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• Tour de France 2008
  July 6th, 2008
  

  Catch the latest Tour de France 2008 coverage over at bicycle.net

• The Legend of Joe Beimel
  May 1st, 2008
  

  OK, I was impressed with today’s one-pitch win by Joe Beimel, but troyfromwestvirginia is a Beimel-lovin’ freak. He’s recorded at least 5 YouTube videos about his icon and has this lovely animated Joe Beimel bobblehead as the background of his YouTube page. Way to go, Troy. You put fanatic in the word fan.

• What’s rarer than a perfect game in baseball? A no-pitcher. Beimel one-pitches the Fish for a Win.
  May 1st, 2008
  

  I was greeted at the office today with a trivia question… what is the fewest number of pitches needed to win a MLB game? The trap I fell into was thinking of starting pitchers and began thinking of 15, one pitch per batter for 5 innings in a rained-out game. Then someone at my office [...]

• Baseball Jinxes
  April 13th, 2008
  

  I’m conflicted. My brain tells me there is no such thing as a jinx. My heart tells me otherwise. The haunted expression of the construction worker who dug up the jersey of the Red Sox’s David Ortiz in the concrete of the Yankee Stadium-to-be tells me that more than a few fans believe strongly in [...]

• Amgen Tour of California 2008 – Stage 5 – Levi Leipheimer Keeps Yellow Jersey
  February 22nd, 2008
  

  Recent coverage from the 2008 Amgen Tour of California from Bicycle.net: Levi Leipheimer TGIF… Keeps Yellow Jersey in 2008 Tour of California after Stage 5 Exclusive: Daily Podcast from the Tour of California – Stage Four Edition Stage 5 Diary – Levi holds out and keeps the yellow Tour of California Organizers, UCI Consider Pro [...]

• Amgen Tour of California – Exclusive Coverage
  February 18th, 2008
  

  Bicycle.net has exclusive photos and audio in their coverage of the Amgen Tour of California. Check it out. Or add Bicycle.net’s Amgen Tour of California RSS feed.

• Roger “General Jessup” Clemens
  February 14th, 2008
  

  Clemens: You want answers? Congressman: I think I’m entitled to them. Clemens: You want answers? Congressman: I want the truth! Clemens: You can’t handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has baseballs. And those balls have to be hit by men with bats. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Congressman? I have [...]

• Baseball Hall of Fame Gets Goosed
  January 8th, 2008
  

  Congratulations to Rich “Goose” Gossage for being the only nominee to merit election to the Hall of Fame. I have a memory of Gossage pitching against Don Baylor of the Baltimore Orioles during a night game. Goose was in his wind-up and the stadium lights went out for a moment. When the lights went on [...]

• Dodgers Unwilling to Bet the Farm (Team), Buy Japanese Import, Kuroda
  December 17th, 2007
  

  The American idiom bet the farm is defined as to risk everything you have because you are certain of something. If baseball, and the prices that George Steinbrenner pays his player teaches us anything, there is no such thing as sure thing. My local Dodgers are blessed with a good farm system and some young [...]

• Major League Baseball and Doping – A League of Their Own… Rules
  December 13th, 2007
  

  Commentary on the Mitchell Report on baseball player doping… Where’s a Jimmy Dugan to straighten out this mess? Baseball’s pathetic owners wouldn’t allow an actual lover of the game like Bob Costas or George Will to clean house and ruin their poker game.

• In Awe of Maurice
  December 13th, 2007
  

  I’m usually the last to leave my office. Around 6pm, Maurice comes to our building to tidy the four suites on our floor and the one suite on the floor below ours. Tonight he asked me how he thought “our Dodgers” would do this year, and the conversation turned to my asking him when he [...]

• Major League Baseball – Mitchell Report Players
  December 13th, 2007
  

  Major League Baseball players listed in the Mitchell Report The following players were connected to steroids, either use or possession, in the report: Chad Allen — 2007 team: Played in Japan An outfielder who played with four teams in Major League Baseball between 1999 and 2005, the Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Indians, Florida Marlins, and Texas [...]

• Floyd Landis Speaks
  November 26th, 2007
  
• Torre, Donnie Baseball and LA-Rod?
  November 1st, 2007
  

  Let me start off. I grew up a Yankee fan. I lived in the pre-cable Little Leaguer’s heaven equidistant between New York City and Philadelphia and could watch 3, count ‘em, 3 baseball games most summer afternoons. I could watch the Yankees with Phil Rizzuto calling the plays on WPIX channel 11, the Mets with [...]

• If Sports Drinks Were Tested By The Experts From The Movie Sideways
  October 18th, 2007
  

  I’m not saying, I’m just saying…

• Barry Bonds Needed Viagra, Lover Says Steroids Killed His Bat
  October 3rd, 2007
  

  Asking men… [poll=2] REUTERS: Kimberly Bell, 37, spoke to Reuters ahead of the Friday publication of a nude pictorial spread in Playboy in which she discusses a romance that started in 1994 and continued into Bonds’ second marriage. … Bell, who used to work as a graphic designer in the San Francisco area but now [...]

• Baseball Trivia: Over 6000 At-Bats and Fewer Than 10 Stolen Bases
  September 24th, 2007
  

  Two players in the modern era were virtual Rocks of Gibraltar on the basepaths. You might think of typically constrained positions players like catchers or career firstbasemen… but you’d be wrong. Both players played the majority of their games in the outfield. Only 415 players in history lasted long enough to acquire 6000 at-bats. One [...]

• Bond’s Armor Contributes to Home Runs More Than A Corked Bat – Will Barry’s Hall of Fame HINGE On This?
  August 9th, 2007
  

  You know, I was going to photoshop something using the Six Million Dollar Man and his bionic arm, but that’s so dated… you can’t even get a middle reliever for $6M these days. Barry Bonds’ HR Record Tainted by Elbow ‘Armor’? By Michael Witte Published: August 06, 2007 10:45 AM NEW YORK (Commentary) Beyond his [...]

• GeezerWatch: Julioyoyoyoyo Franco
  August 7th, 2007
  

  For the rest of the month or so, Roger Clemens is back to being the oldest active player in MLB. As of this writing, Clemens (6-4, 44k, 4.04 ERA) is beating his old team, Toronto, 3-0 in the third inning. August 1: Braves drop Franco but want him back August 7: Franco assigned to Class [...]

• Tour de France
  July 18th, 2007
  

  Don’t miss Bicycle.net’s extensive coverage of this year’s Tour de France. Don’t miss the monitor shown in the upper left corner of the blog, where Bicycle.net shows readers an exclusive angle of TOUR DE FRANCE LIVE COVERAGE. Track live racer position, altitude, speed, heart rate and other cool stuff. Click the watch/monitor to read more.

• GeezerWatch: Julioyoyoyo Franco
  July 18th, 2007
  

  Um… my GeezerWatch: Rocket Man Roger Clemens – Now the Oldest Active MLB Baseball Player article was premature: 48-year-old Franco returns to Braves Julio Franco will get another chance to swing the bat in the big leagues. The 48-year-old utilityman signed with Atlanta on Wednesday, rejoining the Braves a week after he was cut by [...]

• 300 Win Candidates: ESPN’s Rob Neyer and I Disagree
  July 12th, 2007
  

  ESPN’s Rob Neyer seems to be echoing the theme of my June 27 300 Wins Requires 120 Before 30 – Baseball Theory in his July 3 Somebody will win 300 again. Neyer picks Roy Oswalt and Johan Santana to reach 300 and omits Carlos Zambrano and Dontrelle Willis. No way, Neyer. We at least agree [...]

• GeezerWatch: Rocket Man Roger Clemens – Now the Oldest Active MLB Baseball Player
  July 12th, 2007
  

  I’ve been following my Orosco number closely and it’s not looking good. Roger Clemens is good for only 3/4 of a season these days. Today, 48 year old Julio Franco was designated for assignment. Franco hit only .200 in 50 at-bats with one home run and eight RBIs. Mostly a pinch-hitter, he also played a [...]

• A Day Without Pro Sports – Trivia
  July 10th, 2007
  

  There is one day a year where there are no NFL, MLB, NBA or NHL games. What is it? Charles can’t play. My America-centric apologies to fans of world sports like soccer’s World Cub and cycling‘s Tour de France.

• Some Baseball All Stars Get More Break Than Others
  June 28th, 2007
  

  Today is the last day to vote for the 2007 Baseball All Star Game. Who will get a “hammy pull” or minor injury on the Sunday before the game so they can spend 3 days off at home, insulting the fans who voted them in and gave them a chance to contribute to their league’s [...]

• 300 Wins Requires 120 Before 30 – Baseball Theory
  June 27th, 2007
  

  This is a golden age for old pitchers. We have two active pitchers, Roger Clemens (349) and Greg Maddux (339) having over 300 wins. There are two near-certain to pass the 300 milestone, Tom Glavine is within 4 and Randy Johnson is within 16 wins. After that the list of active pitchers drops off the [...]

• Baseball Mortality Stats
  June 4th, 2007
  

  Death makes us reflect on our mortality. With the passing of the Yankees’ 3B Clete Boyer today, I got to wondering about another fan-mortality milestone to join the Orosco Number (which is the count of active players younger than you), a statistic to indicate the number of living baseball Hall of Fame players older than [...]

• He’s A Billiards Wizard – Landon Shuffett
  May 22nd, 2007
  

  So a pre-pubescent towheaded boy comes up to you and says he can shoot a cueball to flip a dime into a shotglass. I’m reminded of Sky Masterson from Guys And Dolls: One of these days in your travels, a guy is going to show you a brand-new deck of cards on which the seal [...]

• Roger Clemens, Rickey Henderson… and Jesse Orosco
  May 11th, 2007
  

  Good Jesse Orosco Number news for geezers who are far from the Wheelchair Brigade. 44 year old Roger Clemens is coming back this summer. 48 year old Rickey Henderson wants to: “Seeing Roger come back, all the seed that it plants is ask me to come back one time,” Henderson said Tuesday in the Mets [...]

• It Never Rains in (Southern) California… Only Once in a Dodger Blue Moon
  April 20th, 2007
  

  Here in Los Angeles we had a much-needed rain today. Los Angeles averages 15″ per year of rain. As of March, we had had only 2.42″. “The last time it was this dry was in 1923-1924 season when 2.50 inches of rain was recorded through March 22, 1924.” — Eric Boldt said from the National [...]

• If I Were A French Lab
  April 16th, 2007
  

  I wouldn’t want to be the target of bicycle.net‘s resident humorist, who is clearly on Tour de France winner Floyd Landis‘ side concerning his doping charges. Read more cycling news at bicycle.net.