MLB and Match.com: It Could Be Love at First Pitch

Are you a lonely baseball fan? Tired of yelling at umpires from your couch all by yourself and having only your cat to high five after those big moments? Sick of attending ballgames with your buddy and his wife? Embarrassed after having to break up with yet another person after they couldn't recite the opposing team's depth chart? I feel you girl.

Well, you're in luck. Match.com has partnered with Major League Baseball to give the popular dating site some baseball flair. It's free to peruse, but you have to register to actually discuss America's Pastime with like-minded fans in your area. It could be love at first pitch.

Obvious first date ideas:

• a public place
• like a ballpark
• or a bar

We'll let you know asap when Tinder wants to help you "meet" the baseball-loving guy or girl of your dreams.

[Match]

Diamonds Are Still a Girl's Best Friend

As the old saying goes, diamonds are a girl's best friend. Check out this awesome baseball babe shirt made by former BLB author, Marea Anderson!

Purchase this awesome shirt for yourself or a friend today! There's even a matching necklace.

[Like Marea Anderson Designs on Facebook]

Top Ten Reasons Why Baseball is Better than Men

I'm going through an awesome break-up right now. Literally, the only thing keeping me in a decent enough mood not to trash all of his shit and burn the house down is my undying love for baseball. And my girlfriends.

I could sit all day and think up reasons why baseball is better than my ex-boyfriend, and for all you men out there, why it's a million times more enjoyable than your stupid ex-girlfriend. Lizzy did one of these lists back in 2007, and of course, it still applies. So here we go.

10. Baseball's only excuse for being late is the rain.

Unstoppable Tour: Baseball in Nebraska

The EAS Unstoppable Tour: One athlete. 30 sports. 30 days. 30 cities.

Enjoy.



[Unstoppable Tour]

Play Poker Baseball to Tide You Over til the Opener

Pitchers and catchers report in just 12 days. That's a super long time huh. So what are you supposed to do with yourself in the meantime?

Of course, the Super Bowl is coming up this Sunday, which is pretty great for Pittsburgh and Green Bay fans. But what about everyone else? What are we to do to keep from dying of cabin fever?

There is a simple solution to the problem: get some buddies together and play Poker Baseball.

Sure, everyone is crazy about Texas Hold 'Em, but you can't scratch the itch of America's imaginary Pastime with that game. You could play poker online, but playing Poker Baseball with the people you love to rob is probably your best bet.

The rules for this basic 7 card stud game are fairly simple:

No Pressure, Patrick Schuster

Florida high school pitcher Patrick Schuster goes for no-hitter #5 today in the state playoffs.

The 18-year-old lefty has struck out an impressive 60 batters during his state-record string of no-no's, and if he's not getting them with his 90 mph fastball, he relies on a nasty slider and a nifty curve.

Two dozen major league scouts attended his last start, along with TV crews and a crowd somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 people, which his dad Roger estimated to be around 900 more than attended the home opener. The jerks in the opposing dugouts have tried to distract the young hurler by chanting, "Hey, ESPN boy!"

After not throwing even one no-hitter through his first three years of high school, Schuster is two short of the national prep record of six consecutive set by Chris Taranto of Mississippi back in 1961 and tied by Tom Engle of Ohio in 1989. Best of luck, Patrick!

[NY Times] | [CBS Sports]

I Got Snowed In

It's been a crazy winter since the World Series ended, and with the hot stove burning, I've decided to come home from vacation and reunite with my one true love. America's Pastime.

One of the latest stories loosely-related to our favorite game involves Lizzy's #1 atop the list of people who she'd like to knock the fuck out: Roger Clemens.

So, what's new with The Rocket? His name is apparently being removed from the Sports Medicine portion of the Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, TX, effective January 1st... in order to "better reflect its commitment to all sports and athletes." You know, not just the cheaters.

Blah Blah Steroids.

So much has changed, yet so little. Good to be back for a bit, and long live baseball. Even though some if not most of its franchises stand for all that is wrong with humanity, there are the few and the proud who still believe. On that note, have a safe and happy New Year, see you in 2009.

[Houston Press] | [The Fanhouse] | [Deadspin]

The Nationals Suck, I Missed You Guys.

There's this little thing I like to call life that has hindered my ability to blog about baseball lately. Like, for the past couple of weeks for instance.

Anyway, I've run into a small amount of free time between work and school and being a fricking rockstar. Therefore, I have time to write about baseball again -- just in time for the playoffs -- something I've missed more than anything in the world.

David Eckstein: I Don't Dance

This made me laugh. Hard.

Don't lie, David Eckstein.

[High School Musical 2]

Thank God for October...

Any of you who read this blog on a regular basis know that I'd rather have a colonoscopy with a rusty probe than ever write anything serious, but I'm gonna go ahead and break that trend today and explain why I am so thankful for the month of October.

When it seems like your entire world is crumbling down around you a little bit more every single day, I know that on Tuesday night my baseball team will be making another push to win it all. When thinking about my life in its current state leaves me feeling alone and hopeless, I know that those 40 guys in red and white with those silly little Bs on their blue hats will be taking the field tomorrow night in order to force me to believe in something unbelievable. Playoff baseball is the ultimate distraction from heartbreak, sadness, loneliness and grief. I know that no matter where I am or what I am doing over the course of the Sox playoff run, there is always a bar filled with people hoping for the exact same thing I am.

This is why sports are so fucking fantastic. Because no matter what state your life is in, the second you start watching a sporting event with another person, there's a bond. You want the same thing. Doesn't matter what walk of life you're from, the same outcome is desired in the mind of every sports fan of whatever team you're rooting for. And if it doesn't come out the way you want, you may deal with the disappointment/anger in different ways, but the root of the feeling is the same in everyone.

I have faith that what has happened over the last few weeks with me will indeed pass and remedy itself, but October will wrap me up like a warm blanket as a distraction from the madness. So to anyone else going through something similar, Go Sox or Angels or Cubs or (God forbid) Yankees, and just let the intensity and captivation of playoff time infiltrate your brain like a numbing drug and keep you from feeling the unpleasant horseshit that has somehow become everyday life.

Happy playoff season, everybody.

We're Back, Baby

Where do I even begin?!

While my thoughts remained on my Canadian Crusher's lung (and the Big Ticket's ticket out) most of the weekend, I couldn't help but plot the morbid deaths of the many telephone operators from my beloved ISP. Long story short, I've begun to use the term "customer service" loosely.

Now that all that nonsense is finally taken care of, it's time to talk some baseball. In fact, I can't type fast enough.

• There's the whole Chipper vs. Smoltz thing.
• Junior's two bombs.
• Juicy hamstring injuries.
• Jeter's hip thing.
• Manny Parra!
• Mel Hall being a total perv.
• Darrin Erstad's owie.
• Bobby Cox tying it up.
• and Elijah is inactive, dawg.

Anyway, it's great to be back online. Hopefully everyone didn't forget about us over here, because we'll have plenty of sweet baseball goodness coming your way this tomorrow afternoon.

And yes. We missed you, too.

Babes Love Vacations

Babes Love Baseball may or may not be going on vacation today to do some very inappropriate and possibly unspeakable things... and watch some baseball.

Miss Lizzy will be heading home to Beantown on her own vacation, simultaneously.

Of course, we can't help but post at least one Babelicious Scoreboard a day, so you have that to look forward to.

Don't forget to vote for your favorite Rookie Card in the Mustache Round, which will be going strong until midnight Sunday... which is when we'll be back in FULL FORCE!

Have a great weekend and stay out of trouble, my little Giambinos!

~Sooze and Lizzy

Greatest Baseball Quotes of All Time

"Hello again, everybody. It's a bee-yooo-tiful day for baseball." -- Harry Caray

Instead of quoting various sports bloggers' stories today, we've decided to bust out some of the more memorable quotes from the players themselves. Enjoy!

"If a tie is like kissing your sister, then losing is like kissing your grandmother with her teeth out." [George Brett]

"I get the ball, I throw the ball, and then I take a shower." [Mariano Rivera]

"Why should I stretch? Does a cheetah stretch before it chases its prey?" [Ken Griffey Jr.]