Home Run Derby

Every once in a while, umpires’ uniforms just don’t seem to make it to the ballpark with the umpires. 

UniWatch covered the subject pretty well nearly 4 years ago (that Paul Lukas is always ahead of the game).

One such occurence happened on April 17, 1987 … during a game between the Montreal Expos and Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, the umpires’ gear somehow got lost at the airport.  Naturally the host Cubs were generous enough to outfit the boys in blue.  It just happened to be Cubbie Blue. 

Now this was a classic game.

• Not because you got to see the late Eric Gregg get his 300 pound frame dressed up in spare Cubs’ catching gear
• Not because the Expos were wearing Powder Blue (we love the Powder Blue uniforms)
• Not because Rick Sutcliffe (one of the best beards in baseball) was on the mound …
• Not because the Cubs beat the Expos 7-0

But because comedian Bill Murray was guest-announcing the game while Harry Caray was recovering from a stroke.  

You can imagine the fun Murray had with the umpires’ uniform shenanigans.  Especially the behemoth that was Eric Gregg.  

Roll the video …

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Facebook.  Everybody’s doing it. 

Facebook is a great way to keep up with friends, reconnect with old ones you forgot about, constantly update people about the excruciating minutiae in your life, and avoid doing any work.

But it would appear that Facebook doesn’t love everyone.  Namely, one Allan H. Selig.  Also known as Bud Selig, the current commissioner of Major League Baseball.

Take a look …

Hilarious. 

Yes, I know that Facebook page almost assuredly doesn’t actually belong to Bud Selig.  Or this one.  Or this one (which lists former NBA commissioner David Stern as Bud’s only friend.  More likely, they’re all fake Facebook pages under the name ”Bud Selig.”

But there are a bunch of Facebook Groups who don’t like Bud Selig … and here’s some of them.  But be warned … some of them have some NSFW names.

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Well with the temperature at Home Run Derby headquarters currently at -7 degrees (wind chill of -29) and not expected to rise above zero for the next 27 hours … I was trying to stay warm by thinking about baseball.

Crack of the Bat, lush green grass, hot August sun, an ice cold beer, and a Kosher dog with grilled onions doused with the Stadium Mustard my brother in law sent me (hey Mike, I need more) and another ice cold beer.  That warmed me up for a while …

And then I accidentally clicked on Wrigley Field’s Webcam and saw this disturbing sight …

Singing at the Winter Classic may be all done, but it’s still winter at Wrigley.  And I got to wondering what the other MLB playgrounds look like in the snow and cold.   Let’s find out.

Staying at Wrigley, it looks like Harry Caray and Ernie Banks are keeping a quiet and chilly sentry along Addison Street.

Anyone else afraid of how cold it will be when if the Cubs do ever win the World Series? I hope I’m retired and living in Green Valley, Arizona by then.

Heading South, as in the South Side of Chicago … when last we saw US Cellular Field, it was in the midst of a “Blackout.” Now it’s in the middle of a “White-Out.”
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In 2008, the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals are going to do something that no baseball team has done since 1991.

They’re going to break out the Powder Blue Uniforms. Mind you – they’ll be only occasionally be used as home alternate uniforms, but that’s a feat in and of itself. I don’t think anyone’s ever worn the powder blue in their home stadium before.

The Royals will be wearing blue shirts (with white pants) while the Blue Jays will go completely retro and bust out the baby blue from head to toe. The Jays will also bring back their old logo, a pullover jersey, and their old two-color cap. I have one of those hats. I love it.

There’s no word yet as to how often the Royals and Jays will do this in 2008, but the vibe is that they’ll do it enough that they petitioned MLB to add the uniforms to their regular cache of kits.

The St. Louis Cardinals have worn powder blue throwbacks in road games twice (2005 vs Tampa Bay and 2007 vs Milwaukee).

Considering that we’ve hardly seen powder blue for the last sixteen seasons (and the fact that no one under the age of 21 likely has any memory of powder blue baseball) let’s take a trip down memory lane and revisit the teams that dared … to wear blue.

Prepare yourselves for a trip when the blue wasn’t just in the azure sky over the field. And watch out for lots of polyester pullovers and stirrups.

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Thanks to some Taoist support, BJ Birdy became the third of four #6 seeded MLB Mascot to knock off a #3 seed in our Mascot Brackets.  I guess the Bird wasn’t as popular as I thought he was.

Let’s see if a battle of retired MLB mascots in the Furrie Division will see another #6 Seed knock off the favorite …

#3 Youppi! (Montreal Expos) vs. #6 Ribbie and Roobarb (Chicago White Sox)

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