Let me make it clear that I don’t want to discuss in any way the political ramifications of today’s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Barack Obama. However, there’s a sports angle here. She played a major role in the end of the most disastrous work stoppage in the [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Baseball’
World Series games to start earlier
One of my sports pet peeves has been the starting time and length of postseason baseball games, particularly the World Series. It has always been baseball’s showcase event and, in those olden days when games were played on weekday afternoons, kids of all ages and the young-at-heart would skip work or school, or sneak a [...]
MLB Network clown apologizes
Last year, one or two of you may recall, I watched and reviewed for this blog a broadcast of every major league baseball team as well as ESPN, TBS and Fox. Generally, I was (and continue to be) disdainful of the “new-school” announcers who are too busy being clever and cracking one-liners instead of concentrating [...]
Little League to pay fine for Nats’ outfielder
Is it my imagination or am I writing more items lately about the Washington Nationals than the Phillies, the team I care about more than any other (and the defending World Series Champions)? What can I say? The odd tales that are coming out of DC just seem to intrigue me more.
The latest involves outfielder [...]
The Voice of the Phillies is silent
At right is a picture of me (wearing the Outsports cap) with Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas, taken at the Phillies Phestival charity event in 2003. The impression I came away with from that brief meeting was that, besides being such a terrific play-by-play announcer, he was truly a gentleman in every sense of the word.
Phillies [...]
Nats want park filled — by Phillies fans
I thought it was a bit odd when, while logged onto my Facebook page a few minutes ago, I noticed an ad that said something like “Phils-Nats in DC, deals on tickets and parking for April 13, 15, 16.” Now I see why: earlier in the day, Washington Nationals president Stan Kasten appeared on the [...]
New York’s saviors, Day 1
For baseball fans, every Opening Day brings a sense of optimism, an expectation that this will be the year that our team comes through. “Every team’s tied for first right now,” we say, “We all have 0-0 records.” Even fans of teams in small markets, teams that can’t (or won’t) spend money on free agents [...]
Baseball 2009: NL preview
Having already explained away the American League, now let’s look at the National League. In the interest of trying to provide some drama to what many will likely find to be a very obvious conclusion on my part…ummm, I mean, because I’m feeling whimsical, I’ve reversed the order. I’m starting with the West, and going [...]
Baseball 2009: AL preview
On Sunday night the 2009 Major League Baseball season officially begins, in the ballpark where the 2008 season ended. But I’ll discuss the defending World Series Champions later. For now, let’s look at the American League. I make no promises about the quality or accuracy of these predictions.
AL EAST
1. Tampa Bay Rays: I assume the [...]
Nats look like J-Lo now, says Tavarez
Back in April 2001, then-Cubs pitcher Julian Tavarez ripped San Francisco fans who booed him in a game by saying, “Why should I care about the fans? They’re a bunch of assholes and faggots here.” The next day he apologized, but he still rated 2.5 out of 5 Rockers on the Outsports Anti-Gay List (the [...]
Bob Costas leaves HBO for MLB
Like a new baseball team trying to make a splash with a big free-agent signing, the new MLB Network has added Bob Costas to its on-air roster. Costas has signed a cable-exclusive deal with the network, which made its debut on January 1. This means Costas he will no longer appear on HBO (or CNN, [...]
Series: good for me, bad for Fox
The Phillies are one win away from the second World Series championship in their history, and the first championship for any Philadelphia team in the four major pro sports in 25 years. The anticipation of what might happen as soon as tomorrow night is already pounding my brain.
This is bad news for Fox, however. The [...]
Phils, Rays spoil the media’s Manny party
Do you ever wonder how much thought goes into the predictions made by members of the media? This year, when it came to baseball’s League Championship Series, it certainly made me wonder.
The Philadelphia Phillies won the NL East with a 92-70 record, while the Los Angeles Dodgers finished with 84 wins in taking the mediocre [...]
TBS chokes in the clutch
Anxious as I am to find out who will be the Phillies’ opponent in the World Series, I tuned into TBS at 8:07 pm, just in time for the scheduled first pitch of the game, only to find an episode of The Steve Harvey Show. The game must be in a rain delay, I thought, [...]
Dodger fans: nasty and off the bandwagon
StubHub, the offical scalper of Major League Baseball, reported that prices plummeted for Game 5 of the Phillies-Dodgers NL Championship Series at Dodger Stadium, thanks to the Dodgers’ falling behind 3-1 in the series. As of a few hours before game time the average price of a ticket had fallen to $89 with some tickets [...]
