Quote of the day
February 11, 2022
I do miss competing, being out there – the atmosphere, I do miss it.
~Pedro Martinez
Month: February 2022
RIP Jeremy Giambi
February 10, 2022
Jeremy Giambi wasn’t exactly a standout player in MLB. If anything, he generally seemed to be playing in the shadow of his older brother, Jason. However, Jeremy Giambi began his Major League career with the Kansas City Royals, just a few years after I first became a Royals fan and began to really pay attention to them, so the news of his death — especially at such a young age — caught my attention.
Besides the Royals, Giambi played with the Oakland A’s, Philadelphia Phillies, and Boston Red Sox during his 6-year MLB career. He finished his career with a .263 batting average, 52 home runs, and 209 RBIs. Giambi was also portrayed in the film and book versions of Moneyball.
Giambi died last night, February 9, 2022, at the age of 47.
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) February 10, 2022
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Awful news to share: Jeremy Giambi, who played for six years in the major leagues, died today at 47, according to his agent, Joel Wolfe. Giambi played with his brother, Jason, in Oakland as well as in Kansas City, Philadelphia and Boston.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 9, 2022
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We are heartbroken to learn of the passing of a member of our Green and Gold family, Jeremy Giambi. We offer our condolences to Jeanne, Jason, and his family and friends. pic.twitter.com/sBSEyRb2z4
— Oakland A’s (@Athletics) February 9, 2022
This day in baseball: Folsom jail break
February 8, 2022
On February 8, 1942, a group of major league baseball players traveled to Folsom Correctional Facility in California for an annual contest against the prison’s baseball team. In the seventh inning, with the prison team down 24-5, two inmates decided to make a break for it. The game was immediately suspended as a manhunt ensued. The inmates, Elvia E. Mead and Philip Gardner, cut a hole through a fence while the game was being played and swam down the American River for nearly three hours before they were caught. The game did not resume after the inmates were apprehended.
Infographic: Most Engaged Fans in MLB (2013)
February 6, 2022
This infographic from Social Media Examiner was created in 2013. I supposed it’s no surprise the fans of the San Francisco Giants were considered the “most engaged” fanbase in MLB, considering the Giants were in the midst of their 21st century World Series dominance era. Rankings were based on game attendance, ticket demand, and social media engagement.
Quote of the day
February 5, 2022
They throw the ball, I hit it. They hit the ball, I catch it.
~Willie Mays
“The Miners, the Minors, Carbondale, Illinois,” by Edie Meade
February 4, 2022
This piece by Edie Meade was published in Skyway Journal in April 2021. The author describes attending a game featuring the Southern Illinois Miners while playing with the homophonic natures of ‘Miner’ and ‘minor’.
I don’t attend minor league or independent league ballgames nearly as much as I should, and pieces like this remind me that I really ought to change that.
*
I come from a no-team town to see the Miners play,
fall down drunk in the stands with you, obnoxious
off the train from Chicago
in your Pittsburgh stovepipe,
Expos jersey, beard shaved to handlebars
for a bygone day in downstate minors country.
Spilling, lisping, rubbing up
against you, admiring
sinew-ripping throws, welp, he’s going nowhere
fast like that. I lament
poor Miners, poor minors, poor Carbondale
a literal coal field, spent.
Confessions & taunts & kisses & curses, wise cracks
of bats & beer cans, getting backward looks –
he’s probably that player’s grandpa, poor grandpas, you know
I don’t like baseball
fans, but I’m a fan of baseball
men. You get a piece
of the action when a foul ball pops
me, inattentive
yet rapt, as I get
drunk & near-sighted in the sun.
This day in baseball: The National League is formed
February 2, 2022
The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs formed on February 2, 1876 with eight charter teams located in Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Hartford, Louisville, New York, Philadelphia, and St. Louis. After playing the 1876 season in Hartford, Connecticut, the Hartford Dark Blues played the 1877 season in Brooklyn as the Brooklyn Hartfords before disbanding at the end of the season.
The National League’s formation meant the end of the old National Association, which lasted only five seasons. The remaining clubs in the NA shut down or reverted to amateur or minor league status.
