Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Adam Jones now has 17 home runs on the season. The Seattle Mariners could really use a bat like that in their line-up... Instead of the vulgar MILF the correct linguistic term is matronolagnia. The power of words... Today is the 28th anniversary of George Brett's Pine Tar game... Pumpsie Green Day would be a good name for a cover band... Many people are pointing to Reed Johnson as a potential trade target for teams needing an outfielder but I'm not so sure if it's worth giving up good prospects for a 34-year old player who is currently hitting 45 points over his career batting average and 168 points over his career OPS. You have to think he will fall back to his historical numbers. Then again what do I know - he could be the exact missing piece that takes a team to a World Series... Today would have been the 95th birthday of John D. MacDonald, the creator of the Travis McGee novels and a favorite of mine. It is interesting to note that after MacDonald got out of his military service in 1945 he poured everything he had into his writing. Working 14-hour days writing short stories, losing 20-pounds over a four month period that netted him nothing but hundreds of rejection slips until he finally got a $40 sale that put him on the path of being a writer. I love these little tidbits of perseverance... Comfort Bacon would be a good name for a band... Happy 26th birthday to Patrice Bergeron of the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins...

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Under the radar - Baltimore's first three in the batting order are all in the top 11 in batting average in the AL - Brian Roberts (.356 11th), Adam Jones (.359 10th) and Nick Markakis (.381 3rd). That's quietly impressive... I get confused - is I Want Revenge the name of the Kentucky Derby favorite or the name of the Selena Roberts book on A-Rod?... I feel bad for Pittsburgh's Ian Snell. In his last three losses he gave up a total of just 6 earned runs. Why is it that some pitchers always seem to have bad luck when it comes to their team's offense always taking a day off when they start?... There are still 4 players who have as many or more home runs as individuals than the Oakland A's have as a team total... People in Boston are very worried about David Ortiz. I imagine that people in Chicago may be similarly concerned about Derrek Lee and his single HR and .200 BA... Not for nothing but if A-Rod had 3 HR but was hitting just .197 - he'd be booed both at home and on the road. Those are Mark Teixeira's numbers so far... Is Julian Tavarez really the Nationals new closer? Wow - things are worse in Washington than I thought.