Bits and bobs as the trade deadline passes

I’ve posted mighty infrequently of late. I attribute that to most of my energy being sponged up by a couple of major project at work. Nonetheless, here are a few thoughts that have been passing through my brain in recent days: – It sucks to get swept. The San Francisco Giants dropped three straight to […]

Baseball is better when the pitchers hit

A recent spate of inter-league play has gotten me thinking again about the designated hitter rule. It’s not that I’m anti-DH per se. It’s simply that I think baseball is more entertaining when the pitchers hit. When kids play the game of baseball, everybody hits. You’re supposed to hit. Baseball is a game that tests […]

Father’s Day is a day for baseball

Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there who taught their sons and daughters the love of baseball. Baseball and life itself were intertwined for my father and me. There was always a ballgame on the radio, it seemed, accompaniment as we drove just about anywhere or as I played Wiffle ball in the […]

The Ball Caps Blog 2011 American League All-Star ballot

Here’s my All-Star ballot for the AL: Catcher – Alex Avila of the Detroit Tigers dominates in most categories, so he gets the nod over Matt Wieters of Baltimore. First Base – Adrian Gonzalez is having the (green) monster year expected of him with the Red Sox, so he gets the nod over powerful Mark […]

Inter-league baseball games have their charms, but there is a tradeoff

This is the first weekend for inter-league games in baseball this season, and there’s been plenty of buzz in a number of places as neighboring franchises like the Reds and Indians, Athletics and Giants, and Yankees and Mets fight it out. But my heart sank a little when I heard that the Cubs were playing […]

Iconic baseball caps: The Chicago Cubs

The Giants are playing the Cubs at Wrigley Field tonight, one of the classiest and most traditional settings for a game of baseball. The Cubs play while wearing one of the most iconic caps in any sport, with its tight, round red “C” logo on a blue field. The model shown here is my mesh-back […]

What’s the best time zone for baseball fans?

Road trips are rough on major league teams, particularly when making the big leap from Eastern time to Pacific time or vice versa. It’s also an issue for us baseball fans, who have to show nimble ingenuity to catch the broadcasts of our favorite teams. This week it’s been a trade-off for me: the San […]

Voodoo and the art of fantasy baseball

I could have told you that Aubrey Huff was going to break out of his slump. I benched him on my fantasy team this week. Those who play in gung ho competitive leagues or in the more casual settings that I prefer harbor voodoo beliefs that our maneuvers on the fantasy diamond have an impact […]

Walk-off grand slam lifts Cleveland Indians to best April record ever

Of all the surprises in this first full month of the 2011 Major League Baseball season, the most stunning has to be the improbable success of the Cleveland Indians. Winning 9-5 on a walk-off grand slam last night by Carlos Santana, the Tribe improved to 17-8, the most April victories in franchise history. The Indians […]

Taking the specialty relief pitcher to extremes

One of the aspects of baseball that must bore casual and haphazard fans is the game’s increasing reliance on short term relief pitching. Such maneuvers even test the patience of diehard fans like me. It happened again tonight as I watched the late innings of the Giants-Pirates game. In the top of the eighth, the […]