Casa Base: The Trap
Casa Base: “Don’t Panic”
Casa Base – First Problems
Which Baseball Teams Will Reign In September?
It’s been such an overloaded year in sports that it’s hard to remember that baseball season is in full swing (excuse the pun). So now is as good a time as any to take a crack at predicting the long term future of the majors by seeing which baseball teams will reign in September (click […]
Casa Base – Coach Selection
Casa base: Pine Tar
Matt’s Top 5 Predictions for MLB 2020
Hey baseball fans! Given the announcement of Derek Jeter’s retirement after this season, one can conclude that he will be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020. Along with that, I believe there could be some other major MLB events in 2020. Here are my top five: #5: Mike Trout Wins his first MVP Award: In […]
Casa Base Week 2 Comic Strip
SF Giants Opening Day 2014
There is nothing quite like the beginning of a new baseball season. You see players, both pitchers and hitters, as well as teams who start off doing surprisingly well. The hitters will end up where they usually do, around their lifetime batting average, and the pitchers around to their lifetime ERA. For the most part, […]
Introducing Italy’s Softball Inside’s Weekly Comic Strip
Today I (Peter at Baseball Reflections) am proud to introduce to you, our faithful readers, Casa base, a weekly comic strip that comes to you from Italy! It is published on www.softballinside.com first in Itallian, then in English which is the version you will see here every week. Seeing that English is not their primary […]
For the Twins: A New Year, but the Same Outlook
The Minnesota Twins made some acquisitions but little has really changed in the organization. Terry Ryan decided to go buy some pitching and bring back some long lost teammates. Since when do we go out and buy pitchers, the thought has always been, we have better stuff in our prospects than we can get on […]
The 1984 Mets: three important groups of players not part of 1986 Championship
Whether we are talking about leaks in the New York Mets front office or the dirty New York media, Sandy Alderson’s declaration to the Mets ownership of 90 wins was not intended to be shared to the press. I have mentioned several times about the parallels between the 1981 and 2011 changes in the front […]
How does new baseball technology affect real-life scouting?
Photo credits: familymwr It’s out with the old and with the new, as far as baseball technology is concerned. The newest baseball technology is a camera-and-radar based system that tracks the baseball and players. A hit by Justin Turner was recently tracked by the new technology. The batted ball spedd was 88.3 mph, […]
Reds Baseball is back!
Baseball is back! A new season is upon us, and with that the Reds begin the season at home with a series against their division rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals. Both the Reds and the Cards made the playoffs last season, so this first series will certainly be a competitive one. To recap, during the […]
A SABR Tour of Candlestick Park
Recently, I had the great pleasure of taking a tour of Candlestick Park, one of the ‘homes’ of my youth. It was done through my SABR group, the Lefty O’Doul chapter. SABR is Society for American Baseball Research, a group devoted to baseball—both to baseball’s history and to its statistics. I happen to enjoy both […]
An Interview with Shoeless Joe Jackson (Sort of)
Hey baseball fans! I’m back with another interview! This time, it is with Shoeless Joe Jackson! I know what you are thinking: “How could you have gotten in touch with a ballplayer who died in 1951?” Well, my answer to you all is this: just like my Babe Ruth interview, a few days ago I sent in questions […]
The Phillies Only Bright Spot in the 1930s
Hey baseball fans! Fun fact: all of the players who won the batting Triple Crown in the 20th century have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. However, before I knew this fun fact, there was one person who won the Triple Crown who I had never heard of. I researched this player and it turns […]
Pitchers Intentionally Hitting Batters: Take it or leave it?
Baseball is still a game steeped in tradition and one of the less favorable traditions is when pitchers intentionally hit batters. I am usually not in favor of this, but at the professional level, I think a retaliatory hitting of a batter is almost a gentlemanly act … when done correctly. Yes, I said it! […]
Rare Form: Major League Baseball Players With College Degrees
Big league baseball is known for 100-mph fastballs and one of the most exciting post-season formats in all of professional sports. What it’s not known for is college education. STATS LLC., a global sports statistics firm, found in 2012 that only 39 MLB players possessed a four-year college degree. That amounts to only 4.3 percent […]
MEXICO WINS 2014 CARIBBEAN WORLD SERIES
Written by Ismael Nunez Back in August 21, 1981 Salvador Sanchez (Mexico) was defending his Featherweight Title against Wilfredo Gomez (Puerto Rico). That day Sanchez knocked out Gomez in Eight Rounds! This past February 8th 2014, the spirit of Sanchez was present: Team Mexico with good pitching, clutch hitting defeated Team Puerto Rico with a score of […]
The Babe’s 1923 World Series watch is for sale
Babe Ruth’s 1923 World Series pocket watch – which was awarded to all the championship players, is to be auctioned in New York. The watch was thought to be lost for decades, but it’s been found and is expected to bring $750,000 or more. The Babe batted .368 and hit three home runs during that […]
Build it and They Will Come: How to Make Your Own Baseball Field
Whether you want a new baseball field for your child’s Little League team or a regulation-size field in your own backyard, you can easily put together your own baseball field on any relatively level and open plot of land. Getting Started In order for your baseball field to be successful, you need to keep in […]
The Ruben Tejada approach and how it can be a detriment to Juan Lagares
The Mets have had few “can’t miss” position players come out of their system in recent years. David Wright, and prior to him, Jose Reyes were the last players that were expected to be able to perform at an All Star level. We all about the labeling players as “prospects” and know that a players […]
What Will Ma-Kun Mean for New York?
New York Yankees pitchers and catchers report to spring training on February 14, and among the new faces will be Masahiro Tanaka, a 25-year-old phenom from Japan who signed a seven-year, $155 million deal in late January. Ma-kun, as Tanaka is affectionately known (“kun” is an informal Japanese suffix generally used to address young boys […]
5 Noteworthy Bespectacled Baseball Pitchers
Hall of fame inductees Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine earned their tickets to Cooperstown without the need for specs when they took the mound, but don’t assume every great in the league had 20/20 vision. Charlie Sheen’s Wild Thing didn’t know his true potential in that fictitious Cleveland Indians lineup until he was forced to […]
The Jason Bay roller coaster has finally idled to a complete stop
It looks as if the career of OF Jason Bay is finally coming to an end. As many would say (particularly fans of the New York Mets), it will probably be three years too late. It is self explanatory to describe the drop in Bay’s production; which saw a six year run with the Pittsburgh […]
An Interview with Graig Nettles
I have another interview today. This one is with All Star third baseman, Graig Nettles! But, before we get to the interview, let me tell you a little bit about one of the most familiar faces to Yankee fans from the 1970s. A native of San Diego, California, Nettles was a power-hitting third baseman from 1967-1988 […]
What if Jordany Valdespin was Gregg Jefferies?
Jordany Valdespin gained a minor cult like following after he had some success during the 2012 season. I got to see Valdespin for a couple spring trainings before he made his MLB debut. I also watched him play a couple seasons in AA Binghamton. A line drive hitter with some speed, he never seemed like […]
Remembering San Francisco’s Candlestick Park & thoughts on the 2014 Giants
Within a few short months, Candlestick Park will no longer be there, and will be demolished. I’m still not sure what will replace it. Nothing can replace it in my heart. The baseball Giants played there from 1960 to 1999 and the football 49ers played there from 1971 to 2013. The 49ers are moving down […]
A One Man Show: Norm Coleman as Ty Cobb
Please check out the following promo of a good friend of BaseballReflections.com, Norm Coleman who performs a one man show on one of the greatest players to ever put on a pro-baseball uniform … Hall of Famer Ty Cobb … To learn more about Mr. Coleman or his one man show, check out the following […]
