Spot Starting
If there’s one thing that separates good fantasy baseball managers from the greats ones, it’s the ability to spot start. Having at least one or two open roster spots, (especially in leagues with 12 teams or less) gives you an incredible advantage over the competition. This allows you to strategically spot start players who have [...]
Baseball Reflection’s MLB Keychain Raffle
Welcome to the first, and hopefully not last, Baseball Reflections Keychain Raffle sponsored by WholesaleKeychain.com. We will be raffling off 9 MLB team keychains. There will be links below to the WholesaleKeychain.com page of the 9 teams (these links will open up in a new tab or page) selected for this raffle. There will be [...]
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