Baseball Minutia

The daffodils are popping up through the mossy ground outside my rain soaked patio. It’s rained so much this winter that the concrete out there has a slight green hue, one that is more rooted in water as its creator the other green in the yard, but make no mistake it is green out there and green and mid February means one thing, spring and spring means three things for me, one is playoff hockey, two is less rain and three is of course the beginning of baseball…. and with that comes so much more. Games to watch, players to follow, teams to surprise, disappoint and then there’s fantasy ball, Strat-to-matic, box scores and coffee, box scores and beer, west coast games, east coast games, Patriots day game at the dawn of crack on the left coast. There’s a bevy of things to ponder, the Rays, not the Devils Rays, the Nationals new park, all sorts of stuff that is not steroid related…. So if you’re looking for that try Google, they’re good at that sort of thing. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday’s NFL championship got me thinking about the teams that haven’t won anything in years, the teams in all the major sports and well…. When you think of that you always think of the Chicago Cubs. Read the rest of this entry »

“Our pitching staff is a conspiracy of ifs.”

Branch Rickey

“Fastball, curveball, changeup. He’s 6-2, athletic with a live arm. He’s from the Dominican Republic and his idol is Pedro Martinez. He’s got charisma, animation. He’s got a fastball, 92-94, but can go get 97. He’s got a hard breaking ball that acts like a slurve at times. “

Wayne Krivsky on Edinson Volquez who they obtained for Josh Hamilton

“Nobody likes to hear it, because it’s dull, but the reason you win or lose is darn near always the same - pitching.”

Earl Weaver

It’s true we often hear the old saying above, or an amalgamation of it, and in turn it’s true that we often just shrug it off as being more or less full of air… especially in this day and age of pure offense. Read the rest of this entry »