but pitching changes are an essential part of baseball. i haven't sat with a stopwatch, but i think the batting glove is one of the most culpable offenders in slowing down games. if it takes ten seconds to step out of the box and adjust gloves between pitches, and the average number of pitches per batter is 3.5, and there are an average of 7 hits per game per team, plus 4 walks, totalling around 40 at-bats, that means that there are around 1,400 seconds of dead time per game just from batting glove adjustment. that's over 20 minutes.
Pitchless Intentional Walk Change For 2017 - ESPN http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...tional-intentional-walkwill-use-signal-dugout
Jeb Bush-Derek Jeter Group Has Agreement To Buy Marlins - ESPN http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...jeter-reportedly-wins-right-buy-miami-marlins
Jim Bunning, Hall of Fame Pitcher and Ex-Senator, Dies At 85 - USA Today https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...r-and-ex-u-s-senator-kentucky-dead/351448001/ Former U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning, a major league pitching star who took his aggressive, no-nonsense brand of competitiveness into the game of politics as a congressman and senator from Kentucky, died at the age of 85. A strong right-hander with more than 100 wins and a no-hitter in each of the two major leagues, Bunning enjoyed national fame as an athlete before capturing Kentucky’s 4th congressional district in 1986. He gave up his House seat to run for the U.S. Senate in 1998. He served in the Senate from 1999 to 2010. At 6 foot-3, Bunning was physically imposing, and on both the baseball diamond and Capitol Hill he was known for a toughness that could be intimidating. Bunning grew up in the Cincinnati area and signed with the Detroit Tigers out of Xavier University, reaching the major leagues in 1955. He made it big in 1957, his first full season with the Tigers. That year he won 20 games, pitched three perfect innings in the All-Star Game and was second in American League strikeouts. He never again won 20 games in a season, but he won 19 in 1962 and, after being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1964, he reached 19 three years straight. His career total was 224 wins. Bunning was best known for pitching a no-hitter in each of the two leagues — for Detroit in 1958 against the Boston Red Sox in the American and for Philadelphia in 1964 against the New York Mets in the National. The latter was a perfect game. He appeared in the All-Star Game seven times — five for the American League and twice for the National League. After brief stints with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Dodgers, Bunning returned to Philadelphia to finish out his career and retired as a player in 1971 and managed minor-league teams for five years. In 1996, after just barely missing election in earlier years by the nation’s sportwriters, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. Jim Bunning at Baseball Reference: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bunniji01.shtml
...@Bharper3407, if you end up suspended, come on down to Palo Alto and hang out at the pool for a day!— Katie Ledecky (@katieledecky) May 30, 2017
Jimmy Piersall, Whose Mental Illness Was Portrayed In 'Fear Strikes Out,' Dies At 87 - N.Y. Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/04/sports/baseball/jimmy-piersall-died-mental-illness.html Jimmy Piersall, the often outrageous outfielder and broadcaster whose emotional breakdown while a rookie with the Boston Red Sox was portrayed in the 1957 movie “Fear Strikes Out,” a rare glimpse at an athlete’s mental illness, died on Saturday in Wheaton, Ill. He was 87. His death was announced by the Red Sox. Piersall was an outstanding center fielder, a solid hitter and a two-time All-Star, playing in the major leagues for 17 seasons. But his career nearly ended just when it was getting underway. Envisioned as the ultimate successor to the Red Sox’ star center fielder Dom DiMaggio, Piersall clowned on the field early in his rookie season, fought with or simply outraged teammates and opposing players, and harangued umpires. James Anthony Piersall was born on Nov. 14, 1929, in Waterbury, Conn., where his father, a house painter, encouraged him to pursue sports but was often harsh and demanding with a quick temper, as Piersall recalled. His mother had intermittent stays in mental hospitals. After starring in baseball and basketball in high school, Piersall was signed by the Red Sox organization in 1948. During three seasons in the minors, he was often agitated, fearing he would fail. He played briefly with the Red Sox at the end of the ’50 season, then returned to the minors. By the time he arrived at spring training in 1952, his fears had worsened and he became convinced that the Red Sox hoped he would fail when they switched him to shortstop from the outfield. He played well enough at short and he entertained the fans with stunts, including his harassment of the legendary pitcher Satchel Paige, then with the St. Louis Browns, with wild gestures on the basepaths. But he antagonized virtually all of his teammates with his antics, his tirades against umpires and his showing up DiMaggio by imitating his distinctive stride. He fought with the Yankees’ Billy Martin and the Red Sox pitcher Mickey McDermott and cried in the dugout when Manager Lou Boudreau would not put him into a game. The Red Sox demoted Piersall to the minors in June 1952, hoping he could gain control of his emotions, but his antics continued, and he entered a mental hospital in Massachusetts a month later. He remained hospitalized for six weeks, undergoing shock treatment and counseling for a nervous breakdown. Piersall returned to the Red Sox in 1953 and seemed to have surmounted his emotional demons. But he often showboated in the summers to come, most memorably in June 1963, playing for the Mets, when he circled the bases in their proper order but running backward after hitting his 100th career home run. When his playing days ended, he encountered trouble with his bosses with his outspoken comments as a broadcaster and an instructor. Piersall’s illness and recovery were dramatized on television in 1955 when Tab Hunter portrayed him as part of the CBS series “Climax!” and in the Hollywood movie two years later, when Anthony Perkins portrayed him and Karl Malden played his father. “I hated the movie,” Piersall wrote in his 1984 memoir. He praised Perkins’s acting, but said he looked foolish trying to play baseball. He maintained that the movie included events that never happened and said that he never blamed his father for his breakdown. Jim Piersall at Baseball Reference: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/piersji01.shtml June 23, 1963: Jimmy Piersall's Home Run in Reverse.
this is something i would've loved to have seen ... and then immediately after, criticized to no end.
Cubs Selling Wrigley Field Ivy Leaves From 2006 Season For $200 - ABC News / ESPN http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/cubs-selling-2016-leaves-wrigley-field-ivy-200/story?id=48019802
2017 ALL-STAR STARTERS American League C- Salvador Perez, Royals 1B- Justin Smoak, Blue Jays 2B- Jose Altuve, Astros SS- Carlos Correa, Astros 3B- Jose Ramirez, Indians OF- Aaron Judge, Yankees OF- Mike Trout, Angels OF- George Springer, Astros DH- Corey Dickerson, Rays MANAGER- Terry Francona, Indians National League C- Buster Posey, Giants 1B- Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals 2B- Daniel Murphy, Nationals SS- Zack Cozart, Reds 3B- Nolan Arenado, Rockies OF- Bryce Harper, Nationals OF- Charlie Blackmon, Rockies OF- Marcell Ozuna, Marlins MANAGER- Joe Maddon, Cubs Miami, Here We Come: All-Star Game Rosters Unveiled - MLB http://m.mlb.com/news/article/239688024/2017-mlb-all-star-game-rosters-announced/?topicId=27118122
Kenley Jansen Blames Dodgers Fans For Not Voting ASG Starters - ESPN http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...odgers-fans-not-voting-all-star-game-starters
Francona To Miss All-Star Game After Heart Procedure - ESPN http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...francona-manage-all-star-game-heart-procedure
American 2, National 1 (10) http://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=370711132 A.L.- 43 wins N.L.- 43 wins Ties- 2 Cano's 10th-Inning Homer Lifts AL To All-Star Victory - ESPN http://www.espn.com/mlb/recap?gameId=370711132
Ex-Phils C Darren Daulton Dies At 55 After Cancer Battle - ESPN http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...-former-philadelphia-phillies-catcher-dies-55 Darren Daulton at Baseball Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/daultda01.shtml
1979 AL MVP Don Baylor Dies Of Cancer At Age 68 - ESPN http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/20272947/don-baylor-1979-american-league-mvp-angels-dies-age-68 Don Baylor at Baseball Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/baylodo01.shtml
Nickname Jerseys Set For MLB Players' Weekend - ESPN http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...eys-newly-created-players-weekend-later-month
Derek Jeter, Michael Jordan Among Group Set To Buy Marlins - ESPN http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...reement-sell-team-group-including-derek-jeter
The LA Dodgers are leading the NL West by 21 games. To put this in perspective, Oakland in the AL West is in last place 22 games behind Division-leading Houston.
Pirates 1, Dodgers 0 (10) http://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=370823123 Dodgers' Rich Hill Loses Perfect Game In 9th; No-Hitter & Game In 10th - ESPN http://www.espn.com/mlb/recap?gameId=370823123
A's Choose Site At Oakland Lake For New Park - ESPN http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/20694388/oakland-choose-site-city-lake-merritt-new-ballpark