Baseball Ink • Vol. 4, No. 2

Cuba Gold, South Korea Silver, USA Bronze

August 28, 2008 6:57 PM

By TheUmpire

Cuba beat Korea, 3-2, capturing the gold medal for baseball at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Team USA brought home the bronze with an 8-4 victory over Japan.

Cuba’s gold helped propel the country to #8 in the per-capita Olympic medal rankings.

Baseball has been dropped from Olympic competition starting with the 2012 games in London.

Efforts are underway to have baseball reinstated as an Olympic sport, but the competition would not be included until the 2016 Summer Olympics at the earliest.

COUNTRY	G	S	B	TOT	POPULATION	GOLD PER CAPITA	TOTAL PER CAPITA	RANK BY GOLD	RANK BY TOTAL	RANK BY GOLD PER CAPITA	RANK BY TOTAL PER CAPITA
Bahamas	0	1	1	2	307,451	0.000000000	0.000006505	56	57	56	1
Jamaica	6	3	2	11	2,780,132	0.000002158	0.000003957	13	20	1	2
Iceland	0	1	0	1	304,367	0.000000000	0.000003286	56	69	56	3
Slovenia	1	2	2	5	2,009,245	0.000000498	0.000002488	37	38	10	4
Australia	14	15	17	46	20,434,176	0.000000685	0.000002251	6	5	5	5
New Zealand	3	1	5	9	4,115,771	0.000000729	0.000002187	19	24	4	6
Norway	3	5	2	10	4,627,926	0.000000648	0.000002161	19	21	7	7
Cuba	2	11	11	24	11,394,043	0.000000176	0.000002106	28	12	24	8
Armenia	0	0	6	6	2,971,650	0.000000000	0.000002019	56	30	56	9
Belarus	4	5	10	19	9,724,723	0.000000411	0.000001954	16	13	13	10
Trinidad and Tobago	0	2	0	2	1,056,608	0.000000000	0.000001893	56	57	56	11
Estonia	1	1	0	2	1,315,912	0.000000760	0.000001520	37	57	3	12
Lithuania	0	2	3	5	3,575,439	0.000000000	0.000001398	56	38	56	13
Bahrain	1	0	0	1	718,306	0.000001392	0.000001392	37	69	2	14
Mongolia	2	2	0	4	2,951,786	0.000000678	0.000001355	28	44	6	15
Latvia	1	1	1	3	2,245,423	0.000000445	0.000001336	37	51	11	16
Georgia	3	0	3	6	4,646,003	0.000000646	0.000001291	19	30	8	17
Denmark	2	2	3	7	5,484,723	0.000000365	0.000001276	28	27	14	18
Croatia	0	2	3	5	4,493,312	0.000000000	0.000001113	56	38	56	19
Slovakia	3	2	1	6	5,447,502	0.000000551	0.000001101	19	30	9	20
Hungary	3	5	2	10	9,956,108	0.000000301	0.000001004	19	21	17	21
Netherlands	7	5	4	16	16,570,613	0.000000422	0.000000966	10	16	12	22
Azerbaijan	1	2	4	7	8,120,247	0.000000123	0.000000862	37	27	32	23
Kazakhstan	2	4	7	13	15,284,929	0.000000131	0.000000851	28	19	30	24
Switzerland	2	0	4	6	7,554,661	0.000000265	0.000000794	28	30	20	25
Mauritius	0	0	1	1	1,274,189	0.000000000	0.000000785	56	69	56	26
Great Britain	19	13	15	47	60,776,238	0.000000313	0.000000773	4	4	15	27
Finland	1	1	2	4	5,238,460	0.000000191	0.000000764	37	44	22	28
Ireland	0	1	2	3	4,156,119	0.000000000	0.000000722	56	51	56	29
Bulgaria	1	1	3	5	7,322,858	0.000000137	0.000000683	37	38	28	30
South Korea	13	10	8	31	49,044,790	0.000000265	0.000000632	7	8	19	31
France	7	16	17	40	64,057,790	0.000000109	0.000000624	10	7	34	32
Czech Republic	3	3	0	6	10,228,744	0.000000293	0.000000587	19	30	18	33
Ukraine	7	5	15	27	46,299,862	0.000000151	0.000000583	10	10	26	34
Sweden	0	4	1	5	9,031,088	0.000000000	0.000000554	56	38	56	35
Canada	3	9	6	18	33,390,141	0.000000090	0.000000539	19	14	39	36
Russia	23	21	28	72	141,377,752	0.000000163	0.000000509	3	3	25	37
Germany	16	10	15	41	82,400,996	0.000000194	0.000000498	5	6	21	38
Italy	8	10	10	28	58,147,733	0.000000138	0.000000482	9	9	27	39
Spain	5	10	3	18	40,448,191	0.000000124	0.000000445	14	14	31	40
Kyrgyzstan	0	1	1	2	5,284,149	0.000000000	0.000000378	56	57	56	41
Greece	0	2	2	4	10,706,290	0.000000000	0.000000374	56	44	56	42
Kenya	5	5	4	14	37,953,838	0.000000132	0.000000369	14	18	29	43
Austria	0	1	2	3	8,199,783	0.000000000	0.000000366	56	51	56	44
United States	36	38	36	110	301,139,947	0.000000120	0.000000365	2	1	33	45
Romania	4	1	3	8	22,276,056	0.000000180	0.000000359	16	25	23	46
Zimbabwe	1	3	0	4	12,382,920	0.000000081	0.000000323	37	44	41	47
Panama	1	0	0	1	3,242,173	0.000000308	0.000000308	37	69	16	48
Serbia	0	1	2	3	10,150,265	0.000000000	0.000000296	56	51	56	49
Tajikistan	0	1	1	2	7,076,598	0.000000000	0.000000283	56	57	56	50
Poland	3	6	1	10	38,518,241	0.000000078	0.000000260	19	21	42	51
North Korea	2	1	3	6	23,479,089	0.000000085	0.000000256	28	30	40	52
Moldova	0	0	1	1	4,324,450	0.000000000	0.000000231	56	69	56	53
Singapore	0	1	0	1	4,553,009	0.000000000	0.000000220	56	69	56	54
Uzbekistan	1	2	3	6	27,780,059	0.000000036	0.000000216	37	30	48	55
Dominican Republic	1	1	0	2	9,507,133	0.000000105	0.000000210	37	57	35	56
Japan	9	6	10	25	127,433,494	0.000000071	0.000000196	8	11	43	57
Belgium	1	1	0	2	10,403,951	0.000000096	0.000000192	37	57	37	58
Portugal	1	1	0	2	10,642,836	0.000000094	0.000000188	37	57	38	59
Chinese Taipei	0	0	4	4	22,858,872	0.000000000	0.000000175	56	44	56	60
Togo	0	0	1	1	5,858,673	0.000000000	0.000000171	56	69	56	61
Argentina	2	0	4	6	40,301,927	0.000000050	0.000000149	28	30	46	62
Israel	0	0	1	1	7,112,359	0.000000000	0.000000141	56	69	56	63
Turkey	1	4	3	8	71,158,647	0.000000014	0.000000112	37	25	53	64
Tunisia	1	0	0	1	10,276,158	0.000000097	0.000000097	37	69	36	65
Ethiopia	4	1	2	7	78,254,090	0.000000051	0.000000089	16	27	45	66
Brazil	3	4	8	15	191,908,598	0.000000016	0.000000078	19	17	51	67
China	51	21	28	100	1,321,851,888	0.000000039	0.000000076	1	2	47	68
Ecuador	0	1	0	1	13,755,680	0.000000000	0.000000073	56	69	56	69
Chile	0	1	0	1	16,284,741	0.000000000	0.000000061	56	69	56	70
Thailand	2	2	0	4	65,493,298	0.000000031	0.000000061	28	44	49	71
Algeria	0	1	1	2	33,333,216	0.000000000	0.000000060	56	57	56	72
Morocco	0	1	1	2	33,757,175	0.000000000	0.000000059	56	57	56	73
Cameroon	1	0	0	1	18,467,692	0.000000054	0.000000054	37	69	44	74
Colombia	0	1	1	2	44,379,598	0.000000000	0.000000045	56	57	56	75
Malaysia	0	1	0	1	24,821,286	0.000000000	0.000000040	56	69	56	76
Venezuela	0	0	1	1	26,414,815	0.000000000	0.000000038	56	69	56	77
Afghanistan	0	0	1	1	31,889,923	0.000000000	0.000000031	56	69	56	78
Iran	1	0	1	2	65,875,223	0.000000015	0.000000030	37	57	52	79
Nigeria	0	1	3	4	138,283,240	0.000000000	0.000000029	56	44	56	80
Mexico	2	0	1	3	108,700,891	0.000000018	0.000000028	28	51	50	81
Sudan	0	1	0	1	40,218,455	0.000000000	0.000000025	56	69	56	82
South Africa	0	1	0	1	43,786,115	0.000000000	0.000000023	56	69	56	83
Indonesia	1	1	3	5	234,693,997	0.000000004	0.000000021	37	38	54	84
Egypt	0	0	1	1	80,335,036	0.000000000	0.000000012	56	69	56	85
Vietnam	0	1	0	1	85,262,356	0.000000000	0.000000012	56	69	56	86
India	1	0	2	3	1,129,866,154	0.000000001	0.000000003	37	51	55	87

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Brangelina Help Portmanteaux To Tinseltown Title

August 13, 2008 5:25 PM

By TheUmpire

Pandering unabashedly to Major League Search Engines, the fictitious Celebrity Baseball Association (not sponsored by Google) held its annual UniName Game last night in my head.

The Hollywood Portmanteaux celebrated a three-peat by mauling the Mighty Mighty Morphemes, 11-4.

The Portmanteaux took a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Brangelina hit a sacrifice fly to send Ashmi streaking in from third.

The Morphemes battled back to 3-2 in the fourth when Beyonce’s ball bounded beyond a diving Filliam H. Muffman in right field for a bases-clearing stand-up double.

The teams traded runs in the fifth when TomKitten misread a sign and broke away from her parents TomKat at third and stole home. Sting stung for a solo homer in the bottom of the inning.

The Portmanteaux threatened again in the seventh when Romber beat out an infield single and then promptly stole both second and third. However, Madonna flashed some “League of Their Own” leather with a tremendous grab of Spederline’s deep ball in center, thus stranding the Survivor couple at third base.

The big blow of the game came in the top of the ninth when Billary slid an eight-run grand salami just over the left field fence scoring Brangelina, Bennifer, and Vaughniston.

(more…)

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McCain Bobbles, Needs Miracle To Beat Obama

August 11, 2008 2:10 PM

By TheUmpire

The sixth and final Bobblection Week 2008 vote takes place tonight at Hammond Stadium where the Fort Myers Miracle host the Dunedin Blue Jays at 7:05 PM. Gates open and voting begins at 6:00 PM.

Upon entry, fans will be directed to election booths to cast their vote and receive a bobblehead doll of their candidate. The candidate whose doll supply runs out first shall be declared the winner.

Barack Obama holds a nearly-insurmountable 3,500 to 2,846 lead over John McCain through the first five sites.

The Mike Veeck-led Goldklang Group owns the six teams participating in Bobblection Week 2008.

Results thus far:

Date / Location	Obama	McCain
August 6 – Hudson Valley Renegades (NY)	750	719
August 7 – Brockton Rox (MA)	500	456
August 8 – Charleston RiverDogs (SC)	500	360
August 9 – St. Paul Saints (MN)	1250	906
August 10 – Sioux Falls Canaries (SD)	500	405
August 11 – Ft. Myers Miracle (FL)	500	419
Totals	4000	3265

UPDATE: Barack Obama shuts out John McCain, 6-0, for an overall 55%-45% win.

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So Long, Skip

August 4, 2008 6:14 PM

By TheUmpire

Longtime Atlanta Braves announcer Skip Caray died in his sleep in his Atlanta home yesterday. The son of Cubs announcer Harry Caray, Skip joined the Braves’ booth in 1976. Skip’s son, Chip, is currently a broadcaster for the Braves’ TBS games.

Skip Caray is perhaps best known for his “Braves win! Braves win!” call of Sid Bream’s winning slide in Game 7 of the 1992 NLCS.

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Nicollette Sheridan Throws First Pitch

August 1, 2008 3:58 PM

By TheUmpire

Promoting the new 3-D animated film Fly Me To The Moon, Nicollette Sheridan delivered the first pitch last Monday night at Dodger Stadium.

Sheridan is currently best known for her role on the television show Desperate Housewives.

Movie promo: “In this groundbreaking 3-D animated adventure, three young flies set off on a courageous mission to become the first insects on the moon by hitching a ride on the historic Apollo 11 space flight. Based on the actual transcripts and the original blueprints from NASA, the film’s stunning visuals and meticulous attention to detail introduce a whole new generation to the awe-inspiring achievements of the space program’s most momentous mission.”