Category: Baseball
No-no
Jason Verlander of the Detroit Tigers pitched a no-hitter against the Blue Jays in Toronto today. It is the second of his career. Only 27 pitchers ever have pitched two or more no-hitters — only three among active players: Verlander, Mark Buehrle and Roy Halladay (and that includes Halladay’s postseason gem last year).
Of the 27, three pitchers tossed three, Sandy Koufax four and Nolan Ryan seven.
Willie Mays Turns 80 Today
I once read that the best everyday writers were sportswriters, perhaps because they wrote about something that interested them (and us) rather than about just something that was interesting.
Surely this tribute to Willie Mays shows that effect.
Way to go, Karen!
Well her photo is and that’s even better.
Catch of the Day
Be sure to stay for the replays.
Stuff
A more thoughtful if critical look at Three Cups of Tea and Greg Mortenson: What Mortenson Got Wrong.
It’s just one side of the story, but once you read scores of them confirming your own experience, you figure with enough smoke there must be some fire: Customer Catches Best Buy Breaking Law, Gets Banned From Store.
Joe Posnanski takes a look at some ballplayers who appear to have played at Hall of Fame levels, but never even got a serious look: The Hall of Not Famous Enough.
Also, Joe wants to know which is the Greatest Rock Band In The World. If you aren’t familiar with Arcade Fire, Muse, Wilco and the Flaming Lips, this discussion is not for you.
Top Paid Player by Team
Hero
Best line about Bonds case today
“One juror ‘did not want his 16-year-old daughter, who plays soccer, to have to compete against steroid users.’
“When I think of a nation of teenaged girls, ‘roided up to the gills, kicking soccer balls at superhuman velocity, I know the Bonds prosecution was worth every last penny.”
Coco Crisp kicks it old school
Best Bonds assessment
Allen Barra takes a look at the Barry Bonds outcome.
Worth a click if only for the headline, which is a best line of the day.
Best line of the day
“Fans can judge [Bonds’s] accomplishments however they want, but they did happen, and they are as historically valid as the 714 homers Babe Ruth hit without ever facing an African-American pitcher.”
Did you know a human could do this?
Idle thought
Sam Fuld of the Rays hit a home run, a triple and two doubles last night. The second of the doubles came in the ninth with Tampa leading Boston by a dozen runs.
He should have stopped at first. He could have hit for “the cycle.”
Nice catch!
Awesomest thing ever
The Boston Red Sox have started the season 0-6.
Best line of the day
“SAN FRANCISCO—Saying that ‘you never know,’ juror Jesse Ferguson has worn his baseball glove to the Barry Bonds perjury trial every day, telling reporters Tuesday that his seat on the jury is in a perfect spot should Bonds really connect on one. . . .”
Play ball
It’s opening day for the 2011 Major League Baseball season. If you’re not in the mood for baseball — and if you are an American and aren’t ready for Opening Day, the terrorists have won — then Joe Posnanski’s look at The 32 Best Players in Baseball for 2011 can get you there.
“Albert Pujols has a chance to be known as the greatest player in the history of baseball. There are numerous statistical measurements to make the point, including the simple point that through age 30 he has more homers than Babe Ruth, more hits than Pete Rose, more RBIs than Hank Aaron, more runs than Rickey Henderson did at the same age.
Yes, it’s OK to think about that for a moment.”
Best line of the day
“[Parents] drop their kids off at soccer and they know they’re going to run around like maniacs for an hour. When they watch baseball practice, they often see them standing around in the outfield while the coach throws batting practice.”
John Mitchell, a former college baseball coach from Alabama, quoted by the Wall Street Journal.
Today’s longer reads
Best lines summing up my week
“I’ve always said that people should enjoy baseball the way they want to enjoy baseball. It is a sport, and it is meant to be loved, and if you love it by doing spreadsheets, if you love it by sitting down the third base line with a beer and without even knowing the players names, if you love it for its history, for its pace, for its drama, for its familiarity, for its connection to spring, for its apparent simplicity, for its apparent complexities, for the way the game reveals character, for the way the game reveals talent, for the way the game rewards consistency, for batting average and wins and RBIs, for UZR and Runs Created and FIP, for whatever … that’s great. Love the game your own way.”
Today’s Photo
iPhone photo.
10-9 Reds in sixth
26 hits including a couple of looooooong balls.
Update: 14-9 Reds in 8th.
13,182. Fourth largest single game crowd ever at HoHoKam. Cubs have spent spring training here since 1979.
Update update: Reds won 14-13. 40 hits.
West Addison West
Today’s game
Reds vs. Cubs at HoHoKam Park in Mesa.