Category Archives: Baseball

Nelson Doubleday, co-owner of the New York Mets, has accused Beelzebud Selig of conspiring to “manufacture phantom operating losses”. Doubleday is attempting to sell his half of the Mets to Fred Wilpon under an agreement they signed in 1986 when … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Beelzebud Selig is at it again, calling the Minnesota Twins’ success “an aberration”. Jeezus. They were good last year, they’re better this year, and they have the potential to be just as good next year. They have good young talent … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Frank Deford, who used to be a good writer, makes the inevitable case for Pete Rose to be placed in baseball’s Hall of Fame. In doing so, he makes the usual arguments about how the guy with the most career … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Dave Pinto points to this Dan Lewis article in the National Review Online, which reiterates once again why baseball players may go on strike: It’s the only leverage they have. If the owners do not get their way, they can … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m a Yankee fan, so any time the Red Sox do something to challenge my pinstriped heroes, I don’t like it. But the Red Sox’s theft of Cliff Floyd from Montreal stinks on a number of levels. Let’s take a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Chron baseball writer Richard Justice has a regular Baseball Notebook column that runs every Sunday during the season. This Sunday’s effort talked about the labor issues and was surprisingly fair to the players’ union. Still, he couldn’t quite overcome his … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Jeff Cooper writes of a longtime Mets fan site which has received a cease-and-desist order from Major League Baseball. He looks at from the viewpoint of trademark law and the doctrine of “laches”, which I need to go and look … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In the wake of the big money signings of star free agents Rick Reilly and Gary Smith, Major League Sports Magazine Commissioner Larry “Bud” Smellig has reiterated his plea for a salary cap on sports scribes. “Our industry cannot survive … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Great article on the issues at stake in the baseball labor dispute by Allen Barra of Salon. Continue reading →

Not too surprisingly, the Astros players don’t give much credence to owner Drayton McLane’s fiscal sob story from yesterday: “You can throw the names of all these fancy accounting firms around all you want,” said Gregg Zaun, the backup catcher … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Astros owner Drayton McLane makes his annual statement of poverty to the ever-credulous Chron. He claims he’s lost $105 million since he bought the team in 1993, and that he projects a cash loss of $5 million this year. In … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Get the Straight Dope on why baseballs travel farther at Coors Field than they do elsewhere. Continue reading →

Jeff Cooper responds to my most recent post on this topic. Go check it out. One clarification: In his original comparison of baseball versus football playoffs, Jeff had only included the top NFL wild cards. I missed that distinction, which … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Kevin links to this report that shows that the Astros’ concession prices are among the highest in baseball. That’s a legitimate gripe, but I think Kevin goes off base here: Granted, nobody has to pay [high concession prices], and I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Another view David Pinto, who was for many years the lead researcher for ESPN’s Baseball Tonight, (and who, alas, has been struck by the Blogger permalink bug) has some words on the competitive balance issue. Check it out. Continue reading →

Jeff Cooper has published his promised response to my most recent post about competitive balance in baseball. Jeff focuses on the period since 1995, when baseball signed its last Collective Bargaining Agreement, and came to the conclusion that baseball does … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Beelzebud speaks Larry wants to know what I think about this story that two MLB teams might not be able to meet payroll. Well, first and foremost is that I never believe a word that Beelzebud Selig says. Here’s a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Those who forget the past are doomed to write silly things Allen Barra gives the by-now obligatory outrage about the All Star Game fiasco, then veers off into something really silly. He starts by giving the managers a pass on … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Showing a lot more sense than Frantic Fran Blinebury is King Kaufman in Salon, who notes that there was a perfectly good reason for halting the All-Star Game last night, even if it was done in a tin-eared way: The … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Chron sportswriter Fran Blinebury shows why he personifies the problems that most of us have with his employer with today’s turd-ugly hack job that passes for his regular column. He hits all the usual cliches about Barry Bonds and the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It’s been a busy weekend for me, as we threw a housewarming party on Friday night, so I haven’t had a chance to blog about the death of Ted Williams. The ESPN piece linked gives a good overview of him, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

RIP, Pete Gray Pete Gray, who played for the St. Louis Browns in 1945 despite having lost his right arm in a childhood accident, died Sunday at the age of 87. For sure, we will not see the likes of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Jonah Keri lays out a reasonable plan to help the Expos win ther NL East. Stranger things have happened, and lesser things have been worth rooting for. Go Expos! Continue reading →

Sadly, Rice’s season has come to an end, thanks to a ninth-inning rally by Notre Dame. Congrats to the Irish for the hard-fought win. This was a great season for Rice baseball, and it’s a little hard to take its … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Texas defeated Rice 2-1 yesterday, which means the Owls will have to survive the losers’ bracket for a shot at the College World Series championship. They play Notre Dame, a 4-3 loser to Stanford, on Monday for the right to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Rob Neyer does the math and concludes that contraction in 2003 or beyond is increasingly unlikely. Continue reading →

The Rice Owls will play in their third College World Series since 1997 after shutting out five-time national champs LSU in consecutive games in the Super Regional. Rice will play the winner of the Houston-University of Texas series next weekend … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, the Astros have found a corporate sugar daddy to pay the big bucks to rename EnronAstros Field. Hell, I didn’t even know Minute Maid was based in Houston, but there it is. All I know is that if they … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Three of the four teams I was rooting for yesterday lot, but the one winner was sweet: Rice bounced back from losing on a walk-off homer to advance to the Super Regional in the NCAA baseball championships. The Owls get … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Two incredibly stupid columns by sportswriters about the prospect of a baseball strike. The first, by Kansas City writer Jason Whitlock, is probably better fodder for a hardcore libertarian than a squishy liberal like me, but I think even Ralph … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Joe Sheehan writes about the first time he got a foul ball in 26 years of attending professional baseball games. I’ve gotten two, one in 1997 at a minor league game in Bend, Orgeon, and one last year at a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Eric Alterman, another Professional Journalist Type with sucky permalinkage, asks the following: Why don’t people like [Barry Bonds]? Is it race? Is it the fault of some liberal media conspiracy I haven’t even heard of? I don’t get it. Bonds … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Fat Guy is calling for all civic-minded baseball fans to give Commissioner Beelzebud the cyber-finger by voting Montreal and Minnesota players onto the 2002 All Star Team. I think this is a fine idea, so consider this post to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

File13 gave his perspective on Bud Selig’s latest whining, and wonders what baseball nuts like The Fat Guy and I think. The Fat Guy has his say here, so I guess it’s now my turn. First, I generally disagree with … Continue reading → Continue reading →