BaseballGB

As the last few minutes of the football transfer window tick by, many a fan is left scratching their head and questioning “why couldn’t we have bought player X two weeks ago?”. It’s always the same. After four mad weeks of rumours, the trickle of transfers turns into a downpour as the protagonists see the [...]

The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary by Paul Dickson (Harvest, 1999), 579 pages Anyone unfamiliar with baseball has to face a steep learning curve during their early forays into the sport. Whether watching or reading about a game, it soon becomes apparent that baseball has its own language; a lexicon containing dingers, sacrifice flies and RBIs. [...]

Life can be difficult, depressing and challenging at times and our defence mechanisms kick-in to help us through. Some turn to religion; some to drink and drugs. The more restrained among us hold on to hoary bits of wisdom, convincing ourselves that they might be true. One such piece of wisdom is the assertion that [...]

Much of the news emanating from Major League Baseball this week confirms the view that baseball is thriving internationally. The 2008 regular season schedule was officially released, with the opening series in Japan taking centre stage. MLB also announced that the Dodgers and the Padres will be playing two spring training games in China on [...]

Rumours had been spreading for a week or so, longer if you include the initial reports that Team GB were struggling to come up with the funds to pay for the trip.  Now it has been confirmed: Great Britain has withdrawn from the final Olympic qualifier set to take place in March.  Germany will take [...]

“It Ain’t Over ’til it’s Over: The Baseball Prospectus Pennant Race Book” edited by Steven Goldman (Basic Books, 2007), 457 pages. Baseball Prospectus are at the forefront of sabermetrics: the discipline of statistical research into baseball. With their revolutionary statistics and forthright views, it’s fair to say they are loved and loathed in equal measure [...]

The NL Rookie of the Year voters faced a difficult decision at the end of last season. Both Ryan Braun and Troy Tulowitzki made strong cases to receive the award and it was difficult to choose between them. Ultimately, Braun ended up with the honour and in retrospect that seems a fair result. Apart from his [...]

The marquee opener to the 2008 season sees the Atlanta Braves facing the Nationals in the first game at Washington’s new stadium on Sunday 30 March. This will be a Sunday Night game on ESPN (which means Jon Miller – hooray! – and Joe Morgan – boo!) and screened live on Five, and probably also [...]

“Baseball Field Guide: An in-depth illustrated guide to the complete rules of baseball” by Dan Formosa and Paul Hamburger, (Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2006), 240 pages. Baseball is a sport governed by a myriad of rules. Dan Formosa and Paul Hamburger’s attempt to to provide a user-friendly guide to them for players and spectators alike is [...]

Another day, another post on a depressing trend in baseball that leaves traditionalists reminiscing about purer times. But while Congress may be concentrating on performance enhancing drugs, my focus is on the dreaded world of corporate branding. The Cleveland Indians are the latest team to make baseball fans grit their teeth every time they talk [...]