Monthly Archives: April 2009

More on the classic national final of 1969

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Cobb (128x128)Back in March, I published an article titled Classic post-war finals in British baseball. In researching the article I received help from Norman Wells, a long-time Liverpool Trojan. Yesterday I had the pleasure of receiving a letter from the “Old Man of Baseball“, within which he expanded on the 1969 final between the Watford Sun-Rockets and his Liverpool team.

Included with the letter was a team photo of the Trojans from the game, which I have scanned in. Norman is on the far left of the back row. Three men to Wells’s right is Ken Williams, who pitched the game. Art Bolton, the winning pitcher for the Trojans in the 1976 classic final, is five from the left in the middle row.

The Liverpool Trojans at the 1969 national final

Keeping Score – A Saturday night classic

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There is so much hype surrounding the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry that at times you feel like ignoring their games altogether.  However, their three-game series held over the previous weekend was unmissable.  Jacoby Ellsbury’s astonishing steal of home plate on Sunday night is already assured of a place in the top ten list of the best moments from the 2009 season and it followed an absolute cracker of a game on Saturday.

When I sat down at 21.00 on Saturday evening to watch that contest, I thought about the tendency of the two teams to conjure up drawn-out battles lasting four hours or more and questioned whether I should keep score or not.  My scorekeeping instincts won out and I grabbed a blank scoresheet, filled out the starting lineups and settled in for 4 hours 21 minutes of epic baseball.  Continue reading →

St Louis Cardinals: Past & Present by Doug Feldmann

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St Louis Cardinals: Past & Present by Doug Feldmann (MVP Books, 2009), 144 pages

The St Louis Cardinals are the latest franchise to have a book devoted to them in this impressive series by MVP Books.  Fans of the Red Birds will revel in this eye-catching compilation of great photos and descriptive text that provide a well-rounded history of their storied team.

St Louis Cardinals: Past & Present follows the template laid out in similar tomes produced about the Cubs and the Dodgers, both of which have been reviewed here already.  The decent-sized, hardback book primarily lets the photos take centre stage, but the accompanying text is more than mere page filler.  Continue reading →

Roundshaw Hop: The long season?

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Roundshaw-Hop-(128x128)Maybe I should have waited a few weeks before committing to a new name for the column. I was after a title that would be linked to the National Baseball League (NBL), but with the top-tier status of the Croydon Pirates, and therefore Roundshaw Playing Fields, suddenly looking far from safe, the choice already looks unfortunate. (Even the name of my BaseballGB Head 2 Head fantasy league team [the Rio Crande Typos] is tied to the Pirates, albeit a little more cryptically.) Continue reading →

BaseballGB Fantasy League: Joe’s riding high

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BgbFantasyIt’s roundup time again, and a few big wins have led to big changes in the table.
 
 
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
Rio Crande Typos 30 11 36 3 .265 .850 2 5 36 1 3.89 1.16 10
the gas 26 8 26 1 .269 .807 2 0 30 0 4.39 1.39 1
 
What a week for Joe’s Typos, who took every category apart from a tie in wins and a narrow defeat in average. Ian Kinsler provided power (but not much average) while decent weeks from Joey Votto (9 RBIs) and Andre Ethier helped Joe to the top of the table.
 
 
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
Orpington Isotopes 30 12 35 1 .269 .854 5 0 48 0 3.38 1.45 6
Bonestalkers 31 7 35 4 .287 .804 1 0 31 1 6.42 1.60 4
 
Not a great week for my bullpen, with no saves and no holds with Justin Masterson in the Red Sox rotation. Still, my starting staff carried the weight. Curtis Granderson was my star hitter, belting four homers. Bonestalkers could have won RBIs but with Doumit joining Glaus and Duchscherer on the bench (but not on the DL) they were short-handed.
 
 
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
stevenston angels 23 2 11 6 .199 .529 2 0 29 0 1.83 0.95 2
Syracuse Nationals 46 13 54 12 .357 1.021 5 3 43 0 4.14 1.18 9
 
The Angels had a very poor offensive week, batting just .199 as a team with only two homers as well as no saves or holds from the bullpen. The Angels’ ERA and WHIP were impressive though. The Nationals went homer crazy, hitting 13 in a week with 46 runs, 54 RBIs and a team average of .357 – phenomenal stuff! Pujols, Carloss Lee and Brandon Inge all had big weeks, as did Ellsbury with six steals.
 
 
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
Josh & Jonny Whos 38 7 21 3 .315 .876 2 3 32 0 6.21 1.83 4
The Wright Stuff 26 7 26 3 .257 .760 2 3 27 1 3.54 1.32 4
 
A close matchup saw a tie between JJ and Chris. The Whos were helped by plenty of runs (eight from Youkilis) while Torii Hunter was the Stuff’s star performers.
 
 
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
The Cheddar Chasers 39 14 41 1 .347 1.058 4 1 31 0 3.56 1.48 8
Tribal Warfare 22 3 21 2 .233 .627 3 1 33 0 5.75 1.61 2
 
The Chasers ran out comfortable 8-2 winners over Tribal Warfare, belting 14 homers and hitting .347 as a team. The pitching categories were closer, but the inspired pick of Zack Grienke is paying off brilliantly for the Chasers.
 
 
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
Borders Bats 25 4 21 3 .242 .666 1 3 14 0 7.03 1.60 0
RussDev Giants 33 10 40 4 .309 .882 1 5 27 0 4.26 1.23 10
 
A great week for Russ as his Giants shutout the Bats 10-0, ending the week comfortably ahead in most of the categories. Prince Fielder and Grady Sizemore had good weeks, and with Joe Mauer due back soon, things are looking up for the Giants. It wasn’t a good week for the Bats’ pitching staff, as almost all of the starters were roughed up for a 7.03 ERA.
 
 
R
HR
RBI
SB
AVG
OPS
W
SV
K
HLD
ERA
WHIP
Score
Braughing’s Bangers 21 6 22 6 .223 .672 1 2 19 1 4.70 1.57 2
SWAT 31 3 28 4 .306 .823 2 5 37 1 2.28 1.08 9
 
A good win for SWAT, who took four of the hitting categories and five of the pitching stats. SWAT’s outfield of Werth, Markakis and Adam Jones turned in another good performance, as did Dustin Pedroia. The pitchers only managed two wins (one from a reliever) but it proved to be enough. The Bangers need to use their DL and add some extra players to fill in.
 
These results leave the Typos top of the pile, two games ahead of SWAT. JJ is just half a game further back in third. Russ moves up to 4th, while Matt and I have identical records in 10th and 11th.

Early MLB Games this week: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

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It’s a slow start to the week for early games as all of the contests on Monday and Tuesday will be played under lights.  However, Wednesday comes to our rescue for the second week in a row with a host of very promising pitching match-ups.  We then have two early games on Thursday before the Marlins and the Cubs start the Bank Holiday weekend off in style on Friday.  All times are listed in British Summer Time.  Continue reading →

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: Greinke, Bradley and Condensed Games

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It’s been another eventful week in MLB.  The previously all-conquering Marlins were swept by the Pirates, several no-hitter attempts have just fallen short, the 2009 edition of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry has begun with two epic games and Albert Pujols has continued to show why he’s currently the best player in baseball.

And the A’s just snapped a six-game losing streak, so the positivity even extends to Oakland. Hopefully good times are ahead for the green and gold.  Continue reading →

Week Two of the British Baseball season

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The British baseball season was back with a bang last Sunday.  We saw two double-header sweeps in the National Baseball League, a 35-34 contest in the A (South) League, the debut of the new Northern Conference, winning starts by two new teams in the Midlands League and many other entertaining games around the country.

The action is set to continue in the same exciting vein tomorrow with thirty-four games scheduled to take place, subject to the weather forecast improving.  Continue reading →

You Are the Scorer: Number 25

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YouAreScorer

Scenario: A batter has a count of two balls and two strikes.

In which of the following circumstances would a strike-out be awarded?

A – Batter bunts the next pitch and the ball drops and stays in foul territory.
B – Batter bunts the next pitch and the ball is caught as a foul-tip by the catcher.
C – Batter bunts the next pitch foul, with the ball popping up several metres and being caught by the catcher.
D – A and B.
E - A and C.
F - B and C.
G – A, B, and C.

Highlight the text below to reveal the answer:

Answer: D – A and B.

Rule 10.15(a)(4) states:
[The official scorer shall score a strikeout whenever a batter] bunts foul on third strike, unless such bunt on third strike results in a foul fly caught by any fielder, in which case the official scorer shall not score a strikeout and shall credit the fielder who catches such foul fly with a putout.

Baseball on Five: From Parliament to a Podcast?

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We are three Sundays and Wednesdays into the new season and British baseball fans are still struggling to come to terms with the lack of Sunday Night baseball on Five, or any other free-to-air channel for that matter. 

The situation has even been recognised in Parliament.  An Early Day Motion was submitted and backed by two MPs (well done to Mr John Leech and Dr Ian Gibson for showing their support) welcoming “the rise in popularity of baseball in the United Kingdom”, acknowledging “the contribution that televised baseball has made in increasing the popularity of the sport”, expressing concern for the probable negative impact on this caused by Five’s decision and calling on them “or another free-to-view channel to show Major League Baseball on television”.

The Early Day Motion was highlighted on Jonny Gould’s own baseball blog and shows that the fight to bring baseball back to our TV screens will continue for as long as it takes.  In the meantime, I’m backing the calls for a Jonny and Josh podcast.  Continue reading →