Kirk Gibson takes competition seriously. In his first spring training with the Dodgers in 1988, Gibson famously erupted when teammate Jesse Orosco painted eye black in the band of his cap. Gibson’s intensity drove the Dodgers to an improbable World Series championship that season. This year, in his first full season as manager of the [...]
As the 2011 season begins to wind down, the Detroit Tigers are perched atop the American League Central division, precariously some might say. Despite the fact that the division is one of the weakest in baseball. The team seems to be pulling away from the pack these days, but it remains to be seen whether [...]
When Ty Cobb died only two men from baseball attended his funeral. Ty Cobb sharpened his spikes until they were razor sharp and hurtled himself maliciously into the legs of opposing players. Did you know that Ty Cobb killed a man? All of these statements are part of the legend of Ty Cobb, the greatest [...]
Ever since Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig announced in 2003 that the winning league of the All-Star Game would gain homefield advantage in the World Series, experts have debated whether he made the right decision. That decision has led to other intriguing dilemmas for big league managers, too. At what point do managers have [...]
No National League team has repeated as World Series champion since Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine 35 years ago. The only team that has a chance to end that drought is the San Francisco Giants. Here’s why they can do it. As Warren Spahn once said, “Hitting is timing, and pitching is upsetting that timing.” Spahn [...]
In the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft, the Detroit Tigers selected a catcher from the University of Alabama with their pick in the 5th round. That news wasn’t all that noteworthy, but the catcher sure is. The catcher was Alex Avila, the son of Tigers assistant general manager Al Avila, a close friend of GM [...]
Here are the five biggest surprises so far in the 2011 season. 5. Tribe Revival The 2010 Cleveland Indians had their share of problems: they were one of the worst hitting teams in the league, their pitching staff gave up the most home runs in baseball, and they also walked more batters than any other [...]
It’s fitting that on a night when the federal government narrowly averted a shutdown, Manny Ramirez announced his retirement from baseball. The half-assed deal to keep the government going is a cop-out, and much of Manny’s career was also half-assed. To say that Ramirez leaves the game under a black cloud is like saying Japan [...]
In his second season in the Yankee organization, Derek Jeter committed 56 errors at shortstop for the Greensboro Hornets of the Sally League. Given his shoddy work with the leather, Jeter’s future as a professional ballplayer was uncertain. To top it off, the teenager was having a hard time dealing with life away from home. [...]
