Archive for April, 2011
A Review of an 11” Middle Infielders Baseball Glove from PM Custom Gloves
This season in my over thirty baseball league (I play 2B) I hope to feature this 11” Stripes Pro Series PM Custom Glove in Kip Leather thanks to the kind people at PM Custom Gloves. In order to bring you this review, they allowed me to design my own custom glove for this very reason. [...]
Thinking 3rd Base was Shallow Entering 2011? It’s Gotten Worse
Coming into the 2011 season, the general consensus was that third base was one of the weaker positions from a depth standpoint. It consisted of a few elite players, a few stars and then a huge drop off in the talent pool. After a top tier consisting of David Wright (NYM), Evan Longoria (TB) and Alex [...]
How to Raise Your Batting Average
It is true that major league players, who get two hits for every ten at-bats, go back to the minor leagues and those, who get three hits ever ten at-bats, are superstars. What a difference just one hit every ten at-bats make. All baseball players want to hit for a high batting average [...]
The Tampa Bay Rays Pitching Gets Them to .500
You have to take your hat off to the Tampa Bay Rays. Their play had to be on the mark for the last two weeks and it has been just that. The team is 8-3 out of the last 11 with a .500 record after starting the season 0-6. It was a must [...]
Baseball Miscellany: A Book Review
Serious baseball fans tend to think they know the answers to the serious baseball questions that non-serious baseball fans may not even understand, let alone be able to answer. What these serious fans may not realize when they are explaining what VORP means to their seemingly impressed co-worker, is that they don’t even know the [...]
2011 Fantasy Baseball Projections: Comparing Oakland Athletics’ Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill
Through the team’s first 22 games, the Oakland Athletics lead the majors in ERA, and it’s not even close. The A’s team ERA currently sits at 2.46, while the major’s second lowest ERA (Padres) is 2.95. Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill have been big contributors to the team’s stellar ERA thus far. From a fantasy standpoint, however, [...]
15 MLB Newcomers to Watch in 2011
The good thing about baseball is that even fans of the perpetually obsolete clubs have hope each year. With the emergence of a hot prospect or still-green major leaguer, a team’s fortunes can change for the better. Take the 2008 Rays — after losing more than 90 games each year since the franchise’s [...]
Cardboard Gods: A Book Review
Usually I don’t write book reviews in the first person, but I will make an exception here because I feel it is the best way to illustrate the magnitude of this specific work. “Cardboard Gods: An American Tale” by Josh Wilker is on the surface, a story about a boy and his baseball card [...]
The Flex Stance and Studying the Pitcher
When using the flex-stance, the key to making it work starts with knowing when to be flexible. You can use all three stances – the standard stance, which is medium open with your front foot 8-12 inches away from the inside chalk; the open stance with your front foot 12-18 inches off the inside chalk; [...]
A Month After the Quake and Tsunami, Baseball Begins in Japan
In Tokyo and throughout eastern Japan, offices are a little darker, and fewer escalators are running in an attempt to conserve electricity. But cherry blossoms are in full bloom, a sign of spring, rebirth, and renewal. Another sign of spring – and, ultimately, a return to business as usual – is the start of [...]
Taking a Look at the Rays in Week Two and Looking Forward to Week Three
The Tampa Rays have been able to pick up the pace and stay in contention with this past weeks play. Starting 0-6 and a surprise retirement by Ramirez, they have stayed the course and gained valuable ground by playing with consistency. Winning four in a row has the Rays just 2.5 games out of first [...]
Pinstripe Defection: A Book Review
David vs. Goliath stories never get old and sometimes it feels like the public has heard all of the ones worth hearing. Author Clay McKinney teaches readers there’s at least one more relatively unknown story out there that pits the little guy versus the big guy in a big way. In “Pinstripe Defection: A Small [...]
2011 Fantasy Baseball Projections: Why Los Angeles Angels’ Jered Weaver is a Top 10 Pitcher
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s Jered Weaver tossed another quality start on Friday, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits in seven innings—against a very potent White Sox lineup in Chicago. This comes after Weaver’s absolute gem last Sunday, when he limited the Blue Jays’ lineup to just one run on four hits in 7 2/3 innings. [...]
Should The NY Mets Trade SS Jose Reyes By the Trade Deadline?
Photo taken from Google Images There has been a lot of talk about the future of Jose Reyes, with the shortstop in the final year of his contract. The Mets should trade him before the deadline, many people are saying. “Reyes will be too expensive too keep, they say. “He does [...]
A Look At The Mariners Pitching Staff in 2011
The Mariners have stumbled out of the gate to start the 2011 season; however, it’s no fault of the pitching staff. ERA FIP K/9 BB/9 GB% 2011 (9 games) 4.56 3.59 6.43 2.22 47.9 2010 (162 games) 3.95 4.17 6.09 2.83 43.4 Nine games is a very small sample size but, based on the [...]
2011 Phillies Predictions
It’s here: our final 2011 Phillies predictions! With our Phillies predictions blogs complete for the infield, outfield, and starters, we naturally finish with the overall 2011 Phillies predictions blog. To make this year’s Phillies prediction more official, I tried to use as many statistics as possible. I therefore went position by position with [...]
How to Analyze Your Son’s Baseball Swing – 3 Basics to Look For
Some hitting faults like stepping out, over-striding, swinging early or late, upper cutting, pulling off the ball and taking the eye off the ball are obvious flaws that even casual baseball observers can notice. Many hitters’ mistakes are not nearly as obvious and take a trained baseball eye to know the swing problem. [...]
Opening Day 2011 at A T & T Park for the World Champion San Francisco Giants
Ah, Opening Day. To me, there is nothing more special than Opening Day. I just love the smells of the ball park: the freshly cut grass, the hot dogs and the fraternity of fans who are banded by their love of baseball now coming together for another new season. It is, like seeing friends that [...]
Campy: The Two Lives of Roy Campanella; A Book Review
Even some who consider themselves serious fans of the game of baseball probably don’t know the true historical significance of the career and life of Roy Campanella. To many, Campanella is just a name of someone who is in the Hall of Fame, but he accomplished so much more on and off the [...]
The Rays 0-6 Start Are Now Without Ramirez…Now What?
Covering the Tampa Bay Rays was supposed to be a year of excitement on the field. Winning has gotten off to a slow start as well as the bats of Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon. A start of 0-6 is certainly not what any team GM or manager wants to contend with. In [...]
2011 Fantasy Baseball Projections: Is Milwaukee Brewers’ Chris Narveson Worth a Waiver Wire Flier?
Milwaukee Brewers’ pitcher Chris Narveson tossed seven shutout innings against the Cubs Saturday night, allowing just six hits and one walk while striking out nine. Through two starts (13 innings) thus far, Narveson has yet to allow a run, and boasts a 1.00 WHIP and 14/4 K/BB ratio. The 29-year-old journeyman is currently owned in just [...]
Mediocre Better Than Bad in Pittsburgh for the Pirates
Pittsburgh got rolling into 2011 with a 4-3 first week. Think about it, they can finish 25 games over .500 if they keep this up. So far, there have been a few surprises as well as a few disappointments. Since this is the Pirates, let’s start with the disappointments. Evan Meek [...]
Baseball in the Garden of Eden, A Book Review
If you are someone who still whole heartedly believes Abner Doubleday is the soul person responsible for creating America’s Pastime, author John Thorn has some major news for you. In his new work Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game, Thorn examines many “myths” of the game so many [...]
Your Stance: The Foundation of Your Swing
John Wooden once said, “Be quick, but don’t hurry.” The late, great basketball coach’s wise words applied to the baseball diamond, as well. Quick hands, wrists and reflexes are valuable tools at the plate. Having patience and the ability to refrain from rushing things is just as valuable, particularly when setting up your stance in [...]
2011 Atlanta Braves Season Preview
At the time of this writing, on the eve of the 2011 season, the season is beginning to come into focus for the Atlanta Braves. A strong lineup and the best starting rotation outside of Philadelphia seems to point to a return to the playoffs, but will it be enough to overcome the vaunted rotation [...]
Book Review: Satch, Dizzy & Rapid Robert
Timothy Gay is known to those who read extensively about baseball as a good writer, but more importantly, someone who is willing to do the research required to undertake accurate storytelling of some of the most interesting, and important, times in baseball history. In “Satch, Dizzy & Rapid Robert: The wild Saga of Interracial Baseball [...]
2011 Fantasy Baseball Projections: How Good Is Chicago Cubs’ Starlin Castro?
Chicago Cubs’ shortstop Starlin Castro is 8-for-13 (.615) with four runs and one RBI through three games this season, and already has the fantasy baseball community buzzing over the his stud potential. Castro’s 2011 spring totals turned some heads last month, as he displayed surprising power: 66 at-bats, 14 runs, nine XBH (four HRs), 15 RBI, 2 steals, .348/.386/.621. Fresh off [...]
Is the Future Finally Here For The Baltimore Orioles?
After more than a decade of mediocrity and a continual “building for the future” mentality, it appears that the future has finally arrived for the Baltimore Orioles. Buoyed by the 34-23 (.596) record posted once Buck Showalter became manager in August of last season, the Orioles’ front office decided in the off-season to make moves [...]
Of the NY Mets and the Knees of Carlos Beltran
At the risk of seeming dramatic, the Mets’ fortunes this year likely rest with Carlos Beltran’s knees. Beltran, who has missed a huge chunk of the last two years with knee injuries, appears poised to play Opening Night against the Marlins. And it would be great if he does play in the opener. [...]
<--under the tag-->