Historic Mickey Mantle Game Worn Jersey surfaces as one of the hobby’s greatest modern finds
Unquestionably the jersey Mantle wore at the end of his career; possibly the great slugger’s last game-worn pinstripes will be offered at Heritage April Sports Auction. For the full story go to news-antique.com.
Unquestionably the jersey Mantle wore at the end of his career; possibly the great slugger’s last game-worn pinstripes will be offered at Heritage April Sports Auction. For the full story go to news-antique.com.
Upper Deck in Trouble - Major League Baseball Files Suit for Trademark Infringement
The Upper Deck Company has been hit with a lawsuit from Major League Baseball. The lawsuit accuses Upper Deck with trademark infringement. UD has been producing baseball cards licensed by MLB since 1989. MLB decided not to renew UD’s contract this year and to pour salt on the wound, gave The Topps Company exclusive rights.
The initial lawsuit was imitated based on two Upper Deck products, UD Signature Stars and Ultimate Collection Baseball. MLB claim is that these two series were distributed illegally, because UD used MLB trademarks.
Apparently, Upper Deck has other baseball card series that they planned to release that would fall into the category has the first two named in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also claims that UD owes MLB over 2.4 million dollars.
Stay tuned, this should be interesting.
B.J. Upton Loses Salary Arbitration
The Tampa Bay Rays recently won their salary arbitration hearing with B.J. Upton. Upton’s numbers for the 2009 season weren’t as good as his 2008 season. Upton requested $3.3 million per year but will receive only $3 million. The good news for B.J. is that he got a significant raise from last years salary, which was close to the poverty level at $435,000.
FRANK THOMAS RETIRESI was very pleased to hear that the Chicago White Sox were going to retire Frank Thomas’ number 35. I was a fan, not just because he was a great ball player, but because he was a class act from the beginning to the end.
Thomas' uniform number will be retired during an on-field ceremony on "Frank Thomas Day," Aug. 29, when the team hosts the New York Yankees.
Thomas’ No. 35 is only the 9th White Sox player to have his number retired. The other eight in numerical order are No. 2 (Nellie Fox), No. 3 (Harold Baines), No. 4 (Luke Appling), No. 9 (Minnie Minoso), No. 11 (Luis Aparicio), No. 16 (Ted Lyons), No. 19 (Billy Pierce) and No. 72 (Carlton Fisk).
In the 1990’s, Frank Thomas was one the most dominate offensive players in the game. I would hope that he is a first ballot inductee into Cooperstown.
In the 1990’s, Frank Thomas was one the most dominate offensive players in the game. I would hope that he is a first ballot inductee into Cooperstown.
Steroids and Baseball
First, let me state that by no means do I favor the use of steroids in any athletic situation. However, I do question the benefit they give to a ball player. Sure they give him bigger muscles, but big muscles aren’t the reason a very few players can hit a lot of home runs. Hitting a round baseball with a round bat coming at you at up to 100 mph has to be the most difficult task in all sports. There is more to hitting home runs than muscles. Babe Ruth wasn’t exactly a chisled athlete, Hank Aaron wasn’t a big muscle bound man, both could hit home runs. Ted Williams, arguably the best hitter to ever play the game, was rather thin and he was able to hit 521 home runs. In his book “The Science of Hitting”, Williams defined what it takes to hit a home run. “A good hitter must identify a pitch to hit, know enough about the pitcher and the game situation to give himself the best chance to succeed, and put hands and hips into motion to drive the pitch.” There is no mention of muscles aiding in the production of home runs.
A home run hitter can’t hit a home run if he can’t make contact with the ball. As stated earlier, hitting a baseball is a exceptional skill in all of sports. It is a powerful act that does not require extraordinary muscle strength. The ability to hit a baseball depends on technique, reflexes, and hand-eye coordination, not muscles. Having said that, can someone provide me with scientific evidence that steroids improve your technique, reflexes and eye-hand coordination? Also, how many picthers were taking steroids? Did that make them throw the ball faster or give them better control?
I’v been and still am a fan of Mark McGwire. Yes, I was very disappointed when he admiited using steroids, but I look at the whole picture. McGwire is publicly active in The Mark McGwire Charity. He donates $1 million a year to his foundation for abused children, has done many autograph charity auctions, plays in charity Golf tournaments, and does other such endorsements and events to help those in need.
Baseball players of different eras were facing different pitchers throwing different balls in different stadiums. And within the game of baseball, there’s more support than you might think that Bonds’ achievements have more to do with pure baseball skills than possible increased muscle mass due to steroids.
Free Agents Remaining Unsigned as of February 16, 2010
Player | Position | Age | Status | Former Team |
Garret Anderson | LF | 37 | Free Agent | Atlanta |
Rich Aurilia | 1B | 38 | Free Agent | San Francisco |
Paul Bako | C | 37 | Free Agent | Philadelphia |
Rocco Baldelli | RF | 28 | Free Agent (B) | Boston |
Rod Barajas | C | 34 | Free Agent | Toronto |
Joe Beimel | RP | 32 | Free Agent | Colorado |
Hank Blalock | 1B | 29 | Free Agent | Texas |
Aaron Boone | 3B | 36 | Free Agent | Houston |
Chad Bradford | RP | 35 | Free Agent | Tampa Bay |
Russell Branyan | 1B | 34 | Free Agent | Seattle |
Paul Byrd | SP | 39 | Free Agent | Boston |
Kiko Calero | RP | 35 | Free Agent | Florida |
Joe Crede | 3B | 31 | Free Agent | Minnesota |
Johnny Damon | LF | 36 | Free Agent | NY Yankees |
Carlos Delgado | 1B | 37 | Free Agent | NY Mets |
Jermaine Dye | RF | 36 | Free Agent | Chicago Sox |
Alan Embree | RP | 40 | Free Agent | Colorado |
Darin Erstad | LF | 35 | Free Agent | Houston |
Chad Fox | RP | 39 | Free Agent | Chicago Cubs |
Nomar Garciaparra | 1B | 36 | Free Agent | Oakland |
Jonny Gomes | LF | 29 | Non-Tendered | Cincinnati |
Mike Hampton | SP | 37 | Free Agent | Houston |
Livan Hernandez | SP | 34 | Free Agent | Washington |
Jason Isringhausen | RP | 37 | Free Agent | Tampa Bay |
Braden Looper | SP | 35 | Free Agent | Milwaukee |
Felipe Lopez | 2B | 29 | Free Agent | Milwaukee |
Mike MacDougal | RP | 32 | Non-Tendered | Washington |
Ron Mahay | RP | 38 | Free Agent | Minnesota |
Pedro Martinez | SP | 38 | Free Agent | Philadelphia |
Ramon Martinez | SS | 37 | Free Agent | NY Mets |
Eric Milton | SP | 34 | Free Agent | LA Dodgers |
Jose Molina | C | 34 | Free Agent | NY Yankees |
Dustin Moseley | SP | 28 | Non-Tendered | LA Angels |
Greg Norton | LF | 37 | Free Agent | Atlanta |
Tomo Ohka | SP | 33 | Free Agent | Cleveland |
Chan Ho Park | RP | 36 | Free Agent | Philadelphia |
Troy Percival | RP | 40 | Free Agent | Tampa Bay |
Shawn Riggans | C | 29 | Non-Tendered | Tampa Bay |
Gary Sheffield | LF | 41 | Free Agent | NY Mets |
John Smoltz | SP | 42 | Free Agent | St. Louis |
Russ Springer | RP | 41 | Free Agent | Tampa Bay |
Brett Tomko | SP | 36 | Free Agent | Oakland |
Ron Villone | RP | 40 | Free Agent | Washington |
Chien-Ming Wang | SP | 29 | Free Agent | NY Yankees |
Jarrod Washburn | SP | 35 | Free Agent | Detroit |
David Weathers | RP | 40 | Free Agent | Milwaukee |
Dmitri Young | 1B | 36 | Free Agent | Washington |
