Big time NHL Hockey fans spend a lot of time talking about the league's original six teams. Though the fact that the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadians have this distinction, only the Canadians were around in 1909. The origins of the earliest MLB teams are traced back to the late 1800s, where there are eight National League teams that are still around now. I dropped it to seven because the Brooklyn franchise (now the Los Angeles Dodgers) franchise came into fruition the latest, in 1884. With competitive leagues like the American Association losing their "major league" title, it meant the end to franchises that had runs prior to the turn of the 20th century. The American League started in 1901, with several of the teams still existing today. In the NL, cities like Louisville, Baltimore, Cleveland and Washington had teams that were...
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Pittsburgh Pirates
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MLB’s (NL) original seven
May 21, 2013 Big time NHL Hockey fans spend a lot of time talking about the league’s original six teams. Though the fact t...
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Baseball Power Report: Week 5
May 6, 2013A month is in the books so here is my early May Power Report. For each...
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a lot of Baseball Craziness on Tuesday Night
May 1, 2013Last night may be one of the nuttiest baseball days I can ever remembe...
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Recapping the Cubs/ Phillies 23-22 game of 1979
One of the most offensively intensive games, maybe in all of MLB history, involved the Cubs and Phillies in Wrigley on May 17, 1979. MLB Network ranked this game #20 on the list of 20 greatest games of the last 50 years in 2010. Though I was not born yet (game happened less than five months before I was born), so much happened in this game to not recap.
Just a reminder of where the baseball world was at that time. The two time defending World Series Champions were the New York Yankees, who had beat the Los Angeles Dodgers for the second straight season. The Yankees would suffer a big loss this season as their captain, Thurman Munson, would die in a plane crash in August of this year. The Pittsburgh Pirates would defeat the Baltimore Orioles in this season's fall... Benny Distefano and the history of left handed throwing catchers
In 1989, Benny Distefano, an outfielder/ 1B for the Pittsburgh Pirates, appeared behind the plate as a catcher. It would not have been such a strange occurance, but for the fact that Benny threw with his left hand. OF Pete Gray played missing an arm and Jim Abbott played without a hand, but nothing seems weirder than a left hand throwing catcher. In fact, that had only been done a few times prior. In addition to Distefano's three games there, 1B Mike Squires had done so for the White Sox in 1980, 9 years before Benny did. Prior to that Dale Long had done so for the 1958 Chicago Cubs.
While it is something that may never be seen again, it has been done a number of times by a number of different catchers. The following link shows every left hand throwing catcher... Baseball Power Report: Week 5
A month is in the books so here is my early May Power Report. For each team I have a ranking and a few interesting stats/observations. Enjoy it, because it took a lot of work!
(I do these once a month and prefer little movement. When some "expert" moves a team up 6 spots and then down 5 spots a week later, that says more about the "expert" than the team. That's why some teams with worse records have better rank than "surprise" teams I expect to dip soon.)
30. Astros. Lost 10 out of 11 and outscored by 24 runs the last two. The 198 runs they’ve allowed is 34 more than the next team. On pace for 41-121 record. They’ve also racked up an impressive 323 strikeouts, which will shatter the all time record. Philip Humber not only has the highest ERA but also the lowest run support; that’s how you go 0-7. There’s no question...
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a lot of Baseball Craziness on Tuesday Night
Last night may be one of the nuttiest baseball days I can ever remember! Here are the highlights:
Rough day for relief pitchers...
- Mets' Jeremy Hefner pitches 8.1 shutout innings, leaves leading 1-0 with a man on third. His reliever Brandon Lyon gives up a single for a run, then the Marlins walk-off with a wild pitch.
- Trevor Cahill of the Diamondbacks also pitched a shutout into the ninth inning. After he was removed (after throwing just 88 pitches), J.J. Putz gave up a two-run homer to lose the game 2-1.
So two starting pitchers were removed in the ninth inning leading 1-0 and both teams lost.
- Poor Robin Ventura, all he needs is a reliever he can count on. He brought in a new White Sox pitcher for the sixth inning in a tie game. The pitcher walked a batter and was taken out. The new pitcher gave up a double to his only batter and was removed. The...
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baseball Stats n’ Facts: Week 4
If you saw my previous article written earlier today, you know that the Red Sox have the best record in baseball. After one month, the Red Sox, Royals and Pirates are all alone in first place, and after Colorado lost two to Arizona this weekend, the Rockies and Diamondbacks are now tied for the division lead. Take that for what it's worth, we've seen it before.
With that in mind, here are some notes from the last week of this great baseball season.
- As mentioned in my Red Sox article, Boston is 14-0 in games that Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, and Felix Doubront pitch.
- Boston's schedule through May 30 includes 27 games against the Twins, Blue Jays, White Sox, Indians, Rays and Phillies.
- Red Sox hit 29 doubles in seven games last week (ten more than anyone else).
- After a slow start, the Pittsburgh Pirates are 11-4 against the Cardinals, Reds, Braves and D-Backs.
- The Pirates' pitching staff, statistically...
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The Phils drops their third straight game to the Pirates as they lose 6-4.
The Phils’ pitching staff has another late inning meltdown as the team loses their third straight game to the Pirates, 6-4.
The Phils took the lead in the bottom of the fourth as, with one man on, and with two men out, Dom Brown hits an RBI double, knocking in Chase Utley, who had started the inning off with a walk, giving the Phils a 1-0 lead. The Pirates tied the game up at one-all in the top of the sixth as Gaby Sanchez hits a lead-off home run, his third home run of the year. The Phils retook the lead in their half of the sixth as, with two men on, and with nobody out, Ryan Howard hits an RBI single, knocking in Kevin Frandsen, who had started the inning off with a walk, then went to third on Utley’s single, giving the Phils a 2-1... The Phils’ bullpen let one get away, wasting a good start by Roy Halladay, as the Phils fall to the Pirates, 5-3.
Roy Halladay’s third straight strong start is wasted by the bullpen as the Phils lose late to the Pirates, 5-3.
The Phils took the lead in the bottom of the first as, with one man out, Chase Utley hits a solo home run, his fourth home run of the season, giving the Phils a 1-0 lead. The Pirates tied the game up at one-all in the top of the fourth as, with two men on, and with two men out, Pedro Alvarez hits an RBI single, scoring Garrett Jones, who had earlier walked, then moved up to second base when Neil Walker was hit by the pitch, while sending Walker, who had just been hit by a pitch, up to second base. The Phils retook the lead in their half of the fourth as, with one man out, Ryan Howard hits a solo home run, his... The Phils’ offense wasted Cole Hamels’ third straight quality start as the Phils are shutout by the Bucos, losing 2-0.
The Phils’ offense wasted yet another good performance by Cole Hamels as they dropped one to the Pirates, 2-0.
The Pirates broke up a 0-0 pitchers’ due in the top of the fourth as, with a runner on first, and with nobody out, Brandon Inge hits an RBI double, knocking in Neil Walker, who had started the inning off with a single, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead. The Pirates would add an insurance run in the top of the eighth as, with one man out, Gaby Sanchez hits a solo home run, his second home run of the year. That would be all the runs that the Pirates needed as Jason Grilli collected his eighth save of the season as he threw a 1-2-3 ninth.
Cole Hamels (0-3, 5.40) took the lost as he pitched eight strong innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and... The Phils increased their winning streak to two games as they hold on to defeat the Pirates, 3-2.
The Phils’ offense supported rookie starter Jonathan Pettibone’s major league debut by scoring enough runs to defeat the Bucos, 3-2.
The Pirates took the lead in the top of the second as, with one man out, Pedro Alvarez hits a solo home run, his third home run of the season, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead. The Phils would come back to tie the game up at one-all in the bottom of the third as, with runners on the corners, and with one man out, Jonathan Pettibone, who had started the inning off with a walk, moved up to second base on Jimmy Rollin’s single, and then stopped at third base on John Mayberry, Jr.’s force out, 6-4, as Rollins is wiped out at second base for the inning’s first out, would score on A.J. Burnett’s wild pitch, while Mayberry, who had been safe at first on...