Did you see this?
Our weekly look at some of the best and most interesting things I've seen over the last 7 days
YOU MEAN ALL ANYONE HAD TO DO WAS ASK?
As players and fans across Major League Baseball complain about the tiny name-on-back lettering (among many other things) on MLB’s disastrous new Nike/Fanatics uniforms for 2024, the Kansas City Royals’ names are actually legible. Why you ask? Paul Lukas of Uniwatch has the very simple answer.
AT HOME IN THE HALL
A story we told many times during Ichiro’s time with the Marlins, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes about future Hall of Famer’s passion for Cooperstown.
BASEBALL AS ART
As non-roster invitee infielder Aaron Schunk tries to make an impression in Rockies camp, his father Eric shows some skills of his own.
A DYING BREED
There aren’t many left, but Gabe Lacques of USA Today writes about Major League Baseball’s 162-game iron men.
In 31 NL seasons, the Marlins have only had 6 players play 162 games in a year: Jeff Conine in 1993, Derrek Lee in 2002, Juan Pierre in 2003, 2004 and 2005 and Starlin Castro in 2019.
DEEP DEPTH
Ben Clemens of Fangraphs provides a new method to measure all 30 ML teams’ depth.
AVOIDING CONTACT
The Guardians are looking for more offense in 2024, so they’re focussed on swinging and…missing? Zack Meisel of The Athletic looks at the club’s interesting approach.
A NETFLIX EXPOS(É)?
As Variety reports, Netflix has picked up up a still-in-production documentary about the Expos’ departure from Montreal. Marlins fans may see (or at least hear about) some familiar names.
PACO BALL
Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports that the Phillies are playing Paco Ball this spring in a quest for better communication and conditioning.
ANOTHER DEVASTATING LOSS
Days before he passed away in October following a battle with cancer, I wrote about beloved former Red Sox Tim Wakefield.
Less than 5 months after his death, Tim’s wife Stacy succumbed to cancer this past Wednesday. The loss of the Wakefields is devastating to countless people who knew them or were impacted by their boundless goodness and generosity. And as long-time Boston scribe Steve Buckley writes, their loss is felt particularly profoundly at The Jimmy Fund.
While you’re here…
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Learn more about one-on-one play-by-play coaching from Glenn Geffner via Zoom at glenngeffner.com.
Thinking of writing a caustic "if I was the Commissioner of Baseball" (or King of Baseball, more like it) article. It would be fun to rein in the Prima Donnas, hear the gnashing of teeth, and the impotent howls.
Regarding the world's most overblown story (MLB uniforms), the smaller player names are welcome in my eyes. Especially since the ridiculous of hyphenated names and suffixes. As if there are two Guerreros on the Jays or two Chisholms on the Marlins.