Are you up to snuff on baseball-ology lingo, trivia?

Written by Joe Kleinsasser Tuesday, 17 July 2012 14:32

Baseball is a funny game. It’s even funnier if you study the language of the game.

“Baseball-ology — The Humorous Study of the Language of Baseball” is a poster published and distributed by Portal Publications LTD, of Novato, Calif.

Consider the word scorcher. The common definition is a sultry, sweaty synonym for an extremely hot summer day. So hot, in fact, that you could fry an egg on the sidewalk or perhaps prepare a Szechwan noodle stir-fried Ahi with a drizzle of soy and a delicate peanut sauce.

Contrast that with the baseball definition of scorcher — which is a ball hit so hard that when attempting to catch it, a fielder experiences extremely hot, searing pain. Fielders often avoid the scorcher by using the...

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Growing up is hard for avid sports fans

Written by Joe Kleinsasser Monday, 02 July 2012 21:17

I’d like to think that I’m more mature now than I was as a young boy. You be the judge.

As a young child, I can remember going into a funk and mini-depression or tantrum if my Nebraska Cornhuskers football team lost a football game, especially a bowl game.

Logically speaking, there were not many reasons why I adopted them as my football team. My only connection was that I was born in Omaha. My family moved to Hillsboro when I was 5 years old, so I can’t say I knew much about any college or university. Whatever the case, I was a fan of the Cornhuskers. Most of the time they won and life was good, but when the results were bad, look out!

If you are competitive by nature, you are both blessed and cursed.

Competition was something...

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Baseball wins prize for strange names

Written by Hillsboro Free Press Tuesday, 19 June 2012 13:20

If you study baseball history, you’ll come across some fascinating team names. Even if you don’t study baseball history, perhaps you will at least find some of the team names interesting.

Pop Chart Lab developed a comprehensive taxonomy of 482 professional baseball teams. The period spans more than 150 years, covering teams from the Major League to the minor and independent leagues, as well as the Negro Leagues, the Nippon Professional Baseball league and more.

Picture if you will, an 18-inch by 24-inch print styled like an old school baseball card. The rest is, as they say, baseball history, and serves as the definitive guide to baseball team names.

The print is titled “Baseball: A Meticulous Metric of Team Names.”

It is...

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Whatever happened to Tiger Woods, Wie?

Written by Joe Kleinsasser Tuesday, 05 June 2012 12:24

Tiger Woods and Michelle Wie have a lot in common. The most obvious is that both were highly touted as great long before they had accomplished anything professionally on the golf tour.

The difference is just as stark—Woods became one of the great golfers of all time, while Wie has just two wins and no major championships.

Of course, at 23, Wie still has youth on her side. Woods is battling injuries and Father Time.

Whenever a sportswriter throws around superlatives about who might be the next great athlete in a particular sport, look out.

For one, it’s nearly impossible to live up to lofty expectations based on potential.

And secondly, for even the most talented, it’s difficult to project the long-term physical and mental...

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