Baseball Tag

Modern baseball managers are wimps. They treat their players like prized hams, and make decisions that defy all common sense and logic. But it’s all in the name of keeping their job. Because job security is non-existent, managers are never allowed to truly relax. They make decisions that they can explain away in job interviews the following winter. It’s time for an overhaul. I would be the greatest manager that major league baseball has ever seen. Most of a manager’s failures are the result of doing too much. That’s whyRead More

About a year ago, I wrote about some of the pains that come with relentlessly cheering for mediocrity. At that time, the San Diego Padres were on their way to finishing their season 77-85. Those that call themselves baseball fans can understand this year’s disappointment. In 2015, life was injected into the team. The owners, in a spat of brilliance, hired the upstart AJ Preller as the team’s general manager, who did not waste too much time signing some of the biggest names in baseball: Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, JamesRead More

Hey baseball fans, do you remember what things were like a month ago? The Angels were tearing through everybody, Detroit was motoring their way to another AL Central title, and the Dodgers were cementing the NL West. Wow… I guess the old adage is true, “this is why we play the games.” And it especially applies to this postseason.     Partying Like It’s 1985 One of the truly remarkable sports stories in recent memory is that of this year’s KC Royals. Similarly to their ’85 team, most odds makers didRead More

RoyalTober All is well in Oz! The KC sports scene is hotter than a stolen microwave. The tidy 3 game sweep of El Halos will go down as a legendary moment in midwest sports. Thankfully, the story continues this weekend in Baltimore.     O’s-tober Creative name, I know. But the Maryland Ballers are giving October all they have, and proving a prime candidate for a world championship. There is nothing stopping them…. aside from the aforementioned red hot Royals squad. This weekend is set to be very exciting.  Read More

After 162 grueling games (163 for the Royals and Giants), we are down to the MLB’s final eight teams. Our remaining eight contestants now face off in a best-of-5 series in the League Division Series to advance to the League Championship Series. So who gets through to be one of the final four contenders for this year’s World Series? Here are my thoughts.   ALDS   Kansas City Royals (90-73) vs. Los Angeles Angels (98-64) The Royals are fresh off an exhilarating extra-innings win against the Oakland Athletics in theRead More

In a recent article, San Diego was voted as the most tortured sports city. Both the Padres and Chargers do not have a single championship to their names since their introduction into professional sports in 1969 and 1970 (post-AFL), respectively. San Diego has also hosted a couple basketball teams (the Rockets and Clippers), but the market was never strong enough to keep them. I know, somewhere Champ Kind is crying into a plate of chicken wings. However, as a native San Diegan and avid Charger/Padre supporter, I felt inclined toRead More

Young adults are becoming baseball fans, or at least going to more games. Why? Well, a recent study in the Washington Post makes note of a rise in craft beer options at ballparks. In stadiums like Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, or Safeco Field in Seattle, “the market has exploded.” Since 2011, more young people have attended games and craft sales have gone up with them. In response, Cincinnati has installed dozens of additional craft beer taps. Meanwhile, Seattle, known for being a hip, new age kind of place, hasRead More

In Monday night’s baseball game between the Oakland A’s and Tampa Bay Rays, Outfielder Josh Reddick did something we haven’t seen in maybe… forever. In the bottom of the 10th inning, and the game tied, Reddick extended his arms and began rubbing the beards of teammates’ Stephen Vogt and Eric Sogard. Reddick, having grown quite a hefty beard of his own last season, knows firsthand that long facial hair follicles can translate into victories on the field. Sure enough, later in the inning Derek Norris hit a walk-off single toRead More

If you weren’t in Minneapolis on Sunday night, you were doing something wrong. While the rest of us were nursing hangovers and munching on our leftover shrimp n grits from brunch (or at least, I was), a bunch of celebs were gathered at Epic Nightclub (fitting name, it seems) for MLB.com’s All Star Bash. All star attendees included Olympic medalist Jennie Finch, 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame Inductee Frank Thomas, and NFL tight end Jermichael Finley. Bravo talk show host Andy Cohen was also in attendance, sipping on Captain MorganRead More

I could open up with, “Baseball is America’s pastime yadda yadda yadda,” but I’ll avoid the clichés for the sake of our collective sanity. Most cultures internationally do not understand baseball for the same reasons we Americans typically do not understand soccer, but I’m not here to wage a fight along those lines. We know all about the All-Star athletes that were voted in, but let us take a moment to identify some All-Star fans. And by “All-Star,” I mean “stereotypical.” A lot of these types can be found acrossRead More

For anyone who knows baseball, imagine someone telling you in April that you would be looking at this scenario come July. The Oakland Athletics will have the best record in baseball. The Los Angeles Angels will have the second best record in the American League, good enough for a wild card spot in their division. The Seattle Mariners will hold the number two wild card spot. And the Texas Rangers? They are playing for next season….. Back in April, you would have scoffed at this. But now that we’ve surpassedRead More

The World Cup is like the Olympics. It happens once every four years, and before you can blink, it’s gone. While fans in other countries get amped for any soccer event on the calendar, the sport is only acknowledged in America during this time. In the past couple of weeks I’ve noticed fans cheering for many different reasons, but I’ll narrow them into the following three groups.   Type 1 – The Pretentious Multiculturalist This fan is the most obnoxious of any sports fan. Sorry Yankees fans, they have youRead More

Are you a baseball fan? Are you a MONEY fan? I’m guessing you answered definitely to the second question. But if you answered yes to the first question as well, we have a fantastic offer for you this month, in collaboration with fantasy sports website DraftKings!     We’re currently working with DraftKings to bring you a fantastic chance to cash in on the MLB this summer! Sign up for DraftKings today, and make your first deposit, and you will be automatically entered into a free contest to win aRead More

Blackout. To any sports fan, it is the most painful word in the dictionary. It generates anger, frustration, disappointment, and horror from deep inside. We become less nice people. Some of us throw things, while others prefer to go the hunger strike route. And then there are a few brave souls who will contemplate the unthinkable – yep, giving up beer. Too drastic for me, but I see where they are coming from. Television blackouts stink. If you live in LA in 2014, you know this fact firsthand. Only 1/3Read More

Spring showers bring baseball flowers. Baseball time equals happy time. It started just over a week ago and will last until the leaves change to orange and brown. Baseball is more than just a change in weather, and an outdoor activity, it’s an association with memories. I am very fond of the days in my youth when I would attend baseball games with my family. Living a short drive away from Qualcomm Stadium, we were all about the Padres. From the age of 6, I attended anywhere from 2-5 gamesRead More