Saturday, April 24, 2010

Just how awesome is Jason Heyward?

Well, besides everything else, he has the longest home run in baseball this year-a 476 foot blast to right against Carlos Zambrano at Turner Field, on April 5.

If you like, you can follow Jason on Twitter.


UPDATE: Heyward also leads in WPA among MLB batters, at 1.98.

Charles Krauthammer is a Nationals fan

I'd be one too, if they weren't in the same division as the Phillies.

It's wonderful that baseball is back in the nation's capital, where it belongs, even if the Nats are about as good as the Senators typically were.

Krauthammer doesn't mind a bit:

You get there and the twilight's gleaming, the popcorn's popping, the kids're romping and everyone's happy. The joy of losing consists in this: Where there are no expectations, there is no disappointment...

No one's happy to lose, and the fans cheer lustily when the Nats win. But as starters blow up and base runners get picked off, there is none of the agitation, the angry, screaming, beer-spilling, red-faced ranting you get at football or basketball games.

Baseball, in other words, is a civilized sport for civilized people. In a violent culture, it's amazing that baseball's still as popular as it is. It's not a mere spectacle like football or basketball-it's an interesting, mind-expanding experience. The pace that so many criticize as slow is just right, actually-it lends itself to the talk between pitches among armchair experts that makes the game so much fun.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Red Sox renovations

Boston club plans to return Fenway to 1912 conditions.

Pres. Taft, supported by a platform of reinforced concrete, will throw out this year's first pitch.

Taft's bitter rival Teddy Roosevelt will curry favor with the fans by leading a chorus of "Tessie" during the 7th inning stretch.

Baseball and NFL now tied in fans' team loyalty

The NFL now has a new, equal rival for fan devotion-Major League Baseball:

After years in the #2 spot, Major League Baseball is now tied with the National Football League with the "most loyal fans," according to the 15th annual 2010 Brand Keys Sports Loyalty Index, a survey which helps professional sports teams increase broadcast, ticket and merchandise revenues by providing loyalty rankings and fan diagnostics in their home and national markets.
The Sports Loyalty Engagement Index gives an apples-to-apples comparison of the intensity with which fans support professional sport leagues and their home team vs. the corresponding values for the fans of other teams in the market," said Robert Passikoff, president of New York- based Brand Keys, Inc.
The criteria are entertainment, authenticity, fan bonding, and history/tradition.


The MLB teams with the most loyal fans are:

1. Boston Red Sox

2. New York Yankees

3. Philadelphia Phillies

4. Anaheim Angels/Los Angeles Dodgers

5. Minnesota Twins/Milwaukee Brewers