The name Jun-Seok Choi likely isn’t familiar to most readers — although, that’s very possibly because the author has deliberately inverted said Korean name to more closely resemble Western naming convention. In fact, the name Choi Jun-seok is probably more recognizable: that’s the Doosan Bears first baseman who, about a month ago, disposed of his bat with a dramatic flourish on a well-struck ball that ultimately landed quite, quite foul.

In the particular instance recorded above — from the very recent Game Five, it appears, of the Korean Series between Doosan and Samsung — Choi has once again flipped his bat. In this case, however, he’s also hit a home run — his second of the game, in fact, in a loss to Samsung.

Footage from YouTube video of home run brought to author’s attention by Dan of MyKBO via concerned internet citizen thereisaparty.

Fathead wall graphics are the perfect way to experience the world of sport from the comfort of your own bedroom, living room, or whatever room. Now Fathead is offering three new designs depicting iconic images and moments from the 2013 World Series between the Cardinals and Red Sox.

Fatheads are self-adhesive; printed on white, super tough, precision cut vinyl; and both removable and reusable.

Angry Kolten Wong
An otherwise promising infield prospect for St. Louis, Kolten Wong was picked off first base by Koji Uehara to end Game Four.

Experience Wong’s self-disgust over and again in your own daily life!

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Few people who saw it (probably) have forgotten right-arm bowler Imran Khan’s fantastic yorker to Greg Chappell during Pakistan’s tour of Australia in 1981. What people have likely forgotten is precisely how many sweater vests were being worn that day and how hushed were the tones of the match’s broadcast team.

No one with anything resembling “sense” is pretending that Josh Hamilton’s 2013 season — his first with the Los Angeles Angels after signing rather a large contract with that club — was anything but a disappointment relative to his previously established levels.

What some people are pretending, however — like the present author, for example — is that certain of Josh Hamilton’s single-game strikezone maps from the past year are burning-hot universe stars which, when connected via a free graphics editing program, form nearly recognizable shapes and figures.

One finds, in this case, an entry from Hamilton’s September 13th game against the Astros (box). In said contest, Hamilton appears to have offered at 15 pitches during the course of the game, probably only about six of which fell within the regulation strike zone. The constellation which results bears more than a passing resemblance to a child, dressed in a probably racist Asian-type conical hat and traditional changshan, performing a probably racist martial-arts kick of some type.

Credit to Texas Leaguers for the strikezone plot.

This morning the finalists for baseball’s various Gold Glove awards — intended, nominally, for the best defenders at all the different positions — were announced by Major League Baseball. In the not very distant future, the identities of this year’s Silver Slugger award-winners — presented annually, in the form of a silver bat, to the best offensive player at each position in each league — will also be made public.

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The reader has likely consumed, at some point during Mariano Rivera’s farewell season, audio and/or visual of that very esteemed relief pitcher discussing his storied career. An experience to which the reader has likely not been treated, however, is Mariano Rivera discussing his storied career in the hushed and sincere tones native to American public broadcasting.

Conversation with Rivera begins at approximately the 14-minute mark.

A poor call at second base by umpire Dana DeMuth during the first inning of Wednesday night’s World Series contest between Boston and St. Louis was overturned after DeMuth himself and the game’s five other umpires conferred (at the request of Red Sox manager John Farrell) and concluded that Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma never, in fact, had possession of a feed from teammate Matt Carpenter.

The efforts of crew chief John Hirschbeck and his colleagues represent a commitment to reason and sense atypical not only of baseball umpires, but also of notable arbiters from history. Fortunately for all civilization, Wednesday’s Game One crew met at the conclusion of Boston’s 8-1 victory to reverse some other poor decisions from history.

Here are three examples of same, accompanied by John Hirschbeck’s comments regarding each:

Overturned Call
Socrates found guilty of corrupting Athens’ youth, introducing new gods.

Hirschbeck’s Comments
As a crew, we want to get everything right. Looking this over, with the facts at our disposal now, what we saw was less Socrates attempting specifically to corrupt young men and more trying to establish the basis for all of Western intellectual tradition.

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Note: the title of this post formerly referred to the player in question as Juan Abreu — because the author’s culturally insensitive intern took the dictation wrong, is totally why. The author, who is acquainted with all races and ethnicities equally, has corrected the mistake.

Neither the author nor scientists nor God Himself — who, as the pronoun indicates, is definitely a man, with all relevant male anatomical features — knows the answer: does the grainy footage embedded above depict a fiery ball of space rock cascading across the night sky or, alternatively, a ball hit off the bat of newest White Sox acquisition, Cuban émigré Jose Abreu?

Like the eyes of Tom Selleck from a Magnum, P.I. poster in your neighbor Mark’s basement, this question will now follow you around wherever you go — provided, mostly, that “wherever you go” is confined exclusively to your neighbor Mark’s basement.

Sometimes one finds himself drinking at a stranger’s apartment in Paris, France, and then talking to a different stranger who happened to play football at Summit (New Jersey) High School with former Royals outfielder Willie Wilson in 1973 or whatever and then watching grainy footage, while drinking even more, of giant and fast Willie Wilson scoring all different kinds of touchdowns against other, smaller high-school-aged New Jerseyans in 1973.

It’s just something that happens, is what the author is attempting to say and what the reader needs to believe.

People in this world will argue that American singer-songwriter Mary J. Blige never attended the prom with the World Series trophy. They’ll suggest that while, yes, Blige did recently pose with said trophy ahead of performing the national anthem before Wednesday’s Game One, that she never put on her favorite purple top and got balls-to-the-wall pretty after consenting to attend her real high-school prom with an inanimate object as a 42-year-old woman for some reason.

One has no time for these agnostic sorts, however. As has been constantly borne out by events both current and historical, this is the best of all possible worlds. In the best of all possible worlds, Mary J. Blige has attended — has enjoyed attending — her prom with the World Series trophy as a strong, beautiful 42-year-old woman, amen.