Me, Grandad, and Baseball
Two weeks ago we lost one of the all-time greats. It wasn’t George Washington, it wasn’t Einstein, it wasn’t Elvis, and it wasn’t Babe Ruth. It was my grandfather, Ben Robinson. Grandad was a special, special man who truly cared more about the welfare of others than that of his own. He had a huge […]
Hosting BBA Baseball Talk on Tuesday, March 29th Again!
Once again, I will be hosting the fifth week of this month’s BBA Baseball Talk’s podcast on Tuesday, March 29th. Guests & the time will be released ASAP and the show can be listened to live and downloaded afterwards (available through iTunes). But for the best experience, I highly recommend that you listen in live and […]
The 2011 Dante Benedetti Baseball Classic
Save the Date: March 15th, 2011 6th Annual Dante Benedetti Baseball Classic Order Tickets Online The Dante Benedetti Baseball Classic will be held at AT&T Park on March 15th, 2011 and will feature the U.S.F. Dons vs. San Jose State. Game time is 12:20 PM preceding the Bruce-Mahoney game between Sacred Heart […]
Book Review: Derek Jeter from the Pages of the New York Times
Derek Jeter may not be one of the ten best players in baseball any longer and many fans will argue how much he has been responsible for his own greatness, but one thing is for sure, when Jeter’s name comes up, people listen. That’s what essayist Tyler Kepner and the other writers of this book […]
Luck Factor: AL Lineups
Honestly I feel a whole lot better about studying the American League. It has nothing to do with superior play or the designated hitter. It has everything to do with the fact that I am a dedicated Astros fan. I run an Astros blog at Breathingorangefire.com and have been a fan of […]
Making Contact, Step 3: Flat-Hand Hitting
If any single idea dominates my overall approach to hitting it is my undying belief in the advantages of flat-hand hitting. Here’s why… It increases your flexibility to react to a variety of pitches. It gives you more leverage to drive the baseball. It provides you better arm extension. It allows you the ability to […]
Book Review: Glory Days: The Akron Yankees of the Middle Atlantic League 1935-1941
Many in Northeast Ohio would be surprised to learn that the disliked New York Yankees used to have a farm team bearing their same name right in their backyard. While fans in this area of the country do not have the contempt for the Big League Yankees as, say, those in Boston, there is still […]
An Introduction to the Luck Factor in Baseball
There is a schism in baseball between those that we might call traditionalists and those we would call sabermetricians. Traditionalists believe in intangibles. They believe in character, chemistry, and pure athletic skills. Unexplained events are actually explained by clutch performance or what some people call “choking”, Moreover, we shouldn’t try to define it or quantify […]
Catching the Fun of Throwing a Baseball
It does not take long for kids to get bored with a game of catch, whether it is with mom or dad in the back yard or at baseball practice. Often, players get bored quickly with playing catch and want to move on to fielding or hitting right away. The problem is that many kids […]
Labor Peace in Baseball: Who would have guessed?
Sports radio was a buzz last week in the wake of the Super Bowl with discussion about when fans may again see their favorite professional teams back on the gridiron. While many people started out with an optimistic view of the discussions between the owners and the players association, there is currently a very sour […]
Baseball Heroes of World War II
Here’s a quick, pre-spring training, WWII video highlighting famous MLB players who gave up years of their baseball career in order to serve their beloved country in a time of war! Let’s remember them by adding any war stories of them that you have either heard of or know from first hand experience, in the […]
How to Run a Great Baseball Practice
The key to running a great baseball practice is organization. Coaches should map out their practices so that there is little wasted time. Preseason practices should cover every important aspect of baseball for the age of the player. In the regular season, coaches can gear their practice time to cover parts of the game most […]
A Review of High Heat: The Secret History of the Fastball by Tim Wendel
The Hardcover version The full title of this book is “High Heat: the Secret History of the Fastball and the Improbable Search for the Fastest Pitcher of All Time”. Its chapters are named after different aspects of pitching: The Windup, The Pivot, The Stride, The Arm Acceleration, The Release, The Follow-Through, and The Call. It […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
How to Make the Baseball Team: 5 Important Tryout Tips
Of course, there is no substitute for ballplayers, who are trying out for a team, to display good baseball skills in order to make the team. Good baseball skills and knowledge of the game are the things that baseball coaches are looking for during tryouts. However, often players have equal abilities and who makes the […]
Women at Play: The Story of Women in Baseball
Women at Play: The Story of Women in Baseball consists of original newspaper articles written between 1875 and 1935. Most of the articles are quoted in their entirety and some are summarized. These are a portion of the research notes from which the author wrote back in 1992. You can find a copy of this […]
How Coaching High School and Travel Team Baseball Has Made Me a Fan
Having an appreciation for the game of baseball goes much longer then rooting for your favorite player (Pedro Martinez) or your favorite team (Boston Red Sox). I’ve been fortunate that many of my experiences within baseball have allowed me to develop a greater passion for the game I love. Over the past several years, I […]
The Rules of Reading the Spin of the Ball
Knowing where and when to look. Those are the two simple, but important rules to reading the spin of the ball out of the pitcher’s hand. Every pitcher has his own release point, the point at which the ball leaves his hand – and the point at which a hitter should begin to read the […]
Teaching Hitters to Make Adjustments and How to Hit Mariano Rivera
I must admit that I would not make a very good major league hitting coach, even though I played at that level and even though I have been teaching hitting ever since retiring from pro ball twenty two years ago. The reason is simple – big league hitters would not make the hitting adjustments that […]
Video Interview with Author of 25 Greatest Players of All Time
Author/Sportscaster Len Berman on his latest book, ‘The 25 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time’ on the Fox Business Network. They also touch upon the topic of Brett Favre before they start talking about Berman’s book. They talk about the topic of how people should view top athletes. Should fans look differently at them due […]
The BBA Connie Mack Award: My NL Prediction
Who was Connie Mack? He is only the manager with the most wins of all time with 3,731 from 1894-1896, 1901-1950! He was a player/manager for the Pittsburg Pirates from 1894-1896 and then with the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League from 1901-1950 for a total of 53 seasons. When you manage one team for […]
7th Annual 100 Innings of Baseball Raises About $500,000
Early Bird defeats Worm in Walk-Off in 100th Inning, 73-72 Schilling Manages as Schilling Pitches This Columbus Day weekend, Red Sox’ legend Curt Schilling threw his 7th annual 100 Innings of Baseball to raise money for ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Curt named his son after Lou Gehrig. This year, from innings 96 […]
MLB Divisional Series Update
…and the Year of the Pitcher Continues… Day One! After six games played (4 in the AL and 2 in the NL) we have seen the second No-hitter in playoff history (the last one was 54 years ago by Don Larson) by the Phillies Ace Roy “Doc” Halladay over the Reds in game one. The […]
Schilling to Take the Mound 7th ANNUAL, 100 INNINGS OF BASEBALL
PRESS RELEASE October 7, 2010 Red Sox’ legend Curt Schilling is throwing his 7th annual 100 Innings of Baseball to raise money for ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Curt named his son after Lou Gehrig. And in this year’s game, 15-year-old Gehrig Schilling is expected to take the mound on Sunday at noon […]
American and National League Divisional Series Prediction
OK, this is my first attempt at a webcast so it’s bound to be a little rough around the edges. I now see that it is much easier doing one of these with at least one more person like on the BBA Baseball Talk podcasts or online with the guys over at Pro Rumors TV. […]
Mike Lowell Night at Fenway Park
Image by Philocrites via Flickr October 2, 2010 brought an appreciation for Mike Lowell’s career in baseball and for his time with the Boston Red Sox organization. It can and has been said by some media that Lowell was never really wanted by the team, but on this Saturday afternoon none of that mattered. That […]
Baseball Reflections Site Update
I just wanted to give everyone a brief site update… Along with playoff updates, predictions (once the final teams have clinched), etc. we will be bringing you a few book & movie reviews and possibly another glove review. Also on the horizon is an added social feature that will allow readers to leave a 30 […]
Around the Horn in the MLB
Image via Wikipedia The Current State of the Playoff Picture Last week saw the first team clinch not only a playoff spot, but their division as well. For those of you who missed their celebration, here’s some video of it… The second team to clinch both a playoff spot and their division was the Texas […]
