Category Archives: Baseball

The Rice Owls are your 2003 National Champions of college baseball. Damn, that sounds good. Let me say it again. The Rice Owls are your 2003 National Champions of college baseball. That link has a photo gallery with it, by … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Rice Owls whupped the Longhorns 12-2 to move into the College World Series bracket finals, meaning they have to not lose twice to whoever wins the Texas-Miami game tomorrow night in order to advance to the finals. Woo hoo! … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Rice Owls defeated SW Missouri State 4-2 in their opening game of the College World Series last night behind a strong outing from sophomore pitcher Jeff Niemann. The Owls will play the Texas Longhorns, who knocked off Miami 13-2, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here are the rest of the Tank McNamara strips that lampooned Hall of Fame president Dale Petroskey: Thursday, Friday, and today. Continue reading →

Congratulations to Roger Clemens for recording his 300th career win along with his 4000th career strikeout in a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals last night. Rob Neyer makes the case that Clemens has been the best pitcher of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In case you missed it, Sammy Sosa’s eight-game suspension for using a corked bat was reduced to seven games on appeal. Basically, MLB cut him some slack for being forthright in admitting that he was wrong. I’m cool with that. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s usually a bad sign when your starting pitcher is forced out of the game after an inning due to injury, but five Houston Astros relievers picked up the ball from Roy Oswalt and combined to throw a no-hitter against … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Today’s Tank McNamara. Basically a rehash of Monday’s joke, so a bit disappointing. Continue reading →

Day 2 of what will likely be a weeklong series of Tank McNamara comics that mock Hall of Fame president Dale Petroskey. Today, Dale gets tripped up by the ghost of Kevin Bacon. Continue reading →

Woo hoo! The Rice Owls baseball team is going to Omaha for the College World Series for the second straight year and fourth time overall. They came back from an opening game loss in the best-two-of-three Super Regional against the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The comic strip Tank McNamara has finally weighed in on the Dale Petroskey/Robbins and Sarandon/Hall of Fame flap. The strip is usually more responsive to topical stuff like this, so I’m rather surprised that this is the first mention of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

By now I’m sure everyone has heard of Sammy Sosa’s corked bat. His explanation that he didn’t realize he was using a bat that he normally uses just for practice has been met with some skepticism by other players, on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Jayson Stark makes a great case for improving the Major League Baseball draft. It seems so obvious, only a chucklehead like Beelzebud Selig wouldn’t get it. Which means, well, you know… Continue reading →

Unlearned Hand, who just finished watching the 1950s episode of Ken Burns’ Baseball miniseries, has a question: It really is a shame how the money has corrupted baseball. I have no doubt that this is equally true of other sports, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Kevin Drum points to this LA Times story about a father who is suing his son’s former high school baseball coach over allegations that the coach ruined the kid’s arm and thus his chances to get a college scholarship and/or … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So Bud and the boys have gone forward with that silly plan to give home field advantage in the World Series to the league that wins the All Star Game, the idea being that this would somehow make the ASG … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Baseball Commissioner Beelzebud Selig is claiming that he will retire when his current term expires. Doug Pappas has a Premium article in the Baseball Prospectus that basically boils down to “I’ll believe it when I see it”. Selig said many … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Man, the Bull Durham story sure has legs. There will be a 15th anniversary screening after all, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, on Wednesday, April 30. You folks in Brooklyn ought to check it out if you can. As … Continue reading → Continue reading →

While I was out of touch on the Left Coast, Hall of Fame president Dale Petroskey issued a non-apology apology to Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon for his cowardly and un-American retraction of an invitation to Cooperstown to celebrate the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In the comments to this post, Jeff Cooper says I’m surprised to see you so cynical about [baseball’s] “golden age.” After all, one of the defining characteristics of that period is that the Yankees were in the World Series almost … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Early season attendance numbers for baseball are down from last year, which in turn were down from 2001. Three teams, including the Astros, have drawn their smallest-ever crowds at their new ballparks this season. It’s early, and I do believe … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via Avedon, I see that Dale Petroskey is starting to back away from his disinvitation of Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon to the Hall of Fame for a celebration of the movie Bull Durham. [I]n the radio interview, when [asked] … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Longtime sports columnist Mickey Herskowitz weighs in on the Hall of Fame controversy. He meanders a bit too much to really make any points, but there’s one item worth mentioning: [Hall of Fame President Dale] Petroskey resented having his political … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Dear Mr. Petroskey: I’m a lifelong baseball fan. I’ve lived and died with the Yankees from the days of Horace Clarke and Ron Blomberg, the never-a-dull-moment era of the Bronx Zoo, the long dry spell of the 80s when we … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Thus endeth the Rice Owl baseball team’s winning streak at 30 games, as they dropped a 7-5 decision to Lamar. As someone noted on the Rice fan forum, a winning streak at the end of the season beats one in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ve decided that daylight savings time is a lot like the designated hitter. They’re both relatively recent inventions, they both artificially alter a well-established system, and they both generate an irrational amount of fear and loathing. Personally, I like both … Continue reading → Continue reading →

For you history buffs, the story of playing the Star Spangled Banner at baseball games. The first indisputable record of the playing of “The Star Spangled Banner” for a Major League game was for a unique World Series. The premature … Continue reading → Continue reading →

And so another great season of baseball has begun. The Astros won their opener and got a first game home run from Jeff Kent. The Yankees are now 2-0, winning yesterday without Derek Jeter. Will Carroll of the Baseball Prospectus … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, the reconstituted Veterans’ Committee failed to elect anyone to the Hall of Fame. While I think there were a couple of worthy candidates, I’d rather get this outcome than the enshrinement of a “who’s that?” by the former committee, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

David Pinto points to this Rob Neyer column in which Neyer defends George Steinbrenner from some recent carping. The Yankees’ busy winter, along with the Boss’ criticisms of Derek Jeter and Joe Torre, have brought out the nattering nabobs, some … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Baseball owners are set to vote on a proposal to award home field advantage in the World Series to the league that wins the All-Star Game. They’re doing this, they say, to Put Some Meaning back into the so-called Midsummer … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Eddie Murray and Gary Carter were elected to the baseball Hall of Fame yesterday, meaning the baseball writers’ judgment matched that of Internet voters. Ryne Sandburg did get jobbed by the voters, but at least it was his first year … Continue reading → Continue reading →

A bunch of interesting baseball articles out there right now. We’ll start with Dr. Manhattan’s look at how the breaking of the racial barrier in baseball was not just the correction of a grievous moral failing, but also an opportunity … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Some people were a lot harsher on Pete Rose and his possibly reentry into baseball than I was. Derek Zumsteg at the Baseball Prospectus, who has really dogged Rose and his dupessupporters, minces no words: Pete Rose is scum. His … Continue reading → Continue reading →