Category Archives: Baseball

A TRIVIA QUESTION. I watched the White Sox series with Colorado and concluded that the Colorado announcers are the best I have ever heard. One example: they showed how the ways that two of the pitchers hid the ball from … Continue reading →

LUKE APPLING AND MY FATHER. Because the batter is usually at a big disadvantage when he has two strikes on him, being able to foul off pitches is an important skill. Luke Appling was famed for being able to foul … Continue reading →

POKER AND PITCH COUNTS. Because the real advantage in the contest between batter and pitcher comes when there are two strikes or three balls, each at bat is a little contest between batter and pitcher, each trying to get to … Continue reading →

THREE CHEERS FOR PITCH COUNTS. ESPN on its Sunday night broadcast has been showing what a batter’s performance has been this year with that pitch count (e.g., with a two ball, one strike count, what his batting average has been … Continue reading →

POPULAR DISSATISFACTION WITH UMPIRING. ESPN had a poll during lst week’s Sunday night game on whether there should be instant replay for questionable home run calls (e.g., near the foul pole). There were a couple hundred thousand responses and 82% … Continue reading →

CAL MCLISH. Cal Mclish, won 92 games in his major league career. His full name was Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskahoma McLish. He said that his name was so long because he was the only child his father was allowed … Continue reading →

TELLS IN BASEBALL. For the opening of baseball season, here is a good article by Stephen Rodrick on Johann Santana, currently the best pitcher in the major leagues. I learned that Santana prepares for each start by playing on Xbox … Continue reading →

STEROIDS, BASEBALL AND HUNGER ARTISTS. Congressional hearings are coming up on whether some baseball players used steroids or human growth hormone. I posted here on the elaborate measures that hunger artists took to demonstrate that they really were fasting. A … Continue reading →