As Satchel Paige stood behind the pitcher’s mound facing the outfield, his mind likely raced with excitement and a sense of accomplishment. With two outs in the ninth inning, the African American hurler and his Bismarck (North Dakota) teammates were on the brink of the first-ever national semi-pro baseball championship.
Continue reading “Interracial Baseball from 1920-1935”
Some parts of baseball’s rules are more obvious than others. Earned Runs are one aspect that can be a little bit squishy.
Because of human mistakes, sometimes runs score that probably shouldn’t have. Differentiating between earned and unearned runs is baseball’s effort to be fair.
Continue reading “The Mystery of Unearned Runs”
Part of what ties us to baseball is our memories. Our memories are tied to specific events that trigger the associated emotions.
As a lifelong Red Sox fan, I have lots of memories that are tied to specific images from the past.
Continue reading “Take More Baseball Photos”
Baseball is much easier to practice when you have a bunch of guys, but it is possible for you to get in some good practice even when you’re alone.
The Covid-19 Coronavirus is keeping baseball players away from each other, but you can still get some work in if you really want to.
Continue reading “Solo Baseball Practice”
While looking through the statistics at Baseball-Reference, I noticed something that I wouldn’t call surprising, but a bit overwhelming. It seems that baseball’s best players peak in their late 20’s. Pitchers, batters, fielders, it doesn’t matter – at 27ish, they’re as good as they’re going to get. Why is that?
Continue reading “Some Amazing Baseball Statistics”
Saturday afternoon, March 14th was a perfect day for about 50 guys to come out and show off before getting placed on a CNCMSBL team for the 2020 season.
Continue reading “Photos from the 2020 Try Outs”
Many of our teams practice on multi-use fields or baseball fields that aren’t regulation. This article will help you layout a perfect infield for your next team practice regardless of the field your using.
A regulation baseball infield is a simple 90-foot square. But, where do those measurements start and end?
Continue reading “Regulation Baseball Field Dimensions”
The CNCMSBL attracts guys of all ages. Our 18+ division has its share of 18 year-olds and our 50+ division has guys in their 70’s. Almost all of us have one thing in common, we’ve loved the game since we were kids.
There are some guys who were so good that they were ready to break into the major league even before they were old enough to vote!
Continue reading “5 Major Leaguers Too Young For Our League”
In the Central North Carolina Men’s Senior Baseball League, there are a lot of very good players. From 18 to 80 there are guys that will make you stand up and take notice of their great play, but what about the rest of us?
Most of us are pretty good players but we’re still trying to get better. We could all use some good coaching, but great coaches are more of a rarity than great players. There are 333 plaques in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and only 22 of them are managers.
Even a casual fan has heard all the talk about ideal launch angle over the past few years. I wondered how it could impact a normal men’s league player.
Continue reading “Launch Angle for Dummies”
Back in 1965, your choice for baseball bats was fairly straight-forward. Did you prefer the Louisville Slugger like Mickey Mantle used or the Adirondack like Willie Mays. Both were made from select ash. Professional baseball was dominated by a few big bat companies.
At the turn of the 21st century, Barry Bonds home run exploits put the spotlight on the bat he was using, and his bat was made out of maple.
Birch, which is more flexible like ash and dense like maple, is starting to be picked up by a growing number of big leaguers. Birch recently passed ash as the number two type of bat in major league baseball.
Continue reading “Ash vs Maple vs Birch Wood Baseball Bats”
Starting on Friday, March 22, and running through May 11, Picturing America’s Pastime will feature 51 framed photographs representing the Baseball Hall of Fame’s collection of approximately a quarter million images at the Fayetteville Art Council located at 301 Hay Street [map]. As an extension of the Museum’s exhibit in Cooperstown, the touring version of Picturing America’s Pastime captures the essence of an exhibit designed to show the historic link between the two American passions – baseball and photography.
Continue reading “Baseball Hall of Fame in Fayetteville”
Baseball teams have been shifting defensively forever. Most of us think of the modern idea of a defensive infield shift started with Lou Boudreau and what became known as the “William’s Shift” in 1946.
The first time Williams came up against this shift, he hit the ball right to Boudreau himself, standing directly between first and second base.
From that moment on, teams shifted on Williams for the rest of his career. The shift was so common that Williams once estimated it lopped about 15 points off of his lifetime batting average, and he wasn’t far off: his career splits before and after that season showed a difference of 16 points.
Continue reading “Should Your Team Be Shifting More?”
Your baseball glove is an extension of your baseball-self, you want to love it.
The gloves we use today have evolved from no gloves at all in the 19th century. Some of the best defensive stars of their generation (or all-time) have become legends while using what we would now consider unusable.
Continue reading “Baseball Gloves”
Anyone who plays baseball knows that a better grip is always helpful. Batting gloves have become more grippier, the lizard skin tape that now adorns many bats adds some gripiness to bats, but what about good old-fashioned pine tar?
Continue reading “Pine Tar, Grip Sticks & Rosin”
On Saturday, April 13th at noon, the Lithuanian National Baseball Team will be competing with a select team from the Central North Carolina Men’s Senior Baseball League (CNCMSBL).
Continue reading “Lithuanian National Baseball Team Exhibition Game”
Have you ever wondered if you should be using eye black on those bright, sunny North Carolina afternoons? The short answer, according to Dr. Brian M. DeBroff, the lead author of a Yale study on the subject, it doesn’t hurt.
Continue reading “Does Eye Black Work?”
I have a butt problem.
Specifically, I sit on it too much and I don’t use the muscles packed into it as much as I should.
That’s one of the revelations I discovered during a visit to the TB12 Sports Therapy Center, the gym/treatment facility opened by Tom Brady and his body coach Alex Guerrero to give both future Hall of Famers and those who don’t play football for a living a chance to embrace what everyone around there calls “The Method.”
Continue reading “I worked out like Tom Brady at the TB12 Center”
One of the most common injuries in baseball occurs when a player running the bases suddenly pulls up short and starts limping. The cause: a pulled hamstring. It seems like they come out of nowhere, but they are caused by factors hidden beneath the skin.
The hamstrings play a critical role in sprinting, throwing and hitting. They are most frequently injured when athletes decelerate or try to control movement. Pitchers usually injure the hamstring on their plant leg, because it absorbs the explosive force from the throw.
Hamstring injuries are preventable if you take the correct action. You need to train your hamstrings eccentrically (i.e., during the lowering part of a movement), build glute strength and develop a strong core before the season starts.
Try incorporating two or three of the following exercises into your lower-body program. Switch them up each workout to continue challenging your hamstrings so you will be ready for the long baseball season.
Continue reading “Avoiding Hamstring Injuries”
The #1 seed 40+ Sanford Marlins knocked off the #2 seed 40+ Alamance Giants in the 40+ Central North Carolina MSBL Championship Game.
In the game, Doug Barefoot pitched six strong innings giving up only three runs on seven hits to earn the win for the Marlins. Dan Thomsonrelieved Doug in the seventh and held the Giants scoreless for the rest of the game. The Marlins won 6-3, behind strong offensive efforts from Wayne Williamson (2 for 4), Skillz McFadden (2 for 4) and Darron Healey(2 for 4).
Continue reading “Sanford Marlins Win 40+ Championship Series”
