Kuzul

Playing Rough Something you hear a lot about from fans is the lack of an "old-school" mentality in the modern game of baseball.While many of the proponents of the so-called "old-school" are too young to know anything about it, there is some truth to the idea that the game was more hard-nosed in days gone by. Whether this is a good or bad thing is open to debate (that's what we're here for, after all). With injury concerns and millions of dollars at stake, with careers and long-term health on the line, we have seen less and less of the violent action that, in our sepia-toned memories, once punctuated the game with much greater frequency. Collisions at Home Plate Recently, the focal point of these debates has been collisions at home plate.Talented young catcher Buster Posey broke his leg blocking the plate and missed all but a few weeks of ...

If you want to know why the hobgoblins of 1989’s Field of Dreams refused to allow Ty Cobb to play ball on their ghostly field, you have only to re-watch the classic 1994 movie Cobb, starring the inimitable Tommy Lee Jones. Alas, one was the lovely, tear-jerking movie that men loved to bawl about. The other was an antidote to sugarcoated cotton candy about life and death that Field of Dreams provided. Cobb set many records as a player. In the film written and directed by Ron Shelton and based on Al Stump’s famous biography of the baseball anti-hero, Cobb manages to set a yardstick of records that cannot be touched by “the children who play baseball nowadays,” as Cobb states in the movie. If you are ready to throw Barry Bonds to Michael Vick’s dogs, you ought to consider Cobb. Why hasn’t Pete Rose invoked the name? He may ...

With the 2010 season ending for the New York Yankees after Friday night's Game 6 loss to the Texas Rangers in the ALCS, the focus has quickly shifted to the off season and what moves the Bombers will make in order to win a 28th World Series championship in 2011. One of the pressing items on the Yankees' to-do list this winter is to re-sign captain and soon-to-be free agent Derek Jeter. It has been reported that Jeter may be seeking a seven-year contract that will keep him playing baseball until the age of 43, which may put him in a position to break Pete Rose's all-time hits record. In a recent article for ESPNNewYork.com, Ian O'Connor wrote: "In statements he's made in recent years to Yankee executive Gene Michael and to his own personal trainer, Jason Riley, Jeter has indicated he wants to play until he's about 43. He has also indicated a willingness to change positions, ...

Last night, after I put my son to bed I sat down on my couch with a beer and my dog and began watching The Tenth Inning, the sequel to Ken Burns's Baseball.A quick review is that the documentary is fantastic, and if you haven't seen it yet, find out what channel you're local PBS is on and check it out. There was a lovely segment on my Red Sox finally winning the World Series (after 88 years) in 2004, but the segment that really caught my attention was on Barry Bonds'  chase of Hammerin' Hank Aaron's career home run record. We all now know about baseball's dirty little secret, the Steroid Era, and we know who most of the culprits were. But of course, during the early days of the witch hunt, there was really only one name in baseball synonymous with steroids, and that was Barry Bonds. Like I've said, ...

One of the reasons, if not the reason, I got into baseball writing was to challenge conventional wisdom. Challenging conventional wisdom is what we learned from Bill James and from Billy Beane, and it is the reason we tend to speak unfavorably of Joe Morgan.Since moving to Philadelphia, one bit of local conventional wisdom I have been quick to challenge has been the notion that Ryan Howard is one of the greatest run producers of all time. This hasn't made me incredibly popular amongst my local readers and fellow writers (Jamie Ambler?), but it is a notion to which I have never warmed. Are You Saying Ryan Howard isn't a Good RBI Guy?There can be no doubt in that during the last five baseball seasons, Ryan Howard has established himself as one of the premier RBI men in Major League Baseball. Howard has led the National League in RBI in three of the ...

Baseball is an absurd game. And I think that’s why we love it. I was reminded of this when I happened across The Sandlot as I was skimming through channels the other day. In an odd sort of bummer, I tuned in at the very end, just after the gang has finally defeated Hercules and Smalls and Benny have their meet and greet with James Earl Jones. Alas, I had missed out on all the fun stuff. The good news is that I was in time for the money shot. Now, a proper way to conclude the film would have involved Smalls being mercifully beaten by Dennis Leary for stealing his Babe Ruth ball – a warning to all kids who would dare to recreate Smalls’ tomfoolery. But no. Instead, we get a classically cathartic Hollywood ending. It turns out that Benny and Smalls have both found careers in baseball: Benny as a ...

Imagine you are responsible to select an all-time starting rotation for the Detroit Tigers.  The pitchers you pick will form the Tigers all-time team and compete against the best of their competition. Who would you select?  To whom would you give the ball to face off against Walter Johnson, Lefty Grove, Whitey Ford, Jim Palmer, and Roger Clemens?  Who would be your backup pitchers and relievers as well? The guidelines are simple: You may select pitchers from any era since the inception of the team in 1901.  Starting pitchers must have reached 1,000 innings for the Tigers, and relievers must have appeared in 250 games to be eligible for your team. The Early Years: 1901-1945 The Tigers were one of eight charter teams in the American League.  Detroit had baseball before the Tigers got their start.  The Detroit Wolverines were a part of the National League from ...