Will you recognize me?  Call my name or walk on by?  Don’t you forget about me.  Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t you forget about me.  -Simple Minds

Public Service Announcement:  Ok, here we go!  There was a time Bobby Crosby was one of baseball’s chosen ones.  In 2004, he was chosen as the American League’s Rookie of the Year.  In 2006, he was chosen by Peter Gammons to win the American League MVP.  Unfortunately for Bobby, he never lived up to the hype.  Injuries and overall lack of production derailed his career.  His home runs virtually vanished.  In his ROY season, Crosby hit 22 home runs and played in 151 games.  Since then, he has hasn’t hit more than nine home runs in a season and has only played in over 100 games just once.  But don’t look now, Bobby Crosby is mashing again.  Graveyard smashing again.  He’s caught on in a flashing again.        Read More »

Hey young world, the world is yours.  Hey young world, the world is yours.  Young world, young world, the world is yours.  -Slick Rick

Public Service Announcement:  Ok, here we go!  You know what the man says.  The man says pitching wins championships.  The man says you’re only as good as your next starter.  Sparky Anderson says, “If I ever find a pitcher who has heat, a good curve, and a slider, I might seriously consider marrying him, or at least proposing.”  Well, I found some guys.  Sparky better go buy a ring.  Heck, he should go all Big Love and buy five of them.             Read More »

Jeepers creepers, where’d you get those peepers?  Jeepers creepers, where’d you get those eyes?  Oh those weepers, how they hypnotize!  Where’d you get those eyes?  -Louis Armstrong

Public Service Announcement:  Ok, here we go!  When Daric Barton arrived in Oakland along with Dan Haren as part of the Mark Mulder deal, he was your prototypical Money Ball type player.  He displayed a plate approach well beyond his years.  He established himself as an on-base fiend.  He maintained a textbook swing.  A beautiful swing.  A Will Clark swing.  It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing.  Even with that swing, Barton has still not been able to stay up with the big team for any meaningful amounts of at bats.  When he was given a chance, back in 2008, he struggled with a .226 batting average and a .327 OBP.  What gives?  Is it the shoes?  Nope.  Daric Barton was lost but now is found.  He was blind, but now he sees.        Read More »

Theres a new dance thats going around.  When the hits start flying you gotta get down.  The the the the the the horses, the the horses are on the track.  -Big Audio Dynamite

Public Service Announcement:  Ok, here we go!  You may know Tom House as the answer to a trivia question.  The guy who caught Hank Aaron’s legendary home run in the bullpen.  You may also know him as the guy, who in 1974, pitched 102 2/3 innings, all in relief, with a 1.93 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP.  That’s you.  I know him as one of the guys who first spoke candidly about steroid use in baseball.  House said performance-enhancing drugs were widespread in baseball in the 1960s and 1970s.  House said, he and several teammates used amphetamines, human growth hormone and whatever steroid they could find in order to keep up with the competition.  House said, “If someone says Auto Immune, you’re fired!”  Sorry.  Wrong House.         Read More »

One way or another, I’m gonna find ya. I’m gonna getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha. One way or another, I’m gonna getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha. -Blondie

Public Service Announcement: Ok, here we go! As we all know, in baseball, charging the mound is when a batter assaults the pitcher, usually the result of being hit by a pitch or nearly being hit by a pitch.  Here endeth the lesson. Above, is a video of a Cuban mound charging that has been making the rounds today.  Cue the Benny Hill music. Lisban Correa, a catcher for Inudstriales, a team based in Havana, ends up chasing the pitcher round and round while holding his bat. After the jump, enjoy some more memorbale mound charges.             Read More »

Guess it’s over, call it a day.  Sorry that it had to end this way.  No reason to pretend ,we knew it had to end some day, this way  -Johnny Mathis

Public Service Announcement: Ok, here we go!  Today is a sad for baseball fans.  A very sad day for a generation of Red Sox fans.  Talking ’bout m-m-m-m-my generation of Red Sox fans.  Today there is no joy Mudville.  Today, Nomar Garciaparra says his “tank is empty.”  Today, after signing a one-day contract with Boston, Nomar retired a Red Sox.  There was a time Nomar Garciaparra was the most beloved figure in all of Boston.  His head was clearly etched in stone in Boston’s Sports Mount Rushmore.  His name was uttered along with the names of Bird, Russell, Williams and Orr.    But then, on July 1, 2004, Derek Jeter went diving head first into the Yankees Stadium stands, smashing his face open, while Nomar was on the bench resting his aching Achilles tendon.  And that, as they say, was that.     Read More »

Would you know my name if I saw you in heaven?  Will it be the same if I saw you in heaven?  I must be strong, and carry on ’cause I know I don’t belong, here in heaven.  -Eric Clapton

Public Service Announcement:  Ok, here we go!  Yesterday, I wrote about MLB’s top base stealers.  The guys with big wheelers.  I mentioned Lou Brock.  I mentioned Rickey Henderson.  I mentioned Willie Wilson, Tommy Harper, Rock Raines and guys like there.  One guy I negelected to mention was Willie Davis.  Willie Davis may not have been the best player to have ever bled Dodger Blue, but he certainly was one of the most exciting.  Nobody went from first to third faster than Davis.  Nobody.  Not Maury Wills.  Not nobody.  He had thirteen seasons of 20 or more stolen bases.  He led the NL in triples twice.  Davis was found dead in his Burbank, California yesterday by a neighbor who sometimes brought him breakfast.  He will be missed. 

Peace out homies.  Six two and Even!

I leave both my readers tonight with this both beautiful and touching commercial:

Thanks (FanDome)

Peace out Yankees.  Six two and even!

Johnny come lately, the new kid in town.  Everybody loves you, so don’t let them down.  -The Eagles

Public Service Announcement:  Ok, here we go!  What can I possibly write about this kid that hasn’t already been written.  From Fort Myers to Tempe, we’re already smitten.  Yes baseball fans, the love buf has done bitten.  According to the pundits, this kid is Nolan Ryan, Bob Gibson and Sidd Finch all rolled into one.  If today’s Spring Training debut against the Tigers at Space Coast Stadium is any indication, the pundits just might be right.  Tom Seaver once said, “My job isn’t to strike guys out, its to get them out, sometimes by striking them out.”  That was Stephen Strassburg today in a nutshell.          Read More »

The tip’s get clocked, baby.  The bond’s get stocked.  My style gets rocked.  Just like doors get knocked.  With legendary status, like my name’s Lou Brock.  -Everlast

Public Service Announcement:  OK here we go!  Here it comes.  Here comes baseball.  Like my main man Joe DiMaggio always says:  “You look forward to it like a birthday party when you’re a kid.  You think something wonderful is going to happen.”  I’m looking forward to it.  I think something wonderful is going to happen.  I live for this! Read More »