BUT…the program also gives BACK to their members! Just taking the membership at the “Individual” support level brings to the member the following goodies with their membership:

•     Personalized membership card
•     Subscription to Memories and Dreams magazine
•     Hall of Fame Yearbook
•     Complimentary admission to the Hall of Fame for one full year
•     Member lapel pin (as pictured below)
•     10% discount and FREE shipping on purchases from the Museum Store, catalog, and Web site

The membership pins are a favorite item among members and collectors. As you will note in the gallery below, the last decade or so has displayed a couple of basic design styles. A few years featured silhouettes of certain players who were the “spokesman” for the Hall’s Friends program that year (Bob Feller is easily seen in the 2007 pin). The last couple of years have changed so that the names of the players inducted are now part of the pin given to the Friends of the Hall. We are glad to show you a run of the pins beginning 2004 and going through this season.

Enjoy!

BUT…the program also gives BACK to their members! Just taking the membership at the “Individual” support level brings to the member the following goodies with their membership:

• Personalized membership card
• Subscription to Memories and Dreams magazine
• Hall of Fame Yearbook
• Complimentary admission to the Hall of Fame for one full year
• Member lapel pin
• 10% discount and FREE shipping on purchases from the Museum Store, catalog, and Web site

The magazine subscription is well worth it! It comes quarterly at this point in time, and it takes the reader behind the scenes at the Hall of Fame in many different ways. The photography of players, events and memorabilia is not found anywhere else, and the magazine covers the game from its beginnings to the most recent of games.

The gallery below is just a few of the covers from recent issues. Oh, and one back cover shows a great aerial view of Cooperstown.

Enjoy!

It is easily the most exclusive of the major sports Hall of Fames in the US, and no event exemplifies that any better than the fact that this summer Ron Santo will “finally” be inducted into the Hall as a result of a special era committee’s work. He will go in with Barry Larkin, the Cincinnati Reds great who is being inducted in his third year of eligibility.

2012 Hall of Fame Yearbook

Most of us will never know what it is like to be inducted into those hallowed halls. However, for many years now the Baseball Hall of Fame has had a terrific program called “Friends of the Hall of Fame” where fans may “belong” to the Hall in a way that is fun, shows support, and most importantly, makes a difference. (If you click within this parenthesis it will take you to a page explaining the membership program.)

When we say it makes a difference, what we mean is that membership fees paid to belong to the Friends program allows the Hall to pursue its goals of “Preserving History…Honoring Excellence…Connecting Generations.” Those noble intentions align perfectly with what we at MLB Memories desire with regard to the grand old game!

BUT…the program also gives BACK to their members! Just taking the membership at the “Individual” support level brings to the member the following:

• Personalized membership card
• Subscription to Memories and Dreams magazine
• Hall of Fame Yearbook (this year’s is depicted in this post)
• Complimentary admission to the Hall of Fame for one full year
• Member lapel pin
• 10% discount and FREE shipping on purchases from the Museum Store, catalog, and Web site

As you can probably tell, we at MLB Memories think this is a GREAT program, and we encourage you to belong. We have been members for several years, and love the small tokens that come with the program. In fact, we are glad to share with you over the next week or so a few depictions of some of the great items the “Friends” of the Hall receive.

Enjoy!

MLB Monthly 5-2012

But, we WILL admit that there is more than one way to look at the Kansas City Royals losing streak of ten games (and their first nine home games) through a historical lens. The Kansas City Star this morning provided the following historical clarity:

“The Star’s Rustin Dodd noted that the Royals’ 0-9 start at home is already the worst in franchise history. But according to ESPN Stats Info, it’s also the first time a club has started 0-9 at home since the Florida Marlins in 1995.

That Marlins teams finished 67-76 in a strike-shortened season.

How hard is it to lose nine straight at home to start the season? The 1962 Mets, who lost 120 games overall, dropped the first seven home games.

The 1988 Orioles, who lose 21 straight overall to start the season, lost eight in a row in Baltimore, including three to the Royals. (The Orioles also were swept at Royals Stadium during that 21-game skid)

And the 1997 Cubs, who started the season 0-14, dropped seven straight at home.”

Of course, the Cubs DID win a game this past weekend. Don’t quit KC!

This year has started hard again. It wasn’t supposed to (at least that is what many of us who drink Royal blue Kool-Aid thought), but it has. As of this date, the Kansas City guys have an eight game losing streak going which leads the futility parade for MLB so far. In fact, only the Royals, Cubs and Padres have lost games in double-digits so far this season. And that has got the talk radio shows and blog comments going like crazy! If some of the so-called insight that has been shared on various baseball sights had physical substance, it would be classified as volatile toxic waste.

But real fans are not ready to chuck the season just yet! First, as we said above, you don’t just quit on a team when you are a fan. Beyond that, however, a little historical perspective can help.

The Royals eight game skid (or the Cubs six) is far, far from the worst losing streak in team history. The 2005 season saw them establish the longest losing streak in divisional play history to that point at nineteen (19) games. That took place in a season where the Royals dropped 106 games while getting a 5-17 record and a 5.80 ERA from a young man named Zack Greinke. (And Cubs fans, don’t despair either. You might remember that the Cubbies lost their last two games of the 1996 season, then started 1997  with a record of 0-14. The northsiders are already three games better than that!)

Now, I fully expect the boys in blue from KC to stop the skid any day now. It does not even feel like going out on a limb to say that the 19 game losing record is very safe. What I wonder is if, later this season, the young blue crew of Hosmer, Moustakas, Butler, Duffy, Crow, etc. go on a tear of say, seven or eight or a dozen wins in a row, will the so-called “fans” and “experts” who are waxing so toxic still be making their voices heard?

Oh, and by the way, while we are on the subject, it should bring a least a little bit of comfort to fans of teams off to a slow April that none of them are historically bad. That honor is held by the 1988 Baltimore Orioles. They began the season with an 0-21 record! See, a little historical perspective helps.

A friend of mine since we were both pre-teens (let us just say that is more than a few decades ago) gave me a great surprise this past Christmas. My gift was four tickets to the home opener of the Kane County Cougars of the Midwest League. The Cougars are a Class A minor league team, entering the second year of affiliation with the Kansas City Royals, which is my favorite major league team. Kane County plays their home games in Geneva, Illinois, about 35 miles west of Chicago.

Of course, the four tickets came with three other people to enjoy the package (my friend and both our wives), and so the day was planned perfectly. It may not be the home opener at “the K” for the big league Royals (we joked about the geese flying by as the “flyover” of local aircraft), but we were set to treat it like a major league day out!

The Midwest League team came to Kane County in 1991 as the franchise that was previously based in Decatur, Illinois (1952–74) and Wausau, Wisconsin (1975–90) relocated there. Since moving to Kane County, the team has been affiliated with the Baltimore Orioles in 1991 and 1992, with the Florida Marlins from 1993 to 2002, and with the Oakland Athletics from 2003 until 2010 before joining the Royals for the 2011 season. The team has enjoyed various levels of success, and more than a few top players have come through the clubhouse as a Cougar. In fact, during the game a trivia answer boasted that at least one former Kane County Cougar has been a major league All-Star every year for the last fifteen years! Players such as Josh Beckett and Andre Ethier are among that group.

This was our first time in the Cougars house. We joined an announced crowd of 2,310 for the 1:00 start on a day that was brilliant with sunshine, an almost startling blue sky, a high temperature of sixty-one degrees…and wind gusts up to 44 mph! It is almost certain that the raw feel of the air kept the attendance down a bit. The Cougars are perennially among the league leaders in attendance, and it is really easy to understand why. The ballpark (recently re-named Fifth Third Bank Ballpark) was built in 1991, and it is obvious the club takes pride and care in their facility. Actually, it was pretty interesting the “vibe” one got even on this blustery opening day. The outfield bleachers are purposely constructed with a north woods lodge feel, and the trees beyond the center field wall add to that ambiance. Sitting in the sunny part of the stands (and it was still cold!), I had the feeling of being in one of those resort towns that pack everything they can into the three months of summer, and then spend the rest of the year getting ready for the next three-month long party.

We enjoyed seats that were surrounded by long-time Cougars season-ticket holders. And they knew their game! Several were keeping score in well-used, dogeared, spiral bound score books. Almost all had on some type of Cougar apparel that had been given away in some previous season or perhaps purchased in the well-stocked (and warm) gift shop in the stadium. These folks were familiar with one another to be sure. We could not help but hear their conversations, and when they were not about the game, they were catching up on each others lives, plans and relatives. Some things are unique to minor league ballparks, and the camaraderie among dedicated fans is an attribute all  its own.

And, it looks like the coming months will bring to the Chicago burb more than just warmer weather. The opening day pitcher, Brooks Pounders, is the youngest pitcher on the staff, and they had him on a strict pitch count. He only lasted 3 2/3 innings that day, but he showed several flashes of promise including a fastball to change-up differential consistently around 11 mph. Not bad for a Class A kid learning to pitch! And the lumber swung by the young “KC’ers” wasn’t too bad either. Led by Jorge Bonifacio they look like they will lose more than a few balls in the outfield woods when the weather warms up!

Eventually, the Cougars lost the long, wind-blown game. But that was almost beside the point of being there. Baseball was back in person. The day, raw and not really baseball-like, still held the promise and look of a great season yet to unfold. My friend gave me a great gift! And it was Opening Day.

We have never posted our pre-season predictions before this season. But after reading pages and pages of printed material analyzing every off-season move and pre-season workout, and viewing literally millions of lines of “1s” nd “0s” placed online covering the same material, we realize that every “expert” is just guessing!

We can do that!

So, without further ado, we present the 2012 Predictions for Major League Baseball’s Division races. And, when the end of the season arrives in October, we can all have a good laugh (either derisive or delighted).

Officially, the two games played in Japan last week between the Athletics and Mariners count in the standings for 2012. Lots of fans really don’t like the first “real” games taking place in a nation with no major league teams of its own. Even more detested the fact that the games were on at times in America when most folks were asleep! So, it only seems fitting that the two games were split in the W-L column and neither team is ahead.

The first “real” game in a major league city will take place on Wednesday of this week (April 4) as the defending World Champion St. Louis Cardinals help the Miami Marlins open their brand new stadium. That is the only game scheduled for that day, and following the game both teams leave town!

Also, in a rather strange kind of twist, the Topps Opening Day baseball cards for this year have their blue bordered parallels stamped with the date of April 5, 2012, listing it as the first day of the season!

Regardless of which day YOU choose to acknowledge, all of us here at MLB Memories hope you enjoy the 2012 season and all that happens between the while lines during the innings it gives us. And, just for a fun little celebration, we are glad to provide a gallery of cards from the 2012 Topps Opening Day baseball card set – one card to represent every team. Why? Because on Opening Day they are ALL in first place! Enjoy!

But, it is not Opening Day.

That “holiday” (and it IS a holiday for us!) takes place one week from today on Wednesday, April 4.

Opening Days throughout the major leagues have been held on Sunday or Monday each year since 1999, with the exclusion of other special international events. But this year it will be on a Wednesday as the Miami Marlins (that name just rolls off the tongue better) will host the 2011 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals in a one game “series” to christen their new house. It is a venue that will seat 37,000 fans, features a retractable roof and offers spectacular views of downtown Miami.

Then they travel to Cincinnati on Thursday to play the Reds as they open at home. Weird? Yes. Will we like it? EVERY inning!!

On that day, April 5, there will be six Thursday openers. Those games include Phillies at Pirates, Blue Jays at Indians, Red Sox at Tigers, Braves at Mets, Nationals at Cubs (Stephen Strasburg at Wrigley Field!) and Dodgers at Padres. Nine more openers, are scheduled for Friday, April 6.

One week and counting!