Tomorrow (1/25/222) the HoF announces whether anyone is being inducted this year via the BBWAA. With about 46% of the votes known, thanks to Ryan Thibodeaux’s tracking site (Google it, it’s great), David Ortiz looks to be in pretty good shape at 84.1% of the vote. Barry Bonds has 76.9% and Roger Clemens 75.8%. The…… Continue reading Projected Today’s Game Committee

It was announced last week that the independent Atlantic League was dropping the use of automated ball/strike calling. Today, it was announced the PCL at least will pick up that ball. That includes the Oklahoma City Dodgers, so I’ll let you know my experience.

For the past couple years the Rays have focused on what their new home will be after their lease at Tropicana Field (AKA the mausoleum) is up after the 2027 season almost exclusively via an idea of splitting time between the Tampa Bay Area and Montreal. Well, they can forget that as MLB has now…… Continue reading Rays’ Two-City Plan Down in Flames

Yesterday I read one of the most galling sports columns I’ve seen in a long time. It was actually published Jan 1, but I don’t normally notice the San Diego Union-Tribune nor columnist Nick Canepa. I was culling through articles about the baseball Hall of Fame voting and ran across it. After all, the results…… Continue reading One of the Worst HoF Votes Ever

Monday we learned that the Rays’ bullpen catcher Jean Ramirez had died near his home in Ft Worth, TX. He was 28. Now, the local coroner’s office has determined his death was by suicide. It’s always jarring when such a young person dies. That a person who seemingly had a great life as a major…… Continue reading Rays’ Player’s Death Was Suicide

Earlier this week, the owners’ negotiators called for a bargaining session with the players to take place today. It was the first overture from them since the lockout began on Dec 2nd. The two sides did, in fact, meet today, via Zoom. The owners brought a proposal involving the core economic issues at the heart…… Continue reading Players/Owners Met Today

Jon Lester announced his retirement today, ending a 16 year career. He finishes with a 200-117 record and 3.66 ERA (117 ERA+). He made 5 all star teams, 11 playoff teams, garnered 3 World Series rings (2 with the Red Sox, 1 with the Cubs), and posted a stellar career 2.51 postseason ERA. It will…… Continue reading Jon Lester Retires

Two teams this week have announced they are retiring a favorite player’s number. The first was the Twins. Jim Kaat, on the heels (finally!) of getting selected for the Hall of Fame by the Golden Days committee. His teammate, Tony Oliva, has already had his Twins numbered retired. It’ll be a great day this summer,…… Continue reading Number Retirements

Here’s to a more successful 2022!

Need a laugh? At the beginning of December, Commissioner Manfred stated the lockout was needed to inject a sense of urgency to the MLBPA to start having meaningful negotiations toward a new CBA. Since the lockout was imposed, MLB has tried 0 times to schedule negotiating sessions addressing the core financial issues that led to…… Continue reading Whither the Lockout

To have a Hall of Fame vote, one must be a BBWAA member for 10 years. I’m not a member at all, of course, so my opinion of who belongs in the HoF on this year’s ballot means literally nothing. I won’t let that stop me though. There are 30 names on the ballot. Going…… Continue reading My Fictional Hall of Fame Ballot

Probably most of us know Fanatics as a company that sells lots of clothing with team logos to sports fans. In the past year or two, though, they have gotten heavily into the memorabilia market too. About six months ago they outbid Topps for the exclusive right to produce MLB trading cards. It was a…… Continue reading Fanatics Buys Topps

Does someone need a bottle?

The BBWAA rule to be able to vote for players for the HoF is a writer must have been an active baseball writer and BBWAA member for 10 years. As of 2015 another rule took effect—once you no longer actively/regularly covered baseball, the clock started ticking. After 10 years of not covering baseball, the writer…… Continue reading The Bonds/Clemens Rule