Celebrating Rangers give Josh Hamilton a ginger ale shower - Big League Stew - Yahoo! Sports
We can't tell from our vantage point, but somewhere beneath that waterfall of ginger ale is Texas Rangers MVP candidate Josh Hamilton. The people holding the quickly emptying Canada Dry bottles are his teammates and they're making sure that all can celebrate the Rangers' 5-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 of the ALDS on Tuesday night.
I'm not trying to pick on the Rangers, as I don't think a lot of teams would have gone out of their way to include Hamilton in their celebration, but would they have done the same thing if Hamilton were just a fringe utility player or a guy like Jorge Cantu, and not your team MVP? I don't know, maybe they would, but I doubt it. And I'm not saying that's wrong. Hamilton has meant a lot to the Rangers and they might not have been a position to celebrate without him on the team, but the entire situation strikes me as strange. I'm completely for celebrating, and tradition, and history, but it's almost like, "Hey! Let's celebrate with Josh for a few minutes. Okay, that's done, now beat it, we want to PAR-TAY!" If you want to honor your teammate, have the entire celebration be non-alcoholic and save the drinking for later.
Hall of Fame corrects name of late inductee Pete Hill on plaque - SI.com
Four years after he was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame, former Negro Leagues star John Preston "Pete" Hill was honored Tuesday on what probably would have been his 126th birthday with a new plaque that corrects his proper name and place of birth.
This is the kind of story that tends to get overlooked by most media outlets. The way history is revered and honored in baseball, even for a player most have never heard of, is the reason its the greatest of all sports.
MORE LINKS AFTER THE BREAK...
If the playoffs don't interest you, here's the Simpsons episode from last Sunday that included an appearance by Mike Scioscia:
and then you can learn how Aroldis Chapman throws so hard...
Cuban Missile: Just how does Aroldis Chapman throw 105 mph? - USATODAY.com
Cincinnati Reds reliever Aroldis Chapman regularly hits triple digits when he pitches. Back on Sept. 24, the Cuban fireballer was clocked at 105 mph against the San Diego Padres. It was the fastest pitch ever clocked.
Game 163 on its way out in expanded playoffs? - Chicago Breaking Sports
Commissioner Bud Selig has confirmed baseball is studying possibilities to expand the postseason field. Eight teams currently go, but there is strong consideration being given to increasing that number to 10, beginning as soon as 2011. The new games would provide programming for the MLB Network and allow fringe teams to remain competitive deeper into September.
LAME.
Important Year Ahead for Pujols and Baseball - FanGraphs Baseball
On October 6th, the St. Louis Cardinals picked up Albert Pujols‘s $16 million dollar option. Perhaps it’s because of the playoffs that this move went relatively unnoticed and unheralded, perhaps it’s simply because this move is the most obvious move in the history of baseball operations. That’s not particularly noteworthy on its face, but what is important is that this signifies the last season of Pujols’s current contract, meaning that barring a midseason deal, Albert Pujols will be a free agent after next season.
The above article compares Pujols to Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. How much would Aaron or Mays sign for as free agents if they played today? Twenty million per year? Twenty-five million per year?
Bad Idea Tats: Braves Fan Gets A Bobby Cox Tattoo On His Thigh
"Some of my friends think I’m crazy," he said, "but a few others absolutely love it." I hate to break it to you, Andy, but the few others who absolutely love it? They are so not your friends. They’re secretly mocking you behind your back due to the fact that you have an elderly man’s face inked onto your upper thigh.
I don't have any tattoos. Not because I think there's anything wrong with them, but probably because I'm close to the generation that associate tattoos to sailors and convicts.
October 13 - BR Bullpen
Events, births and deaths that occurred on October 13.
1960 - Bill Mazeroski of the Pittsburgh Pirates hits one of the most dramatic home runs in World Series history. Maz's leadoff home run in the bottom of the ninth inning against Ralph Terry of the New York Yankees gives Pittsburgh a stunning 10 - 9 win in Game Seven.
1971 - The Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates play the first night game in World Series history.
2002 - The Anaheim Angels score 10 runs in the seventh inning on their way to a 13 - 5 victory over Minnesota to give Anaheim its first American League pennant in team history. Adam Kennedy is the hero for Anaheim with three home runs and seven RBI. Scott Spiezio also hits a home run for the Angels, with Francisco Rodriguez getting the win in relief.
Happy b-day:
1894 - Swede Risberg, infielder (d. 1975)
R.I.P.:
1975 - Swede Risberg, infielder (b. 1894)
0 recs | 23 comments
It's early...
…but the money Cincy spent on Chapman looks like a good investment thus far.
mustard_man - October 13, 2010
More tinkering by Selig
He’d probably consider having the fringe playoff teams enter a battle royale a la American Gladiators for the extra playoff slot if it meant more television revenue. Give it a rest, Allan!
Big Easy Halofan - October 13, 2010
Expanding the playoffs????
[DARTH-VADER]
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[/DARTH-VADER]
red floyd - October 13, 2010
More teams?
Less regular season, more postseason? More postseason=seven-game series?
SenorChuckles - October 13, 2010
Tattoo poll
Odd that none of the options line up with your own opinion of them. I don’t have any, I don’t really think they’re cool (except the cool ones) but I don’t think they’re lame, either (except most of them are lame).
dmhead - October 13, 2010
That's what I was going to say, more or less.
I’ve seen some really cool ones, but mostly I’ve seen lame ones. And I’m old.
opiejeanne - October 13, 2010
I'm old too, and don't get the attraction.
I worked with a guy 30 years ago that got his wife’s name tattooed on his forearm as a sign of his love for her…her name in darker letters over a red heart.
He ended up going to work for another company, but I ended up seeing him again about 15 years later. That original tattoo had been inked over by another tattoo of…a parrot! A very odd shaped parrot. I asked what had happened. He’d been divorced for some number of years, and he didn’t want a constant reminder of his former life’s love anymore. Why a parrot? He was drunk when he went back to the parlor and told the "artist’ to give him something original that would hide the other tattoo.
Ah well…to each their own. It will be interesting to see this tattoo generations reaction to the body alteration/enhancement phase of the next generation (you just know something different will follow that will be new, exciting, all the rage).
sothball - October 13, 2010
I had a friend who had an ex girlfriend's name covered up by a huge rose, on his ankle.
It was pretty as tattoos go, but it was way too big. Another friend is becoming the Illustrated Man; some of his tats are works of art but he has to get them re-inked because they fade. The pain he described for a couple of them was gut-wrenching but he says it brings him closer to his deity du jour.
opiejeanne - October 13, 2010
A rose on a guy? OK...
“Deity du jour”…I have to keep that one in mind for future use. I have known a few people over the years to which that expression would apply.
sothball - October 13, 2010
He was a really skinny guy with really skinny ankles so that rose looked kind of funny even though it was a cool design.
I think everyone groaned who knew why it was there, thanked their lucky stars they hadn’t done something similar even if they did have tats. And yeah, a rose on a guy. This guy could get away with it. His name is Reuben, he’s 6’3 and probably weighed 120 back then. I met him at Memories in Anaheim when he was deejaying one night. My girls went there to swing dance, and the youngest was a bit too young to go without Mom and/or Dad. The ratio was about 100 cool people to 1 predator, didn’t matter whether you were in the SF area or SoCal, and I’m not exaggerating a bit. So I got to know a lot of the deejays and a lot of the dancers.
The deity du jour guy, he is a trip. Nice guy, terribly conflicted about his idiot parents which may be the reason he feels the need for pain. I met them, they’re my age, and they really are idiots. He came over to “bless” my Anaheim house after we moved in. He burned some sage and other things, then sort of sermonized about the Kabala as well as some obscure (as in I think he made it up) Native American shaman stuff, then started talking about angels. We had a hard time keeping a straight face. At Christmas he told a terrible, really outrageously offensive Nazi vs Jew joke that would have been downright embarassing without one of the attendees being Jewish. (What’s a Christmas party without a Jew?) These two were great friends but there were two entire heartbeats of dead silence in the room before the Jewish guy started laughing.
I think of this Illustrated Man guy in about the same category with a strange woman I knew years ago who told me the reason she had six children was so that she could experience some of Christ’s pain (in childbirth) to feel closer to Him.
Yes, I know quite a few nutso people.
.
opiejeanne - October 13, 2010
6'-3" tall and 120 lbs? That's...skeletal.
After reading your comment, I nominate this quote as HH understatement of the year.
sothball - October 14, 2010
The guy with the tattoo? It's worse than I thought.
This fan is 23 and his reasoning is that this is the only manager he knows? And that no one has anything bad to say about Cox. At 43 (or maybe sooner) he will feel like a fool.
opiejeanne - October 13, 2010
DID ANYONE NOTICE MIKE SCIOSCIA'S HAT CHANGE COLOR IN THE SIMPSON'S?
Oops, caps lock.
Halowood - October 13, 2010
his hat flew off
but there was a white one beneath it. just shows that under all that Angels gear is more Angels gear.
2pintsofbooze - October 13, 2010
funny how
the season where the Red Sox miss the playoffs, but have a good record, is the one where everyone starts talking about adding another team to the playoffs. I wonder if it were the Blue Jays who missed out on the postseason due to having other good teams in their division, if there would be such a backing to this idea. me thinks not.
2pintsofbooze - October 13, 2010
Quite the coincidence eh?
Fred Fredrix - October 13, 2010
Good point.
I hadn’t thought of that.
WiHaloFan - October 13, 2010
This is pretty transparent.
No Boston No Chicago in the playoffs.
hauldog - October 13, 2010
Ranger Nation! Do the Claw!
fml.
RexTookMyStash - October 13, 2010
Given the tone of his Colby Rasmus comments...
… and other statements about the Cardinals, do you get the feeling that Pujols’s never gonna leave SL? And maybe even avoid becoming A Roid on the Rangers by leaving money on the table so he can play with better players and win some rings? He just strikes me as that guy.
gitchogritchoffmypetis - October 13, 2010
Playoffs
Having a bye would suck. You would come in cold.
hauldog - October 13, 2010
hey guys
im a yankee fan but occasionally i pop over and read some of your stuff. I saw the poll on tattoos and had to comment because I have two, one on each arm.
Also I thought it was cool what the Rangers teammates for Hamilton. If there was a Yankee who battled alcoholism, I’d really respect the team if they celebrated with ginger ale.
Frank Campagnola - October 13, 2010
and same goes for any team.
even if it was the red sox celebrating
Frank Campagnola - October 13, 2010
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