The Irony Of Mets Choke Job…
… is that if, as I fear, Philadelphia keeps their one game lead in the Eastern Division of the National League no one will ever again talk about “Genius” Gene Mauch’s brain fart in 1964.
This collapse [a seven game lead, lost in the blink of an eye] is painful. What makes it harder to swallow [if you will] is that Pedro Martinez’s long awaited return has been a triumphant one. He’s pitched very well, with little or nothing to show for it.
Who’s at fault? [Who’s on first?] Omar Minaya [a fellow Newtown High School alum]? Owner Fred Wilpon? Maybe his son, Jeff, who has been rumored to be sticking his nose in player personnel decisions. Willie Randolph? A fellow Mets fan described him as a “third base coach learning to be a manager.”
I say, blame the playas first. Bill Wagner [a former Phillie] has sucked blue goldfish. Carlos Delgado [speaking of first] has been horrific. These two are not not alone. This is a brutal team effort.
Edited to add:
Said Mets collapse is complete… I use my “mother’s sigh” at times like this… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants Rivalry Alive…
… and well, thank you.
I came across a terrific site, Baseball Fever, with threads covering virtually every aspect of the game of baseball.
I was immediately drawn to the “Teams of Yesteryear” section. The Boston/Milwaukee Braves, St. Louis Browns, Philadelphia A’s, Seattle Pilots, among others, are included along with the Bums and Jints. Members post pictures, links, and their memories of the past. They relive not only the winning and losing, but entire experience of fandom.
Here is a random example of some of the topics currently discussed:
< Should the results of the 1951 National League season contain an asterisk [*] because of allegations by former Giants catcher, Sal Yvars [pictured below] that signs were stolen illegally and passed on to Bobby Thomson? [Yea, right. Over my dead body.]
< Should the Mets wear the NY Giants cap?
< Should Walter O’Malley be elected to the Hall of’Fame? [As an aside, O’Malley is still more hated than Hitler and Stalin.]
< Alston and Koufax.
< Carroll “Whitey” Lockman’s birthday. [Christ, he’s 82]
< How popular was [sic] the Dodgers outside of Brooklyn?
Personally, my biggest regret about the move of my, then, beloved Giants [and for that matter the Dodgers] is that New York didn’t retain eminent domain on the names.
It’s been 50 years this month since the Dodgers and Giants left New Yawk for California. Time sure flies when one isn’t having quite as much fun with our grand old game.
When My Ship Comes In, I’ll Be At The Airport.
This was the first Email I received today:
GOOD DAY TO YOU,
GREETINGS IN THE NAME OF GOD,
My name is Mrs. Deborah Hutton; I am a dying woman who has decided to donate what I have to you/church. I am 50
years old and I was diagnosed for cancer for about 2 years ago, immediately after the death of my husband, who has
left me everything he worked for. I have been touched by God to donate from what I have inherited from my late
husband to you for the good work of God, rather than allow my relatives to use my husband hard earned funds
ungodly.
Please pray that the good Lord forgive me my sins. I have asked God to forgive me and I believe he has because He
is a merciful God. I will be going in for an operation in less than a month and I decided to WILL/donate the sum of
£850,000 (Eight Hundred and Fifty Thousand British Pounds) to you for the good work of the lord, and also to help
the motherless and less privilege and also for the assistance of the widows.
At the moment I cannot take any telephone calls right now due to the fact that my relatives are around me and my
health status. I have adjusted my WILL and my lawyer is aware I have changed my WILL. If you are a Godly person,
please contact my lawyer and he will arrange the transfer of the funds from my account to your preferred account. I
wish you all the best and may the good Lord bless you abundantly, and PLEASE use the funds well and always extend
the good work to others.
Please, Contact my lawyer, Barrister Frank White, with all these
specified email addresses-:
BARRISTER FRANK WHITE CHAMBERS
Email: barrfrankwhite@myway.com
barrfrankwhite.chambers@lawyer.com
Telephone No: +44 (0) 704 573 1919
+44 (0) 704 573 1925
Fax: +44 (0) 707 505 5753
Please ensure that you copy all your correspondence to the email address above.
Please tell him that I have WILLED (£850,000.00) to you.
Good luck in all your future Endeavour’s!
Thanks,
Mrs. Deborah Hutton.
deborah.hutton50@yahoo.co.uk
CC: barrfrankwhite@myway.com
barrfrankwhite.chambers@lawyer.com
Here was my response:
… and, in the name of God, greetings to you, too. First, thanks for the bucks. Good choice on your part. There is no one more deserving.
Are you a Mets fan? I am and they’re in the midst of a terrible choke job. Would you pray for them?
Sorry about the lose of your hubby. It could be, however, a mixed blessing. You know how it goes, “… one less bell to answer, one less egg to fry…” [These lyrics are from a Bachrach/David song, sung by the 5th Demention. Are you up for some trivia? Name that song, if you’re still with us, Dorothy. May I call you Dotty? Do you remember Polka Dotty?] and all the other little niceties of being single.
As for your cancer. You know I’m no doctor, but you should get that looked at. Perhaps a faith healer who can turn the cancer to flatulence and then you can blow it out your arse. :-)
RZT
Post Barry SF Giants Prognosis
First, a tip of me NY Giants cap to Peter McGowan for takin’ the high [no pun] road during the recent parting of the ways with his erstwhile main attraction. In essence the organization is taking “winning” off the back burner. Loyal fans and I rejoice.
Here are a few thoughts:
< Jack Hiatt [one of the nicest, hardworking men in baseball] rose from the position of roving minor league catching instructor to being in charge of player development with “Peter Principal” like consequences. It’s been over ten years now and the results speak for themselves.
< I’ve said this before, but it’s worth reiterating: The Giants announcing team, in some ways the voice of the organization, is one of the most talented of all time. Jon Miller, Kruk and Kuip, Greg Papa… add the phenom, Dave Flemming. They’re all awesome. In the real world of “baseball is a business,” their importance can’t be overstated. Revenues and budgets for salaries, free agent signings, draft signings, and player [non?] development run hand and hand. Make no mistake. These guys put butts in the seats and lines at the concession stands.
< Kevin Frandsen is ready for every day play and Ray Durham is ready for the scrap heap.
< I notice a tremendous similarity between recently re-promoted Fred Lewis and the 1986 Barry Bonds. Since his recall, Lewis is demonstrating plate discipline. That combined with his speed and pop in his bat makes him as good a prospect as Rajai Davis. [And, as an aside, who was the idiot in Pittsboig that gave him up for the “privilege” of taking on Matt Morris’ contract?]
< Noah Lowery needs to stay. Pitchers don’t grow on trees. [Fortunately “tree” grows on trees.]
< I’m *really* sure they’ll bring back future Hall O’ Famer Omar Vizquel. Not a game goes by when he doesn’t amaze in the field. In his honor, I invented a new stat: “Thrills Per Game” [TPG]. My man leads the league. The best part? It’s easy to see that he’s having fun. What a rare combo.
< Andruw Jones needs the Giants and the Giants need him. FYI, he’s 28 years old. Sign him and win it all, me thinketh.
< Sign Eric Gagne or spend da winta wondering if Brian Wilson is ready. Tough cherce. That’s why they pay Brian Sabean the big bucks. That said, it’s McGowan making the important [major. key, financial] final decisions. This is the same Peter McGowan who headed up Safeway when it was company policy to paint the old meat red, with food coloring, and sell it as fresh. As Casey Stengel would have said, “you can look it up.”
< Barry Zito back to the A’s with the Giants assuming half the contract sounds reasonable to me.
“San Francisco Is Here,…
… Wish You Were Beautiful.”… I saw this bumper sticker and laughed.
Mets tanking? The Sea Otters Drowned.
As I peck, the Phils have gone ahead and threaten to come within a game and a half of the Mets. Being a fan of the Amazing Ones oft times is not easy. El Dukey is rumored to be more seriously hurt than is being reported… On a happier note, Pedro’s comeback has been tremendous. Jose Reyes is Hall O’ Fame bound [if he stays away from health and head problems], and David Wright can someday run for Mayor. They’re getting their new stadium and the Wilpons don’t back away from spending money. Being a fan of the Amazing Ones is oft times not easy.
The team I manage in my fantasy league, the Sea Otters [Amerika’s Team], fell out of contention last week with a resounding thud. Not a thrill. Highlights of the year include Thome going deep for # 500 as an Otter, picking Ryan Braun and Spencer Pence the day they were called up, and finally having the sense to settle on Mark Ellis [who tripled in three this evening] as my second baseman… Lowlights, you ask? Not enough cyberspace to detail, but trading Brian Roberts for fellow Alamedian Dontrelle Willis [a third of the way in] and dumping Josh Beckett before the season for Vernon Wells aren’t shining moments.
Next year? A long wait.
Get Your O.J. Jokes Elsewhere…
… get the facts here.
An “O. J. joke” is a redundancy.
Mr. Simpson is likely to ask for a change of venue… downtown L.A.
Don’t laugh. It worked once.
Besides, it makes it easier for the Goldmans to attend the trial.
Bringing Home The Dupes
On the heals of “W” approving a modest troop reduction, our esteemed Secretary O’ Defense du jour, hints that more troops than Bush estimated will soon come marching [limping?] home. Maybe it occurred to them that being in the middle of another country’s [un] civil war is *never* a good idea, brain train.
As predicted here, it’s now apparent we lost the war [crusade], spent trillions of bucks in so doing, and ended up killing and being killed by a bunch of folks who hate us more than before we “liberated” them. On top of that, veterans’ hospitals are still in the process of not caring for victims of other wars and/or police actions. Not much in the budget for a current crop of rookies.
Ralph Nader was accurate. We need a third party, comprised of folks who aren’t in any way connected to the ones presently controlling us.
On the afternoon of the anniversary of 9/11, last week, I stopped by to see a former socialist comrade. He’s posing [“passing?”] these days as a conservative who clings to the belief that his heroes Gonzales, Rove, and Libby aren’t just a new version of All The President’s Men [Scumbags], Ehrlichman, Dean and Liddy. His Nixon-like American flag lapel pin almost made me puke, as does his newly found political ideology. He continues to defend a bogus war and a fascist administration. On my next walk, I’ll choose the sunny side of the street.
We’ve both been so let down by our respective parties, as have our fellow Americans. What is particularly galling to me [the man I love] is that those folk with Halliburton stocks in blind trusts, are laughing at us over their caviar.
… and the beat goes on.
A Great Baseball Week
My gumba and fellow baseball fanatic, Andrew Dosa, and I shared three nights of baseball together in three different cities. It was terrific.
Tuesday, we caught the Blue Jays in Oakland [ten minutes from home in Alameda]. The heat wave we’ve been experiencing in California, makes for great night-ball weather.
Wednesday we drove to the state capitol, Sacramento, to see the River Cats, featuring manager Tony DeFrancesco [the former catcher and teammate of Mo Vaugn at Seton Hall who is pictured bellow]. I believe Tony will be the next A’s manager, if and when they dump Bob Geren.
They may be a minor league team, but their prices are big league.
We stopped for a Zelda’s Pizza in Sacramento. Zelda passed away, we learned, but I was able to contain my grief long enough to gobble down three large deep dish slices. RIP, Zelda. Small consolation perhaps, but your employees are enjoying the health insurance the new owner provides, and the pizza is still fantastic. The best in California.
Saturday we went to Stockton to see the Ports, the A’s high A team in the California League. The later two cities [A’s farm teams, both] have brand new stadia that we were seeing for the first time. Both are wonderful. Stockton’s is especially charming. Quite an upgrade from old Billy Hebert Statium.
Watching young players on their way up [Daric Barton], or in some cases [Danny Putnam?] on their way down, is and always has been, the highlight of my baseball season.
Thanks for your company, Andrew.
Comfortably Zoned with Ralph Zig Tyko 