The baseball season ends, and winter begins

It’s no coincidence: The baseball season concluded last night as the Cardinals knocked off the Rangers in St. Louis, and it’s snowing this morning in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New York. What more do fans of the Phillies, Pirates, Yankees and Mets need to remind them that the 2011 season didn’t go their way? But what […]

And the most valuable player in major league baseball, 2011, is ….

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance, of which I am a proud member, bestows its annual Stan Musial Award on the best player in baseball by a vote of the group’s members. This is my first year casting a ballot for what is the equivalent of the Major League Baseball most valuable player awards, and it’s a […]

Who were the best relievers in baseball in 2011? Jose Valverde and J.J. Putz

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance gives the Goose Gossage award each year to the best relievers in baseball, and here’s my ballot. I have nominations for the American and National leagues. American League 1. Jose Valverde, Detroit Tigers – The best in baseball in 2011 based on number of saves, and I think that’s an accurate reflection […]

Salary cap for baseball? It’s not the American way

FOX Sports ran a commercial today during the Cardinals-Phillies game on TBS that got under my skin in a bad, bad way. It was a misty-eyed paean to the Yankees, with lots of images of Derek Jeter and Reggie Jackson implying that the Bronx Bombers own October. I hate that. Let me say that again: […]

What a night in baseball!

What a crazy night in baseball. Using the MLB app on my iPhone, I just listened to the last inning as the Braves fell to the Phillies in 13 innings to give the Cardinals the NL wild card. Then I switched over to the Yankees broadcast to hear the Rays win in the 12th moments […]

“Moneyball” review: Not just a great baseball movie – a great movie, period

“Moneyball” is terrific. On the surface, it’s the story of the Oakland Athletics 2002 season and General Manager Billy Beene’s attempt to compete against the big-money likes of the Yankees. That alone is a great story, but Brad Pitt’s production runs at deeper levels. It probes the challenges of defying traditional wisdom not just in […]

Requiem for the San Francisco Giants

The inevitable happened tonight as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the defending world champion San Francisco Giants to win the National League West title. It’s a bitter end to the season for us Giants fans, none of whom have the least glimmer of hope that San Francisco can finagle a wild card berth. Frankly, I don’t […]

The West Coast: A wasteland for baseball offense

AL, NL, all around the game: the West Coast is a barren landscape for hitters in Major League Baseball. I’m most acutely aware of the offensive struggles of the San Francisco Giants, the defending world champions who rank last in runs, 28th in hits and 25th in home runs. The Giants play a lot of […]

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 […]

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 […]