This day in baseball
Posted: June 30, 2015 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Boston Red Sox, Cy Young, history, Major League Baseball, New York Highlanders, New York Yankees, Nolan Ryan 3 CommentsAt Hilltop Park in New York on June 30, 1908, Cy Young of the Red Sox no-hit the Highlanders (now the Yankees) in a 8-0 victory. At the age of 41, it was the third time that Young had accomplished the feat, and he was the oldest pitcher to have done so until Nolan Ryan’s no-hitter on June 11, 1990.
“Cy Young” by Bain News Service
Quote of the day
Posted: June 29, 2015 Filed under: 19th Century, Quote of the day | Tags: Baseball, poetry, quotes 3 CommentsIt [baseball] will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism. Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set. Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us.
~Walt Whitman
WhitmanArchive.org – daguerreotype by Gabriel Harrison (1854)
“Edges,” by David Horowitz
Posted: June 28, 2015 Filed under: Pop culture | Tags: Baseball, David Horowitz, El Matador, poetry, Rafael Alberti 2 CommentsHere’s a piece that was published alongside “Patient Hitter” in Resin from the Rain in April 2002. Here we see the other side of the battle in the pitcher-hitter showdown. The juxtaposition of these two poems reminds me of a Spanish poem my class read in high school, “El Matador,” by Rafael Alberti, which features a conversation between a matador and a bull. I love the mind games and the stare-down atmosphere involved.
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They expect a fireballer—
Someone stronger, taller
Than me. I nick edges, tantalize,
Induce flail and lunge and cries.
Curve, splitter, sinker, change—six
Different speeds and infinite tricks—
Screwball. Imbalance
Power. Shake off signs, rinse
My craft with resin, climb
The slope and break their rhythm,
No matter if the crowd is with them.
We’ll take their tappers and pop-ups any time.
And, yes, we need our team camaraderie
Or risk assault-and-battery.
Infographic: Major League field dimensions
Posted: June 26, 2015 Filed under: 21st Century, Baseball 101 | Tags: Baseball, infographics, Major League Baseball 2 CommentsHere is another great infographic from Flip Flop Fly Ball. One of my favorite things about baseball is that no two outfields are the same. Sure, the bases are always 90 feet apart and the pitcher’s rubber is always 60 feet, 6 inches from home plate, but the outfield comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. I really hope the outfield never becomes standardized — it would ruin a great aspect of the game for me.
“Patient Hitter,” by David Horowitz
Posted: June 25, 2015 Filed under: Pop culture | Tags: Baseball, David Horowitz, poetry 3 CommentsHere’s a poem by David Horowitz, which was published in Resin from the Rain in April 2002. I like how the speaker of the piece attempts to differentiate between himself and the pitcher — he speaks in a manner that indicates, or tries to create, a calmer state of mind than that of his opponent.
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Yes, I can smack your knucklers and spitters,
Dodge your beanballs, and stroke
Your curves to right for hits. Good hitters
Learn patience, adjust. We watch you choke
And grimace, sweat. We simply hit
And win, as you knuckle, bean, and spit.
Quote of the day
Posted: June 24, 2015 Filed under: Quote of the day | Tags: Baseball, Gerald Ford, quotes 8 CommentsI watch a lot of baseball on radio.
~Gerald Ford
Biography.com
Nolan Ryan’s Hall of Fame induction speech
Posted: June 23, 2015 Filed under: 20th Century | Tags: Baseball, Major League Baseball, National Baseball Hall of Fame, Nolan Ryan Leave a commentNolan Ryan speaks about work ethic and dedication in his Hall of Fame induction speech. He also discusses life after baseball. I can’t imagine how difficult that would be, to dedicate your life to a single profession, and one day walk away from it.
