The top two teams in the NL West battle it out in tonight’s game on Five. Arizona has a 3.5 game lead over the Dodgers heading into the contest, but an L.A. victory would cut that down to 2.5 and the Dodgers will have three more opportunities to inflict defeats on the D-Backs next weekend as they host Arizona at Dodger Stadium. Five’s coverage begins at 00.40, giving the team twenty-five minutes to build up this game before first pitch at 01.05.  Continue reading
One month to go
Five months ago, the thirty Major League teams were getting ready for the 2008 season with hopes, dreams and great expectations of what the year may bring. On the final day of August, those teams are now facing the reality of what their season may amount to. For some, September will be a thirty day period that they want to get over and done with as soon as possible. For others, the coming month could end in triumph and lead to even greater glory. Continue reading
It’s now a week since the Olympic Baseball tournament was brought to a close by a thrilling final that saw Korea crowned as champions over Cuba. Following the International Olympic Committee’s decision to boot baseball (and softball) off the Olympic list for the 2012 London Games, this year’s event represented a great opportunity for the sport to show what everyone would be missing in four years time. The eight teams involved made sure that they didn’t let this chance pass them by. Continue reading
If you are a regular visitor to the site and don’t live too far from the South-West of the country, then the date Saturday 4 October should already be in your diary, in your Outlook calendar, on the back of your hand, or wherever else it is you keep things organized.
As brought to the attention of BaseballGB readers by Matt back in March, this is the date of the game between the Great Britain National Baseball Team and a squad of top cricketers, which is part of Marcus Trescothick’s benefit year and will take place at the County Ground in Taunton (a cricket pitch that will be transformed into a baseball field for the event). There are now some more details available. Continue reading
As mentioned in my last game report from 2008 before the National Finals, this coming weekend sees the autumn-heralding curtain come down once more on the regular season in the NBL South, as Richmond travel to Bracknell for a double-header. Players from the two teams have one last chance to improve (or spoil) their season statistics. Many categories are one stitch short of being sewn up, but a handful are still yet to be decided. Full sortable stats can be downloaded by right clicking here and choosing “Save Target As…â€. Continue reading
The new extra-innings rule came into effect in five of the 36 games that made up the 2008 Olympic baseball tournament. Here I provide some statistics on its use in those games. In considering the tactics employed (i.e. sacrifice bunt or swing away), I am not interested in the bottom half of innings played under the rule, as the situation is essentially the same as normal in the bottom half of the 9th or a later inning, with the first two players up reaching base – in other words, it is standard baseball. The difference with the top half is that you are playing knowing that your opponents will be in a stronger-than-normal position in the bottom half of the inning. For the choice of the spot in the line-up at which to start the 11th inning, though, I am interested in both the top half and the bottom half of the inning, as neither team’s decision crops up in standard baseball. Continue reading
One of the real joys of going to baseball games in this country – particularly if you are relatively new to the sport like me – is listening to the anecdotes of people who have been involved in the British game for a good chunk of time. With the notable exception of Jeff Archer’s Strike Four, very few anecdotes have been recorded in print (the game reports that have been published in newspapers and remain available in archives tend to contain nothing more than match facts, very possibly because only a few column inches are available to baseball in this country). Therefore, oral anecdotes really serve a valuable purpose. Continue reading
Today marks the first day of the ‘instant replay’ era in MLB. The McAfee Coliseum in Oakland, Angel Stadium in Anaheim and Wrigley Field in Chicago will have their newly installed TV monitors and secure phone links to the MLB.com office primed and ready for operation, should the need arise. It looks like there is no turning back now. Continue reading
A quick browse on Amazon produced several baseball books that are due out in the next month or so that could be useful additions to your baseball library. You can enjoy reading about a landmark court case in the history of baseball labour relations, a long overdue biography of a unique pitcher from the early twentieth century, and memories from the soon to be former home of the New York Yankees. Continue reading
When I wrote on Sunday about instant replay being on its way, I didn’t think it would arrive this quickly.
According to John Perrotto on Baseball Prospectus Unfiltered, Bud Selig will be holding a press conference at 5.00 pm ET (22.00 BST) to announce that instant replay will be used to determine close calls on home runs starting on Thursday!
Sounds like a bit of a rushed job to me. It will be interesting to hear what testing they have done during actual in-game situations, because you can’t bring in something like this with one month left of the regular season without it being thoroughly tested. Can you?Â
EDIT: This news has just been confirmed on MLB.com. Here’s the press statement.