THE BASEBALL THREAD.

zog741 · **Posted:** Fri Mar 08, 2013 11:57 pm

Last night I saw a funny (well, at least a "cute") throw-away answer on the Late Shift. The question was "When would you most likely hear a dirge?" The choices were something like these:

The factoid even commented that given that a dirge is an expression of grief, one might hear it at a Cubs game too.

-- RWM

FrankC · **Posted:** Sat Mar 09, 2013 5:08 am

zog741 wrote:

Last night I saw a funny (well, at least a "cute") throw-away answer on the Late Shift. The question was "When would you most likely hear a dirge?" The choices were something like these:

The factoid even commented that given that a dirge is an expression of grief, one might hear it at a Cubs game too.

-- RWM

That is not funny. Watch and listen to this. We suffer.

liljol · **Joined:** Sun Jan 10, 2010 8:41 pm **Posts:** 2497

zog741 wrote:

Last night I saw a funny (well, at least a "cute") throw-away answer on the Late Shift. The question was "When would you most likely hear a dirge?" The choices were something like these:

The factoid even commented that given that a dirge is an expression of grief, one might hear it at a Cubs game too.

-- RWM

F CUBS

Cloudy · **Joined:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:30 am **Posts:** 5277

zog741 wrote:

Last night I saw a funny (well, at least a "cute") throw-away answer on the Late Shift. The question was "When would you most likely hear a dirge?" The choices were something like these:

The factoid even commented that given that a dirge is an expression of grief, one might hear it at a Cubs game too.

-- RWM

Here's a Cub's baseball joke that I am sure everyone has heard:

A guy from Chicago was walking along the shore of Lake Michigan, when he found an ancient bottle that had washed up on the shore. He picked it up, uncorked it, and in a cloud of smoke a genie appeared in front of him.

The genie said, "For freeing me from the bottle, I will grant you one wish."

The man thought for a minute, then pulled a map of the Middle East out of his pocket. He showed the genie the map and said, "Genie, my wish is that there be peace in the Middle East."

The genie replied, "That wish is impossible for me to accomplish, but I will make an exception for you, and allow you another wish."

The man returned the map to his pocket and said, "Genie, then my wish is that the Chicago Cubs win the World Series."

The genie was befuddled for a while, and after scratching his chin for a few minutes, he said, "Let me see that map again."

Cloudy · **Joined:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:30 am **Posts:** 5277

FrankC wrote:

That is not funny. Watch and listen to this. We suffer.

Frank, the image you gave us on your post won't show on my computer. I hope that my Cubs joke doesn't cause you any more suffering.

zog741 · **Posted:** Sun Mar 10, 2013 1:14 am

Regarding recent posts about the Chicago Cubs...

Frank, I cannot click on your attachment from my Droid, and on my PC (I use Firefox for a browser) I can't even tell there is any attachment to see.

Cloudy, I think that's a great joke! With a few changes in words, it could be a Detroit Lions joke as well.

I will definitely try to remember it!

-- RWM

FrankC · **Posted:** Sun Mar 10, 2013 4:29 am

zog741 wrote:

Regarding recent posts about the Chicago Cubs...

Frank, I cannot click on your attachment from my Droid, and on my PC (I use Firefox for a browser) I can't even tell there is any attachment to see.

Cloudy, I think that's a great joke! With a few changes in words, it could be a Detroit Lions joke as well.

I will definitely try to remember it!

-- RWM

Try This: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c10REBi26hU

Cloudy · **Joined:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:30 am **Posts:** 5277

FrankC wrote:

zog741 wrote:

Regarding recent posts about the Chicago Cubs...

Frank, I cannot click on your attachment from my Droid, and on my PC (I use Firefox for a browser) I can't even tell there is any attachment to see.

Cloudy, I think that's a great joke! With a few changes in words, it could be a Detroit Lions joke as well.

I will definitely try to remember it!

-- RWM

Try This: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c10REBi26hU

Thanks Frank, it works just fine now. I liked it so much that I sent the link to my brother, Brian, who is a big Cubs fan and a semi-professional musician, who plays in nightclubs with his band in Austin, Texas. I sugested that he might want to add it to his repertoire, if he ever gets the right audience.

Cloudy · **Joined:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:30 am **Posts:** 5277

How can anyone have a favorite baseball team anymore...?

Rooting for a baseball team isn't just the uniforms they wear, it's the players, who make up the team. Yeah, the guys who were there last year and the year before. You used to save their baseball cards, and waited for them to take the field next year. However, with how it is today, the players you rooted for last year are often playing for some other team, when the next season begins. Years ago it was big news, when a star for one team got traded to another team. Today players switching from one team to another is commonplace. All of a sudden your most hated player from some other team is now batting cleanup for your team, and the favorite pitcher on your team from last year is now striking out batters on the team that he used to pitch for.

I think the old days were better, when the team you rooted for was a team of players you knew, not just a uniform that someone is wearing.

Cloudy · **Joined:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:30 am **Posts:** 5277

Other than the Milwaukee Brewers and the Houston Astros, have any other big league baseball teams ever switched their affiliation between the American and National Leagues? This is NOT a trivia question, I don't know.

zog741 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 03, 2013 11:21 pm

Cloudy wrote:

Other than the Milwaukee Brewers and the Houston Astros, have any other big league baseball teams ever switched their affiliation between the American and National Leagues? This is NOT a trivia question, I don't know.

Not between the N.L and the A.L. In the 1880s until 1891, the American Association was a rival of the National League, and the Reds, Cardinals, Dodgers, and Pirates each started out as AA teams.

-- RWM

p.s. I like the rating of "Hastings" for 1066 posts.

I thought King or Queen was it.

Cloudy · **Joined:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:30 am **Posts:** 5277

I believe I may have asked this question before, but nobody ever came up with the answer.

Here's the question:

What are the dimensions of home plate?

I know the answer, because many years ago I cut one out of plywood to take to the guy I visited at the hospital after he tried to run Cloudy the catcher over at home plate. He never got to it, and was carried off in an ambulance. That was the last out of the championship game, and we won. (Back then my softball nickname was "Stonewall". Three guys wound up at the hospital trying to run me over.)

Enough of my digression.

Without Googling the answer, what are the dimensions of home plate?

p.s. I'm only asking about the white part, which is the strike zone. The black part is just there so the umpire can better see where the strike zone is.

spotes · **Joined:** Mon Jan 11, 2010 11:27 pm **Posts:** 1558

Instead of correcting you on the "Banned" thread I'm going to set you straight over here, Cloudy.
To my knowledge, MLB has never had an official home plate that was round. It was originally a square roughly 12" to a side that was set to look like a diamond from the pitcher's mound. They were also made from a variety of materials: wood, stone, etc.

Cloudy · **Joined:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:30 am **Posts:** 5277

spotes wrote:

Instead of correcting you on the "Banned" thread I'm going to set you straight over here, Cloudy.
To my knowledge, MLB has never had an official home plate that was round. It was originally a square roughly 12" to a side that was set to look like a diamond from the pitcher's mound. They were also made from a variety of materials: wood, stone, etc.

Somewhere, I vaguely remember reading that once a long time ago there was a home plate that was round, and I also kind of remember that it was made out of iron. However, if you, the Spotes-meister, think I am wrong, then I also must think that I am wrong.

spotes · **Joined:** Mon Jan 11, 2010 11:27 pm **Posts:** 1558

You're thinking of the earliest home plates where actual metal plates were sometimes used, hence the name "home plate". Given the common usage of another item in early 19th century baseball, you're lucky they weren't named "home barrel lid".
All of that fun stuff pre-dates professional leagues and their adoption of later square home plates.

Cloudy · **Joined:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:30 am **Posts:** 5277

spotes wrote:

You're thinking of the earliest home plates where actual metal plates were sometimes used, hence the name "home plate". Given the common usage of another item in early 19th century baseball, you're lucky they weren't named "home barrel lid".
All of that fun stuff pre-dates professional leagues and their adoption of later square home plates.

Thanks, SPOTES. If I ever found myself in a situation where I had to answer a sports question for something important, and I was allowed a "life line" to call for help, you know whom I would pick...

p.s. What is your telephone number again...? :lol:

-BO- · **Joined:** Wed Mar 10, 2010 3:20 pm **Posts:** 2291

Cloudy wrote:

Thanks, SPOTES. If I ever found myself in a situation where I had to answer a sports question for something important, and I was allowed a "life line" to call for help, you know who I would pick...

He might live in Indy, but if the question has to do with the movie "Hoosiers", call somebody else. Anybody else.

Cloudy · **Joined:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:30 am **Posts:** 5277

-BO- wrote:

Cloudy wrote:

Thanks, SPOTES. If I ever found myself in a situation where I had to answer a sports question for something important, and I was allowed a "life line" to call for help, you know who I would pick...

He might live in Indy, but if the question has to do with the movie "Hoosiers", call somebody else. Anybody else.

"Hoosiers"...? Hell, I loved that movie... BO, you must know something that I don't. What's the deal with SPOTES and the movie, "Hoosiers"?

p.s. Assuming you are right, whom should I call...? :lol:

liljol · **Joined:** Sun Jan 10, 2010 8:41 pm **Posts:** 2497

CLOUDY is banned for trying to discuss basketball in this baseball thread. :roll:

Cloudy · **Joined:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:30 am **Posts:** 5277

I just heard of Oscar Charleston a few days ago. He was a star of the Negro and Cuban baseball leagues, but was too old to transition to the Big Leagues, after the color barrier was broken. He wasn't elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame until 1976, which was way too late for such an incredibly talented baseball player. He may have been the best all-round baseball player of all time. Oscar could do it all on the field, at the plate, and running the bases.

p.s. SPOTES, Oscar Charleston was from Indianapolis. Has the city ever done something to honor this great baseball player for his accomplishments?

Jim · **Joined:** Sun May 08, 2011 9:39 am **Posts:** 294

Jim · **Joined:** Sun May 08, 2011 9:39 am **Posts:** 294

Cloudy wrote:

[img]I just heard of Oscar Charleston a few days ago. He was a star of the Negro and Cuban baseball leagues, but was too old to transition to the Big Leagues, after the color barrier was broken. He wasn't elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame until 1976, which was way too late for such an incredibly talented baseball player. He may have been the best all-round baseball player of all time. Oscar could do it all on the field, at the plate, and running the bases.

p.s. SPOTES, Oscar Charleston was from Indianapolis. Has the city ever done something to recognize this great baseball player for his accomplishments?

A monster endorsement. Did you see him play?

Oscar McKinley Charleston (October 14, 1896 – October 5, 1954)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Charleston

Yes according to reports during his playing career he was good but, politically correct revisionist history is tiring.

Cloudy · **Joined:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:30 am **Posts:** 5277

Jim wrote:

Cloudy wrote:

I just heard of Oscar Charleston a few days ago. He was a star of the Negro and Cuban baseball leagues, but was too old to transition to the Big Leagues, after the color barrier was broken. He wasn't elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame until 1976, which was way too late for such an incredibly talented baseball player. He may have been the best all-round baseball player of all time. Oscar could do it all on the field, at the plate, and running the bases.

p.s. SPOTES, Oscar Charleston was from Indianapolis. Has the city ever done something to recognize this great baseball player for his accomplishments?

A monster endorsement. Did you see him play?

Oscar McKinley Charleston (October 14, 1896 – October 5, 1954)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Charleston

Nope, I'm old, but not old enough to have ever seen him play. I believe he played professional baseball from 1915 through 1944. (In his later years, he was a player/manger and probably didn't play all that much.) I wasn't born until 1946, and there is no know film of him playing, so I never saw him play the game. I would go so far as to say that there are probably very few people alive today, who ever saw Oscar Charleston play baseball.

spotes · **Joined:** Mon Jan 11, 2010 11:27 pm **Posts:** 1558

Jim wrote:

A monster endorsement. Did you see him play?

Oscar McKinley Charleston (October 14, 1896 – October 5, 1954)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Charleston

Yes according to reports during his playing career he was good but, politically correct revisionist history is tiring.

Since when has it been considered "political correctness" to join in the age old baseball tradition of arguing over "Who was better?"
Is Pujols better than Ruth? Or am I violating some aspect of the new immigration policy?
And if you were familiar with the bombastic self-promotion policies of the financially struggling Negro Leagues, you'd also know that current exagerrations are not "revisionist".
The exagerrations are exactly the same as when they first told them 60-100 years ago... :mrgreen:

Cloudy · **Joined:** Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:30 am **Posts:** 5277

spotes wrote:

Jim wrote:

A monster endorsement. Did you see him play?

Oscar McKinley Charleston (October 14, 1896 – October 5, 1954)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Charleston

Yes according to reports during his playing career he was good but, politically correct revisionist history is tiring.

Since when has it been considered "political correctness" to join in the age old baseball tradition of arguing over "Who was better?"
Is Pujols better than Ruth? Or am I violating some aspect of the new immigration policy?
And if you were familiar with the bombastic self-promotion policies of the financially struggling Negro Leagues, you'd also know that current exagerrations are not "revisionist".
The exagerrations are exactly the same as when they first told them 60-100 years ago... :mrgreen:

Oh No...!

SPOTES, does this mean that Josh Gibson might not be the only player to knock a homerun out of Yankee Stadium, and that his career record of 900 homeruns (as some people think) might not be correct either?

Now I'm starting to worry if Cool Papa Bell was really fast enough to turn off the light and be under the covers, before the room went dark!

..........................

..........

........................................... "Turn your camera on, I'll hit another one." .................................................. "Yeah, I'm that fast."

p.s. SPOTES, has Indianapolis ever done anything to honor Oscar Charleston?

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