Prince Joe Henry, R.I.P.

Posted Jan. 3 at 10:20 am by Mike Seely

I can't imagine a story that has less to do with Seattle, but on this day, I don't care. Prince Joe Henry, one of the great entertainers in Negro League history, passed away yesterday after a years-long battle with arthritis and diabetes. My first interaction with Prince Joe was a two-hour conversation about his lack of baseball pension in which I almost hung up the phone twelve times on account of his incessant rambling. Over time, I would come to love that rambling. Now that he's gone, I can think of nothing but rambling, wishing that the rambling was still here, blabbering in my ear.

Prince Joe lived in Brooklyn, one of the most ramshackle communities in Southern Illinois. The level of poverty there is indecipherable to Seattleites, but Prince Joe wouldn't have had it any other way. He knew Brooklyn history backwards and forwards, and should have been the town mayor. Ultimately, he wrote a column in the Riverfront Times, which led to a book. His thoughts and words were vital to the American experience, whether he shared them in print or while sprawled out on the couch in his trailer, as he often was.

Today, I regret that I hadn't called Joe in months. I didn't feel like I could spare the hour that a simple hello would inevitably have led to. In retrospect, what a selfish impulse that was. What a treasure of a man Joe was. I will miss him forever, lying there pontificating on his ripped red couch. I love you, Prince Joe. Your life was not for naught. 

Topics: El Beisbol

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Yankee Stadium Stories

Posted Nov. 11, 2008 at 9:59 am by Mike Seely

Featuring Martin Scorsese and Rosie Perez:

Topics: El Beisbol

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Tacoma Tugs Come Up Short in World Series

Posted Oct. 28, 2008 at 9:54 am by Mike Seely

Playing in far better weather than the Phillies and Rays are suffering through, the defending Men's Senior Baseball World Series Champion Tacoma Tugs of the Puget Sound Senior Baseball League came up short in their quest for a repeat title, losing in the first round of the playoffs to the eventual winner after winning all three games in pool play last week. Still, to simply make it back to the annual Arizona gaa is quite an accomplishment, and the Tugs did nothing to diminish their legacy as the area's most storied adult hardball franchise.

Topics: El Beisbol

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The Anti-Selig Series

Posted Oct. 24, 2008 at 11:37 am by Mike Seely

Tampa Bay and Philly is not a World Series matchup that is likely to get sub-casual baseball observers all that excited. The thing of it is, however, is that the first two games of the series, which is now tied at one game apiece, have been nothing short of spectacular — and revolutionary in the most peculiar of ways.

What the Phillies and Rays are doing is playing throwback baseball. There are suicide squeezes, stolen base attempts galore, closers going more than one inning (here's lookin' at you, David Price), no-name managers, very few home runs, and even fewer spoiled free-agent brats. The Rays, and to a slightly lesser extent, the Phillies, are teams that have effectively been cultivated from the minors up. Better yet, the dollar-store Rays blew by a couple of teams in the playoffs whose wallets knew no limit.

It wouldn't surprise me if this World Series, which I'm convinced will go seven games, ends up being the least-watched in modern history. But if baseball is to regain any of the purity it lost duirng the steroid era, this series is the perfect tonic.

Topics: El Beisbol

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Seel's World Series Prediction

Posted Oct. 22, 2008 at 4:55 pm by Mike Seely

My predictions at the start of the post-season absolutely blew, so don't put any money where my mouth is, but....Rays in 7.

Topics: El Beisbol

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ESPN's Chat With Duff

Posted Oct. 22, 2008 at 2:07 pm by Mike Seely

This link'll lead you to ESPN's chat with Reverb columnist Duff McKagain, who used to play in a little band called Guns 'n Roses.

Topics: El Beisbol

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Fans Who Should Be Banned From Fenway

Posted Oct. 17, 2008 at 7:36 am by Mike Seely

Consider how hard it is to get a ticket to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park. Next consider how much more difficult than it already is (really fucking hard) to get a ticket to a playoff game at Fenway Park. That's one of the toughest tickets in sports, period. Now consider the 5,000 or so fans who left Fenway Park after the 6th inning last night, with the Red Sox down 7-0 to Tampa Bay, in a game that could have been Boston's last until next spring. Some would argue that it's punishment enough that those fans missed one of the most spectacular comebacks in baseball history (the Red Sox ended up winning 8-7, for those of you living under a rock). Nah. Not really. These are the Red Sox. Much as I'd hate to see them win again, they make comebacks that are simply inconceivable to other teams. Those fans who left early last night should have realized that, and should therefore have to forfeit their World Series tickets, should the BoSox make it that far, to the residents of senior and boys homes the city wide. Those fans aren't real fans, and shouldn't be allowed into real baseball games, endostory.

Topics: El Beisbol

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A Belated Posting Of That Awesome Matt Stairs Quote

Posted Oct. 15, 2008 at 5:18 pm by Mike Seely

He's likely been catching shit from his homophobic teammates ever since these words came out of his mouth, but God bless Matt Stairs, who said the following after hitting a game-winning homer two nights ago to put the Phillies up 3-1 in the NLCS:

"You want to get that one big hit where you feel like you're part of the team," Stairs said. "Not that I don't feel like I'm part of the team, by no means, but when you get that nice celebration coming into the dugout and you're getting your ass hammered by guys, it's no better feeling than to have that done."

Topics: El Beisbol

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This Is Why You Shouldn't Commit Blasphemy

Posted Oct. 3, 2008 at 10:40 am by Laura Onstot

Sorry Harry, not looking good.

My dad's a minister, so things like taking the Lord's name in vain were verboten in my house. But to him, the problem wasn't saying things like "Oh my God" — that was just disrespectful. To actually violate the commandment is to claim the big GM in the sky as your ally in evil-doing or petty earthly pursuits—like sports. Dad's favorite example has always been the giant Touchdown Jesus mural on the Notre Dame library, which lines up perfectly with the goalposts at the stadium.

So after growing up in a house where praying for things like athletic victory was a theological no-no, I can't say I'm all that surprised by what happened after the Cubs pulled this stunt (from the Chicago Tribune):

The Cubs brought a heavy hitter to Wrigley Field on Wednesday afternoon, asking the Rev. James L. Greanias, a Greek Orthodox priest from St. Iakovos Church in Valparaiso, Ind., to spread holy water around the dugout to remove an alleged curse that has hovered over the ballclub since its last World Series appearance in 1945.

As soon as I read it I knew they were in trouble. And now it's do or die in Round 1 for a team that should be a Series contender. But perhaps it's for the best. After all, the Cubs are America's favorite losers — and remember how everyone started hating the BoSox after they finally won the big show?

Topics: El Beisbol

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Seel's Baseball Playoff Predictions: 2003 Realized, At Last

Posted Oct. 1, 2008 at 8:18 am by Mike Seely

Back in 2003, both the Cubs and Red Sox were on the brink of making the World Series. But then Steve Bartman and Grady Little happened, and the curse remained intact. The next year, of course, the Red Sox shook the monkey off their back by winning it all, a feat they repeated in 2007.

Of the eight teams in this year's playoff field, but three, in my opinion, have a legitimate chance of winning the World Series, and wouldn't you know, the Cubs and Red Sox are two of them (and Kevin Youkilis should be the AL MVP, whereas the NL race is a two-man tossup between Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols). Here are my round-by-round predictions:

ALDS: Boston over Anaheim (I refuse to call them the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) in four. Really, it's all about game one; if the Angels win it, my money will shift to their winning in five. But without the benefit of seeing how the first game goes, I'm sticking with Boston. Whoever wins this series will be the AL representative in the World Series. They need to change that stupid rule where the Wild Card winner can't play a team in its own division in the first round.

Tampa Bay over ChiSox in four. Tampa is the best story in baseball this year, despite relatively meager fan support. Chicago miraculously reveresed one of the all-time late season tanks to limp into the playoffs. The Rays and their stellar bullpen will vanquish the more experienced ChiSox on their home field.

NLDS: Cubs over the Dodgers in five. The Cubs will overlook the Dodgers and drop one at home, only to come back and take care of business in the rubber match.

Milwaukee over Philly in five. Two very evenly-matched squads engage in a hyper-competitive series that ends up being decided by the Brewers' Sabathia factor in game five.

Continue reading "Seel's Baseball Playoff Predictions: 2003 Realized, At Last"

Topics: El Beisbol

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Kevin Costner Guarantees Tampa Bay Won't Make World Series

Posted Sep. 30, 2008 at 5:36 pm by Mike Seely

By recording a piece-of-shit theme song to help hype their playoff run. It's reminiscent of the Mark Wahlberg-John C. Reilly duets from Boogie Nights.

For those not making the connection between Costner and the Rays, the Durham Bulls are their AAA affiliate.

Topics: El Beisbol

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Mariners Fall One Win Short of World Series

Posted Sep. 22, 2008 at 10:37 am by Mike Seely

No, I'm not talking about Major League Baseball Seattle Mariners, silly. Those guys suck. I'm talking about the Mariners of the Puget Sound Senior Baseball League, who fell short in their quest to make the Men's Senior Baseball League World Series, which will take place October 20-25 in Phoenix. Instead, the PSSBL's representative will be the sterling Tacoma Tugs, who are not only the defending PSSBL champs, but the defending World Series champs. Led by the arm of Fernando DaSilva and the bats of Billy Boyer and Tacoma's own Mike McKimmy, the Tugs routed the Mariners 13-4 at Steve Cox Field in White Center Saturday to claim the PSSBL title. With a month off before they head to Arizona, the Tugs, who finished 20-3 during the regular season, will try and stay sharp via exhibition games against area collegiate teams, including Central Washington University.

Topics: El Beisbol

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Time for Morrow vs Lincecum

Posted Sep. 9, 2008 at 3:02 pm by Jesse Froehling

When Brandon Morrow got his first major league start Friday night, it lent relevance to the whole Linceucm vs. Morrow debate. Both start now and both play for crummy teams. Lincecum’s record is 16-3 with a 2.54 ERA on a San Francisco Giants team that is one slot removed from the cellar in the NL West. They’re 63-80. Morrow, on the other hand, is 1-0 since he joined the rotation (not like you needed reminding), and the Mariners are really bad (Again, not like you needed reminding).

Lest we forget, the two are linked at the hip since the M’s passed on the Renton-bred Lincecum for Morrow in 2006. Scouts said then that the biggest worry was Lincecum’s durability. He’s a tiny dude, and he twists his body up like a slinky during his windup. That windup had scouts worried. It’d be easy for him throw his back out of wack, but so far his extraordinary athleticism has rendered that a moot point. Morrow, on the other hand, with a more traditional delivery, seemed the safe bet in 2006. So far, I’d say the durability issue is a wash, although it could crop up again in the future. Morrow has struggled with back spasms before and scouts say that if Lincecum changes his delivery one iota, he could be in for trouble. With that issue gone, the only thing that matters is performance.

Earlier this year, I was convinced that Morrow's true role was that of a closer. He relied heavily on his fastball; 76 percent of his pitches were heaters. When opponents managed to place a bat on them, the result was usually fly balls. This might be alright when he’s closing but if he were to get in a bases loaded jam in, say, the fifth inning, it decreases the possibility of a double play.

That whole argument went away Friday night. Morrow’s pitches were only 58 percent fastballs and as the game wore on, he showed a willingness to rely on his off speed stuff, something he hadn't been apt to do a few months ago. His curve too, was filthy Much like Tiny Tim's. One game does not a career make, but against a power hitting team like the Yankees, he couldn’t have pitched better. Lincecum too, has had precious few blemishes. So at this point, it would be tough to make a decision based on numbers. This brings us back to the durability issue. And, because of Lincecum’s size, Morrow’s probably the better pick.

Your thoughts?

Topics: El Beisbol

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For Those Of You Who Still Hate A-Rod...

Posted Aug. 27, 2008 at 10:45 am by Mike Seely

...last night was a banner night for you, and an awful one for the soon-to-be-former Mr. Cynthia Rodriguez.

Topics: El Beisbol

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Can Brandon Morrow Pick Banjo? Can Felix Play Alto Sax?

Posted Aug. 20, 2008 at 4:34 pm by Mike Seely

Apparently, pro baseball players moonlighting as musicians has been a phenomenon since Bernie Williams was an infant, if that.

Topics: El Beisbol

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