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 […]
Interview With SlumpBuster Co-Founder Jeff Brannon
If any of you have ever played sports as a kid, I’m sure you all have experienced being in a slump. But what did you do to get out of it? Some may have thought about wearing the same underwear to every game until the slump was broken. Others might not have washed their socks, […]
How Good Is Dan Haren?
When the Arizona Diamondbacks traded six of their best prospects for Dan Haren in December of 2007, I was vehemently opposed to the deal from the Diamondbacks’ perspective. Not only was I extremely high on the prospects involved – Outfielders Carlos Gonzalez and Aaron Cunningham, Southpaws Brett Anderson, Greg Smith, and Dana Eveland, and first […]
Baltimore Orioles Need To Provide Young Pitchers With Offensive Support
The Baltimore Orioles couldn’t ask for much more from rookie hurler Brad Bergesen than what he has given them in his first 18 major league starts, but the right-hander sure should expect more from his teammates than what they have given back to him. Image by Getty Images via Daylife It is inevitable that every […]
Cubs Reflections on Being in First Place
Despite all my nay-saying and doom-daying, the Chicago Cubs woke up on July 27th and found themselves in first place in the NL Central. Outside of any performance by the Cubs, here are five reasons which this has happened: 5. The St. Louis Cardinals have no hitting. A month into the season, the Cardinals looked […]
Reflections on the Mariners in July
It’s been 10 days since the All-Star break, the Mariners have been 5-3; 51-45 overall, 25-19 at home, and .500 on the road. The momentum is good. Since the All-Star break Felix Hernandez won his 50th game, becoming the 15th-youngest to reach that mark since 1919. The Mariners won the series against Detroit. Ryan Rowland-Smith […]
Nick Kappel’s Fantasy Focus: Second Half Studs Part Two
In last week’s fantasy focus, I outlined eight batters who have historically performed at a higher level in the second half of the season. This week, I’m suggesting eight starting pitchers who meet the same criteria. Johan Santana Santana’s first half totals are incredible, but his second half splits are phenomenal. […]
Friday Night Links
This week’s installment of links will focus on a repeat of Saturday night’s review of WholesaleKeychain.com and their MLB keychains. But there’s a lot more than just MLB keychains there, in fact, they are only a small portion of the types of keychains they provide. Here’s a list of some of the others: Automotive Muscle […]
Yeah, I’m talking about Practice
Most everyone agrees that sports should be fun and, for most, playing games is usually fun. Practice can be a different story and making practice fun should be the goal of sports parents and coaches. Parents, who have attained the proper perspective and patience, as previously discussed, will have a great head start with getting […]
Schmidt’s long road back ends with victory, tentative hope for future
In a Dodgers season full of compelling stories, add one more that is perhaps the most unlikely: The return of Jason Schmidt. Image by Getty Images via Daylife The veteran right-hander signed a three-year $47 million contract before the 2007 season and, before the other night, had given the Dodgers just six starts in return. […]
Boston Adds a Bat
The Red Sox have aquired a new left handed bat and insurance if 3B Mike Lowell needs to miss any time in the second half. This will be an upgrade over Jeff Bailey, Adam Bates and even Mark Kotsay (who can still play in the OF). Here is what Boston’s sports talk radio station WEEI, […]
Steriods, It’s Not All Equal!
On Monday night, July the 13th., we managed to see 7 of the best home run hitters in baseball and Brandon Inge get together in an attempt to put on a power display where batting practice pitchers grooved balls at 70—75 MPH and in turn the likes of Pujols, Fielder, Cruz, and Howard deposited them […]
Nick Kappel’s Fantasy Focus: Second Half Studs
The All-Star Break has come and gone, and the dog days of summer are upon us. In some leagues, only six weeks of regular season play remain, meaning now is the time to make your playoff push. Every piece of information is important, and if history is any indicator, these eight batters are likely to […]
Red Sox Trade Bait & Prospects
Sometimes you can improve your team by way of addition by subtraction. This year’s Red Sox are in this situation in 2009. We have a great bullpen and an excess of starting pitching and more real glaring needs except for a little more power off the bench. To get to that you need to either […]
Great Moments in All-Star Game History: Part 3 (1990-2008)
Over the last two decades, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game has transformed from being simply a game to being a multi-day extravaganza where the game itself is simply one component. For that reason, the game has at times seemed to be anti-climatic, but has still produced some great memories. After the National League dominated […]
Torii Hunter Beats the Odds
Image by Getty Images via Daylife The nice people at Guideposts.com have been kind enough to allow us to bring these stories of current Major League players in their entirety while I’m away on vacation. So without further ado…Torii Hunter Beats the Odds by Louis Berney. He rose above his father’s addiction to make it […]
Developing Patience with Your Kids in Sports Begins with Understanding
Patience is a lot like perspective. People have it UNTIL there own child is involved. Most of us parents are guilty of it. We display patience with other people’s kids, but when our own child does not perform up to expectations, we get upset and display our displeasure with words or actions. Unfortunately, it only […]
Jamie Moyer proves that good guys can finish first
Image via Wikipedia The nice people at Guideposts.com have been kind enough to allow us to bring these stories of current Major League players in their entirety while I’m away on vacation. So without further ado…Jamie Moyer proves that good guys can finish first By Louis Berney. This Good Guy Finishes First Phillies pitcher Jamie […]
How Josh Hamilton Defeated His Demons
The nice people at Guideposts.com have been kind enough to allow us to bring these stories of current Major League players in their entirety while I’m away on vacation. So without further ado…The Natural by Josh Hamilton (himself): How faith and family helped big leaguer Josh Hamilton beat his demons The scene was so familiar […]
Melvin Mora, an All-Star Dad, too!
Image by Keith Allison via Flickr The nice people at Guideposts.com have been kind enough to allow us to bring these stories of current Major League players in their entirety. So without further ado…An All-Star Dad By Louis Berney: Melvin Mora has won baseball honors, but what he prizes most are his children. One day, […]
Akadema® Unveils The Patriot Series
Happy Independence Day! Seeing that Baseball is our national past time, I am thrilled to endorse Akadema® Professional: A leading baseball and softball equipment based out of Hawthorne, NJ! They make the gloves that players such as the Phillies CF Shane Victorino, the Dodgers LF Manny Ramirez, and Team USA Softball P Monica Abbott (just […]
INTERVIEW: Craig Calcaterra of Shysterball
Image via Wikipedia Here’s an interview done by Russ Smith of SpliceToday entitled, “Interview: Craig Calcaterra of Shysterball“. Russ was kind enough to allow up to repost this on Baseball Reflections today. As the MLB season reaches its halfway mark, Splice has once again consulted Shysterball‘s Craig Calcaterra, our favorite baseball blogger. Calcaterra, a lawyer […]
Nick Kappel’s Fantasy Focus: Three Prospects to Keep an Eye on
Last week’s Fantasy Focus centered around three prime sell-high targets. This week, we’ll turn our attention to the minor leagues to find out which prospects are most likely to make a fantasy impact this season. Jhoulys Chacin Chacin’s value has skyrocketed since the beginning of the 2008 season, when Baseball America ranked him as the […]
Baltimore Orioles Midseason Report: Seeing Past the Ugliness
From the very beginning, the goal of the 2009 season for the Baltimore Orioles has been to be respectable on the field while continuing behind the scenes to develop the pieces needed to eventually lead the Orioles back to contention in the American League East. With the season now three months old and nearing the […]
Friday Night Links
In this edition of Friday Night Links, we return to our main focus for this series…promoting other sites that we like or think that you should look into. In this edition we will be focusing on Baseball and general sports equipment sites. Sports Diamond.com: a general sport equipment site that focuses on baseball and softball. […]
Effective Communication Is Important For Coaches
Effective communication is important for coaches to make baseball rewarding and fun for young players Chicago – It was the chance I had waited for since I was a 16th round draft pick drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1976. As a second baseman, I had cups of coffee with the Dodgers in 1980 […]
Interview With Former MLB Catcher Brent Mayne
Whenever you get the chance to talk to someone that has been there, it’s always special to see it through their eyes. On June the 19th, 2009, I was given the pleasure of an audience with Brent Mayne, a 15 year Major League Veteran. My connection with Brent was made through a gentleman named Bob […]
Friday Night Links
It is out of regret that we have to use this section to once again announce the departure of 2 more writers, but we do have 2 additional writing coming on board, but he will not (as of yet) be covering a specific team. The two gentlemen who will be leaving us are Tony DeMarco […]
Miller-McCune on Baseball
In a March 16th article in Miller-McCune online, Tom Jacobs wrote about the possible bias in baseball, pop-ups and economics. The article was titled, “Race Ball: Our National Pastime?“. I found the first section on race to be inconclusive as the dates they researched were from three different date ranges 1954-1968, early 70’s to early […]
Why The Trade Deadline May Be Disappointing For Tigers Fans
With just about six weeks remaining until the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline the Detroit Tigers find themselves in first place in the AL Central, albeit with some gaping holes in their roster. Through ineffectiveness or injury the Tigers are struggling to fill the bottom two spots in the starting rotation, are platooning various youngsters in the outfield […]
