Baseball 2021

Have to start the new thread w/a farewell to the true Home Run King, Hammering Hank Aaron. To do what he did in that era with grace and dignity speaks volumes to who he was. I remember seeing him on TV at the end w/the Brewers, so never got to witness him in his prime. Love this clip with the Goat behind the mic, Vin Scully with the call (and yes that’s Bill Buckner in left, before all the knee surgeries relegated him to first base).

 

Don's accurate description of modern 3-man teams reminded me of the polar-opposite, Harry Kalas (long-time play-by-play announcer for the Phillies who passed away in 2009). In an interview I did with him back in the late 90's, I asked how he developed his style and he said one important period was when he did play-by-play of baseball games when he was based in Hawaii. At the time the games he was calling were played on the mainland and he was sitting at a radio station in Hawaii simply looking at a ticker-tape of stats. He couldn't see the game at all, just a by-the-numbers description! He had to imagine what the runner on first was likely doing rather than actually SEEING what he was doing. While that felt a little fraudulent to me, he said being forced to visualize what was happening and then describe it helped him when he actually got a chance to see the games he was calling.

 

Move over Jose Canseco and the fly ball that head hit your steroid enhanced skull and went over the wall for a HR. The Pittsburgh Pirates (shocker ), put in a defensive play that is a combo of a brain cramp of the highest order & keystone cops the likes of which we may never see again. As you watch, keep in mind there were 2 OUTS and the Cubs catcher started on 2nd base:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ch...5cnh2tdukurx3dcoa3q-story.html?outputType=amp

 

Has thrown it 102, hits BOMBS (not your 3rd row type), and runs like a gazelle. Not too shabby of a week

 

Next week I'm hitting the road for a couple days to catch ball games in Cincinnati and a game at Bosse Field in Evansville, IN. Very excited to hit the road and cross a few parks off my baseball bucket list.

It's funny, If I had to rate baseball, it would probably be my 4th favorite sport, yet I love visiting different baseball parks.

 

Evansville is my stomping grounds Brad. Hope you enjoy Bosse Field it’s is a snapshot out of history. Been a few years and a lot of pounds ago but I was lucky enough to play some high school baseball there back in the good old days.

 

I grew up across the river from Evansville and my spouse and her family are all still in Barry's hood. Bosse Field is, indeed, a ballpark frozen in time. When I began my current career in TV photojournalism, I found myself on the roof one night on the first base side shooting the final Triple A start of Mark "The Bird" Fidrych as he attempted to get back to The Show in Detroit for what turned out to be his last season in baseball in 1980. Brad, I'll DM you some pictures from my last trip several years ago. You can watch A League Of Their Own to get a decent visual feel of the ballpark.
You'll also find the ticket prices significantly more "wallet-friendly" at Great American Ballpark than at Busch.

 

I'm excited to check it out. Between that and the LST that's docked on the river (my grandfather served on one) it should be a nice little stop on my journey. Just a shame my Grizzles aren't the opponent.

I guess I'll also have hit a brewery as well in town, so if any of them standout let me know.

 

Well my trip to Evansville has been met with a rain out. So Bosse field will remain on my baseball bucket list.

 

Sorry to hear that Brad.

 

The trip wasn't a total loss. Cincinnati's stadium was better in person then it looks on TV. I also had a delicious Buffalo Chicken Pizza from Turoni's since I had a free evening.

 

mmmmmm…. Now I want pizza.

 

I’m enjoying this field of dreams game more than I expected.

 

The game itself or the event as a whole? I liked the aerial views and the old style stadium but I tuned it out after the first inning or so.

 

More so the event/setting. It just looked like fun. It made me want to be there. I should disclose that I spent last Monday and Tuesday driving around Southern Illinois. So maybe it was just all the corn fields I've seen recently and my desire for baseball players to emerge from them.

 

When your team is the definition of mediocre (61-61) there isn’t too much to brag about team wise, but watching Shohei Ohtani put in arguably the greatest season of all time has meant 21’ hasn’t been a total loss for Angel fans. Last night put an exclamation point on his brilliance:

MLB leading 40th HR to move past Reggie Jackson’s club record for left handed hitters. It was his typical moon shot HR (430 feet) and the big Detroit crowd there to see Miguel Cabrera try for his 500th gave him a huge ovation. He also added 8 innings on the mound, 1 ER, with 8 Ks. Since July he’s 5-0 w/1.68 ERA and leads the AL in every meaningful pitching category in that time span.

 

How about them Cardinals? 11 straight. Did not see playoffs for this team at the start of the month.