Category: Baseball Musings
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April 27, 2006: MVP! MVP!
“Tonight, Alex Rodriguez will be handed his 2006 Most Valuable Player Award in a pre-game ceremony. He was previously the first MVP to ever be traded during his reign. The words “best player in the game” can be placed in a sentence with his name without hyperbole or exaggeration. So why is he still in…
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March 23, 2006: Big Man (Giambi & PEDs)
“A new book came out today that details steroid abuse in baseball and which singles out three players in particular, Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield, and Jason Giambi. Can you guess which of the three has admitted what he did…?”
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December 20 2005: Yellow Doze of Texas
They say everything is bigger in Texas. Texas definitely has a thing about bigness, and when you go there, that size-ism is on display everywhere. The last time I visited Texas I discovered just how different the scale is there. A typical sight: an American flag flies over a car dealership, just like they do…
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October 27 2005: Passed Ball (World Series wrap)
Well, it’s over. Really over. Last night, the White Sox poured champagne over one another’s heads, in the time-honored ritual that crowns a champion and ends the baseball season. It makes me sad. Not the White Sox, who played inspired baseball, who did it with pitching and magical, timely home runs. I’m happy for them….
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October 12 2005: Common Enemies
Well, baseball season is over. Oh, I know the Cardinals and the White Sox and people like that are still playing. But the Red Sox are out of it, and the Yankees are out of it, and call me a chauvinist, but this means that baseball has gone from a gripping must-see drama to a…
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Bambino Road: Day Eight
Day Eight (and a bit of Nine): March 13, 2003 The final historical ballpark on my itinerary was Orlando’s Tinker Field. Once upon a time Tinker Field was a standalone facility, but now it is part of a multi-venue complex in Orlando that includes the Florida Citrus Bowl and a music hall. While researching the…
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Bambino Road: Day Seven
Day Seven: March 11, 2003 I’ve been wanting to visit the Ted Williams Museum for years. In 2000, when I came to Spring Training for the first time, I had heard about the museum, but didn’t quite figure out where it was. On that trip, we didn’t have time, having packed our trip with games…
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Traveling the Bambino Road: Day Six
Day Six: March 11, 2003 There was only one stop on today’s itinerary: McKethan Stadium at the University of Florida in Gainesville. What is the Ruth/Yankees connection here? George Steinbrenner gave the money for the light towers at McKethan Stadium. Also, when Ruth was with the Red Sox, they played the Giants in an exhibition…