Cleaning out the inbox

The cleaning of the inbox continues as I offer notes from the sports world in this segment and soon will sift through the non-sports notes later in the week.

Former "dirtiest player in the game" Conrad Dobler shares his battles with health issues from the game with 7220Sports.com, which is a site that covers Wyoming sports.
Wyoming was the alma mater of Dobler and the long article discusses Dobler's college and pro career, the tragic accident suffered by his recently deceased wife in 2001 and his current cognitive issues along with how it affects his family.
It's a really interesting read about how football can leave you impaired, yet still, be willing to go back and do it all over again.

Retrosimba.com writes something that I had never heard before as they write that the then St.Louis Cardinals were twice offered Jim Brown for their running back of the time John David Crow.
Crow, who won the Heisman at Texas A&M in 1957, had rushed for over 1,000 yards in 1960, but still finished 200 yards behind Brown for the rushing title.
The supposed discussions were noted by various newspapers at the time as mentioned in the article and one of them was the good old Hagerstown Herald-Mail, who talked to Bears quarterback Billy Wade ( I have no idea how or why Wade would be chatting with the Herald-Mail) for his thoughts on the proposed trade.
Wade was quoted as saying the Cardinals made the right choice in turning the trade down and keeping Crow, which might have been why Billy Wade never ran an NFL front office.

The San Francisco Chronicle writes of the story of Giants announcer Mike Krukow and his service dog Patriot.
I've written before of the Giants TV team of Krukow, Duane Kuiper, and Amy Gutierrez playing a key role in my Giants fandom starting because they are so good at what they do and I've written of Krukow's condition, inclusion-body myositis and his susceptibility to falling in the past, but I've never mentioned Patriot as Krukow's service dog.
The story is mainly about Krukow and why he needs the help that Patriot provides, but there is plenty about the service program, how Patriot was trained and his integration into the Krukow family.
As for Gutierrez, she recently did an interview with "Sportsastoldbyagirl" and discusses her entrance into television, the ups and downs of being a female in a male-dominated business and her top memories covering the Giants.

The New York Times writes of the pain and problems that catchers receive (no pun intended) from foul tips that are diverted and smack off the facemask.
When you consider how hard pitchers throw in today's game and then mix in the speed from a swinging bat, the Times equates the impact of those foul tips to taking a punch from a strong boxer.
An interesting point was comparing catchers to other sports players, who can return to the game if removed for an injury, while catchers cannot.
That's very true and the article mentioned that baseball had considered a rule that would allow a catcher to leave the game under those conditions and return later if the player would be judged to be fine after an evaluation.

ESPN writes of the continuing decline in fighting in the NHL.
Between the changes in the style of the game and players that were once kept on the roster to be an enforcer are no longer able to be kept on a roster because the luxury of a one-dimensional player doesn't exist in making a roster in today's game, fighting penalties have and will likely continue to fall over the next few years.
Fighting at the junior hockey level has decreased even more due to rules that lead to suspensions for players that fight more than a certain amount and perhaps that reason alone will continue to see fighting lessen as players learn to play hockey without having to fight.
I miss fighting, always enjoyed it, but it's not a mandatory part of the game and I can live without it, as it dries up as time goes by.

We wrap up with The Athletic's article on the 1994 Indians and how they lost a shot at a playoff run due to the strike that canceled the postseason and ended what would have been the Indians first playoff berth since 1959.
The Indians were almost sure to be the wild-card team and with only a one game deficit between the Indians and first place Chicago in the Central Division, the Indians could have easily won the division.
Still, the young players that led the 1994 Indians into contention, would be the same players that took Cleveland to the 1995 World Series and their development was the biggest part of that and the ensuing playoff contenders in the late 90s.

Lots of notes finished but plenty still to go and the next cleaning will be from the non-sports side!

Cleaning out the inbox-Baseball Version

On a beautiful day for baseball (and the Giants home opener),it's time for an all baseball cleaning out the inbox!

ESPN discusses an opinion that Buster Posey is now the best defensive catcher in the game.
For years,the Cardinal backstop Yadier Molina had gotten that nod,but with the advent of the numbers crowd and their interest in catchers pitch framing abilities,I can see where Posey has risen to the top of the heap.
Between his offensive numbers and defensive capabilities,Posey is the best catcher in the game.

Two articles from the SABR Baseball Card Blog grabbed some attention.
The first dealt with former Pirate fireballing southpaw Bob Veale.
Veale was one of more overlooked pitchers of the 1960's with the Reds Jim Maloney and was one that few wanted to face due to his power arm and sometimes less than accurate control.
Veale also wore glasses and the article shows his various Topps cards and the different looks in the them....

The other article deals with the 1968 Topps baseball game insert set.
The game was built with Topps packs as one card was found in each 1968 pack.
I never played it as a game,but I did always like the cards and tried to collect them as much as I could.
In this years Topps Heritage set,there is a similar set available as short print inserts with the current players.
It's a nice touch and I'm going to try to get that set sometime...

The baseball hall of fame brings a pair of links to the party with one writing about well-traveled outfielder and designated hitter Rico Carty.
Carty had two interesting facts in 1970 as he won the batting title hitting .366 as an Atlanta Brave and as the first player to be voted as an All-Star game starter as a write-in candidate and only one of two ever (Steve Garvey 1974 was the other).
Carty was also a DH for the Indians and put together three strong years in Cleveland.
Carty's knees was the main reason that he became a DH and that wasn't uncommon for the first era of the hitting specialist that saw so many aging stars that could still hit,but not field or run keep a place in the game.

The second was really interesting as it took an in-depth look at the move that Bud Selig managed to buy the Seattle Pilots after just one season (1969) in Seattle and move the team to Milwaukee.
It discusses the Pilots problems,how Milwaukee filled their interim time after the loss of the Braves and all the maneuvering that landed the Pilots in Wisconsin.
One thought to ponder when you play the what if game is what would have happened had Selig never brought baseball back to Milwaukee.
How many of all of these changes to the game would have been different with someone other than Bud Selig as the commissioner?

Hardball Times writes about the career of the recently deceased Bill Hands and does so through his baseball cards.
Hands was an excellent number two starter for the Leo Durocher led Cubs of the late 60's and early 70's and it shows one of those awful Topps airbrushing jobs with Hands shown in a painted over Twins uniform,yet clearly pitching at Wrigley Field long before interleague play was in place.
Hands passed at the age of 76.

We wrap up with the Petaluma Press Democrat writing about their hometown resident and San Francisco Giant home game host Amy Gutierrez.
Gutierrez enters her tenth year doing Giants games and even though I'm not always a fan of sideline reporters,Gutierrez rarely enters the field during the game,stays on the outside for the most part for her new segments and then does the postgame interview.
She does an excellent game of blending into the AT&T Park experience and meshes well with Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper as part of the best local broadcast crew in the game.
Gutierrez talked about her time with the Giants,her children's book series and the issues that come with the job with raising two children.