A Baker's Dozen Things You Should Know About Lefty O'Doul

Reblogged from Verdun2's Blog:

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1. He was born Francis Joseph O'Doul in 1897 in San Francisco.

2. In 1912 he played for his school team, whose coach was female. O'Doul credited her with teaching him fundamentals of the game. The next year he dropped out of school to work with his father as a butcher.

3. Playing semipro ball on Sundays brought him to the attention of the San Francisco Seals minor league team.

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The title of this blog caught my eye - I'm a fan of anything Giants and Lefty definitely qualifies. I've been to Lefty O'Doul's restaurant in San Francisco many times. I'd liken it to a great little Jewish Deli as far as the great corned beef and pastrami goes, and the photographs on the wall are probably comparable in numbers and value to Mickey Mantle's restaurant in New York. This baker's dozen was fun to read but wish it were longer. I wanted it to go on and on. Thanks for writing it ~ Good read!

Happy Mother’s Day – Pink Bats and all!

This is a copy of a BLOG I posted last year on Mother’s Day ~ it’s still relevant.  Hope you enjoy it!

‘PINK BATS A PERFORMANCE ENHANCER?  YOU DECIDE!

Occasionally I’ll find an article so unique I’m tempted to “plagiarise”!   This is one of those articles, but reprinted with permission from a really hard-working blogger who went to an amazing amount of work to produce this delightful piece for all of us!   Thanks to Mike Clair at  Old Time Family Baseball  for sharing this. 

 ”There’s something wonderful about seeing a group of men finally stop the macho act and swing pink bats in honor of their mothers and to help the fight against breast cancer. (Plus, baseball players can finally realize how well pink complements their skin tones.) In lieu of a full game recap for the Mother’s Day games, I thought I would collect a master list of the players who did or did not use pink bats and finally see if ones love for their mother is a performance enhancer.A few ground rules:

• This does not take into account players wearing pink accessories, only their bats.
• I counted the starting nine on each team, so any pink-bat-swinging pinch-hitters or late-game substitutions have been left out.
• I used MLB.tv footage as my guide, so if I couldn’t tell the color of a players bat, I considered it a non-pink bat. Some players like Brian Roberts appeared to have a a little bit of pink of around the handle of the bat, but because it was so pale and hard to identify, they were left out.
• Due to a lack of a variety of things, time being among them, I have only used hits, at-bats, home runs, RBI, and runs scored as my guide. Sorry, my sabermetric brethren, maybe next year. 
• I’m only one man, so any updates or corrections can be sent here or left in the comments.

Without further adieu:   Pink Bats: 685 AB, 193H, .285 BA, 15 HR, 85 RBI, 84 R

Non-Pink: 287 AB, 42 H,  .216 BA, 6 HR,  27 RBI, 31 R

Is this just a small sample size, do better hitters choose pink bats more often, or is there a Mother’s Day boost? That will have to wait for next year to see if the numbers are straightened out, but here are some notes:

• Pink batters clearly did better, hitting nearly 70 points higher than their non-pink counterparts.
• Pink batters also homered once ever 45.67 AB compared to 47.83 for people who don’t love their mothers. 
• 187 of the 270 starters used pink bats, good for 69% of the Major League population.
• Neither Hairston brother swung a pink bat.
• Derek Jeter and A-Rod didn’t use pink bats. Alex Rodriguez clearly hates mothers while Derek Jeter didn’t want to detract attention from breast cancer survivors. 
• Yorvit Torrealba used a bat with a black handle and pink barrel, the only player I noticed with such a combination.
• Rockies starters who didn’t swing pink sticks? They went 0-17. Love your mothers, fellas.

Click here for individual team and player info.

 Final note, only players who used pink bats are listed. Consider this to be the master list of 2011 pink bat users as it will be updated if new information becomes available.”

Thank you Guillermo Quiroz ….. It’s Why We Love the Game.

Guillermo Guiroz. Click for MLB Video

Baseball’s unlike any other sport.  It’s the only one I know that’s not given time restraints.  A one-half inning lasts as long as it takes to get three outs.  It could last for only three pitches, or it could go on for hours, or seem like it.  Take the fifth inning in last night’s game between the Dodgers and Giants.   The Giants lead 5-0 at the beginning of the 5th, and then it all fell apart as the Dodgers scored seven runs, one after the other, on and on and on.  I thought it would never end, but finally it did and by the end of the 9th inning the score  was tied 9-9, and we were in overtime ~ extra innings.

It’s a fluke that third string back-up catcher Guillermo Quiroz was even on the roster last night.  Hector Sanchez is the regular back-up catcher for Buster Posey and had been sent back to the Minors only the day before.   So when Quiroz steps up to the plate I’m thinking what the heck’s going on.  I mean doesn’t Bochy know it’s the 10th inning?  I was already a little perturbed with Boche after leaving Vogey in to get really hammered in the fifth ~ he should have taken him out earlier.  So when  Guillermo steps up to the plate I turned up the volume and went to the kitchen to do the dishes. 

What happened next happens all the time in baseball.  In fact, it happened the night before with Buster Posey and was no big deal.   Well, it was a big deal, but we’ve gotten a little spoiled with Buster so you rather expect this sort of thing from him. 

And it isn’t even that Guillermo Quiroz really smacked the hell out of that first pitch for the game-winning home run.  It was what happened after, as he looked out at that ball flying towards infinity, and you knew that he knew it was gone.  No doubt in his mind.  And when his arms went up in the air and he started towards first base he had a huge smile on his face, yelling something that made you realize that “spirit of victory” that we’ve all heard about so often is more than just a saying …..it’s why we love the game.   And we really loved the game tonight.

And to be honest, I was smiling and yelling right along with him.  The dishes could wait.

Why I Keep Coming Back

Reblogged from The Professional Opinion on Sports:

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by Jed McKeehan

Ah, I remember it like it was yesterday.  Actually it was three days ago.  My Cubbies are playing away at Cincinnati and clinging to a 2-1 lead going in to the bottom of the ninth.  The Cubs starting pitcher, Carlos Villanueva with his incredible mustache, has pitched a phenomenal game.  If you know anything about the Cubs, you know what happens.

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GFBB Note: This same thing happened to me tonight. After taking a 5-0 lead in the 2nd against the Padres, the SF Giants proceeded to lose the game in the bottom of the 12th........ their 4th loss in a row. And to be honest with you the minute the Padre hit that double in the 12th I turned off the TV so I could clean up the kitchen, which I did. I notice on the internet the Giants did indeed lose in the bottom of the 12th. I knew they would. I just didn't want to watch it. But let's face it, we've had our share of victories recently so I'm not always a fair weather fan. But c'mon, four in a row? Just wanted to let Jed McKeehan know he's not alone. It's something we baseball fans have in common. Good read ~ thanks for writing it!

All 30 MLB teams have a California player worth rooting for

Reblogged from CalHiSports.com:

With the start of the Major League Baseball season underway, we thought we would help give you a rooting interest in any game that you may turn on to watch this season, even if it doesn't involve your favorite team. Go inside to see a list of every team and a California player to watch.

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GFBB Note: This was fun! It would be nice if someone from each state could put some effort into a similar project for their local fans. Thanks CalHiSports.com. Good read!

Neil Diamond on the Diamond at Fenway

I’ve been to Fenway Park on two separate occasions and both times the music  rang out as loud as you can possibly imagine and was absolutely fantastic.  The first song belted out by 35,000 crazy fans was The Kingston Trio’s  “MTA.  This had a very personal meaning  for all of us out-of-towners who triumphantly mastered the friendly transit system that very day.    The second was the wonderful classic “Sweet Caroline” and it’s been one of my favorites ever since.

“So good….So good…So good…So good!

To tell you the truth I’ve never quite figured out what Sweet Caroline has to do with Boston or baseball, but it doesn’t matter.   The fans have made it their song and if you’ve ever stood and waved your arms and shouted and yelled ”So Good!” at the top of your voice (and you will ~ it’s contagious) in unison with 35,000 other fans it will be your song too. 

I love this YouTube video.   It brings back wonderful memories of Boston, Fenway and baseball.  And it reminds me of how proud I am to be a patriotic flag waving American .  Not that I need reminding.  Some things are engraved so firmly on the spirit and the soul they can bring you to tears.  They surface often and they surface when you least expect them.  For me, baseball and patriotism are two of those things.  

Thank you for this week Boston.  You did good!

Baseball

Reblogged from McKenna:

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Spent the evening with the Seattle Mariners.

Kudos to "McKenna" for getting this great shot and kudos to all the camera men/women who consistently provide us with great immediate photo's of spectacular plays on a regular basis. It almost makes watching the telly as good as being at the ballpark. Well, almost ..... :))