John Titus doing his “Bill Murray” impersonation, c. 1905. SDN-001525, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago History Museum.

Ladies, and gents, I’d like to introduce the one and only “Silent” John Titus, mustachioed lefty outfielder extraordinaire of the Philadelphia Phillies circa 1903-1912, and inspiration of the historical baseball term:

 Jawn Titus

(noun.) “A spectacular catch. A circus catch.”

- The Dickson Baseball Dictionary

Silent John Franklin Titus was born in Pennsylvania in 1876 and worked in the coalmines until he joined the Army and fought in the Spanish-American War. (Which I believe to be much different than the Spanish-American WAR, I think it’s a thing. It should be.)

After the war, Titus joined a mustache-sporting basketball team, and the lefty let his ‘stache linger into his baseball career, when he made his Major League Baseball debut at the age of 27 on June 8 in 1903, playing left field for the Phillies. (I promise I knew nothing about the mustache until after I chose Silent John for today’s Throwback post, but not that you’ll believe me.) In his first season, Silent John’s batting average was .286.

But there was little noise about the reliable Silent John of Philadelphia. He saved up his paychecks, he was solid at the plate, he didn’t talk much, he made “sensational catches” (Spaulding’s Official Base Ball Guide, 1908), and as far as it’s known, he was never thrown out of a game.

Silent John was, in a word, Silent.  » Continue reading “Throwback Thursday: Silent Jawn Titus”

So the Winter Meetings have come to a close and the writers of Aerys Sports figured we’d choose someone whose name was mentioned this week. No, not Josh Hamilton or Zack Greinke. Not even Eric Chavez (because he was given this honor already). We chose Ben Revere who was traded from the Minnesota Twins to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Enjoy!

(All photos courtesy of Jen Nevius, lead writer of Aerys’ Royals site, Drinking the Royals Blue-Aid)

Standings via MLB.com

Washington Nationals

The Nats have clinched a playoff berth and the club is sitting atop the NL East with a magic number of 6, and a near-unbelievable-yet-so-believable record of 92-60.

Lefty sensation Gio Gonzalez recorded his 20th win of the season on Saturday against the Brewers when his offense was certainly not feeling shy. The Nats trumped the Brew Crew with a final score of 10-4, and Gio held ‘em scoreless through five. Gio is the first National to reach a 20-game season, and is needless to say a contender for the Cy Young Award.

Meanwhile, rookie phenom Bryce Harper continues to astound and could be in a race for a title of his own: the NL Rookie of the Year Award, that is.

» Continue reading “NL East Recap: Rounding Third…”

Once in a while… you just have one of Those Days.

You know, the kind that start out beautifully and you lay out in the sun and forget you have class. They quickly turn sour when next you start walking into things like aggressive shrubberies, then forget to bring your goggles to lab. Toss in a wardrobe malfunction or two, and next you might struggle to properly pipette your chlorophyll and acetone solution, so you have to re-centrifuge all your samples. If you planned poorly, it is likely you would have to respond to a fire drill when you should have been studying for your midterms. And to top it all off, as Murphy would have it, finally during yoga you fall out of your half moon Ardha Chandrasana pose because you can’t stop thinking about how the Brewers let you down last postseason and now that they might actually make the wild card you’re afraid to get your hopes up. Right?

And you end up at your computer at eating too many baby carrots and raspberries and raw almonds and gluten-free rice crackers that are probably made with gmo corn and listening to sad folksy songs at 11pm, which really isn’t that late for a college student but really is late for a college student who wakes up at 7am every morning for 8 hours of science without baseball.

Ok. Enough. I promised no one I would not use this article to vent. I lied to no one.

Today on Throwback Thursday, the goal is to wash away the Those Day Woes with a slew of hilarious baseball bloopers from bygone and more-recently-bygone seasons, just in time and appropriately themed for storm season. That’s right, today we are haulin’ out the tarpaulin… or, more accurately, watching major league baseball stadium grounds grew folks fail at some tarp-pulling of their own.

…Remember how much fun you had in elementary school physical education class playing with a giant rainbow parachute? Well, did Mrs. Kellogg, your P.E. teacher, ever tell you what a marketable skill that could be? Yes, readers, there are some guys out there who get paid to do it, and sometimes, it looks like they have not had half the qualifying training that you or I had. Please enjoy:

It’s not quite as easy as these kids make it seem… Image via kidactivities.net

» Continue reading “Throwback Thursday: Just One Of Those Days… Made Better With Tarps”

National League East Standings. Image via MLB.com

Washington Nationals

Despite losing the series to the Marlins, not to mention with the rubber match culminating in an [embarrassing] 8-0 loss, the Nats continue to prove that it is still possible to move up from the top. Right now their record is 86-54.

Manager Davey Johnson announced that ace Stephen Strasburg won’t be back on the mound this season, due to inning limits in place from his Tommy John surgery in 2010. Of course, the news also came after one of Stras’s worst starts of the season- he allowed seven runs through only five innings. Lefty John Lannan should pitch against the Mets at Citi field this Wednesday in Stephen’s stead.

Meanwhile, on the mound Monday against the Mets, Gio Gonzalez will toss to try to be the first to reach 19 wins this season. Cy Young-speak continues to stir around the Washington southpaw.

» Continue reading “NL East Recap: We’re Going Streaking!”

NL East standings as of 8/25. Graphic via MLB.com

Washington Nationals

The Nats are high above all other teams in the majors with a picturesque win percentage at .611, and even a small losing streak really ain’t no thang but a blip on the radar.

Catcher Kurt Suzuki had a broken-hand scare Wednesday, but returned to the lineup Friday after negative X-ray results came through. Shortstop Ian Desmond should be out through Monday to play it safe with his hamstring strain. Likewise, Michael Morse took Sunday off to rest his hand, which remained painful after being hit by a pitch on Friday’s game against the Phillies.

… Just ask Jayson Werth, (or check his email in/outbox), those two teams just can’t seem to get along. Somehow injury is always added to insult in such rivalries.

Stephen Strasburg is set to miss his final two or three starts of the season by order of his Tommy John recovery schedule. In his absence, the Nationals could switch to a four-man rotation come October.

» Continue reading “NL East Recap: Dark Horse Play On Horizon?”

NL East Standings as of 8/12. via MLB.com

Washington Nationals

Jayson Werth rejoined the Nationals on Thursday (over a week ago) and the Nats have been winning with him since. Werth was moved up to the leadoff spot, and is hitting an insane .400 with a .500 on-base percentage.

Meanwhile, shortstop Ian Desmond took his first live swings during his rehab assignment, and manager Davey Johnson is antsy to have Desmond back in action.

Unfortunately, Chien-Ming Wang exited his Minor League rehab start with hip soreness on Tuesday night. His return to the Nats, which could have been as early as this past Saturday, is of course pushed back until he can make another rehab start.

Read more on the Nationals on Win For Teddy 

» Continue reading “NL East Recap: They Tried To Make Me Go To Rehab…”

Standings via MLB.com

Washington Nationals

It might be a bit premature to break out the champagne, but Washington has already won more games so far this season than their totals of either the 2008 or 2009 seasons. So, hooray.

But on the flipside, Nats first baseman Adam LaRoche left the game Sunday against the Brewers for back tightness, and he is listed as day to day.
Outfielder Xavier Nady was released on Sunday and the Nationals recalled John Lannan. Additionally, the Nats signed free-agent Mike MacDougal to a Minor League contract in Triple-A.

Read more on the Nationals on Win For Teddy

» Continue reading “NL East Recap: Record-Breakers & Re-Runs”

Frankie “The Fordham Flash” Frisch who played for the New York Giants that day, via public domain

Nearly one year ago, I uncovered the Odyssey of the White Sox and the Brewers, or The Longest Baseball Game In The History Of Ever-So-Far. So today on Throwback Thursday, I find it is only fitting to not forget the little guy: the Shortest (9-inning) Baseball Game In The History Of Ever (So Far).

Fourteen-thousand fans were in attendance at the Polo Grounds V in New York City on Sunday May 28, 1919, to see the New York Giants take on the Philadelphia Phillies. Check out baseball-reference for the complete box score of the game.

The winning pitcher, Jesse Barnes took the mound for the Giants for all eight innings, meanwhile Lee Meadows took the loss for Philly and boldly threw through nine.. Both pitchers threw the entire game, took all their at-bats, and even each recorded a hit for his team, withBarnes even recording a run himself.

Despite seven total runs scored- six for the Giants and one for the Phils- eighteen hits, and thirteen men left on base, the game only lasted 51 minutes over nine innings (or, eight innings and the top of the ninth, if you want to get really technical about it).

Picture it this way: a 51-minute game means, on average, six minute innings- far shorter than the time it takes to wait in line for a beer, pay an exorbitant amount of money for said beer, and carry it safely back to your seat, spilling a minimal amount of liquid nectar, and sacrificing the greatest amount of the suds. (NOTE: The time taken navigating across strangers’ laps increases exponentially with each beer that is carried.)

» Continue reading “Throwback Thursday: Nine Innings In Fifty-One Minutes”

NL East Standings via MLB.com

Washington Nationals
Is it just me, or is Bryce Harper quite saucy? Apparently he had some beef with the Notorious Ozzie Guillen of the Marlins regarding pine tar, which just goes to show you, maybe sometimes it takes two to tango.

Ian Desmond sat out of the Nats lineup on Sunday due to an oblique injury that has been plaguing the All-Star-nominated shortstop for months. In fact, Desomnd opted-out of his All-Star nomination for healing time.

Read more on the Nationals on Win For Teddy

» Continue reading “NL East Recap: In Repair?”