Speaking of Sammy, wouldn’t it be great if equipment managers kept a database of guys’ hat sizes from year to year?

Correct about the not breaking a finger business, but 99% of the players who hold on to the gloves take them off after they bat, and then hold on to them. The other 1% is Nomar, who apparently has a special reserve pair JUST to hold onto.

Actually there was an OF with the Cubs, who was that, was with them a bit before Tuffy Rhodes showed up, lefty hitter, usually played LF, and got traded w/ the Yankess and played for them a bit too, used to wear so many gloves in his back pocket they looked like cheeseburgers and he already had a big booty. If it wasn’t late I know I’d come up with the dude’s name but I gotta hit the hay..

This is in regards to your ESPN article, I think Corey Patterson’s “wrench” might be a tool to tighten his cleats? Just a thought…

To me it looks like he’s at the end of a pouch of chew and rolled up tightly for whatever goofy reason….er, ah, um, to make Paul guess what it is…= D

Nicole Beaudwin said:

I knew a kid playing high school ball that kept grass from every field their team had played on since his first game as a freshman. He would take it out after the game and put it in a plastic bag. We did a little article on it for a school paper once. The kid was nuts though.

nothing to do with pockets, but all to do with grass. a friend of mine played college football many years ago. recently his college built a new stadium, and he went to the final game at the old place (where he played his games). post game, after every one left, he got a grounds crew to help him take many square feet of the fields sod. he took it home and re-sodded his front yard with the field grass.

Sounds a bit similiar, but saner. than what Japanese high school players do at the spring and summer national tourney. After the various teams lose players will scoop up some of the sacred-ground dirt at Koshien Stadium and take it home and smoke it….

Okay, the last part was a joke. I have no idea with they do with it but trust me…from playing a lot of baseball in Japan, their dirt is hard to get out of baseball pants. = D

Sorry this doesn’t have to do with baseball pockets…but, I was wondering if anyone knows what the heck the catcher for the Oregon State baseball team has on the front of his mask. It looks like masking tape, but I can’t figure out why he would do this. Thanks a lot, great blog and column.

White athletic tape + top half of mask = sun shade like a baseball hat bill.

Old school with the tape and cool as heck.

I meant to say (in the second to last paragraph) that each team listed that has completed group play had worn the same uni combination in each of the three games. In Group H, Tunisia, Spain and Ukraine have each worn the same uni for both games they’ve played so far. Since only two of those teams in Group H will advance, it will be interesting to see if someone comes out in a different strip and what happens with who advances.

Hopefully that makes more sense…

An interesting anecdote I thought of involving the World Cup. While thinking of the US strips, I realized that Italy has worn their all-blue kits for all three group games:
Ghana: http://fifaworldcup....
USA: http://fifaworldcup....
Czech: http://fifaworldcup....

While thinking of how unique that was, I realized that quite a few others have done it too:
Portugal: http://fifaworldcup....
Germany: http://fifaworldcup....
Ecuador: http://fifaworldcup....
Sweden: http://fifaworldcup....
Netherlands: http://fifaworldcup....
Ukraine and Spain (so far): http://fifaworldcup....
Tunisia (so far): http://fifaworldcup....

Now someone out of Group H has to crack because each team that has worn the same uni all three games it played has advanced. A true uni competition!

Side note:
The Croats wore blue socks once:
http://fifaworldcup....
Japan wore white shorts once:
http://fifaworldcup....
Neither advanced.
Coincidence?