In the Beginning . . . At the End?

The very beginning of my baseball consciousness, before my first game at Memorial Stadium, before I even knew the name "Brooks Robinson" was centered around Jim Gentile and Ron Hansen.  Their visage appeared on the back of Jell-O boxes and were the first two baseball cards that I ever owned.  (I still have them, of course.)  Jim Gentile, the slugging first baseman who, in 1961 had one of the greatest seasons in Orioles history, is back in the news.  A baseball historian has discovered that Roger Maris was credited with one too many RBI in 1961 and his correct total is 141, the same number that Gentile totaled that year.  So, 49 years after the fact, Jim Gentile is now listed as the American League co-leader in runs batted in.  See Mike Dodd's short, but fascinating write-up for what that missing RBI meant to Gentile's 1962 salary.

While Jim Gentile represents the beginning of my baseball consciousness, the 2010 Rebels are the center of my current baseball focus and they have fallen out of the final playoff spot by half a game, trailing county rival Woodstock.  The Rebels have 5 games left against #1 Haymarket and #2 Luray.  The River Bandits, meanwhile, have 6 games left against Luray and #3 Winchester, including a double-header tonight against the Wranglers.  Rebel fans everywhere are pulling out all the stops to influence the Baseball Gods to look favorably upon New Market.  The Rebels Baltimore Connection, Al Smith, and I are heading up the Valley this weekend to do our part in the influencing.  Whatever it takes to induce a few more Valley League contests at Rebel Park . . .

Comments

[Melissa Dodge]

Whatever influence the two of you applied--it worked! The Rebels have made the playoffs and can still rise in the standings if they win another one tonight against Luray and if Covington loses against Rockbridge. However, such a scenario would result in a dead tie w/ Rockbridge and the final playoff standings for the 7th and 8th seeds will be determined by a coin flip. To quote Tim Kikjian "is this a great game, or what?"