Experiencing inflammation in his right index finger, on June 16, 1884, right-handed pitcher Larry Corcoran of the White Stockings pitched ambidextrously in a game against the Buffalo Bisons. He alternated arms throughout, though I haven’t been able to figure out if he switched arms every pitch or every batter. He would keep this up for four innings, before being moved to shortstop, as Chicago lost 20-9 in Buffalo.
Baseball fans are junkies, and their heroin is the statistic.
~Robert S. Wieder
Henry “Heinie” Zimmerman of the Cubs had a monster game against the Boston Braves on June 11, 1911. With two home runs, a triple, and two singles, Zimmerman collected a team record nine RBIs as Chicago won in a 20-2 rout. It is a record that continues to stand today, only being tied by one Sammy Sosa on August 10, 2002.
You could be a kid for as long as you want when you play baseball.
~ Cal Ripken, Jr.
This piece seems more appropriate for the off-season, but I think it can work just as well in June. After all, there are still those moments before and after games, and times when the home team is on the road and the home stadium sits silent. Even a Little League field can speak to you, if you sit and listen.
This piece was Spitball Magazine‘s Baseball Poem of the Month in June 2013, so clearly I’m not the only one who thinks it’s a good June poem.
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Empty ballparks speak.
It’s true, you know.
They are not just empty spaces
Surrounded by tiers of empty seats.
They speak with silent eloquence
Of green grass and ghosts
Of ball games past
And promises of ball games to come.
You have to relax and listen.
Consider it therapy
The Royals managed to break a 3-game losing streak yesterday, defeating the Rangers 4-3. The win also broke a losing streak for me, as this was the first victory I was able to see in person this year.
With no promotions to entice me to the ballpark early (except Kansas State University day, and I’m not a K-State fan), and due to my laziness in getting up and around yesterday morning, I arrived at the ballpark a mere 45 minutes before game time. I had to park in the farthest spot from the K that I’ve ever had to park. Having attended games even throughout the Royals’ rough years, it is still strange to me arriving even when I did that I should have to park so far away. That is another benefit of low attendance: better parking, and less stress leaving when the game is finished. This is hardly a complaint, however, as I intentionally view my trips to the K as relaxing time, so even the extra time it takes to walk to and from my car and to deal with traffic I see as a chance to slow down mentally. It gives one the opportunity to take in the sensory experience, too — the early summer heat surrounding the event, the smell of hot dogs on tailgating grills, the sounds of parking lot games, and the smell of grease as one approaches the stadium.
To my surprise, the ballpark was only half-full by the time I took my seat, though it filled up quickly in the last twenty-or-so minutes before the game. I suppose that many folks in attendance were like me, with no incentive to arrive early for K-State day. My crowd experience was much more pleasant than the last game I attended, as the people whom I noticed not paying attention to the game were at least a couple rows away from me. This was also the first game where I’ve observed the ushers actually enforcing seating, as at one point a large, yellow-shirted man chased down a couple girls with smirks on their faces, demanding to see their tickets. The fuller a stadium gets, the more important it becomes for people to sit where they’re supposed to sit.
Jeremy Guthrie had another great start — it’s refreshing to see him have two consecutive good starts given how rough his season has been prior to now. The top of the seventh did give me a bit of a scare, however, when the Rangers put up a three-spot to tie the game. A friend of mine texted to me at that point, “Now this feels like it’s going to be a loss :(.” I, however, had come into this game determined that the Royals were going to win and I would end my losing streak, so I refused to agree. After all, the game was only tied.
I don’t consider myself a superstitious person, but I have to admit that I do get that way just a little bit when it comes to sports. At one point last year, it seemed like every time I tuned into a Royals game, they lost. So for two weeks straight, I refused to turn a game on until it seemed like it didn’t matter whether I was watching or not. Going into yesterday, a part of me feared that I was jinxing their chances for victory, but I decided that I would refuse to believe that they would lose, no matter what. A part of me feels that this resolve is what got the win, as cheesy as that sounds.
Salvador Perez was the hero once again, sending a solo home run over the left field fence in the bottom of the eighth. During his post-game interview, the crowd erupted in a chant of, “Sal-VEE! Sal-VEE!” The crowd lingered more than usual after a game. It’s nice to bask in a victory, once in a while.
It’s been nearly two years since I first wrote about Pat Venditte, who at the time was a switch-pitcher in the Yankees organization. Last night, Venditte made his Major League debut with the Oakland A’s, as they faced the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
How did he do? The first full-time switch-pitcher of the modern era threw two scoreless innings, beginning the seventh pitching with his left arm to get Brock Holt to ground out, then coaxing a double-play ball out of Mike Napoli throwing with his right. He only faced three in the eighth inning, though switch-hitter Blake Swihart did give him a momentary crisis of “which side should I pitch from?”
That’s not a bad conundrum to have, in the grand scheme of things. To be a young pitcher making history in this manner, and having the opportunity to do it at Fenway? Can’t complain about that!
Pat Venditte became first MLB player to record an out as LHP and RHP in same inning since Greg Harris did so for Expos on Sept. 28, 1995.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 6, 2015
The difference between the old ballplayer and the new ballplayer is the jersey. The old ballplayer cared about the name on the front. The new ballplayer cares about the name on the back.
~Steve Garvey
On June 4, 1976, Mets outfielder Dave “Sky King” Kingman cranked three home runs to lead New York to an 11-0 victory at Dodger Stadium. With this performance, Kingman drove in eight runs, thus establishing a new club record.
I made it out to the Royals game last night, as they took on the Indians in the first game of the series. It was also T-shirt Tuesday, and in hopes of snagging one of the “Forever Royal” T-shirts, I made it out to Kauffman Stadium about an hour before the gates opened, which is by far the earliest I have ever arrived at any event. The stadium concourse seemed like a ghost town.
I was early enough to have the opportunity to watch the Indians have batting practice, but apparently not early enough to watch the Royals. I suppose this was okay, as there is rarely anything too exciting about batting practice. I picked up a beer and a copy of Royals Baseball Insider, and sat back to enjoy myself. Kauffman Stadium is one of my favorite place to relax, and the time leading up to the game is the best time to do this, as the stands are still relatively empty.
Unfortunately, my sense of relaxation was not to last. The game started, and the seats to my right were still empty. The occupiers of those seats finally did show up in the bottom of the first inning. It was a family, and while they seemed more concerned with talking to each other than they did about the game, it was still a minor enough situation that I could easily ignore them.
About the fourth inning, however, the family in the row in front of us left, and when it became evident that they would not return, the lady next to me invited other people–apparently more family–to take those seats. This was when the feelings of annoyance began to set in. Instantly, I had a full-blown family fun time session going on right next to me, and little of rambunctiousness had anything to do with what was going on out on the field. Around the seventh inning, when the couple to my left got up and never returned, I moved down a seat to put some distance between myself and this family. My sense of peace and concentration was short-lived, however, as the same lady invited even more family over, and they settled into the remaining empty seats to my left.
I was now surrounded.
The rest of the game, I had a very difficult time focusing on the field, as I had to put up not only with the unrelated noise pollution, but also items and kids being passed back and forth in front of me. I had to bite my tongue against the urge to point out that this was a baseball game, and if that was not why these folks had come to the K, they needed to take their family reunion elsewhere. As much as I enjoy the Royals winning, this is easily my least favorite part of it all — the influx of new “fans” who go to games because it’s suddenly “cool,” not because of baseball.
Unfortunately, the Royals’ performance did little to raise my spirits. While it was refreshing to see Jeremy Guthrie have a good outing for a change, Wade Davis’s performance was quite a downer, and the Royals left far too many men stranded on base. The whole experience felt like one of those “and all I got was this T-shirt” moments.
There will be many more Royals games to come. Hopefully, this will be the worst of them.
