In Memoriam: Ted Williams

It's Ted Williams week, which means it's time for us to remember one of the best hitters of all time. How great was The Splendid Splinter? Well, the man ranks 13th on the list of career RBI leaders. What's amazing about that you ask? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that he managed to compile 1,839 RBI while missing 5 seasons to two separate wars. He was a pilot in World War II during the '43,'44 and '45 seasons. Being in his prime at the time, he probably would have averaged 120 RBI/season during those years. That alone would've brought his career total up to 2,199, which would put him in third place behind Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth. What if he hadn't missed two seasons as a pilot in Korea? He was still putting up monster numbers in the surrounding seasons. If we once again give him 120 RBI/season (which is conservative in my opinion), it puts his career total up to 2,439; first place by a large margin. Along with the RBI numbers he also lost approximately 660 walks (again i'm being conservative) which would put him at the very top of the list ahead of Barry Bonds. Imagine a hitter having 2700 walks and less than 1000 strikeouts? Those are extraordinary numbers. Unfortunately, he like Barry Bonds and Ernie Banks, never got a coveted World Series ring. What a travesty. He was a truly extraordinary pure hitter. Not to mention he had incredible eyesight that allowed him to pick up the spin on any pitch quicker than any other hitter could even think about doing it.

An Ode to Closers

Here it is: an ode to the man who finishes the game - closers.

Should we change it up with Hoffman...


Or cut(ter) it up with Rivera...


How about neither? We're going to take our off to one of the original handlebar mustachio'd "closers," Goose Gossage.



The man epitomized the closer role. He had the fastball, the perfect name and most importantly, the pristine mustache. A man who anchored his bullpen before lefty specialists and the 'hold' statistic.

inspired by "The Closer" by The Baseball Project.

A beautiful afternoon at Comisk---, I mean U.S. Cellular Field

An awesome fan by the name of Chris Castaneda recently attended a game between the first place Chicago White Sox and the 2nd place Boston Red Sox and snapped some amazing photos in the process! Check out the Baseball Project in the wild.


Who would've guessed Luis Aparicio was such a big fan of the Baseball Project?

Some bad baseball blood in the Olympics?

Looks like the Chinese and the Americans decided to play the old fashioned way and bring it back to the 1950's. Did anyone see Nate Schierholtz (Giants prospect) take out the Chinese catcher, Yang Yang, on a sacrifice fly (picture below)? It helped spark a bean ball parade which ended in 6 hitters from the two teams getting plunked. The worst of which was Matt LaPorta, (Indians Prospect) who received a pitch to the head and had to leave the game with a mild concussion. Here's wishing a speedy, Baseball Project recovery to Mr. LaPorta.

A Stretch Run For the Ages

As August begins to come to a close, things are starting to heat up in Oscar Gamble's Afro. Ruthian Blast is still holding down that top spot, though Los Gigantes are making a big push for it, due undoubtedly to their 12 transactions in a 3 day period. Can Oliver Perez and Brian Wilson's recent hot streaks help carry Los Gigantes' to first place?

Meanwhile, Rocpile made an incredible acquisition in Brian Roberts, yet they're still running in the middle of the pack. Maybe Roberts will be able to finally bring some stolen bases to this speed challenged team.

In other news, there's a picture of the Red Seat in the Rock team on the side of a milk carton because they're nowhere to be found. Oh wait, I think I see them there at the bottom of the standings.

Good luck to all the teams and here's hoping Red Seat in the Rock doesn't discourage them from staying at it.

Scott McCaughey to chat with ESPN

Friends and fans of the Baseball Project!

Our very own Scott McCaughey (Los Gigantes) will be participating in a live chat on ESPN.com this Wednesday at 5pm eastern.

Send in your Baseball Project or baseball related questions here and make sure to join Scott on Wednesday at 5pm!

USA vs Canada

Yesterday Rocpile went and saw the USA Olympic baseball team slaughter the Canadian team. It was a muggy afternoon at the Durham Bulls stadium, which only got hotter when Nate Schierholtz hit a grand slam in the eighth. Hot prospect Matt LaPorta also homered earlier in the day in the second.

The US won 9-1.
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