Big League Stew

The Orioles may not be what they once were and the place may occasionally get overrun by Red Sox and Yankees fans, but there is one thing you can never take away from Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Almost 20 years after it started the retro-park craze in baseball, not one stadium has come close to matching what the Orioles started in Baltimore.

Repeat: Not one.

And in the latest installment of the Big Ballpark Review, you'll see how much Baltimoreans still love the jewel that is their local ballyard. From Boog's BBQ in right field to the trains that roll right up to the stadium, OPACY is still the standard that all stadiums have strived to meet, but have never been quite able to match. 

For an insider's look at visiting Oriole Park at Camden Yards, follow the jump. To submit tips on your home ballpark, e-mail 'Duk at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com. Upcoming parks on the schedule include Miller Park, Dodger Stadium and Petco Park. Read More >>

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A few weeks back, we did a C-a-C with Daisuke Matsuzaka as he sat in the visitor's dugout at the stadium of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Well, on Wednesday, Philadelphia's Brett Myers found himself sitting on the bench across the same diamond, but for very different reasons — he's serving a penance for being such a crummy pitcher, not rehabbing a nagging injury — than Dice-K. 

The thing I like best about this picture is that it seems as if Myers just discovered a photographer from the Associated Press made the trip and he's about to go Hollywood paparazzo-style crazy on the guy who's documenting his appearance in a jersey that says 'IronPigs.'

So, anyway, have at it, amateur Internet copywriters of the world ... How should this caption read?

Follow the jump for winners from Tuesday's C-a-C: Read More >>

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All I can say to this Red Sox fan who quite obviously wants the internship being floated by the Boston Globe and Boston.com is: You and your kitty are HIRED! 

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Baseball fans, welcome to Big League Stew's Most Memorable Memory Tournament: All-Star Edition. Between now and the July 15th All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, we'll be pitting the best All-Star moments against each other in an attempt to let you decide the best highlight since the game's inception at old Comiskey Park in 1933.

But before we can unveil our decade- and era-spanning 32-moment brackets, there are four play-in spots to be decided. Here's the fourth and final play-in matchup. Cast your vote below.

Gene Budig Regional play-in

8. Satchel Paige joins AL All-Star team, AARP

When: July 14, 1953

Where: Crosley Field, Cincinnati

What happened?: After being selected without playing in the '52 game, Satchel Paige of the St. Louis Browns became the oldest player — at either 46 or 47 years old — to appear in an All-Star Game. Starting the eighth inning, Paige rocked (on the mound, not in a chair) and fired at Gil Hodges, who lined out to Larry Doby. Enos Slaughter and Murry Dickson each had drove in a run against Paige, a longtime Negro Leagues superstar, who didn't reach the majors until after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.

One of the game's all-time entertainers, Paige retired at the end of '53 but returned 12 years later for the Kansas City Athletics. He allowed one hit in a three-inning start for Charlie Finley's A's. Afterward, Paige promptly retired again. "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?" Paige was famously quoted as saying.

9. Good seats still available for '36 All-Star Game

When: July 7, 1936

Where: Braves Field, Boston

What happened?: What if they had an All-Star Game and almost nobody came? Braves Field could hold some 42,000 fans, but only 25,556 showed on a sunny day— a season after Cleveland set a record with 69,831 fans — to watch the NL get its first win after three AL victories. Apparently, the media of the day mistakenly led folks to believe that the game had sold out. Those who ignored the fourth estate saw a home run by Lou Gehrig, along with six combined shutout innings by Dizzy Dean and Carl Hubbell, and the first All-Star appearance by Joe DiMaggio — who went 0-for-5 with an error.

So what's the more memorable All-Star memory? (Polling closes around noon on Monday CT)

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Baseball fans, welcome to Big League Stew's Most Memorable Memory Tournament: All-Star Edition. Between now and the July 15th All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium, we'll be pitting the best All-Star moments against each other in an attempt to let you decide the best highlight since the game's inception at old Comiskey Park in 1933.

But before we can unveil our decade- and era-spanning 32-moment brackets, there are four play-in spots to be decided. Here's the third. Cast your vote below.

Ban Johnson Region Play-In

8. Madlock whoops the Goose, meets Henry Kissinger

When: July 15, 1975

Where: County Stadium, Milwaukee

What happened?: Less than three months after the fall of Saigon and the completion of the U.S. evacuation of Vietnam, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger probably felt entitled to a check out a ballgame. He picked a great one, too — both athletically and politically — as two opposing members of vicious longtime enemies decided the outcome.

The Cubs' Bill Madlock — on his way to a batting title in '75 — broke up a 3-3 tie in the ninth with a two-run single against young White Sox closer and future Hall-of-Famer Goose Gossage. After being on the ropes in Henry Aaron's first home ballpark — Hammerin' Hank played for the AL squad in his 25th and final All-Star appearance, the NL won its fourth straight and for the 17th time in 21 games.

Madlock, named a co-MVP, was presented his award by commissioner Bowie Kuhn and, of course, Kissinger, who ignored a golden opportunity to save lives by mediating the Cubs-White Sox rivalry.

-- Vs. -- 

9. Don Drysdale starts two All-Star Games — in the same season.

When: Aug. 3, 1959

Where: Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles

What happened?: At a time when a double feature at a drive-in movie theater was as American as liking Ike, the baseball powers decided to double up the All-Star Game fun by adding a second contest. With 60 percent of the profits of the second game going to the players pension fund — somewhere, Marvin Miller was shaking his head — Don Drysdale let 'er rip against Pete Runnels and All-Star history was made in L.A. Three weeks earlier, Drysdale had started Game 1 at Pittsburgh, which the NL won. The AL took the nightcap, 5-3, and the leagues would play two for three more seasons.

So what's the more memorable All-Star memory? (Polling closes around noon on Monday CT)

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When it comes to rowdy and out-of-control fans, I'm not sure that those who follow the Angels have ever entered the discussion.

But after a reported incident on Tuesday night when one man in Anaheim was arrested after trying to go after Oakland reliever Huston Street and his wife, perhaps that perception is starting to change.

From MLB.com:

Tim Mead, the Angels' vice president of communications, confirmed that a man identified by police as Jeffrey Coles, 26, of Anaheim, was arrested on suspicion of assault and battery in the incident.

According to Mead, the episode began when Coles, standing near A's family members and friends waiting for players to depart the stadium after the game, started getting verbally abusive toward A's players.

A security guard who requested anonymity described the scene: "He was out of hand, all kinds of terrible language ... and I guess Street heard it or saw it ... so he asked us to get the guy out of there. We did, and that should have been the end of it."

It wasn't.

The article says that Coles attempted to break through the security that was holding him back to get to the Streets. He was then detained and arrested. Last season, a fan was ejected and arrested at Angel Stadium for throwing a half-full water bottle at Mike Piazza, so it's not like this is the first questionable incident with an A's-Angels series in SoCal.

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Just over a year ago, it was Carlos Zambrano who was the one doing plenty of damage to Michael Barrett's face, most likely for signaling for the wrong pitches or pointing toward the Wrigley scoreboard.

On Wednesday night, it was the actual baseballs doing the mug-messing, though it's unclear exactly what Barrett did to our little seamy friends. 

Perhaps he rubbed them the wrong way?

(Yeah, it was there ... Had to take it.)

Anyway, head on over to The Fightins, where Meech has some of the most gruesome video goodness (MLB.com also has it) that you'll ever see. While I've seen thousands and thousands of players foul the ball off their shins and feet, I can't say that I ever remember someone doing something like this. (Anyone?)

As for Barrett's status. He obviously left the game with a bloodied schnozz and it appears that he has a fractured nose. Apparently the worst kind of luck, too.

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This and every weekday a.m. (except for tomorrow, when Big League Stew nails down the shutters for Fourth of July weekend), let's rise and shine together with the most recent and decent major league happenings. Today's Roll Call starts at the Florida Suncoast Dome ThunderDome Tropicana Field, home of the pending 2008 AL East champions, baby! The Rays already had swept the Red Sox once, but this was their "Alec Baldwin from 'Glengarry Glen Ross' " moment. After the Fenway brawl, the Rays were a curiosity, but something to be taken or left. Now, at 52-32, they have everyone's attention.

Game of the Day: Rays 7, Red Sox 6

How do you say "sweep" in New English? Listen to the voice of Dewayne Staats crack on Longoria, who had the biggest hit, a go-ahead two-run double in a six-run seventh. B.J. Upton made the biggest catch, a cross between Jim Edmonds and Willie Mays — call it "JiMayzin'!" — in the ninth. Later, Dioner Navarro had the biggest throw, to nail the potential tying run at second base.

Let's talk about something important: Since baseball went to three divisions, the outcome for any team's season is like that of the salesmen in Mamet's classic cursefest, "Glengarry." Either you win the El Dorado motor car (the division) the steak knives (the wild card) or you get fired. Now that the Rays lead the Sawx by five games in the loss column (not to alaaahm anyone) their chances of taking home the cutlery or the coupe are pretty good.

Ichtheology: Eric Wilbur of Boston.com recently noted, with the help of these scientists, that the Rays have a 74-percent chance of making the playoffs, and a 53-percent chance of winning the East. Why so conservative? Morning Juice puts the Rays chances at 100 and 100, respectively.

A bag too far: Dustin Pedroia missed the cycle by one base — too many. His eighth-inning double, were it a single, would have made for the 278th cycle in big league annals. On its face, a double is better than a single. Twice as good, in fact. Yet, Pedroia somehow misses history (there have been 256 no-hitters, to compare) because he hit the ball too well. It's kind of like Powerball. Twenty-three might be your number, it might be the coolest number, it might be the smart number to play. But if the No. 23 ping-pong ball don't come up, you're still working at Sears tomorrow.Read More >>

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Let me start by saying I don't like Joe Buck. In fact, I've never liked Joe Buck. When I watch Saturday afternoon baseball or the playoffs on Fox, it takes everything in my power to stop from hitting the mute button. He doesn't add anything to my enjoyment of the game and, more often than not, his refusal to never shut up and let the game breathe a little bit makes for the equivalent of a drill-bit being bored into my head for more than three hours at a clip.

You can disagree with me if you want, but I believe that if it weren't for who his father was, Joe Buck and his droning, monotone, haughty and easily-outraged-by-Randy Moss style would be somewhere in rural Minnesota, announcing the details of that day's ice fishing contest.

Well, if there were any broadcasting justice and any chance to make my dream come true, rural Minnesota is where Joe Buck would end up after the comments he made on this morning's Colin Cowherd Show. Apparently not only does Joe Buck not enjoy baseball as much as he used to, he says would rather watch "The Bachelorette" instead of the game that, for some reason, has made him its preeminent voice.

Via Awful Announcing:

If he really thinks America is too busy to watch baseball during the week, then I would suggest Buck is completely out of touch from the millions who fill the parks Monday through Friday, those who blog about it endlessly with their own free time without ever getting paid and the people who hang on every pitch like he's announcing it without much interest during October.

What's even worse is that he doesn't even seem to believe that he and Fox might seem to be part of the problem. If people weren't being subjected to non-stop commercial breaks, dozens of in-game robot advertisements for Malcolm In The Middle and hundreds of fan reaction shots between each pitch, maybe more would be interested in tuning in.  

Look, I never thought I'd agree with both Rob Parker and Skip Bayless, but Bud Selig and his people should be making phone calls this afternoon to ensure that someone else is tabbed to do the rest of Fox's schedule through the World Series. If Joe Buck no longer enjoys watching baseball, then it's time to confine him to his precious NFL and find someone else who does.

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