Archive for December, 2010
Japanese Baseball Year in Review: 2010
It’s that time again. It’s the time when everyone looks back on the year that was, and it’s no different here at Baseball Reflections. As my first year of writing essays for this site comes to a close, let’s take a brief look at the Japanese baseball year in review. I started out by describing [...]
Rod Carew on Gripping Your Bat: Taking Hold of Success
For decades upon decades, from Ty Cobb to Mickey Mantle to Tony Gywnn to Miguel Cabrera; Major League Baseball’s finest hitters have taken hold of a bat in the fashion that suited them. And, in doing so, they all held tight to successful careers with an assortment of batting titles, All-Star selections, and even Hall [...]
Things I Hope For in The New Year
1. Bert Blyleven is finally elected to the Hall of Fame. 2. The Brewers surge ahead late in the season for a change before coming up short again. 3. The Red Sox choke on their money and finish behind both the Rays and Yankees. 4. The Phillies now an occupant of the big spenders suite [...]
MLB.com CEO: Challenges of streaming live baseball to mobile devices
At the Open Mobile Summit (via ZDNet.com) in San Francisco, MLB.com CEO Bob Bowman talks about optimizing mobile applications in a world with network congestion. He says, the company considers file size and network congestion and adjusts bit rates accordingly when streaming live baseball events to its mobile users. Help support Baseball Reflections and buy [...]
Roberto’s Kids: an international non-profit organization named after Roberto Clemente
We collect new and gently worn baseball equipment from the US and Canada and distribute it to disadvantaged youth in Latin American countries, the US and around the World. Our global reach and leadership bridges the gap between different cultures through baseball. Our organization partners with communities as they develop and nurture social responsibility. The [...]
Merry Christmas 2010
Merry Christmas! No political correctness on this blog, after all, this is a baseball site and seeing that Charlie Brown and the rest of the peanuts gang (written and created by Charles M. Schultz) were also fans of the great sport of baseball I thought I’d add this clip from the classic, “A Charlie Brown [...]
Why today’s Pirates might consider reusing the mold of the 1960 World Champs
This article was originally posted on Bucs Prospects back on the 19th. I hope baseball fans enjoyed watching Game 7 of the 1960 World Series on MLB Network. I didn’t think it possible to fulfill the build-up, but it absolutely did. Maz’s homer was hardly the only drama, it was baseball at its best with [...]
Jack Perconte: Providing “The Fix” – 3 Hitting Solutions
Many people, who have a basic knowledge of baseball, can look at a young hitter and figure out what they are doing wrong. Certain things like stepping out, over-striding, swinging early or late, upper cutting, pulling off the ball and taking their eye off the ball are fairly obvious flaws. The solutions to these problems [...]
HELP FOUND!
It is incredible how one off-season move by a big league club can change the emotions of their loyal followers. This weekend Zach Greinke answered the Help Wanted Ad that appeared on last week’s post and transformed the Brewers starting staff from incompetence to corporeal. A season opening rotation of Gallardo, Wolf, Marcum and now [...]
A Video Tribute to Hall of Famer Bob Feller
Please share your favorite stories of the late Bob Feller in the comments section below! We hope you like this video tribute… Feel free to add links to any other video tributes on Bob Feller in the comments section as well! Help support Baseball Reflections and buy me a coffee with PayPal!
I-70 Baseball Announces First Writers Conference
I-70 Baseball is proud to announce the organization of the first Midwest Baseball Writers Convention to be held on February 12, 2011 in Springfield, MO. Baseball writers from around the country are being invited to attend the first ever conference, aimed at creating a networking opportunity for writers to exchange ideas and meet with industry professionals that can assist them [...]
Bob Feller Talking Through the Years About Baseball and His Life
Editor’s note: This post is being used by permission by the author, Arne , of MISC. Baseball: Gathering Assorted Items of Baseball History And Trivia…he also writes for Seamheads where an abridged version of this was released last week. He is also a member of the BBA! In 1981, during spring training: “Those four seasons [...]
A Review of the Josh Willingham Trade from Washington to Oakland
The Washington Nationals sent Josh Willingham to the Oakland Athletics for Henry Rodriguez and Corey Brown. This is in response to the Nationals getting Jayson Werth as a free agent earlier in the winter. Willingham will be a free agent after next year, so there isn’t that much risk. He could be up for a [...]
Rod Carew on Choosing the Right Bat
Throughout my career, I had the greatest respect for my bats. I preferred a 34 ½-inch long, 32-ounce ash bat that was wide at the top and narrow at the handle, allowing me a proper mix of power and quickness at the plate. But just as there are plenty of approaches to take at the [...]
5 Man Rotation And Pitch Counts
Is the five man rotation actually helpful? Do pitch counts help or hurt a teams chance to win? It is my firm belief that the 5 man rotation does nothing but take starts from good pitchers and give them to guys who should be in the bull pen. The 5 man rotation came about in [...]
HELP WANTED!
With the winter meetings over, and only one meaningful acquisition to address the gaping hole in the rotation, I came across the following on Munster.com, Thanklessjobs.com and Overpriced.com. “We have an urgent need for a strong and durable team player to become a vital part of our staff. Your tenacious attitude, desire to win at [...]
Want to go to a Game? Will you co-sign a loan for me?
and really see who is getting what and where they stand against other players. It astounds me that players today get paid what they do and it is even more astounding that Scott Boras can get an average player like Jason Werth 18 million per year. Yes I said average player. Look at where he [...]
Pirates Still Not Serious About Winning
New skipper Clint Hurdle will have an array of things working against him. Most notably would be the Pittsburgh Pirates front office. No big names were offered anything to come to Pittsburgh this season at the recently held Winter meetings. A couple of acquisitions were made, and a decent Buc flew South to Arizona. Scott [...]
The Vibro-Belt Was Not As Good As Seen On TV
In an attempt to get in better shape for the 2011 baseball season, the kind people at Wayfair sent me the Vibro-Belt. I have to admit that I was skeptical going into this review and upon trying it out, I wasn’t disappointed. Now if you just wanted something that would give you a good message, [...]
Cooperstown Immortalizes a Forgotten Man: What all MLB Executives should have learned from Pat Gillick
Editor’s Note: This was originally posted on Bucs Prospects back on 12/9/2010. Pat Gillick’s induction into Baseball’s Hall of Fame is not only well-deserved, but it comes with perfect timing. With today’s emphasis on intellectuals over baseball men and numbers over people, it’s refreshing for a purist like myself to see an old school scout [...]
Baseball Bloggers Alliance Day
Today, Friday December 10, 2010 is Baseball Bloggers Alliance (aka BBA) Day! The BBA was started in April 2009 by one of our contributing writers here at Baseball Reflections, Daniel Shoptaw. Daniel also runs his own blog where he covers the Cardinals called C70 at the Bat and he also runs the United Cardinal Bloggers [...]
Baseball is a Head Game and How to Fix It
This article is probably not what you think. You are probably thinking I am talking about what baseball players should be thinking about on the ball field – the mental game of baseball. Actually, this article is about the physical aspect of a baseball player’s head and how important the location of the head is [...]
What an Honor
Oh what rapture it is to second-guess. For years I have stayed behind my shield of maladroit opinion feeling free to blast away at those “experts” for their incomprehensible votes and stultifying opinions. Ah, but those days of being the dilettante of the keyboard may soon be ending. One of the great advantages of being [...]
Is Jayson Werth it?
Wow is all I can say right now. I knew Jayson Werth’s new contract was ridiculous but I had no idea how ridiculous it was. Let’s examine the 18 million dollar man. After going through some numbers of the greatest players in baseball history the player who closest resembles Jayson Werth is….Paul Konerko. Also, please [...]
A’s work out details to make MLB doubleheader a reality
Editor’s Note: This post was originally posted to Kevin’s Examiner page! Not since Bill Clinton was in the White House and Beavis and Butthead were childishly giggling their ways into our living rooms have the Oakland A’s done what they will do next year. For the first time in 15 years, the A’s will conduct [...]
Potential Free Agent Signings for the Red Sox
The Position Players Here’s a list of the only worthy players (in my opinion) that the Red Sox should consider for either 1B/3B or in the OF. The spreadsheet below lists the player’s age and whether or not he is a type A or B free agent. I would have considered Pena if he did [...]
![Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession [Hardcover]](http://baseballreflections.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/9780802119391_500X500-150x150.jpg)
Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession [Hardcover]
from the publisher… When award-winning journalist Dave Jamieson’s parents sold his childhood home a few years ago, forcing him to clear out his old room, he happily rediscovered a prized boyhood possession: his baseball card collection. Now was the time to cash in on his “investments,” but all the card shops had closed, and eBay [...]
Understanding the Spin of the Ball
The very prospect of picking up the rotation of a baseball only 55 feet away from you normally traveling in excess of 90 mph is quite a daunting task. Not to mention that very few players, especially at the lower levels of the game, know what to look for – even if they are looking. [...]
Who’s Side Are YOU On?
It was shocking and frankly disappointing that the Yankees have decided to turn into an obdurate adversary with Derek Jeter. Is this any way to treat an All-Time Yankee great? He is going to have a plaque on both the Monument Wall in Yankee Stadium and in the Hall of Fame. He is the all-time [...]
<--under the tag-->