Well you all have something in common because all of these teams are one and the same, and simply went through two name changes. You all can be proud of this league, starting from their first pennant win of 1903. The victory of 1903 was short lived by the Boston Red Socks when they hit 1906 and went into a real slump. With some hard work and perseverance though, they pulled themselves out of the hole by bringing in new players ready for action.

The Boston Red Sox are not known for defeat, and battling their way back into third place and then topping this off with the 1912 pennant win proved this to be the case.

Then came the famous signing of Babe Ruth. That all star baseball icon made his mark when he joined the Boston Red Sox, and relished in the moments of the Sox being on top once again. Babe Ruth’s instigating disciplinary problems may have been the cause of him being traded to the New York Yankees in 1918, but there was a rumor going around the real reason of the sale was to generate funds to support an upcoming Broadway play.

Ted Williams joining the Boston Red Sox was a great event, but didn’t turn out to be such a blessing as was anticipated. Ted was not able to perform to his max because of an injury, and then ended up spending two terms in the armed forces and missing five full seasons of baseball.

The win of the World Series in 1918 meant a victory that would be cherished for many years for there were not many to follow for the Boston Red Sox for a good few years.

So in summary, when they were known as the Boston Americans during 1901-1907 this league had 1 playoff appearance, won 2 pennants, and 1 world championship. With their name change to the Boston Red Sox from 1908-now, their record consists of 19 playoff appearances, 10 pennants and 6 world championships.

Barry Bonds became depressed in the late 90s as new athletes like McGwire and Jose Conseco were becoming more popular for belting homeruns. Bonds was a great athlete, but he was aging and just like his father was headed for retirement. Bonds and everyone else knew that Conseco and the others were taking steroids. It was inevitable that Bonds would start taking steroids as he was very jealous and had an insatiable appetite for being the leader, he could not stand being in second place to anyone and he saw the great results of McGwire and Conseco.

Barry Bonds started taking numerous types of steroids through his trainer Greg Anderson. His physique, career and baseball would never be the same. Bonds was better after the steroids than anytime in his career. The steroids had elevated his career and possibly made him the best player in baseball history as he has now hit 722 career home runs. Only a few of the greatest players in Baseball history have ever hit into this range. It is similar to what Tiger Woods has done in Golf and his chasing Jack Nicklaus with his 18 career major titles. The difference is that Tiger Woods is a real champion and does not use illegal enhancers or drugs like steroids or cheat in any way. Kids can look up to him as a real hero.

Tiger Woods worked and trained very hard, he is also human as he went through a lot dealing with the loss of his father. Tiger woods through his great game and ethics has elevated professional golf and its fan base to all time highs. Barry Bonds, on the other hand, has devastated major league baseball and its rich history. Records are not meant to be broken on a daily or monthly basis. Records are just that records of greatness, by actual heroes like Joe DiMaggio, Ruth, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle and Ty Cobb. They never used steroids and were great players both on and off the field.

What every professional athlete needs to understand is that our kids see them as idols, heroes and mentors. Its not about the money, its about the game. Ninety nine percent of professional athletes never become a great like Rod Carew, Michael Jordan, or Warren Moon, but they are all imprinted in our children. Everyone remembers the negatives like McEnroe and his emotional outbursts, Rae Caruth and O.J. Simpson whom have abused the legal system and their fame to commit murder, steroids, gambling and the expulsion of baseball legend Pete Rose. The leaders of these professional sports must soon realize that these players have tainted and in some respects ruined the future of sports like major league baseball.

To see immediate evidence of this all one has to do is look at the dwindling number of visitors to the baseball hall of fame in Cooperstown, NY. It used to be almost every young boys fantasy to see the outfit worn by Babe Ruth, the Ball that was signed by Reggie Jackson and his Yankee teammates, the stories of greatness and great hurdles and obstacles that were overcome by some of the legends. Rare baseball cards by players with strict standards like Honus Wagner whom had his cards pulled as he did not want to be associated with cigarettes and tobacco. The meaning of baseballs rich history has greatly suffered and will continue until something drastic is done.

Athletes like Barry Bonds that cheat and use illegal performance enhancing drugs should be banned and immediately removed from baseball and other sports. They should receive punishment worse than Pete Rose and should be stripped of all records, titles, and history in the game. Let someone who worked hard, overcame adversity and great obstacles, and never cheated and had great ethics, standards and was a true hero be the one to determine their fate. Someone like Hank Aaron. Hank Aaron set records, great records, the hard way and they are being tarnished by the likes of Barry Bonds and others. Hank Aaron, like Herschel Walker, overcame a very poor upbringing, racism, lack of resources and through sheer determination became one of the greatest athletes ever.

It is time to stop the commercialism and get back to the basics of these sports. We have forgotten what the game really means. There is a reason why in Brooklyn they still remember the Brooklyn Dodgers. Lets not let the great game of baseball be ruined by people like Barry Bonds. They must be removed from the game, their history completely wiped out and start anew. This is the only way to retain or rescue the image of professional baseball.

The league featured some of the hall of fame players that we still remember today. Those legendary players were certainly playing at a high level at that time. The National League statistical leaders featured the likes of Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays and Sandy Koufax.

Clemente lead all of Major League Baseball in batting average, putting up a .329 average for the season. Willie Mays was the homerun champion of the NL and all of Major League Baseball. He hammered 52 balls out of the park. His 52 homeruns were 20 more than the leader in the American League.

The pitching category was absolutely dominated by Sandy Koufax. Koufax led all of Major League Baseball in Wins, ERA and Strikeouts. He managed to win 26 games while striking out 382 batters on the season. His ERA was meanwhile just 2.04. He was the Triple Crown Pitching winner by leading in all of those categories.

Those legendary players in the National League did not just put up big numbers, but they were a big part of helping their team’s win games. Those three players that were previously mentioned played for the Dodgers, Giants and Pirates. Those teams finished the 1965 season as the top 3 teams in the National League. Each team would finish the season with more than 90 wins.

The American League was dominated by the likes of the Minnesota Twins. The Twins managed to win 102 games on the season. This total would be the most wins for any team in the league during the season. The Twins were led by the likes of Tony Oliva on offense and Mudcat Grant from the mound.

Tony Oliva led the American League with a .321 batting average. Meanwhile Mudcat Grant won 21 games, the highest total in the American League.

The Chicago White Sox were also an excellent team during the year. They managed to win 95 games and were second in the American League. The only other team in the league to win at least 90 games was the Baltimore Orioles squad. They managed to win 94 games on the season.

The Astros managed to find very little success in their transition year, winning just 65 games. This total was good for the 2nd worst record in the National League that season. The worst record in the National League belonged to the likes of the New York Mets. The Mets managed to win just 50 games throughout the season. This total was the lowest total of any team in all of Major League Baseball.

Thomas Robertson -
About the Author:

Thomas Robertson writes reviews on various sporting events including the different online sportsbook websites. In this piece of write up, the author highlights on some of legends of MLB and MLB Betting odds. The author also takes the readers thought on how to bet on baseball.

And, when it comes to baseball souvenirs, the most common things that people collect are baseball balls and baseball bats, most of the times with original autographs of some players on them. Autographed collectible items have grown into a huge industry.

There are hundreds and hundreds of places where you can buy baseball memorabilia. The easiest way to find baseball memorabilia is by surfing the internet. Just type “baseball memorabilia” on a search engine and you will instantly find hundreds of websites that deal with these items. You can easily find balls, jerseys, cards, photos, helmets, bats, gloves or any other sports related pieces of equipment. All you need is the money to buy them.

Next, there are specialized sports memorabilia stores, where you can find really interesting stuff. There are numerous people that prefer to sell such items for some extra money. Unfortunately, the market is also full of fakes. And still, there are some things that you can do to avoid buying fake baseball memorabilia. The first thing you must do is to make sure you purchase baseball memorabilia from reliable dealers. Try to look for people who carry the big name dealers on the sports market. For example Steiner Sports, Upper Deck, and a few others can really be considered trustworthy. Really valuable autographed sports memorabilia is hard to find so if you see a no-name vendor with every athlete in the book, be wary (especially if he is printing Certificates of Authenticity on his home computer). Another method of ensuring authenticity is by only buying collectible items with a PSA/DNA authentication. PSA/DNA is a leader in the sports authentication marketplace and they issue certificates of authenticity for a fee.

An important aspect to remember is that sports memorabilia, and especially signed sports memorabilia, always come with proper documentation and holograms. So, a Certificate of Authenticity (COA) issued by a well-known, credible and reliable company in the sports memorabilia industry is a must. Just use the internet, and you can easily locate a seller you are considering doing business with and you might get some information that could save you a lot of time and money. Specialized forums are also reliable sources of information. You can discuss with other seasoned collectors about baseball souvenirs and get advice for places and people to buy from. You might even want to consider dealing with a small handful of people whom you trust doing business with to limit any chance of getting cheated.

In general, when you are looking to purchase baseball memorabilia that will increase in value, buy only valuable items. There are several factors that count here: the popularity of the baseball player, the quantity of a certain item available on the market, whether the player is/was inducted into the Hall of Fame, whether they are still alive, etc. Lastly, ensure that the condition of the memorabilia you are collecting is in good condition. Many times, humidity and UV light can damage items displayed in a home or in a store.

I played in coed softball leagues as I got older.  When I became a parent, I coached boys baseball, girls softball, served on the local Little League board of directors, and umpired to boot.  My signature as a coach was to line my kids up on the infield foul line before a game and pledged allegiance to the flag.  After all, it is America’s game.  Curiously, there were some coaches who adamantly opposed me doing this, but I see citizenship as an inherent part of the game.

I suffered under no illusion my kids were going to be superstars and, as such, I concentrated on teaching the basics (hitting, fielding, and pitching), teamwork, and hopefully, the love of the game.  There is something magical about the game of baseball; the smell of the grass, the heat of the sun on your back, the taste of the leather string on your cowhide mitt, the crack of the bat, and the excitement of the play.  You relish the camaraderie of your teammates, the precision of a perfect bunt, the tenacity of a runner stealing a base, and the grace of an infielder flawlessly throwing out a runner or executing a double play.

Baseball is a game of nuances and you really cannot appreciate it if you have never played it.  As you approach home plate to bat, you see how the fielders are setting up to play you, either deep, in close, or to a particular field.  You take your sign from the third base coach, check the eyes of the pitcher, hear the cheering of the parents, and all along your mind is constantly calculating all of the variables involved.  Your hands grip the bat as you position yourself in the batter’s box.  Your body language tells the other team whether or not you can be intimidated.  Finally, just before the pitcher makes his wind-up, you spit.  Translation, “Bring it on!”

There is also a lot of communications in a baseball game, both vocal and silent.  The vocal is rather obvious, the silent communications is a lot more interesting.  We’re all aware of the third base coach making strange gyrations with his hands in order to call the play, but there are also a lot of subliminal signs not so apparent, such as a manager turning up his collar or crossing his legs.  The communications between pitcher and catcher is also well known.  The great Willie Mays was notorious for his ability to study and steal the signs of the opposing team.  It just takes a little concentration and attention to detail.

When I coached Little League, and my kids were batting with one or more runners on base, I would suddenly yell from the dugout, “Red-22, Red-22.”  Actually, it was nothing more than a smoke screen as it meant absolutely nothing, but it put the other team on edge as they thought some trick play was about to be executed.  My kids thought it was a riot.

As a Little League coach, you realize you are having an impact on your young players when they start asking you more questions about the game, such as the meaning of the infield fly rule, how to keep a scorecard, how a batting average is calculated or ERA, the number of ways a runner can advance to first base (eight) or the number of ways to make an out (14), etc.  It’s no small wonder baseball is a great game for trivia buffs as there are so many facets to it.  Casual spectators do not truly appreciate baseball as much as students of the game.

You know you have a love of the game when you collect baseball cards, not as a commodity, but simply to have them; that you keep a prized baseball signed by your teammates many years ago; that you cannot bring yourself to throw away an old baseball bat or glove years after you have stopped using them, or; you completely understood what Pete Rose meant when he said, “I’d walk through hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball.”

It is a great game.

Keep the Faith!

Ash is among the most common materials chosen to make bats out of. In fact, ash baseball bats have an important position in the history of the game of baseball. The characteristics of ash (soft, light and porous) make it very suitable for baseball bats. The straight grain patterns in ash are convenient for designing beautiful baseball bats and making them very effective. Being a ring porous wood, ash makes some large cells during its early life. In time these cells become smaller and denser. At the weak woods the cells are much larger. By looking at the grain count, you determine the hardness of ash wood:

There are two types of ash: white ash and green ash. Because white ash is a high-quality wood, it makes very good baseball bats, that are accepted by most leagues and organizations. Its unique characteristics lend itself to being the most common choice for game play or practice. On the other hand, the green ash, also known as water or red ash is rarely used to make bats.

Maple baseball bats are among the most popular choices in bats, with ash being the biggest competitor among the baseball fans. Yet, it is said that the maple woods are the leaders. This is because maple wood is endowed with a tight grain that offers many of the qualities suited for smacking a baseball. The finer the grade of maple, the more expensive the bat, so always remember to ask about this aspect when buying a bat.

Other factors to consider before purchasing any maple bat, like other bats, are weight, length, and grip. More and more players take advantage of the great swing-empowering benefits of owning a good maple baseball bat. Serious amateur baseball players in the non-professional leagues or those who have major league aspirations, will often practice with a maple bat instead of an aluminum bat. There are several reasons for this. First, the sweet spot is more precise. Secondly, maple bats are solid and weigh more. After you get to practice with a maple bat, come game time, your aluminum bat swing will be much more dangerous. Another advantage is that a hard rock maple bat is less likely to split when batting. Since maple is a hardwood it is quite dense giving the bat it’s holding power.

Knowing what you know now, it will be much easier for you to make the right choice on a baseball bat.

The general opinion is that it is almost impossible to get autographs of the best baseball players. In reality, things are not like that at all. Getting the autograph of your favorite player is much easier than you might think. Don’t be a geek and think that the only way to get an autograph to the player you admire more is going to the stadium and fighting with the large crowd for a chance to get an autograph.

There are several ways to accomplish your goal easier. The first of them is getting an autograph through the mail. Many players sign the majority of their autographs outside the ball park, one of them is through mail. How do you go about it? It is quite simple. First of all, visit the official site of the club. You will surely find on it an address where you can send fan e-mail to he players. E-mail a picture, sports card or letters through the e-mail, and in a few days you will get it back signed by the favorite player. Nowadays, many professional athletes will sign an autograph and send it back to you. Be thoughtful and remember to send a self-addressed stamped envelope so that the player can send it back where you want it.

Another way to collect the autographs of your favorite baseball players is to buy them. How is that possible? Well, just visit E-bay, and you will be surprised on what you can find there. Do watch out for fakes. It’s always best to deal with the people who have been doing business on E-bay for a while. Many of the top autograph sellers are power-sellers. What I’ve also found lately on the web is some internet addresses where you get guidelines on getting the autographs of famous people, and among those several baseball players. They sell the addresses and they guarantee the information are reliable. I personally don’t know if it works, but you can at least try it. Just give it a shot, and if you really get an autograph, it will be worth it.

The other possibility is to go to autograph sessions. Just pay attention to the news on the official sites of the baseball clubs and even on the personal sites of the baseball players. The serious clubs regularly organize autograph sessions with some of their players, and you might get lucky. So, in conclusion, no matter what method you try, it will likely be easier to succeed attaining that autograph than going to the baseball stadium and clawing your way through thousands of people to get to your favorite ball player for an autograph.

The challenge for every pitcher is to try to get most of his starts into this zone range. One reason pitchers have difficulty getting into or remaining in the zone is due to a lack of concentration. A pitcher can improve his concentration during a game by following this simple ritual:

1. Block out Background Noise: Before every batter, make a point to block out all the background noise and to focus your attention only on the catcher’s mitt. You do not want to be thinking about the fans, the backstop, the umpire, the batter, or anything else. All your focus is on the catcher’s mitt.

2. State, “Focus on the glove”: You should let any thoughts that come into your head pass right through. Do not try to think about those thoughts, just let them pass. Your focus remains on the glove and it is a good idea to even state this mantra under your breath, “focus on glove” or some similar type expression.

3. If Difficulty Focusing, Re-Focus Again: If you are still having difficulty focusing, consider bringing down the bill of your baseball cap to make even more of a tunnel for your eyes to follow to the catcher’s mitt. Also, feel free to restart this process again and again until you feel you have reached the desired state.

4. Begin Your Pitching: Once you feel you have blocked out the background news, you should begin your pitching.

If you would like to see an example of this exercise, go rent the movie, “For The Love Of The Game”. In this movie, Kevin Costner’s character goes through this type of ritual when he uses the phrase, “Clear the mechanism” before pitching to the batter. Ultimately, you would like to get to a point where you have this level of concentration.

A second challenge some pitchers have is confidence in their pitching when a mistake is made. A smart pitcher must recognize that mistakes will happen. He could throw a hanging curveball that gets hit for a double to the wall or maybe the second basemen boots an easy grounder. Regardless of how frustrating this might be, a good pitcher must have a short term memory for these errors. Much like a quarterback who just threw an interception, he must immediately forget that error and move onto the next pitch. This type of short-term amnesia ensures the error doesn’t get you twice by dwelling on it with the next batter. Here is a basic thinking ritual that can be performed to help with these situations:

1. Breathe In and Exhale After the Error: Take one deep breath and then exhale deeply. This will help you address the situation constructively.

2. State, “Oh, well. Nobody’s Perfect”: After you exhale, state under your breath, “Oh, well. Nobody’s perfect.” This step will help you compartmentalize the error.

3. Perform Focusing Ritual: Finally, start going back into the focusing ritual mentioned above. This will allow you to shift your focus away from the error and direct it toward a ritual that you have practiced again and again.

This type of thinking ritual is good because it gives you a ready-made response for a stressful situation. It allows you to address the problem right away and compartmentalize it. Once you are able to do this, it is much easier to turn your attention to the next batter. As you advance in your baseball pitching career, you will begin to notice your success in baseball pitching tends to focus more on how you handle these situations more than any other aspect of your game.

Baseball memorabilia is sometimes even bought with money begged, borrowed and dare I say, stolen. And if that’s not enough memorabilia baseball cards are often stolen along with jewels and money from many houses. The burglars are not baseball fanatics; but its just that the resale cost of these this is sometimes more than that of jewelery .The rarity of many a baseball card increases its value. Life even got easier for sports channels, as prizes Baseball cards and Hats from games that no fan would have missed are given.

Otherwise private deals with owners of autographed property, Public Auctions and Online bidding are how these memorabilia are acquired by anyone. Some more memorabilia are Gloves, Mitts, Helmets, Posters, Signs, Plates, Pins, Buttons, Toys, Cheering Gear, Bobble heads, Figurines, Tapes of Vintage games, sports patches, magazine covers, matchbooks, Shoes etc- you name it, it’s collectible. And these remain more popular than Jerseys of these teams custom made with the buyer’s name on it. But that’s not the only kind of memorabilia, a specific game where the team, which the fans rooted for won, clothes they were wearing that day, the ticket to that game, the Packet of peanuts they ate will all be treasured as more personal memorabilia.

Memorabilia from the early 1950’s till the yesterday’s game are available, any little thing you are looking for can be found if you know where to look and if you are prepared for the amount its going to cost you. Players themselves do not benefit in anyway from this memorabilia. It is to do with the team and sponsoring company making extra money. Most fan clubs of players or teams will have some memorabilia amongst members or will have common ownership of certain things.

In fact an average Baseball fan tends to leave his baseball cards to a son or daughter in his will. It’s amazing how a little piece of paper or a worn out bat can mean so much to someone. Memorabilia baseball cards give the players an eternity, they never die. Memorabilia baseball cards availability may be in question but its authenticity and the love for the sport and the way the fans want to remember every game and every player is truly something. And this is probably the best way to give the teams, All of them, and the players and substitutes, and the coaches they’re due respect and place in history.

FantasyBaseballDugout.com, a new fantasy baseball tips site owned by Saint Davids, Pennsylvania-based Olympic SEO, is the brainchild of Bob “BallparkBob” Bentz and his nephew Jonathan “BatBoy BeeZee” Bentz. The two men share a love for fantasy baseball and, quite frankly, got bored with winning their respective leagues each season.

BallparkBob, who started playing fantasy baseball in college in 1980 when it was still called “Rotisserie Baseball,” claims to have won his fantasy baseball league 19 of the past 28 seasons, including nine in a row at one stretch. BallparkBob, who is often mistaken for Cleveland Indians’ pitcher Paul Byrd, said that his goal is to spread the word about winning fantasy baseball leagues. “There’s a lot of bad fantasy baseball players out there,” said BallparkBob, “but, it’s the ones who do the research that should win. That’s where Fantasy Baseball Dugout comes in.”

BatBoy BeeZee has similar ideas for Fantasy Baseball Dugout. “A lot of fantasy baseball websites are overwhelming for first time players, because the game is very driven by statistics.” Every website has injury information, statistics, mock drafts and trade analysis, “but our site has news and research players with all levels of experience can use.”

When I first reviewed Fantasy Baseball Dugout, I was impressed by the amount of information that they had on the site in such a short amount of time. The site is also not just a statistics-laden one, but offers player profiles and player projections. It offers inside information that is far more topical than what you’ll find in the fantasy baseball preview magazines. It’s a site that a pure baseball fan would also enjoy reading and learning about the MLB.

“A lot of websites also fail to pay attention to fantasy baseball players who use auction formats for drafts, but we haven’t forgotten about them, either,” said BeeZee.

Fantasy Baseball Dugout offers free fantasy baseball advice, but it does hope to capitalize on its baseball fan traffic by selling advertising. The site already has secured advertising from a discount baseball equipment company, a ticket broker, and even a dating site promoting sexy women. Hey, I guess fantasy baseball nerds need love too.

When asked what are the most important fantasy baseball tip that he could give me, BallparkBob responded by saying: “draft more closers than your competition—saves is the easiest category to win. Don’t ever pick a player just because he’s on your favorite team or is one of your favorite players. And, don’t ever go to a game and tell a major leaguer during BP that he’s on your fantasy baseball team. He doesn’t care.”

“Hey Pat Burrell, you’re on my fantasy team!”