Boston Strong: Red Sox victorious

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

On 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

This day in baseball: Braves victorious

In 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

One 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?

Baseball 101: Batting average

A 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
Wikipedia