David HK

I love these, Seth. Great blasts from the past with names that still stick in the memory, even though I can't remember lunch... Heh... Steve Braun- he was just one of those "professional hitters." Always ready with the stick, and an awesome pinch hitter too. He was the 70s version of Randy Bush in the next decade. Never really a full-time role, but a most-time role, and a heck of a bat off the bench. And I, too, gotta go with Disco Dan in the OF.

Heh... TK always had a bit of a thing for Portugal. I always liked the guy, but he was a young Cali dude, and I'm sure he got under TK's skin just by being himself. I was sad to see him get traded away for the proverbial bag o' balls, and he went on to have some good years in the NL.

I'm old school, so gotta go with Hoyt and Wilbur. Geez, the longevity of those guys. In my 40's I had moved from Chicago to LA, and lived across from a high school where I saw a bunch of similar vintage dudes playing ball. I went over and soon joined up with one of the over 40 leagues there. Went to the cage, tuned up on the hitting- and by golly, I got some of the old stroke back- or so I thought. There were a couple of exhibition-type games before the season started, and I was stinging the ball. The mgr batted me leadoff in the first game. On the mound was this fireplug of an old guy, probably pushing 60 at the point, who threw a knuckler. The other guys were saying that he was a nightmare to hit, and I had never faced one before, but thought, what's the big deal? Never even came close to touching the ball in 5 trips. Never saw the top half of the batting order again, either...

Ahh, Seth, you've done it again. Thanks for this awesome rundown. These are the names and faces from my Elementary School days, the heroes who populated my baseball card collection, and whose exploits I'd fall asleep to with the transistor under my pillow with those night games coming in from the coast. What I'd give right now to fall into a sound, innocent sleep, with the crackle of static and the day's closing grain prices in between the innings where images of my childhood idols danced in my head...

I concur. Doctor, do you concur?

Thanks for this, Matthew.

Heh... Klawitter- Wisconsin boy. I remember Billy Gardner saying that when he wanted him to come into the game, he'd look toward the bullpen and raise his hand like a claw...

Sweet. Thanks, Tommy.

Who usually won?

Mid-May is a starting point. We all have to play it completely by ear. This is going to be a slow walk back to normal, and who knows what the new normal will be right now. Here in Hong Kong, schools were shut down right after Chinese New Year. At first, it was for 2 weeks. Then 4. Now it's April 20, but they way it looks right now, that date is precarious, too. Sports and other official gatherings have gone down, too. The biggest events of the year so far, the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, HK Marathon, major international conventions such as the Jewelry show and Flower show, the International Film Festival and Art Basel have all been cancelled. The only fortunate part of this is having gone through SARS in 2003, people here are already versed in what to do to get through. However, in the early days, before the spread broke out of Wuhan, people still adhered to Chinese New Year traditions, and that caused several clusters of infection from handfuls of large family dinners and gatherings. They passed the virus to one another in family or co-worker holiday events. Once that was learned, that behavior immediately changed. I've just begun to see people walking the streets here and there sans masks very recently, but many shops have signs that ask you not to enter without one, and it's still a mark of social responsibility and awareness to do so. Day by day, we march on slowly. And it's all we can do right now. I miss the hell out of baseball right now; it's a lifeline home for me here. But this is uncharted territory. I can't tell you how much it shakes me from over here when I see pundits and pols and others saying "go out, have fun, don't worry." My God, haven't they been paying attention? This is the way it happened here, and the way it spread across the globe so rapidly. People are sick and don't know it yet, and infect others around them by just being obstinate or wholly ignorant. It's not just older people, either. You can't know whom in your social circle might be immuno-compromised. It's a death sentence for someone like me, 60 years old, with chronic asthma. And for those who are compromised, it's a horrible death, like a slow-motion drowning. Even many of those who recover do so with greatly diminished lung capacity, for the rest of their lives. Please be smart, be safe, everyone, and take care of those around you. See you on the other side of this.

I taped Ken Burns' Baseball series long ago. The turned my VHS copies into Dvd. It's not the greatest pixel-wise, but so much of that stuff is old photos and film anyway, I just pretend it's from the old days. About time to crank up Inning 1 again!

Heh... It reminded me of the Chiefs' fashion show from Slap Shot. https://www.google.com/search?q=slapshot+fashion+show&oq=slap+shoy+fashion+show&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l3.16653j0j7&client=ms-android-samsung-gj-rev1&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#

Sorry, there is not little to worry about. So maybe if you fall out of the range of the critical danger zones age or health-wise, you are still in contact with many other people in your daily life who aren't. This is where the greatest spread has been where I am in Hong Kong- family or business gatherings. It is far better to over-react at this critical time, than minimize the danger. It's colleagues, parents, grandparents, anyone in your social circle. You did qualify your response, but please, there is no one who has no reason to worry, and to not be protective and proactive.

Think I'm gonna call him "Laser Larnach." You know, kind of like Razor Ruddock.

Those Phils' announcers were duly impressed by his play. Man, they were a pleasure to listen to, as I caught some of the game on replay. Much more than the usual 'homers,' they really did gush about Lewis, but they also had interesting things to say about the relative unknowns on the Twinks as well as their own boys. Nice. The Cards guys earlier in the week were very good, too. But whoa, whoever was on the Braves feed last week- they sucked.

Jordy Blaze- Gotta love that nickname.

Wow. That was a very interesting read. A-Rod will be forever known as a cheater, as will the Astro* players of that era, and deservedly so. But if you read his actual words, instead of just the headline (cheater talks about cheaters), there's a lesson that should have been followed by those involved in this scandal. Nobody can stand the half-baked non-apologies that come from sport stars, celebs, and pols when they get caught. (My all-time Hall of Shame: "It's not who I am.") But what A-Rod said and did ring clear. The most important word he used: "I." I did it... I deserved it... I owned it... And he actually did make a clear, heartfelt apology for his own actions. Would he have done so without getting caught? Most likely not. But there it is. If there had been actual, meaningful punishment from MLB, if there had been words like these coming from the Astros*, from their gutless, childish owner on down to the actual perpetrators, I don't think we'd even be talking about consequences like getting hit. These guys not only cheated in the most despicable fashion, they didn't get punished, and they didn't even apologize. What signal does that send? It's like fighting in hockey. Yeh, there are still guys who make their way to the NHL that way, but what a lot of it comes from is guys getting cheap shots that the officials don't deal with, and taking matters into their own hands, so it doesn't keep happening. Yep, it's a cheater, talking about cheaters. But the words are important.

"...what I think was LaVelle..." Omg... Hm. Hard to argue with 30% off, tho...

I've been following this kid for the last couple years. Agree with Ace, he has the best baseball name since Willie Mays Hayes, and a heck of a good head on his shoulders, too. He sounds so optimistic and hard-working, and I have high hopes for him! Hey, has he been adopt-a-prospected yet?

This was really interesting. Didn't know all of that data before. Good stuff! Sometimes, though, it's not just an individual pitcher, but how he fits into a rotation that makes him (and the team) more effective over the long haul, and within a 3 or 4 game series- imagine your opponent facing the off-speed, spinny, side-winding Smeltzer one day, followed the next day by a flame-throwing righty like Brusdar Grat.... oh, never mind.

I would like to add a #12: jersey depth- or maybe breadth. According to the photo atop this article, I'm glad to see Blankenhorn joining the ranks of such icons as Doug Mientiewicz and Paul Thormodsgard as having names that wrap around the entire back of the jersey. I'm almost glad we traded away guys like Hu and Gil now.

We were whelmed. I can't for the life of me remember the coach, (may have been George Wilson of the Lions long ago), whose quote at the end of a mediocre season (5-8-1) went something like this: "We overwhelmed 5 opponents, underwhelmed 8, and whelmed 1."

This is very encouraging- and even moreso since Jose seems to agree with the process. Much has been written about his incredible workout regimen, but you've gotta get a clue if you're working out that hard in the offseason, and during the season, and you fade badly towards the end. I'll be looking forward to seeing how the results pan out.