BASEBALL 2017---Bring it On!!!

[EasyAce]

Now the CUBS catcher gives the Nats a gift---passed ball on a walk to Ryan Zimmerman,
Jayson Werth scoring, Bryce Harper (double) to third, 8-5, Cubs, Nats still hitting in the
bottom of the sixth . . .

[EasyAce]

Daniel Murphy whacks an RBI double, 8-6 Cubs, Nats still hitting in the bottom of the sixth . . .

[EasyAce]

Make it 9-6, Cubs, when Kyle Schwarber scored on a would-be double play the Nats
couldn't consummate, Cubs still hitting in the top of the seventh . . .

[EasyAce]

9-7, Cubs, after Bryce Harper hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the seventh . . .
score holding after Ryan Madson set the Cubs down one-two-three in the eighth . . .
Wade Davis trying to pitch a seven-out save for the Cubs . . . Nationals coming
up in the bottom of the eighth . . .

[EasyAce]

I wonder if Willson Contreras, the Cubs catcher, is setting a record for most visits to
the mound in a game . . .

[EasyAce]

It's turned from a comedy of errors into a dogfight . . . Michael A. Taylor singles home Daniel
Murphy, the Cubs hanging on with a 9-8 lead now . . . bottom of the eighth . . .

[TomSea]

I am cheering for you Washington, good series.

Lost an inning there, mind-blowing....

[EasyAce]

This may be the biggest out the Nats have given away tonight, on a night they were giving away outs
the way politicians give away promises---Jose Lobaton gets picked off first after he singles to make it
first and second and the tying run in scoring position, side retired, 9-8 Cubs going to the top of the
ninth . . .

In fairness, Lobaton's a backup catcher and didn't get to hit much in this set if at all. But he's still
a major leaguer. BIG mistake.

[EasyAce]

Nats closer Sean Doolittle carved up the Cubs in order in the top of the ninth, two
swinging strikeouts and a line out. Might have been the quickest half-inning of the
game. 9-8 Cubs, the Nats are down to their final licks . . . and they've got big men
coming up . . . Trea Turner, Jayson Werth, and Bryce Harper . . .

[EasyAce]

Down in order go the Nats in the ninth and the Cubs are headed for an NLCS
rematch with the Dodgers! 9-8 your final in Washington . . .

[Slip18]

Down in order go the Nats in the ninth and the Cubs are headed for an NLCS
rematch with the Dodgers! 9-8 your final in Washington . . .

@EasyAce
@Machiavelli
@Polly Ticks
@Cyber Liberty
@Bigun
 I lost my sheet of paper with all of your names on it!

Sorry for the teams who did not make it; but happy for the teams who did!  This is baseball, the game we love!  D-Backs got wiped out 3-0 to the Dodgers!

So in the off season, I received a whole lot of great books to read.  That is your fault Easy and Machiavelli!

Have either of you heard of "Sleeper Cars and Flannel Uniforms" by Elden Auker with Tom Keegan?  That will be my first book, actually I already "read" another photo book! LOL!

So next year, hopefully, I will have a little more knowledge of this fabulous game that I have been watching since I can remember!

I thank you!

[Slip18]

@DCPatriot
@musiclady
@GrouchoTex
@Cyber Liberty

Still feel as I am missing someone!

I just opened another book.

It is called "The Pursuit of Perfection Ted Williams,"  by Jim Prime and Bill Nowlin.

Inside the book were two "bonuses." One is a DVD of said book, and the other is an unopened card that is made by Upper Deck.  It has 20th Anniversary Hobby Preview, 1988 and 2008 on it.  Never been opened, and probably never will be opened.

Books can be surprising when bought at auction!

Going to have a very interesting off season!

 

[EasyAce]

Have either of you heard of "Sleeper Cars and Flannel Uniforms" by Elden Auker with Tom Keegan?  That will be my first book, actually I already "read" another photo book! LOL!

@Slip18
I have that book. Read it when it first came out. Wait till you come to the hilarious story of
how his maid misunderstood his final tribute to Tiger Stadium!

Some other books you should read:

Roger Angell, Five Seasons and Game Time
Harvey Araton, Driving Mr. Yogi
Allen Barra, Clearing the Bases and Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee
Jim Bouton, Ball Four and "I Managed Good, But Boy, Did They Play Bad"
Thomas Boswell, How Life Imitates the World Series and The Heart of the Order
Jimmy Breslin, Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?
Jim Brosnan, The Long Season and Pennant Race
David Claerbaut, Durocher's Cubs: The Best Team That Didn't Win
Robert W. Creamer, Stengel: His Life and Times
G.H. Fleming, The Dizziest Season
A. Bartlett Giamatti, A Great and Glorious Game
Steven Goldman, Forging Genius: The Making of Casey Stengel
Peter Golenbock, Bums
David Halberstam, October 1964 and The Teammates
John Helyar, The Lords of the Realm
Bill James, Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame and The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract
Mark Gauvreau Judge, Damn Senators
Roger Kahn, The Boys of Summer
William C. Kashatus, September Swoon
Brian Kenny, Ahead of the Curve
Ring Lardner, Lardner on Baseball
Jane Leavy, Sandy Koufax and The Last Boy
Jonathan Miller, The Bronx is Burning
Peter Morris, Catcher
Jim Murray, The Last of the Best
Jeff Pearlman, The Bad Guys Won!
Shirley Povich, All Those Mornings . . . at the Post
Joshua Prager, The Echoing Green: The Untold Story of Bobby Thomson, Ralph Branca, and the Shot Heard 'Round the World
John Rosengren, The Fight of Their Lives
Damon Runyon, Guys, Dolls, and Curveballs
Curt Smith, Voices of the Game
Red Smith, Red Smith on Baseball
Brad Snyder, Beyond the Shadow of the Senators
Michael Sokolove, Hustle: The Myth, Life, and Lies of Pete Rose and The Ticket Out: Darryl Strawberry and the Boys of Crenshaw
Mike Sowell, The Pitch That Killed
Glenn Stout, editor, Impossible Dreams: A Red Sox Collection and Top of the Heap: A Yankees Collection
Thomas Stanton, Terror in the City of Champions: Murder, Baseball, and the Secret Society that Shocked Depression-Era Detroit
Neil Sullivan, The Dodgers Move West
George F. Will, Bunts and A Nice Little Place on the North Side: Wrigley Field at 100

[Slip18]

Just, OMG! 

I have another box of books coming.  These books are in perfect condition, too! 

Here is my list, minus the two from above.  Do you think I will actually get smarter? LOL!  I have kitties running over me while I am texting, but here goes:

"56 Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number," by Kostya Kennedy.
"1951 When Giants Played the game," by Robert Keene.
"National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum 2002 Yearbook," no "by."
"Ozzie Smith, The Road to Cooperstown," by Ozzie Smith with Rob Rains (a few autographs in this one.  Forward by Whitey Herzog.
"Take Me Out To The Ballpark," an illustrated tour of baseball parks, by Josh Leventhall. (Really cool book!)
"Baseball in America," photo book.  Has the names of the photographers.
"Made to be Broken," by Allen St. John.  This one also has a DVD.

There are more Hall of Fame books, but different years. 

Then there is "The Sporting News" magazine.  It is called "The Game We Love, The Sporting News and 125 years of Baseball."  I love this: On the back is a beautiful B&W photo of Lou Gehrig dated 1931. What a smile!!!

More coming.

Cats are now clawing me for dinner!

Somehow I am going to copy your list!!!

Another book lover! LOL!

[TomSea]

They call them "Damn Yankees" for a reason, they frustrate people, the term, I don't know its origin, I could look it up, it's probably the Civil War but I think there was a broadway play made into the movie about baseball called "Damn Yankees".

Well, from what I was reading, the Yankees were the wild card team that had almost as much of a chance as the division winners...

[EasyAce]

They call them "Damn Yankees" for a reason, they frustrate people, the term, I don't know its origin, I could look it up, it's probably the Civil War but I think there was a broadway play made into the movie about baseball called "Damn Yankees".

Damn Yankees the Broadway musical-turned-musical film has its origins in a 1954 novel by
Douglass Wallop, The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant; Wallop collaborated with George
Abbott in turning the book into Damn Yankees.

In the 2000s, Mark Gauvreau Judge---the grandson of Washington Senators first baseman Joe
Judge---wrote this book:



It's a remarkable book about and around both Washington's culture of the time and the Senators'
lone World Series title in 1924.

[Slip18]

Damn Yankees the Broadway musical-turned-musical film has its origins in a 1954 novel by
Douglass Wallop, The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant; Wallop collaborated with George
Abbott in turning the book into Damn Yankees.

In the 2000s, Mark Gauvreau Judge---the grandson of Washington Senators first baseman Joe
Judge---wrote this book:



It's a remarkable book about and around both Washington's culture of the time and the Senators'
lone World Series title in 1924.

Is he related to Aaron Judge, the left fielder (?) who beat Joe DiMaggio's record?  Or am I getting this mixed up?  I know that Aaron Judge is very hot now!

[EasyAce]

Is he related to Aaron Judge, the left fielder (?) who beat Joe DiMaggio's record?  Or am I getting this mixed up?  I know that Aaron Judge is very hot now!

No known relation. He's the son of a pair of teachers who adopted him at birth; his father has no known
relation to Joe Judge, either.

[Slip18]

Thanks, Easy.  I was so off on this one.  Aaron Judge broke Mark McGwire's rookie season for home runs.

I knew he "broke" something. 

Not a relative with a name like Judge and baseball?  Now, that is interesting!

 :huh?:

[Slip18]

Thanks, Easy.  I was so off on this one.  Aaron Judge broke Mark McGwire's rookie season for home runs.

I knew he "broke" something. 

Not a relative with a name like Judge and baseball?  Now, that is interesting!

 :huh?:

Have you heard of the Elias Book of Baseball Records?  It comes out every year.  A little expensive for one year of records, but you can buy previous year's books.

I know someone broke DiMaggio's record for something this year, and it is driving me crazy.  I should write these things down when I hear them!

Just got signed COA ⚾ from Dun Sutton and another one from my old favorite, Tony Gwynn.  Tomorrow Catfish Hunter's will arrive.

@Cyber Liberty Cyber can tell you what he received.  He has two more pieces arriving tomorrow, too.  The one thing today is just awesome! But I am not giving it away.

[EasyAce]

I know someone broke DiMaggio's record for something this year, and it is driving me crazy.

Aaron Judge broke Joe DiMaggio's Yankee team record for home runs by a rookie in a single season, as well as
Mark McGwire's major league record for the same thing.

[Slip18]

Aaron Judge broke Joe DiMaggio's Yankee team record for home runs by a rookie in a single season, as well as
Mark McGwire's major league record for the same thing.

Thank you!  I owe you $20, the price for that publication!

 

[EasyAce]

Thank you!  I owe you $20, the price for that publication!

 

Nah, that one's on the house!

[TomSea]

Game 2 of this Astros Yankees series is at 3:30 PM EST tomorrow I believe. That really is not much time at all after this game. Imagine if it went into extra innings, highly unlikely now but those things do happen.  We are talking about 16 hours until the next game.

[Bigun]

Astros Win! Astros win!  ASTROS WIN AGAIN!

ALCS Astros 1 Yankees 0

[Bigun]

Astros Win! Astros win!  ASTROS WIN AGAIN!

ALCS Astros 2 Yankees 0

[Polly Ticks]

Astros Win! Astros win!  ASTROS WIN AGAIN!

ALCS Astros 2 Yankees 0

Great game from Verlander, and Altuve is amazing!

[Bigun]

Great game from Verlander, and Altuve is amazing!

MVP!

[EasyAce]

I just hope Justin Verlander wasn't burned out for this one---124 pitches.

[TomSea]

If the Astros win the series against NY; it's hard to see the NL being able to defeat them. But this has really been about pitching so we will see.

[Bigun]

I just hope Justin Verlander wasn't burned out for this one---124 pitches.

He'll be just fine.  A few years ago there would have not been anyone keeping  count and it didn't seem to make much of a difference.

[EasyAce]

He'll be just fine.  A few years ago there would have not been anyone keeping  count and it didn't seem to make much of a difference.

Hence one reason why, to name just two, Mark Prior and Kerry Wood got burned to careers on
the disabled list. Come to think of it, back in 1967-69, one wishes someone had kept an
eye on Denny McLain's work load. Put aside all his other issues (not exactly simple), and the
real reason he ended up going from right-handed-Koufax-great to burned out was what that
three-season workload did to his shoulder. His shoulder, essentially, resigned its commission.

Maybe one such game won't do much damage to Verlander, but the Astros
would still be wise to keep an eye on him until they can pitch him on his regular rest again. And
since these Yankees aren't pushovers, the Astros will very likely be handing Verlander the ball
at least once more in this set.

[Bigun]

Hence one reason why, to name just two, Mark Prior and Kerry Wood got burned to careers on
the disabled list. Maybe one such game won't do much damage to Verlander, but the Astros
would still be wise to keep an eye on him until they can pitch him on his regular rest again. And
since these Yankees aren't pushovers, the Astros will very likely be handing Verlander the ball
at least once more in this set.

Yep!  He'll get the ball again next Wednesday or Thursday if it goes that far.

And the Yanks are in far worse shape IMHO.

[GrouchoTex]

MVP!

Great performance.

[musiclady]

Seems appropriate to begin with this: Turns out Mary Tyler Moore had one hell of a great eephus pitch!
(She was also a lefthander.) Watch her hit the corner with this one, before a 2002 Twins game . . .

Watch a smiling Mary Tyler Moore throw a very cheery first pitch for the Twins in 2002

I bet she could have snuck that one past Ted Williams . . . !

I LOVE it!!!!!

wtg, Mary!!  Now that's MY kind of woman. 

[TomSea]

Daniel Webb, former White Sox pitcher killed in ATV accident:

http://www.newschannel5.com/news/former-mlb-pitcher-daniel-webb-killed-in-atv-crash-in-tennessee

Rest In Peace.

[Cyber Liberty]

Daniel Webb, former White Sox pitcher killed in ATV accident:

http://www.newschannel5.com/news/former-mlb-pitcher-daniel-webb-killed-in-atv-crash-in-tennessee

Rest In Peace.

OMG!  He was only 28! 

[Slip18]

I LOVE it!!!!!

wtg, Mary!!  Now that's MY kind of woman. 

Mary also had diabetes since childhood.  She almost lost both feet years before this outstanding pitch.  She was a fine woman!

Nice one, Easy! @EasyAce

Just got another load of books, old ones!  I have only opened one box of three.  Three of the books that I want to read at the same time are:

Lee Allen, "100 Years of Baseball";
William B. Mead, "Even The Browns"; and
Louis Kaufman, Barbara Fitgerald and Tom Sewell, "Moe Berg, Athlete, Scholar...Spy."

There were more in this box, one is "Sparky" by Sparky Anderson with Dan Ewald.

Here is a teaser on the back jacket of the 100 Years book: What outfielder made the first unassisted triple play?  Hehehe!

Do you know?

[Slip18]

OMG!  He was only 28!

@TomSea

How very sad.  May he rest in peace.

[EasyAce]

Louis Kaufman, Barbara Fitgerald and Tom Sewell, "Moe Berg, Athlete, Scholar...Spy."

@Slip18
Better:

[Slip18]

@Slip18
Better:

Hoping that will be in another box!  Fascinating story in the 30s era.  A catcher for the Indians.  Too interesting! 

Just perusing through it, Berg was on a U.S. team to Japan with Ruth, Gehrig, "Lefty" Lopez, et.al., for a game in Japan!  Berg and Ruth became great friends aboard the --italics here "Empress" / end italics -- with Connie Mack.

Who would have thunk?  I really want to read the end first as I am wont to do, but I won't.  LOL!

[Cyber Liberty]

I think your Duke Snider ball is in there somewhere with those books....

[Slip18]

I think your Duke Snider ball is in there somewhere with those books....

I needed a page marker for my book, so I used my seam ripper and cut off a little piece of the ball.  That's okay, isn't it?  I did not want to mess up the book!

 

[DCPatriot]

http://deadspin.com/john-lackey-should-be-in-jail-1819503434

John Lackey Should Be In Jail

John Ley





Before John Lackey gave up a walk-off three-run homer to Justin Turner in Game 2 of the NLCS, he treated viewers of the game to a special version of baseball hell.

Before getting his shit wrecked by Turner, Lackey threw six pitches to Chris Taylor. Due to Lackey’s seemingly compulsive inability to throw the ball to the plate in a timely manner, it took him five whole minutes to throw six pitches. Here is video of the entire sequence, sped up 500x normal speed out of respect for your time:

video at link

[Polly Ticks]

I needed a page marker for my book, so I used my seam ripper and cut off a little piece of the ball.  That's okay, isn't it?  I did not want to mess up the book!

 

@Slip18  I'm just kind of happy to hear that someone else still has/uses a seam ripper.

[Polly Ticks]

Due to Lackey’s seemingly compulsive inability to throw the ball to the plate in a timely manner, it took him five whole minutes to throw six pitches. Here is video of the entire sequence, sped up 500x normal speed out of respect for your time:

Ugh.  Watched it live, have no desire to re-watch ...even at 500x normal speed!
 

Crazy.

[Machiavelli]

@EasyAce
@Slip18

I posted this a few months ago on another thread. I've modified it here:


Baseball books I've read and enjoyed:

The Long Season -- Jim Brosnan
The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant (source of the musical, Damn Yankees!) -- Douglass Wallop
Veeck -- As in Wreck -- Bill Veeck, with Ed Linn*
Fear Strikes Out -- Jimmy Piersall
The Fireside Book of Baseball -- Charles Einstein, Ed. **
The Second Fireside Book of Baseball -- Charles Einstein, Ed. **
Baseball is a Funny Game -- Joe Garagiola

Unfortunately I've not read the Henry Wiggen tetralogy (The Southpaw, Bang the Drum Slowly, A Ticket for a Seamstitch, It Looked Like For Ever) by Mark Harris.

Years ago I started to read Ball Four but got disgusted with Jim Bouton's moral posturing.

Books that I thought sucked big time:

Pull Up a Chair: The Vin Scully Story -- Curt Smith

*Ed Linn is FReeper Hildy's late father. (1), (2)

** Einstein also edited The Third Fireside Book of Baseball which I have not read.

[Slip18]

@EasyAce
@Slip18

I posted this a few months ago on another thread. I've modified it here:


Baseball books I've read and enjoyed:

The Long Season -- Jim Brosnan
The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant (source of the musical, Damn Yankees!) -- Douglass Wallop
Veeck -- As in Wreck -- Bill Veeck, with Ed Linn*
Fear Strikes Out -- Jimmy Piersall
The Fireside Book of Baseball -- Charles Einstein, Ed. **
The Second Fireside Book of Baseball -- Charles Einstein, Ed. **
Baseball is a Funny Game -- Joe Garagiola

Unfortunately I've not read the Henry Wiggen tetralogy (The Southpaw, Bang the Drum Slowly, A Ticket for a Seamstitch, It Looked Like For Ever) by Mark Harris.

Years ago I started to read Ball Four but got disgusted with Jim Bouton's moral posturing.

Books that I thought sucked big time:

Pull Up a Chair: The Vin Scully Story -- Curt Smith

*Ed Linn is FReeper Hildy's late father. (1), (2)

** Einstein also edited The Third Fireside Book of Baseball which I have not read.

@EasyAce

I know I just got a book by Jim Bouton, but I can't put my fingers on it.

Got some hysterical books, too.  These are old and barely used books that I got in an auction for $1, perhaps three times, plus postage and handling.  I love books!

I was going to ask you, Machiavelli, if after the World Series is over and everything gets dull because who is watching football, I could post a few very short stories from "Tales From The Dugout" by Mike Shannon. It was printed in 1997, and is copyrighted with all rights reserved.

The stories are short and hysterical.  I don't even know if I can text them without permission.  How long does a copyright continue?

There are short stories that are true according to the writer on some such players as Catfish Hunter, Mickie Mantle, Roger Marris, Tim Belcher, Don Drysdale, Bob Feller, Sandy Koufax, Willie Mays and a whole lot more.  Of course, Yogi Berra is in this book, too.

I have read about three.  Funny stuff. 

Would you like me to post some stories, if it is legal, after the World Series?

I, honestly, will miss my new found friends in here if we quit posting until spring training!

What do you think?

And I would bet ya that Easy has heard all of the stories and can add to them!

 

[Slip18]

@Machiavelli

Jim Bouton, "I'm Glad You Didn't Take It Personally." I recognized that name.  I did not even look through it.

@Cyber Liberty Cyber told me to check the books to see if there was cash inside because some people put cash in their books!  Nope, only a scrawled piece of pink paper in three books. LOL!

 

[Machiavelli]

I was going to ask you, Machiavelli, if after the World Series is over and everything gets dull because who is watching football, I could post a few very short stories from "Tales From The Dugout" by Mike Shannon. It was printed in 1997, and is copyrighted with all rights reserved.

@Slip18 I don't have a problem with it if @mystery-ak doesn't.

Remember, if the stories are indeed copyrighted, you'll have to post a short excerpt and then link them. You can only post them in their entirety if they are in the Public Domain.