Quote of the day
Posted: February 28, 2018 Filed under: Quote of the day | Tags: Baseball, quotes, sports, War, World War I 2 CommentsI have observed that baseball is not unlike war, and when you get right down to it, we batters are the heavy artillery.
~Ty Cobb

Cobb during WWI (rinkrover.ca)
“Shakespearean Baseball Sonnet #98,” by Michael Ceraolo
Posted: February 27, 2018 Filed under: Pop culture | Tags: Baseball, Major League Baseball, Michael Ceraolo, MLB, Opening Day, poetry, sports, William Shakespeare 7 CommentsMLB Spring Training means that the first day of spring and Opening Day are both just around the corner! Here’s another great piece from Michael Ceraolo, published by Stanzaic Stylings, in anticipation of another season of baseball.
*
From you I have been absent in the spring,
Til Opening Day, dressed in all its trim,
Hath put the spirit of youth in everything.
But my love for you is hardly a whim:
I have missed the ballpark’s array of smells
And both teams’ uniforms’ array of hues;
I have missed the stories that my love tells,
A dazzling selection from which to choose;
I have missed the wonder of the ball’s white.
I have missed the wonder of the field’s green.
I wonder if the new will be a fright.
I wonder of those who will make the scene.
It seems winter still with the game away,
Until the team comes home ready to play.
A little over a month
Posted: February 25, 2018 Filed under: 21st Century | Tags: Baseball, Major League Baseball, MLB, Opening Day, sports Leave a commentOnly 32 days until Opening Day!
“When Father Played Baseball,” by Edgar Albert Guest
Posted: February 24, 2018 Filed under: Pop culture | Tags: Baseball, Edgar Albert Guest, humor, Literature, poetry, sports 2 CommentsWhen I first started reading this poem by Edgar Guest, the first stanza gave me the impression that this would be about a man who used baseball as an analogy through which to teach his children important lessons about life. Boy, was I wrong. As I read on, I found myself smiling a bit, and even had to chuckle by the end.
Enjoy.
*
The smell of arnica is strong,
And mother’s time is spent
In rubbing father’s arms and back
With burning liniment.
The house is like a druggist’s shop;
Strong odors fill the hall,
And day and night we hear him groan,
Since father played baseball.
He’s forty past, but he declared
That he was young as ever;
And in his youth, he said, he was
A baseball player clever.
So when the business men arranged
A game, they came to call
On dad and asked him if he thought
That he could play baseball.
“I haven’t played in fifteen years,
Said father, “but I know
That I can stop the grounders hot,
And I can make the throw.
I used to play a corking game;
The curves, I know them all;
And you can count on me, you bet,
To join your game of ball.”
On Saturday the game was played,
And all of us were there;
Dad borrowed an old uniform,
That Casey used to wear.
He paid three dollars for a glove,
Wore spikes to save a fall
He had the make-up on all right,
When father played baseball.
At second base they stationed him;
A liner came his way;
Dad tried to stop it with his knee,
And missed a double play.
He threw into the bleachers twice,
He let a pop fly fall;
Oh, we were all ashamed of him,
When father played baseball.
He tried to run, but tripped and fell,
He tried to take a throw;
It put three fingers out of joint,
And father let it go.
He stopped a grounder with his face;
Was spiked, nor was that all;
It looked to us like suicide,
When father played baseball.
At last he limped away, and now
He suffers in disgrace;
His arms are bathed in liniment;
Court plaster hides his face.
He says his back is breaking, and
His legs won’t move at all;
It made a wreck of father when
He tried to play baseball.
The smell of arnica abounds;
He hobbles with a cane;
A row of blisters mar his hands;
He is in constant pain.
But lame and weak as father is,
He swears he’ll lick us all
If we dare even speak about
The day he played baseball.
Quote of the day
Posted: February 23, 2018 Filed under: Quote of the day | Tags: Baseball, Ken Harrelson, quotes, sports 1 CommentYou got to be bad before you’re good.
~Ken “Hawk” Harrelson
The wood-burning set
Posted: February 22, 2018 Filed under: Pop culture | Tags: Baseball, Charles Schulz, Charlie Brown, comics, Lucy Van Pelt, Peanuts, sports, The Natural 2 CommentsPoor Charlie Brown. He’ll just have to find a tree that’s been struck by lightning so he can craft himself a new bat.
This day in baseball: Seaver’s contract
Posted: February 21, 2018 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Bob Scheffing, Major League Baseball, New York Mets, sports, Tom Seaver 2 CommentsTom Seaver became the highest-paid pitcher in baseball pitcher on February 21, 1974 when he signed a one-year, $172,500 contract with the New York Mets. “He’s the best pitcher in baseball,” said Mets general manager Bob Scheffing, “and we’re paying him for what he is.” Seaver pitched in 32 games in 1974, posting an 11-11 record with a 3.20 ERA and 201 strikeouts in 236 innings pitched.

Tom Seaver (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum)
MLB Stadium Timeline
Posted: February 20, 2018 Filed under: 20th Century, 21st Century | Tags: Baseball, history, infographics, Major League Baseball, MLB, sports, stadiums Leave a commentThis is an interesting graphic depicting a timeline of stadiums in the MLB and their various names and forms, starting in 1901. Ballparks have taken on a myriad of incarnations throughout history. Even changes to specific teams (for example, the Montreal Expos into the Washington Nationals) appear to be portrayed here as well. Pennants and World Series championships also are noted on this graphic.
Click on the graphic for a larger version.
Quote of the day
Posted: February 19, 2018 Filed under: Quote of the day | Tags: Baseball, Major League Baseball, MLB, quotes, sports, St. Louis Cardinals, Whitey Herzog Leave a commentThe only way to make money as a manager is to win in one place, get fired and hired somewhere else.
~Whitey Herzog

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