Book Review: Gmelch, George. Inside Pitch: Life In Professional Baseball. 2001.

Gmelch, George. Inside Pitch:  Life In Professional Baseball. 1st ed. Washington [D.C.]: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001. Print.

This is an extensively researched, sharply observed, well written anthropological account of the lifecycle of US professional baseball players in the 1990s.   It begins with descriptions of the dreams and aspirations of boys, before examining the few well-worn avenues teenagers and young men take to become salaried players.  Succeeding chapters explore the process of acculturation to exclusively male groups devoted entirely to the full-time pursuit of sport, the psychological demands of a game in which the ball is in play only 15 minutes for every three-hour match, the role of superstition, players’ relationships with wives and groupies, and the difficult adjustment to retirement.

Inside Pitch is based on interviews with 107 players, managers, coaches, and scouts conducted by former-minor-leaguer-turned-academic Dr George Gmelch, a professor of Anthropology at the University of San Francisco, author of a book-length account of behind-the-scenes baseball workers (In the Ballpark), and editor of a collection on global expressions of the game (Baseball without Borders).  Gmelch has most recently published an account of the US minor league experience of the 1960s based on journals written while a member in the Detroit Tigers farm system (Playing with Tigers).

Film & Book Review: White Elephant: The Rise and Fall of Miami Baseball Stadium, 2008 & 2013

White Elephant: What is There to Save? (2008). [DVD] Miami, FL: Joe Cardona, producer, director; Rolando Llanes, director; Cantilever Productions, Kids in Exile Films.

Llanes, R. (2013). White Elephant: The Rise and Fall of Miami Baseball Stadium. 1st ed. San Francisco: Blurb.


This is an odd film.  I came to it through an interest in baseball and my own childhood experience of attending Baltimore Orioles spring training games in the 60s and 70s.

But the film is not really about baseball, nor it seems much about the stadium itself.  It is more a collection of historical vignettes loosely connected to the stadium, which opened in 1949 and was demolished in 2001. The absence of an overarching narrative is confounded by nonlinear sequencing, intermittent poetry reading, and an assumption that the viewer is familiar with the mid-20th century history of Miami, Cuba, and Central America.

The science of hitting a Major League fastball

Hitters only have 125 milliseconds to gauge the average Major League fastball – less than the blink of an eye. Which begs the question: how is it humanly possible?

Korean baseball rocked by game-fixing scandal

Korean baseball was last week stung by a police investigation into gambling and game-fixing that has resulted in 19 indictments, including seven current or former pitchers. as well as two executives of the KBO's NC Dinos, a team that appeared in this year's Korea Series.

Of the infringements cited is the case of a pitcher in 2014 taking money to deliberately walk batters.  According to police, the deception was discovered by team management but covered up so that the player could later be traded.   NC Dino management denies a cover-up, saying their own investigation produced no irrefutable evidence.  It has nevertheless suspended the two indicted officials pending court proceedings.  KBO management is likewise waiting on court outcomes before announcing penalties, which could include lifetime bans.

Korea KBO Series 2016

More fall championship baseball is available from the Korean Baseball Organization, which last week completed its annual best-of-seven series, this year between the NC Dinos and Doosan Bears.  If you have a suitable broadband connection, all games are available as VOD through afreeca.tv.  No registration or fees are currently required.  From my location streaming was choppy and sometimes stopped altogether.  An alternative for those with similar issues, or who don’t care about watching complete games, are condensed versions of about 10 minutes each from SpoTV available on Youtube and linked below.

Of this years's three Asian series, Japan’s was most suspenseful, going a full seven games.  Taiwan’s series ran six games and included a surprising come-from-behind victor, while the Korean series lacked much contention or drama.

For a text summary of the Korean series, see here.  For Youtube links, click Read More.

Tawain CPBL Series 2016

Thumbnails for the 6-games series, numbered 001-006, 22 October to 29 October

If you’re looking for more championship baseball action this fall, you might like to check out the recently completed Taiwan series, which featured an unlikely, come-from-behind winner.  For background on the series, you can see this article;  if you prefer to be spoiler free, read it after you’ve finished watching.

All series games are available on demand through the league’s TV and streaming service, CPBL.TV.   From my location, I found I had to create an account, but no purchase was necessary.  While the site is entirely in Chinese, your browser and email translate function should be sufficient to complete the registration process.

Enjoy.

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When a ticket to stand at the world series is $1000, MLB is hardly a people's sport

The US Census Bureau reported a mean personal income of $44,510 for all workers over age 15 with income based on the Current Population Survey for 2015. That comes to $3709.00 per month, or $23.18 per hour, assuming 160 hours per month.

A ticket to stand at Game 7 of the World Series therefore costs 43 hours of labor.  A whole week's worth of work for a three hour baseball game, and you can't even sit down.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/cubs-indians-world-series-game-7-tickets-standing-room-only-seats-hit-four-digits/

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