Category Archives: Right Off the Bat Website

Johan Santana Throws First No-hitter for Mets in Their 8,020th Game

Congratulations from the Right Off the Bat project to Johan Santana, the first Mets pitcher to twirl a no-hitter. Philip Gregory Humber and David Cone had pitched perfect games for other teams. Former Mets stars Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, and … Continue reading

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Baseball (Cards) on Memorial Day

We have recently blogged on violence in cricket and baseball. In Right Off the Bat (page 47 ff.) Martin and I discuss the early 1930s-conceived strategy of “Bodyline,” whereby the batsman almost literally has to be on his toes. The … Continue reading

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Chris versus Shiv: Round Two

Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle: Box Office Boffo

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A Half-century Later: Mickey Mantle Blast

May 22, 1963, Yankee Stadium (the original of course), a night game, batting left-handed, switch-hitter Mickey Mantle almost bombs a home run clear out of the park. In subsequent interviews, Mantle considered this the hardest he ever hit a baseball. (He … Continue reading

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Weird Game

The Baltimore Orioles bested the Boston Red Sox today in Fenway Park. How weird was this game? It took more than six hours to complete. Orioles designated hitter Chris Davis went 0 for 8. Then, he was summoned to pitch! … Continue reading

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He Jests at Scars that Never Felt a Wound

New York Mets prospect Philip Gregory Humber (not Humbert Humbert or “from Humber,” either), who had a cup of coffee with his drafting-team in 2006 and 2007 before going to the Minnesota Twins in the Johan Santana deal, has pitched … Continue reading

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Thank you, Jackie Robinson

Major League Baseball reached a long-overdue milestone sixty-five years ago today when Jackie Robinson took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers. All major-league players wear JR’s number 42 this day to honor the individual who changed everything. I (Evander) can’t … Continue reading

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Ode to John Keats, Cricketer

Today is 193 years since John Keats was struck and injured by a cricket ball. Although I (Evander) am no writer of odes—and being twenty-four hours past Saint Patrick’s Day—permit me to celebrate (poorly) the event via “County Limerick”: There … Continue reading

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Manny and Ryan

“Don’t do the crime / If you can’t do the time.” The catchphrase may have its beginnings with Robert Blake—who knows something about both, and with some changes sneaks into Bob Dylan’s “Heart of Mine.” More to the point, I … Continue reading

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Gary Carter, Whitney Houston, Many Events

The past several days have witnessed a convergence of many events, unrelated perhaps, but like all things juxtaposed by fate, each gives to the other a different and new meaning. There were the untimely deaths of only the third New … Continue reading

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