| Archive |
The Underground Insight 4.28.08: The Baseball YouTube-iverse
(04.29.2008)
Everybody loves YouTube. So while you’re bored at work, why not enjoy these baseball YouTube gems? |
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The Underground Insight 3.25.08: Opening Day from Japan Live Blog!
(03.25.2008)
The Oakland Athletics take on the Boston Red Sox live from Japan, and I’m up all night to give you a live run-down of the game from my very biased A’s fan perspective. I promise I’ll be less obnoxious than the Boo Ya Network announcers! |
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The Underground Insight 2.25.08: Sifting Through the Bargain Bin
(02.25.2008)
In an offseason where players like Torii Hunter, Sean Casey, and Scott Linebrink got absurd contracts, not every team blew a bunch of cash on players who don’t deserve it (and some did, but also made good moves). Many players were plucked out of the bargain bin, and they’re sure to help their new teams in 2008. |
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The Underground Insight 1.28.08: Mama Said Not to Touch, But You Didn’t Listen
(01.28.2008)
Every year the stove heats up and baseball general managers don’t learn: it’s hot to the touch. After a disappointing 2007 season, everybody’s favorite angry, arrogant Kenny Williams has shown he must be impervious to pain. Nobody should get burned as often as he has this winter. |
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The Underground Insight 12.31.07: The Impossible Hobby
(12.31.2007)
The days of a jumbo pack of 35 cards for two bucks is gone. Now you have to shell out a couple hundred dollars for a couple of cards, and even then odds are you’ll never get all the cards you truly desire. Collecting has changed over the past fifteen years, and not always for the better. |
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The Underground Insight 11.26.07: Worst. MVP. Ever.
(11.26.2007)
The title may be slight hyperbole: Jimmy Rollins may not actually be the worst MVP winner ever, but he’s pretty close. He’s certainly one of the most undeserving; he wasn’t the MVP of his own team and wasn’t even the best player at his own position. |
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The Underground Insight 10.29.07: Why Baseball Matters
(10.29.2007)
The National Football League may have overtaken the #1 spot in terms of television ratings and profit margins, but the game of baseball maintains its place in the hearts and minds of America – not just American sports fans. As the World Series nears its conclusion, I take a look at America’s Pastime and explain just why baseball is so ingrained in our lives. |
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The Underground Insight 10.1.07: Repeating History – The Worst Winning it All
(10.01.2007)
Last year, the St. Louis Cardinals defied the odds and won the World Series after winning just 83 regular season games. This season, the worst playoff team is undoubtedly the Arizona Diamondbacks – a team outscored by 20 runs this season. Do the D-Backs have the tools to compete on a playoff caliber level? |
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The Underground Insight 09.17.07: When Cheaters Prosper
(09.17.2007)
Calls to clean up sports penetrate the offices of every sports commissioner and, lately, have even reached the world of pro wrestling. This week, the Insight takes a look at cheating in baseball and why sometimes cheaters are given a pass (and in one case, enshrined). |
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The Underground Insight 9.11.07: Limping to the Finish
(09.11.2007)
The National League Central is anybody’s race, but no team appears willing to take control. The Insight looks at which of the remaining contenders has the best chance to lose the least the rest of the way. |
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The Underground Insight 9.3.07: Let the Good Times Roll, Part 2
(09.03.2007)
Last week, the Insight looked at two of the season’s greatest stories: Josh Hamilton and Rick Ankiel. This week, we celebrate Labor Day by giving just due to two more of 2007’s inspirational baseball stories. |
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The Underground Insight 8.27.07: Let the Good Times Roll, Part 1
(08.27.2007)
In the year Barry Bonds tarnishes the most hallowed record in sports (and the other major sports aren’t doing so well either), baseball still has some feel-good stories. This week and next, the Insight looks at a few of those stories.
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The Underground Insight 8.20.07: The Spray Takes Over
(08.20.2007)
In a week when no one story, idea, or random annoying Four-Letter-Network writer has annoyed The Insight, this column takes a brief look at a number of baseball’s recent storylines. |
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The Underground Insight 08.13.07: The Future of 300
(08.13.2007)
After Tom Glavine, many experts believe that the era of the 300-game winner will come to an end. That idea seems to be gaining support in the baseball community, but The Insight can’t figure out why. |
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The Underground Insight 8.6.07: Breaking Down Billy Beane’s Boys
(08.06.2007)
Holy alliteration, Batman! As promised, this week the Insight analyzes the Athletics, opines on Oakland, and takes a gander at the state of the Green and Gold. |
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The Underground Insight 7.30.07: The Final Countdown
(07.30.2007)
No, not the entrance music of the current SHIMMER champion, Sara Del Rey, but the last few hours before the MLB Trading Deadline and The Insight looks at some deals that have already been made, a few rumored moves, and some players who very well may be on the move. |
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The Underground Insight 07.23.07: Deconstructing the Iron Man
(07.23.2007)
With Cal Ripken, Jr. less then a week away from induction into the Hall of Fame, The Insight examines the career of the “Iron Man” and questions just how Hall-of-Fame-worthy his numbers are, and how much more Hall-worthy would he be without The Streak.
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The Underground Insight 07.16.07: Damaged Goods, Broken Dreams
(07.16.2007)
Two of the most promising young arms of the early twenty-first century have become, at best, forgotten on the national baseball landscape. At worst, they are giant albatrosses for their teams and each club should consider moving them to anybody willing to take a chance on a player who will likely never reach their immeasurable potential. |
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The Underground Insight 07.09.07: The Passion and the Fire
(07.09.2007)
A simple question: Why do people put so much stock into such subjective, often meaningless, words in baseball? That and some other goodies to head into the All-Star break. |
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The Underground Insight 07.02.07: Hurts So Good
(07.02.2007)
A personal retrospective of the career of “The Big Hurt” Frank Thomas, including the many ways Thomas has made my life as a sports fan so much better. |
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