ILBaseball Kickass Media 2018

I've been making fun of mlb.com the past couple of weeks, but this is actually worth scrolling through: monster HRs pre-Statcast, with a video clip for each one, all the way back to Reggie's HR in the '71 All-Star Game (the ball lands above where the camera stops tracking it).

https://www.mlb.com/news/longest-home-runs-before-statcast

"We've often wondered if McGwire got ahold of a Randy Johnson fastball, how far he could hit it, and I think we just saw it"--love his smile as he's greeted by Canseco at home.

the cecil fielder clip is awesome, and the broadcaster's awesome call, in the moment noting that only 3 had hit it over the tiger stadium roof: harmon killebrew, frank howard, and then cecil fielder in 1990. and that none had done it on the fly, only on a bounce - excellent lore

or at least, the roof in left. now i'm watching the reggie jackson clip (also at tiger stadium), and they're talking about 13 players doing it, so maybe most of them went to right

Reggie's HR is #1 on the list of all the things where I like to brag I was watching--even more than Aaron's 715th or Fisk's Game 6 HR. That was also the game with my favourite example ever of having some power at the top of your lineup: the NL had Mays leading off and Aaron hitting second. (Something that only meant something to me three decades later, when a friend passed on a VHS of the game.)

Sam is back for an episode of EW Pod

now i'm watching the reggie jackson clip (also at tiger stadium), and they're talking about 13 players doing it, so maybe most of them went to right

Yes, that's right.

Since the upper deck was extended to left and right field in 1938, 19 players have cleared the roof a total of 28 times. All but four of those sluggers - Harmon Killebrew in 1962, Frank Howard in 1968, Cecil Fielder in 1990 and Mark McGwire in 1997 - have hit the ball over the closer right-field roof.

https://detroithistorical.pastperfectonline.com/bysearchterm?keyword=Tiger+Stadium

(I saw Cecil Cooper do it in 1983.)

Sad to see that the venerable stats blog Beyond the Box Score was among the recent cuts at SB Nation.

As you may have heard, Beyond the Box Score has shut down. Thank you to everyone who read and contributed to the site over the years. (1/2)

— Beyond the Box Score (@BtBScore) April 19, 2022

https://vinepair.com/articles/major-league-baseball-official-vodka/

Listening to the 10 anniv EWPod finally and i forgot how psychedelic the sam shows could get (sam is my fav)

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/06/19/daniel-bard-made-an-improbable-comeback-then-he-had-to-do-it-again

the new yorker on daniel bard’s battles with the yips

I haven't read this, but I'm going to post it here anyway: just the idea of a mammoth piece in 2023 on the three Alou brothers is inspiring in and of itself.

https://www.mlb.com/news/featured/alou-brothers-formed-mlb-s-first-all-brother-outfield