Comments for Right Off the Bat

Comment on Great Stadiums by rightoffthebatbook

rightoffthebatbook — Wed, 01 May 2013 01:23:28 +0000

I (Evander) will give you several for baseball, Nick. Abner Doubleday Field is hardly an odd venue. But I found myself along with a friend visiting there during the time of the Watergate Hearings, being interviewed by a New Zealand (!) journalist who was canvassing “the College Student on the Street.” In that late afternoon, we three were the only ones on the Field at all. Perhaps stranger as a locale is the original setting for Toronto Blue Jays games. Exhibition Stadium is within the confines of the Exhibition (at least at one time) open for maybe two weeks a year. The stadium, which featured unusual double “love seats” in its expansive left-field stands, was set amid amusement-park rides. Two more: Aside from the 1936 Olympics Games, where under the klieg lights 100,000+ undoubtedly watched baseball in utter incomprehension, the L.A. Dodgers stint in the Coliseum (constructed for the preceding Summer Games, as I think Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium was, which never saw an international-sports event as far as I know), with the short home-run distance to left, even with the monster screen, might be the silliest of all. Though I’m pretty sure he was a left-handed batter, Wally Moon perfected the so-called Moon Shot, over the screen, in 1959. Fans in right field might as well have been in a different time zone: the game was a rumor from there. That World Series was versus the Chicago White Sox, whose ancient Comisky Park itself showcased seats, in places, which faced one another rather than the field.

Comment on Great Stadiums by nickww

nickww — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:53:19 +0000

What is the oddest venue for cricket or baseball? I did watch cricket played near the harbour in Corfu. But I think the day I saw Joel Garner, Brian Lara and Clive Lloyd (match ref) in Brooklyn in what is essentially a field carved out of a reed marsh near JFK was the oddest I have seen.

Comment on Reaping the Gayle Storm by rightoffthebatbook

rightoffthebatbook — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:18:14 +0000

Regarding The Don’s career average, no one in major-league history likewise towers above all the others. The equivalent .450 batting average (to Ty Cobb’s .367, though current thinking may add even another point to this average) is a good start at comprehending Bradman’s celestial record. We can only think that Babe Ruth’s command in 1921 establishes something of a baseball-alternative over a single season. With 59 home runs, Ruth bombed more of them than seven other major-league teams. (Think of it!) In another mind-warping event that October, during the World Series against the Giants (both teams played at the Polo Grounds) and as a member of “the visiting team,” Ruth laid down a bunt for the win in Game 5, though his Yankees lost their first World Series five games to three. (Yes: an eight-game World Series, as similarly played 1919 and 1920. Ruth appears to have sat out two of the 1921 games, recording only 16 AB.)

Comment on Reaping the Gayle Storm by rightoffthebatbook

rightoffthebatbook — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:33:17 +0000

These comparisons seem just about right. However, the fact that Gayle broke so many records in one innings should be enough to convince even someone who knows nothing about the game of cricket that something extraordinary just happened. We also think that any baseball fan watching Gayle in his pomp would recognize a hitter of extraordinary power and almost superhuman hand–eye coordination. The clean, resonant sound off Gayle’s bat and the slow, even arc of his swing would be satisfactions familiar to fans of either sport.

Comment on Reaping the Gayle Storm by Nick W-W

Nick W-W — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:50:20 +0000

So..having just found this great blog thanks to Evander.. a question. Have you worked out a way of equating cricket performance to baseball. My learned British friend in New Jersey equated this performance today to a 7HR, 15RBI game. Thoughts? Similarly I tried to put 99.94 (Bradman) into a career baseball average and came up with something like .450. Have you actually got a base for comparison?

Comment on Be Sure to Check out “42″ by 42 overview

42 overview — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:35:50 +0000

[...] early piece from the Right off the Bat [...]

Comment on The Curious Simplicity of Cricket and Baseball by Lou

Lou — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 07:13:57 +0000

I played softball for years. Judging what is a strike or not is hard if you are facing a good pitcher and they can nick the edge of the plate regularly. T20 has that similar quality about it. You have to hit at some point, you can’t just leave and leave… having to making split second judgements is what makes ball sports so much fun to play and so unknowable.

Comment on The Curious Simplicity of Cricket and Baseball by rightoffthebatbook

rightoffthebatbook — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 02:06:09 +0000

Ironically, Ichiro is not the number-one star among Japanese-baseball fans. That distinction goes to “Godzilla”: Hideki Matsui who, like Ichiro, distinguished himself with the New York Yankees. Fact is, Ichiro has had the greater major-league career, based on the qualities you identify. We at the Right Off the Bat Project are likewise fascinated by so-called touch players. The placing of batted balls is less possible in baseball due to the nature of the game (not in 360 degrees) and equipment (round bat meeting ball) themselves. But we are about as happy to see a Baltimore Chop or Texas Leaguer dunk in over an infielder’s outstretched glove as we are to watch the three-run home run. The batter who swings from the heels can be fun…if he happens to be Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle or Reggie Jackson. But such talents come along every fifty years if that often. There are not many who fit the Ichiro description and profile, either: wiry-athletic; smartly “staying within himself” (the 1990s-era cliche); graceful in all phases of the game; a pleasure to watch, no matter which team one roots for. He made the Seattle Mariners a force and likel y will be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame once he hangs up the cleats.

Comment on The Curious Simplicity of Cricket and Baseball by joef

joef — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 18:24:54 +0000

Having just spent several months in South Australia, and having watched and enjoyed a number of Twenty20 cricket matches on summer evenings at the Adelaide Oval, it seems obvious to me that perhaps the greatest cricket player who ever lived may never have lifted a cricket bat and currently plays right field for the New York Yankees: Ichiro Suzuki. In his prime and almost until today: Who could see the pitched ball better and know what to do with it? Who, if he had the opportunity to hit the ball foul which in cricket is fair, could have done it with more precision over a greater span of time? And since cricket appears to require more on-field athleticism by more members of the team (as far as I can tell), who has better developed all-around “tools” than Ichiro? Of course there are and have been many physically stronger players but none with the combination of reflexes, strength, focus and mental toughness, “the patience required.. for the guy holding the piece of wood to wait….and wait…” in one person.
I’ve played ball for sixty years, first baseball then softball, and I still play third base each summer weekend; I appreciate good play and good players.

Comment on Baseball versus Cricket versus Baseball by rightoffthebatbook

rightoffthebatbook — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 15:07:02 +0000

In other words, attempted to convey that Babe Ruth was a transformative figure and force….