Pittsburgh Pirates

Archive for October, 2009

As you take inventory of your preseason equipment, you could find out that you are short and in need of some things including uniforms. You might find you are short on money for equipment, uniforms or you want to go on a trip to a national playoff. I am going to talk about a few different ways to obtain money to help the cause. The most popular are thru fund raising or sponsorship. It is important when you start out on your money making project that you have a mission statement.
To get a sponsorship go to different businesses in the area. Ask to speak to the owner. You will have better luck dealing directly with the owner than anyone else. If the owner is not present you can do some preliminary groundwork by asking if they sponsor any sports teams and how many? A yes is always good here, however a no does make you the only game in town should they accept.
When you meet with the owner, ask them for a contribution to fund your team. In exchange, you put their name on your jersey or cap. Leagues might have rules prohibiting this. You will also have more luck with places your group can patronize, like a local soda shop, ice cream place or pizza shop that you commit to go to a few times a year. You also want to see what nights are good for the establishment and make sure this is understood up front before you ever accept any money from an organization.
Make sure to invite your sponsors to the games, post your schedule in their establishment along with a picture of your team and donate your trophies. If you find a good sponsor, the relationship can last for years. Fund raising takes many different forms. Make sure to check with the local statutes and league rules that govern fund raising. Fund raising will take a bigger commitment from coaches, players, and supporters. It in essence will involve selling some type of product for money.
Pull-tabs are gaming tickets that you buy for 50 cents, 1 dollar, or 2 dollars with a chance to win larger amounts of money. To win you match three symbols of a certain logo. The parents and supporters will administer this one. It is one of the most effective and highly profitable ways of generating cash. You can make up to 38% profit depending on which game you choose. The toughest part of pull-tabs is finding an arena to sell them. Make sure you check with the state and local government for the rules and conditions you are going to sell the pull-tabs in.
You will have to get a permit and the best place to start is by calling your city clerk at city hall. Adult gatherings are generally the most effective places to generate this revenue. Candy sales are one of the easiest to administrate and is effective. You resell candy bars at a higher rate and keep the difference. Having little boxes of candy that Mom and Dad can sell at work is effective and less time consuming than going door to door.
Young kids should not go door to door selling without an adult. Kids should never go door to door alone. Depending on how old the kids are it might be in your best interest to put together a verbatim statement that is read, such as; My name is Professor Now and we have just completed a successful season at Professor Now Park. Our team qualified for the regional championships in Omaha and we are raising money to make the trip. A contribution of $2.00 for a candy bar would be greatly appreciated.
Another idea involves you renting the equipment and everyone getting a chance to dunk the coach and assistants or any other volunteers who need to bathe. Have a booth at the city carnival, softball tournament, city festival or parade and sell concessions. You sell hot dogs, pop, popcorn at a markup and all profits after paying expenses, go in the team coffer. You will need kids to make time commitments to this type of activity. Run it just like a business and schedule shifts. Make sure to have 2 to 3 kids on each shift along with a chaperone. Depending on their age, do not schedule the kids for more than 1 to 3 hours at a time. This should not be that difficult as you probably have 12 to15 kids to get thru in a day.
Coaches clinics and camps are becoming more popular in today’s programs. Players pay a fee to attend the clinic or camp. Coaches give instructions on baseball fundamentals, and part of the players’ fee goes into a team fund. Get your pen and notebook handy and use one of the popular search engines to look up ideas, by typing in pull-tab and fundraising. There are many websites that contain bountiful resources with links and vendors of various suppliers of pull-tabs and fundraising ideas.

Do you dream of a career in the baseball? To dream is the first stage, just thus you know, as well as the ambition and the determination. But if your dreams and goals are serious and if you are convinced that you belong among the players of baseball of the United States of top, then here some ends which can help you to carry out what you wish! Or perhaps you are the relative of a child who is of great interest for the baseball of the United States, by observing it and by practising it. You thus ensure to you your child of don’t loss potentials! The first thing that you have need if you want to become a player of baseball is the right equipment, what still? Sure, this means pocket money, but all the pastimes and talents come with a price. After all, it is not a siexigeant pastime. Thus, of that do you have need? First of all, you must go to a specialized department store, such as the athletics in abundance, Akadema (where you can find a range of articles for juniors) or right beaters. Us all that the glove of baseball is the article of the most important equipment and most valid in this sport ,but it know are the only necessary one? Not. Your list of purchases should include: bats, gloves of baseball, beaters of the baseball, gloves of wadding in sheet, cable clamps of baseball, guards of trunk and helmets of wadding in sheet. If you are an amateur, you can save the gloves of wadding in sheet, for example, but if you want to be a professional, all these pieces will be real must-rich. By choosing the equipment necessary, you ensure that you choose best the best, if you would really aspire to be a professional player of baseball. The equipment must feel exact, adapt you and this is why you to have to be advised by a specialist when you make shopping and test the equipment before you buy it. The cheap equipment is not the best choices, thus you ensure to choose the honourable marks which can offer the execution and protection to you that you have requirement by playing the game. If you are wondering whether there are certain conditions of academic in order to go well to a player of baseball of the United States, the answer is simple: not. However, this does not mean that we all have equal chances of the becoming players of baseball. First of all, you need the good tonality of muscle, the suitable one and the type of strong body, the one considerable talent and must join to you a club folâtre, a local team – some large sportsmen started starting from the smallest teams of baseball and managed to go well to the true professionals. But there is more thing of which you have need in order to become a professional player of baseball and who is… chance. Without counting that the goals, the ambition, the equipment, hard work and the formation, you must that ingredient of chance in order to obtain this successful receipt of player of baseball of the United States.

The following article is an excerpt from the free online course “Learning to Coach Youth Baseball”.

When you get the job as a new coach, it is important that you meet the league director. You might have already met the league director as he or she may have been the person that hired you. If this is not the case, I recommend you set up a meeting as soon as possible to review several things.

Get your notebook handy, as I will give you a list of some questions to ask them.

First, you should ask: May I get the final copy of the league rules and a game schedule if available? It is obviously important to get a finished copy as soon as possible, as this will be a blueprint for your calendar.

Second, you should ask: Will I have any assistant coaches? Do you know where I can find a couple?

Next I suggest you ask, What fields will we be playing at?

And, Do we have a block of time available for baseball practice and which diamonds?

The next question should be, What type of equipment do we have available?
Finally, inquire about special days that the team needs to get together. These days will probably include a picture day, uniform day and end of year tournament.

With this information in hand, you have the basis for some advanced planning and organization. I have found that being organized will help with everything you do for the coming season. I recommend you buy a spiral notebook or create a ring binder for the coming season. Notebooks tend to be easier to carry around and write on, while binders have the sleeves for handouts, schedules and other things. Either way you go, it is important to have one of the two.

The director has probably given you a set of local city rules. These rules more than likely will be modifications to particular national, state or high school sets of rules. Some of the more common local rules address game length, safety of players, batting orders, player substitution and re-entry. When you get your league rules, make sure you read them thoroughly. Give them to your assistant coaches and have them read the rules thoroughly. Try and get the rules in your hands as soon as possible so you can do your homework.

While reading them, I suggest you take notes in a notebook on interpretations or any questions you may have. If you do not have any questions on the rules, you did not read them well enough. Do not be afraid to get your questions answered at a coaches meeting or at league wide tryouts. There probably will be a league wide meeting where you can network with some of the other coaches who will have similar questions.

Pay particular attention to substitution and re-entry rules. Understanding these will be very important when switching pitchers, pinch hitting, pinch running, and getting all your players in the game. Finally, obtain your game schedule as soon as possible, so everyone can begin planning his or her summer.

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The MLB roster has forty active members. When spring training is completed, only 25 players will remain on the active roster. Minor league affiliates tend to reassign the remaining 15 players.
When the month of September rolls around, the active roster will consist of forty players. This is where the players have the chance to play at a major league level. The term of “having a cup of coffee”, comes when a player shows up in September and plays one or two game and never shows back up. If you recall Moonlight Graham did just that. He is known for the Field of Dreams. In the New York Giants game , he appeared in that game and ended up with no at bats.
Line-Up
Before each game the manager gives the umpire a line up with the names of the players that will fill every position. This includes the batting order of the players also.
Nine players are on the line up.
Pitcher
Catcher
Four Infielders – This consists of a (first , second , third baseman and shortstop)
Three Outfielders – this consists of (left, right, and center fielders)
The pitcher don’t bat in the American League , so this gives a tenth player. He is known as the designated hitter.
The remainder varies by team. This consists of four starting pitchers;, relief pitchers consists of five to seven; backup catchers can range between one and two; back up infielders consists of two; and two back up outfielders is needed . This completes the twenty five players.
Substitution
If for any reason a placer has to be replaced in the field or hitting order , this ends the game for them. They can’t return and play in this game. A pinch hitter is brought in just to bat for another player in this situation. Utility infielders are players whose job is to substitute. Then you have utility outfielders that substitute. Relief pitchers are pitchers that come into the game after the starting pitcher. The closer is also a relief pitcher but only comes into the game during the ninth inning. Closing down the opposing team is his job.
Disabled
If a player on the twenty five roster becomes injured and permanently placed on the disabled list , that player can’t return to help his team for a period of fifteen days. This allows time for healing. The more seriously injured is placed on a sixty day disabled list.
When a team don’t want to lose a good player for fifteen days they allow this player to be put on a day to day list. If the injury seems to take longer to heal then the start day will be retroactive.
Rule Five Draft
If a player is on the 40 roster and has at least three years of service as of November 20th he can be drafted by other teams . This is for a fee of $50,000. This prevents stockpiling of prospects by teams. Under Draft five the player must make an appearance on the twenty five player roster for the next playing season. If that player can remain on the twenty five roster he can be drafted back by his original team for a fee of $25,000.
Baseball players make plenty of money , but they also pay out great amounts.

I have a great amount of respect for the top teams of baseball. Being able to excel at a very high level is what I love about what some of these teams accomplished.

1902 Pittsburgh Pirates
They had a record of 103 Wins and 36 Losses and won the Pennant by 27.5 games. They scored 775 runs and allowed 440 runs. The Pirates had five pitchers with 15 wins and eras of under 2.55. They were Jack Chesbro, Deacon Phillippe, Sam Leever, Jesse Tannenbill and Ed Doheny. Luckily for any opponent there was no World Series in 1902.

1903 Boston Pilgrims (Red Sox)
Captured the pennant by 14.5 games and won the World Series over a great Pittsburgh team five games to three. Had three twenty game winners, led by Cy Young.

1905 New York Giants
Record of 105 Wins and 48 Losses, Won World Series beating The Philadelphia A’s in five games. They scored 780 runs and gave up 505 runs. Had five pitchers with 15 at least 15 wins led by Hall of Famers Christy Mathewson and Joe McGinnity. Christy Mathewson won three World Series games. All three were shutouts. He pitched on October 9, 12, and 14th and gave a total of 14 hits and one walk in 27 innings. One of the greatest World Series pitching performances of all time by Mr Mathewson.

1927 New York Yankees
With a 110 and 44 record they won the pennant by 19 games and beat the Pirates 4-0 in the World Series. They scored 975 runs and allowed 599 runs. They numbered six future Hall of Fame players: Ruth, Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri, Earl Coombs, Waite Hoyt and Herb Pennock. All three outfielders batted at least 337. They were Ruth, Combs and Bob Meusel.

1929 Philadelphia A’s
Won pennant by 19 games. Outscoring their opposition 901 to 615. Winning 104 games and losing 46 established themselves as one of the great teams. Won World Series 4-1 over the Cubs. Had five future Hall of Famers. They were Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, Mickey Cochrane, Lefty Grove and Eddie Collins.

1932 New York Yankees
Won the pennant by 13 games, outscoring their opponents 1002 runs to 724 runs. Their starting lineup (excluding pitchers), had six future Hall of Famers and two All Stars. Hall of Famers are Ruth, Gehrig, Lazzeri, Bill Dickey, Joe Sewell and Earle Coombs. All Stars were Frank Crosetti and Ben Chapman. Their entire team of positional players had either All Stars or Hall of Famers. The pitching staff had three future Hall of Famers. Herb Pennock, Lefty Gomez and Red Ruffing. Won World Series over the Cubs 4 games to none.

1934 St Louis Cardinals
Won the World Series 4 games to 3 over a great Tiger team. Five future Hall of Famers on the team. Check out this group. Dizzy Dean, Dazzy Vance, Frankie Frisch, Leo Durocher and Joe Medwick.

1936 New York Yankees
Scored 1065 runs and allowed 731. Won pennant by 19.5 games and beat the NY Giants 4 games to 2 in the World Series. They had five players with at least 100 RBIs led by Lou Gehrig with 152. Joe DiMaggio had 125 and was followed by Bill Dickey with 109 RBIs. Tony Lazzeri and George Selkirk were tied with 107 RBIs. Six players batted over 300 and no regular had an average of less than 287. Six pitchers with at least 12 wins.

I had some great teams in this list. Wait till you see part two.

Feel Free to pass this article on to the people in your life you care about.

There are so many retailers on the internet that can get any baseball enthusiast equipped to play a game of baseball. For those truly special kids who have big dreams about training for the major league, it makes perfect sense to take it to the limit and start building a collection of MLB equipment that will last for years.
The MLB equipment will also give them the true feel of what their favorite players use when they go on the field and some of the equipment might have been used by them when they were playing on youth softball teams as a child, having the same dreams that are now in the mind of a child that is in your home.
One of the best pieces of equipment used by an MLB player is the Louisville Slugger Equipment Bag. These pieces of Official MLB equipment keep everything organized and allow a professional baseball player to remain focused on the task at hand and not have to worry about if all of their gear is with them when they prepare for an away game. The Louisville Slugger equipment bag is extra long to fit bats, mitts and uniform accessories in.
Some of the useful pieces of equipment that will help them advance in the youth baseball programs are the Franklin MLB Youth Pitching Machine and the One Size Fits All Batting Helmet that comes with a protective face mask. Perfecting skills takes lots of time, but the right equipment might shorten the road to the Major Leagues if these pieces of equipment are used with enough dedication.
If the dreams of a child include climbing up on the mound and slinging a ball with amazing precision an mind boggling speeds, then a batting buddy would be a very necessary piece of equipment for anyone who aspires to join the MLB one day. With the baseball buddy standing at the plate in its life sized form, an aspiring pitcher could refine their fast balls and develop a curve ball that would be lethal.
With the right equipment to use, there is no telling what could be accomplished by any person in the MLB. These pieces of equipment serve to hone skills at home when players are recovering from injuries and are under strict orders not to overdo it. They also serve as great reminders of a childhood that provided them with the best tools possible to reach dreams and goals, even if they did not make it to the Show.

There is some intense training that occurs throughout the life of a baseball player. Some of that training begins when they are very young and is not considered as a guarantee that anyone would be training for Major League Baseball play. At this point in life, they are simply learning how to hold a bat and the purpose of bases and perhaps how to slide into home plate a time or two.
Every spring though, there is a certain buzz in the training camps for people that are members of one of the Major Leagues Baseball teams. The buzz might be heard from the State of Arizona, but there is sure to be a certain amount of shouting and sliding from the State of Florida too. There are a lot of talented people that go to Spring Training each year and every single MLB team gets into the mindset of refining the skills needed to win.
Fans are really interested in the Major League Baseball’s Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues. Of course, if you want to visit any ballpark in the Cactus League it would be a very good idea to don some suntan lotion or be sure to be very liberal with the sunscreen because the temperatures have a tendency to reach the 100′s, or since it is Spring Training time, the weather might cooperate and be in the 90′s.
For MLB fans that have a particular liking to palm trees, then they would probably be more in tune to following on of the teams that are assigned to the Grapefruit League. Spring is a great time to visit Florida too since Hurricane Season is months away and tourists do not start arriving until the end of April. Crowds can still be expected at the parks though because the MLB places tickets for sale for every day of training.
Getting information about a team, including tickets in either locale is very easy to do. Access to the Spring Training Guide for the team of your choice will provide a fan with information about Spring Training tickets, the teams Spring Training schedule and information about the particular field where the team will be training. The Training Guide for fans will also inform fans of what the first full day will be where the full-squad will workout.
Many teams at Spring Training are very familiar about where they will go and what is expected of them. Every year the Spring Training schedule offers the same routine and rarely is the team placed anywhere else than where they went the previous year. If the Yankees were in Ft. Lauderdale at Legends Field in 2007, then you can make a bet that they will be there in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

It seems that for such a simple, single-purpose object like a baseball bat, it would be easy to buy one for your athletic son or daughter. But the truth is, there are all kinds of baseball bats. Fear not, the following basics will guide you in the right direction to getting the sure-shot baseball bat your son or daughter desire.

In official leagues, youth baseball bats are sometimes traditional and wooden but more often than not, they are aluminum. Aluminum bats weren’t truly introduced until the 1970′s and these youth baseball bats are smaller, lighter, but a lot more powerful, than their wooden counterparts. So when shopping for your child’s baseball bat, first investigate what kind of bat is required for their league and then determine what length and width is preferable. From then on, it’s mostly about body composition and the way the bat interacts with the body during swinging motion.

Longer bats have a better chance of hitting that ball, but the lighter the bat, the more powerful a batter’s swing and the faster and farther the ball will go! Also, a thick barrel on a baseball bat can mean a more powerful hit, but at the same time it will also weigh down the bat. It all comes down to your preferred batting style.

For the best prices out there, compare youth baseball bats on the web with those of your local sports equipment stores – you can usually save a lot of money online. Also, since you are not allowed to swing a baseball bat around at a store, sometimes practicing with different bats at a batting range is a good way to pick out the prefect baseball bat.

No player would not want to become a better player than what he or she can already do right now. And everyone in my opinion can become better given the chance and time. However, players should want it and need it before they can seriously have a good training perspective to be better in what they do no matter what position they are in the field. The very first thing you can do is to comprehensively look at your training and the way you are playing. From there you can easily move on to hone your abilities.
First, what you can do is read as much as you can and watch as much as you can about baseball. Search for good reading materials that will aid you in your training as well as applying them into your game. More often than not, you will see various tips and tricks to add in your training just by reading them from books. As much as possible, include those that have information on hitting or if you are a pitcher then pitching lesson could do. You can even browse videos, watch games and probably get some tips from online coaches.
Second, you have to practice. I have always believed in an old adage that practice makes perfect and I still believe that up until now. But practicing to become better is perhaps the one that you go beyond what you usually do but stop before going into a dangerous tunnel of over exerting your self. Just go in between your usual routine and the extremes. If you can increase your routine from 4 times to 5 or perhaps 6 times in a week then it is better. Do not be afraid to mix your routine up but you have to ensure that you can keep in mind to balance the muscle groups that you are developing.
Third, when the game season ends, do not slack off of your training. Do something else. Indulge in other physical activities so that you can maintain your conditioning. Always bear in mind that you have to perform better in the next season than the previous one so there is no time for you to slack off. You need to look for other sport that is in your interest so that you will avoid burn out. If you do not want any other type of sport, then maintain your exercise routine and in addition, choose some exercise that would fit you best.
Fourth, many people commit mistakes by waiting for later before building strength so I suggest you do this if possible ahead of everybody else before it will be too late for you. Because if you want to achieve your goal of becoming a better baseball player, you will need strength and it is not something that comes off automatically. You need to work for it and develop it so that when the time comes that you will need it, you already have enough and sufficient strength to move on.