Shiloh In The Little League World Series

Shiloh Baniaga that is.

From Hawaii.

Shiloh Baniaga homered and allowed three hits to lead Waipahu, Hawaii, over Toms River, N.J., 3-1, at the Little League World Series. Ty DeSa added a solo homer in the fifth as New Jersey was ousted from the double-elimination tournament. One of the shortest players on the field at 5 feet 2 inches, the 12-year-old Baniaga mixed his fastball and off-speed pitches to keep Toms River off balance.

It's a bit to hilly out here in Shiloh but nevertheless, we do have baseball equioment brought from the old country.


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Hey, Guys, Baseball is Serious Business

Problems of a Yankee pitcher:

The Yankees have been seeking a solution to Chamberlain’s first-inning struggles for some time, and Chamberlain acknowledged that it was a problem that has persisted since college, although he has not been able to pinpoint a reason for it.

“It’s starting to make me mad,” he said.

Chamberlain said that he would spend the next few days trying to solve the problem, whether by throwing more pitches in the bullpen before his starts — he threw a handful more Sunday — or by choosing different motivational music.

Music?

What is this? A seminar on motivational psychology?

They'll Get More Than Balls Back

This isn't cricket:

According to author Julian Norridge baseball originated in Britain, and part of his proof comes from a reference in Jane Austen's novel "Northanger Abbey." Norridge, whose book "Can we Have our Balls Back, Please?" focuses on Britain's role in writing the rulebooks for a long list of sports, says Austen mentioned baseball in the opening pages of "Northanger Abbey," which was written in 1797-98.

Norridge says that Austen referenced the sport while introducing her tomboy heroine Catherine Morland, writing: "It was not very wonderful that Catherine, who had nothing heroic about her, should prefer cricket, baseball, riding on horseback, and running about the country at the age of 14, to books." He argues in his book that the reference indicates British people were familiar with the sport prior to its supposed invention much later in the United States.

It was another base concept, if not another ball.

Judaism, Rosh HaShanna - Not Even a Factor

After the game, Green, who is Jewish, said the victory was not extra special because it came on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. “It’s not even a factor,” he said.

Yeah?

Well, that was last week.

This week I understand the Mets are sinking fast.

Baseball Season Has Begun

The Yankees (2-2) trailed by a run with two out and the bases empty in the ninth inning, a situation similar to the one described in the Ernest L. Thayer poem “Casey at the Bat.” Then Robinson Canó singled up the middle against Orioles closer Chris Ray, Derek Jeter walked and Bobby Abreu was hit by a pitch to bring up Rodriguez.

Like Casey in the poem, Rodriguez had two strikes against him. But that was where the comparison ended. Ray offered a 95-mile-an-hour fastball on a 1-2 count that Rodriguez sent over the wall in right-center.

“Somehow, I knew it was going to come down to me,” said Rodriguez, who had three hits and six runs batted in, including a two-run homer in the first inning. “Even with two outs and nobody on.”

The fans roared their approval. The Yankees piled out of the dugout and mobbed Rodriguez. Johnny Damon attempted to lift him in the air, but, maybe thinking about his strained right calf, did not. Jeter urged Rodriguez to make a curtain call, and he obliged.

Here.

On the Way to a Minyan?

Mets really going Jewish:-

David Newhan, a scrappy utility player on the Baltimore Orioles...

...Besides being a 10-year-old who fielded fungoes and received batting tips from players like Rod Carew, Newhan is a player who did not receive regular playing time until he was 30. He persevered through a frustrating series of circumstances and two serious injuries, including a broken fibula sustained last season when he slid into second base. Now he finds himself here with the Mets, his eighth organization, and probably on the way to earning a place on the opening day roster.

Newhan’s versatility and high-energy playing style make him the favorite to win a bench spot on the Mets, where he would be, at least by family lineage, one of the team’s three Jewish players, joining Shawn Green and Scott Schoeneweis. Newhan’s religious odyssey, however, has put him so far outside the Jewish mainstream that many Jews probably no longer consider him Jewish...

He made his major league debut with San Diego in 1999.

Then, Newhan said, it all started going wrong. He batted .140 in 32 games. The next year he hit .150. He was traded to Philadelphia and made the team out of spring training in 2001, but he injured his shoulder crashing into a left-field wall and missed most of that season and all of 2002 after having his second shoulder operation.

It was about this time that Newhan started reading the Bible for guidance, and soon, he said, “a different train pulled into the station.” He still held fast to his Jewish beliefs — he had his bar mitzvah at a Conservative synagogue — but he said that accepting Jesus Christ helped guide him through this rocky period. He observes Passover and Hanukkah and considers himself a Messianic Jew.

“I was a Jewish kid at Pepperdine — God must have been working on me then,” Newhan said of his alma mater, which is affiliated with the Churches of Christ.

Even his faith could not provide answers about what happened next. For the Rockies’ Class AAA team in 2003, Newhan batted .348 but was never called up. For the Rangers’ Class AAA team in 2004, he batted .328 and was never recalled.

He finally took advantage of a provision in his contract that allowed him to seek a major league job if he was not in the majors by June 15. He was signed by the Orioles on June 18 and was promptly ordered to fly to Denver for their game against the Rockies. That night, from his seat in the Dodger Stadium press box, his father tracked the game on his computer. His heart skipped a beat in the ninth inning when his son entered the game as a pinch-hitter. The message “Ball in Play” came up. Ross held his breath. Then the screen flashed, “Home run.”