(from press release)

Newly-elected National Baseball Hall of Famer Andre Dawson will make a pit stop at the Jersey Shore on his way to Cooperstown. The Lakewood (N. J.) BlueClaws announced last week that Dawson will sign autographs for fans at the team’s July 1st, 2010 home game.

Dawson was the only player selected for election by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA), receiving 77.9% of the vote (needing 75%).

“It’s obviously very special for us to be able to bring Andre to Lakewood just 24 days before his induction in Cooperstown,” said BlueClaws general manager Geoff Brown. “Congratulations to Andre and we look forward to seeing him here in July.”

Dawson will be the fifth Hall of Famer to sign autographs at a BlueClaws game, joining Steve Carlton, Bob Feller, Goose Gossage and Jim Rice.

Other signers in the past have included Darryl Strawberry, John Kruk, Tug McGraw, Mickey Rivers and Mitch Williams. Along with Dawson, only Barry Bonds and Willie Mays have hit 400 home runs and recorded 300 stolen bases, and Dawson, in addition to winning eight Gold Glove Awards, was the 1987 NL MVP despite the Cubs finishing in last place. He will be officially enshrined in Cooperstown on July 25th, 2010.

Tickets to the July 1st, 2010 home game are currently available in ticket packages and individual game tickets will go on sale March 20th, 2010. To order a ticket plan, fans can call 732-901-7000, option 3.

The 2010 season will mark the BlueClaws tenth season of play, and the team will have a new logo and new uniforms for the first time in team history.

The BlueClaws won their second South Atlantic League title in 2009, and led the league in attendance for the ninth straight year. The team also won the league’s Club Merit Award and became the fastest in New Jersey and SAL history to reach four million fans.

(from press release)

The Bowie Baysox, Class AA affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, have announced that Brad Komminsk will return for his third season as manager of the club in 2010 following a two-year stretch in which he led the club to their first playoff appearance in 11 seasons in 2008 and a third place finish in the Eastern League’s Southern Division in 2009.

Komminsk becomes just the second manager in Baysox history to start three seasons managing the club. He joins former manager Joe Ferguson who compiled a record of 215-211 while at the helm of the club from 1997-1999. Coincidentally, both mangers led their respective teams to the playoffs in the first year managing the Baysox.

Komminsk’s coaching resume includes time as the hitting and field coach for the (High-A) Clearwater Threshers in the Philadelphia Phillies organization during the 2007 season as well as eight seasons (1999-2006) with the Cleveland Indians organization. The Lima, OH native spent the 1999 season as manager of the (Low-A) Columbus Catfish. He was named Florida State League Manager of the year in 2001, leading the (High-A) Kinston Indians to the Carolina League’s Southern Division title.

In 2002, he split managing duties between Kinston and Akron (AA). With Akron, Komminsk led the Aeros to back-to-back Eastern League Southern Division titles in 2002 and 2003, helping Akron along the way to capturing the Eastern League Championship in 2003. Following his championship season, Komminsk was named the USA Today Sports Weekly Minor League Manager of the year. In 2002 Akron, with Komminsk at the helm, posted the most wins (93) in all of minor league baseball, earning him Eastern League Manager of the Year honors. He was also selected as a coach for the MLB All-Star Futures game in 2002 and 2003.

In his first year as Baysox manager in 2008, Komminsk was once again named as the Eastern League Manager of the Year when he led the Baysox to the playoffs for the first time since 1997 and a tie for the franchise record number of wins in a season (84).

Prior to coaching, Brad Komminsk spent parts of eight seasons as an outfielder in Major League Baseball. A first round draft pick (fourth overall) of the Atlanta Braves in 1979, Komminsk made his Major League debut with the Braves in 1983.

During his major league career, he played for the Braves (1983-1986), Brewers (1987), Indians (1989), Giants (1990), Orioles (1990), and Oakland (1991). Komminsk played in the White Sox Minor League system for two seasons (1992-1993), before playing in Italy in 1994 and 1995. Komminsk rounded out his career playing in one game for (Triple-A) Toledo in 1997, before becoming a coach. In 1983, Komminsk was named the International League Rookie of the Year with Richmond and in 1987 he led all of Triple-A baseball with 32 home runs for Denver, while playing in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. Komminsk played in 46 games for the Orioles in 1990.

(from press release)

Randy Johnson announced this week that he will retire after 22 seasons in Major League Baseball.

The 6’ 10” “Big Unit” leaves baseball as one of the most dominant pitchers in history with a 303-166 record and a 3.29 ERA. He was a 10-time All-Star and five-time Cy Young Award Winner, including earning the honor a record-tying four straight times from 1999-2002. His five Cy Young trophies rank second all-time.

“I never thought I’d play this long and feel very blessed that I did,” said Johnson. “I think it’s a natural progression when you get older that your body or the game tells you it’s time to retire. After 22 seasons, there isn’t a lot left for me to accomplish in this game, especially at the level of conditioning and performance I expect from myself. I’m very happy that I was able to bounce back from three back surgeries and other injuries and leave the game on my own terms, healthy and still productive. I waited until today to announce my decision because I didn’t want to make a hasty decision. I wanted to make sure it was the correct and final decision for my family and me.”

After making his debut with the Montreal Expos on September 15, 1988, the Walnut Creek, CA native proceeded to pitch for six teams over a 22 season career. Johnson won his 300th career game on June 4, 2009 against the Washington Nationals, becoming the 24th pitcher in history to do so, and only the second in the last 20 years.

Johnson led his league in ERA and complete games four times and strikeouts nine times. His 4,875 strikeouts rank second all-time and are the most ever among left-handed pitchers. His 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings pitched are also first among all starting pitchers in MLB history. The 46-year old southpaw won a World Series with the Diamondbacks in 2001 and was named Series co-MVP.

Johnson followed up his World Championship with arguably the best season of his career in 2002. Johnson captured the “Triple Crown” of pitching leading the NL in wins (24), ERA (2.32) and strikeouts (334) and became the first pitcher in big league history to fan 300 or more batters in five straight seasons.

Johnson became the oldest pitcher, at 40 years, 256 days, to throw a perfect game when he accomplished the feat on May 18, 2004 against the Atlanta Braves. The notable achievement is one of only 18 perfect games ever thrown in major league history and came 14 years after Johnson threw his first no-hitter, a 2-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers on June 2, 1990. The 117-pitch performance included 13 strikeouts, the second most in a perfect game all-time, and made Johnson only the fifth pitcher in major league history to throw a no-hitter in both leagues.

I just read a great article from June 2008 by Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times.  In it he explains how the great Joe DiMaggio forever changed the way the Baseball Writers of America Association (BBWAA) conducts its voting for the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Back in the day there was no formal structure for voting, no rules or even a ballot.  The voters sent in votes.  They could vote for whomever they wanted even if a player was still playing. Joltin’ Joe got votes while he was away from baseball during WW II.  And there was no real ballot.  The retired player had to meet a percentage of votes and any former player could be voted in.

The Yankee Clipper and others, like Yogi Berra and Roy Campanella mentioned in The Umpire’s article from a couple of days ago, were not voted in during their first year on the ballot, because they received votes in those previous years and were inducted only when the majority of sports writers realized that a five year period of time had elapsed since the player had retired.

Even though Joe was voted in on his third (real) go round, he actually was inducted into the hall before his five years were up.  The five-year rule was in place because of the scandals that have followed baseball from the beginning and probably because the Black Sox Scandal was still fresh in the baseball world’s minds.  At that time it was more of a rule of thumb that five years was the lower limit.  Babe Ruth was inducted in the inaugural class of 1936, even though he had been retired for only one year.  It was at the time of Joe D’s election that the BBWAA decided to formalize the structure and clean up their act somewhat.

Now let’s get back to the clowns, like Mariotti and others of his ilk who now hold back votes because they don’t think that so-and-so should be a first ballot hall of famer.  Back in the day there were no first ballot hall of famers, because THERE WAS NO BALLOT!  And the voting was way different than it is today.

So, please, when you read one of the idiots writers stating their case loudly that since Player X (insert all-time great’s name of choice) didn’t get in on the first ballot, then certainly Player Y (insert recent retiree’s name of choice) shouldn’t get in on the first ballot, please point them in the direction of Mr. Jaffe’s article.  Perhaps someday the writers will get it right.

From the I Thought I Would Never See This in My Lifetime Department comes the following: “Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has proposed that the champions of Japan and the United States play a global World Series,” reports Kyodo.

Our fellow members of the blogosphere are, to put it mildly, not too keen on the idea.

Joseph Pawlikowski on Open Thread thinks such a proposal would serve no purpose other than to demonstrate American dominance of the game:

“The unevenness of competition becomes evident when viewing which types of players move to each league. Elite Japanese players come to MLB, while fringe players move to Japan. It’s basically a one-way flow of talent,” he argues.

The Bleacher Report takes its disapproval one step further in a post entitled “The Worst Idea Since Babies Slept in Cages” and cites the already excruciatingly long season players have to endure:

“Two months of spring training followed by six months of regular season baseball succeeded by a month long postseason and an extra two weeks (at least) of a second World Series would never be accepted by the players.”

However, I am going to take a contrary position and in so doing attempt what has certainly never been done before: use the words “Bud Selig” and “good idea” in the same sentence – provided one takes a long-term view. Certainly the MLB season would somehow have to be reduced in order for this to happen. And it is more than likely that the United States would dominate any international baseball competitions in the foreseeable future.

Nonetheless, the disparity between the abilities of American players and those from other countries is narrowing as the sport’s popularity increases in places where it has never before had much of a following. Heck, we even hear that Hungary might have a prospect soon.

Besides it has always seemed slightly presumptuous to call a competition a “World Series” when it might, on rare occasions, involve a team from Canada.