The Way of Baseball, by Shawn Green

Shawn Green Way of Baseball

The philosophies of Stoicism and Zen Buddhism have piqued my interest lately, so when I discovered that Shawn Green had a book about his experiences with Zen while playing baseball, I had to check it out. The Way of Baseball: Finding Stillness At 95 MPH is a hell of a catchy title, and in this short tome, Green talks about his experiences with finding Zen and stillness throughout his major league career.

Green mentions that he had had some previous interest in Eastern philosophies, but it was during his struggles at the plate early in his career in Toronto that he discovered how it could be applied in baseball. Green talks about hitting off the tee, repeatedly over weeks and weeks until it became a form of meditation. Hence forth, tee hitting became a staple in Green’s career.

When Green made the move from Toronto to the bigger stage in Los Angeles, he lost his hold on the stillness he had found with the Blue Jays. With a big contract and big expectations, Green found himself ruled by ego, pressuring himself to hit home runs, rather than just letting them happen. Consequently, his first year in LA turned out to be a disastrous season, and Green talks about the work it took to let go of the ego and return to stillness.

It’s a fascinating book, overall. If you’re familiar with the fundamentals of Zen, you won’t learn anything new about the philosophy in this book. It is interesting, however, to see those ideas applied to baseball. The book is short and a fairly easy read, too. If this kind of thing interests you, this one’s worth reading.

2022 MLB Wild Card schedule

(dcJohn/Flickr/Wikimedia Commons)

The 2022 MLB regular season has come to an end, and with some recent major changes within the Royals organization, including the firing of Mike Matheny, there is finally a glimmer of hope visible for Kansas City fans. But for now, the Royals’ season is done for the year, and the world of Major League Baseball turns its attention to the playoffs. The Wild Card Series begins today, and MLB has released the schedule for the series taking place throughout the weekend. All times Eastern.

Friday, October 7th
Rays @ Guardians, Game 1, 12:07 p.m., ESPN
Phillies @ Cardinals, Game 1, 2:07 p.m., ABC
Mariners @ Blue Jays, Game 1, 4:07 p.m., ESPN
Padres @ Mets, Game 1, 8:07 p.m., ESPN

Saturday, October 8th
Rays @ Guardians, Game 2, 12:07 p.m., ESPN2
Mariners @ Blue Jays, Game 2, 4:07 p.m., ESPN
Padres @ Mets, Game 2, 7:37 p.m., ESPN
Phillies @ Cardinals, Game 2, 8:37 p.m., ESPN2

Sunday, October 9th
Mariners @ Blue Jays, Game 3, 2:07 p.m., ABC (if necessary)
Rays @ Guardians, Game 3, 4:07 p.m., ESPN (if necessary)
Padres @ Mets, Game 3, 7:37 p.m., ESPN (if necessary)
Phillies @ Cardinals, Game 3, 8:37 p.m., ESPN2 (if necessary)

Times for Game 3 on Sunday are subject to change, depending on whether all games are needed, and if not, which ones are left.

The openers of all four AL and NL Division Series are scheduled for Tuesday, October 11th. The NLCS will then begin on Tuesday, October 18th, and the ALCS is set to begin on Wednesday, October 19th. Game One of the World Series will take place on Friday, October 28th.

Edwin Jackson

Edwin Jackson, April 2010 (Steven Groves / Wikimedia Commons)

Pitcher Edwin Jackson was born on September 9, 1983 in Neu Ulm, Germany while his father, Edwin Jackson Sr., was serving in the United States Army there. He has the distinction of having played for more major league teams than any other player in Major League Baseball history. Over the course of a career that spanned sixteen years, Jackson played for fourteen MLB teams:

  • Los Angeles Dodgers (2003–2005)
  • Tampa Bay Devil Rays / Rays (2006–2008)
  • Detroit Tigers (2009, 2019)
  • Arizona Diamondbacks (2010)
  • Chicago White Sox (2010–2011)
  • St. Louis Cardinals (2011)
  • Washington Nationals (2012, 2017)
  • Chicago Cubs (2013–2015)
  • Atlanta Braves (2015)
  • Miami Marlins (2016)
  • San Diego Padres (2016)
  • Baltimore Orioles (2017)
  • Oakland Athletics (2018)
  • Toronto Blue Jays (2019)

Jackson was named to the American League All-Star team in 2009. On June 25, 2010, as a Diamondback, he threw a no-hitter against the Tampa Bay Rays. Jackson was also a member of the 2011 World Series champion Cardinals, though he lost the only game he appeared in. Jackson’s last MLB appearance took place on September 28, 2019 with the Detroit Tigers.

In 2021, Jackson was named to the roster of the United States national baseball team, which qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics. The team went on to win silver, falling to Japan in the gold-medal game.

On September 10, 2022, Edwin Jackson announced his retirement from baseball.

Edwin Jackson, 2021 (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Robert Jordan/Released)

Infographic: How much do Canadians love baseball?

This infographic baffles me in its sparseness. According to the Environics Analytics website, the graphic was created in light of the Toronto Blue Jays’ first playoff appearance in 22 years (going on to lose the 2015 ALCS to the Kansas City Royals). Compared to what appears to be less than 20% Canadian interest in the sport, a 2006 Gallup poll found that 47% of the U.S. public considers themselves to be baseball fans.

I haven’t been able to find a statistic revealing how many Canadians took the time to watch any of the 2015 playoffs, though attendance at the Rogers Centre was just under 50,000 for each of Games 3-5. Of course, Canadian attendance at Blue Jay games in 2020 was pretty much zero thanks to the pandemic and the Blue Jays getting kicked out of their own country for the season.

baseball-infographic Canadians and Baseball

Infographic: AL East logo history

I stumbled across this graphic in my random internet wanderings depicting a history of the logos and uniforms for the teams in the American League East.  I love how this graphic also gives an idea of just how long these teams have been around, relative to one another.

It looks tiny here, but click on the image to get to a larger version.

mlb_al_east_auxillary_h

Infographic: Defensive positioning

What I like about this infographic is that it’s a great depiction of how many different looks can come out of a team that employs the defensive shift.  It’s also a reflection on how much thinking and studying goes into a baseball game.  At this level, especially, a team can’t just show up and play, there’s a considerable amount of pre-planning involved.

info-defensivepositioning