Rawlings Official Major League Baseballs

     Upon retiring from baseball, Derek Jeter has similar aspirations to Michael Jordan, and would like to enter into an ownership role of a professional sports team.

    Jeter is sponsored by the Jordan brand, and was in Tampa where the Yankees’ spring training facilities are, unveiling his newest edition in his shoe line, the ninth installation.

     Jordan made headlines last week when his ownership of the Charlotte bobcats was unanimously passed by the other owners in the league and NBA Commissioner David Stern.

     “Oh yeah,” Jeter said. “The only interest I have in ownership is to be able to call the shots. I’ve said that time and time again.”

     Jeter and Jordan have known each other since the basketball player tried a stint in professional baseball upon his first retirement from the NBA.

     “I’m happy for him. I know it’s something he’s wanted to do for quite some time. Not too many former players get an opportunity to be an owner. It’s something I’d like to do as well,” Jeter remarked.

     But Jeter has no intentions of retiring anytime soon.

     “I’m going to play as long as I’m enjoying myself. I don’t really put limitations on too many things. I think when you start putting limitations out there, you’re in trouble,” the 10-time All-Star said. “I’m having a blast right now playing, and I’m going to play for a long time. That’s the plan.” Read the rest of this entry »

     Now, they won’t have to worry. The team announced Sunday that the reigning American League Most Valuable Player had agreed to a $184 million, eight-year contract extension, the fourth richest deal in the majors. It was the best news fans could have received after also learning Sunday that star relief pitcher Joe Nathan would miss the upcoming season with a serious elbow injury.

     It would have been all but impossible to complete a new Mauer deal without the revenue-producing Target Field, which opens in mere days, on the horizon. But keeping the star catcher and three-time league batting champion in the Twin Cities was — as perhaps the team’s braintrust realized — far more important than just economics.

     Mauer, besides his stature as an elite player, is a hometown hero who was drafted by the Twins in 2001 out of Cretin-Derham-Hall High School. He is an outstanding role model and citizens, by nearly all accounts, on and off the field. In short, he is a fan favorite, and his departure to another team would have had a significantly negative ripple effect on attendance and overall team interest. Read the rest of this entry »

     The Field
     The field consists of infield and outfield. Infield is the area of the field closest to the bases. The grassy area reaching farther is the outfield. The diamond is the major part of the infield, which includes the pitcher’s mound, home plate, and 3 other bases. These bases are numbered counter-clockwise. From the diamond, the bases are 90 feet. However as per basic baseball rules for kids, and softball, this distance could be less. Then there are foul lines and the whole area beyond the foul lines is termed as foul territory. Although this aspect – the area and expanse of ground bordering the field between long white lines connecting first base to home plate and third to the home plate differ from field to field. The pitcher’s mound is an elevated portion of the ground almost in the middle of the diamond. There is rubber on that and the pitcher has to touch one foot to the rubber while delivering the ball. Read more on layout of a baseball diamond.

     The Equipment
     There are 3 constituents of the entire array of baseball equipment. Ball, bat and gloves or mitt.

     Ball: The circumference of the ball used for baseball is 23 cm or 9 inches. It is roughly the size of an adult fist. There is a rubber or cork at the center and it is wound in yarn. Finally, it is covered with white cow hide, having red stitching.

     Bat: This bat is not the same as cricket bat, it is a hard, round stick and has a diameter of around 6.6 cm or 2.5 inches at the hitting end. This end then tapers to a narrower handle, ending in a knob. It is made of solid, single piece of wood. Read more on how to hit a baseball. Read the rest of this entry »

     Arn Tellem, a devout fantasy baseball player who runs the basketball and baseball groups for SFX, was once described by Oakland general manager Billy Beane as having the intelligence of Alan Dershowitz coupled with the neurotic behavior of Woody Allen. He’s a profound man as well. It was Tellem, after all, who observed that the average Jewish boy realizes by age 13 — the time of his bar mitzvah — that he stands a better chance of owning an NBA team than of playing for one.

     Arn Tellem also believes that The Godfather is a wonderful how-to video for aspiring agents, an observation that resonates with Matt Sosnick, even though he’s too conflicted to do more than fantasize about ambushing one of his rivals at a causeway tollbooth.

     “I can’t decide whether I want to kill myself or my competitors first,” Matt says. As life decisions go, it’s a lot tougher than choosing between the traditional burr walnut and the gray-stained maple veneer for the interior of his Jaguar.

     Sometimes it’s hard to know where you stand, given the shifting nature of alliances in the agent game. Several years ago, Matt became aware that Scott Boras’s group was hawking Jerome Williams and Tony Torcato, two San Francisco minor leaguers represented by the Levinson brothers’ agency in New York. So he called the brothers with a heads-up, and Sam Levinson thanked him for the courtesy. Not long after that, the Levinsons took Mets outfielder Jeff Duncan from Sosnick-Cobbe, while claiming, naturally, that it was strictly Duncan’s initiative.

     Other veteran agents have taken turns providing counsel to a kid with ambition. Tommy Tanzer, who represents Steve Finley, John Burkett, and others, encouraged Matt in the early going, and Joe Bick, a former Cleveland Indians front-office man who now runs a successful agency in Cincinnati, listened patiently when Sosnick was frustrated by several client defections and needed somewhere to turn.

     “He had some issues that were bothering him, and he asked me for opinions on how he should handle it,” Bick says. “He seemed like a nice enough guy, so I tried to give him my thoughts.” Read the rest of this entry »