All spring long we have regaled with tales of a phenom in Atlanta, a six-and-one-half foot tall Adonis whose garment you are not worthy to touch. It took no time at all for word to spread; there was a veritable pilgrimage all the way from Braves’ camp in Florida just to see the mighty Jason… Read More Let Heyward-Mania Officially Begin
“There is no sports event like Opening Day of baseball, the sense of beating back the forces of darkness and the National Football League.” —George Vecsey Is there a better way to describe Opening Day? Today is one the two high holy days in the Dubsism world (the other being the first weekend of college football). The… Read More Opening Day Is Finally Here
You likely know what a “captcha” is even if you don’t know the term. In short, a “captcha” is a word or phrase a user has to type into a field on a website to prove you aren’t some sort of automated spammer or worse. A common place to see these is on ticket-selling sites.… Read More The Washington Nationals and Violent Intestinal Distress
There’s nothing like the joys of being able to spend an entire afternoon watching all umpteen innings of a Dodgers-Rockies spring training affair. If for no other reason, I got to see this will be another year of great Dodger baseball. One great Dodger tradition that continues is only ever have three guys who can hit. Better yet, for… Read More Teams That Grind My Gears: The Los Angeles Dodgers, part II
We all know contract negotiations can be a dirty business. In order for both parties to achieve satisfaction there is so much back and forth and in and out mixed with the general writhing sometimes just to close the deal, they lose sight of the value of the deal in the first place. Time for some brutal… Read More Pick the Washington Nationals’ First “Wang” Joke
You could fill volumes with what money can’t buy. How many of us played ball as kids in the backyard pretending to be the star player for the hometown team? No amount of money will bring back that moment, but Joe Mauer gets paid to live it. Even all the money Mauer just banked from… Read More Its Joe Mauer’s World…You Are Just Living In It
Out of the clear blue sky, the Washington Nationals unconditionally released Elijah Dukes today. Dukes was slated to be the teams starting right fielder, but now he is no longer welcome in D.C. There is also that “special” kind of silence surrounding the whole thing which makes on think perhaps Dukes finally pissed off the… Read More Is Elijah Dukes the Next Milton Bradley?
Rankings By Division: American League: AL East: 1) New York Yankees Upside: The Bombers easily could have turned on the money-hose and flooded out free-agents like Jason Bay or Matt Holliday, or they could have wasted some serious dough by resigning an over-valued Johnny Damon. But, instead of having their usual explosive cash-gasm, they realized their in-house options are… Read More The 2010 Dubsism Major League Baseball Pre-Season Rankings
For all of you who, like myself, despise the New York Yankees, feast your long-suffering eyes on this: That’s right…that’s the grandstand of the old Yankee Stadium being turned into so much rubble. The stadium where the hopes and dreams of so many non-Yankee teams have died a slow, painful death can now watch the… Read More Porn Only Wishes It Could Excite You As Much As This Does
Sadly, the run that Joe Nathan has enjoyed as an All-Star closer for the Minnesota Twins may be over. After leaving Saturday’s game against the Boston Red Sox with stiffness in his pitching elbow, Nathan has been diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament. Normally, such an injury requires reconstructive surgery, but there are a… Read More Vaya Con Dios, Joe Nathan
Have you ever had one of those moments where you can’t believe what you are reading, yet you aren’t surprised this is the level to which we have sunk as a society? Well, look no farther than Palm Desert, California for today’s example. “Palm Desert High School is without a girls varsity softball coach after… Read More Signs We Are Near The End Of Civilization: Softball
What makes a great rivalry? If you were to leave that question to the dopes at ESPN, all you will hear is a bunch of slop about the Red Sox and the Yankees, Michigan and Ohio State, or from the real “traditionalists,” you might get some waxing nostalgic about Army and Navy. In other words,… Read More Los Angeles vs. San Francisco: A Study In Rivalry
It’s almost as though the seriously-hoped-for future greatness of pitcher Stephen Strasburg offers an aura of competence that somehow leaks into the statistics…… Read More Baseball Prospectus Admits Error; Washington Nationals Are NOT the Greatest Team Ever
Is there a sport richer with tradition than baseball? Think about it…from the ceremonial first pitch to the parade for the winners of the World Series, baseball oozes tradition. But not all traditions are good. With spring training underway, it is time to look at the Minnesota Twins, and three traditions that franchise really needs to… Read More Traditions of the Minnesota Twins
Naturally, the reason the question is even being asked is because of the uniform he is wearing in the above picture. Anybody who dons the Yankee pinstripes is automatically assumed to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. Concomitantly, they tend to be dramatically over-rated. When they are also represented… Read More Why Is Anybody Surprised Johnny Damon is Still Unsigned?
While it may be January, in Minnesota that means Twins Fest, a weekend in the dead of winter dedicated to the fans of the Minnesota 9. It also means it is time for my annual “Why isn’t Bert Blyleven in the Hall of Fame?” rant. Granted, outside of Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, the Twins roster isn’t exactly a cavalcade… Read More My Annual Bert Blyleven Rant and My Solution (The Bert Blyleven Drinking Game)
We are suckers for lists. VH-1 always manages to suck people in with those “100 greatest songs of the 80’s” nostalgia-fests. Not to mention we sports fans never met a list over which we didn’t love to drunkenly argue. There’s even a website dedicated to such listery. I’m no different; I can play moth to the candle… Read More Ten Nobel Prize Injustices and Their Equivalent Sports Injustices
How many times have I wondered what a slightly boozy, slightly senile catcher-turned-announcer would sound like singing all the old standards? Well, now my prayers have been answered. But here’s the thing – by the sound of it, McCarver can really sing. When the Fox telecast cut back from a break they showed the Phillie Phanatic… Read More Signs We Are Near The End of Civilization: Tim McCarver is Cutting An Album
To say the Dodgers grind my gears is an exercise in understatement. I hate the Dodgers – seething, bile-spewing, eyeball-exploding hate. I have hated the Dodgers since childhood, and I will hate them until my dying breath. Even after that, I will still hate them. The Dodgers franchise is the embodiment of “warning track power.”… Read More Teams That Grind My Gears: The Los Angeles Dodgers
Believe it or not, there is a fine line between being a fantasy sports geek, and being a truly sad and pathetic creature worthy of only scorn, derision, and occasional pity. If you follow this link and think it’s a great idea, you have pole-vaulted across that line. Seriously, enjoying fantasy sports is one thing… Read More Signs We Are Near The End Of Civilization: Fantasy Championship Rings
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