Category: baseball

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The Brooklyn Dodgers name stems…

The Brooklyn Dodgers name stems from a nickname given in the 1890s to people who, in a matter of life and death, had to evade railcars speeding down the streets. They were known as trolley dodgers. Trolleys were new inventions, which led to two issues. First, cities lacked the safety infrastructure which protects pedestrians today […]

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A Fan Who Threw a 96 Mph Fastball in a Speed Challenge Signed with the Oakland A’s

You never know when your moment to be discovered might arrive. And that’s exactly what happened when a fan rose to the occasion at a speed challenge contest at a baseball game.

23-year-old Nathan Patterson went to a Colorado Rockies game on July 15 with his brother Christian to kick back and relax – but fate intervened when Patterson decided to step into the speed pitch challenge at the stadium…and he threw a 96 mph fastball.

Let’s get him signed, indeed.

Two weeks later, Nathan Patterson was signed by the Oakland A’s.

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“How can you not be romantic about baseball” -Billy Beane Words cannot describe this feeling and I cannot thank everyone enough who has been part of this journey so far! My family has given me nothing but constant love and support throughout the last 9 months as I pursue a dream of mine that I’ve had since I was a little kid. It’s been a roller coaster to get here with many challenges and overcoming adversity. I’m grateful for all the trainers, coaches, friends, @rsrbaseball and everyone else who has supported me thus far! And for those who tell you that you can’t achieve your dreams, use that as fuel to work even harder. Because those people are the ones that settle. I’m grateful for the @athletics organization for giving me this opportunity! This story is not over. It is not the beginning. I am writing the next chapters and excited for this journey! Time to focus even more, work even harder, and it all starts with your mindset. Go after your dreams and make them a reality!

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Patterson hadn’t played baseball for a few years and last year he surprised himself by throwing a 96 mph fastball at a pitching booth at a minor-league baseball game in Nashville. After that night, he began training. Patterson experienced a setback when he hurt his non-throwing arm in a car accident and had to wear a cast. But he continued to train in the meantime. Here’s a video from January 2019 when Patterson was still wearing his cast.

Patterson began talking with the Oakland A’s back in February, and he got a call from the organization a few days after his brother’s Twitter videos of him throwing fastballs in Colorado went viral.

Let this be a lesson to all of us: when you are given an opportunity, grab it! It’ll be interesting to see how Nathan Patterson’s story evolves. Let’s hope we see him on the mound in Oakland sooner than later.

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Here’s Why We Call a Leg Cramp a Charley Horse

If you’re someone who gets charley horses, those tight balls of muscle that cramp in your leg, then you know how painful they can be. But what’s with the name charley horse, anyways? There’s got to be a reason behind such a strange name…

While the term’s etymology isn’t completely clear, experts believe it originated on the baseball field sometime in the 1880s.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

There is an 1887 article in the Democrat and Chronicle that states the phrase to be well-known to baseball players but not to the average person, and the Oakland Daily Evening Tribune reported that “nearly every sporting journal gives a different version as to how the term “charley horse” originated in baseball circles.”

They believed that the likeliest origin centered around John Wesley “Jack” Glasscock, a shortstop who had strained a tendon in his thigh and gone home to his farm to heal. There, he spent time with his father and a lame old horse called “Charley horse.” Upon seeing the similarities between the two, his father supposedly said, “Why, John, my boy, what is the matter; you go just like the old Charley horse?”

Others argue the phrase has nothing to do at all with an actual horse, but the fact that an injured player limping resembles a rocking horse or child riding aside a wooden horse.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary also recounts other theories, such as players from the Orioles (or possibly Cubs) going to the races and betting on a horse named Charlie who pulled up lame in the final stretch, only to have a similar injury happen to a player the following day.

Another suggestion is whether it could possibly relate to an old workhorse that pulled a roller across the infield. According to author Tim Considine, “old workhorses kept on the grounds of ballparks were called Charley. The movements of the injured stiff-legged ballplayers were likened to the labored plodding of these old horses, and the injury itself eventually became known as a ‘charley’ or ‘charley horse.’”

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Though no one knows for sure exactly where the turn of phrase comes from, it’s a pretty safe bet that you can thank a vintage ballplayer the next time you feel silly hopping around on one leg moaning about horses in the middle of the night.

Bonus points if you’re pregnant.

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