This Tripleheader Brought To You By..

..Excederin and Pepto Bismol. 3 games in 18 hours- doubleheader last night and 11AM game today. At least I get to crash after this..and Toronto on Friday!!

A Case of the Mon-day Funnies

Some hilarious videos to start your week, courtesy of FunnyorDie.com. Warning: first video has offensive language, so be careful if you're at work. Enjoy!

I can't tell you how many times I wanted to act this way at various restaurant jobs:

Russell Martin is a God

My love of Dodgers catchers goes back 25 years, from reading everything I could about Roy Campanella, to following the hard-nosed Mike Scioscia in the 80's, the power-hitting Mike Piazza in the 90's, and the (supposed) feel-good story Paul LoDuca in the 00's. But current superstar catcher Russell Martin may beat them all out by the time he is done. While not having the power of my #1 boy Piazza, he plays defense and runs much better. And last night he added another feather in the cap of his young career. Martin went 4 for 4 with 2 walks, 2 RBIs and the game winning sacrifice fly in the 13th inning. 7 productive ABs in one game and it's still not the best thing he did. In the 9th inning, when Nomar went out with an injury AGAIN, and nobody left on the bench but backup catcher Gary Bennett, Joe Torre asked Martin to play third base, where he's played exactly one game(2003 in low minors) since high school. Russell willingly did so, and did it well. A superstar who had no problems playing an unfamiliar position for the good of the team. Keep it up, Russell, and thanks for keeping us cynics of the game believing just a little.

Cowboys Moving and Misstepping

I am completely disgusted with my Dallas Football Cowboys right now. They traded for the league's most notorious peace-of-shit "gangsta", Pac-Man Jones (pictured above when he was still an innocent video game character). Pac is well known for his involvement in shooting up strip clubs or watching his henchman permanently disable someone. Add this to TO(who's a pain in the ass, never accused of a crime) and Tank Johnson(another gangsta), and I grow more discouraged with my lifelong team every day. Now, on paper, the deal is sweet for Dallas- they give up a meaningless 4th round pick, and that's only if Pac Man stays out of trouble and gets reinstated. No risk for admittedly one of the best corners in the game. But at what cost morally are we trying to win a championship? Let's hope the Pac-inator doesn't "make it rain" at one of the dozens of Dallas area strip clubs and further damage a once-proud franchise.

TWIB Notes 4/23

Even with the PA Primary commanding my attention, I have had time to mull over the ridiculousness that continues to be April baseball:

- Memo to Hank "Sonny Corleone" Steinbrenner: Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! Do you really think that shooting your mouth off will make winners of your dad's(ie not your) team? Joba Chamberlain (above) belongs in the bullpen, at least for right now. Maybe for good. He's got a closer's mentality and an awesome fastball. Starters are much easier to find than a lights-out closer. And Rivera will not last forever. Regardless, you, Hankie-boy, have no baseball sense and have never earned anything in your life. So crawl back in your hole and let the baseball people do their thing.

- Miguel Tejada lied about his age? Why, he seemed like such an honest and forthcoming person, with his "B-12" shots and clubhouse negativity. But, do we really care about this? He was 19 and poor, and not 17 and poor; would this really have stopped him from being signed? The answer is no.

- Mike Jacobs and Nate McClouth: please pinch yourselves before this gets out of hand. You guys aren't this good, are you??

- Frank Thomas was released this week, joining Kenny Lofton, Mike Piazza, among others, as unemployed 1990's superstars who can still contribute. Damn youth movements...

- Congrats to John Smoltz on his 3000th strikeout. One of baseball's true class acts.

- The Dodgers still can't hit. In fact, they stink. My suicide watch continues..

Keystone Victory

My girl Hillary won last night in my former and current home state of PA, 55-45. It is probably not enough to get her back from long-shot in this race against Obama, but it was nice to see her pull out a win here. The reasons Obama didn't win? There may be many, but I don't think it's because the "rednecks" voted for Hillary because of Obama's "bitter" comments last week. Some, including my wife, think this is the case. The reason I don't believe this to be true, is that many of the people he supposedly disparaged are on the Republican side, and thus couldn't vote for either in a closed primary.

Regardless, I think this just begs the powers that be in the DNC to try to find a way to combine these two forces into the superticket that Republicans dreamed about in 1980 with Reagan and Ford. I know it's a long shot, but two candidates working together to bring together this country- what a novel idea!

Primary Diversion

Some light-heartedness on the day of the PA Primary. One for each of the candidates. :)

Here is the hilarious spoof of Barack as Rocky, as seen on Olbermann:



And a funny-ass love song to Hillary by The Clintons:

Hillary Rally

I stood in line for 3 hours yesterday to hear my girl Hillary speak in Bethlehem. After all the near-misses with rallies because of work obligations, traffic, or just plain bad luck, it was worth it. (It's amazing that as an avid fan of presidential politics for 20 years, this was my first rally. Damn pre-Internet living.) I got to stand pretty close to the stage, with an overflow crowd of 3000, that's not too shabby for me. I also got to shake PA Governor Ed Rendell's hand- while not a big fan of his, meeting anyone that high up in politics (with a few notable exceptions) is still an honor.



I will be the first to admit that she has run a LA Clippers-like strategy with her campaign, but listening to her speak abut issues was a treat. She went into detail, among other things, about her healthcare plan, her plans to end the "No Child Left Behind" disaster, her autism prevention plan, and an economic plan that has us becoming less dependent on oil. Now, I am not naive enough to believe that all promises will be met if elected- it never happens. But her ideas, much like Barrack's, if they can solve even one of these major US disasters, would be so refreshing after 8 years of devolving as a country. Refreshing indeed. Whoever you root for, Pennsylvanians, just VOTE tomorrow.

Virginia Tech Sad Anniversary

Can't believe it's been a year. Article here.

42

"Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. To be able to hit with everybody yelling at him. He had to block all that out, block out everything but this ball that is coming in at a hundred miles an hour and he's got a split second to make up his mind if it's in or out or down or coming at his head, a split second to swing. To do what he did has got to be the most tremendous thing I've ever seen in sports." -Dodgers Captain Pee Wee Reese

"Life is not a spectator sport. If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion you're wasting your life." -Jackie Robinson

"I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... All I ask is that you respect me as a human being." -Jackie Robinson

I remember the first time I heard the name Jackie Robinson. Walking through my school library when I was 6, I was thrilled to find a book about the Dodgers. Already a huge Dodgers fan, I was intrigued to read about a man called Jackie who once played for my beloved team. I was amazed at what I read, and bugged my Dad with question after question to tell me more. I never looked back, and with all the cynicism that comes with getting older, I still stand in awe of number 42.

With the 61st anniversary of Jackie becoming the first African-American baseball player in modern times being today, it is only right to remember a man who did as much for racial relations in the 20th century as anyone. While there were black players who were better players than Jackie at the time (Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell), it is inarguable that no one could have handled the pressure that came with that onus. He was harrassed, spiked, had profanities and items thrown at him. Dixie Walker and other Southern teammates demanded trades not only out of racism, but because they feared their "people" would call for their heads for taking the field with a black man.

Yet Jackie persevered, and then some. The first Rookie of the Year, the 1949 MVP, a 1955 World Champ, and a 6-time All Star in a 10 year career, Jackie came into his own as a player quickly, never batted an eye while taking abuse, and eventually won even the most racist people over. He opened doors for everyone from Elston Howard, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron to Ken Griffey Jr, Frank Thomas, and Derek Jeter. But his impact, of course, goes well beyond baseball. After his career, Jackie took center stage with the likes of Martin Luther King in the Civil Rights movement. Jackie died much too young, at age 53 in 1972. But his impact can be measured among the greatest Americans who have ever lived.

TWIB Notes 4/14

While I try not to jump off a bridge because of a Dodger 5-7 start:

- Welcome back Randy Johnson, who returns tonight for the D-Backs. Johnson hasn't been healthy in 3 years, but is just 16 wins away from 300. Hopefully he's got a little left to be able to get there.

- Andruw Jones (above) looks very, very bad. Batting .100 with O homers and 1 RBI, the Dodgers are starting to sweat their big new bat. Way too early, and if this slump happened in mid-June, it would basically go unnoticed. But still...

- Does any team look worse than the Tigers? The answer is no. But not for the reasons that I thought they would struggle. Their starting pitching has stunk, their bats have stunk worse, and Jim Leyland just blew a gasket. Again, too early to freak out, but they better get it together soon.

- The Nats' attendance has been underwhelming for their new digs. As it gets warmer, people will come. But I believe they turned people off with the lack of parking. You can push Metro all you want, but some people (including me) would rather walk there than ride on that disaster.

- The Royals keep chugging along, sitting only 1/2 game out of first. The biggest reasons are starters Zach Greinke and Brian Bannister, both with ERAs under 1.00. In a division that's starting to look tighter than expected, KC may be able to look respectable for the first time in 2 decades.

Happy 10th Birthday Lexi!

How can it be that I now have 2 kids in double digits? The simple answer is that I am old. The time that has passed from the day 10 years ago where Alexis Leigh Kenney came into the world is so long, yet so short. You really never forget the day that your child is born, and I can remember every detail of that day. Even though my seeing Lexi has not increased as hoped, I still look forward to the day when it's not so tough. Hope you have a wonderful 10th birthday, Lexi!

Is Hillary Desperate?

My girl's talking about Scranton in a positive light. It's a good ad, but Scranton? Here is the intro to the following ad: "Hillary spent her summers in Scranton growing up, and those memories are part of the foundation of her faith in the American dream." Now that's bad. :)

BK Becomes Bluewinkle K

The one thing you're told when interviewing for baseball jobs is: "Be prepared to pull tarp, and you WILL be a mascot several times." So today, I got to be Rocky BLuewinkle, the lovable moose mascot of the Blue Rocks. We're doing Random Acts of Fun, showing up at random places around town and handing out pocket schedules. Here are some of the pics:

TWIB Notes (WIth Apologies To Mel Allen)- 4/8

More to come when I'm more rested, but here's what's rattling around in my head about the first week:

- White Sox, Royals, Orioles, Marlins, and Cards are in or near first place. This will not last. For more on this, see here.

- It really looks like a Year of The Pitcher may occur for the first time in nearly 20 years. Home runs are way down(no surprise), and alot more 2-1, 3-0 games. I think I'm okay with that. Peavy, Webb, Santana, et al have picked up where they left off.

- Billy Buckner(see above for 1986 moment) threw out the first pitch in Boston and was cheered. Amazing what 2 Series titles in 4 years will do to forgive "curses."

- Moises Alou forgave Steve Bartman, saying he probably couldn't have caught the foul ball infamously touched by Bartman in 2003. Amazing what some perspective can do, eh?

One In The Books

Last night went smoother than expected, as the rain held off and we played 13 innings to start the Blue Rocks season. Blake Wood(above) pitched a heck of a game, but no offense as it was 0-0 for 12 innings. As for me, well, it went well, though my ego already misses hearing my name every 5 seconds over the radio. 69 more to go.

Ready, Set..?

It's finally here- after 2 1/2 months of waiting, Opening Night in Wilmington is here. Or is it? Forecast calls for rain pretty much till Noah and his ark arrive. Right now, it's only cloudy, so we shall see. As I learned last year, the forecast is not always, or even often, correct. The worst thing that could happen is on-and-off rain, which would cause multiple tarp pulls. But, even with all of this, there is a collective buzz around the office. Nothing quite like it that I can compare it to in my experience. So for now- let's play ball!

Ladybug 1993-2008

Sad news from the M&I household today as Ladybug passed away. Ladybug had a long life, much of which is a mystery. What's not a mystery is how good her last couple years were. Mari & Ian rescued her from a shelter and gave her a loving home in which to live out her days. She was always a pleasure to be around and was the most laid-back dog you could ever meet. You will be missed by all who got to meet you, Ladybug.

See Ian's tribute here.

Here We Go Again...

I spoke the other day of inflated projection numbers to start the baseball season- well, here's another. We are preparing for our 3rd tarp pull of the year in a few moments. With ZERO games. With call for rain for every minute till Saturday at 3PM. So, projected out over a 70 game season- that's..infinity. Like Tom Gordon's ERA. I wonder if Staples is hiring?

Nats Continue To Shine

Staci and I went to our first regular season game of the year last night in Philly as the Nats took on the Phils. And what a game it was- an old-fashioned 1-0 pitching duel between Cole Hamels and Tim Redding. Washington's Redding, a scrap-heap pickup last year, pitched a one-hitter into the eighth inning. It was the first one-hitter I had ever witnessed, and first 1-0 game I had seen in 8 years. Ryan Zimmerman came through with the game-winning homer, and the Nats improved to 3-0. Really. Even with the temp in the 20's with wind, it's great to be going to games again after a long winter.

Early Impressions

- The first correct prediction of the year, made by me- Pedro Martinez "will be broken down before the All Star break." I was a little off- he was broken down by the 4th inning of his 1st game. Horn tooting complete.

- Joe Torre(LA) and Joe Girardi(NY) won their debuts with their new teams- now can we move on from this story? Please?

- Kerry Wood and Eric Gagne, to quote Dennis Green, "are who we thought they are." Implosions heard from miles away. Alot of heart attacks coming for the NL Central.

- Carlos Gomez is already making Twins fans forget about Torii Hunter.

Now, for the pointless projections you will inevitably hear some baseball broadcaster or ESPN talking head mention. Based on the first 2 games' stats:

- The Dodgers and Nats will go 162-0.
- Michael Bourn will steal 243 bases.
- Xavier Nady will hit 324 home runs.
- Jonathan Papelbon will have 108 saves.

You gotta love it!