Pee-wee Carl Yastrzemski and Now Albert Pujols

Last year, our middle son was four, and he played for the Pee-wee Red Sox. He wore number 8, which is Carl Yastrzemski in a Red Sox uniform. This year, at 5, he's with the Pee-wee Cardinals. Today he received his new uniform, and he is number 5. That's Albert Pujols. Okay, so far so good.

New Marlins Ballpark In 2012

A new ballpark for the Florida Marlins is under construction and scheduled to open for the 2012 season. The park will have a retractable roof and be built on the Orange Bowl site. There is hope for increased attendance due to the new park, but if Pittsburgh is any indication, I'm not going to hold my breath. The Marlins have fans that show up just about World Series time. Will a new stadium work? Is Miami a baseball town?

Nevertheless, it will be good to see the team play in some venue other than a football stadium. At only 37,000 seats, the small crowds won't look as small. It will be yet another park to add to my "need to see" list, which right now consists of all parks I've yet to see along with parks I desire to see again.

Pitchers And Catchers Mean...

Pitchers and catchers report today. And of course this means...baseball on the radio will soon be here!

New Twins Ballpark in 2010

This year yet another new ballpark will open. Minneapolis has built Target Field for the Twins. It looks okay. I say this because the new ballpark rage has gotten old. But, it's another new park that I will want to add to my "visited" collection. For that reason, I like it.

Also, the Metrodome will no longer be of service to baseball. Hooray! The Twinkiedome can now be the home of the Vikings, and we'll never have to wonder again if the Twins blow the air conditioning out for them and in for visiting teams. I never visited the Metrodome, although I walked by it in the off season while in Minneapolis once. I have mixed feelings about not seeing it. I wish I could have seen all those parks that have been replaced in my baseball lifetime, so if Major League baseball is played somewhere, I want to see it.

I'll be looking for the new park on TV sometime in April.

Will Barry Zito Improve?

Barry Zito is entering the middle year of his long term contract. The question is, will he improve? If Zito could rebound to a semblance of his old form, even posting a winning season, the Giants stand to improve as well. He's shown some bright spots over the last two years but hasn't been able to keep it up for an entire year. Assuming Lincecum and Cain can repeat their usual years, a good year from Zito may take a bit more pressure off the lame offense. The Giants could even make the playoffs with a wildcard berth.

I'm not holding my breath, but I am more hopeful for Zito's future than most people seem to be. Here's hoping that Zito can live up to some of his expectations.

Congratulations, Jon Miller

I heard the news that Jon Miller was chosen as the Ford Frick award winner this year. He will be inducted into the broadcaster's wing of baseball's Hall of Fame. Now, Miller is just about the premier broadcaster in baseball. And he is one of my Giants announcers for thirteen seasons now.

It is really a pleasure listening to Miller on the radio. He is surrounded with other good professionals on the Giants broadcasting team. We are blessed here in the Bay Area to have such good announcers. I have listened to other announcers around baseball, both in travelling and in listening to call playbacks on the radio. Also there have been some fairly bad announcers here that have quickly been recycled to other teams. In my estimation, the Giants have one of the top broadcasting teams, thanks in large part to Miller. Jon has a great radio voice, descriptive vocabulary, knows the game, and is great at painting the picture the radio listener needs to follow the game.

Jon Miller has been elected to the Hall in what might be the middle of his career. I'm sure he won't become a slacker because of it, and I look forward to many more seasons of listening to his voice. It sure is a great sound when Spring Training starts. Congratulations, Jon Miller.