I had a thought-provoking day today, about records and Barry Bonds and stuff. Jayson Stark wrote an article on ESPN.com about the most glamorous records in baseball that aren’t related to home runs. There were a couple things that started out separate but ended up intertwined. He started his article with this: If the biggest… Read More »
In an article on ESPN.com today, Tim Kurkjian wrote this: Rick Sutcliffe was a great teammate for many reasons, none more important than for this: On days Sutcliffe pitched, when one of his guys was intentionally hit by a pitch, he would go to that player and ask, “Who do you want?” Then Sutcliffe would… Read More »
So Randy Johnson is struggling. Hard to believe that a guy who is nearly 43 years old would break down physically. The funniest thing, as Rob Neyer pointed out in his ESPN.com chat today, is that Johnson will make $17 million NEXT season. Bottom line: I called it. Go ahead and read what I wrote… Read More »
For those of you who missed it, last week, A’s catcher Jason Kendall was upset that Angels’ pitcher John Lackey told him to stop trying to get hit by pitches. What did Kendall do? He charged the mound, of course. You rarely see a bench-clearing brawl that starts when a curveball doesn’t hit a batter,… Read More »
If Jose Mesa is not suspended for at least ten games, Bud Selig should be fired. He hit Omar Vizquel with the first pitch he threw to him. Big deal? Well, it’s the third time in the past three years that Mesa has pitched to Vizquel, and he has hit him all three times. Oh,… Read More »
A couple years ago, I wrote here about Barry Bonds’ stats, and the remarkable upswing they took in the mid-1990s. At the time, I said this: I am not saying Barry Bonds has ever taken steroids. I am saying that he is a lot more muscular than he used to be. Allow me to take… Read More »
Sometimes I think Joe Morgan only does his ESPN.com chats to give me material. Anyway, a couple points from today’s chat:
Houston Chronicle columnist Richard Justice seems to think that Frank Robinson’s legacy matters, but it doesn’t. There’s no such thing as “the integrity of the record book” when we are talking about fourth place. Justice thinks it’s a travesty that Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire are mentioned in the same sentence as Robinson. Here’s what… Read More »
It’s amazing, really, how simple the solution to this whole Barry Bonds problem is. And there are over 300 guys in Major League Baseball with the power to fix this. Look, the guy already has bad knees. He missed months last year after bumping his knee on a table. How many 90-MPH fastballs do you… Read More »
It’s no secret that while I respect Joe Morgan’s abilities as a Hall of Fame second baseman, I find his analytical skills as color commentator for ESPN’s baseball broadcasts a bit lacking, to put it mildly. When I see him lined up for a chat on ESPN.com, I generally check it out — mostly for… Read More »