Liberal Forum

Baseball is a great American sports in so many ways.  

Post anything you like about baseball.

best game you attended
ever been to the world series?
best baseball quotes
memorabilia
Did you play in grade school, high, or college?
favorite baseball movie
favorite team
favorite players
Do you like the new pitching clock?  Designated hitter?
 

Best player of all-time is Babe Ruth in my book.  Mays is second, but a distant second. 

Pitched and then hit. 
Won world series titles. 
Seemingly effortless swing. 
2nd all-time in on base percentage. 
Injected the game with spirit in the home run era. 
1st ballot hall of famer. 
An American icon.

2001 World Series. Bottom 9. Tony Womack ties the game off the great Mariano Rivera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0UqWlvXom8
 

Nothing like a good baseball quote.

My grandmother asks me to race down the street, I'm going to try to beat her. And I'll probably enjoy it. Competitive to a fault, sometimes.  ---Derek Jeter.

             Wished I'd saved my Baseball Card collection.... 
   I was seriously into them in my teens and into my early 20s... I attended some of the very first Card Collector shows they held in NYC in the 70s... 

              As for the Teams, I was a lifelong Yanks Fan... Been to the Bronx many times growing up.... Favorite all-time player I watched was Thurman Munson.... Best games were when the Red Sox would come  to town... Nastiest rivalry in Sports going back to 1919 
  

             Best All-Time Hitters
 
 1. Ty Cobb
 2. Babe Ruth
 3. Ted Williams
 4. Joe Dimaggio
 5. Hank Aaron
 6. Willie Mays
 7. Pete Rose
 8. MIckey Mantle
 9. Lou Gehrig 
10. Joe Jackson

            Best Hitter I personally saw play... Rod Carew
 

Kobia2 » 18 Jan 2024, 9:30 pm » wrote: ↑

18 Jan 2024, 9:30 pm

             Best All-Time Hitters
 
 1. Ty Cobb
 2. Babe Ruth
 3. Ted Williams
 4. Joe Dimaggio
 5. Hank Aaron
 6. Willie Mays
 7. Pete Rose
 8. MIckey Mantle
 9. Lou Gehrig 
10. Joe Jackson

            Best Hitter I personally saw play... Rod Carew

I never made a list of hitters like that, but I can't argue with your list.

Have you seen Williams' heat map display at Cooperstown?

SouthernAdolf » 23 Jan 2024, 7:56 pm » wrote: ↑

23 Jan 2024, 7:56 pm

I never made a list of hitters like that, but I can't argue with your list.

Have you seen Williams' heat map display at Cooperstown?

      I haven't been to Cooperstown.... But I saw that the investor Warren Buffett had a framed version of it on his office wall , and actually used it as his business model to successful investment ---- it all came down to understanding your sweet-spot, then waiting for the best pitch to hit.. 

     
 

i wish that I was a baseball fan. I have tried. Been to 10 or so minor league games in Boise, SLC, and Reno. Too slow for me. However, for those who like it.. have fun. It is quite inexpensive to attend games most of the time so it does have that going for it.

impartialobserver » 23 Jan 2024, 8:28 pm » wrote: ↑

23 Jan 2024, 8:28 pm

i wish that I was a baseball fan. I have tried. Been to 10 or so minor league games in Boise, SLC, and Reno. Too slow for me. However, for those who like it.. have fun. It is quite inexpensive to attend games most of the time so it does have that going for it.

               We always enjoyed Baseball growing up ---- but our main sport was Hockey, especially living in Minnesota & Connecticut.. It didn't even need to be organized .... The neighbourhood ponds would freeze over and the skates went on... 

Kobia2 » 23 Jan 2024, 8:55 pm » wrote: ↑

23 Jan 2024, 8:55 pm

               We always enjoyed Baseball growing up ---- but our main sport was Hockey, especially living in Minnesota & Connecticut.. It didn't even need to be organized .... The neighbourhood ponds would freeze over and the skates went on... 

That would have been fun. Hockey was completely foreign to my neck of the woods; Boise. I only learned about it by watching NHL highlights on Sportscenter and then eventually checking a book out at the library and learning what icing and offsides were. 

impartialobserver » 24 Jan 2024, 12:49 pm » wrote: ↑

24 Jan 2024, 12:49 pm

That would have been fun. Hockey was completely foreign to my neck of the woods; Boise. I only learned about it by watching NHL highlights on Sportscenter and then eventually checking a book out at the library and learning what icing and offsides were.

             It's a great, fast and hard-hitting game and an excellent team sport .... It's certainly a much more civilized and tame version these days than the "Old School" Slap-Shot days....

             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUbn5ss8j9c
 

Kobia2 » 23 Jan 2024, 8:07 pm » wrote: ↑

23 Jan 2024, 8:07 pm

      I haven't been to Cooperstown.... But I saw that the investor Warren Buffett had a framed version of it on his office wall , and actually used it as his business model to successful investment ---- it all came down to understanding your sweet-spot, then waiting for the best pitch to hit.. 

     

I didn't know that about Buffet.

I think you'd really enjoy the Hall of Fame.  The drives itself is great if done in the summer.  I must've sat in Doubleday Field for at least 45 minutes just taking it in.  You sit on the 3rd base said and just see the houses behind the outfield.  The idyllic feel of baseball is like no other.  
 

SouthernAdolf » 24 Jan 2024, 5:08 pm » wrote: ↑

24 Jan 2024, 5:08 pm

I didn't know that about Buffet.

I think you'd really enjoy the Hall of Fame.  The drives itself is great if done in the summer.  I must've sat in Doubleday Field for at least 45 minutes just taking it in.  You sit on the 3rd base said and just see the houses behind the outfield.  The idyllic feel of baseball is like no other.

    I'm sure I'd enjoy it very much..... 
Such a history rich sport, and a 2nd to none part of Americana... It's also very admirable to know how many players who eventually were inducted into the Hall of Fame had voluntarily interrupted their Baseball careers to serve in our Armed Forces during Wars..... Ted Williams himself served as a Marine Corps Pilot in both WW2 and the Korean War... 

  WORLD WAR I

• Grover Alexander - Army
• Oscar Charleston - Army
• Ty Cobb - Army
• Eddie Collins - Marines
• Jocko Conlan - Navy
• Red Faber - Navy
• Warren Giles - Army
• Burleigh Grimes - Navy
• Harry Heilmann - Navy
• Waite Hoyt - Army
• George Kelly - Army
• Larry MacPhail - Army
• Rabbit Maranville - Navy
• Rube Marquard - Navy
• Christy Mathewson - Army
• Herb Pennock - Navy
• Sam Rice - Army
• Branch Rickey - Army
• Eppa Rixey - Army
• Bullet Rogan - Army
• Louis Santop - Navy
• Joe Sewell - Army
• George Sisler - Army
• Tris Speaker - Navy
• Casey Stengel – Navy
• Jud Wilson - Army

WORLD WAR II

• Luke Appling - Army
• Al Barlick - Coast Guard
• Yogi Berra – Navy
• Willard Brown - Army
• Nestor Chylak - Army
• Mickey Cochrane - Navy
• Leon Day - Army
• Bill Dickey - Navy
• Joe DiMaggio - Army
• Larry Doby - Navy
• Bobby Doerr - Army
• Bob Feller - Navy
• Charlie Gehringer – Navy
• Joe Gordon - Army
• Hank Greenberg - Army
• Billy Herman - Navy
• Gil Hodges - Marines
• Monte Irvin - Army
• Ralph Kiner - Navy
• Bob Lemon - Navy
• Ted Lyons - Marines
• Larry MacPhail - Army
• Lee MacPhail - Navy
• Johnny Mize - Navy
• Stan Musial - Navy
• Buck O'Neil - Navy
• Pee Wee Reese - Navy
• Phil Rizzuto - Navy
• Robin Roberts - Army
• Jackie Robinson - Army
• Red Ruffing - Army
• Red Schoendienst - Army
• Enos Slaughter - Army
• Duke Snider - Navy
• Warren Spahn - Army
• Bill Veeck - Marines
• Hoyt Wilhelm - Army
• Ted Williams - Marines
• Early Wynn - Army

THE KOREAN WAR

• Ernie Banks - Army
• Whitey Ford - Army
• Whitey Herzog - Army
• Eddie Mathews - Navy
• Willie Mays - Army
• Ted Williams - Marines

 
 

The whiners will tell you it's all rigged and they're all babies.    

Pitchers and catchers reporting next week.  Padres report on Sunday.  Seems like the World Series just ended.

Baseball is one activity that brings together all different kinds of people.  Scoreboards, uniforms, stadium names, etc. should be used as much as possible for "propaganda."

Ah, I can smell the grass now.

Without looking, how many stitches in a baseball?

There are two leagues for spring training.  There's the Grapefruit League and the Cactus League.  Grapefruit is south Florida, mostly on the Gulf side.  I think all the Cactus teams play in and around Phoenix.  

I never followed spring training much, but it was always nice to listen to a few March games.  The breaking temps and spring really got you pumped up.  

I think some teams actually had spring training in Cali.  If so, then it was good logistics to have everyone in and around Phoenix.  You want to minimize travel with pre-season.