Baseball Toaster: The Griddle : Sketch Artist

Rank	Team	W	L	PCT	Division
1	Chicago Cubs	97	64	.602	C1
2	Philadelphia	92	70	.568	E1
3	Los Angeles Dodgers	84	78	.519	W1
4	Milwaukee	90	72	.556	C2
5	New York Mets	89	73	.549	E2
6	Houston	86	75	.534	C3
7	St. Louis	86	76	.531	C4
8	Florida	84	77	.522	E3
9	Arizona	82	80	.506	W2
10T	Colorado	74	88	.457	W3
10T	Cincinnati	74	88	.457	C5
12T	Atlanta	72	90	.444	E4
12T	San Francisco	72	90	.444	W4
14	Pittsburgh	67	95	.414	C6
15	San Diego	63	99	.389	W5
16	Washington	59	102	.366	E5

American League

Rank	Team	W	L	PCT	Division
1	Los Angeles Angels	100	62	.617	W1
2	Tampa Bay	97	65	.599	E1
3	Chicago White Sox	89	74	.546	C1
4	Boston	95	67	.586	E2
5	New York Yankees	89	73	.549	E3
6	Minnesota	88	75	.540	C2
7	Toronto	86	76	.531	E4
8	Cleveland	81	81	.500	C3
9	Texas	79	83	.488	W2
10	Oakland	75	86	.466	W3
11	Kansas City	75	87	.463	C4
12	Detroit	74	88	.457	C5
13	Baltimore	68	93	.422	E5
14	Seattle	61	101	.377	W4

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New York

W L GB

Yankees 89 73

Mets 89 73

Baltimore/DC

W L GB

X - Orioles 68 93

Nationals 59 102 9

Chicago

W L GB

X - Cubs 97 64

White Sox 89 74 9

LA/Orange County

W L GB

X - Angels 100 62

Dodgers 84 78 16

SF/Oakland

W L GB

X - Athletics 76 85

Giants 72 90 4.5

X - Clinched

So long and thanks for playing this year

1. Washington (8/31)
2. Seattle (9/1)
3. Pittsburgh (9/6) *
3. San Diego (9/6) *
5. Baltimore (9/8)
6. Oakland (9/8)
7. Atlanta (9/9)
8. Kansas City (9/9)
9. Cincinnati (9/10)
10. Texas (9/13)
11. Detroit (9/15)
12. San Francisco (9/17)
13. Colorado (9/18)
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15. Toronto (9/21)
16. New York Yankees (9/23)
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18. Florida (9/23)
19. Arizona (9/25)
20. Houston (9/26)
21. New York Mets (9/28)
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23. Chicago Cubs (10/4)
24. Milwaukee (10/5)
25. Chicago White Sox (10/6)
26. Los Angeles Angels (10/6)

* - Teams eliminated at same time

The last batter to reach on catcher's interference was ...

Seth McClung of Milwaukee by Koyie Hill of the Cubs on September 26, 2008.

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Sketch Artist

2005-04-13 07:08

by Alex Ciepley

This article originally appeared over a year ago at my first blog, Ball Talk.

I began mucking around in portraiture when I was 12 or so, and I started for exactly one reason: I was cheap. I wanted to send my baseball cards to my favorite players to collect their autographs, but I was suspicious of the U.S. Postal system, and thought the players themselves were suspect as well. Not wanting to lose "valuable" cards in the mail, I drew portraits based on the cards and sent those instead.

My likenesses often left a lot to be desired, but my efforts must have charmed the players somewhat, as almost everyone sent my pictures back, signed. A couple of my first drawings: (click all thumbnails for a larger image):

I was big into rookies at the time, and sent out pictures to the likes of Palmeiro, Snyder, Danny Tartabull, and Matt Nokes. Of course, I was partial to Cubs youngsters:

I sent the drawing above to Mark Grace first, hoping he'd open his mail in the clubhouse and pass the picture on to Damon Berryhill and Palmeiro before sending it back. No such luck. So when Gracie sent it back to me, I sent it right back to the Cubs, this time addressing the envelope to Berryhill. Berryhill was one of my favorite players at the time, and he included a short note with the pic when responding. Receiving that letter from him was one of the highlights of my youth.

Unfortunately, Palmeiro had been traded by the time I got the drawing back from Berryhill. I didn't want to risk invoking Raffy's wrath by portraying him in a Cubs uni, so I never sent it off to get that last autograph.

I got a few big stars to sign some things for me, but usually these players had some sort of publicity machine in place -- my pictures of Nolan Ryan and Dale Murphy were returned unsigned along with autographed head shots. I remember being shocked when Jose Canseco actually sent my picture back. I guess I thought he was a jerk even back then:

Shawon Dunston wasn't really one of my favorite players ... until he returned my pic of him along with three signed cards to add to my collection:

I rooted for the namesake of the Shawon-O-Meter for the rest of his career.

........................................

Fast forward 15 years. During the winter of 2003, I decided to try my hand at portraits once again. The subject? Mark Prior. I didn't know what to expect, assuming the charm of getting a drawing in the mail is lessened when it isn't accompanied by a pleading note scribbled in a 13 year-old's handwriting.

As a happy ending to my tale, I got my sketch back from Mark during spring training that year:

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Comments

2005-04-13 13:01:20

1. Alex Belth

Alex, these are just as good now as when you first posted them. Boy, Canseco really is an asswipe. Talk about insensitive. I can totally picture him signing that one. I really like the drawing of Dunston, maybe cause it reminds me of another Brooklyn boy, Willie Randolph. Oh, and the dreamboat sketch of Prior is too much. It stands out because you drew it so much later, when your talent really matured, but also because it's about the most flattering rendering that ol' jughead Prior could ever hope for. I don't think Prior is ugly, but your picture looks as if you melded him with Scott Erikson.

Still, terrific stuff. Thanks for re-posting it.

2005-04-13 17:48:24

2. Rich Lederer

What, no Wally Joyner?

WRT Mark Prior, I know the following line makes your heart go pitter, patter...

M Prior (W, 1-0) 6-4-0-0-1-6

I won't mention the results of today's "other" starter.

2005-04-14 06:14:05

3. Hank

Thanks for sharing this -- I missed it the first time around. Somehow it never occurred to me as a kid to send anything away to my heroes. The best part of your stuff is that I imagine it captures your youth in a way that a signed card could not. Great piece.

2005-04-21 14:04:53

4. Sushirabbit

What a cool thing to have done. I bet those guys WERE flattered. Weird that Canseco signed on his face...

2005-04-22 22:07:36

5. Scott Long

Being an amateur psychologist and handwriting expert I would suggest that Canseco signing his autograph on his face is the act of someone insecure, despite his physical appearance. Is there a scared little boy hiding underneath the steroided body that he has sculpted? I guess the bigger question would be, who really cares, when it comes to Jose.

Good stuff, Alex.

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