Former player and father of Barry, Bobby Bonds has lung cancer. This is very sad:
“My dad does have lung cancer,” Barry Bonds said Friday before the San Francisco Giants played the Chicago Cubs in their first exhibition game. “It’s not easy to deal with.”
Barry Bonds declined further comment. But the Contra Costa Times reported [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 5:39 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 28, 2003
Spring in Az:
Phoenix is pitching to bring in more spring training tourists:
The point man for the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau couldn’t have asked for better weather. In Kansas City, that is.
It was a frigid 19 degrees and snowing as MacKenzie explained the virtues of coming West to watch the Royals in their new spring training [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 2:53 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 28, 2003
I Don’t Know’s on Third:
Bob Hohler of the Boston Globe discusses the third base situation in Boston. Bill Mueller comes off looking like a class act:
Mueller knew when he signed with the Sox that Hillenbrand might remain with the team on Opening Day.
”What happens when you get into a situation where they have an All-Star player in front [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:42 am | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 27, 2003
Q:
Quilvio Veras is attempting a comeback with the Dodgers:
Veras, who turns 32 on April 3, went 2-for-2 and stole two bases in the Dodgers’ first intrasquad game Tuesday. He added a single in Wednesday’s intrasquad game.
His performance caught the attention of Dodgers manager Jim Tracy, who said Veras looked much like the same player who [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:43 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 27, 2003
Job Hunting:
Larry Dierker is looking to get back into baseball:
One summer’s vacation from baseball was enough for former Astros player, broadcaster and manager Larry Dierker. He’s ready to get involved again.
”I didn’t miss it so much last year because it was the first summer I’d had off since my junior year in high school,” Dierker said [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:31 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 27, 2003
The Grass is Greener:
Kyle Nagel has an interesting article on the new surface at the new Reds ballpark.
Posted by David Pinto at 7:24 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 27, 2003
The Reds are beating the
The Reds are beating the Yankees 7-3 in the top of the fourth. Waiting for the first “Joe Torre’s job is in trouble” articles to appear.
Posted by David Pinto at 2:39 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 27, 2003
Ephedrine Ban:
According to Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun, baseball is banning ephedrine-based supplements from the minor leagues:
Major League Baseball took another big step this week toward industry-wide restrictions on the use of ephedrine-based products by banning the use of the herbal supplement throughout the minor leagues.
The ban, which was implemented Monday and has been transmitted [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:37 am | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 27, 2003
Six-man Rotation?
This caught my eye this morning:
So Acevedo is competing for a spot. Manager Joe Torre will have 11 pitchers on the roster, and six starters will make it. So will the left-hander Chris Hammond and the right-handers Mariano Rivera, Steve Karsay and, most likely, Antonio Osuna. The left-hander Randy Choate will probably get the last [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:08 am | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 26, 2003
Let the Games Begin!
Exhibition season gets underway tomorrow (Thursday) and we start off with the Cubs and Giants in a home and home. The Sporting News talks about Baker adjusting to his new team, and what it will be like for Baker and his former charges to oppose each other:
Baker’s past and present will collide Thursday, when [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 11:02 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 26, 2003
Macha Man?
Glenn Dickey of the SF Chronicle thinks that Ken Macha won’t be intimidated by Beane the way Howe was:
Art Howe definitely was. Howe came to the A’s with a philosophy from his playing days in the ’70s in the National League, heavy on bunting, the hit-and- run, hitting to the right side to advance the [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:55 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 26, 2003
Defense at First:
Jan Bottone writes:
Anyway, just reading a quote from Ron Gardenhire in a piece by Howard Bryant, now with the Boston Herald, where the Twins’ manager says: “If you look at my guy, Mientkiewicz, you can say he’s only a .260 hitter. But if he’s saving 40 runs a year with his defense [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:07 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 26, 2003
Post-Williams:
Baseball Crank has some thoughts on Bernie Williams in the post-season.
Posted by David Pinto at 3:36 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 26, 2003
No One Elected:
Seems under the new voting system, no one was selected by the veterans committee this year.
I’m not surprised. It’s a much tougher voting system, and that’s probably as it should be. Apart from non-players, I think the writers do a very good job of selecting inductees. As time goes on, we’ll find that [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 1:27 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 26, 2003
Correction:
I made a correction to the Rob Neyer post.
Posted by David Pinto at 1:24 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 26, 2003
Hall Of Fame:
It’s verteran committee day. Here’s an article from ESPN.com explaining the new voting procedure (more like the other procedure, except living Hall of Famers get to vote). For the record, I think Marvin Miller should go in.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:59 am | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 25, 2003
The Future is Now?
Gordon Wittenmyer of the Pioneer Press has a very positive article on first overall pick Joe Mauer:
The youngest player in the Twins’ major league camp for the second straight year, Mauer, the No. 1 overall draft pick in June 2001, already seems a master of the science of hitting, and he’s not likely to be [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:38 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 25, 2003
Hampton:
Jayson Stark writes about Mike Hampton’s attempted comeback with the Braves. Mazzone has the best line in the article:
It was so obvious that when Hampton first threw for his new pitching coach a few weeks ago in Atlanta, it took Mazzone barely a minute to see that Hampton’s delivery of the sinking fastball was [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 1:58 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 25, 2003
Doh!
Craig Wachs of the ESPN research department writes me to say that Homer Bush has retired.
We aired this last night and figured somewhere you’d be smiling…we found your graphic from 1999 and updated it.
Most homers, one season, guys named Homer
‘99 Homer Bush 5>11 career HR
Most homers, guys named Homer
Homer Summa [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 1:27 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 25, 2003
Blue Jays Shoes:
Batter’s Box vents about the Blue Jays Dance troupe. Remember when Toronto sold out every game? That was because they had a great baseball team. Now they need dancing girls to bring in the fans.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:28 am | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 24, 2003
New Blog:
Abben Maguire writes about baseball and other things at Abben.com. He’ll be posting some of my better articles there.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:13 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 24, 2003
Correction:
Bob Montgomery points out that I’m wrong about Kauffman Stadium. They moved the fences in a few years ago, and last year it was the most extreme hitters park in the AL. So you can ignore this post.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:08 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 24, 2003
Relievers:
Mike’s Baseball Rant continues his series on relievers.
Posted by David Pinto at 8:58 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 24, 2003
Neyer on Steinbrenner:
I’m linking to Rob’s column today because he basically agrees with me. One point of contention, however:
There’s another misconception about Steinbrenner’s Yankees, which is that between their World Series appearances in 1981 and 1996 — 14 seasons — they were little more than a budget-busting joke. The truth, however, is somewhat more complex. In [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:36 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 24, 2003
Ephedra Banning:
Instapundit relays a problem at the NY Times.
Posted by David Pinto at 10:48 am | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 24, 2003
Take Off!
Pete Rose was not elected to the Canadian Hall of Fame. I guess a partial season with the Expos isn’t enough to get you elected, even if you did get your 4000th hit with the team.
Joe Carter, however, was elected. Maybe Canadians just prefer nice guys. Kudos to Joe Carter, [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:34 am | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 23, 2003
Early Injury:
The Brewers have been hit with an early season injury, and Chuck Carlson of the Oskosh Northwestern doesn’t like the way the Brewers management is handling it.
Faster than you can say, ?shaved labrum,? the Milwaukee Brewers are already facing their first disaster of the new season and they haven?t even had a chance to get [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:24 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 23, 2003
Future Expansion:
When baseball reaches Mars, pitchers will have a hard time throwing curve balls, according to Orrin Judd. (Thanks to Jed Roberts.)
Posted by David Pinto at 8:03 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 23, 2003
Surprise, Surprise!
The Royals hitters are finding Surprise Stadium a breeze:
Outfielder Carlos Beltran put on an stirring power display Saturday when he and several other Royals got their first swings inside Surprise Stadium as part of a free Fan Fest for the public.
Oddly, Beltran then went and got his eyes checked. (The exam is part of the [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:58 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
February 23, 2003
Venezuela’s Problems:
Paul Hoynes tells the story through the eyes of Alex Escobar. It seems baseball players have become targets because they have money:
“When the oil workers went on strike, the country shut down,” Escobar said. “People are getting desperate.”
The desperation has made some of Venezuela’s big-league ballplayers and their families targets.
Houston’s Richard Hidalgo was shot [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 2:04 pm | Baseball | Permalink | Comments Off
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