Posted: January 31, 2017 | Author: Precious Sanders | Filed under: Quote of the day | Tags: Baseball, Cal Ripken Jr, Major League Baseball, quotes |
Whether your name is Gehrig or Ripken, DiMaggio or Robinson, or that of some youngster who picks up his bat or puts on his glove, you are challenged by the game of baseball to do your very best day in and day out. That’s all I’ve ever tried to do.
~Cal Ripken, Jr.

Sporting News
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Posted: January 30, 2017 | Author: Precious Sanders | Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Black Sox Scandal, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, history, Major League Baseball, MLB, Pat Moran, sports, World War I |
During World War I, the Cincinnati Reds found themselves unable to get in touch with their manager, Christy Mathewson, who was in France serving in the Army. Thus, on January 30, 1919, the Reds hired former Phillies manager Pat Moran to fill the role. Moran led Cincinnati to a World Series Championship that season (albeit, a somewhat dubious one, given the Black Sox scandal).

Pat Moran, 1911 (Library of Congress)


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Posted: January 28, 2017 | Author: Precious Sanders | Filed under: 21st Century | Tags: Baseball, Major League Baseball, Spring Training |
It feels like we are but inching along at this point, being so close and yet still so far out. Only 16 days to Spring Training!

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Posted: January 26, 2017 | Author: Precious Sanders | Filed under: 21st Century, Experiences and reflections | Tags: Barack Obama, Baseball, Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Kauffman Stadium, Major League Baseball, sports, White House, Yordano Ventura |
When I heard about the passing of Yordano Ventura, at first I wasn’t sure the headline I saw was accurate or true. A quick Google search proved that it was, and my emotions ran from disbelief to shock, then quickly to sadness. Obviously, I didn’t know Ventura personally, never met him in person, and had he opted to do something with his life other than play baseball, would likely never have heard of him. Even knowing all this, upon reading the news of his death, I couldn’t help but feel a genuine sense of loss. After all, I had watched this young man pitch through some of the best seasons I’ve had the privilege to watch as a Royals fan. In spite of his temper (or maybe because of it), he was a fan favorite in Kansas City, and many of his fans continue to grieve as the week goes on.

It’s one of those events that gets me thinking about baseball, about sports in general, and its role in our world. When the Chicago Cubs visited the White House last week, Barack Obama commented, “Throughout our history, sports has had this power to bring us together even when the country is divided.” The fact that baseball’s popularity grew exponentially following the American Civil War is a testament to this. During both World War I and World War II, baseball became a form of entertainment that provided Americans a much-needed escape from the realities of being a nation at war. Jackie Robinson’s journey into the history books shows that baseball can even impact the social climate of our country.
For me, personally, the world of sports continues to provide a sense of balance and purpose to my day-to-day life. I am a notoriously active person, which helps to offset the forty-plus hours a week I spend sitting at a desk at work. I love the competition of running road races, the challenge of tackling obstacle course races, and the feeling of accomplishment when I have become strong enough to need to go out and buy a new set of dumbbells. In the past, I’ve slid into bases, played tackle football in the backyard with my brothers, and had my ass kicked in martial arts studios. The benefits to my physical and mental health are too numerous to list here (though that might be a worthwhile topic for a future post? We’ll see…). Then, when the workday is done and the chores are finished and the day’s workout is completed, there’s the escape of turning on a Royals game or a Packers game and getting lost in watching others compete while I unwind.
For kids and adults alike, there are organized recreational teams to encourage a sense of community as well as to promote our overall well-being. And, again, we also find community in the teams we root for (or against), and in the time we can spend in watching those teams and players compete. We become so engrossed with these games that we become emotionally involved in them. We sometimes become obsessed. We track our favorite players, we feel anxiety or elation over the performances of our teams, we buy their jerseys and wear caps bearing their logos and we do so with pride. Hell, the Super Bowl has become such a big deal that we throw house parties, complete with booze and a junk food feast, sometimes just so we can watch the commercials.
The death of Yordano Ventura revealed the incredible sense of community among Royals fans. The way my Facebook feed exploded with shock and grief revealed just how profound an impact this one man playing for this one team really had. The tributes in memory of Ventura made at Kauffman Stadium are overflowing onto the parking lot. Baseball, and sports in general, they mean something to us, and they impact us on a deeper level than we oftentimes acknowledge. In a time of tremendous political and social turmoil in our country, maybe it is time for sports, whether it is baseball or football or hockey or whatever, to exercise its power of healing yet again.
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Posted: January 24, 2017 | Author: Precious Sanders | Filed under: Quote of the day | Tags: Baseball, quotes, Tom Seaver |
I’m a huge advocate of pitching. You have to have good pitching as the solid core, the foundation. It keeps you in every game.
~Tom Seaver

SI.com
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Posted: January 21, 2017 | Author: Precious Sanders | Filed under: Quote of the day | Tags: Baseball, Bob Uecker, quotes |
The way to catch a knuckeball is to wait until the ball stops rolling and then to pick it up.
~Bob Uecker

Getty Images
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Posted: January 19, 2017 | Author: Precious Sanders | Filed under: 21st Century | Tags: Baseball, Ivan Rodriguez, Jeff Bagwell, National Baseball Hall of Fame, Tim Raines |
Congratulations to Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, and Ivan Rodriguez on their election into the Baseball Hall of Fame!
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Tim Raines
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Ivan Rodriguez
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Jeff Bagwell
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Posted: January 17, 2017 | Author: Precious Sanders | Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, history, Major League Baseball, MLB, New York Giants, Sporting News, sports, Willie Mays |
On January 17, 1970, Willie Mays was named Player of the Decade for the 1960s by the Sporting News. During the ten-year span, Mays batted .300 and averaged 100 RBIs and 35 home runs per season with the Giants.

1966 Topps


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