Want to win a FREE book on baseball?

Of course you do!

Over at The Hall of Very Good they have an article with author Dan Epstein who's written a new book about baseball during the 1970's titled...

Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s.

I can't wait to read this book, and relive the decade of cookie cutter stadiums, astro turf, and softball uniforms.

Head over to The Hall of Very Good, read the interview, and comment on the article, and you could win a copy of the book.

What are you reading?

As a reader of this blog you know how much I love baseball, and that includes books written on America's Pastime.

I enjoy reading books on all big league clubs, and cannot pass on a book written about the Detroit Tigers, or players who've played for the team.

I'm currently reading a book about Don Larsen's Perfect Game in Game 6 of the 1956 World Series, by Lew Paper.

It's a fascinating book that looks at the players and coaches that made up Game 6 of the 1956 World Series.

As I read the book, I was wondering what some of you baseball fans out there are reading this spring.

In today's USA Today Sports Section there's an article on George Vecsey's new book on Stan Musial, and it looks like a great book, can't wait to read it.

Comment if you would on what your reading now, or tell me about a book on baseball that you've read in the past that you really liked.

 

My favorite Marlin

Last year when I was starting this blog I had a series of post on my favorite ball players of all the big league clubs, present and past, including extinct clubs, and the Negro Leagues.

I started in the American League East, then went to the Brooklyn Dodgers(Jackie Robinson), and then into the National League East.

I kinda got lost in the college football season watching my Michigan Wolverines, and then the NFL, and then the NHL, trying to get my beloved Red Wings to go for another Stanley Cup.

Now that all of that is over, my focus for the rest of the summer will be back into baseball.

I'm re-starting the the articles on my fave players. The last post was on the Atlanta Braves Dale Murphy

I continue in the N.L. East, with my fave Florida Marlin, Jeff Conine.

Jeff Conine was just one of those guys, when you saw how he played, you just said there goes a big league ball player.

Conine was drafted by the Kansas City Royals, where he made his big league debut, on September 16th, 1990.

After playing in 37 games for the Royals, Conine was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the Expansion Draft in 1993.

Jeff played all 162 games in 1993, getting 174 hits, batting .292, with 12 HR, and 79 RBI, placing him 3rd place in the N.L. Rookie of the Year voting.

Conine would play for the Marlins through the 1997 season, when he and the Marlins, as a Wild Card, went on to win the teams first World Series Title, over the Cleveland Indians.

In that span, from '93-97, Conine established himself as the Marlins best player, batting .300 twice, hitting 98 home runs, driving in 422 runs, playing in 2 All-Star Games, winning the MVP of the 1995 All-Star Game, coming off the bench as a pinch hitter, and hitting the game winning HR in the 8th inning.

After the '97 World Series, the Marlins sold off and traded most of their team, including Conine, who was sent back to the Royals for the 1998 season.

From 1999-2003 Jeff played in Baltimore, where, as usual, he became a fan favorite, just as he had in Florida.

On the trade deadline in 2003 the Orioles sent Conine back to the Marlins, where Jeff became part of the Marlins 2nd World Series Championship team.

I always enjoyed watching Conine play, ad regardless of the players who have come after him, he is, and always will , be Mr. Marlin,"  the face of the Marlins franchise.

Conine last played for the Marlins in 2005, and yet his name is still high up in the Marlins record book.

Jeff Conine is 2nd in career games played for Florida, with 1,104, 2nd in hits, 1.005, 2nd in RBIs, 553, 3rd in total bases, 1,579, 7th in Marlins HRs, with 120, and 8th in batting average, at .290.

I used to get into arguments with friends about Conine being the Marlins best player in his early years, when Garry Sheffield was a teammate of Conine.

I'll take one Jeff Conine as a player on one of my teams over a hundred Sheffield's.

The stats were all Sheffield's, but the heart, the passion, the ball player, for me, was Jeff Conine.

Red Wings are done, all baseball the rest of the summer

Sports fans like myself, who grew up in the Midwest, and follow sports all year long, are now down to one sport, baseball.

Well. maybe I'm just speaking for myself, but for the rest of the summer, it's all about the National Pastime, the great game of baseball.

Now, that doesn't mean that I won't look in on the Stanley Cup playoffs, I will, it's just that after my Detroit Red Wings were eliminated, the nightly watching of games until the wee hours of the morning are over.

Today is the start of summer baseball watching, I have no interest in the outcome of the Stanley Cup winner, or the winner of the NBA Finals...although I will say that I am hoping any team other than Miami wins.

Baseball and the summer, they were meant for one another, "The Boys of Summer," as Roger Kahn wrote.

I'm a fan of the Detroit Tigers, who, after winning 5 straight games, are just 4 games behind first place Cleveland, and a 1/2 a game behind the KC Royals, who come to Comerica Park for a weekend series.

Mr. No-No, Justin Verlander, takes the mound for the first time tonight since his 2nd career no-hitter last Saturday in Toronto against the Blue Jays.

It's also that time of year, the time when the baseball media trot out all the superlatives, all the hype that surrounds the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry.

All 3 games are on prime time TV, tonight on the MLB Network, Saturday on FOX, and Sunday night, of course, on ESPN.

Tonight it's all about Verlander, and the Tigers of course, but I'll check in on the Yanks-BoSox.

I hope to be posting more starting this weekend, as I've been lax in posting over the past month, due to my health, and general lack of any real reason to write.

I'll be bringing back my articles on my favorite players from all current, and past big league teams.

Look this weekend for my post on my fave Florida Marlin player, "Mr. Marlin," Jeff Conine.

You can check out previous fave player posts by entering "my favorite players from all 30 Big League teams" in the "search box" on the lower left hand side of this blog.

Here is the one on the Tampa Bay Rays Rocco Baldelli

I will also be doing some other posts, re-designing some things on the blog, trying to get back into the groove, so to speak.

Some notes...

Please remember, if you're a fan of the Detroit Tigers, please check out Detroit Tigers Scorecard Blog, written by my friend, Austin Drake.

I do write some things on occasion, but Austin is a fantastic, vibrant young Tiger fan, who's passion for the Motor City's big league team reminds me of myself some 30+ years ago, before the internet, of course.

Follow me here on my Twitter page  or on my Facebook page for my thoughts on baseball and life in general.

Thanks to all of you who continue to read this blog, believe me, it's very much appreciated.

I love the game of baseball, and it's glorious history.

Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander no-hits the Blue Jays

I just had to call my Uncle Bob.

He remembers Virgil Trucks, a journeyman pitcher in the 1940's and 50's who threw two ho-hitters for the Detroit Tigers in 1952.

Nicknamed "Fire," Virgil Trucks was the only Tiger pitcher to throw 2 no-hitters for the Tigers.


Until today.


Today at Rogers Center in Toronto, right hander Justin Verlander dominated the Blue Jays, tossing his second career no-hitter, as the Tigers beat Toronto, 9-0.


Justin Verlander is the best pitcher the Tigers have had since Jack Morris, and when he's done pitching, he'll simply be the best pitcher the Detroit Tigers have ever had.


Allowing only an 8th inning walk , Verlander faced the minimum, 27 batters, retiring Blue Jays catcher A.J. Arencibia, the recipient of the walk, on a double play.


Justin Verlander no-hits the Blue Jays


The Tigers pounded out 11 hits, including home runs by Jhonny Peralta and Alex Avila, in the Tigers 9-0 win.

 

Who's the best baseball player ever?

I'll make this short, mostly because i don't feel very good today.

It's time for another poll ranking the best baseball players of All-Time.

ESPN has asked baseball fans to pick the greatest baseball players of All-Time.

For me, this is always a tough call.

What do you do with Bonds, A-Rod, Clemens, and the rest of the steroid era players who have, and continue to, erase legendary numbers.

There are always going to be those who say the Cobbs, Ruth's, and Gehrig's of baseball never had to face black and Latin players, and that the quality of pitching is better today.

All I know is the best hitter of All-Time was Tyrus Raymond Cobb, the best pitcher was Cy Young, and the best all around player was Babe Ruth.

Before you all come back with Mays, yes, The Say Hey Kid was great, but he didn't win 94 big league games as a starting pitcher.

It's almost impossible to agree on the best ball players ever, but that's what makes the game so great.

Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Honus Wagner, Joe DiMaggio, Bonds, Greg Maddox, Mike Schmidt, Mickey Mantle.

The list goes on...and on...and on.

Happy Mendoza Line, er, Cinco de Mayo Day!

I really don't pay attention to days like today.

May 5th has always been just another day to me, but it's probably because I don't drink. Never have. 

However, as I've been seeing all day on my Twitter page it's Cinco de Mayo, the Mexican festival/ holiday that celebrates Mexico's victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla in 1862.

So, as I was thinking about all the tweets and comments on my Facebook page, I suddenly thought hey, what about some of the best of the best of the Mexican ball players who have come and gone through big league baseball.

 

132 players, if I counted right, have come to the big leagues from Mexico, including the great Fernando Valenzuela, Ruben Amaro, Bobby Avila, Vinny Castilla, Teddy Higuera, and of course, the infamous Mario Mendoza.

Mario Mendoza's  Baseball Almanac.com page is here.

Mendoza was a good fielding,  light hitting infielder with a lifetime .215 batting average who became part of baseball lore after Kansas City Royals star 3rd baseman George Brett commented about looking through the box scores to see the players hitting below "the Mendoza line," or, under .200.

Other Mexican baseball players who made good in the big league include Sid Monge, Aurelio Lopez..."Senior Smoke" of the 1984 Detroit Tigers, Hector Torres, Oscar Robles, and Mel Almada, who became the 1st ever Mexican to play in the big leagues, when he made his debut on September 8th, 1933.