Category Archives: Baseball

The New Breed Is Old Hat

Robinson Cano could not leave $70 million on the table. That is roughly the difference between what the storied New York Yankees offered their star second baseman and what the Seattle Mariners are paying. The Mariners have set Cano for … Continue reading

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Ten-inning Gem from 1965

Jim Maloney threw 187 (!) pitches, walking ten batters, in his ten-inning, August 19, no-hitter versus the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Wrigley, which turns 100 in 2014, is a spry 51 here. Thanks to FOROTB (friend of Right off … Continue reading

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Farewell, Sachin

Regular Right Off the Bat readers (we few, we happy few) will have noticed that the cricket half of this blog has fallen silent for the last few weeks. Life has taken your cricket correspondent away from the blog for … Continue reading

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Great Stadiums (7): Turner Field (R.I.P.)

Reported November 11, 2013: The Atlanta Braves will leave Turner Field after 2016 for a new stadium in nearby Cobb County. Turner Field is what’s left of the 1996 Summer Olympics Stadium, modified for baseball. Its shelf life of barely … Continue reading

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Great Stadiums (6): Ewing M. Kauffman Stadium at 40

It is now the sixth-oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball and will forever be one of the most graceful. I (Evander) have long had a rational fondness for Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. In recent times upgraded with all … Continue reading

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Great Stadiums (5): Houston, We Have a Problem

The NRG Astrodome, once The Eighth Wonder Of The World in Houston, may (or may not) succumb to the wreckers’ ball, as Ebbets Field did, as the Polo Grounds did, as countless great ballparks have, unless a lot of people … Continue reading

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1918 and All That

And in the end the only team left standing is the Boston Red Sox. I (Evander) doubt any major-league franchise and fan base have suffered as much. The club put The Curse Of The Bambino to rest in 2004 by … Continue reading

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A Close Shave

Life has its oddities and ironies. I (Evander) didn’t know that Gillette Razor headquarters is only two miles from storied Fenway Park. Of greater importance: the World Series is now tied a game apiece between the Boston Red Sox and … Continue reading

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Shortstops Reaching Jack Benny’s Age

In North America, professional baseball is readying itself for the oddly named World Series, a best-of-seven-game set between the Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals, which will open in Boston in a couple of days. Once again, the Red … Continue reading

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The Next Commissioner of Baseball

Bud Selig, a most mediocre commissioner—doubling for a spell as an owner—of Major League Baseball (MLB), will step down in early 2015. By meting out a devastating if circumscribed series of suspensions for PED use, especially to Alex Rodriguez (August … Continue reading

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