Now the Yakult Swallows have announced that a new contract for Wladimir Balentien isn’t sure yet, it remains to be seen if the slugger from Curacao will sign with the club. His (according to the club) questionable defense, his injury record and weak arm may lead to both parties parting ways. The Swallows have expressed…
During my vacation in the US, earlier this year, my good friend Javier took me to Dodger Stadium for a tour. It is hard to believe that Dodger Stadium, erected in 1962, is the third oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball. It is a ballpark without the modern bells and whistles in which baseball fans…
Will the Dodgers extend the contract of their star closer Kenley Jansen? With the extension talks stalled and the interest in Aroldis Chapman that they had, it is questionable if Jansen will be with the Dodgers next year. Even though I still think that the part of a closer is vastly overrated, he is part of…
The Florida-Alabama-Georgia League saw the light in 1915 as the Georgia State League changed its name when the Americus team moved to Gainesville FL and a team in Dothan AL was added. This happened in June 1915. The Georgia State League had previously been known as the Empire State League. The FLAG league started the…
If you always wanted to own a minor league club, this is your chance. The city of Auburn is putting the DoubleDays into the shopping window. They are asking $6 million for it. In 1982 the city of Auburn took over the team from the owner at his request since he had substantial debts. The…
The Japanese sports website hochi.jp.co announced that Curacao slugger and Dutch pitcher Rick van den Hurk will not join team Kingdom of the Netherlands in the friendly matches vs Samurai Japan in November. The article doesn’t tell why the two Dutchie stars of the NPB will not join the team but it mentioned that both…
MLB is spending big to get baseball off the ground in China. The Chinese government sees baseball as a $7.4 billion industry. Within ten years the government and MLB want to build diamonds and academies in a country where baseball was banned once. With MLB spending hundreds of millions of dollars, it is proof that…
The city of Richmond Va, the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and the Richmond Flying Squirrels have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) regarding a new ballpark in Richmond. It would be a boulevard area ballpark with a price tag of $50 MM – $60 MM. This was all presented in yesterday’s press release of the…
A few months ago, you could read here that there will be a set of friendly games between team Kingdom of the Netherlands and team Samurai Japan in November 2016. According to the website of Samurai Japan, the roster of the Dutch team has been released. According to a source within the Dutch baseball federation, there are…
Former Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees pitcher Hiroki Kuroda has announced his retirement. The work horse will hang up his spikes after the upcoming Nippon Series in which Kuroda’s team, the Hiroshima Toyo Carp will take on the Nippon Ham Fighters. Kuroda made the announcement during a press conference last night. Before the…
