A daily miasma of frivolity by two wanna-be cultural critics. Or: just, like, some good links, dude.

Tag Archives: baseball

Apr 02 2011
Mark Twain, probably

The Highest-Salaried Player on Every MLB Team

Here’s a list of every team in Major League Baseball and the player on that team who’s making the most money this year. Try to guess who’s on top of each payroll! Feel free to use these team rosters to help make your picks; we did.

Select the text in the black boxes to reveal the answers.

  • Arizona Diamondbacks: Kelly Johnson ($5,850,000)
  • Atlanta Braves: Derek Lowe ($15,000,000)
  • Baltimore Orioles: Nick Markakis ($10,600,000)
  • Boston Red Sox: Josh Beckett ($17,000,000)
  • Chicago Cubs: Alfonso Soriano ($19,000,000)
  • Chicago White Sox: Jake Peavy ($16,000,000)
  • Cincinnati Reds: Francisco Cordero ($12,125,000)
  • Cleveland Indians: Travis Hafner ($13,000,000)
  • Colorado Rockies: Todd Helton ($20,275,000)
  • Detroit Tigers: Miguel Cabrera ($20,000,000)
  • Florida Marlins: Hanley Ramirez ($11,000,000)
  • Houston Astros: Carlos Lee ($19,000,000)
  • Kansas City Royals: Joakim Soria ($4,000,000)
  • Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Vernon Wells ($26,187,500)
  • Los Angeles Dodgers: Rafael Furcal ($13,000,000)
  • Milwaukee Brewers: Prince Fielder ($15,500,000)
  • Minnesota Twins: Joe Mauer ($23,000,000)
  • New York Mets: Johan Santana ($21,644,707)
  • New York Yankees: Alex Rodriguez ($32,000,000)
  • Oakland Athletics: David DeJesus, Mark Ellis, and Josh Willingham ($6,000,000 each)
  • Philadelphia Phillies: Roy Halladay and Ryan Howard ($20,000,000 each)
  • Pittsburgh Pirates: Paul Maholm ($6,250,000)
  • San Diego Padres: Heath Bell ($7,500,000)
  • San Francisco Giants: Barry Zito ($18,500,000)
  • Seattle Mariners: Ichiro Suzuki ($18,000,000)
  • St. Louis Cardinals: Matt Holliday ($16,317,774)
  • Tampa Bay Rays: Johnny Damon ($5,250,000)
  • Texas Rangers: Michael Young ($16,174,974)
  • Toronto Blue Jays: Jose Bautista ($8,000,000)
  • Washington Nationals: Jayson Werth ($10,571,428)

Colin got 4/30 correct, and I got 9/29 (I recused myself from one that I’d already looked up).

I used the USA Today’s payroll information for this post. Check the lists out yourself, if you feel so inclined.

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Apr 01 2011
Mark Twain, probably

Bats, Balls and Bullets

Bats, Balls and Bullets

George B. Kirsch, writing about the development of the modern game of baseball:

The English national game of cricket was the first modern team sport in the United States. During the 1850s, an estimated 10,000 English immigrants and native-born men and boys founded about 500 clubs in at least 22 states in the Union. By 1861, Philadelphia had become the cricketing capital of the nation, boasting the most organizations and the largest contingent of proficient, American-born players. But cricket also faced major challenges from two upstart versions of baseball that had recently exploded in popularity. “The Massachusetts game” reigned supreme in Boston and most of New England, while “the New York game” ruled Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Jersey.

And how it was affected by the looming Civil War:

Thousands of members of northern cricket and baseball clubs volunteered for service in the Union Army, while a handful chose the Confederate side. In Cincinnati, Abraham G. Mills, a future president of the National League, packed a bat and ball with his Army gear before reporting for military duty. In late May Wilkes’ Spirit of the Times reported that the pitcher of St. Louis’ Union club planned to resign from his team to accept a commission in the Second Missouri Artillery after leading his team to victory in a city championship match. According to that paper, his fans hoped that “the balls he will pitch at the foes of his country’s flag, may be as successful in putting down their insolent presumption, as were those pitched against his civil opponents yesterday,” the former champions of St. Louis.

Fascinating stuff as usual from Disunion, The New York Times’s liveblog of the Civil War.

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Apr 01 2011
Mark Twain, probably

Walt Whitman on Baseball

Walt Whitman on Baseball

In 1846 Whitman wrote:

In our sundown perambulations of late through the outer parts of Brooklyn, we have observed several parties of youngsters playing “base,” a certain game of ball.

…

The game of ball is glorious—so are leaping, running, and wrestling. To any person having the least knowledge of physiology, it were superfluous to enter into any argument to prove the use and benefit of exercise. We have far too little of it in this country, among the “genteel” classes. Both women and men should be careful to pass no day of their lives without a portion of outdoor exercise.

America: fat even in 1846.

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Mar 31 2011
Mark Twain, probably

(AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

It’s opening day for Major League Baseball, ladies and gentlemen. Play ball.

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