Baseball – Eddie Joost, Eddie Rommel, Yu Darvish, Ottawa

Eddie Joost (b. 1916) was a slick-fielding shortstop for 17 years with the Reds, Braves, A's, and Red Sox. He was an All Star twice, and was part of an A's infield that recorded 200 double plays in three consecutive seasons, a record that is still unmatched. http://fairandunbalancedblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/baseball-losses-in-2011.html   

Eddie Rommel had two careers in baseball, and created some milestones in both of them. As a right-handed pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics he was the first moundsman to make extensive use of the knuckleball. After retiring as a player and working briefly as a coach and minor-league manager, he became an umpire, one good enough to spend 22 seasons in the American League. In 1956 Rommel and Frank Umont became the first two 20th-century major-league umpires to wear eyeglasses, though Rommel did it only when he was umpiring on the bases during night games. In 13 major-league seasons Rommel won 171 games and lost 119 for a .590 winning percentage, ranking him with Hall of Famers Walter Johnson (.599), Herb Pennock (.598), Warren Spahn (.597), Mickey Welch (.594), Bob Gibson (.591), Amos Rusie (.586), and Dazzy Vance (.585). He led the American League in victories twice and in games pitched twice. http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/333594e9  

The day after the Texas Rangers won the bidding for the negotiating rights to pitcher Yu Darvish, a shipment of major league baseballs was delivered to the righthander in Japan so that he could begin training with them immediately. Consider it the first official step in the baseball version of coming to America. Spring training -- with the emphasis on training -- brings the next and more difficult challenge of making the jump from pitching in Nippon Pro Baseball to Major League Baseball. The Rangers will have Darvish on the same training regimen as all of their pitchers, though Texas GM Jon Daniels emphasized that there are allowances within the general framework of the schedule. One pitcher, for instance, might throw 35 pitches in a side session while another might throw 80. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/tom_verducci/02/10/yu.darvish/index.html#ixzz1m5CrBrEY

 Despite the best efforts of several intelligent men with plenty of experience as owners and managers of sports teams, Triple-A baseball failed in Ottawa. So what’s going to be different about Double-A? The Ottawa market is dominated by the NHL’s Senators, and baseball won’t be the only new entry into the field. Professional football and soccer teams are being added over the next few years at a refurbished Lansdowne Park. For minor league baseball to succeed if it returns to Ottawa next year, several things have to fall into place http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/Sports+Making+baseball+work+Ottawa/6139394/story.html#ixzz1m8LWSkHX