Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Happy 90th birthday to comedy genius Mel Brooks... Heh heh... Watched a Dennis Miller comedy special from 2003 called The Raw Feed last night. Let me just say Miller's comedy doesn't stand up very well... Heh heh... Just a reminder - live every week like it's Shark Week!... Is this a subtle swipe at Baseball Prospectus or Baseball America?...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Hangover ice cream is a genius idea!... Just saying but the Red Sox magic number to win the AL East is now just 115... Heh heh... Sorry but Red Nose Day makes me think that men should have a Hold Your Balls Day where men go around all day holding their balls to raise awareness about testicular cancer. Both days would be equally silly in their marketing... Oh crap... I detest Wade Boggs. The only reason his number got retired by the Red Sox last night is because Peter Gammons has been lobbying ownership to do it for the past decade... Too soon?... According to the Bible - Noah's ark would have been about half the size of the Titanic. Thank God Noah didn't run into any ice bergs... My hat's off to the parents of this young man. Fantastic!... Too bad Charles Bukowski's Beer Shits is too long for a fantasy baseball team name... Heh heh... Is there a bar called the Vodka A Go Go? If not I call dibs... Scientists think they've finally figured out what the appendix actually does...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

RIP Bud Collins. To me he was tennis. Wimbledon just wasn't Wimbledon without him. That said I think the McEnroe brothers are ready to take up his mantle as far as TV duties are concerned. However, it will never be the same as tennis will never be as popular again as it was during Collins' heyday...  Heh heh... OK - I'll say it! Both Holly Holm and Miesha Tate have very nice butts. And both could kick my ass... Jeez - maybe Keanu Reeves really is John Wick... Just because I make the observations that all incarnations of Wonder Woman have had large breasts and shaven arm pits doesn't make me a misogynist... Hmmm - the Celtics made a run at the Bulls' Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline? Just as interesting is the fact that this has been leaked. It wasn't by the Celtics so it was either the Bulls or Butler's camp. Interesting... A Pizza Night Light? Yes please!... Just as a fantasy baseball reminder - any time this spring that Peter Gammons writes "Player X is healthy and on a mission" - avoid that player like the plague... Supposedly Douglas MacArthur didn't spend a single night in Korea during the entire duration of the war. Can that really be true?...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- EPA knew beforehand about risk at mine. It disgusts me that no one will even lose their job over this

- US Soldier: How We Stopped the Train Gunman

- Peter Gammons is the King of Butt Tweeting. Some of the comments are gold.

- Heh heh - speaking of Subway spokesmen

- For all those Firefly fans out there - that hat does make you look like an idiot (but we still love the hat)

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Red Sox fans love the fact that the Dodgers are on the hook for $15.75 million for Josh Beckett next season... If you want to understand how the Red Sox were built for success this season - you should read this piece by Peter Gammons... Men should not own either a fanny pack or Capri pants. This is non-negotiable... Rex Ryan needs to win 5 more games this season to beat the 5-year coaching record of Herm Edwards who went 39-41 in his time with the Jets... Because kids don't understand history - they probably think "the erection of the Berlin Wall" is something dirty... I still don't understand the logic of college athletics being tax exempt. I think if you removed the tax exempt status then the NCAA would crumble... A friend had a kale smoothie the other day. When he told me I thought he was making a euphemism for a green crap as in "I took a kale smoothie this morning"...

Johnny Pesky

There isn't a true Red Sox fan out there who wasn't saddened by the passing of Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky. Peter Gammons does a great job explaining why Pesky was so special.

One story I haven't seen told in any of the testimonials since his passing is how Pesky almost quit on the Red Sox in 2003.

It's well known that in 1997 Red Sox GM Dan Duquette told Pesky he was no longer welcome on the Red Sox bench. This was done at the request of clueless manager Jimy Williams. This indignity lingers in the minds of Boston sports fans just one step below Rick Pitino stripping Red Auerbach of his ceremonial title of President of the Celtics. Pesky was able to out-wait Williams and the new John Henry led ownership restored Pesky to his rightful place at Fenway Park and at spring training. Pesky even outlasted Duquette who was fired by John Henry et al. The balance of where Johnny Pesky belonged in the Red Sox world was restored.

Then came the horrible year of 2003 which is recalled by by most Red Sox fans of first Pedro being left in an inning too long by Grady Little and then Aaron Bleeping Boone hitting a season ending HR off Tim Wakefield. But 2003 was also the year Johnny Pesky almost quit the Red Sox.

First came the ruling from Major League Baseball and Bud Selig that Pesky would no longer be allowed on the bench during games. Then the Red Sox traded his favorite player - Shea Hillenbrand. Pesky was so upset by the trade that he wanted to quit on the Red Sox but Hillenbrand talked him out of it.

The fact that Pesky will be eulogized by Selig - the guy who kicked him off the Red Sox bench while the guy who kept him from quitting the team he loved will be mostly forgotten just doesn't seem right to me.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Since Kevin Youkilis was traded every MLB team has been involved in a trade except the Padres, Nationals and Mets. San Diego signed an extension with Huston Street and surprisingly was not a seller, the Nationals got back Jason Werth from the DL which is like adding the best available bat meanwhile the Mets have pretty much done nothing... MLB team Facebook pages get hacked. Tasteless yet amusing... Interesting - according to Peter Gammons if Craig Brelow throws to Ryan Lavarnway - it will be the first Yale battery since the 19th century... Wow - the hubris. Soyndra official referred to the Obama Administration as "Bank of Washington." All that taxpayer money down the drain... The plot thickens. According to Rob Bradford - Will Middlebrooks has not made two errors in one game this season - never mind two in one inning. So what was Bobby Valentine talking about? If that big detail isn't true - then what else was fabricated?... Cool - 24 vintage pictures of Abraham Lincoln... Adolph Hitler's sister-in-law was named Bridget - Bridget Hitler. That just sounds funny. Like it should be the name of an Irish punk band... According to MoneySupermarket - it would cost $282 million to be Batman...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

This is basically the state of Rick Santorum's campaign. I don't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for him... Supposedly the Blue Jays turned down a trade that would have sent Brett Lawrie to the Mariner's for Michael Pineda. I think Toronto was correct to reject that trade. Lawrie could be a monster every day player and a sleeper in many fantasy baseball leagues... On this day in 2004 we got to see Janet Jackson's breast at halftime of the Super Bowl. I was not impressed... Who knew? Bradbury Robinson threw the first forward pass in football history on September 5, 1906. He was playing for Saint Louis University. You would think that Bradbury Robinson would be better known...  Mara likes Coughlin because he's focused on winning not his image (unlike some other head coach in NYC)... I wonder if players who donate to Peter Gammons' Hot Stove charity get better and more positive coverage during the season?... Just saying but Eli Manning had a poster of Tonya Harding on his wall growing up. I think there is still some yearning there... Who knew? Joel Murray who played Freddie Rumsen on Mad Men is Bill Murray's brother...

Jorge Posada is not a Hall of Famer

Peter Gammons tries to make the case that Jorge Posada has Hall of Fame credentials. I think Gammons is either doing public relations for the Yankees and Posada (who may be a friend of Gammons) or that Peter is just being willfully ignorant.

For example Gammons touts the fact that Posada is 6th in OPS+ among catchers since 1901. Problem is Gammons doesn't count Joe Mauer among the 6 and Mauer has a career OPS+ that is 15 points higher than Posada. Who else did Gammons neglect to include?

The article doesn't even mention Ivan Rodriguez who was a contemporary of Posada's but who has a much better case for the Hall of Fame. Pudge had 13 Gold Gloves and an MVP. Posada was a defensive liability and had just 2 Top 10 MVP finishes.

Jorge Posada is not going into the Hall of Fame. I gave the 4 reasons why last August.

Red Sox Magic Number - 27

If you played word association with a Red Sox fan and said the word "Twenty-seven" the most likely reply would be "Carlton Fisk". Back in 2000 the new Red Sox ownership group retired Fisk's 27 (Fisk wore 72 when he went to the White Sox as a free agent in 1981). It was a very good PR move as Fisk remains very popular among New Englanders. It also helped heal an old wound. Fisk never should have been allowed to leave in the first place. The old ownership screwed the pooch on that one and the relationship turned contentious. The old ownership waited a whole year before handing out Fisk's 27 to the immortal Mike Brown. Including Brown - 9 other players wore 27 after Fisk left.

I don't have a problem with the Red Sox retiring Fisk's number. He was a local icon. He won the Rookie of the Year and was a 7-time all-star in his 9 full seasons with Boston. I would have issues if the Red Sox wanted to retire the number 26 though.

That number once belonged to Wade Boggs. However, since Boggs left to play for the Yankees 11 players have donned a 26 jersey. The circumstances between Fisk leaving and Boggs leaving were completely different (especially in the mind of fans - no way Fisk ever even thinks of playing for the Yankees). To understand why this is significant consider that when Jim Rice retired - the Red Sox never gave out his number 14 ever again.

Back in June of 2005, Peter Gammons wrote in his ESPN column:

This summer, the number 26 will be retired in Fenway Park and put up on the roof with 1, 4, 8, 9 and 27.

Well it's been more than 6-years and that hasn't happened. And it won't happen. Nobody is out there complaining that Boggs hasn't had his number retired. In fact I think if you asked the average fan they would have a hard time remembering what number Boggs wore. When Boggs played it all about him. His stats, his talking about himself in the third person, his Barbara Walters appearances. Is it any surprise that the only one to care about Boggs at this point is probably Boggs? Personally - I hope to see someone wearing the number 26 next spring training.

As an aside - many people think Carlton Fisk is from New Hampshire and that's understandable since he's lived much of his life in the Live Free or Die state but he was actually born in Bellows Falls, VT. I mention this as a way to bring up the recent damage in the state from Hurricane Irene. If I were President I would redirect all the money that the Department of Transportation is going to waste on "high speed rail" projects and immediately send it to repair the destroyed roads in Vermont. I think if you looked at the pictures I linked to - you'd probably agree.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I think the people who made the Guitar Hero game should come out with Pan Flute Hero. You could make real music and maybe become the next Zamfir. Of course the slobber all over the flute could make sharing a bit of a problem... In the Progressive Insurance commercial about "the bundler" I keep hearing it as "the bungler" and thinking they for some reason want to insure my bung... Interesting stat from Peter Gammons: [Josh] Beckett vs. Yanks, Rays: 4-0, 38 IP, 12 H, 2 ER., 5 BB, 37 K. Boston 5-0 in those starts... Originally Capitol One was supposed to protect from those raiding Vikings but now they are the company mascots. This is like Orkin turning cockroaches into your butlers... A photograph of Albert Einstein riding his bicycle in Santa Barbara... Last night while watching the extra innings extravaganza I couldn't help but think that if they stopped serving beer after 7th inning - probably everyone at game was stone sober by the time it ended... It should be noted that a possible explanation of why Bruce Feldman has been silent in all his media forms is not that he's been suspended but that ESPN is working on a settlement with Mike Leach regarding his lawsuit and ESPN is keeping Feldman muzzled just out of precaution until a deal is reached... Here's why I don't understand about those soccer penalty kick situations - why don't they just kick it down the middle? The goalie always dives one way or the other leaving the middle open... Interesting stat from Buster Onley: Jacoby Ellsbury has 28 steals, .504 slugging average. Last BOS player to have .500+ SLG and at least 25 steals: Tris Speaker, 1914

Flotsam and Jetsam Rapture Edition

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations on the day of the Rapture.

I would celebrate the Rapture every May 21st if it came with an airing of grievances and cake... The core of the Rangers team can really be traced to trade of Mark Teixeira to the Braves which netted Texas Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, and Matt Harrison plus Jarrod Saltalamacchia which I still don't understand why they let him go. Can you imagine how much of a powerhouse Atlanta would be if they still had those players?... I feel bad for any police offices working missing persons bureaus tomorrow. You know the urge to write "raptured" on any new reports will be strong... Before going to Washington, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should have went to Mexico City first and demanded that America return to its pre-1846 borders. It would have been funny to see how President Obama would react (though Obama hasn't shown a real grasp of history so it is doubtful he'd even understand the significance of 1846)... Thanks to Peter Gammons for pointing out the silver lining to today's Rapture, "if the world ends today, the Red Sox are the wild card"... If you were a Priest or Minister and the Rapture turned out to be real and you were left behind - wouldn't you have a lot of explaining to do?

Does Peter Gammons Speak in Code?

This was one of Peter Gammons latest Tweets:

pgammo (Peter Gammons): Blue Sky:Let us not forget that in 1952 Virgil (Fire) Trucks three two no-hitters for the Tigers. Great nephews Derek and Butch haven't.

I have no clue what that is supposed to mean. Yes there was a Virgil Trucks who played for the Tigers but WTF? What's next - "Dwight Evans was a tremendous outfielder for the Red Sox and I like beets"?

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I give lots of credit for the death of Osama bin Laden to President Obama. Of course the Navy Seal team and the people running the operation and those who gathered the intelligence deserve as much credit as possible but those folks generally will not be publicly known. If the operation went wrong - like Jimmy Carter's failed hostage rescue operation - Obama would have been blamed for it. With that in mind you have to hand it to President Obama for a successful operation... I'm always amused by Penn Gillette (NSFW language)... Visible Radiation would be a good name for a band... Like many people - I am really bothered by Pakistan's role in harboring Osama bin Laden. I don't know what will happen next but I'm really bothered by it... Q: What do you call a boomerang that doesn't come back? A: A stick... Hardhat Jesus would be a good name for a band... Heh heh - Donald Trump Responds To Bin Laden News... Hey Phillies fans - just a reminder, "Whomever designed that park in Philadelphia was an idiot." Peter Gammons from June of 2005... Another person who deserves some credit for the death of Osama bin Laden but who will not get much if any is Donald Rumsfeld. Here is Rumsfeld's statement on the death of Osama bin Laden. Rumsfeld is largely responsible for redesigning the Pentagon to allow for lightning fast strikes by mobile forces... Hypnotized Fish would be a good name for a band... Heh heh - the Taiwanese animation of Osama bin Laden's death... The things you learn on the Internet (via Mental Floss): In 1946, Boston owner Walter Brown chose the nickname Celtics over Whirlwinds, Olympians and Unicorns... Who knew? Peter Gammons is the great, great, great, great grandson of Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Has ESPN's Mike Tirico ever publicly commented on the Brett Favre dong pictures? Just curious because of his history... Toy Grit... Joe Paterno still holds a share of Brown University's record for career interceptions with 14... In the mid-1950s, Kurt Vonnegut ran a Saab dealership in West Barnstable, Massachusetts.... That explains why Liz Lemon was so cool the other day... The lady in the Geigo commercial who thinks the lizard is Stanley must really like small penis. Or maybe the woman is a reverse Richard Gere?... An Atom walks down road when he suddenly bumps into another atom. "Are you okay?" he asks "No! I've lost an electron!" "Are you sure?" "I'm positive!"... Don Corleone's mansion in The Godfather movie is for sale: $2.9 million. How cool would it be to live in the Godfather's house?... It is never a good idea to tell a woman that she looks like Peter Gammons... What the heck?... I watched 10 second of Sarah Palin's Alaska - that was enough... I think Gronkowski is Polish for Ditka... Vince Young's career QB rating is just 75.7 which would be 28th out of 32 QB's this season. Why do people like him again? Titans would be better off if they went after Bruce Gradkowski, Kevin Kolb or Michael Vick in 2011 instead of Vince Young.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Could the biggest offseason acquisition for any team have been Kelly Johnson for the Diamondbacks? Johnson is hitting ,327 with 6 HR and an OPS of 1.231 And he is 3rd in Total Bases in the NL with 44. Who knew?... Al Pacino turns 70-years old today. I'm sorry but I've always thought he was over-rated as an actor. People complain that Jeff Bridges always seems to be playing himself but the same could be said of Pacino... I'm starting to wonder if the real reason that Peter Gammons left ESPN was because of their Twitter policies. He's a complete moonbat. His Tweets are like listening to a crazy uncle who is fixated on Woodstock and on protesting Richard Nixon but who also happens to be a baseball savant... You're doing it wrong. Matt Kemp of the Dodgers has 2 stolen bases but has been caught 5 times... A jumper cable walks into a bar. The bartender says, 'I'll serve you, but don't start anything'... Happy 34th birthday to one of the all-time great NBA players - Tim Duncan... Today is ANZAC Day in Australia. In honor of that sacred holiday here's one of the most touching songs ever written...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Peter Gammons makes an excellent point about the Johnny Damon to the Braves rumors. If signing Johnny Damon blocks Jason Heywood in any way then it would be a deal that the Braves and their fans would regret. I still say that Damon winds up with the Tigers... Images of irony... Funny line from Jimmy Fallon who thinks that Tiger and Toyota should team up for a comeback with the slogan: “Tiger and Toyota, we swear we can stop”... I'm pretty sure it was Bill Simmons who brought the idea of "that guy" into popular culture. But it was this guy who came up with a reference chart... Sad but I have to agree with Kevin Nealon that 'The Who' should start calling themselves 'The Was'... Has Rock Band and Guitar Hero been replaced by people tending a fake farm on Facebook? That's what has happened in my household at least (disclaimer - I've never played Guitar Hero and I'm not on Facebook)... Jimmy Fallon is starting to grow on me. I've even come to terms with his bit part in Band of Brothers... I blame the dip in the stock market this week on all of the companies Peyton Manning does commercials for tanking after he threw that interception on Sunday... Now that Patrick Kennedy is not seeking re-election - I put the over / under on his next drunk driving arrest at six months...

Miscellaneous videos:

- Farmers Daughter- Awesome Double Meaning

- Tom Brady on the golf course at Pebble Beach

- How to clean your balls with Axe

- Idiot Cuts Electric Cord with Scissors

- Deep zoom into Mandelbrot set (the Thumb Print of God)

- I reacted pretty much the same way

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Happy 45th birthday to immortal hottie Elle McPherson...What? Peter Gammons had this puzzling statement in his last column: "Crisp was frightened by the death valley that is center and right-center field in Fenway Park." What? Crisp played Gold Glove defense at Fenway. Was I missing something? I'd look for Crisp to be among the favorites for a Gold Glove this year too... I've long wanted to read Shelby Foote's epic The Civil War: A Narrative (3 Vol. Set) and finally I've got the first volume in my hands. I've read about the first 200 pages and I must say this this may just be the best book of history I've ever laid eyes on... Speaking of Coco Crisp - Jacoby Ellsbury should go fairly high among outfielders in many fantasy baseball drafts. Think of Coco Crisp as a later round equivalent to Ellsbury. I'd look for Crisp and Ellsbury to put up similar numbers this season. Same is true of Joba Chamberlain and Seattle's Brandon Morrow. Both pitchers have about equal stuff but Joba probably goes a few rounds ahead of Morrow... Cy Young was born on this day in 1867. Young's record of 511 wins is often cited as one of the records that cannot be broken. To me, though, the real unbreakable record of Young's is his 749 complete games. Pud Galvin is in second place with 646 and Tim Keefe is third with 554. That's a difference of about 200 complete games between 1st and 3rd place. You won't find an entire pitching staff in baseball these days with a combined 200 complete games.

Peter Gammons Interview

Excellent interview with Peter Gammons by the Fire Brand of the American League. Two things I want to comment on:

They look at Teixeira at age 28 and see a star who can produce for an easy eight years, then figure out what to do with everyone else. I don't think they're in the mode of refusing to be outbid; they never work that way. But with the age of Ortiz and Lowell, to put Teixeira in with Youkilis and Pedroia in their primes would give them offensive predictability.

Spot on. See if you can get Teixeira first and then figure out everything else from there. The days of "Vince Coleman? Where would we play him?" are over.

This ownership looked around and saw there's no land for a new park, and they've done a brilliant job marketing Fenway and the Red Sox brand. There is a limited ceiling to revenues, but I can't believe they will not remain in the top 3-5 in revenues even with the $2500-a-seat tickets at the new Yankee Stadium. How about those tradeoffs to give Mayor Bloomberg his luxury box.

The scarcity of seats at Fenway is a huge plus for the Red Sox ownership in terms of NESN revenue. The local TV revenue they don't have to share with other teams. This makes them very profitable. The Red Sox have the best of all worlds here. They get to play the keepers of the public's trust by not just keeping Fenway but making it even nicer - a Disneyland-like destination for baseball fans and they also get fans to make NESN part of the basic cable package at every cable operator so every cable viewer in New England basically has to pay for it.