SB Nation User Blog: Buzz Bissinger

Name my Baseball Baby!

Buzz Bissinger — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:04:46 -0000

Hello Community!

Long time no talk. Let me catch you guys up on some news. I am pregnant! Well, my wife is. And we just found out it is going to be a boy! Let me tell you, this is very good news, as I assure you that I will create a prospect more hyped that Strasburg and Harper COMBINED! Now, here is the purpose of my post... My wife and I had a deal that if the baby was to be a girl, she would be allowed to name it, if a boy, then it's up to me. You know what that means? I need to make the best baseball prospect name in order for the scouts to be dazzled when my kids starts hitting taters.

Some may know this, but some may not. My wife is Japanese, so I can always go the route of Kosuke or Daisuke. But I think an American name might be more suitable for the kiddo. Also an FYI, my last name is Osbourne. I will not name this baby Donovan Osbourne. Anyone got any suggestions?

Right now I am contemplating the following: Spike, Alex or Boston.

O's snag some Pie

Buzz Bissinger — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:57:28 -0000

The O's have dealt Garrett Olsen for Felix Pie.

With an outfield of Pie, Jones and Markakis, things are certainly shaping up quite well in Baltimore.

Not sure why Chicago is so keen on Garrett Olsen, and not sure why other teams were up for dealing for the out-of-favour Pie.

Just because it's asking for more characters in the body of this post, as an aside, my favourite pie is apple.

Community Projections of the Community

Buzz Bissinger — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:50:22 -0000

I'm assuming many of us played ball in our early years, whether it be high school ball, little league, maybe even some college ball.. if you could project yourself, what kind of comparisons would you give for you as a prospect when you played..

Here's mine:

"Buzz Bissinger"
2B/SS - Right Handed Hitter. Above Average Glove, Good Wheels, Great Instincts, Average Arm, Developing Bat, Line Drive Hitter, Could be an above average lead off hitter if walks improve. Could develop into an Edgar Renteria-type middle infielder. Versatile enough to become a Ryan Freel type platoon player.

Secondary MLB League

Buzz Bissinger — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:24:24 -0000

Hypothetically, you are starting a league to compete with Major League Baseball, your prime concern is not treading into MLB markets, but you'd like to have a league with 12 teams in it to start. Where are you putting these ten franchises? My choices:

1. Montreal, Quebec
2. Memphis, Tennessee
3. Portland, Oregon
4. Sacramento, California
5. Vancouver, British Columbia
6. Louisville, Kentucky
7. Durham, Nouth Carolina
8. Charlottesville, Virginia
9. Buffalo, New York
10. New Orleans, Louisiana
11. San Antonio, Texas
12. Little Rock, Arkansas

Toronto Star's Head Baseball Writer

Buzz Bissinger — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:34:48 -0000

Can you count the amount of crazy things found in this most recent mailbag question to Richard Griffin, the head baseball writer for Toronto's biggest newspaper? The only thing crazier than the question is Griffin's insane answer. My favourite insane thing is how Griffin says that he "loves Jurrgens" (sic). Complete idiot.

Q: Hello Richard,

The Halladay trade talk triggered me to go through some teams in the league and see what kind of package the Jays may be able to get for Roy. I basically took two players from each team to get a deal started. I'm going to post my favorites that I came up with and I'd like your opinion on each.

Atl - Jair Jurrgens & Yunel Escobar
Arz - Max Scherzer & Stephen Drew
Cubs - Jeff Samardzija & Felix Pie
LAA - Nick Adenhart & Brandon Wood
Cin - Homer Bailey & Jay Bruce
LAD - Clayton Kershaw & Blake Dewitt

These teams, with the exception of the Reds, IMO all have a shot at the playoffs next year. Any of these deals realistic enough to be pulled off? My personal favourite would be the deals with the Angels for Adenhart and Wood.

Mitchell DesRoches, Kensington, PEI

A: This is clearly the best time of the year for Hot Stove fever. If you realistically leave Arizona and Cincinnati out of the list that you composed, that leaves Braves, Cubs, Angels and Dodgers. I agree with you about the Angels deal being the best of the four. I love Brandon Wood as a future. Second on my list would be the Braves proposal you outline because I love Jurrgens. Then third is the Dodgers and fourth the Cubs – unless you’re planning on lending former Notre Dame wide receiver Samardzija to the Argos. That quick list you put together just shows that if Ricciardi acts aggressively and gets two or three contenders interested in one player (Halladay) then he can work some magic. The worst that can happen is they say no and he keeps the best pitcher in the AL. "

A Clone or A Female

Buzz Bissinger — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:51:41 -0000

I was talking to an associate this weekend and brought up this question which I thought merited further discussion: What do you think will happen in baseball first: 1) There will be a female in the big leagues, or 2) There will be a player that is cloned from the DNA of a former superstar in the big leagues (ie. a lab based baby created from the DNA of Albert Pujols or a similar type freak of nature).

My friend thought #1, but as good as some female softball players are, I don't see this happening in the next 20 years. I DO however see scenario 2 as very likely.

Thoughts?

Baseball Photos

Buzz Bissinger — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:41:48 -0000

I'm interested in putting together a bunch of baseball pictures together to make a sweet screensaver. Can the community please respond to this thread with their favourite baseball photos? So we can all enjoy the beauty of this fine game.

Of course, I'll start with one of my favourite baseball photos... I call it "The Fat Fan" or "Brad Penny after Milano dumps him" LOL....

So fire away, let's see some great baseball photos from the Sickels community

Is Ken Rosenthal an Elf?

Buzz Bissinger — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:03:05 -0000

In his interview with Brad Lidge tonight, it appeared as if Ken Rosenthal from Fox Sports was all of 4 feet tall. What a little, little man.

I'm actually a big fan of Rosenthal, but his diminuitive stature has definitely lowered my fandom of the always entertaining KR.

What are the communities thoughts of Kenny? One of the better baseball writers? I'd rank him right up there with Gammons, and well above hacks like Keith Law or Tracey Ringolsby.

MLB Expansion Locations

Buzz Bissinger — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 16:16:23 -0000

Purely hypothetically speaking.. say baseball within the next 3 years decides to expand to have 2 more teams join MLB (to balance out the amount of teams in the AL and NL... What two locations would you put the two new franchises?

My choices:

1) Montreal -- If they built a new stadium in Montreal, it would be the best place ever to see a ball game.. totally different vibe than any other city... it would be like baseball in Europe. Even though EuroDisney wasn\t a success, baseball returning to Quebec would be phenomenal.

2) Brooklyn -- There really needs to be a third team from New York to appease the masses, and really spread the wealth of the marketplace. A team in Brooklyn would make everyone giddy with excitement.

Montreal -- Vive la baseball!!! (via z.about.com)

Brooklyn, NY -- It's just logical! (via www.destination360.com)

Jeffress Has Gas

Buzz Bissinger — Fri, 23 May 2008 22:51:47 -0000

So Jeremy Jeffress is back playing ball again, and has been showcasing that 100 MPH fast ball yet again now in A ball. Although his numbers are pretty awful in his first two starts, he is completely blowing away a lot of the kids with his heater, and struck out 10 in 5 innings in his last start.

What's in store for this kid's future? Rehab? Super Closer? Future All Time Strike Out King?