Monthly Archives: September 2008

The Soul of Baseball by Joe Posnanski

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The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America by Joe Posnanski (Harper, 2008) 282 pages

You would be hard-pressed to find a better central character to a book than Buck O’Neil.  Not many could match the experiences that he went through, the stories he could tell and the wisdom he could impart.  Even less could generate so much joy while sharing such memories.  O’Neill died not long after this book was written and every baseball fan should be grateful that Joe Posnanski captured the essence of the man before he left this world.  Not that O’Neil would have been forgotten without it, in fact nothing could be further from the truth.  The Soul of Baseball shows just why he will always be a part of baseball history and how everyone who met him was touched by his presence.  Continue reading →

MLB.com’s Gameday Mini

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The Gameday feature on MLB.com has continued to evolve over the past few years from a simple way to keep track of a game to a fantastic resource.    We now enjoy 3D graphics of each pitch accompanied by data such as pitch type and speed.  Video clips of the top plays also have been inserted seamlessly into the application.  In fact, for some people Gameday now includes too many options.  If you are sat in front of your monitor solely following a game then it is fantastic.  If, as is more often the case, you want to follow the game while doing other things on your PC/Mac, the full Gameday is a bit cumbersome.

MLB.com have therefore recently launched a smaller, more stripped-down version of the application.  It’s called Gameday Mini and is a triumph of design and functionality.  Continue reading →

Early games on four days this week

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Although there are only a handful of early games this week, they are spread out over four of the five days.  So with just a couple of weeks left in the regular season, it’s a great chance to enjoy the pleasure of sitting down and taking in a Major League game during the British evening.  All times are listed in BST.  Continue reading →

Sunday Night Baseball on Five – Tigers versus White Sox

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Five logo

The MLB schedule has been severely disrupted over the last few days due to the terrible weather inflicting many parts of the U.S.  Tonight’s game on Five should be a clash from the AL Central with the Tigers taking on the White Sox, but both games of their planned double-header were rained out yesterday and the rain is still falling in Chicago.  With uncertainty over the pitching match-up and no earlier games in the series to report on, this will be an abbreviated preview of tonight’s game.  Continue reading →

‘Weekly’ Hit Ground Ball 2008 – Week Twenty Four

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The Angels rule the West 

The Los Angeles Angels were celebrating on Wednesday as they became the first team to win their division in 2008. The AL West was secured after a 4-2 victory over the Yankees was followed one hour later by the Texas Rangers’ defeat to the Mariners. With their magic number first reduced to one and then to none, the party could begin in Anaheim.

However the speed at which they’ve achieved this feat makes it difficult to evaluate just how well the Angels have played. Are they overrated or underrated?  Continue reading →

MLB Premium – Home and Away feeds

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The rained hammered down in many parts of the U.S. yesterday, leading to six games being postponed.  Every cloud has a silver lining though and the postponements mean that we have twenty games to enjoy today (even with Hurricane Ike continuing to halt the Cubs and the Astros).

Eight of these games are scheduled to start before midnight U.K. time, giving you plenty of viewing choice if you’re staying in this evening and need a good way to avoid Strictly Come Dancing/X Factor and other such rubbish.

The schedule also gives MLB.TV Premium subscribers a chance to take advantage of the latest development of the MLB.com multimedia content.  As mentioned a few days ago, MLB.com had promised that subscribers would be able to choose between the home and away video feeds (where available) in the same way that you can for Gameday Audio.  They helpfully sent around an e-mail on Thursday to confirm that this feature was now available, so you no longer have to switch to the radio feed to avoid Hawk Harrelson and his ilk.

Another welcome addition to this great product.

Baseball: established in Britain in 1755?

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I like to think that the very presence of BaseballGB helps to debunk the myth that Britain and baseball don’t go together.  Yes we might be the minority on this island of ours, but there are Brits who passionately follow the MLB season and/or who play for one of the many domestic baseball teams (or who play roles as umpires, official scorers etc).  And on top of this current interest in the sport, Britain has deep historic links with baseball.  A recent discovery by a local historian in Surrey has provided some exciting new evidence of just how far back Britain’s relationship with baseball stretches.  Continue reading →

Blue Jays vs White Sox

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My Monday guide to the week ahead stated that there would be no early games on Tuesday, but the Blue Jays and the White Sox will be in action after all thanks to their game being rained out yesterday.  First pitch in the opener of the double-header is set for 19.05 and it’s a great pitching match-up in prospect.  A.J. Burnett takes the mound for Toronto, with Javier Vazquez starting for Chicago.  Continue reading →