Ted Kennedy

Fascinating look at Ted Kennedy written in 1990 by Michael Kelley - A Sober Look at Ted Kennedy. Keep in mind that it was 1990 but this quote speaks volumes:

“He has the kind of personal wealth where he can do just about anything he wants to do,” says Orrin Hatch. “But I wouldn’t trade life with him for ten seconds. I’d rather be poor and in the condition that I’m in than trade with Ted.”

I've been meaning to jot down my thoughts on Kennedy and will hopefully get to it today but read the linked article because it's important to start with the truth.

Sunday Morning Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations from a Sunday morning.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. No beer? This is so sad." I agree. What's minor league baseball without beer? (As an aside - Stan Grossfeld always seems to come up with these great stories)... Truth in advertising? Not so much in this case... Just saying but the Josh McDaniels situation is very similar to the way things were going for Bill Belichick in Cleveland. A quarterback controversy and people complaining that the coach is not ready and in over his head. Sure the situations aren't exact but still close enough for me to mention it... Interesting - winners wear red... The Scott Kazmir trade was a salary dump pure and simple. In eight starts since the All-Star break, Scott Kazmir was 4-2 with a 4.41 ERA. He was helping the Rays win games and remain competitive. However, the sad truth is that the Rays are 10th in attendance among 14 AL teams - an average of 24,169 fans. The last-place Orioles have outdrawn the defending AL champs! They just couldn't risk Kazmir not playing up to his contract so they had to dump him in order to use their slim resources for more pressing players like Carl Crawford... In order to get to the Angels - the Red Sox had to pass over Kazmir. I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall when the Boston front office was weighing the option to claim Kazmir... Today would have been Ted Williams' 91st birthday. It disgusts me that his head and body remain in frozen "biostasis" limbo... Today is also Celtics' great Robert Parrish's 56th birthday. Happy birthday Chief...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Sorry for the lack of posting this week. I was busy at work and honestly I was in a funk blogging wise. I just didn't have the interest to post anything. Anyone who blogs knows that funk... Brandon Marshall is a dope. Don Banks was spot on with his assessment of the situation. If I were the Broncos - I'd publicly announce that the first team to pony up a first round draft pick can have him and I'd keep Marshall suspended until a team came up with the trade. What team would want to purposely invite this cancer of a player into their lockerroom? Chances are barring a serious injury to a team's number one receiver Marshall could stay home the whole season... Happy 140th birthday to the Mt Washington Cog Railway. I've climbed Mt Washington a few times and have also taken the Cog. Lots of fun... Scott Kazmir was supposed to be the Rays ace this year. Instead he gets traded because he sports a 6.00 ERA. Just saying but if Kazmir was a hitter people would be blaming his regression on PED's.... Nothing explains how dumb ESPN can be better than their fascination this week with the word "schism". It seems nobody at ESPN had ever heard that word before and "giggle, giggle" it sound just like jism. Some of the people laughing at the word supposedly have journalism degrees. Their alma maters must be so proud...

Flotsam and Jetsam - New York City Edition

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations from the Big Apple.

The New England Patriots theme song should be Mark Knopfler's "What It Is" that way when people ask what song it is you can say "It is 'What It Is'"... Velociraptors have ambitions too... The other night I was at a minor league game and for whatever reason I started wondering if people still use fungo bats? I can't recall the last time I saw someone use one. Or have infield practice for that matter. I feel like Larry King asking a question like this... Speaking of theme songs - I always thought this should be John Kruk's theme song... Later today I'll be spending time in the financial district down near Ground Zero. I'm disappointed that my schedule won't allow me time to walk the Brooklyn Bridge. I've always wanted to do that for some reason...

Mike Boddicker

Today is Mike Boddicker's 52nd birthday making today as good a time as any to ask whether the trade that sent Brady Anderson and Curt Schilling to the Orioles in exchange for Boddicker in July of 1988 was worth it.

Boddicker spent 2.5 seasons with Boston. He helped the Red Sox win the AL East in 1988 by going 7-3 down the stretch. In 1989 went 15-11 and was a solid number 2 behind Roger Clemens. In 1990 he again helped the Red Sox win the AL East by going 17-8 with a 3.36 ERA while also winning a Gold Glove. Unfortunately the Red Sox were knocked out of the playoffs in both 1988 and 1990 by the A's with Boddicker going a combined 0-2 in those series.

The Red Sox had the superior Ellis Burks playing center - so Brady Anderson was expendable. But what about Curt Schilling the prospect for the veteran Boddicker part of the deal? During the time Boddicker was in Boston - Schilling went an undistinguished 1-6 for the Orioles. It seems Baltimore saw little in Schilling and they traded him away in 1991 to Houston who also didn't see him as a future ace as they traded him in 1992. Who is to say that without this being tossed about that Schilling never would have developed into the player he became?

All-in-all I say that the Boddicker trade was a good one for the Red Sox and it worked for the Orioles too as Brady Anderson became a fan favorite for 13 seasons. Only in hindsight does the aspect of Curt Schilling being involved in the deal become the focus. A focus which is incorrect even knowing what we know today.

Excellent



Any time a politician tells you he will "allow you to keep" something - they are trying to take something away. Don't let them get away with it.

Bird Behavior

Watch this video about the intelligence of crows (fascinating stuff).

Tell me it doesn't in a way remind you that this could be possible.

Jacoby Ellsbury

Many have noted that Jacoby Ellsbury is poised to break the Red Sox single season record for stolen bases with his next (which will be his 54th on the season). My question was to wonder where Jacoby stands on the Red Sox all-time stole base list?

It turn out that even though he's just in his 3rd season (2nd full season) with the Red Sox - Ellsbury is already 7th all-time in stolen bases for Boston. His 112 stolen bases place him just behind Freddy Parent who played with Boston when they were known as the Americans, Pilgrims and in his last year in Boston as the Red Sox. Freddy and his 129 stolen bases could be passed this year. Next season, if Ellsbury remains healthy, he should catch Larry Gardner and his 134 SB and Heinie Wagner and his 141 SB. Parent, Gardner and Wagner all played 100 years ago!

I was surprised to learn that Carl Yastrzemski is 3rd on the list with 168 SB. I only knew Captain Carl from late in his career and never would have pegged him as a base stealer. Yaz could be caught next season but I'm guessing it would take some time for Ellsbury to catch Tris Speaker (267) and Harry Hooper (300).

As impressive as Ellsbury's base stealing has been - his rapid ascent on the Red Sox all-time list really just goes to show how little Boston has valued the stolen base over the decades.

Gary Sheffield

You have to laugh at the Gary Sheffield situation. He's not a Type A or Type B free agent so the Mets don't really gain anything by holding on to him. The Mets benefited by Sheffield's diversion of getting his 500th HR - funny enough one of the few highlight's of this season for the Mets. How do they benefit by holding on to him for the rest of the season? I don't get it.

Sure they aren't paying him much but if he's not in your plans for next season and he's going to be a distraction - why not let some other team pick up the remainder of his salary for the year? It's like Omar Minaya does things like this to either get on the back pages of the tabloids or maybe he's trying to get fired.

True Then - True Now

File this under the more things change the more they stay the same:

"All middle-class citizens of education have a common belief that the tendencies towards centralization and paternalism must be halted and reversed." Dwight Eisenhower July 1949

Although I think today it would be more true of middle-class citizens with common sense. Education is no true indicator of intelligence or common sense any more (if it ever was).

Late Afternoon Links

Some interesting things for your perusal.

- Mad Men era commercials - Gaylord the dog and Fred and Barney smoking butts

- Scary and true at the same time - excellent work

- Heh Heh

- Apple pie trees? Hamburger plants? WTF - was everyone on drugs back then?

They Didn't See Themselves as Revolutionaries - They Saw Themselves as Conservatives



Very interesting speech.

Steroids and Injuries

I think one of the most under-reported aspects of the steroids in baseball story has been the effects steroids had on injuries. Injuries seem to be up across the board for all teams in baseball. The A's are going to set a team record for the number of different players to appear in uniform this year (and their trainer was picked for the AL All-Star team). The Red Sox already have matched the number of different players as they used last season. Then you have the Mets.

One of the main benefits touted about steroid use was increased recovery time for the athlete. Steroids allowed the athlete to work out harder and more often. It also helped mask the wear and tear of playing. Now without steroids it seems the injuries from general wear and tear are everywhere.

Many people have commented that you no longer will see players in their mid-30's getting long-term free agent deals. Those days are gone. However, it should also be noted that with all the increased wear and tear injuries - farm team depth will be the new key to success. Look at the Red Sox this season and how the lack of farm team depth at shortstop may end up keeping them out of the playoffs. I think you will start to see much of the money that was going to the aging stars now going toward stocking the minor league teams.

Afternoon Links

Here are some Links of interest

- Good read on Leon Panetta being out of his depth at the CIA

- These are great - unintentionally inappropriate statues

- Interesting - The camera shots and Mad Men

- The shake the baby one is both disturbing and kinda funny (in a sick way)

The Red Sox and the AL East

Things don't look good for the Red Sox winning the AL East but there is still some hope. New York currently holds a 7.5 game lead in the AL East but here are the factors to consider:

- The Yankees have 44 games remaining with exactly half at home and half on the road. The Red Sox meanwhile have 45 games remaining with 5 more games at Fenway left than games away from the friendly confines.

- There are also 6 head to head games remaining between the two teams.

- The Red Sox finish up the season with 14 of their last 17 games against the Orioles, Royals, Blue Jays and Indians with the other 3 games against the Yankees.

If the Yankees went .500 for the rest of the season (22-22), the Red Sox would have to go 30-15 to catch up. That's a .667 winning percentage while so far this season they have managed to only win .564 percent of their games. So basically the Red Sox will have to step up and at least win every remaining series to have a shot. Most likely they will have to have something like a 10-game winning streak thrown in there because hoping the Yankees play .500 ball the rest of the way probably isn't realistic.

So there isn't much hope but there is some left.

[Edit - thanks to SpinMan for fixing my math]

George Will and Poker

Nice article by George Will on Internet poker.

If you've read my posts for any length of time you know that I couldn't agree more. Poker is a game of skill. If the moralists want to outlaw gambling where the player's chances are true gambles then they should start with state run lotteries. But we know that will never happen.

Team Home Runs

There are six teams in baseball that have not yet hit 100 home runs this season; Royals (97), A's (97), Dodgers (95), Pirates (87), Giants (78) and Mets (70). The Dodgers are surprising but with Manny Ramirez back from his suspension - they should see their power increase to at least average. Also surprising (in a bad way) are the Mets. Only 70 measly home runs? That's pathetic. I know they've had a lot of injuries but even still - they should be able to hit more home runs than the Pirates.

On the flip side - it comes as no surprise that the Yankees (181) and Rangers (174) lead all of baseball in home runs. In all there are 6 teams who have hit at least double the number of home runs as the weak ass Mets.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The Philadelphia Eagles game on December 6th at the Georgia Dome against the Falcons just got a whole lot more interesting... Torn testicle and Internal bleeding - no not a punk rock double-header - that's what happened to Adrian Beltre. I'm guessing that when Beltre gets back to action that he'll start wearing a cup... I'm guessing that he'd like to take this quote back: "[Josh] Beckett is to Boston what Jeff Weaver was to the Yankees: the ace that never was." Tom Verducci August 2006... Heh heh - it's a RAT!! EEEK... I'm thinking of writing a play based upon Kevin Youkilis' baseball career. But here's the twist - I'm going to make it a musical... Something for Boston fans to keep in mind - the Red Sox play 16 of final 19 games against the Orioles, Royals, Toronto and Indians, 4 of the 5 worst teams in the league...

Mugshots



I could name about 80% of the people.

Fun Stuff

Here are some funny or interesting links to start your day.

Hobos used to use markings or signs to warn other hobos about danger or to clue them into good situations. Here is a sample of the Modern Hobo Code.

Anything in Legos is cool but when you combine Legos with the epic Mariner's Revenge sung by the Decemberists - well then you have something pretty cool.

Avoid this job - Data Entry Ninja

Cool animated GIF.