4-23-23 Major League baseball goes through a lot of baseballs in a game. On average between 96 and 120 baseballs are used during a Major League game. Multiply that by every game for the entire season and that is a lot of baseballs. What happens to the used balls? Some are used for batting or fielding practice, some are saved for player mementos, some are given to fans and some are authenticated and sold as game used balls. Each team has an official authenticater who authenticates baseballs for sales in the team shop as game used balls. There are official rules as to when baseballs are replaced during a game. But what would happen if a ball stayed in play? And how long would a ball last. Check out this video of a baseball that was caught 12,000 times.
4-30-23 Who was the first basketball player to have his number retired by Duke basketball. By the way, he was also an eight time all-star baseball short stop. I;m talking about the great Dick Groat. He was some athlete. A first round NBA draft pick he chose baseball instead. He ending up making a pretty good choice. He won a batting title, an MVP and two World Series championships. He was inducted in both the college baseball and college basketball Hall of Fame. After his playing career he became a broadcaster. Quite a career. Take a look back at "Dick Groat passes away at 92" from the MLB network.
5-7-23 Of all the rule changes that Major League Baseball has implemented recently one of the least controversial is the automatic intentional walk. Not too many people complained about this rule. It was meant to speed up the game. Not much happened during an intentional walk so why not. One guy who might complain is Miguel Cabrera. He knows what could happen during this dull intentional walk. Here is a video of something that will never happen again with the current rule. "Miggy Turns Attempted Intentional Walk Into Go-Ahead Single". Check it out.
5-14-23 We lost another all-time great this past week. Vida Blue passed away at the age of 73. Vida Blue was a phenom before the term phenom became popular. He debuted at the age of 19. He won the AL MVP, Cy Young and was a multiple time all-star. In 1971 he was 24-8 1.82. He led the Oakland A's to World Series titles in 1972 thru 1974. He was the first pitcher to start the All-Star game for both leagues. Not a bad career. Check out "The Life, Impact, Legacy of Vida Blue".
5-21-23 The intentional walk. When the batter intimidates the defense so much that they do not want to face him then comes the intentional walk. The game situation plays into determining if a walk should be issued. You aren't gong to walk in a run, or are you? The batter would have to be a monster to have him walked that would force in a run. Who could be so intimidating. Barry Bonds for one. It has actually happened 8 times in MLB history. It has also happened in FBN history when someone walked Bonds with the bases loaded. I hope you enjoy these two looks at a true baseball oddity.
5-28-23 Stolen bases totals are way up this year in MLB. The new rules have really made a difference in the running game. One place where I don't think it has made much of a difference is stealing home. It is one of the most exciting plays in baseball and gets fans as excited as a deep home run. Here is a compilation of home plate steals. Check out "MLB | Best Stealing Home Plate - Compilation".