Hall of Famer Rod Carew on Making Contact, Step 2: The Stride
As you continue taking steps toward becoming a successful hitter, one of the crucial steps is actually making a stride. In your quest for contact, the purposes of the stride are many. For starters, it gets your energies moving in the right direction. It also eliminates a flat-footed swing and balances the weight shift and […]
MLB Baseball News, Tweets and More
Image by mikeleeorg via Flickr Monday Afternoon Edition After a long break, this feature will resume even if only for a day… @MLB : Buck Showalter on #Orioles manager job: “I don’t think there is a prouder organization in baseball.” http://tinyurl.com/2aspzpu & Corey Hart & @Brewers make 3-year commitment http://bit.ly/aayJAX | Watch his 2-run HR […]
Reflecting On The Cardinals Off Season
As of this writing, the St. Louis Cardinals have played three games. Those three games have done less enlightening than reinforcing just what this offseason’s top topics were. The major move of the Cardinal offseason was, of course, the signing of Matt Holliday to a long-term deal. With Holliday in the fold hitting behind Albert […]
IS HANLEY THE MARLINS’ FIRST FRANCHISE PLAYER?
The most ominous reminder is right along the rafters of Sun Life Stadium. Decorating the ballpark are tributes to countless athletes who’ve graced Miami with their greatness. There’s Dan Marino, Bob Griese, Paul Warfield, Dwight Stephenson, and on and on. They all have one thing in common. Not a single one of them played for […]
Interviewing the Good Doctor and Former Pitcher, John D’Acquisto, Ph.D
A few weeks ago, I connected with former pro baseball player turned doctor, John D’Acquisto, D.Sc. When asked about his professional playing days, when he earned his doctorate and the field he earned it in, he had this to say: “I played for 16 years of professional baseball I started in 1971 Major League Spring […]
Cardinals Are Not Dormant During Winter
While for a lot of teams, the offseason is a quiet time, a time for renewal and reflection. For the Cardinals, this offseason has been anything but. It would have been hard to believe after the final out of the NLDS that anything would overshadow the pursuit of Matt Holliday during the winter. After all, […]
Updates From The Winter Meetings: 2 Days In
First and foremost, how can these meeting be called the “winter” meetings when winter does NOT officially begin until December 21st?! OK, now that I got that off my chest let’s look around at the early news two days into these meetings. Free Agent Signings C — Pudge Rodriguez signs a two year deal with […]
Top 10 Free Agent Outfielders
Image by Getty Images via Daylife Outfielders, as in many years, offer the most diverse market. The reason outfielders tend to end up as free agents more often, is that typically it is hard to find a combination of average to above-average offense and good defense, and vice versa. For example, Jason Bay is an […]
The Cardinals 2009 Postseason And Some Notes on 2010
It’s been famously noted that the postseason is a crapshoot. While there is definitely some truth to that statement, for the St. Louis Cardinals the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers brought both old and new reasons for a hasty exit from October. There’s no doubt that the unexpected occurred in this […]
For The Cardinals, It Was A Stuttering September
It took a while, but finally September gave the Cardinals the moment they had been waiting for, a clinching celebration as they punched their tickets into the postseason as NL Central champs. What happened between September 1 and September 26 to get to that point alternatively thrilled and concerned St. Louis fans as they try […]
What If? The Lost Years of Williams, DiMaggio and Feller
The names Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio and Bob Feller conjure up images of greatness on the baseball diamond, but a lack of overwhelming career statistics often hurts these superstars when the discussion turns to the greatest players in baseball history. What is generally forgotten is that all three missed significant time in the prime of […]
The Cardinals Are Picking Up Steam
On the morning of August 1, the St. Louis Cardinals awoke to find themselves clinging to a half-game lead in the NL Central. While there had been a boost of energy and enthusiasm following the deal for Matt Holliday and, to a lesser extent, Julio Lugo, the Cards still had their hands full with the […]
Reminder: Keychain Raffle Has Only 8 Days Left!
Welcome to the first, and hopefully not last, Baseball Reflections Keychain Raffle sponsored by WholesaleKeychain.com. We will be raffling off 9 MLB team keychains. There will be links below to the WholesaleKeychain.com page of the 9 teams (these links will open up in a new tab or page) selected for this raffle. There will be […]
Reminder: MLB Keychain Raffle
Welcome to the first, and hopefully not last, Baseball Reflections Keychain Raffle sponsored by WholesaleKeychain.com. We will be raffling off 9 MLB team keychains. There will be links below to the WholesaleKeychain.com page of the 9 teams (these links will open up in a new tab or page) selected for this raffle. There will be […]
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 […]
The Cardinals, On The Run and the Number 6
In Cardinal Nation, we know that six is a serious number. The local On The Run Mobile gas stations have had a promotion the past few years that, if the Cardinals scored six runs or more in a game, the next day fountain drinks, coffee, etc. was only a quarter at their stores. This year, […]
The Pendulum Continues To Swing in St. Louis
Joe Morgan would have put the Cardinals on his bad list in June, because they’ve been pretty inconsistent during the month. A pitching staff that is lit up against the Rockies early in the month settles down to some better pitched games, with hiccups along the way. An offense maligned as inept is able to […]
The Cardinals Flip Flop in May
I don’t watch horror or suspense movies. I’m not big on being scared or losing control of bodily functions. So I can’t say that this season for St. Louis has been like one of those movies from personal experience, but knowing the general formula for a movie of that type, the analogy seems to fit. […]
The Cardinals: Two Weeks in April
While it’s not been the Dickensonian “best of times, worst of times” for the St. Louis Cardinals so far this season, 2009 has already had plenty of high points and low points in the first two weeks. The Cardinals sit in a virtual tie for first with the hated Chicago Cubs in the NL Central, […]
Reds Looking for Results in 2009
After spending the last few years rebuilding their minor league system, the Cincinnati Reds are ready to reap some of the rewards for their efforts in 2009. Though Cincinnati has not posted a winning record since the 2000 season, there is a renewed sense of optimism in 2009 that the decade of disappointment may finally […]
New Writers Have Been Gathered
Over the past few days, we have reached agreements with 3 new writers for 2 more MLB teams; the Toronto Blue Jays and The Chicago White Sox. First up are Daniel “Hugo” Fruchter and Tom Dakers, aka “Rincewind” from BlueBird Banter. To become more familiar with their work, please check out an article from each […]
San Diego Padres Off Season Report
Season Wrap Up Like most of the NL West, the Padres had a disappointing 2008 season going 63-99, the third worst record in baseball last season! Who would have thought that the Giants would finish higher than San Diego at Spring Training last year? I for one did not even think it possible. Granted, 2008 […]
St. Louis Cardinals off Season Report
Season Wrap Up The Cardinals won as many games in 2008 as they did when they won the World Series just two seasons earlier, but they found themselves outside of the playoff picture when the season ended. With an 86-76 record, the Cards once again had a very solid season with Tony La Russa at […]
