Friday, August 31, 2007

The Knuckler

I noticed that Tim Wakefield is pitching tonight against the Orioles which reminded me of a great Knuckleball website I recently ran into, Knuckleball Headquarters http://www.oddball-mall.com/knuckleball/.
If you ever wondered how to throw a knuckleball or wanted to know what the physics were behind it's movement, this is great site to check out.

I also recently came across a video of Wakefield striking out A-Rod (Japanese commentary.) Wakefield has been having a great year with 16 wins prior to tonight's game, and you can see why.
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=644996&fr=my-vert-vid-top

W-L 16-10
ERA 4.16
K 98
Walks 57
WHIP 1.27

Monday, August 27, 2007

Boomer's Back!

David Wells looked good in his Dodger debut last night. Unfortunately, for me, it was against the Mets. It will be interesting, as Joe Morgan pointed out numerous times during last night's broadcast, to see how Boomer will do in his next few starts. It's clear he still has great stuff and that when motivated he can still be a dominant pitcher. Motivation is likely the key with Wells as he obviously had something to prove to the Dodgers and Major League Baseball last night and was able to pull off an impressive start.


Of course in Wells' finest moment, his perfect game in May of 1998, he also had something to prove. Shortly after Joe Torre questioned his physical fitness and ability to pitch as a result of his weight, Wells threw his perfect game. Not that Wells started working out or dieting, in fact, rather than going on a diet he went on a bender the night before the game and admitted to pitching hung over. Hung over or not it was a masterpiece. Here is a 1998 Washington Post article on the game.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/baseball/daily/july99/19/wells18.htm

Chase Field, Arizona Diamondbacks


Here are a couple of shots sent in by Phil from Chase Field in Phoenix. These were taken Saturday night 8/25/07 when the DBacks beat the Cubs 3-1. Jose Valverde rang up his 39th save in this game and then brought his total up to 40 on Sunday.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Wiffle Ball Tribute

I played a lot of Wiffle Ball in my neighborhood growing up. We used a lawn chair for a strike zone and while we normally used the traditional yellow plastic bat, we did tape up our Wiffle Balls for extra velocity. I had an awesome curve and riser, but nothing like the nasty stuff you'll see in this YouTube video http://youtube.com/watch?v=GMk-ZXEhpOE . If you want to brush up on your Wiffle pitches or maybe even enter a tournament with some of your buddies, here are some links that will point you in the right direction http://www.wiffleballusa.com/pitch.html

http://www.wiffleball.net

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Miller Park, Milwaukee Brewers...sort of


If you remember at the beginning of this season the Indians borrowed Miller Park for a series against the Los Angeles Angels, since their field was snowed under. Here are photos sent in by Theron from the April 11th Angels vs. Indians game. The action shot is of a Vlad Guerrero base hit.

PNC Park, Pittsburgh Pirates

This photo from PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, was taken by Nicole. These are great seats, I love sitting behind the dish. I've heard from several different sources that this is one of the best ballparks in the NL.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Bobby Cox Thought Bubble

How in the hell are we losing to the freakin' Giants!

At least that's what I figured he was thinking last night.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

The Bronx Is Burning [more backstory]

I've been Tivo-ing The Bronx Is Burning on ESPN which has been conjuring up memories of the summer of '77. I love all the Ramones songs they use in the soundtrack which remind me of my brother and his friends blasting the Ramones in the basement of our house, my introduction to punk rock. Actually, I think the summer of 1977 was the world's introduction to punk rock, wasn't it?


One of my favorite parts of the show are the backstory segments. Here's some additional backstory from the October 22nd, 1977 edition of The Sporting News that goes along well with episode #7, The Game's Not as Easy as It Looks, Fellas . [click on article to enlarge]







Petco Park, San Diego Padres [Park at the Park]

This shot was sent in by Howard and shows one of the many cool features of Petco, the Park at the Park.

Petco Park, San Diego Padres [condo view]

Okay, if you're a baseball fan you've heard of the condos overlooking Petco Park in San Diego. This shot was sent in by a lucky couple who actually has one.

Blue Heaven: Mets Give Out Broadcaster Baseball Cards

Blue Heaven: Mets Give Out Broadcaster Baseball Cards

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Phil Rizzuto Dead at 89

Hall of Fame shortstop Phil Rizzuto died today at the age of 89. He was the oldest living member of the HOF although he wasn't elected until 1994, long after his playing career ended in 1956. I grew up listening to Rizzuto broadcasting Yankee games. I didn't learn much about baseball from him, but he was entertaining. He was a riot to listen to and quite often missed whole innings of action as he told long stories about pretty much anything, quite often not about baseball.

He won an MVP award in 1950 after an amazing season on offense and defense with the Yankees. Here is a story from the November 1, 1950 edition of the Sporting News announcing the award.
[click on article to view larger]




Saturday, August 11, 2007

More Yankee Suspensions?

Earlier in the week Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens and manager Joe Torre were both suspended for the plunking of Toronto's Alex Rios. Meanwhile in a surprise announcement from the world of fantasy baseball Yankee captain Derek Jeter was suspended for off the field activity.Check out this probing piece from Bugs and Cranks.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

History of Steroids in Major League Baseball

Here's a great in depth article from Onion Sports providing a timeline of steroid use in major league baseball.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

AT&T Park, San Francisco Giants (2)

This shot of AT&T Park was sent in by Gino (sweet seats Gino!) from the Giants vs Nationals game on August 7, 2007. This makes Gino one of the 43,000 people who can actually claim to have been in attendance the night Barry went yard for the 756th time. Millions will claim to have been there.

If only the Giants could have won the game the evening would have been perfect.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Gone!

756 was hammered out to center field in the bottom of the 5th inning, August 7, 2007. It was a great shot which capped off a great at bat. Bonds took the count full then fouled off the first 3-2 pitch before plowing the ball to the deepest part of AT&T Park. Barry's speach to the crowd showed his human side and he was clearly choked up as he looked to the sky and thanked his dad for everything.

Side note:
As a Mets fan I love that a guy wearing a Reyes jersey got the ball. The dogpile that this guy was at the bottom of looked pretty crazy. I'm looking forward to hearing his account of it, hopefully he'll have a good New York accent. Fuhgeddaboudit!

31 Years Ago, Baseball's Worst Uniform

The 1970's was a decade that saw some pretty horrific baseball uniforms but tomorrow marks the anniversary of my favorite uniform experiment gone awry. For some reason on August 8, 1976 the Chicago White Sox decided to don these gems for the first game of a double header against the Kansas City Royals. They ditched the shorts ensemble for the second game and never wore them again.



Game Played on Sunday, August 8, 1976 (D) at Comiskey Park I
_KC A 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 - 2 8 2
CHI A 0 0 0 1 0 2 2 0 x - 5 7 0

Note:
The ChiSox stole five bases that game, which is pretty odd for a team that only had 120 steals for the entire year...they must have been daring each other.

AT&T Park, San Francisco Giants

This shot of AT&T Park was sent in by Audrey from the Giants August 6th extra inning victory over the Nationals. Randy Winn hit a single with bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th to win it for G's. Barry was 0 for 3.


Sunday, August 5, 2007

When Aaron Tied The Babe

The press surrounding Bonds since he tied Hank Aaron at 755 has been quite a mixed bag. Some Bonds haters have come out and acknowledged the accomplishment while others hold to the "asterisk" point of view. Bud Selig's statement was a train wreck and I am not sure why he was even there if all he was going to do was look like an old man who was dragged off to church and had to be reminded of when to stand up and sit down.

All of this is quite different than when Aaron tied Babe Ruth at 714. As an eleven year old kid living in New Jersey I remember thinking this guy was a hero and was someone I looked up to. Not sure kids today get that same vibe from Barry. Check out this article from the April 20, 1974 edition of the Sporting News[click on article for larger view], which reinforces my eleven year old impression of a man who played the game the way it was meant to be played and who always put his team before his own accomplishments.

Tonight in San Francisco I am sure that Barry will get a hero's welcome when the Giants begin their series against the Nationals. Cheater or not this is a monumental accomplishment from the best player of his era. It's just a shame he comes across as such a prick.

Huge Weekend For Baseball

755________500_________300

McAfee Coliseum, Oakland Athletics

This shot of McAfee Coliseum, Home of the Oakland Athletics, was sent in by Carter. It was taken during the A's 2 - 1 victory over the Angles on August 4th.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Bonds vs. Maddux 8/3/07


Barry got schooled by The Professor on Friday, here's a good Tim Brown article on the 40 something matchup.
Here's Barry's lifetime stats versus Maddux
PA 154
AB 130
H 34
2B 3
3B 1
HR 8
RBI 18
BB 23
SO 16
BA .262
OBP .370
SLG .485
OPS .855
SH 0
SF 1
IBB 8
HBP 0
GDP 3

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Stadium Photos

I wonder how many camera phone stadium photos I can round up from folks over the course of this baseball season. I'm actually interested in receiving photos from any baseball event that I'll post on the blog. Just email me your camera phone photos to lifeislikebaseball@gmail.com along with details on the game (location, who played, who won etc.) These can be from major league, minor league, little league, whatever.

It would be cool if I had a collection of photos from every major league stadium by the end of the year. A friend also suggested that I might be able to even get some from stadiums in Japan so...

ブログに載せるために、世界中の野球場の写メールを募集しています。プロ・アマ問わず、今シーズン中に撮られたものなら何でも結構ですので、lifeislikebaseball@gmail.com まで、写真の試合の状況(プロまたはアマ、チーム名、勝敗など)を添えて、お送りください。

Shea Stadium, New York Mets

Here's a camera phone shot of Shea Stadium taken on July 23rd. The new stadium construction is coming along well and can be viewed via webcam at http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/nym/ballpark/citifield_images.jsp