Dirk Hayhurst's Blog

25 million dollars with a chance for 40+ if everything goes his way? Good for Chris Archer. Good for all of us, too. Of course that’s easy for me to say, I know the guy. I played with him in Triple A for part of a season. I sat next to him in the Bull’s dugout and talked shop. Back then he was only 22—and a 22 year old that didn’t go to some D-1 super college—but still, as we twiddled away the final months of a Triple A season, riding the pine between appearances,  Arch...

Yesterday I got called out by one of my former coworkers at Rogers for being/having  “sour grapes” because I spent most of opening day being snarky about the Toronto Blue Jays’ loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. This coworker hypothesized that my “new thing” (since leaving Rogers) was 162 games of ripping (via twitter) on the Jays, and that the sour part producing these rips stemmed from Rogers and I parting ways. At least that’s what I got out of it. I mean,...

I’m going to do my best here, but, as cliche as this sounds, words really can’t express how excited I am that my new book launch is almost here, and that another part of the Bullpen Gospels’ story will soon be in the hands of readers. Nor can words properly convey how thrilled I am that I actually have readers. When I set out to write the first book in this trilogy, there was no such thing as a trilogy. No grand design, no hope for more, no “wouldn’t it be great to write three-he-he of...

If, dear minor league player, you decide to tell the general public of your disgust with professional baseball because, for the honor of allowing you to play among its chosen immortals, it’s paying you in stale beer and day old hotdogs, expect your words to echo off into the endless vacuum. Indeed, you’d be lucky to get ignored. The alternative is a tidal wave of angry, bitter, vitriol declaring you an ungrateful whiner with no concept of how hard the real world is, where...

BOOK SIGNING AND EARLY RELEASE PARTY! Come out and join me, talk baseball, get an early copy of my new book ,Bigger Than The Game,  and get your other Hayhurst-ian books signed (and some free baseball cards from my playing days). I’ll even read a chapter or two for you if you want. When: February 24th, at 7pm. Where: The Hudson Library in beautiful Hudson Ohio. Hudson Library & Historical Society 96 Library St Hudson, OH 44236 You (yes, YOU)  are cordially invited, even though...

I remember when I first took serious notice of Roy Halladay. I’d been called up by the Padres to start a few games until Chris Young came back from the DL. Starting…heh, that’s generous. In fact, what I ended up doing was getting my ass kicked. Repeatedly. My first go round in the majors was a rough one and it shook me all the way to the core. I remember sitting in Petco Park’s home clubhouse at my locker, a canyonous custom wooden alter for player’s equipment...

#notabaseballblog My parents, card carrying members of the baby-boomer generation, are presently getting ready to put their parents, “the greatest generation,” into the ground. My god, the books I could write on the many, many theaters of war they’ve seen tours of during this process… Trips to the lawyers, sibling power plays, explaining to their aged parents that, “just because your dead aunt’s friend said there was a television report about a nursing...

After reading that Robinson Cano felt disrespected by the Yankees, I couldn’t help but think of my time with Pedro Martinez during the TBS post season coverage this year. Pedro and I were at a pre-production meeting, going over thoughts for the night’s post season match up. Tigers versus A’s. We were talking about Prince Fielder, and how he was struggling to produce at the plate. I mentioned that Prince was reported to be going through some serious personal life issues. I...

Tales from the bearded Dirk. #Thebeardeddirk In the offseason I grow a beard. It’s not going to win me the World Series, but it’s also not going to get me back-roomed by Rogers and told I need to shave. I grow the beard in part because the off season is my time and I finally get to do some of the stuff I like to do. Cook, paint, write for fun, learn a skill, build something, and loads of other things. The bearded Dirk experience is a mostly non-baseball related experience, which...

The ability to flatten a catcher who is blocking (or, lets face it, close to blocking) home plate has been in baseball since near time immemorial. Outlawing or otherwise mitigating home plate collisions, or any part of the game that’s been around as long, is bound to ruffle a few purist feathers. Baseball is a game steeped in history and tradition, and it does not change easily. There will, of course, be those who find this borderline sacrilegious, citing that baseball has always been...

Now that the dust has settled on the Cano signing, I’d like to look back at what transpired between Cano, the Yankees, Seattle, and the fans. Mostly the fans. First, lets touch on something CC Sabathia said about Cano moving on. In an recent ESPN interview he said that being a Yankee lifer “didn’t matter that much to Cano”. No evil implied. CC simply meant that Cano wanted to to what was best for him and his family, and he believed taking as many guaranteed dollars...