This day in baseball: Kenesaw Mountain Landis is hired
Posted: November 12, 2019 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Black Sox, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Commissioner of Baseball, history, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Major League Baseball, MLB, sports, World Series Leave a commentU.S. District Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis accepted the offer to become baseball’s first commissioner on November 12, 1920. The decision to hire a commissioner came in the wake of the 1919 World Series scandal, which involved eight White Sox players who were paid off by gamblers to throw the Series against Cincinnati. Landis would officially begin his new role in January 1921.
Baseball at the Met
Posted: November 10, 2019 Filed under: 19th Century, 20th Century | Tags: Baseball, baseball cards, history, Jefferson R. Burdick collection, Jimmie Foxx, Metropolitan Museum of Art, sports 2 CommentsYesterday I happened across a tidbit stating that one of the largest baseball card collections resides at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. I’ve never been a card collector, so I suppose this might already be common knowledge and I’ve just been out of the loop. I did want to check it out all the same, so I poked around and discovered that the Met is in the process of cataloging the cards, all part of the Jefferson R. Burdick collection, online. You can find the collection here.
Just minutes of exploring has revealed some gems, such as this collection of cartooned baseball stars from 1943:
Metropolitan Museum of Art
And these old school pennants from 1933.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
And there are, of course, a myriad of traditional baseball cards:
Metropolitan Museum of Art
I have to say, this is my type of card collection. A variety of cards, and yet virtual so that they don’t actually take up a bunch of physical space. Happy exploring!
Quote of the day
Posted: November 8, 2019 Filed under: Pop culture | Tags: Baseball, Jonas Brothers, music, Nick Jonas, quotes, sports 1 CommentI’ve fallen in love with baseball.
~Nick Jonas
fanpop
“Baseball,” by Whit Howland
Posted: November 7, 2019 Filed under: Pop culture | Tags: Baseball, poetry, sports, Whit Howland, writing 1 CommentI came across this piece last night, and I love the sensory details it provides, even in such a concise poem. The author is right — sometimes all it takes are a few words to have an impact.
*
even for
the non aficionado
when you say
such trite things as
step up to the plate
knock it out of the park
they can still feel
the solid oak of the bat
smell the oiled
leather of the glove
and hear the crack
as the ball soars
higher into the sky
past the cheap seats
and beyond
and I wonder
how could I
have dismissed
these words
and turns of phrases
so raw
golden
sweet and bardic
“Batter Up,” by Brand New
Posted: November 6, 2019 Filed under: Pop culture | Tags: Baseball, Brand New, music, sports Leave a commentHere’s a song that isn’t really about baseball, though it has some baseball allusions in it. I see this as a song about taking chances, though I have found some other interpretations about it, too. The tune is rather melancholy, but I also find it quite calming.
This day in baseball: Mr. Cub is MVP again
Posted: November 4, 2019 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Chicago Cubs, Ernie Banks, history, Major League Baseball, Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award, MLB, sports Leave a commentErnie Banks won his second consecutive MVP award on November 4, 1959. Mr. Cub finished the season with a .304 batting average and 143 RBIs, including 45 home runs. Banks collected ten of the writers’ 21 first-place votes, with Eddie Mathews (5) and Hank Aaron (2) of the Braves and Dodger Wally Moon (4) dividing the rest of the first-place votes.
Quote of the day
Posted: November 3, 2019 Filed under: Quote of the day | Tags: Baseball, Derek Jeter, Major League Baseball, MLB, quotes, sports Leave a commentI can have fun anywhere, as long as I’m with good people. But in the offseason, I like to go somewhere warm, a nice spot in the Caribbean.
~Derek Jeter
Getty Images
