Inside the Majors
A look at news and trends in the Big Leagues
May 12, 2011 at 12:00 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Contrary to popular belief, keeping up with baseball can mean year-round enjoyment for you and your family. There’s usually something related to the sport going on, whether in the Major Leagues, the minor leagues, a college baseball team, or the College World Series. People can always tune in to sports channels from providers like http://www.direct.tv to get the information they need, but here’s a brief introduction to some of the different faces of this great American past-time.
Major League Baseball
When spring training begins, baseball information flows. Who reported and who didn’t, any hold-outs or injuries, the projection for your team this season, and reports about rookies. Major League news abounds all season, as well as into the post-season, the off-season, and the draft.
College Baseball
Maybe it’s your alma mater, or maybe it’s the college one of your children wants to attend; whatever the reason, the Collegiate World Series captures most baseball fans’ attention. The double-elimination playoffs and championship series creates mealtime conversation for many devoted college fans.
Backyard Baseball
Watching baseball and cheering for your favorite teams is fun, but it’s also a blast to get out and run the bases yourself. Whether you’re playing with friends, family, or as part of a league, baseball is a great way to get exercise and get a feel for what goes on in the minds of your favorite athletes. When it’s time to relax, just turn on your satellite TV service to catch up on the latest baseball news.
September 12, 2011 at 12:00 am · Filed under Uncategorized
July is almost over and your fantasy baseball team may need a few tweaks for the big push. However, making those changes always seems like a risky gamble. So how do you know what changes to make? To make things simple let’s look at some offensive and pitching areas that can improve your team.
Offensively, the biggest issues revolve around hot bats and contenders. Scour the waiver wire and find players who are riding hitting streaks or hitting consistently. If the player Read the rest of this entry »
August 28, 2011 at 12:00 am · Filed under Uncategorized
The game of baseball may look the same as it did in the past, but the players of today are much better prepared than the players of yesteryear. These days the players subject themselves to rigorous off-season workouts and dietary plans that were unheard of in years past. The scouting of today is also vastly superior to the past. There are people on the payroll of teams whose only job is to watch tape and look for weaknesses of opposing players.
With the addition of sophisticated computer equipment, players can actually see when a pitch breaks and precisely Read the rest of this entry »
August 11, 2011 at 12:00 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Gone are the days of Johnny Bench and Carlton Fisk calling great games from behind the plate while getting on base and driving in game winning runs. It seems the do-it-all catcher has gone the way of the dinosaur. It is a very important position on the baseball diamond. Catcher is probably the second most important position besides pitcher. The catcher is important because they basically help run the entire defensive phase of the game for the team while the other team is up to bat. They help decide Read the rest of this entry »
December 7, 2010 at 12:00 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Another season in the books, and quite a spectacular one for all you San Francisco Giants fans out there, but for the other 29 teams out there, it’s already time to start rebooting for 2011. Though spring training is still a few cold months away and 2010 exploits are fairly fresh in the memory, December marks the summit of who’s who in baseball and baseball fans. More casual fans out there might be asking, what goes on at winter meetings? By now you’ve probably at least heard the term on ESPN or some other sports broadcast Picture 3,000 people descending on Orlando, Florida, (the site varies by year), consisting of representatives from all 30 franchises, from head honcho decision makers to minor league affiliates, not to mention several international guests, and professionals spanning all aspects of America’s pastime. Read the rest of this entry »
September 24, 2010 at 9:39 pm · Filed under Atlanta Braves, NL East, NL West, Wild Card
As the Braves come off a three game chunker at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies in what was the next to last time the two teams will square off in the regular season, Atlanta now officially joins the heated National League Wild Card race alongside the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres and the Colorado Rockies. Sitting 6 games out of pennant position in the NL East, the Wild Card represents the Braves last chance at returning to the post-season this year, in what is manager Bobby Cox’s final tour of duty before heading off into baseball history. Of the three NL West teams, at least one is assured a playoff spot as division winner, though there certainly isn’t room for all three as in a best case scenario, at least one team in their time zone would join the Braves on the golf course (or anywhere else besides the baseball diamond) in October. Read the rest of this entry »
July 16, 2010 at 2:58 pm · Filed under 2012 All-Star Game, MLB, Red Sox
With the announcement of the latest location for Major League Baseball’s Mid-summer Classic, a lot of the country’s bigger cities and historic stadiums are openly questioning the commissioner’s decision. The 2012 All-Star Game will be played in Kansas City, Missouri, home of the one of the league’s most consistent teams. Year in and year out the Royal’s are among the most predictable teams in baseball, setting the City of Fountains abuzz with a few mid-level acquisitions before tanking to the bottom of the AL Central a few weeks into the season. Read the rest of this entry »
July 1, 2010 at 7:12 pm · Filed under Tampa Bay Rays
Were you to up and ask any baseball manager what’s wrong with Tampa Bay’s team, you’d be swiftly greeted with a perplexing and a choice-word evaluation of your own baseball assessing talents. By many accounts, the Rays sport one of the most complete line-ups in baseball, featuring a rare top to bottom combination of speed and power. Complete with a spry selection of still-developing young players bolstered by the experience of savvy veterans, Tampa Bay really knows how to fill up a stat sheet even the Sabremetrics guys won’t scoff at, including the most important statistic: winning percentage. Close behind the Yankees atop the ever competitive AL East, Tampa is off to a very solid 45-32 start. So what then would dare cause anyone to assume the Rays have anything wrong at all?Delving deeper into the matter, this amateur diagnoses concludes the Rays currently suffer from what, for lack of an official medical term, we can only refer to as “Happy Gilmore Putting Syndrome.” Stuart Sternberg, the team’s principle owner, is probably just one more lethargic home-stand short of screaming, “That’s your home! Are you too good for your home?!” Tampa Bay has compiled an untouchable 25-13 road mark, tops in the bigs. While it is reassuring to know your team is resilient enough to win in unfriendly confines, the flip side of this impressive stat is their alarmingly average 20-19 home total. Looking up and down the standings, the Blue Jays, Athletics, Mariners and Nationals all boast better home records, and that’s just teams playing.500 baseball or worse. Read the rest of this entry »
June 17, 2010 at 5:17 pm · Filed under MLB, Stephen Strasburg, Uncategorized, baseball prospects
Ninety-four pitches is all it took for Stephen Strasburg to turn in one of the most high pressure pitching debuts in the history of Major League Baseball. Strasburg missed Pittsburgh bats left and right fanning 14 batters in just 7 innings on his way to his first career win. Even more impressive, he seemed to heat up as the game carried on, striking out the last 6 batters he faced. Perhaps equally encouraging for Washington fans, and almost unheard of for a first time pitcher, was the zero walks issued by Strasburg. A lone 2 run homer by Delwyn Young was the lone blemish on what would’ve been a clean sheet, but the young fellow responded with the poise of veteran, retiring the next 10 players to step to the plate.So, now a few weeks into his career, how great was his opening act and how bright is Strasburg’s future? Read the rest of this entry »
June 8, 2010 at 3:01 pm · Filed under MLB, baseball prospects
Amidoil spills, natural disasters and turmoil abroad, we are quickly approaching a day in our nation’s capital when the eyes and attention of both left and right leaning voters will lie on the right arm of a 21-year-old kid. Stephen Strasburg is no prophet with answers to the world’s most pressing issues, but is viewed by many scouts and GM’s as a baseball messiah of sorts, sent from his heavenly hometown of sunny San Diego to resurrect a Washington Nationals team that has been mostly lifeless since their days of exile in Montreal. Strasburg has flown through the Nationals minor league system with a speed that usually eludes D.C.’s decision makers, making only brief pit stops in Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Syracuse before getting the called to the show. To the surprise of few and excitement of many in Washington, Strasburg was barely touched by lower league hitters, finishing his minor league career with an impressive 7-2 record , 1.30 ERA and miniscule .80 WHIP. He added 65 strikeouts to his stat sheet in only 55 and 1/3 innings of work. Read the rest of this entry »
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