2014 MLB Regular Season & Post Season too! (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

Congrats to 3 Braves (Bobby Cox, Tommy Glavine and Greg Maddux) getting inducted into the Hall of Fame later today.

 

[Ockeghem]

Mike,

Submitted for your approval.

http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/11271178/carl-yastrzemski-says-david-ortiz-boston-red-sox-second-best-hitter-ted-williams

 

[Mike Frezon]

Mike,

Submitted for your approval.

http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/11271178/carl-yastrzemski-says-david-ortiz-boston-red-sox-second-best-hitter-ted-williams

About all I can say is, "Wow."

I'm not sure I agree with my man Yaz...although it's an interesting discussion.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Mike is somewhat annoyed with me on account of my ignorance of baseball....but I've got a great baseball story to tell today.

I drove up to Weiser, Idaho, with a camera at last. Now I've never seen the film Field of Dreams but I know what it's about. The real Field of Dreams is in the small Idaho town of Weiser (pop. 5,400). There on the town baseball field a semi-pro team played with a pitcher named Walter Johnson. His no-hitters attracted major league scouts who quickly signed him up for the Washington Senators.

Here's a view from the outfield.

Here's a view of the pitcher's mound from where Johnson struck out all comers.

Years later a local boy grew up playing on Johnson field. He dreamed of playing in the majors, but due to his talent his dreaming days were cut short when another major league scout saw him play.

His name was Harmon Killebrew.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Hah! Great pictures (and story), Dennis!

I just mentioned Killebrew a few posts ago.

Walter Johnson was amazing. He was 6' 1" tall and his wing span must've been even longer! Every piece of film I've ever seen of Johnson make it look as if he flung the ball toward home at 200mph.

Best ever.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

I can't imagine there's another small town field that was the discovery point for more than one MLB hall of fame guy. If I understand correctly, Johnson and Killebrew weren't just "ordinary" hall of fame guys but rather both were in the top pantheon.

Idaho being the kind of place it is, there's no "historic landmark" billboard near Johnson field. You actually have to know the story and get a map and figure out how to find it. I'd driven through Weiser before but never figured out where the field was located.

 

[Mike Frezon]

And now you are that much the "Weiser."

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Well, Mike, if you ever decide to tour west of the Mississippi, I can probably scrounge up mitts, balls, and bats so we could hit some balls at Johnson field.

However, I can't promise that the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson will make an appearance, even if I go to a store and buy some black socks.

 

[Mike Frezon]

If we want Joe Jackson to show up, we gotta use a big bat: 36 inches and 48 ounces.

He called it "Black Betsy."

I'll bring my Yaz "Triple Crown" glove (1968 Spalding) to play some catch.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

I'll have to get my glove restrung. It's a Rawlings "Tom Tresh" LH fielder's glove from circa 1962.

 

[Mike Frezon]

And just a week or so after Ortiz passes Yaz on the Red Sox career HR list, Jeter passes Yaz on the all-time career hits list.

Rarefied air indeed.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

I'll have to get my glove restrung. It's a Rawlings "Tom Tresh" LH fielder's glove from circa 1962.

You're a lefty?

I thought Field Of Dreams was in Iowa.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I think my Braves are fading fast...

 

[Mike Frezon]

Not as fast as the Red Sox!

Read this interesting commentary after Sunday night's Red Sox/Yankee game which aired on ESPN. It was written by Sean McAdams:

Length of games remains an issue for baseball. Sunday night's game was woefully slow. It took almost three hours to play the first five innings. I have no idea what ESPN's ratings were for the game -- nor do I care. But in an otherwise competitive game featuring two longtime rivals and offering plenty of offense, my guess is that whatever the number was, it dipped considerably halfway through. And it wasn't just TV viewers turning off at home; by the seventh inning, in a one-run game, on a summer night with no school to worry about the next day, the ballpark was about half-empty by the seventh inning. One more time: This. Cannot. Be. Sustained. Look, I'm not in favor of a clock to make a pitcher deliver the ball within a given time frame. I'm not a sloppy sentimentalist either, who waxes on about the beauty of baseball is that there is no clock. But when regular season games drone on to the near four-hour mark and paying customers are giving up and going home rather endure the glacial pace, baseball had better do something. Maybe limit mound visits by catchers and pitching coaches. Maybe cut back on warmup tosses. Maybe prohibit the incessant stepping in and out of the batter's box and the endless (and needless) adjustments of batting gloves. Something has to be done. Baseball's sometimes languid pace is part of its charm, but somewhere, the game has become a snorefest at times, slow enough that even longtime fans want to tap on the glass and see if baseball is still alive -- or just napping.

 

[Ockeghem]

Thanks Mike. He doesn't speak for all fans. For my own part, I have never minded (nor will I ever mind) the length of baseball games.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Thanks Mike. He doesn't speak for all fans. For my own part, I have never minded (nor will I ever mind) the length of baseball games.

Nope. No one can speak for everyone. That's true.

And while I am often considered a "sloppy sentimentalist" about the game, even I would like to see the pace of the game speed up--just a bit.

I honestly think the main cause of the problem stems from the pitcher/batter confrontation. The batter DOES need to stay in the box and stay ready from pitch-to-pitch. This has gotten to the point of being absurd. But the pitchers also need to work faster. I don't think there are any among us (or, at least, many) who don't appreciate when the pitcher works quickly. The baseball men always say the fielders sure do like it better. But a number of pitchers, too, will walk around the mound during an at-bat and in other ways slow down the pace of the game greatly and add to the length of the game.

I don't usually complain about the actual length of a game either, Scott. But when MLB doesn't start a game until after 8pm ET...

I will forever think of Game 7 of the 1997 World Series when my then-seven-year-old-baseball-fanatic-son just couldn't stay awake until the end of the four hour ten minute ultimate game of the season. Start 'em earlier and--figuring things being equal--they'll end earlier.

But also try to keep the pitcher and batter focused on the task at hand.

I don't want a clock either. But if you watch extended game footage from decades ago, it is stunning how much quicker the game moves. And a number of other things which have evolved over the years...such as foul balls which stay on the field actually getting thrown back to the pitcher for re-use! Now, of course, there's practically a new ball put into play on every pitch.

I've also got no problems with visits between pitchers/catchers. They are necessary.

We just have to figure out how to get some of these other time savers put into action.

 

[RolandL]

I don't see any Yankee fans in previous posts, but I amazed how well they are playing with 4/5 of their starting pitchers being injured. I was surprised they did so well with the latest series with Detroit. I hope they make it to the playoffs just for Jeter.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I don't see any Yankee fans in previous posts, but I amazed how well they are playing with 4/5 of their starting pitchers being injured. I was surprised they did so well with the latest series with Detroit. I hope they make it to the playoffs just for Jeter.

Too many Red Sox fans in this thread for this lone Yankee fan to contend with. Another rough season, but I enjoy seeing some young pitchers like Betances and Greene pitch well.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Betances has been lights-out-crazy. Phenomenal.

 

[Ockeghem]

Robert,Well, at least your team is probably making the playoffs this year.