Boston Strong: Red Sox victorious
Posted: October 31, 2013 Filed under: 21st Century | Tags: Baseball, Boston, Boston Red Sox, David Ortiz, Major League Baseball, World Series Leave a comment
Photo source: The New York Times
Congratulations to MVP David Ortiz, to the Red Sox, and to the city of Boston on this World Series victory!
For more on the Series, see these links:
Red Sox Rout Cardinals to Win World Series – New York Times
Red Sox win World Series with Game 6 victory over Cardinals – CNN
With World Series victory, both Red Sox and city of Boston earn their baseball party – NY Daily News
Red Sox savor title, and comfort of home – USA Today
Photo source: NY Daily News
This day in baseball
Posted: October 30, 2013 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Cy Young Award, Major League Baseball, Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award, Sandy Koufax, World Series Leave a commentOn 30 October 1963, Sandy Koufax was named the National League’s Most Valuable Player. Only six days prior, Koufax had also been unanimously voted as the winner of the Cy Young award. Pitching 40 games during the 1963 season, Koufax finished with a 25-5 record and a 1.88 ERA. He also went 2-0 in the World Series as the Los Angeles Dodgers swept the New York Yankees in four games.
Photo source: pophistorydig.com
Quote of the day
Posted: October 29, 2013 Filed under: Quote of the day | Tags: Baseball, Football, Jim Bouton, quotes, sports Leave a commentBaseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field?
~Jim Bouton, 1988
Photo source: JimBouton.com
This day in baseball: Braves victorious
Posted: October 28, 2013 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Atlanta Braves, Baseball, Cleveland Indians, David Justice, Major League Baseball, Mark Wohlers, Tom Glavine, World Series 1 CommentIn Game 6 of the 1995 World Series, Atlanta Braves pitchers Tom Glavine and Mark Wohlers combined efforts to throw a one-hit shutout against the Cleveland Indians. The only run of the game came from David Justice’s lead-off home run in the sixth inning against Jim Poole. The 1-0 victory gave the Braves their first World Series championship since moving to Atlanta and, notably, the only World Series Championship of the 1990s Braves dynasty.
Tom Glavine (Photo source: Sports Illustrated)
Why Nobody Watches the World Series
Posted: October 27, 2013 Filed under: 20th Century, 21st Century, Pop culture | Tags: Baseball, ESPN, Keith Olbermann, Major League Baseball, sports, World Series 6 CommentsOne of my favorite television political and sports commentators is Keith Olbermann, who also happens to be a baseball junkie. A few nights ago, on his ESPN2 show “Olbermann” (original name, I know), he did a commentary on why baseball has experienced such a decline in viewership over the years.
Blunt and direct, which is what I like about Olbermann. Still, the information he presents is rather sobering, isn’t it?
Infographic: Hitting the fastball
Posted: October 26, 2013 Filed under: Baseball 101 | Tags: Baseball, infographics, physics 2 CommentsHow hard is it to hit a 95 MPH fastball? It’s definitely not easy, that’s for sure. Here’s a pretty sweet infographic from Phoenix Bats that breaks the process down for us.
Baseball 101: Batting average
Posted: October 25, 2013 Filed under: Baseball 101 | Tags: Baseball, Ted Williams 1 CommentA player’s batting average is determined by dividing the number of base hits a player has by the total number of at-bats. For example, if a player has 500 at-bats and collects 150 hits in those at-bats, his batting average would be .300 (150/500 = .300). Keep in mind that walks and sacrifice plays (i.e. sacrifice bunts and sacrifice flies) do not count as at-bats, and therefore, do not factor into a player’s batting average.
A batting average of .300 or above is considered an excellent batting average, and an average of .400 for a season is deemed nearly impossible. The last player to hit .400 for a season was Ted Williams, who finished the 1941 seasons with a .406 batting average.
Ted Williams (Photo source: biography.com)
