3 days

Only three days remain until Opening Day! In spite of folks jumping the gun on returning to “business as usual,” given vaccine distribution progress, I’m still feeling pretty optimistic about the upcoming season.

Baseball Pictures-3

A baseball haiku by Heather Ober

There doesn’t seem to be a title to this one — it is listed merely as “Haiku 5.” All the same, I found this haiku very relatable, even in its brevity. I’m sure most kids who grow up playing ball have this experience at some point in their lives.

*

an old baseball
soars across blue sky–
broken glass

Image result for baseball broken window

This day in baseball: Ruth’s first start

Babe Ruth made his first career start on the mound on March 25, 1914 for the Boston Red Sox. The 19-year-old pitcher defeated the world champion Philadelphia Athletics, 6-2, in an exhibition game played in Wilmington, North Carolina. Prior to this game, Ruth had faced 29 batters in relief, allowing just six hits, thus earning his spot in the starting rotation.

Babe Ruth pitching (Bleacher Report)

Quote of the day

Dad played with me a great deal, as dads should do, and our chief sport was baseball. He bought me a hardball when I was three years old, and he used to sit in a rocker on the front porch while I sat on the grass in the yard, and we’d play catch by the hour.

~Mordecai Brown

Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown (Library of Congress)

This day in baseball: McLain indicted

On March 19, 1984, former MLB pitcher Denny McLain was indicted on various charges of racketeering, loan-sharking, extortion, and cocaine possession. In 1985, McLain was sentenced to 23 years in prison after refusing to admit his crimes and accept his conviction. McLain had participated in a scheme that imposed exorbitant interest rates on those who bet on sports and coerced them to pay the illegal debts. After 29 months of the sentence, McLain appealed on the grounds of an unfair judgment, and he was released. He then agreed to a five-year probation deal.

Denny McLain was the last Major League pitcher to win 30 or more games in a season, having finished the 1968 season with a record of 31-6.

Denny_McLain_1966 - Wikipedia
McLain in 1966 (Wikipedia)