My Baseball Mailbox, September 18, 2016.

Happy Sunday! everyone,  I hope you're all enjoying this beautiful day of baseball.


Today's Baseball Mailbox is a beautiful illustration of former big leaguer Buck Weaver, courtesy of Tim Fox-Godden.


Over on his Twitter page Tim was giving away an illustration of the former White Sox 3rd Baseman, and because I like Buck Weaver, I put my entry in, and, well...I won.

My Saturday mailbox had the print with a very nice message from Tim...

Tim is a marvelous Illustrator who blends baseball with a dedication to the Doughboys of World War I...

If you're a baseball fan, or a fan of art, or history, check out Tim's website, and if you're on Twitter, he's  at @TJFoxGodden .


Thanks Tim, for making my day... PLAY BALL!

Baseball Bulletin... September 15, 2016

This is a big weekend in the baseball.


Last night the Chicago Cubs clinched their first National League Eastern Division championship since 2008, when the St. Louis Cardinals lost to the San Francisco Giants.


That leaves the other five division and wild card races still looking for teams to take their place in the chase for the playoffs, including my Detroit Tigers, who are not playing well, and will have to probably sweep the Indians in Cleveland this weekend...a mighty task, too stay in the wild card race.


The Texas Rangers, Washington Nationals, and possibly the Indians, will be the next teams to clinch their divisions...but the A.L. East and the N.L. West are still up for grabs.



The Tribe and Tigers still have 7 games remaining with each other, starting tonight in Cleveland, with the Indians going to Motown September 26-29.



The Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and Toronto Blue Jays are all battling each other for the A.L. East flag, with the Yankees also on the hunt for a post season berth.

All four teams, the BoSox, Orioles, Jays, and Yankees, are separated by only 5 games in the A.L. East.


The Seattle Mariners, playing their best baseball of the year, are also right in the A.L. wild Card chase...it's going to be an amazing finish in the Junior Circuit.



The Los Angeles Dodgers lead the Giants by 4 games in the N.L. West, and both teams, along with the New York Mets and Cardinals, possible N.L. wild card contenders.


That final weekend, the Dodgers at the Giants, could be for not only the division title, but the loser could be out of the playoffs altogether.



⚾⚾⚾ There is a lot going on in, and around baseball, and these are a few things I've noticed...


Major League Baseball released the 2017 schedule for all 30 big league teams this week.

Why they choose to do this in the middle of the Pennant race, and 7 months before the season even starts, is beyond me.


The 2017 MLB season starts on Sunday, April 2nd.



⚾ After 21 years the Atlanta Braves are moving out of Turner Field and to a new ballpark in Cobb County in 2017, some 20 miles away from Atlanta.


The Braves are having a fan vote on their All-Time Turner Field team...VOTE right here...



⚾ The Chicago White Sox set a new Guinness World Record when 1,122 dogs made their way to U.S. Cellular Field on the South Side.



⚾ Dodgers announcer Vin Scully will retire after 67 years broadcasting the teams ballgames, and has announced that he will not be doing any of the Dodgers playoff games.

His final game will be in San Francisco on October 2 against the Giants...Vin started calling games between the two old rivals in 1950, when it was Brooklyn vs New York.

There will be many tributes to Vin in the next two weeks... here's one from 9 Inning Know it All  and one from Vin'started Alma-Mater, The Fordham Ram.




⚾ For those who know me and follow me on social media, you know that I consider The Natural the Greatest Baseball movie ever made... Rob Neyer of FOX Sports revisits the movie...I don't have to, nor will I, ever change my mind...but give Rob a read.



⚾ If you love baseball, and are an old school guy like myself, this article from Redleg Nation will tug at your heart.




⚾ This baseball fan got a brand new baseball glove...57 years and lots of bubble gum later.




⚾ If you've ever wondered how a radio play by play guy prepares for a game, George Simple of the Detroit Free Press gives us insight on Tigers announcer Dan Dickerson's game notes.



Well, that about does it for this post.


I hope you all enjoy what's sure to be a terrific weekend of big league baseball.


Play Ball! ⚾⚾⚾

Baseball Bulletin... September 15, 2016

This is a big weekend in the baseball.


Last night the Chicago Cubs clinched their first National League Eastern Division championship since 2008, when the St. Louis Cardinals lost to the San Francisco Giants.


That leaves the other five division and wild card races still looking for teams to take their place in the chase for the playoffs, including my Detroit Tigers, who are not playing well, and will have to probably sweep the Indians in Cleveland this weekend...a mighty task, too stay in the wild card race.


The Texas Rangers, Washington Nationals, and possibly the Indians, will be the next teams to clinch their divisions...but the A.L. East and the N.L. West are still up for grabs.



The Tribe and Tigers still have 7 games remaining with each other, starting tonight in Cleveland, with the Indians going to Motown September 26-29.



The Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and Toronto Blue Jays are all battling each other for the A.L. East flag, with the Yankees also on the hunt for a post season berth.

All four teams, the BoSox, Orioles, Jays, and Yankees, are separated by only 5 games in the A.L. East.


The Seattle Mariners, playing their best baseball of the year, are also right in the A.L. wild Card chase...it's going to be an amazing finish in the Junior Circuit.



The Los Angeles Dodgers lead the Giants by 4 games in the N.L. West, and both teams, along with the New York Mets and Cardinals, possible N.L. wild card contenders.


That final weekend, the Dodgers at the Giants, could be for not only the division title, but the loser could be out of the playoffs altogether.



⚾⚾⚾ There is a lot going on in, and around baseball, and these are a few things I've noticed...


Major League Baseball released the 2017 schedule for all 30 big league teams this week.

Why they choose to do this in the middle of the Pennant race, and 7 months before the season even starts, is beyond me.


The 2017 MLB season starts on Sunday, April 2nd.



⚾ After 21 years the Atlanta Braves are moving out of Turner Field and to a new ballpark in Cobb County in 2017, some 20 miles away from Atlanta.


The Braves are having a fan vote on their All-Time Turner Field team...VOTE right here...



⚾ The Chicago White Sox set a new Guinness World Record when 1,122 dogs made their way to U.S. Cellular Field on the South Side.



⚾ Dodgers announcer Vin Scully will retire after 67 years broadcasting the teams ballgames, and has announced that he will not be doing any of the Dodgers playoff games.

His final game will be in San Francisco on October 2 against the Giants...Vin started calling games between the two old rivals in 1950, when it was Brooklyn vs New York.

There will be many tributes to Vin in the next two weeks... here's one from 9 Inning Know it All  and one from Vin'started Alma-Mater, The Fordham Ram.




⚾ For those who know me and follow me on social media, you know that I consider The Natural the Greatest Baseball movie ever made... Rob Neyer of FOX Sports revisits the movie...I don't have to, nor will I, ever change my mind...but give Rob a read.



⚾ If you love baseball, and are an old school guy like myself, this article from Redleg Nation will tug at your heart.




⚾ This baseball fan got a brand new baseball glove...57 years and lots of bubble gum later.




⚾ If you've ever wondered how a radio play by play guy prepares for a game, George Simple of the Detroit Free Press gives us insight on Tigers announcer Dan Dickerson's game notes.



Well, that about does it for this post.


I hope you all enjoy what's sure to be a terrific weekend of big league baseball.


Play Ball! ⚾⚾⚾

Never Forget

The 2016 Roberto Clemente Award Nominees

Major League Baseball announced the 30 finalists for the 46th annual Roberto Clemente Award, given to the big league ballplayer who achieves greatness off the field in their local communities.

Established as The Commissioner's Trophy in 1971, the award was first presented to the great Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants. 



After the death of Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Roberto Clemente  on December 31, 1972, MLB changed the name in honor of the great humanitarian who died in a plane crash trying to get supplies to the country of Nicaragua after a horrific earthquake earlier that year.



Detroit Tigers right fielder Al Kaline, fittingly, was the very first recipient of the newly named award.



For 20 years Kaline and Clemente were the Gold  standard for right fielders in baseball, winning a combined 22 Gold Glove Awards between 1957-72, including 12 straight by Clemente his final 12 years.



Two members of the Pirates have won the Clemente Award...Hall of Fame outfielder/first baseman Willie Stargell, in 1974, and current Pittsburgh centerfielder Andrew McCutcheon in 2015.

Baseball fans can vote on social media for their choice for this year's winner starting on Wednesday,  September 7th... Roberto Clemente Day across the big leagues... I'll be posting #VoteMiggy of course, as a true Tigers fan, of course.

Nominees for the Clemente Award include Adam Wainwright, Paul Goldschmidt, Anthony Rizzo, Giancarlo Stanton, and Pirates nominee Jared Hughes.

Congratulations! to all the nominees for their marvelous work.



To learn about all 30 nominees, and how to vote for your player, just go here for all the details.


Play Ball! ⚾

Miguel Cabrera joins elite Motor City group.

On Sunday afternoon in Chicago Miguel Cabrera became just the 4th Detroit Tigers player to hit 300 home runs when he hit his 30th homer of the season off ChiSox starter Chris Sale in the 1st inning of the Tigers 5-3 win.

Cabrera joins Tigers HOF hitters Al Kaline, 399 HRs, Norm Cash, 373 HRs, and Hank Greenberg, 306 HRs, as the only Detroit players to hit 300+ HRs wearing the famed Olde English D.


Cabrera also homered off Sale in the 3rd inning, another solo shot, bringing his career home run record to 439.


With a month left in the 2016 season, it's possible Cabrera will be around 445 career dingers, and with another year like this is 2017, we're looking at early 2018 for Miggy belting career home run 500.




Cabrera will be 35 in 2018, and is also just 509 hits away from 3,000 career base hits, sitting at 2,491 after collecting 4 hits yesterday.


Only 5 players... Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Eddie Murray, Raphael Palmiero, and Alex Rodriguez have accumulated both 3,00 hits and 500 homers, with the Angels Albert Pujols soon to join the club, just 195 base knocks away from 3,000...to go along with his 589 home runs.


Also, no Detroit Tigers player has ever hit 500 HRs as a Tiger hitter...Cabrera can become the first if he gets to 638 career dingers.


Miggy hit 138 homers as a member of the Florida Marlins from 2003-08.



Congratulation! to Miguel on joining the Tigers HR list...I'm sure when all is said and done the club record book will be top heavy with Miggy's name at the top.