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Category Archives: Baseball
Mariano Rivera Retires
Number 42 will be retired forever throughout Major League Baseball at the end of this season. It is the uniform number that Jackie Robinson wore: now on but one, with his own legacy. Mariano Rivera, who will be forty-four on … Continue reading
The Babe and the Don
It was a meeting made by Destiny: the greatest cricketer of his generation shaking hands with the greatest baseball player of his—Don Bradman and Babe Ruth. Both were transformative individuals who embodied a kind of excellence that was larger than … Continue reading
Happy Second Anniversary to Us!
Today Right Off the Bat celebrates its Second Anniversary. In the course of two years, we’ve managed to post 417 blogs (including this one), received 281 comments, and had 12,699 bits of spam intercepted by the good people and even … Continue reading
Posted in Baseball, Cricket
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Fighting Talk
According to the BBC, the International Olympic Committee is considering dropping wrestling as a sport for the 2020 Olympics in order to make way for one of seven other sports, including “baseball/softball, squash, karate, sport climbing, wakeboarding, wushu and roller … Continue reading
Posted in Baseball
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February Frolics
While I (Martin) may have been quiet the last few months on Right Off the Bat, the world of cricket continues to make some noise. Currently going on in India is the Women’s World Cup, which is being televised by … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Baseball, Cricket, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa
Tagged Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Curt Flood, Dale Steyn, Kerry Packer, Tony Greig
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Touring Yankee Stadium
It has been quite a day. Closer to Right Off the Bat HQ, a poor dolphin, who lost his or her way, perished while trying to escape the toxic Gowanus Canal at the old Union Street bridge in Brooklyn. I … Continue reading
Posted in Baseball, Yankees
Tagged New York Yankees, Paul Olden, Stadiums, Tony Morante, Yankee Stadium
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(Im)probabilities
No one is going to confuse Martin and me with Theo Epstein or Bill James. Truthfully, the term Sabermetrics largely gets nary a nod in Right Off the Bat. Why? It all goes back to “leet” childhood. [“Feed-in”]…I remember practically flunking … Continue reading
Posted in Baseball, Right Off the Bat Book, Right Off the Bat Website
Tagged Bill James, Bobby Thomson, Bucky Dent, contact rate, DIPS, exit velocity, FIELDf/x, ISO, Jackie Robinson, JAWS, launch angle, line-drive rate, Literature, OPS, Reaction Analysis, Reggie Jackson, Sabermetrics, Scoring Efficiency (SE), Scoring Load (SC%), Statcast, Theo Epstein, Ultimate Base Running (UBR), UZR, WAR, WARP, WHIP, Whitey Ford, WRC
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Baseball Meets Smectymnus
As the Hot Stove League season kicks into high gear, with the advent of some old-style winter weather thro much of North America, all coinciding with the Presidential Inauguration and the federal holiday commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I … Continue reading
Posted in Baseball, Right Off the Bat Book, Right Off the Bat Website, Yankees
Tagged Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, Detroit Tigers, International Baseball Federation, J. J. Putz, Joe Torre, Justin Verlander, Literature, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Major League Baseball, Mariano Rivera, Mark Teixeira, Mike Trout, New York Yankees, Robinson Cano, Warren Spahn, World Baseball Classic, World Baseball Cup, Yankee Stadium
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Earl Weaver, Dead at 82, R.I.P.
Though a great strategist in and of what today is called small ball, his favorite play bluntly remained “the three-run home run.” His all-time winning percentage is .583. He led the Baltimore Orioles to three American League championships in his … Continue reading
News for the Delphic Oracle and the Baseball Writers
We might add another Yeats line to our title: Speech after long silence. There has not been much action in this lackluster Hot-stove League Season—unless you are a follower of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, signers of troubled superstar … Continue reading
Posted in Baseball, Right Off the Bat Website, Yankees
Tagged Babe Ruth, Bill Mazeroski, Colonel Jacob Ruppert, Craig Biggio, George Steinbrenner, Gil Hodges, Jack Morris, Josh Hamilton, Literature, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Major League Baseball, Martin Miller, Mike Piazza, National Baseball Hall of Fame, Pete Rose, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Thurman Munson, Tom Seaver, Ty Cobb, Veterans Committee
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