Rich Folkers

Each day we feature something from our collection of childhood bubblegum memories.  For those who remember them, these baseball cards have their own stories to tell.

What does this card bring to mind for you? Please share in the comments!

We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

Jay Johnstone

Each day we feature something from our collection of childhood bubblegum memories.  For those who remember them, these baseball cards have their own stories to tell.

What does this card bring to mind for you? Please share in the comments!

We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

Ramon Martinez

Each day we feature something from our collection of childhood bubblegum memories.  For those who remember them, these baseball cards have their own stories to tell.

What does this card bring to mind for you? Please share in the comments!

We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

Rafael Palmeiro

Each day we feature something from our collection of childhood bubblegum memories.  For those who remember them, these baseball cards have their own stories to tell.

What does this card bring to mind for you? Please share in the comments!

We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

Here is the breakdown:

There might have been some last minute persuasion as a Baseballisms fan, Jim Bawbe, submitted a recollection of actually attending that game …

Thanks to everyone who participated!

Now it’s time to put up a new poll.  There are so many things that would be interesting to know, we had a hard time deciding what to ask.  After some serious brainstorming we have decided to ask your favorite Fan Ballpark Tradition.

So baseball fans, which tradition would you most like to participate in?

Wrigley Field – Cubs Fans throw back an opponent home run ball

Yankee Stadium – Yankee Fans conduct the player Roll Call

Ebbetts Field – Dodger fans march as the Brooklyn Dodger Sym-Phony Band

Fenway Park – Red Sox Royal Rooters sing Tessie

Angel Stadium – Fans break out Rally Monkeys and Thundersticks

Please vote early and vote often in the Poll in the right hand column.  We know there are more that we could have included so please let us know in the comments any others that are worthy of a mention.

Rennie Stennett

Each day we feature something from our collection of childhood bubblegum memories.  For those who remember them, these baseball cards have their own stories to tell.

What does this card bring to mind for you? Please share in the comments!

We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

His most recent book is It Ain’t So: A Might Have Been History of the White Sox in 1919 and Beyond. It is published by McFarland, and was released in November of 2009.

Mike took a completely unique approach to writing about the Chicago White Sox team of 1919.  After first pitching the concept to his publisher and getting some push back, he pitched another book which turned out to be Harry Frazee, Ban Johnson and the Feud That Nearly Destroyed the American League.  Once McFarland saw what Mike could accomplish, they let him revisit his concept for examining what might have happened if the Black Sox scandal had never taken place.

Out of the Park Baseball provided the computational muscle, while Mike allowed the players who were banned from baseball in 1920, to continue on in their careers.  Mike chronicled the impact that this would have had on the American League races, as well as some World Series Championships. He played the 1919 World Series, completed the 1920 season, and then reset all of the American League teams each season to play a “might have been” version of the White Sox.  This simulation and writing process took Mike about 10 years to complete.

In Mike’s version of the 1919 World Series, the Reds still end up winning the series however the final game went to extra innings in a zero – zero tie, and after scoring in the tenth they snuffed a White Sox rally with a 1 – 2 – 3 double play.

In our record books, the White Sox players are indicted on fixing charges and are not allowed to finish the 1920 season, even though they are in a close pennant race with the Cleveland Indians.  It is the Indians who eventually go on to win the World Series.  In Mike’s version of 1920, the White Sox ascend to the AL Crown rather than fade from the race.

In the chapter on 1921 was the following AL Leaders, showing where the most famous of the players caught up in the scandal, Shoeless Joe Jackson, would have ranked amongst his peers of the day.  It is a powerful representation to see his name listed among all-time historically significant players … raising the question of course of “what might have been?”

American League Batting Averages

According to Mike’s simulations, the career that baseball missed out on from Joe Jackson might have included 3457 hits, 630 doubles, 278 triples, over 1500 RBI, 1700 runs scored, and a batting average of .351.  We will never know how close to realistic these numbers are, but it sure is interesting to contemplate.

A significant challenge for Mike in the statistical analysis was what to do with the players who actually got their shot in place of the Eight Men Out.  These are players who went on to have careers and accumulate stats that needed to be dealt with when running simulations.  Should they stay on the bench for the White Sox?  Should they find jobs with other teams and impact those statistics? …. There is a great ripple effect that would have been nearly impossible to fully explore.  Some of these players ended up eventually moving the banished players out of the lineup in the simulations.

This was a very strong team heading into the decade of the 20’s, but this was also the time when the Yankees started to build a great legacy that would have derailed the White Sox no matter.  The simulations do not elevate the team to any additional Championships and only two World Series appearances early in the decade.

Mike’s other endeavor Seamheads.com has been growing substantially in the recent months, with the addition of many new contributors who will be posting stories on a regular basis. The stories include not just history but minor leagues, fantasy, college and he is even getting inquiries about trivia and baseball movies. If you don’t already subscribe to Seamheads.com I would recommend you check it out.

We have to extend our sincerest thanks to Mike Lynch for appearing on Cover the Bases to talk about his book It Ain’t So: A Might Have Been History of the White Sox in 1919 and Beyond.  Please let us know in the comment section what you think about this unique approach to baseball history, as well as any other suggestions you might have for future editions of the podcast.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message. We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

Lynn McGlothen

Each day we feature something from our collection of childhood bubblegum memories.  For those who remember them, these baseball cards have their own stories to tell.

What does this card bring to mind for you? Please share in the comments!

We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

Craig McMurtry

Each day we feature something from our collection of childhood bubblegum memories.  For those who remember them, these baseball cards have their own stories to tell.

What does this card bring to mind for you? Please share in the comments!

We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

We find out from Perry that her expected path to adulthood was by way of the usual assortment of life’s milestones, from debutante through married life and parenthood.  It was a suggestion of a different path by her mother, who observed Perry’s reading habits and musical output, that umpiring came into the picture.  Through this connection of baseball it allowed for a unique bond to develop between Perry and her mom.

The first umpire Perry ever met, and was deeply influenced by, was Ed Montague.  Her song The Umpire Stands Alone was written for him.  The book The Men in Blue: Conversations with Umpires by Larry Gerlach was the touchstone of her mother’s suggestion to pursue umpiring.

At her mother’s urging she went to umpire a Little League game in a town nearby, and after the odd looks from the players, she donned her balloon protector and proceeded to use any handy resource available (including Mom in the stands with a rule book) to call the game.  Following the game she had to withstand the letters to the newspaper requesting that she not return.

But prevail she did, through determination and an amazing rush of adrenaline as the target of direct hostility, Perry continued to develop her skills as a highly qualified arbiter of the game.

Perry is not just a participant in the game on the field, she also has a great passion for the historical aspects of the game.  She has discovered through reading about John McGraw’s New York Giants, a player to be admired above all others in Christy Mathewson.

A college graduate among men mostly renowned for drunken rowdiness, Mathewson was one of the game’s first superstars who appealed to a vast majority of the fans.

The books that capture Perry’s attention included Ring Lardner’s You Know Me Al; A Busher’s Letters and Roger Angell’s The Summer Game (Bison Book).  She also likes Pat Jordan’s A False Spring, and he has also written an article about Perry for the AARP that you can read here.  Finally, a personal friend of Perry, Dan Schlossberg has written a book that will be released shortly called The 300 Club: Have We Seen the Last of Baseball’s 300-Game Winners?.

The book that Perry currently has on the Kindle is about a subject near and dear to her heart .. the story of women and baseball .. authored by Jean Ardell Breaking Into Baseball: Women and the National Pastime.

The book discusses the contributions and influence of women in the game, beyond just the players who were on the field for the AAGPBL, but also in the front offices, stadiums, and of course umpiring crews.

Perry points out that baseball has not been open to accepting of social change, and has always been a bastion of the old boys club,  which continues to hold back women attempting to ascend to the upper levels. Perry will be working some games over the course of Spring Training 2010, and hopes to have a an all women crew as she has in the past (as seen in this photo).

Some may not be aware that tournaments are held in the Far East that Perry gets to umpire.  She recently returned from Hong Kong where a women’s tournament was held. This type of event also gives Perry the chance to interact with other female umpires, including Yanet Moreno who calls games at the Cuban version of major leagues.  However it also points out that it has been 30 years since the height and weight restrictions for becoming an umpire were overturned, in a case where Bernie Gera won the right to umpire through a court ruling.

After 30 years of pushing on the glass ceiling, Perry is a little bit frustrated with the lack of progress so has joined with some other female umpires to speak on the virtues and recruit to the country’s umpire schools. They believe that it all has to start with getting larger numbers of women interested in learning the skills required.

This has to be a grassroots effort because there has been no concerted effort by the MLB to recruit. Perry points out the Rod Thorn of the NBA sent his assistant Darrell Garretson out to find the women who could eventually become NBA caliber refs.

In July of 2010, in Hinsdale MA. there will be a camp called the Girls International Baseball Academy, conducted by women in various positions throughout baseball, where they will gather to educate young girls on a variety of aspects of baseball.   As more information becomes available about the event, you can look for Perry to share it through this and other web sites.

We have to extend our sincerest thanks to Perry for granting us so much of her time to speak with us.  In case you missed Episode One, we talk about her music career and what it takes to be a skilled umpire.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message. We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!