“Let down and hanging around” – ‘Let Down’ by Radiohead.
What a sorry mess of a way to end the regular season. No, I’m not referring to the Mets’ annual collapse (not yet anyway), but the way in which MLB.com disappeared off the face of the internet at the time when baseball fans needed it the most. Continue reading
The final scheduled day of the regular season brings a host of day games, allowing British fans to watch all of the drama unfold live at a convenient hour. Continue reading
All the fun of the ‘fair’
Baseball fans have enjoyed a compelling play-off race during the final week of the regular season, one in which two postseason places are still to be decided heading into the final day (and it might not even be the final day). But for some people it hasn’t been worth watching. The Yankees’ Hank Steinbrenner has tried to dampen the excitement by railing against the current divisional structure.  Like a five-year old who has been told he can’t stay up late and watch TV, Steinbrenner has been jumping up and down and screaming “It’s not fair, it’s not fair, it’s not fairâ€.  Continue reading
A press conference was held in Regensburg, Germany two weeks ago to announce details of next year’s IBAF Baseball World Cup. The marquee international tournament is being held in Europe and promises to be a great showcase for the sport; however two weeks on and there is still some uncertainty over Great Britain’s involvement in the competition. Continue reading
Now that Yankee Stadium has staged its final game, the players, coaches, Front Office and owners have nothing else to divert their attention. Up until now, their minds could be fixed on Sunday 21st and sending the stadium off in style. The harsh reality of missing out on the play-offs, confirmed by Boston’s win yesterday, could be placed to one side, but not any longer. Their relative failure this season has to be assessed and a plan put in place to get them back on track in 2009. Continue reading
It’s scarcely believable, but we have reached the final week of the 2008 regular season already. With several play-off places still up for grabs, it promises to be a fascinating few days. Unfortunately, the important nature of the games means that only a handful are being played during the daytime in the States. That doesn’t provide British fans with many opportunities to watch/listen to some live baseball during the evening this week, but with the end of the regular season in sight we can at least appreciate these five games even more. All times are listed in BST. Continue reading
Tonight’s game sees the Baltimore Orioles making a rare appearance on Five as they take on the Yankees. The game itself will be something of a sideshow though. Yankee Stadium has staged many memorable games since it opened in 1923, but this will be the last. A pre-game ceremony is set to begin at 00.05. Five’s coverage doesn’t start until forty-five minutes later, but that will still leave plenty of time for British fans to soak up what will no doubt be an atmosphere full of emotion. First pitch is due to be thrown at around 01.15. Continue reading
After the persistent rain made the National Finals rather less enjoyable than they could have been back on the first weekend of this month, the September sun is familiarizing itself once again with our green and pleasant land. Thankfully, there is still baseball being played, so the solar rays are not going to waste. Continue reading
Yost is toast
With only two weeks of the season left to go, the Brewers shockingly sacked manager Ned Yost last Monday. While a poor September had caused a growing number of Milwaukee fans to question Yost’s decision-making skills, few expected him to be fired at this late stage. Teams that are tied for the wildcard midway through September just don’t make such major changes. Until now, that is. Continue reading
The third use of instant replay in MLB occurred in last night’s game between the Twins and the Rays and it produced the first occasion in which the call on the field was reversed after review. Carlos Pena had to wait at second base for five minutes, but finally he was able to complete his tour of the bases as his double became a home run. On the negative side, it did take a relatively long time to arrive at the final decision. On the positive side, it resulted in the correct decision being made.Â
Does the positive outweigh the negative? That’s down to personal opinion. Continue reading