Category Archives: Baseball

ODD PLAYING FIELDS SHAPING ATHLETES.

ODD PLAYING FIELDS SHAPING ATHLETES. A couple examples of professional athletes being permanently affected by the playing conditions of their youth: Greg Gross was said to have hit primarily to the opposite field because as a boy he played on … Continue reading

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PLAYING AROUND OBSTACLES.

PLAYING AROUND OBSTACLES. The fuss about arranging the Northwestern-Illinois football game to avoid the brick wall reminded me of the games I played on unusual fields. Until I was 10, we played in a large yard with two very big … Continue reading

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BEING MISTAKEN FOR LUIS TIANT.

BEING MISTAKEN FOR LUIS TIANT. Aside from Homer Simpson, the only celebrity I was ever mistaken for was Luis Tiant. I used to arouse astonishment when I announced this because Tiant’s face was well known even to casual baseball fans. … Continue reading

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THE SIMPSONS RECOGNIZE BILL JAMES.

THE SIMPSONS RECOGNIZE BILL JAMES. I have posted several times on sabermetrics and have boasted about the fact that Mary Jane and I were among the early subscribers to whom Bill James dedicated his 1983 BASEBALL ABSTRACT. Bill James appeared … Continue reading

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DEREK JETER—THE BONURA SALUTE?

DEREK JETER—THE BONURA SALUTE? Nick writes: “just found out that only Ozzie Smith, Mark Belanger, and Omar Vizquel have more Gold Gloves at SS than Derek Jeter. Does anybody still think this award has any meaning?” This blog post by … Continue reading

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IGNORING THE RULE BOOK—UMPIRES AND MANAGERS.

IGNORING THE RULE BOOK—UMPIRES AND MANAGERS. As a lawyer, I am fascinated by the way that the text of the baseball rule book was ignored by everybody involved in an unusual ruling this weekend. Drawing on this blog post, I … Continue reading

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THE QUIRKINESS OF TARGET FIELD.

THE QUIRKINESS OF TARGET FIELD. About two thirds of the way into the 2010 season, it looks as if Target Field is quirky. I googled “Target Field quirkiness” and got 97,600 hits. I did the search after reading this article … Continue reading

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DESIGNING A QUIRKY STADIUM.

DESIGNING A QUIRKY STADIUM. I posted here last fall about the Minnesota Twins moving out of the Metrodome, their old stadium, which was considered to provide the biggest home field advantage in baseball. This Sports Illustrated article by Sky Andrecheck, … Continue reading

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BREW ANOTHER CUP OF COFFEE—REVISITED.

BREW ANOTHER POT OF COFFEE—REVISITED. I posted here two seasons ago about everybody involved in a major league game—the umpire, the players on both teams, the managers—losing track of the ball and strike count on a batter. It’s happened again. … Continue reading

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“THIS IS THE WAY OLD ‘CASEY’ STENGEL RAN….”

“THIS IS THE WAY OLD ‘CASEY’ STENGEL RAN….” The Wall Street Journal had a squib today on the fact that Luke Scott took 35.7 seconds to round the bases on his home run the other night. (Scott strained his hamstring … Continue reading

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