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The former World Cup winning and Gold medal Olympic teammates were will be officially inducted later this year.
CARSON, Calif. – Former teammates Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy, who shared two Olympic gold medals and two World Cup titles, were both elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame on Tuesday.
Hamm was chosen in a landslide, named on 137 of 141 ballots for 97.16 percent of the vote — both records. The previous highest percentage belonged to Michelle Akers, who was elected with 95.77 percent in 2005.
Foudy was selected on 118 ballots for 83.69 percent. The voting was announced at Home Depot Center in Carson.
“What a blessed career that Julie and I have been able to have with such a wonderful group of women,” Hamm said. “To top it off with this nomination is truly exciting for both of us. It’s going to be a weekend that we never forget.”
Hamm and Foudy, each in their first year of eligibility, comprise the first all-women class elected to the Oneonta, N.Y.-based hall. They will be inducted Aug. 26.
The duo will join the five women who have been inducted since the hall began in 1950.
Congrats to both Mia and Julie. They are deserving inductees. There is still more news.
Foudy became a first-time mother on Jan. 1, when she gave birth to daughter Isabel.
Hamm is expecting twins in April with husband Nomar Garciaparra, who is at spring training with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Congratulations again and good luck Mia with the birth.
On Valentine’s Day, the love comes out for the greatest game in the world -
Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter: “I think because everybody can relate. You don’t have to be seven feet tall; you don’t have to be a certain size to play. Baseball is up and down. I think life’s like that sometimes, you know. Back and forth, up and down, you’re going through this grind. I think people like watching it. Baseball’s like a soap opera every day.”
Ernie Banks, Cubs legend and Hall of Famer: “It’s just life. When I think about baseball, it’s just life. It’s really the way life is. It requires a lot of mental capacity to be involved in it. It creates a lot of joy for people and memories for people who follow it. It’s a family. You like it because it’s a family. You started with it and know all these people — it’s family, it’s friends, it’s fun, it’s a beautiful game. All in all, baseball is amazing.
Joel Kweskin, 56, White Sox fan based in Charlotte, N.C.: “It’s unique unto itself. Football, basketball and hockey are variations of the same concept — back and forth in a linear progression to score a goal. Baseball, however, is mapped out on the field unlike any other sport. A running back or return specialist can run 100 yards, tops; a baserunner legging out an inside-the-park homer runs 20 yards farther. Baseball is the most democratic of sports — any size can play, and because the ball is not controlled by the offense but rather the defense, every player at any given time is involved in a play. Along with the anecdotally accepted premise that hitting a pitched baseball is the single most difficult thing to do in sports, so might be fielding a 175-mph line drive or grounder down the line. I love baseball because it is the greatest game ever invented.”
Former Royals star Willie Wilson: “The first thing is, I don’t think there’s any criteria for size, so anybody can play. I think people can relate. A lot of people never played football; basketball, you’ve gotta be tall and be able to jump. But baseball is a game where you pick up a bat and a ball, and you catch it, you swing the bat and you hit the ball. Most people have played softball or some kind of baseball, so they can relate to the sport. For me, that’s why I think America just embraces baseball, man.”
Baseball Blogger Travis G.: Where to start? I think better when I make a list.
1. Players. The requirements to be a good baseball player are very undefined. You can be short, tall, thin, chunky, anything really. You name the greats and you get tall and chunky (Ruth, Ortiz), short and chunky (Yogi, Gwynn), tall and thin (Sizemore, Jeter), short and thin (Reyes, Ichiro). They may not be the best athletes (e.g. David Wells), but when they’re playing the best game in the world, who cares?
2. The Mentality. Baseball requires more intelligence than any other sport (save for NFL QB). Simply put, every hitter that steps to the plate is trying to out-think the pitcher, and vice versa. 4-5 times a game, focus has to be completely on the man in front of him. Will he throw a fastball, curve, change? If you take an at-bat (or even a pitch) off, you’re toast. Same thing with the pitcher. The only other sport that comes close is football, but mainly just for the QB. Baseball requires every single player to have good mental capacity.
3. The Field. Football, hockey, basketball and soccer all use essentially the same type of field/playing surface: a rectangle. Baseball uses a diamond. It’s not only unique in that aspect, but every single ballpark is unique amongst the sport. Each park has its own quirks and intricacies that make it special. Not a single other sport can say that. Yankee Stadium has Death Valley, the short RF porch, and the facade. Fenway has the Monster. Shea has the apple. Wrigley has the ivy-covered brick. Pac Bell (or whatever it’s called now) has the bay in RF. Houston has the hill in center. Imagine if the RCA Dome’s field was only 95 yards; that’s the equivalent of Death Valley or the Green Monster.
4. One on One. Basically the speech DeNiro makes in The Untouchables. Baseball is a team game: 25 men. But each of them takes one turn – by themself – to help the whole team. Then the next batter gets a chance. Because of the batting order, a team can’t simply send its best hitter up every at-bat. You can’t just give the ball to Jordan or Shaq (Pujols or Ortiz) every time. A team’s best hitter will get 4-5 chances a game to help his team. That’s it. You need a complete team to win.
5. Substitutions. Once a player is removed, he’s done. You can’t just sub in the best defenders when you have a lead. You can’t take out Santana for an inning because he’s tired, then re-insert him. Could you imagine the way baseball would be played if there were no substitution restrictions? It would be bedlam. Players don’t get any breaks (outside of the DH) during the game. Even late inning defensive replacements are a gamble if the trailing team comes back. And substitutions play an ever bigger role in the NL.
6. No Clock. No running out the clock. It doesn’t matter what inning and what score it is, you still need 27 outs to complete the game. There’s no easy way to ‘seal’ a win. You still have to face every batter, and record every out.
7. History. When Japanese kamikaze pilots flew their planes into American ships, they would often yell ‘Fuck Babe Ruth!’ No other American sport has the history baseball does. Some of the most iconic figures in our culture are Ruth, Gehrig, Dimaggio, Mantle, Ripken, McGwire, Bonds, Aaron, Clemens, Jeter. It’s goes all the way back to the 1830′s. The ‘Junior Circuit’ (AL) had been going strong for over 45 years before the NBA ever started. The Yankees had already won 20 World Series before the first Super Bowl was ever played. I just love that feeling of history when I watch a game.
8. Summer. What better sport to exemplify the feeling of summer than baseball. The only summer sport we have. Warm weather, kids are out of school; remember the day games with your dad, drinking a soda, eating a hot dog? No other sport lets you enjoy the weather. Hockey and basketball are indoors. And the football season lasts from September to February, nuff said.
9. Connection. This ain’t football where the most ardent fans get to see a maximum of just 24 games (including the pre and post-season). Baseball is 3 hours a day, 6 days a week for 6 months. You get a minimum of 162 games. That’s double basketball and hockey, and 10 times that of football. Not only do you get to see your ‘guys’ 162 times a season, but you actually feel close to them. They’re not wearing masks to cover their faces (football, hockey), so you see (and often share) their reactions and emotions. You don’t get that feeling of ‘closeness’ from other sports. And then when you add the fact that baseball plays 162 games, it’s easy to understand where the connection comes from. When the season is over, it’s like you not seeing your family for 5 months.
10. Home-field Advantage. Having the home team hit in the bottom of each inning assures that every team, every season (even Kansas City) will have its share of thrilling, bottom of the whatever, walk-off wins. It’s nothing like football where you squib kick it or have the QB kneel down, or in basketball where you dribble out the clock or foul the opponent 10 times.
Your thoughts?
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| Monday, February 12, 2007 |
This article appeared on my personal blog on October 13, 2006. With regular season baseball seven weeks away, and the post season further down the line, I’m reprinting it here to give some food for thought on baseball’s postseason tournament. The postseason cannot equitably determine the best team of the partcipants. Given the variables involved in winning a baseball game consistently, it would take hundreds of games to equitably determine the best team of the postseason participants. In light of that, my proposal maximizes the marketing benefit, by sacrificing the competitive aspects of a postseason tournament. Purists beware.
Bruce Regal opines that the wild card is broke and needs fixing today over at The Baseball Analysts. The heart of his proposal is this.
I propose that instead of going directly to a four-team tournament, each of the four divisions first have a “Challenge Round” in which the second place team in each division would have an opportunity to catch the first place team in a series of head-to-head games. In effect, the regular season would be extended for up to another 6 games between the first and second place teams, until one or the other clinches the division. If they end up tied at the end of 6 games, they play a seventh game in the form of a one-game playoff. To provide a few examples of how this system would work, suppose divisions ended as they did in 2006. In a Challenge Round, Anaheim (second place, four games behind) would play Oakland needing six wins in seven games; Minnesota (first place) and Detroit (one game behind) would play, with the Tigers needing four wins in six games; and LA and San Diego (who tied for first) would play a full best of seven game Challenge Round series.
First and foremost, Regal failed to consider how he would realign his divisions. Using the final standings in the American League, Detroit, returned to the AL East would play New York in a challenge round. And Minnesota, playing again in the AL West would be challenged by Oakland. If that sounds familiar, it’s because that was exactly how the playoffs shaped up. It’s a simple oversight, and I think it is a minor one in assessing the proposal. In the NL, Philadelphia would need to rip off 12 straight wins to catch the Mets, 13 to get into the playoffs. And that’s where Regal’s system fails. First, St. Louis, who is in the NLCS would be at home watching the playoffs. Second, the idea of letting Philly challenge the Mets with such long odds is a little insulting.
A better solution, one that baseball purists and sabermetricians would probably sneer at, only a marketing wonk could love it (which is my day job, by the way). Baseball should retain the tri-division format. I am not fond of uneven divisions and imbalanced schedules. I get a little sick of playing the Yankees 19 times a year (especially when they take five games from us in August effectively ending our season). But this is what baseball has chosen, and going back to two large divisions is unlikely. So we work with what we have.
Instead of a challenge round, I suggest a pair of play in games. The division winners get the weekend off and two made for television games are played on a Saturday and Sunday night. The games would pit the teams with the fourth and fifth best records in each league in a winner take all format. But the best team might not win. So what?
Seriously, the NFL and College Basketball have compelling playoff formats built around the idea of a series of winner take all contests. And the NFL is proud to say that on any given Sunday, any given team can beat any other. Even though it would take a month of Sundays before the Raiders topped the Bears, folks assume that to be true. If that’s the case, shouldn’t football use a system that makes sure the best teams have a better shot of winning? Humbug. The NFL wisely recognizes the value of compelling drama. Baseball, Basketball and Hockey play longer series to get more gate revenues and to ensure that teams built for the long haul of their seasons have more odds of advancing. They sacrifice the compelling nature of playoff contests by making series. And I feel the LCS and World Series ought to be a contest of that sort. Even if there is only drama in a seventh game, which may or may not exist.
Here’s how it would work. The regular season would conclude on the last Wednesday or Thursday in September. That first weekend in October would be the Major League Baseball Play-In Challenge. The fourth best team in the AL would host the fifth best team in the AL on Saturday Night. The NL would follow suit on Sunday Night. The ALDS would begin on Monday with the best AL record team hosting the winner of the play in game. The other division winners would square off in the other Divisional series. The playoffs would continue as they currently are.
This year, that would mean Detroit would have to beat the White Sox to get to play the Yankees. And in the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers would host the Phillies for the right to play the Mets. That would create more playoff possibilities, and give weaker teams a chance at a postseason they would not ordinarily have, while placing a premium on winning your division. Further this year’s also rans like the White Sox, Angels, Toronto, Boston, Houston, Cincinnati, Atlanta and Florida would be in it longer. End of the season games would be more meaningful for a change.
The potential for greater interest in the game would also increase. College basketbal benefits from the creation of “Cinderella stories”. Imagine if a perennial also-ran like Tampa Bay or Kansas City were that fifth best team and they won the play in game. In addition to their fan base, the casual followers would have a rooting interest in cheering for an obvious underdog. Any improvement in ratings improves exposure of the game, enhancing revenues, enriching the teams, and making more competitive pennant races. What more could Major League Baseball want?
He was the right fielder and one a key player on the championship Yankee teams of the 1950′s. From AP-
Hank Bauer, the tough ex-Marine who set a World Series record with a 17-game hitting streak for the Yankees and later managed the Baltimore Orioles to the 1966 title, died Friday. He was 84.
Bauer died in the Kansas City area, where he made his home, Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo said.
During 14 seasons in the major leagues, a career that spanned from 1948-61, Bauer became a three-time All-Star outfielder, helping the Yankees win seven World Series titles and nine AL pennants. He spent his first 12 seasons with the Yankees and his final two with the Kansas City Athletics.
In his final Series appearance, he hit .323 with four homers and eight RBIs as the Yankees beat the Milwaukee Braves in seven games in 1958.
Bauer managed the Kansas City A’s to ninth-place finishes in 1961 and 1962, then took over as manager of the Orioles in 1964.
In 1966, he managed the Orioles to a 97-63 record and a World Series sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Bauer left the Orioles during the 1968 season, and his final managing job was with the Oakland A’s the following year.
Bauer’s time in the Marine Corps was at least as distinguished as his time in baseball.
Bauer enlisted in the Marines shortly after Pearl Harbor and saw action in a number of battles in the Pacific, including Okinawa and Guadalcanal, according to Hall of Fame archives. He earned two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts.
Bauer was wounded at Okinawa, hit in the left thigh by shrapnel in his 53rd day on the island.
“We went in with 64 and six of us came out,” Bauer said.
Bauer’s service record came under fire from an ill-informed politician
In the 1950′s, a Congressman published a list of athletes that received ‘soft duty’ during World War II. Hank Bauer, the Yankee Rightfielder, was on the list (Bauer was a very talented ballplayer).
Only one problem: Bauer, a Marine, took part in the invasion of four islands – New Georgia, Emirau, Okinawa and Guam. He took shrapnel in the back of his leg which could never be removed.
When his error was pointed out, the Congressman (I wish I had his name) said, “I didn’t mean Hank Bauer, I meant Hank Sauer.” Sauer was a Chicago Cubs outfielder.
Unfortunately, Sauer had also seen combat.
Talk about dumb Congressman. Note- This story was published in Bill James’ Historical Abstract.
Another former Baltimore Oriole, Steve Barber, died this week. Barber was on the mound and Bauer managing in a famous 1967 game.
Facing Detroit in the first game of a doubleheader at old Memorial Stadium, Barber took a no-hit bid and a 1-0 lead into the ninth inning despite severe bouts of wildness.
Barber walked the first two batters in the ninth, then retired the next two hitters. But he threw a wild pitch that let the tying run score and, after yet another walk, was pulled from the game.
Stu Miller relieved, and the Tigers scored the go-ahead run on an error. The Tigers wound up winning 2-1 despite getting no hits. Barber’s line that afternoon: 8 2-3 innings, 10 walks, two hit batters, a wild pitch and a throwing error.
Barber and Bauer both gave baseball fans many memories. RIP.
Cross posted at Poliblog’s Deportes
Alright Dodger fans, it’s put up or shut up time. For the first time in the “history of sports” the fans can have an impact on a championship. Ok, so I am looking past Jeffery Maier “yanking” Derek Jeter’s routine fly ball out of Tony Tarasco’s glove. Wait a second did I just make reference to the Yanks on a Dodger post? Sorry, my bad. I digressed for a moment; I can’t say it won’t happen again. Excuse me but did somebody say Bartman?
Let me get back to explaining how you can help the Dodgers win a championship. I realize the Boys in Blue have managed only one playoff game victory since 1988, but bare with me. I assure you this championship is something the Dodgers can have wrapped up by January 12.
Ladies and gentleman, grab your mustard! The Dodger Dog has been nominated by AOL City Guide for its City’s Best Hot Dogs 2007 honor for the City of Angels. (And I am not talking about the team down the 5 freeway!)
Head on over to: Best Hot Dogs
The Dodgers have been drawing 3 million fans since 1980 which to me sure appears to be a whole lot of hot dogs chowed down on. With those kind of numbers this championship should be wrapped in relish and onions by the first week of January.
Cheers!
From AP-
When things looked bleak for the Los Angeles Dodgers, they found their power stroke. The Dodgers hit four consecutive homers in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game, and Nomar Garciaparra’s two-run drive in the 10th lifted Los Angeles to an 11-10 victory over the San Diego Padres on Monday night.
*****
After Los Angeles tied it in the ninth with four straight homers — just the fourth time that’s happened in major league history — the Padres went ahead on Brian Giles’ double and Josh Bard’s two-out single off Aaron Sele (8-6).
But Rudy Seanez (1-2) walked Kenny Lofton to begin the bottom half, and Garciaparra followed by hitting his 18th homer deep into the left-field pavilion.
*****
At Los Angeles, Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew opened the ninth with homers off San Diego’s Jon Adkins. Russell Martin and Marlon Anderson then connected on the first two pitches thrown by Trevor Hoffman, who entered with 475 career saves — three shy of Lee Smith’s major league record.
The last time a team hit four consecutive homers was on May 2, 1964, when the Minnesota Twins accomplished the feat against Kansas City in the 11th inning.
I don’t have anything to add about last night’s game except Dodger stadium is an unlikely place for such a happening. That stadium is one of the toughest hitter’s parks in baseball.
Baseball author Bill James wrote many years ago about the 1964 game. Before that season began, Charles Finley wanted to change the dimensions of Kansas City Municipal Stadium to the exact same dimensions as Yankee Stadium. All in order to increase homerun production. MLB wouldn’t allow the ballpark changes.
So Finley had a line drawn across the outfield in Left and Right where the fence would have been. Whenever a ball was hit over the line, the PA announcer would intone “That would have been a homerun in Yankee Stadium”. On the day of the four consecutive homers, the next batter hit a long fly ball out. The announcer said. “”That would have been a homerun in Yankee Stadium”. The next day that announcement was discontinued.
The 64 A’s did increase their homerun production, but mostly for their opponents. Opposition batters hit a then ML record amount of homers against the A’s.(220 or thereabouts) The record would stand till 1987.
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| Saturday, April 29, 2006 |
Steve Howe was killed in a vehicular crash yesterday morning.
Steve Howe, the relief pitcher whose promising career was derailed by cocaine and alcohol abuse, died Friday when his pickup truck rolled over in Coachella, Calif. He was 48.
Howe was killed at 5:55 a.m. PT, said Dalyn Backes of the Riverside County coroner’s office. The pickup truck Howe was driving left the roadway, entered the median and rolled several times, ejecting Howe from the vehicle, according to the coroner’s office. The accident occurred about 130 miles east of Los Angeles. Howe had been in Arizona on business and was driving back to the family home in Valencia, Calif., business partner Judy Welp said. Toxicology tests had not yet been performed.
The hard-throwing lefty was the 1980 NL Rookie of the Year with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and helped them win the World Series the next year. But for all of Howe’s success on the field, the hard-throwing lefty was constantly troubled by addictions — he was suspended seven times and became a symbol of the rampant cocaine problem that plagued baseball in the 1980s. During the 1992 season, he became the first baseball player to be banned for life because of drugs. An arbitrator reinstated him after the season.
Truly a shame. He wasted his enormous talent through drug addiction and now has had his life ended quite prematurely.
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| Tuesday, February 28, 2006 |
Hudson, not Smoltz, to start Opening Day for Braves
Tim Hudson will start Opening Day for the Atlanta Braves. The change in the rotation comes with the blessing of 2005 Opening Day starter John Smoltz, who says it’s time to pass the honor to Hudson. “Huddy is Opening Day starter for the future here,” Smoltz said. “As long as Huddy’s here, he’s going to start Opening Day. Huddy’s the guy.” Added Smoltz: “I’m just tickled to death being healthy.”
Hudson is scheduled to start the April 3 opener at the Los Angeles Dodgers. “If everything works right, Hudson will open,” manager Bobby Cox said. “It’s Hudson’s turn this year.”
Smoltz will turn 39 on May 15. In his return to a starter’s role last season, he was the workhorse of the staff with a 14-7 record, 3.06 ERA and team-high totals of 33 games started and 229 2/3 innings pitched. “I want to lessen his workload this year, whether it’s pitch Opening Day or work after him, so he doesn’t have to do what he did last year,” Hudson said. “That’s the main goal.” Smoltz finished last season with a sore shoulder. After the season he said he probably wouldn’t have been able to pitch in the National League Championship Series if the Braves had advanced past Houston in the division series. Smoltz says he feels fine following an offseason of rest, but concern about opening the season healthy led him to pull out of consideration for the United States’ World Baseball Classic team.
Hudson was 14-9 with a 3.52 ERA for the Braves last season, which he now says was “a bit of a blur for me.” “I had a new team, new teammates, a new baby,” Hudson said. “It seems a lot more settled right now. The dust has settled. It feels a lot more like it’s supposed to right now.”
Smoltz said he wanted to take pressure off Hudson by assuming the No. 1 starter’s role last season. “Last year was different,” Smoltz said. “He had just gotten here. From a pressure standpoint for Huddy, it was easier if he didn’t.” Smoltz said he is “far removed” from worrying about making the Opening Day start. “I’ve been there, done that,” he said. “Just get me to the playoffs healthy. My goal is to be healthy and strong at the end of the season.”
Hudson will be the Braves’ sixth different Opening Day starter in the last six years. In the previous 11 years only three pitchers — Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine — made Opening Day starts.
The right move, methinks. Smoltz is just too injury prone right now to waste him early in the season. By backing off his work, including skipping the occasional start, the chances of him being there in September and October increase. For a team fighting for its 15th straight division title–and second World Series championship–that’s what’s important.
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