The future is always brighter when multi millions come your way. On that note, Vladamir Guerrero must be smiling like the Cheshire Cat at his bluff of another offer to the Baltimore Orioles didn't get called and he got them to pony up $8million (baseball money, it's not in any way real). We'll see if all this money thrown around to whiff kings, sluggers, and could be pitchers makes Baltimore 2011 look like Baltimore 1983 or Tampa Bay 1999.
I'm going to say that I know where my money is.
All the same, for as unreal as baseball money is, it's great to see players get rewarded for success.
Even more than that, it's great to see players bounce back from Tommy John surgery and get some cash for their pains. I can't wait to see Stephen Strasburg come back and kick ass with an indestructible arm and youthful enthusiasm as he makes the Nationals the dominant team in the N.L. East. More than anything, I just want to see Ryan Howard sitting at home all October and dreaming about the wasted opportunities he had while he was whiffing away in the big games, but alas, I digress.
Last year, Francisco Liriano went 14-10 for a rather pitiful Twins team (pitiful in that A) they incite pity and B) they aren't destined to EVER succeed in the post Kirby Puckett team except in winning a division that is essentially whoever makes the biggest move out of the Twins, Tigers, and White Sox). His first half was better than his second half, and he returned to 2006 form after not healing quickly enough and pretty much sucking 2009 up. Sure, we can blame that on Minnesota as well. After the end of July, he came back for a game in August and a game in September. He didn't do well in either of them, and they cost him 3 years if you include surgery.
Now, he's back with a new contract, and we have to feel good about that gesture. Hopefully, he can return to the form that saw him 12-2.
It's never a good thing to waste a young pitcher, and let's be honest, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and Michael Cuddyer aren't getting any younger. Neither is Jim Thome who has 600 home runs and a return to the fall classic on his mind. However, the Twins aren't necessarily built to compete into mid October. Pavano, Baker, Slowey, and the rest don't inspire fear in hitters, no matter how kind the resigning of Pavano was. Liriano is the answer and the question mark, and we can only hope the $4.3 million gesture from the Twin Cities will energize him to play hard and to see if they can take out the AL West champion or the AL Wild Card team and bring the Twins back to glory.
Heaven knows that Joe "I really can't stop ANYTHING that the Yankees throw at me" Nathan isn't the answer at the end or middle of ball games.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
Matt Kemp
Since meeting my wife, I listen to a lot more radio pop, R+B, and rap. Out of all hip hop, I would have to say that pretty much everything that JayZ does is pretty good. Sure, he has some pretty bad stuff out there, but the Black Album and the original Blueprint are great. I really like "Empire State of Mind" as well, but as a whole, the CD is not very good. Nowhere is this more true than in the chorus of "Run This Town," which features Rihanna totally decimating an otherwise good song.
Not to justify Chris Brown hitting her, but I've always felt that a career that had exactly one good song ("Umbrella") has been drug out to infinity as the music world feels that it has to feature her everywhere that it possibly can because abusive relationships are big business in music and the world of reality TV. But like "Umbrella," which was good for the first 200 or so times, it got old. The same can be said for her duet with Eminem ("Love the Way You Lie"). If the radio stations play it enough (once every hour or two), it becomes infectious, and when it hits that level, it works, but to hear her and Drake singing... it's like listening to some idiotic eighth grader going off with asinine sexual innuendo and jokes. Completely unendurable.
One wonders if Rihanna would be anywhere without Jay Z. Seeing images of her alongside Taylor Swift on TRL back in the day, they were both overly made up and "sexified" in their younger days in the hopes that videos could propel them to stardom, and they truly did.
Rihanna became a darling of the rap and rock world crossing barriers because of ultra wise promotion and Taylor Swift simultaneously became a country and pop darling. Neither could do any wrong for the longest time - Kanye West be damned. However, Rihanna got smacked up before the MTV awards and Taylor Swift dated Bubble Boy, and yeah... it's a brave new world for each of them.
Hopefully, the future holds good men for each of them. Just because Rihanna sings terrible songs like "Rude Boy" (actually tolerable when mixed with Fugazi's "Waiting Room" on Girl Talk's All Day) and "Take a Bow" while resurrecting the self-promoted King of Pop for "Don't Stop the Music" to cash in on the nostalgia trip that was Michael Jackson, a move that paid off as he got relevant in overdosing to those of us not smart enough to know better.
For a while, Rihanna was the "Only Girl in the World" for Matt Kemp, and that was nice because baseball players in 2011 have a reputation to live up to and we all know that none of them are ever wife beaters - maybe father in law beaters like Francisco Rodriguez, but yeah...
However, his career suffered as hers sky rocketed. Sure, he got 28 home runs last year, but he had his lowest batting average and his whiffs increased to 170. From a guy that was supposed to be first round fantasy, he was now average. Fortunately, even if he didn't get the rihannas (a severe gastro-intestinal disorder, or so it sounds), she got tired of him and pushed forward to her extended 15 minutes of fame and went to her schedule instead of her ballplayer.
And both will romantically do better than each other. That's just the nature of their business. The question is whether Matt Kemp can rebound in 2011. Perhaps, he'll need some antibiotics to get rid of the rihannas. Hopefully, we can just push fluids. Either way, he'll need to show some reliability before anyone touts him that highly again.
Not to justify Chris Brown hitting her, but I've always felt that a career that had exactly one good song ("Umbrella") has been drug out to infinity as the music world feels that it has to feature her everywhere that it possibly can because abusive relationships are big business in music and the world of reality TV. But like "Umbrella," which was good for the first 200 or so times, it got old. The same can be said for her duet with Eminem ("Love the Way You Lie"). If the radio stations play it enough (once every hour or two), it becomes infectious, and when it hits that level, it works, but to hear her and Drake singing... it's like listening to some idiotic eighth grader going off with asinine sexual innuendo and jokes. Completely unendurable.
One wonders if Rihanna would be anywhere without Jay Z. Seeing images of her alongside Taylor Swift on TRL back in the day, they were both overly made up and "sexified" in their younger days in the hopes that videos could propel them to stardom, and they truly did.
Rihanna became a darling of the rap and rock world crossing barriers because of ultra wise promotion and Taylor Swift simultaneously became a country and pop darling. Neither could do any wrong for the longest time - Kanye West be damned. However, Rihanna got smacked up before the MTV awards and Taylor Swift dated Bubble Boy, and yeah... it's a brave new world for each of them.
Hopefully, the future holds good men for each of them. Just because Rihanna sings terrible songs like "Rude Boy" (actually tolerable when mixed with Fugazi's "Waiting Room" on Girl Talk's All Day) and "Take a Bow" while resurrecting the self-promoted King of Pop for "Don't Stop the Music" to cash in on the nostalgia trip that was Michael Jackson, a move that paid off as he got relevant in overdosing to those of us not smart enough to know better.
For a while, Rihanna was the "Only Girl in the World" for Matt Kemp, and that was nice because baseball players in 2011 have a reputation to live up to and we all know that none of them are ever wife beaters - maybe father in law beaters like Francisco Rodriguez, but yeah...
However, his career suffered as hers sky rocketed. Sure, he got 28 home runs last year, but he had his lowest batting average and his whiffs increased to 170. From a guy that was supposed to be first round fantasy, he was now average. Fortunately, even if he didn't get the rihannas (a severe gastro-intestinal disorder, or so it sounds), she got tired of him and pushed forward to her extended 15 minutes of fame and went to her schedule instead of her ballplayer.
And both will romantically do better than each other. That's just the nature of their business. The question is whether Matt Kemp can rebound in 2011. Perhaps, he'll need some antibiotics to get rid of the rihannas. Hopefully, we can just push fluids. Either way, he'll need to show some reliability before anyone touts him that highly again.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Rickie "Wild Thing" Vaughn
Every night, my wife and I watch what she refers to as way too much TV. I'm home first, so if I'm downstairs, the first thing on is usually Seinfeld, which is still a classic show despite the fact that the earlier seasons featured some really AWFUL fashion. Not that I'm a fashion guy - I could care less. Give me a T-shirt and a pair of loose fitting pants, and life is good, but I get all of these memories of the early nineties watching that show, and I just think back to how bad the late eighties through the early nineties (until grunge hit big) really were - even if Jason Alexander and Jerry Seinfeld were one of the greatest duos in comedy ever. Personally, I found some of Michael Richards to be amusing, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus was a good fit, it's not like they ran the show the way that Jerry and Jason did. Call it the show of the time, and the TV stations do since it lives on in syndication forever and ever and ever.
This is a period that I often refer to as the dead era of American pop culture. For my last years of high school and the time afterward when I was in the Air Force in Europe, I missed a lot of popular shows like Quantum Leap and the Wonder Years. I've seen the latter, but never the former, and for some reason, the stations don't syndicate Fred Savage the way that they do other shows that have been on for WAY too long.
Somehow, that period of time still seems to leave a lot of things in our lives in 2011. Most of them aren't as good as the original Die Hard, which was truly a classic movie of our lives, or even the grand daddy baseball movie of them all (Bull Durham) and its twin (Field of Dreams), but at least we're not constantly bombarded with Steel Magnolias, Sister Act or Ghost. Sure, we get Roadhouse, but that's different since who doesn't want to watch Patrick Swayze kicking ass (dancing, not so much, but beating the crap out of thugs - oh, hell yeah).
From the completely opposite end of the spectrum, The Cosby Show is even better in reruns than it was when it first came out. That's the thing about great reruns... you can watch them over and over and over from the start and just flow with it. I've gone through periods of time in the last 15 years where I saw every episode of The Simpsons, Home Improvement, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Scrubs. Reruns seem to work better as comedic half hour shows. Most of these shows weren't hits FOR ME right away in prime time, or at least I wasn't watching them in prime time slots. That's the joy of reruns... you can get addicted to something and watch it over and over again every night of the week. Good shows survive and we get to see them and enjoy them for all times sake.
In the eighties, there was Different Strokes, Facts of Life, Silver Spoons, and classic fare like Gilligan's Island, What's Happening, Leave it to Beaver, and The Brady Bunch. They all served a purpose in making the time go by and connecting us to different times throughout history. Besides, who can forget Rerun asking, "Which Doobie do you be?" However, now it's a world different. Now, we're stuck with hours and hours a day of Two and a Half Men because television has been reduced to a world of crappy reality TV that doesn't play well in syndication. Things aren't going to get better, so we just get more crap like TMZ or multiple episodes of bad comedies (to include the last 12 years of the Simpsons, which can be funny, but mostly is just a special guest or a "Treehouse of Horror" episode). Thus, I get Two and a Half Men, and every time it comes on, I can't help but think the same thing...
I HATE CHARLIE SHEEN.
He's just a piece of crap. Let's be honest. Somewhere in all of the repeated life problems and porn star obsession, he makes the same mistake over and over, and with it, he just inspires serious amounts of loathing and hatred. It's gotten to the point where I can't even watch Major League because he's in it, and that's a shame because some of the other actors make the movie as enjoyable as it is.
For example, Dennis Haysbert is a great actor. Whether it's as Pedro Cerrano or as President Palmer or even the All State guy, he's just charismatic and entertaining. Even middle aged dead wood like Corbin Bernson work well. Tom Berenger plays a good lead role, which works well as he always plays solid in stuff like Betrayed and Born on the Fourth of July. I've never been a Rene Russo fan, but she's ok. Wesley Snipes may be a tax cheat, but he's not keeping me from watching that movie. Hell, if he gets annoying, I can imagine Ice-T saying that he wants to kick the tar out of him so badly that his "dick is getting hard." If you haven't seen that, you really need to re-watch that other classic early nineties movie New Jack City.
And throughout it all, there's Bob Uecker... how can you go wrong with Bob Uecker?
But all the same, there's Charlie Sheen, and I hate Charlie Sheen. I really do. I wish he would just vanish and take his stupid show with Duckie and vanish into the Bermuda Triangle, I really do.
And I haven't even started to get into how much they ruined the little kid from the Rookie, which may be the ultimate crime in all of that show's many transgressions against humanity.
Charlie Sheen... I hate you. Phillies fans should hate you. Your nickname became the name of Mitch Williams who imploded in 1993. Defense attorneys hate you.
Only prostitutes, high class drug dealers, and porn stars like you.
That's not good company.
Just take your sorry ass and leave.
Yeah... Charlie... I'm hating on you.
This is a period that I often refer to as the dead era of American pop culture. For my last years of high school and the time afterward when I was in the Air Force in Europe, I missed a lot of popular shows like Quantum Leap and the Wonder Years. I've seen the latter, but never the former, and for some reason, the stations don't syndicate Fred Savage the way that they do other shows that have been on for WAY too long.
Somehow, that period of time still seems to leave a lot of things in our lives in 2011. Most of them aren't as good as the original Die Hard, which was truly a classic movie of our lives, or even the grand daddy baseball movie of them all (Bull Durham) and its twin (Field of Dreams), but at least we're not constantly bombarded with Steel Magnolias, Sister Act or Ghost. Sure, we get Roadhouse, but that's different since who doesn't want to watch Patrick Swayze kicking ass (dancing, not so much, but beating the crap out of thugs - oh, hell yeah).
From the completely opposite end of the spectrum, The Cosby Show is even better in reruns than it was when it first came out. That's the thing about great reruns... you can watch them over and over and over from the start and just flow with it. I've gone through periods of time in the last 15 years where I saw every episode of The Simpsons, Home Improvement, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Scrubs. Reruns seem to work better as comedic half hour shows. Most of these shows weren't hits FOR ME right away in prime time, or at least I wasn't watching them in prime time slots. That's the joy of reruns... you can get addicted to something and watch it over and over again every night of the week. Good shows survive and we get to see them and enjoy them for all times sake.
In the eighties, there was Different Strokes, Facts of Life, Silver Spoons, and classic fare like Gilligan's Island, What's Happening, Leave it to Beaver, and The Brady Bunch. They all served a purpose in making the time go by and connecting us to different times throughout history. Besides, who can forget Rerun asking, "Which Doobie do you be?" However, now it's a world different. Now, we're stuck with hours and hours a day of Two and a Half Men because television has been reduced to a world of crappy reality TV that doesn't play well in syndication. Things aren't going to get better, so we just get more crap like TMZ or multiple episodes of bad comedies (to include the last 12 years of the Simpsons, which can be funny, but mostly is just a special guest or a "Treehouse of Horror" episode). Thus, I get Two and a Half Men, and every time it comes on, I can't help but think the same thing...
I HATE CHARLIE SHEEN.
He's just a piece of crap. Let's be honest. Somewhere in all of the repeated life problems and porn star obsession, he makes the same mistake over and over, and with it, he just inspires serious amounts of loathing and hatred. It's gotten to the point where I can't even watch Major League because he's in it, and that's a shame because some of the other actors make the movie as enjoyable as it is.
For example, Dennis Haysbert is a great actor. Whether it's as Pedro Cerrano or as President Palmer or even the All State guy, he's just charismatic and entertaining. Even middle aged dead wood like Corbin Bernson work well. Tom Berenger plays a good lead role, which works well as he always plays solid in stuff like Betrayed and Born on the Fourth of July. I've never been a Rene Russo fan, but she's ok. Wesley Snipes may be a tax cheat, but he's not keeping me from watching that movie. Hell, if he gets annoying, I can imagine Ice-T saying that he wants to kick the tar out of him so badly that his "dick is getting hard." If you haven't seen that, you really need to re-watch that other classic early nineties movie New Jack City.
And throughout it all, there's Bob Uecker... how can you go wrong with Bob Uecker?
But all the same, there's Charlie Sheen, and I hate Charlie Sheen. I really do. I wish he would just vanish and take his stupid show with Duckie and vanish into the Bermuda Triangle, I really do.
And I haven't even started to get into how much they ruined the little kid from the Rookie, which may be the ultimate crime in all of that show's many transgressions against humanity.
Charlie Sheen... I hate you. Phillies fans should hate you. Your nickname became the name of Mitch Williams who imploded in 1993. Defense attorneys hate you.
Only prostitutes, high class drug dealers, and porn stars like you.
That's not good company.
Just take your sorry ass and leave.
Yeah... Charlie... I'm hating on you.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Michael Bourne
I guess it's a good day since we've been given reprieve and told by a rodent that we're getting spring in 6 weeks (as opposed to 6 more weeks of winter), so we will continue to burn the hot stove for the day that will be Pitchers and Catchers Report Day.
In doing this, we read and think baseball. Other than ESPN, we generally will read Bleacher Report, which is actually a pretty decent baseball site that breaks things down as a mix between USA Today and Maxim. We get our baseball knowledge quick and simple, and if we are so inclined, we can see who the hottest wives and girlfriends of players are.
Today, they have a list of players who need long term extensions other than Albert Pujols, who I am still curious how the talks can go this long. I keep hoping the hot stove heats up all the way and I FINALLY get to wake up on one of these cold and icy days and hear something really good other than my alarm, which will inevitably send me to school, or as was the case today, the computer so that I could eventually figure out that school was canceled as the rain keeps freezing up on the highways and pavements, thus preventing school.
So let's see who gets picked. Michael Bourne? Get real. Sure, he steals bases, but he has no power and his batting average isn't that great. In fact, his bases stolen went down last year. A long term deal with him is like the Eagles signing Donovan McNabb until he was eligible for AARP when he first came out of the gate.
Anibal Sanchez is up next, and let's be honest, other than a great rookie year and a no hitter, he's above average, but does that equal a long term deal? If we're giving money and lifetime contracts away, I'll take one. Hell, I'd be happy for a few good years and a shoe deal (a pair of sneakers, water hiking shoes, and dress shoes - I won't even ask for them to be player endorsed).
Jonathan Papelbon is next. Obviously, these guys didn't read my discussion on closers. This guy needs to be retired to some Irish bar in South Boston - not signed to a long deal. Get real. The future is already in Boston (Daniel Bard). Why pay this guy well over $10million per in the hopes that he can close until he gets as old as Trevor Hoffman when he finally realized he wasn't really that special.
Grady Sizemore is an injury risk, but other than that, Cleveland has to show love for a hometown player soon before they all end up on the Red Sox and Yankees through trades and free agency.
Brandon Phillips has a lot of love for his second sack ability, but is that reason to sign him long term and give him 9 figures or upper eights?
Jose Bautista had a good year. He figured out how to hit home runs. Does that mean he gets a big salary? Not after one year it doesn't.
Matt Cain is a World Series hero and above average for the seasons that he plays. As a result, he can handle himself when it counts and since the Giants are primed to compete for years to come, this is the first choice that seems realistic.
Cole Hamels - I already said my peace about him, but other than being able to sue for non-support, it's not that he's bad. He's just not a player I want to build a team around. However, as the number 4 starter in a rotation that stands to be dominant for ages, he's a good cog in the machine, but that still doesn't get the Phillies a bat in their lineup, which is what they really need.
Prince Fielder has an ugly swing and a declining production trend. He was given over $15million for an additional season. If he gets it together when it counts, he might be worth a couple more years, but long term and big bucks? Weren't the Brewers expecting to lose him? Is Zach Greinke and a few young players really worth spending lots of money and building around? The Reds and Cards are here to stay and in a division that tough in a stadium that yields lots of home runs, is he really all that he's cracked up to be? I wouldn't pay big bucks for him with all those what ifs, and frankly, Bud Selig probably won't either, but that said, he is a decent personality for where baseball is in 2011.
They also list Josh Hamilton, and I get that for the same reason that Fielder is a decent personality for baseball 2011. I've written about that before, but frankly, just as Sizemore is an injury risk, Hamilton is a relapse risk. We've seen that before. If he shows us some discipline, we can show him some paycheck love, but frankly, he's scary to two groups: his opponents who he can just crush and his team who can lose him if he gets injured or sent to rehab. Personally, he's worth a short contract with some nice figures, but long term?
We live in a society that is currently $14 trillion in debt. This number goes up like a clock moves through the day. It just happens. Some of us want to pay it off and be fiscally responsible while others want to spend like there is no tomorrow. Some of us wonder if it can ever be paid off (I'm in that group). It almost makes me think we're trying to bankrupt China the way we did the Soviets, but alas, if we keep borrowing from the Chinese, eventually someone is going to come collecting or just declare that they own this country. It's a scary proposition and nowhere is it more true than with baseball money. The salaries are so large and ridiculous, that it's insane. I don't blame the players for taking it or even asking for it since the owners have paid for so long, but still... it's crazy.
Stores like the one out of Bleacher Report underscore the insanity that is our country's financial crisis, but that said, I like dingers when batters are hitting them into orbit, and I love strikeouts when pitchers are dropping curves from 12 to 6 to make batters look stupid.
I guess it's all a no win thing because my game won't pull in it's belt and tighten up and asses will still find their way to the seats.
As a result, we will bemoan the future of our game and wonder if Bleacher Report is on crack. We think they are, and to that, we can only offer them Whitney's advice: "Crack is whack."
In doing this, we read and think baseball. Other than ESPN, we generally will read Bleacher Report, which is actually a pretty decent baseball site that breaks things down as a mix between USA Today and Maxim. We get our baseball knowledge quick and simple, and if we are so inclined, we can see who the hottest wives and girlfriends of players are.
Today, they have a list of players who need long term extensions other than Albert Pujols, who I am still curious how the talks can go this long. I keep hoping the hot stove heats up all the way and I FINALLY get to wake up on one of these cold and icy days and hear something really good other than my alarm, which will inevitably send me to school, or as was the case today, the computer so that I could eventually figure out that school was canceled as the rain keeps freezing up on the highways and pavements, thus preventing school.
So let's see who gets picked. Michael Bourne? Get real. Sure, he steals bases, but he has no power and his batting average isn't that great. In fact, his bases stolen went down last year. A long term deal with him is like the Eagles signing Donovan McNabb until he was eligible for AARP when he first came out of the gate.
Anibal Sanchez is up next, and let's be honest, other than a great rookie year and a no hitter, he's above average, but does that equal a long term deal? If we're giving money and lifetime contracts away, I'll take one. Hell, I'd be happy for a few good years and a shoe deal (a pair of sneakers, water hiking shoes, and dress shoes - I won't even ask for them to be player endorsed).
Jonathan Papelbon is next. Obviously, these guys didn't read my discussion on closers. This guy needs to be retired to some Irish bar in South Boston - not signed to a long deal. Get real. The future is already in Boston (Daniel Bard). Why pay this guy well over $10million per in the hopes that he can close until he gets as old as Trevor Hoffman when he finally realized he wasn't really that special.
Grady Sizemore is an injury risk, but other than that, Cleveland has to show love for a hometown player soon before they all end up on the Red Sox and Yankees through trades and free agency.
Brandon Phillips has a lot of love for his second sack ability, but is that reason to sign him long term and give him 9 figures or upper eights?
Jose Bautista had a good year. He figured out how to hit home runs. Does that mean he gets a big salary? Not after one year it doesn't.
Matt Cain is a World Series hero and above average for the seasons that he plays. As a result, he can handle himself when it counts and since the Giants are primed to compete for years to come, this is the first choice that seems realistic.
Cole Hamels - I already said my peace about him, but other than being able to sue for non-support, it's not that he's bad. He's just not a player I want to build a team around. However, as the number 4 starter in a rotation that stands to be dominant for ages, he's a good cog in the machine, but that still doesn't get the Phillies a bat in their lineup, which is what they really need.
Prince Fielder has an ugly swing and a declining production trend. He was given over $15million for an additional season. If he gets it together when it counts, he might be worth a couple more years, but long term and big bucks? Weren't the Brewers expecting to lose him? Is Zach Greinke and a few young players really worth spending lots of money and building around? The Reds and Cards are here to stay and in a division that tough in a stadium that yields lots of home runs, is he really all that he's cracked up to be? I wouldn't pay big bucks for him with all those what ifs, and frankly, Bud Selig probably won't either, but that said, he is a decent personality for where baseball is in 2011.
They also list Josh Hamilton, and I get that for the same reason that Fielder is a decent personality for baseball 2011. I've written about that before, but frankly, just as Sizemore is an injury risk, Hamilton is a relapse risk. We've seen that before. If he shows us some discipline, we can show him some paycheck love, but frankly, he's scary to two groups: his opponents who he can just crush and his team who can lose him if he gets injured or sent to rehab. Personally, he's worth a short contract with some nice figures, but long term?
We live in a society that is currently $14 trillion in debt. This number goes up like a clock moves through the day. It just happens. Some of us want to pay it off and be fiscally responsible while others want to spend like there is no tomorrow. Some of us wonder if it can ever be paid off (I'm in that group). It almost makes me think we're trying to bankrupt China the way we did the Soviets, but alas, if we keep borrowing from the Chinese, eventually someone is going to come collecting or just declare that they own this country. It's a scary proposition and nowhere is it more true than with baseball money. The salaries are so large and ridiculous, that it's insane. I don't blame the players for taking it or even asking for it since the owners have paid for so long, but still... it's crazy.
Stores like the one out of Bleacher Report underscore the insanity that is our country's financial crisis, but that said, I like dingers when batters are hitting them into orbit, and I love strikeouts when pitchers are dropping curves from 12 to 6 to make batters look stupid.
I guess it's all a no win thing because my game won't pull in it's belt and tighten up and asses will still find their way to the seats.
As a result, we will bemoan the future of our game and wonder if Bleacher Report is on crack. We think they are, and to that, we can only offer them Whitney's advice: "Crack is whack."
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Andy Pettite
On the eve of Roger Clemens going to testify against his best buddy and steroids confidante Andy Pettite, I have to say that I have NEVER felt like Pettite was worth anything as a pitcher - especially with Hall of Fame consideration. I can remember knowing that he was coming into game 6 in the 2001 World Series, and I knew he was done for. Within 3 innings, the D-Backs were up 12-0 and were headed for that magical game 7.
I can remember hearing rumors of trading Pettite to the Cardinals a decade ago. I was so glad that he never came. First and foremost, he was a Yankee, but at best, he was a mirage propped up by the Bronx in much the same way the A's pitchers were propped up in Oakland and the Braves pitchers were propped up in their years in Atlanta.
He was never the reliable go to guy except in the years that the Yankees had nothing else to give. When he went to Houston, he was good, but he wasn't great. When it counted, they couldn't beat the White Sox, but I can't say as I remember much of that World Series since I refused to watch the battle of the Little Yankees (Clemens and Pettite vs. Contreras and El Dookie) with AJ Pierzynski thrown in for extra loathing. Sure, it was nice that the whole Black Sox thing was over and that Ozzie Guillen won one, but other than to make people understand how Shoeless Joe Jackson got screwed over, there wasn't anything to be said for that World Series other than I'm glad Pettite and Clemens steroid confusion duo didn't get rings.
Sure, he was good for a lot of innings most years, but because a person stays healthy and has an offensive juggernaut behind them and a solid bullpen after them doesn't mean that all wins are created equally. Need proof? Nolan Ryan in 1981 went 11-5 with a 1.69 ERA. How can that ERA not win every game? In his time with the Angels, he had losing seasons with an ERA just over 3.00. In 1973, 1974, and 1977, he was top 3 in Cy Young Award voting and had 16 losses in EACH season. With a winning team, he wins 30 times in each year.
But alas, we see Andy Pettite has 240 wins and we think this guy could be heading for the Hall of Fame. To that, I say, "Hooey!"
Since the Yankees are as desperate for pitching, they are positively desperate and scared stiff to bring Pettite back or find themselves going back to the late 80s and early 90s. To scare the YES Network all the more, he still can't make up his mind, and in some ways, we hope he does come back just so he can be there to get knocked around in his old age once again and come out of it without a ring.
Sure, there were those magic moments when Andy Pettite admitted his guilt in the whole Mitchell List thing, but there was something that just summed up all of his wins and that extra oomph that his average self gave. It wasn't aura and mystique.
But if a $12million from the Yankees waiting on a table believes it is, so be it. Let them believe. The division is no longer theirs. The Red Sox can say all of the right things, but the reality is that now more than ever, the ancient and aging Yankees don't have one more hurrah left in them. It's over. They're done like fried chicken.
Look at the Yankees... Chamberlain was all hype. Posada is geriatric. Burnett is over-priced and erratic. Phil Hughes is definitely not playoff ready. A-Rod is in decline. This leaves them with CC's enormous waistline... I mean price tag for an above average pitcher. The same can be said for Teixara's bat. Jeter is at the end of his run. Robinson Cano is positively dangerous. Mariano Rivera can't be counted out until he counts himself out, and well, the rest are average.
Can they compete against the Red Sox? Don't think so.
Can they compete against a young Rays team that has pride and direction and a lot of hope? We'll see on that end, but...
If the Yankees want to take their chances on the hope of Andy Pettite, just let them. It's time to see the Yankees in the cellar again, which will be BEE-YOU-TEE-FULL.
I can remember hearing rumors of trading Pettite to the Cardinals a decade ago. I was so glad that he never came. First and foremost, he was a Yankee, but at best, he was a mirage propped up by the Bronx in much the same way the A's pitchers were propped up in Oakland and the Braves pitchers were propped up in their years in Atlanta.
He was never the reliable go to guy except in the years that the Yankees had nothing else to give. When he went to Houston, he was good, but he wasn't great. When it counted, they couldn't beat the White Sox, but I can't say as I remember much of that World Series since I refused to watch the battle of the Little Yankees (Clemens and Pettite vs. Contreras and El Dookie) with AJ Pierzynski thrown in for extra loathing. Sure, it was nice that the whole Black Sox thing was over and that Ozzie Guillen won one, but other than to make people understand how Shoeless Joe Jackson got screwed over, there wasn't anything to be said for that World Series other than I'm glad Pettite and Clemens steroid confusion duo didn't get rings.
Sure, he was good for a lot of innings most years, but because a person stays healthy and has an offensive juggernaut behind them and a solid bullpen after them doesn't mean that all wins are created equally. Need proof? Nolan Ryan in 1981 went 11-5 with a 1.69 ERA. How can that ERA not win every game? In his time with the Angels, he had losing seasons with an ERA just over 3.00. In 1973, 1974, and 1977, he was top 3 in Cy Young Award voting and had 16 losses in EACH season. With a winning team, he wins 30 times in each year.
But alas, we see Andy Pettite has 240 wins and we think this guy could be heading for the Hall of Fame. To that, I say, "Hooey!"
Since the Yankees are as desperate for pitching, they are positively desperate and scared stiff to bring Pettite back or find themselves going back to the late 80s and early 90s. To scare the YES Network all the more, he still can't make up his mind, and in some ways, we hope he does come back just so he can be there to get knocked around in his old age once again and come out of it without a ring.
Sure, there were those magic moments when Andy Pettite admitted his guilt in the whole Mitchell List thing, but there was something that just summed up all of his wins and that extra oomph that his average self gave. It wasn't aura and mystique.
But if a $12million from the Yankees waiting on a table believes it is, so be it. Let them believe. The division is no longer theirs. The Red Sox can say all of the right things, but the reality is that now more than ever, the ancient and aging Yankees don't have one more hurrah left in them. It's over. They're done like fried chicken.
Look at the Yankees... Chamberlain was all hype. Posada is geriatric. Burnett is over-priced and erratic. Phil Hughes is definitely not playoff ready. A-Rod is in decline. This leaves them with CC's enormous waistline... I mean price tag for an above average pitcher. The same can be said for Teixara's bat. Jeter is at the end of his run. Robinson Cano is positively dangerous. Mariano Rivera can't be counted out until he counts himself out, and well, the rest are average.
Can they compete against the Red Sox? Don't think so.
Can they compete against a young Rays team that has pride and direction and a lot of hope? We'll see on that end, but...
If the Yankees want to take their chances on the hope of Andy Pettite, just let them. It's time to see the Yankees in the cellar again, which will be BEE-YOU-TEE-FULL.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Edinson Volquez
In 2008, Senor Volquez came across to the Queen City from the Texas Rangers to the Reds with the hope that he could make a difference. For the first half of the season, he did just that. Until July 20th, he was a man on fire (God, I love Baseball-Reference.Com). Save a 5-run shelling that he took on June 26th, he was sub 2.00 for his cumulative ERA. For a team that finished with 74 wins, he had 17 of them.
Prior to going to visit James the wonder surgeon, he was a man on fire, and then he was a man getting rebuilt with Tommy John Surgery. If it worked, he would come back unstoppable, but if it didn’t come back, he would be done from the sport. The risk and the rewards were there, but as a young talent with so much hype and hope, the opportunity had to be taken.
Apparently, Edinson decided that to get healthy again, he would take steroids and come back bigger and stronger than ever. Is this really a surprise in baseball? Unlike Mike Morse who admitted to using Deca Durabolin once and saying that his second bust was from the residual steroids, we tend to not be sympathetic for our athletes when they get busted. Take Manny Ramirez’s sexual performance enhancing excuse or Jose Theodore using a hair growth formula. Nobody believes Manny because HCG restarts the production of testosterone and hair growth formulas are masking agents.
Nevertheless, the issue with Edinson is simply a 1/3 pay cut in a season he was sitting out anyway. It’s not really a big issue because he has signed another contract with his old team that still wants to take their chances on his arm - $1.625 for an arm capable of winning that much for a lame Reds team is worth up to 10 times it with a Reds team that can - if it works. Smart GMs know that wins can come at a discount if they turn a blind eye to the veterans that they blackball for doing the same thing at a greater cost and expectation. Didn't we learn that with Guillermo Mota? And while there's a feeling of Volquez being blacklisted, his suspension didn’t affect any actual games that Volquez could have played - he was injured and out for the count anyway, so they were served during his time on the disabled list. Jackpot!
So today, the Reds and the player win. Life is good.
The Reds get to keep rebuilding for 2011 with the improvements of Ardolis Chapman, Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto, Scott Rolen, and Jay Bruce - it's all good and the young team keeps ascending. Not that I want St. Louis to face serious in-division challenges, but it would be nice to see more great young players make it to the majors – without steroids.
We want to believe in the natural progression.
And if they can't, smart GMs will play the game of Ollie's Bargain Outlet distracting the fans with cheaper ticket prices and a better than average chance for a trip to the playoffs. In the end, a strikeout is still a strikeout and a home run is still a home run. Gotta love baseball 2011.
Prior to going to visit James the wonder surgeon, he was a man on fire, and then he was a man getting rebuilt with Tommy John Surgery. If it worked, he would come back unstoppable, but if it didn’t come back, he would be done from the sport. The risk and the rewards were there, but as a young talent with so much hype and hope, the opportunity had to be taken.
Apparently, Edinson decided that to get healthy again, he would take steroids and come back bigger and stronger than ever. Is this really a surprise in baseball? Unlike Mike Morse who admitted to using Deca Durabolin once and saying that his second bust was from the residual steroids, we tend to not be sympathetic for our athletes when they get busted. Take Manny Ramirez’s sexual performance enhancing excuse or Jose Theodore using a hair growth formula. Nobody believes Manny because HCG restarts the production of testosterone and hair growth formulas are masking agents.
Nevertheless, the issue with Edinson is simply a 1/3 pay cut in a season he was sitting out anyway. It’s not really a big issue because he has signed another contract with his old team that still wants to take their chances on his arm - $1.625 for an arm capable of winning that much for a lame Reds team is worth up to 10 times it with a Reds team that can - if it works. Smart GMs know that wins can come at a discount if they turn a blind eye to the veterans that they blackball for doing the same thing at a greater cost and expectation. Didn't we learn that with Guillermo Mota? And while there's a feeling of Volquez being blacklisted, his suspension didn’t affect any actual games that Volquez could have played - he was injured and out for the count anyway, so they were served during his time on the disabled list. Jackpot!
So today, the Reds and the player win. Life is good.
The Reds get to keep rebuilding for 2011 with the improvements of Ardolis Chapman, Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto, Scott Rolen, and Jay Bruce - it's all good and the young team keeps ascending. Not that I want St. Louis to face serious in-division challenges, but it would be nice to see more great young players make it to the majors – without steroids.
We want to believe in the natural progression.
And if they can't, smart GMs will play the game of Ollie's Bargain Outlet distracting the fans with cheaper ticket prices and a better than average chance for a trip to the playoffs. In the end, a strikeout is still a strikeout and a home run is still a home run. Gotta love baseball 2011.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Hilton Smith
My wife and I watch a lot of shows like Pawn Stars and American Pickers. Today, we were watching Auction Hunters, which is a lesser knock off show that seems to fill that desire for antiques and what the stuff in the basement is worth. Obviously, the History Channel shows are much better than Antiques Roadshow, which is dull and filled with characters that have none of the charm of Frank, Mike, or Chum Lee.In the end, you either have star power, or you have the hope of people bringing in interesting merchandise.
Today, some guy brought in a collection of Negro Leagues merchandise complete with Jackie, Hank, + Satchel. My wife informed me that I would have been drooling if they brought them in for me to consign. She's right. When it was appraised, the Negro Leagues expert said that the Hilton Smith autograph would have fetched big cash - $400 - if they had someone who knew who he was, so in remembering him, but not really remembering him, I looked him up, and here's what the Major Leagues Hall of Famer did:
In 1941, he went 25-1 for the Kansas City Monarchs. In the words of Crash Davis, that's a career. Hell, in each of his 12 years with the Monarchs, he hit 20 games won. Granted, it's hard to figure out all of the stats from the days in the Negro Leagues due to poor transcribing and accumulation of said statistics, but with that alone, he's awesome. However, he played in the shadows of Satchel, and as we all know, Mr. Paige was larger than life and left quite a shadow.
Nevertheless, he pitched in 6 East - West All Star games and whiffed thirteen batters in these shows to show off his "swagger" as one of the greatest pitchers of his day.
Against the white teams that the Negro Leagues stars would play against to show how great they could have been had mixed competition been allowed, Smith went 6-1.
When it was all said and done, he was a scout for the Chicago Cubs. As a result, even though he never made it to the Major Leagues, he made sure other people did.
Even more importantly, he worked as a teacher, sharing his life with young people, who could benefit from his knowledge and experience.
Does that make his autograph worth $400? Considering it was packaged with other autographs, pennants, and memorabilia, I would say that the $175 it fetched at auction was quite nice and it made the gentleman who gave it up to earn money for a missionary trip to the Ivory Coast all the more happy when he got $1200 after the auctioneers took 20% off of the original $1500 paid for all of it.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Jason Isringhausen
Jason Isringhausen used to be the closer with the St. Louis Cardinals. In 2004, he accumulated 47 saves. I know that I've always said that saves are over-rated, but let's be honest, it's nicer for the Cardinals to have Isringhausen or a guy like him at the end than someone temporary and unreliable like Juan Acevedo.In the end, the thoughts here aren't about Jason's past or future. They're just about the fact that I can look them up online and I don't have to feel like my ISP is going to shut down on me and leave me completely without FOX, ESPN, Hotmail, Blogger, Facebook, and whatever other sites I go on every day. It's going to be there.
Let's be honest; in America, if the Internet came crashing down, we'd have a rebellion of everyone 12-25 who couldn't get into their status and there would be bloodshed everywhere. I'm sure a lot of people younger and older than that would get really irate as well. I know how I feel when I can't get into my Hotmail because they're updating the site AGAIN. I don't get angry about not being able to access the rumor mill. Sure, it's nice to know that Isringhausen is in comeback mode after injuries last year, but that's the kind of mindless activities that I use to fill what I do and don't do with my days.
In the words of Bruce Hornsby, that's just the way it is.
Baseball and Egypt have very little in common save a trip at the end of 1913 that took Chicago White Sox players on a tour of the world and landed them in front of the Sphinx for a classic picture. Nevertheless, the world didn't accept baseball, save the South and Central American world and Asia, so our gift was just marked return to sender, but at least we had pictures to prove that we tried.
Baseball and Egypt come together in 2011 as we here at this website think about how much our love of the game depends on communications with the outside world and the Internet. At this point, Egyptians are completely without these basic "rights" as they protest an oppressive government while we bask in the ability to look at the comings and goings of peripheral players that don't matter at all. our lives are completely different than theirs. There are no tanks on Park Avenue in Ephrata. There may be piles of inconvenient snow, but there are no riot police looking to bash our brains in for disagreeing with the iron rule of Hosni Mubarek. I would say that's a pretty good thing. Nevertheless, with the threat of rising gas prices, we will probably feel a ripple effect from a situation we'll never know.
That said, there is just something inside me that is thankful to live in a country where even though the right and left disagree, we're not coming to be on the verge of a civil war. If we want to get rid of Obama in 2012, we will. If we like him, we'll keep him. He's not basically going to run against himself and install one of his daughters as president when he's done in 20 odd years.
Life in America is pretty good, and I'm happy to say that my chief worry is starting lineups and baseball history.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Gil Meche
It was passed on to me from one of my friends that Gil Meche threw his $12million salary for 2011 back to Kansas City because, “When I signed my contract, my main goal was to earn it. Once I started to realize I wasn’t earning my money, I felt bad. I was making a crazy amount of money for not even pitching. Honestly, I didn’t feel like I deserved it. I didn’t want to have those feelings again.”
While it's a badge of honor, it's not like not taking the $12million leaves him applying for welfare. Also, according to NBC, "Meche made more than $50 million playing baseball, with most coming in the five-year, $55 million deal he signed with the Royals after leaving the Mariners."
And so today, we have to think about all of those albatross deals that take down a team forever as they sign a player that they can no longer afford. Vernon Wells who left Toronto for Anaheim, the only city desperate enough for him. Michael Young, who is still good, but who has become obsolete in Texas is awaiting to see where he will end up... Toronto perhaps. Moving through the connections, we think back to how Alex Rodriguez sank the Texas Rangers ship to be the highest paid player in baseball.
Thinking back, we can remember Carlos Lee, Denny Neagle, Mike Hampton, Juan Gonzalez, Kevin Millwood, Derek Bell, Hideki Irabu, Carl Pavano, Mo Vaughn, Barry Zito, Albert Belle, Gary Matthews, Alfonso Soriano, Kevin Brown, Travis Hafner, Daisuke Matsuzaka (I want the money back from the shirt and jersey I bought, too, Daisuke; you suck, and I just want to say that I know the reason why you threw so many pitches in Japan, too - your walks and WHIP).
Few players give back the way Gil Meche or Mark McGwire did when they realize that the end has come and they're still on the hook for a lot of money. It shows that they're going out like a class act instead of an ass crack.
Yep.
These lists could go on all night and they do. You just have to look for them.
And for that, we still believe that there is hope in Kansas City - if they invest the right way for the future. Let's be honest... the now is dead in western Missouri.
While it's a badge of honor, it's not like not taking the $12million leaves him applying for welfare. Also, according to NBC, "Meche made more than $50 million playing baseball, with most coming in the five-year, $55 million deal he signed with the Royals after leaving the Mariners."
And so today, we have to think about all of those albatross deals that take down a team forever as they sign a player that they can no longer afford. Vernon Wells who left Toronto for Anaheim, the only city desperate enough for him. Michael Young, who is still good, but who has become obsolete in Texas is awaiting to see where he will end up... Toronto perhaps. Moving through the connections, we think back to how Alex Rodriguez sank the Texas Rangers ship to be the highest paid player in baseball.
Thinking back, we can remember Carlos Lee, Denny Neagle, Mike Hampton, Juan Gonzalez, Kevin Millwood, Derek Bell, Hideki Irabu, Carl Pavano, Mo Vaughn, Barry Zito, Albert Belle, Gary Matthews, Alfonso Soriano, Kevin Brown, Travis Hafner, Daisuke Matsuzaka (I want the money back from the shirt and jersey I bought, too, Daisuke; you suck, and I just want to say that I know the reason why you threw so many pitches in Japan, too - your walks and WHIP).
Few players give back the way Gil Meche or Mark McGwire did when they realize that the end has come and they're still on the hook for a lot of money. It shows that they're going out like a class act instead of an ass crack.
Yep.
These lists could go on all night and they do. You just have to look for them.
And for that, we still believe that there is hope in Kansas City - if they invest the right way for the future. Let's be honest... the now is dead in western Missouri.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Bryce Harper
Last year, I got in on the ground floor of Jason Heyward and Stephen Strasburg. After life got in the way, and I wasn't able to blog anymore, I still called the television and watched in sheer joy as Strasburg made mincemeat out of the Pirates. When he went out for Tommy John Surgery, I wanted to cry and curse the Nationals for not learning from the Cubs treatment of Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. Hopefully, they won't rush him back. Besides, even with Jayson Werth, there is no hope in Mudville... err Washington D.C. for a playoff dream next year. However, there will be soon. It's just that you can't kill a young pitcher with a heavy workload and lots of speed coming off his shoulder. It's just not good - unless you're Nolan Ryan, that is.The future is...
We haven't heard that in DC since 2007 and 2008 as America got Obama shoved down their throats 24/7 and change was coming if it wasn't already here. The writing was on the wall. Bush was gone and everything was going to be nice again.
And this time, it's for real with youngsters like Strasburg, Drew Storen, and Bryce Harper, the number one overall pick to go with the number one pick from last year. This isn't signing some worthless malcontent loser from the Devil Rays like Elijah Dukes whose power potential was completely outweighed by his propensity to blame threatening his significant other teacher with violent threats. Like father, like son. Don't even get me started on Nyjer Morgan, either. No, this is building for the future to make all of the difference in the world for the future of baseball in the NL East as they try to move away from the memories of the Senators who were first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League East. Walter Johnson is still thanking his lucky stars for that one great 1924 season after setting the record for most 1-0 losses in a career due to the non-support that his club offered. I guess in that, he must feel a little bit like Elijah Dukes whose father spent most of his life in jail and ruined his potential to be the great player that Tampa Bay and Washington were looking for in him.
But alas...
The future is next year for Washington. The bat, the arm, the hope, the dream, the moving through high school to college 2 years early, the devastation on the minor league level, and the positive attitude. It's all there, and watching it in interview with Peter Gammons... man. I believe. I'm in on this 1. A lot of people seem to be as they see the stomping on that first baseman's ankle as an unfortunate mishap by a young kid who now seems to want to do everything right.
And we hope he does.
The future is everything.
We believe.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Jack Frye
I've lived most of my life in the Reading, Pennsylvania, area (ranked #21 worst city overall in 2007), but fortunately, now I live 30 minutes from the city in what I like to refer to as Amish Paradise. It's a lot quieter out here for the most part, and that's a good thing.
Reading has really gone to seed in the past twenty or so years. I don't remember going downtown as a kid before going into the military, but after I came back from the Air Force in 1996, it just wasn't pretty. Now, it's a necessity for somethings, but mostly, I just stay on the edge of town where I need to be and am thankful that I don't have to live downtown.
However, we do have a couple of claims to fame. First and foremost is the Pagoda, which still looms as something to see. Despite the fact that they're still frequented, the outlets that once drew people in are now dime a dozen and spread out across the country, so it's not like they're that big of a deal. We have hockey now - the Reading Royals, and we've had baseball for quite some time. In fact, we're Baseballtown based on the strength of the Reading Phillies and their infinite promotions, which isn't such a bad thing because baseball is good and hopefully it gets kids hooked - even if they have to see baseball as something that comes with between innings games and cheering along when the scoreboard or the playing of Blur's "Song 2" tells them to. Thus, if one wants to fight with traffic for a good game and better fireworks, Reading is the place to be. Roger Maris even played here when he was an Indians minor league player.
However, back in the day, way back when (1883 to be exact), Jack Frye was the 2nd African American to ever play in organized ball. Of course, we all know that Moses Fleetwood Walker was first, but alas... many people don't know the silver medalist, but in this case, he was a catcher, pitcher, first basemen, and outfielder who played for 5 different teams up until 1891 in various cities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Reading was his first stop.
That said, in looking through a lot of different sites, it's hard to find that much information on the league and the team... at least at the point where Jack played. Nevertheless, as it was included in Shades of Glory, a National Geographic book on the Negro Leagues, I would say that it's pretty true and reliable. Thus, there seems to be a new relic to search out as the story of baseball by me goes on and on.
Reading has really gone to seed in the past twenty or so years. I don't remember going downtown as a kid before going into the military, but after I came back from the Air Force in 1996, it just wasn't pretty. Now, it's a necessity for somethings, but mostly, I just stay on the edge of town where I need to be and am thankful that I don't have to live downtown.
However, we do have a couple of claims to fame. First and foremost is the Pagoda, which still looms as something to see. Despite the fact that they're still frequented, the outlets that once drew people in are now dime a dozen and spread out across the country, so it's not like they're that big of a deal. We have hockey now - the Reading Royals, and we've had baseball for quite some time. In fact, we're Baseballtown based on the strength of the Reading Phillies and their infinite promotions, which isn't such a bad thing because baseball is good and hopefully it gets kids hooked - even if they have to see baseball as something that comes with between innings games and cheering along when the scoreboard or the playing of Blur's "Song 2" tells them to. Thus, if one wants to fight with traffic for a good game and better fireworks, Reading is the place to be. Roger Maris even played here when he was an Indians minor league player.
However, back in the day, way back when (1883 to be exact), Jack Frye was the 2nd African American to ever play in organized ball. Of course, we all know that Moses Fleetwood Walker was first, but alas... many people don't know the silver medalist, but in this case, he was a catcher, pitcher, first basemen, and outfielder who played for 5 different teams up until 1891 in various cities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Reading was his first stop.
That said, in looking through a lot of different sites, it's hard to find that much information on the league and the team... at least at the point where Jack played. Nevertheless, as it was included in Shades of Glory, a National Geographic book on the Negro Leagues, I would say that it's pretty true and reliable. Thus, there seems to be a new relic to search out as the story of baseball by me goes on and on.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Dizzy and Paul Dean
My wife is obsessed with American Pickers. There's no getting around it. We watch that and Pawn Stars on a regular basis, which to be honest are some of the only shows that we watch.Last night, they picked up a much rougher version of this poster, which was more faded, and to be honest with you, it looked a hell of a lot better than the colorized version that is on the left.
That said, I was salivating despite the fact that I know that I can't afford it, and even if I did, I wouldn't have much of a place to put it without upsetting the delicate balance of the house that is decorated rather nicely, but all in all, is not geared much for antique baseball posters - no matter how great the subjects are, and let me just say one more time that this poster really is nice.
That being said, I have managed to weasel my way into having some of my baseball memorabilia in the main part of the house that isn't my office. For instance, my Mark McGwire McFarland figures in the living room. The first one is common, but the second one is unique in that he posed for it and then retired, so Todd McFarland left the prototype in my cousin David's office (he takes pictures of the figures for the website, or at least he did at the time - I would assume he still does) until he gave it to me. When he did, I was orgasmic. That's pretty much what happens when you get a baseball card that you need... though a real orgasm is better than that. Well, at least that's what my mom told me when I was in 6th grade. There's something about collecting baseball stuff that makes boys of men. My friend that I work with purposely drives himself crazy not opening too many packs of baseball cards at one time in order to leave him more surprises for later. I fall asleep and dream of opening cards. I don't collect regularly, but as happened the other night, I still dream of wax packs.
When I open cards, I always want my favorites. That's obvious. I can't say as I'm obsessed with all of the players on all of my teams, but more often than not, the Cardinals and Red Sox come up solid. In that, a part of me has always been a St. Louis Cardinals fan. Granted, I wasn't alive for the Gashouse Gang when Dizzy Dean was winning 150 games and posting a 3.02 career ERA despite World War 2 and injuries putting an end to his better days. Nevertheless, he is officially the final National League pitcher EVER to win 30 games (because unless a pitcher is uninjured and unbeaten, it will never happen again. Hell, 25 is damn near impossible enough). Granted, his brother Daffy, well Paul by birth certificate, was more pedestrian, but they were St. Louis in the same way that guys like Ozzie Smith and Mark McGwire were in their day and ages and in the same way that Albert Pujols is now.
And maybe as a Cardinals fan, I should just lay this on the line: If there be any doubt, the town of St. Louis and the state of Missouri should start collecting taxes to save the baseball club before anyone does anything stupid like deciding not to make the contract work. Albert is the Cardinals. If Matt Holliday got a contract for $120 million, Albert deserves at least $240 million. At least. And don't even get me started on Ryan Howard's laughable contract (because if it's a new day, it's a new opportunity to dis on Mighty Ryan).
Such is the state of life and baseball, but with 25 days to go until the deal must be done, the deal must be done. Oh yes...
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