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Thursday, October 30, 2003

The Cosmic Baseball Association 

Have any of you checked out the Cosmic Baseball Association's Website? It's different to say the least. The CBA was founded on October 9th 1981 in reaction to that year's player's strike.

The Cosmic Baseball Association (was) created in Lost Angeles, California by a group of writers and artists. The collective shares a passion for the game of the quadrature. But the founders of the CBA also share a collective dismay at the condition of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States. Swamped by greed and guile the players and owners of MLB were engulfed in a labor dispute that stopped the playing of major league baseball games. The members of the CBA in an idealistic fit of creation began simulating a more perfect cosmos.

The league includes teams like the Pranktown Busriders(no longer active) and the Dharma Beats. Not every team includes humans, as evidenced by the roster of the Speed City Velocitors. Nor is every team leftward leaning in politics. The Hearthland Capitalists field a squad managed by Ayn Rand! There are also teams of musicians, authors, and even presidents (although one must wonder how much range FDR would have in leftfield.)

I believe that the Cosmic Baseball Association is loosely based on Robert Coover's The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Proprietor, but I'm not 100% positive. In any case,their postseason starts Saturday. If your suffering from baseball withdrawal, you may want to check it out.




Sunday, October 26, 2003

This Has Nothing To Do With Baseball, But I Figured I'd Post It Anyways  

If you ever wondered about Connecticut numbered highways, Kurumi is the site for you. One of the more curious roads is the Route 11 "expressway-to-nowhere". For a small state, Connecticut has some pretty interesting roads and bridges. My favorite is the Merrit Parkway.


Thursday, October 23, 2003

Fact or Fiction? The Trotsky-Trosky Connection 

I'm not sure what to make of this piece by poli sci prof Robert Elias. The web page makes it difficult to read. It is interesting. I'll give it that.

Wednesday, October 22, 2003

Musings From Another Dick Allen 

I am not the only one in the blogosphere writing about baseball history. From Ireland comes Dick Allen's Baseball Blog. Follow Dick on his quest for Ted Tappe and other adventures. I dig his take on Eric Byrnes: I don’t like Eric Byrnes. You know how in films in the eighties there’d always be a loser kid who wants the girl, but the girl’s going with the rich, arrogant, blonde jock dude? In time the girl sees sense or something, and the jock is exposed for the fool he is. Well that’s what Eric Byrnes looks like to me, and I don’t like him.

Isn't the internet great?

Bill James and the 1914 World Series 

Since the 99th World Series is in full swing, I decided to do an entry with a Fall Classic theme.

The Bill James in the title isn't the famous writer. Instead, the title refers to Seattle Bill James. Seattle Bill was a pitching hero for the 1914 Miracle Braves. That Braves team was perhaps the unlikeliest of world champions; staging the unlikeliest of second half comebacks.

James's 26-7 won-loss record with an ERA of 1.90 coupled with a scoreless 2-0 record in the World Series were impressive, even in the deadball era which he played in. Although he was only 22 at the time, 1914 was the highlight of his brief major league career.

I have no clue why James was referred to as "Seattle Bill." He was actually from Placer County in California. The Auburn Journal from that county published this article about their favorite son last Sunday. It features a synopsis of the 1914 season and an interview with James's daughter. It also includes a picture of her with some memorabilia from her father's career. I'd like to thank Repoz for pointing this article out.





Tuesday, October 21, 2003

Early Baseball Cards 

Craig B e-mailed me this link today. It's to a Library Of Congress online exhibition of early baseball cards from 1887 to 1914. From the page: Cigarette card collector Benjamin K. Edwards preserved these baseball cards in albums with more than 12,000 other cards on many subjects. After his death, Edwards' daughter gave the albums to noted poet and Lincoln biographer Carl Sandburg, who donated them to the Library's Prints and Photographs Division in 1954.

Not all the cards were from the major leagues, as this set from the Pacific Coast League shows. Some of the cards do have rudimentary stats like this trio of Cubs who have been immortalized in poetry.

Finally, there's something worth using my tax dollars for!

Friday, October 17, 2003

Edmonds Historical Museum Exhibit 

A friend of mine who sometimes goes by the nom de keyboard Frank Cros-set-emstraight sent me this item.

"Old Tyme Base Ball in Snohomish County" is an exhibit that will be on view through February at the Edmonds Historical Museum in downtown Edmonds.

I assume that Snohomish County and Edmonds are in Washington state. If any of you are in the area, check it out and let me know how it is.

Now that the Red Sox have been eliminated from postseason play (despite what the New York Post says,) I plan to make this blog more active.

Hopefully I'll get back to you later this weekend.

Sunday, October 12, 2003

National Baseball Hall of Fame - Dressed to the Nines - Uniform Database 

Did you ever wonder what your favorite team's uniform looked like in a particular year? Then check out the Uniform Database at the Hall of Fame's website. Thanks mainly to the efforts of baseball historian Marc Okkonen, this database has images of every teams home and road uni from 1900 to the present. It even includes the Federal League.

By the way, this database was inspired by Marc Okkonen’s book titled Baseball Uniforms of the 20th Century, published by Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. I'm not sure if the book is still available, but a local library near me had a copy and I enjoyed it. It's sort of a coffee table book.

If you get a chance, check this page out. It has a few other goodies that I haven't mentioned.

Monday, October 06, 2003

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Red Sox at Athletics - 10/06/2003 

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Red Sox at Athletics - 10/06/2003

Sunday, October 05, 2003

Baseball Family Tree 

One thing I get a kick out of in baseball is the family connections. The owner of the company I work for is an ex-minor leaguer in the Braves system. His dad was in the Dodgers system in the late 40's and early 50's. And he has two nephews currently playing minor league ball.

Baseball Almanac has a few pages on baseball family trees. It has sections on fathers/sons, brothers and (great)grandfathers/(great)grandsons.

But those aren't the only players who had relatives that played baseball. "Spaceman" Lee had an aunt who played in the AAGBL. Dwight Gooden is Gary Sheffield's uncle. Larry Bowa is Nick Johnson's uncle, as well. Luis Tiant's father was a Negro League star. Carlton Fisk and Rick Miller are brothers-in-law.

We discussed a few of these on this thread at Baseball Primer. One day, if I get the chance, I'd like to do research on what the biggest extended baseball family is. I wonder if one of the early players from the National Association days or even the Knickerbocker days has a lineal descendants who continued in baseball and are still involved in the game. (How many generations would that cover?)

See you soon. In the meantime, Cowboy Up!!!

Thursday, October 02, 2003

Final Resting Places of Hall of Famers 

Hey, all. I'm pretty tired after two Red Sox losses in the space of about 20 hours. But I do want to point out Stew Thornley's Hall of Fame Gravesites page. I like the sites for Jackie Robinson and Babe Ruth myself. No, there aren't any pics of the lab where Ted William's remains are held.

Peace

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