25 Random Baseball Things

On Facebook recently, there’s been a “25 Random Things” craze. It’s stupid. We don’t really get it. But when you apply it to baseball (like Big League Stew) you can tell someone a lot about yourself and your views on the game. And some stuff that really doesn’t matter.

1. I like the designated hitter, they should never outlaw the DH but leave things the way they are. Change is bad.

2. There is no better smell in the world then pine tar.

3. The greatest players of my era will go down in this order: 1) Ken Griffey Jr. 2) Albert Pujols 3) Alex Rodriguez and 4) Greg Madduz. Yes, I’ve thought of everybody.

4. I think that Grady Sizemore and Jay Bruce are Hall of Famers in the making (barring anything strange injury-wise). In 15 years they’ll both be knocking on the door of 3,000 hits and a bunch of other amazing statistical years.

5. My best year in fantasy baseball was 1999 when I landed Manny Ramirez and Pedro Martinez in the first two rounds as both were entering career years.

6. I’ve never seen a brawl at a live game. Besides that and a no-hitter, I’ve been lucky enough to see pretty much everything else.

7. I like writing about baseball, I love watching baseball, but the things I miss most about playing are having a sore arm from making throws (weird huh) and that feeling when the ball hits the bat and you barely feel a thing because you know you got all of it.

8. Baseball has brought me more good things then bad, directly and indirectly. But its definitely led to some bad habits.

9. I miss the glory days of the Cleveland Indians and the Cincinnati Reds. Never having them on national television or in the national spotlight isn’t good for the game.

10. My only foul ball caught at a game came off the bat of Tim Hummel and off a speaker at GABP.

11. Best ballpark food: Skyline Chilli Cheese Coneys.

12. Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame. He collected more hits then any other man to ever wear a uniform. Sure he’s an ass and did things that take away from his character. But you can’t take away what he did on the field which is what the Hall of Fame is really about. Someday he’ll get in I believe, perhaps after he is dead.

13. Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and so on; I don’t know how I feel. I don’t know if they’re Hall of Fame worthy or not. Years ago I would have said yes. Now I just don’t know. If it had anything to do with being a good person, which it doesn’t; Barry Bonds wouldn’t even be in the conversation.

14. I need to get to Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, and Dodger Stadium in the worst way.

15. Playing in the outfield is great. You really can daydream and not have your best focus and really do just fine. All outfielders probably have a degree of ADD.

16. As a kid I remember walking into my first (and sometimes only) big league game each year and I couldn’t even believe the field was real. I almost was in disbelief that I was actually there.

17. I used to want to be a beer vendor or work at a big league stadium in the summer as a kid. Those guys don’t really get to watch the game enough though.

18. Managers don’t have that tough of a job. In fact it’s probably the easiest “coaching” job in all of sports.

19. Favorite baseball movie is probably Little Big League. The Natural is a close second. After that I prefer “61” and Major League 1 & 2.

19a. I always thought the character Willie Mays Hayes in Major League was somehow based on Kenny Lofton. I was wrong.

20. Coolest thing I’ve seen in person? Tough to say. I’ve seen so many amazing things. I saw Adam Dunn hit one out of the stadium off John Smoltz. I’ve seen a 100 MPH fastball from Bartolo Colon. One thing that stands out to me was seeing Dernell Stenson’s first big league home run, and thinking he’d become a big star for the Reds. Sadly, it would be one of his final games.

21. I used to cut out the box scores as a kid and keep them for years like valued treasures when a player I liked had a huge game. I’d pin them to a bulletin board in my room. Baseball Weekly was very valuable to me back then.

22. I often wonder if I’ll ever see a World Series game in person. The 1996 Home Run Derby was pretty cool to be at live.

23. My most hated team will always be the Houston Astros. Roy Oswalt & Lance Berkman have only added to that.

24. The best team in my lifetime was the 1994 Cleveland Indians, and if not for a strike Cleveland would not have a championship drought.

25. I wonder if Steve Bartman will ever wander onto this page.