Michele at A Small Victory doesn’t like Ted Turner.
The Braves were fun. Dale Murphy remains to this day one of my favorite basbeall players ever. The team also boasted another favorite player of mine, Brett Butler.
In 1983, Ted Turner saw fit to trade Buttler. He was sent off to the Cleveland Indians for a player [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 2:43 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 30, 2003
If You’re in Minnesota:
TwinsFest 2003 is this weekend! Sounds like everything a Twins fan (or a baseball fan) could want, and only $7.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:06 am | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 28, 2003
Pudge:
Dadof4 has some thoughts on the Rodriguez signing.
Posted by David Pinto at 3:54 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 24, 2003
Taxing Situation:
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the Hall of Fame…
Posted by David Pinto at 9:59 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 24, 2003
Light Blogging:
It’s crunch time at the day job, so blogging will be light for another week. Luckily, news is pretty light lately. I should be free and clear for spring training, however.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:14 am | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 22, 2003
Dodgers for Sale?
John Geer e-mailed me this under the heading, “Owners are losing big money…”
Go ahead, drink the Kool-Aid…
Former New York sports executive David Checketts has made a $650 million offer to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers
News Corp. bought the Dodgers from the O’Malley family in 1997 for a then-record $310 million.
Checketts also wants the Fox Sports [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:59 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 22, 2003
Catch-22:
According to this report, Rose may be on his way back. Of course, if he admits he bet on baseball, how can you let him back in? I think the answer lies here:
What remains to be determined, a source told ESPN on Wednesday, is whether Rose would be permitted to work in baseball [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:54 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 22, 2003
I-Rod Sleeps with the Fishes:
The Marlins have signed Ivan Rodriguez to a one-year, $10 million contract. Looks like a pretty good deal all around. Most of the money is deferred, so he’s not costing the Marlins a lot this year. Ivan gets a year to prove he can still play, and if so, he can try [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:47 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 21, 2003
Twins and Hunter:
I was glad to see the Twins sign Torii Hunter to a four year contract. He’s improved his slugging percentage every year in the bigs, but more importantly, it gives the Twins fans the sense that the team is serious about building a winner. If they want to keep winning fans back, they’ll [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:48 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 21, 2003
Colon-Osuna-Hernandez:
I’m really catching up here. I like Osuna as a reliever. He K’s better than a batter an inning, doesn’t give up too many HR and doesn’t walk a lot of batters. That’s important with the Yankees porous defense. The White Sox get Colon, and he should improve a starting staff [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:38 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 21, 2003
Looking to Improve:
Albert Pujols has been named St. Louis Baseball Man of the Year, but he thinks there’s room for improvement:
The St. Louis Cardinals’ cleanup hitter was honored Tuesday as the Baseball Man of the Year by the city’s chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. But like a lot of his teammates, Pujols’ bat went [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:26 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 21, 2003
Two Favorites:
When I was at Disney World over the weekend, I ran into these four gentlemen, who combined two of my favorite hobbies.
I used to play sax in school.
Posted by David Pinto at 8:19 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 21, 2003
I’m Back:
I’m catching up on work today. Hope to be blogging again tonight.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:04 am | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 17, 2003
Liftoff:
Thought you would like to see a picture from the launch. It was a spectacular sight. Photo by my wife, Marilyn.
Posted by David Pinto at 8:53 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 15, 2003
From the Hall:
The Hall of Fame responded promptly to my e-mail inquiry about logos on caps:
Dear Friend:
Thank you for your e-mail message.
The choice of which team’s logo appears on a player’s plaque is the Museum’s decision, though we always consider the wishes of an inductee.
We’re a history museum and as such, it’s important that the logo be [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:37 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 15, 2003
On the Road Again:
I’m leaving for Florida to watch the shuttle launch so blogging will be light over the next few days. Before I go, however, I have some e-mails that correct some things I recently blogged about.
On Eric Owens (here and here), Ivan Baxter writes:
While I agree with you about Eric Owens playing abilities, I have [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:40 am | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 14, 2003
Carter’s Team?
Michael Longfield asked me to post a link to a page where you can sign a petition to get Gary Carter to go in to the Hall of Fame as an Expo. I’m a bit agnostic on this, since I think it’s really up to Carter, but it would be nice to have one [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 3:33 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 14, 2003
6-3:
Don Mattingly and Cal Ripken are buying into a minor league team that’s being moved to Mattingly’s home town.
A star player who manages his money well will be able to buy a major league team upon retirement. No doubt this will happen. I wonder how this will affect the league? Will it [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:55 am | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 14, 2003
New Blog:
Jonathan Leshanski has a new blog, At Home Plate. Jonathan has already started profiling clubs for 2003 and has comments on the lengths of games and attendance.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:13 am | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 13, 2003
Venezeulan Baseball Done:
Another casualty of the strike in that South American country.
Update: Instapundit has some more Venezeulan links.
Posted by David Pinto at 3:02 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 13, 2003
Steve Bisheff Responds:
Steve Bisheff was nice enough to reply to my comments about his piece on Eric Owens:
Since I don’t know anything about you or your background, I’m certainly not offended. But trust me, this wasn’t a puff piece. I’d seen Owens play extensively when he was with San Diego, and I think the guy is a [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 2:10 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 12, 2003
Latin American Academies:
A long article by Jim Souhan of the Star-Tribune about the Twins lagging behind other clubs in the Dominican Republic, but also a nice overview of how baseball is expanding world wide.
Posted by David Pinto at 4:37 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 12, 2003
Eric Owens:
This is one of the worst puff pieces I’ve ever seen. Steve Bisheff of the Orange County Register makes Eric Owens sound like someone valuable:
Eric Owens was playing Mike Scioscia’s style of baseball before Scioscia’s defending world champions were. He was running and bunting and skidding all over the outfield grass to make catches. [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:29 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 11, 2003
Happy (or Unhappy) Anniversary:
Weekend edition on NPR reported that today is the 30th anniversary of the designated hitter rule. I suppose there will be an equal amount of celebration and saddness.
I’ve never been too extreme on the DH. I’d be happy to see it go, but I don’t think it’s a tremendous blight on the game. [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:45 am | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 10, 2003
Spring training is starting earlier
Spring training is starting earlier than you thought!
Posted by David Pinto at 10:01 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 10, 2003
Another Bad Idea from Bud:
Selig wants the league that wins the All-Star Game to get home field in the World Series. He believes that this will invigorate the All-Star Game.
I don’t buy it. I don’t know that there is any great league pride in the World Series. I bet most Red Sox fans root against the [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:34 am | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 9, 2003
Tulip Mania:
The Florida Marlins have signed Todd Hollandsworth:
“We’re fortunate to get a quality athlete, plus that left-handed bat,” Marlins manager Jeff Torborg said. “Those guys that were with us all last year heard me talk about needing a left-handed bat from the middle of the season on … and this was the opportunity to do that.”
I’m [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:31 am | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 9, 2003
Hernandez Charged:
According to this AP report on ESPN.com, Livan Hernandez has been charged with assualting an elderly man.
Hernandez, 27, was charged with felony aggravated assault after he got into a “violent” scuffle Wednesday with the man, who received a minor cut on the back of his head, according to a witness account cited in a police [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:39 am | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 9, 2003
More on Collusion:
Chris Lynch has a take at SportsPages.com. Looks like the bean counters are having as much as an effect as Billy Beane.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:32 am | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
January 8, 2003
More on Sandberg:
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