Ballpark Travel

First, I hope to keep a promise to myself and return to writing post-MBA about business, baseball and a few personal pieces. It has been a while, but I plan to wipe the dust off by writing about the Braves offensive struggles and some ideas how to improve during the season. I moved to Atlanta in 2008 to work for the Braves in a season where Chipper Jones was hitting over .400 well into the summer in what was one of the most impressive offensive seasons I have ever been able to closely watch. Since, Atlanta has lacked a dominant offensive player, which is their first problem and one that likely will not have a solution unless Freddie Freeman take the last step this season from one of the best first-basemen in the league to one of the best players in all of baseball. In order to do that, his power numbers will need to climb to 30+ and his ability to come up with a clutch hit needs to continue to be strong. When he signed the long term contract this past off-season my first thought is ...

In recent years, WAR (Wins Above Replacement, read more HERE ) has become one of the most discussed statistics in player evaluation. With the release of Moneyball last November and another amazing success story of the Oakland A’s (and the lowest payroll in the MLB, $49 Million) winning the AL West on the final day of the season statistical analysis could not be more in vogue. In order to earn a playoff berth this year, the A’s had to beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. At the conclusion of the 2011 season, Albert Pujols was easily a top-5 player and the main contributor to the team that just had won the World Series. Deservedly so with this status, he signed a mega contract that will pay him $240 Million dollars over 10 years. The Angels, as can any team that spends a substantial amount of money on one player can argue that by adding a star caliber talent, it will ultimately make the whole team better and provide an opportunity to win a World Series. The question raised is h...

It has been a while since my last blog entry, since the last time I wrote, I have crossed off many new baseball stadiums and am down to the last few to see before making trips back to see repeat teams with new stadiums. What got me thinking about writing again was this weekend's trip to Denver, Colorado. This experience was so incredible that it needed to be written about. Over the course of three days, I saw Coors Field, crossed off a new state to visit (Wyoming), visited three of over one hundred local breweries and spent a day in one of the most amazing and unique tourism spots that I have ever seen - Rocky Mountain National Park. While planning various trips to MLB stadiums across the country, Denver was never high on my list. Turns out, Denver may end up near the top because of the other activities that I was able to experience while in the area. Amazingly, I learned that Coors Field, built in 1995, is the third oldest stadium  of all National League teams. Only the Chicago ...

I sit here on Wednesday night, in the wake of Major League Baseball's second ever post-season no hitter and I just know that it is just beginning. When I look at the teams that made it this season, there is one juggernaut (Philadelphia) and seven others that are hungry for playoff success. Here is what I am thinking about each team starting the playoffs: Philadelphia (97-65): The Phillies had a dominant September. They have an American League offense, the big three and their closer is back and pitching lights out. When I see this team, it is going to take a lot of heart to uproot the team that has played in each of the last two World Series. They are deep in pitching, deep in hitting and have a serviceable bench. They are going to have to get in their own way to get knocked out before the World Series, if they do that -- is it poor defense? is it Lidge reverting to his erratic self because of Manuel's overuse? I know what it won't be -- this team is cool and collected, th...

· Has one steal ever meant more to baseball than Dave Robert’s steal of second in the 2004 ALCS Game 4 (Rickey Henderson picking up the bag at third, not even close). · When talking about Barry Bonds, the five minutes of discussion about Bobby Bonds and Willie Mays was a little excessive, but did really open up a little bit about his personality (Pirate Hats in the 1980’s were so awesome). · Where does Ken Griffey Jr. fit between steroids, corked bats, amphetamines and then steroids again? · Jason Grimsley is Spideman and apparently the hero of the players for replacing Albert Belle’s corked bats with a untainted bat (I bet the steroid allegations he made at the end of his career weren’t very well received). · Performance enhancing culture, it’s about time that it was said (Didn’t need to think about Cialis or Viagra, but it hit it home)! · Never remember seeing the Joe Torre scene crying before the 1996 World Series. I must admit, that r...

As Buck Showalter and the Orioles discuss the future of the Orioles behind closed doors, it is time to wonder what happened to the team that was supposed to compete this season and be a difference maker between the big three in the AL East. In looking at this team, the Orioles are loaded with strong young talent, coming into the season, it was said that they had the best young outfield in baseball with Adam Jones, Nick Markakis and Nolan Reimold. Jones started the season off cold, coming around recently, Markakis needs to have some of his doubles (25) turn into homers (4) to be a middle of the order threat and Reimold is hitting .212 at AAA Norfolk after a .205 start in the majors this season. The arrival of Jake Fox this week and Matt Wieters completes their core of young offensive talent. Looking at the Orioles reserves for the players at these positions, their fourth outfielder is Corey Patterson, Julio Lugo is their infield backup and Craig Tatum backs up Matt Wieters. While Patter...

Little did I know when I moved to Atlanta in 2008 that a retro baseball oasis was just two hours away in Birmingham, Alabama. On June 2 nd , 2010, the Birmingham Barons and Tennessee Smokies matched up for a game at Rickwood Field to honor its 100 th year of having professional baseball played at the stadium. This stadium is the oldest professional stadium, older than both Fenway Park and Wrigley Field with a similar rich history. Far away from manufactured crowd noise, sausage races and peanut butter jelly time, 9,400 fans took a mid-week afternoon to take in a baseball game. Walking through the parking lot, my Connecticut license plate was a badge of honor shared by many other out of state cars that day. Truly, people came from all over for this game and once inside the gate, it was incredibly obvious as to why this was. A retro-styled game program was available at the gate, there were hundreds of people in the concourse trying to garner refreshments from the 95 degree heat from t...