Do You Even Know How the Curse of the Bambino Started?

... I didn't think so."

"Well, at least I know what a force play is."

Yep, I love baseball.

I Don't Want to Talk About It

This I earned last week on a ground ball that didn't stay on the ground properly. Awesome color, if you ask me.

Tonight, I don't want to talk about it. We lost. We should have won.

Also, I hate my lungs. Heading back to the church to work on the youth center some more.

This is the Kind of Dad I Wan to Be

Well, Goodbye Fall Softball

(THIS IS NOT A PICTURE OF MY HAND)

So, I have now gone to the doctor to have him look at my hand. Guess what? I have a hairline fracture in my fourth (ring) metacarpal bone in my hand. It is a weird bone to have a fracture in because it is right in the middle of my hand. The doctor told me that there wasn't much we can do about it, except wait. However, he told me that it could very easily turn in a break (like shown above) or the bone could just shatter if I continued to play softball, specifically hit softballs with a bat. If this were to happen it would almost certainly mean surgery on my right hand. This is not an appealing option to me, so I will be forfeiting most of my fall softball season, until I get the free and clear from my doctor. Hopefully in 4-6 weeks. So, I am on the DL. Suck!

Home Run King ...

Here are some stats I dug up after being tipped by Denis Prager.

This is a comparison of the three home run kings and how they did it.

Babe Ruth hit 714 home runs over 22 seasons in 8398 at bats. This averages out to 32.45 a year and 1 home run every 11.77 at bats.

Hank Aaron hit 755 home runs over 23 seasons in 12364 at bats. This averages out to 32.83 a year and 1 home run every 16.38 at bats.

Barry Bonds has hit 757 home runs (so far) over 22 seasons in 9777 at bats. This averages out to 34.41 a year and 1 home run every 12.92 at bats.

These are interesting numbers to me. The Babe was great! 1 home run every 11 at bats! That is astounding and he was consistent over 22 years when medicine was not nearly as advanced as it is now. He drank, cussed, chewed and definitely went with women who did the same! He is the Bambino. For ever. I am going to try and dig up some Babe Ruth stories (that are appropriate for my blog) and get them up. He was truly a legend!

EDIT: (More stuff)

Great ESPN Article summing up his life and career.

Wikipedia

Jubilee Jaguars

These are my boys! We are in the semi-finals. Next week we play back to back and if we win both, we will be the champs. Wish us luck! And come out and cheer if you can!

United Countries of Baseball

The Babe Was A Selfless Individual

Sometimes when I reflect on all the beer I drink, I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. I think, "It is better to drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver." - Babe Ruth

Softball is Amazing

Yep, this is what you get when you slide into third while wearing shorts. (I am kind of an idiot.)

Last night was a night of contrasts. In the Jaguars game (all men) we absolutely dominated. First inning we put up 20 runs. I had 3 hits in the first inning and scored all three times. The biggest one being my first hit. I took the second pitch that was thrown and drilled it over the left center field wall. Dinger! This was my first home fun over a fence, ever! It was exciting. It happened kind of quickly. I was already rounding second before I realized that it was gone. I hit it well, hopefully I can keep that kind of power going for the rest of the summer. I ended up going 5 for 5 over the evening, as we cruised to a 31-10 win.

The contrasting event was the Wild Aces game. We got dominated. Hard. The final score ended up at 27-4. It was a touch brutal. We still played hard and we had some fun. It would be nice for us to get some hits and make some stuff happen offensively to give us a sense of confidence. I will take a look at the lineup and see what we can do.

All in all it was a fun night. The Rockies got dominated in Houston. Now they are returning home for a while. I will attending all three Mets games this week starting tonight. It should be good. My heart hurts from this past road trip, but I still believe in my guys. It will be fun.

It Is True

My Rox Are Hot!

This evening, led by a Yorbit Torrealba grand slam, the Rockies won their 7th in a row. We are currently 5.5 games back in the NL West. However, 7 wins in a row will change a team. They are playing with confidence. They are confident in their offense and (finally) in their bullpen. I am excited to see what this win streak will do for us long term. Streaks do not last forever, thus the 'streak', but they will impact a team's mindset. I hope that we come out of this streak with a winning attitude and make a significant run for the top of the division by the All-Star break. GO ROCKIES!

Oh, I will be going to a game in the next couple of weeks if anyone wants to go.

Jaguars versus Misfits

You know that it is going to an alright night, when the #7 hitter (in this case myself) gets to hit twice in the first inning. I had a double and a triple. Apparently, our offense has decided to show up in a strong way the past two games. Last week we scored twenty. Our coaches revamped our lineup a little bit, it seemed to be a good jolt for us. We developed some good consistency throughout the lineup, which is what you strive for.

First inning, we scored 16. After that good start, we went on to add 6 more for a final of 22 – 12. They gave us quite a few, their outfield was having some difficulties with only 3 outfielders. However, we were still putting the ball out there and forcing them to make plays.

Defensively, we were solid. We didn’t throw the ball around at all. Outfielders showed discipline in hitting their cut guys and in knowing where the play was in the infield. The infield was decent. My arm was tight and I had a couple of tough plays where if the throw had been there we would have had outs. I will have to work on that, when it is cold, I need to throw for a lot longer to get my arm going.

Personally, last night was a challenging night for me. I have to keep working hard. My bat was strong with 2 doubles, a triple and a deep fly ball that the centerfielder made a strong play on. Defensively, I didn’t drop anything even though I could not find my glove before the game and I was using a crappy backup glove from my trunk. However, like I mentioned before a couple of times I needed to dig deeper and make a stronger throw and I did not. Also, I have not trusted my fellow infielders lately. This was noticed last night. This is me not being a good teammate. There were a couple of plays that should have gone to my fellow infielders that I took myself. Nothing disastrous happened, but we didn’t get outs on those plays. This is unacceptable behavior, both for myself and for my coaches. This will be corrected immediately. Hopefully, it will make us a better team.

Overall, solid night. We played strong, kept the pressure on and didn’t let up defensively. We play the same team next Tuesday, so hopefully we can generate our first win streak of the season. I look forward to it.

38 Pitches

This is pretty cool. Curt Schilling of the Boston Red Sox, blogs. He blogs a lot. This is a really cool thing. As I read through some of his recent posts, I see that this is a pretty cool guy who likes to talk about baseball (who doesn't.) I wish that more people were willing to be this accessible. It is fun for us.

Check it out.

Also, do you know of any other celebrity blogs? I know of Zach Braff's blog, but I got sick of reading his, incessant, self-obsessed rantings.

Baseball

Ray, people will come Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you look around, you'll say. It's only $20 per person. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come."

TODAY: OPENING DAY!

This afternoon at 2:05 PM, Mountain Standard Time, I will be enjoying the gorgeous Coors Field Stadium and rooting loudly for MY COLORADO ROCKIES!

Jaguars V. Valley View

Last night was our second game. Actually, we looked alright. It was a crazy windy night, so it was anyone's ballgame. Defensively we were solid, through the first 3 innings. Offensively, we put up 16 over 4 innings. I was very pleased with our offensive production, including Frank our sleeper. He has stepped in and is a rock-solid first baseman who is able to dig my throws out of the dirt and last night he drove the ball hard twice - once in the gap and once to the fence. Frank will put one over before it is all said and done.

For the first 4.5 innings we looked pretty decent. We went into the bottom half of the forth inning with a comfortable lead 14-4. Then things got a little crazy. They put a couple of runners on and scored one. We got an out. Then I flubbed a ground ball. Things then appeared to get a little crazy. The infield couldn't stop a groundball, the outfield began to throw the ball around and around, and no one could catch. Singles became doubles. Doubles became runs. Many plays later one of the opposing players hit a weak little popup right over the top of the mound. I went to catch it, when one of my teammates who was playing second came through to get the ball as well. As I pulled off abruptly to let him through, I planted my leg wrong and my knee just exploded in pain. So that was the end of my game. (I sprained my knee, it will hurt through the weekend.) As I watched we continued to give up runs until they had obtained a 16-14 lead. We then ended the inning. We were able to start the fifth (we were guests) and we got one runner on base, but first was as far as he got.

So that is that. We gave them the game. It was extremely disheartening. We all were pretty mad, but we kept it together for the most part. We are just going to have to work harder at the basics of the game. Hitting our cutoff men, getting base hits and running the bases with aggression and intelligence.

On my end, I still need to be more consistent in the infield. My new glove has provided me with a lot of confidence. I snagged a line drive that I don't think I could have gotten with my old glove. Last night was my only error in two games. (Last year I had about 2 a game.) But I have to do my job so that my teammates know that I am there for them. Offensively, my swing is very much back. I spent a couple of days in the cages figuring out why I wasn't driving the ball. I found out that I had been pulling my head, with my head down I drive the ball with authority (maybe not actual power, but authority.) Last night I went 1/2. The first pitch that I saw would have bounced 6 inches in front of the plate, but I got anxious and poked it to the pitcher. I had a long sacrifice fly and a solid double in the gap. So I still have some areas of improvement, but my attitude was decent, my defense was almost complete and offensively I am happy. So, onto week 4.

One Moment Can Change Everything

(This from the New York Times)
(Thanks Hugh Hewitt)

This is an amazing story, I hope the best for Adam.

Head Trip

By BARRY BEARAK
Published: March 25, 2007

The moment possessed that rare, rapturous feeling of a dream come true. Adam Greenberg knelt in the on-deck circle, awaiting his first at-bat in his first major-league game. He had arrived at this occasion by successfully ascending all those smaller steps along the way: Little League, Legion ball, high-school ball, college ball, the minor leagues. He was 24 now, an outfielder playing his best baseball ever. The Chicago Cubs had promoted him from their Double A farm club in West Tennessee. “Greenie, get a bat, you’re hitting for the pitcher,” Dick Pole, the bench coach, told him in the top of the ninth. The Cubs were up 4-2 over the Florida Marlins. It was a Saturday night, July 2005. Towers of beaming light fended off the dark for a Miami crowd of nearly 23,000. The air was steamy. A pelting rain had left the grass with its deepest color. As Adam left the dugout, he wrapped his hands around his favorite bat, a Zinger model X53, a 34-incher with a black head and a cherry handle. He breathed in the familiar smell of the polished wood. Dusty Baker, the Cubs manager, called out encouragingly, “C’mon, Greenie, get on!” READ THE REST OF THE STORY

Jaguars V. Mortgage Makers

Tonight was Week 2 of the Spring 2007 HR Men's Softball season. Last week we had a bye. Tonight, we played alright. We played an extremely well-hitting team. In the first inning they hit two over the fence, the first of which made it all the way to a car on the fly. (Huge) The second cleared with room to spare as well. This showed us that they had significant firepower. Over the course of the 6 inning game, we held them to 16. Really, that isn't too bad. The biggest thing on defense was that we were rotating men through a variety of positions all night. I played short for 4 innings, right for one and sat for one. When we settle into our usual position and get comfortable with each other our defense will tighten up.

The problem is our offensive production, more importantly the lack thereof. We only put up 8 tonight and 4 of those came in the last inning and a half. We just are not terribly consistent. I take a lot of that on my shoulders, I was batting third and I went 1 for 3. The hit was an infield hit. I have to be driving the ball into the gaps from the heart of the order. So off to the cages. On a positive note: I did not have a single error. I have a slightly larger glove and it seems to be making a huge difference. My attitude was decent, as was my team's. I think we will be alright this season. We just have to score some runs.

I Can't Wait for Baseball Season!

The Countdown is On

CBS Sportsline MLB Baseball Homepage has the countdown to Pitchers and Catchers Reporting for Spring Training.


As of right now:
17 Days
05 Hours
29 Minutes
53 Seconds


HERE WE GO!