TV Season Comes To A Close

With the season finale of Lost last night, the TV season has come to a close, and my 2nd annual ratings of my favorite shows will commence. Note that every show gets an F for effort due to writers' strike that made ridiculously short seasons.

Back To You- C+ the only new show that I stuck with gets cancelled. Not the greatest show in the world, but smart and funny; and is bringing this show back for a 2nd season really worse than an 8th season (not making that up, folks) of According to Jim???

Til Death- B- the addition of the hilarious JB Smoove(Curb Your Enthusiasm) late this year may save this show in its upcoming 3rd season. A funny enough show with some really good episodes this year.

24- MIA because of writers' strike. Lets hope an extra year's worth of time saves this once-great show after a crappy 6th season last year.

My Name is Earl- D+ Absolutely went wrong this year, sending the main character into an inordinate amount of episodes in prison and a coma. Let's hope it gets back to what made this show great just a year ago.

The Office- A- No complaints here, the Jim and Pam thing was better than could have been expected, Michael got back to being cringe-inducing with a heart of gold; background characters were better fleshed out.

30 Rock- B Started strong but finished a bit weak. Tina Fey is still the funniest woman on TV, and the ensemble of this show could turn this into a "Cheers"-type show, if only people would watch!

Scrubs- C+ I'm biased a little only because I enjoyed all 6 previous season over last summer and was a bit dissapointed in how lackluster this one felt. Thankfully ABC has picked up this show for a final season after being treated horribly by NBC at the end. Let's hope for a high note.

SNL- B Funniest season in awhile, and the political years always help. Amy Poehler needs to do one more year just to keep giving us Update and Hillary.

Family Guy- B The episodes that actually aired were funny as always. All 12 of them, by far the fewest of all the shows.

Lost- A+ Saved the best for last. This season was phoenominal. 14 episodes that didn't leave a moment for filler, chock full of meaty storylines, some answers, and more questions. This has the promise to become the smartest-written show ever. We'll know for sure in 2 years, when we come to the end.

Sheryl!!

It has been a long time since I had been able to see a full Sheryl Crow concert- 11 years, to be exact. So when the opportunity arose to drive to Columbia MD and sit in the 5th row to see my favorite singer, I jumped at the chance. And it could not have been better. Not only was Sheryl fantastic, but sitting that close at any concert for the first time in my life was a pure thrill. As you can see from the pictures, you could almost reach out and touch her from where we sat. I did not, for fear of incarceration. When the BK35 Best Concerts List is made, this will definitely be close to the top.

More Funny Videos

From the FunnyorDie website.

Will Hillary Concede? Some non-work language:



A Will Ferrell classic. Harry Caray on SNL:

BK35- The Albums

With the big "3-5" less than 2 months away, I will be starting a series of lists called "BK35," which will chronicle different aspects of my 12,784 days on this big blue marble. First up- the 35 most important albums of my life. Some will be obvious, if you know me, some may surprise you. Instead of ranking these, I'm breaking these albums into categories that I see fit- it's my blog, wanna fight about it? :) Enjoy:

The Albums That Introduced Me To My Favorite Artists- not necessarily their best work (and in some cases their greatest hits) but without which I may have never found them.

Def Leppard- Pyromania (1983)
Sheryl Crow- Tuesday Night Music Club (1994)
Chicago- IX (1970)
Styx- Paradise Theater (1980)
Frank Sinatra- Duets (1993)
Journey- Greatest Hits (1989)
Survivor- Eye of the Tiger (1981)
Stone Temple Pilots- Core (1993)
Van Halen- 1984 (1984)
Pink Floyd- Division Bell (1994)
Night Ranger- 7 Wishes (1985)
Queen- Greatest Hits (1991)
Eagles- Hotel California (1976)
Billy Joel- Innocent Man (1983)

The College Year Albums- music is such a key part of life, but it seems especially so in college.

No Doubt- Tragic Kingdom (1996)
Live- Throwing Copper (1994)
Bush- Sixteen Stone (1995)
Stone Temple Pilots- Purple (1994)
Rage Against The Machine- Rage Against The Machine (1994)
Tool- Undertow (1993)
Billy Joel- Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2 (1985)
Sheryl Crow- The Globe Sessions (1998)
Meatloaf- Bat Out Of Hell (1978)

The Best of the Best- desert island material.

Def Leppard- Hysteria (1987)
Frank Sinatra- Sings For Only The Lonely (1962)
Bon Jovi- New Jersey (1988)
Foo Fighters- One By One (2002)
Billy Joel- Songs In The Attic (1977)
Survivor- Vital Signs (1984)
Norah Jones- Come Away With Me (2002)
Pink Floyd- Dark Side of the Moon (1975)
Michael Jackson- Thriller (1983)
Creed- Human Clay (1999)
Guns N Roses- Lies (1988)
Def Leppard- On Through The Night (1980)

Thanks For The Memories, Mikey

"After discussing my options with my wife, family and agent, I felt it was time to start a new chapter in my life. It has been an amazing journey ... So today, I walk away with no regrets." - Mike Piazza, May 20, 2008

A week after writing about the loss of Piazza a decade ago (SI cover that came out this week is below), a whole new pain has arisen from that same arena- although this one was a little more of a forgone conclusion. Michael Joseph Piazza, finding no offers for more than semi-full time work from any MLB team, retired late Tuesday. It has been well documented that Piazza was chosen in the 62nd round in the 1988 amateur draft as a favor to family friend and Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda. He had never caught a day in his life before being drafted, and was on absolutely no one's radar. He ends his amazing 16-year career with these results:

- The all time home run leader for catchers with 396 (427 HRs total). Carlton FIsk is 2nd, 45 behind him with 351.

- 6 years of batting .300, 30 HRs, 100 RBIs, 3 more than any catcher has ever had.

- 12-time All-Star, 10-time Silver Slugger, 1993 Rookie of the Year, finished in the top 5 in MVP voting 4 times, usually losing to steroid-induced idiots like Sosa and Caminiti.

- Finishes career with .308 average, 427 HRs, and 1355 RBIs with the Dodgers, Marlins, Mets, Padres and A's.

Mike is, without question, the greatest-hitting catcher in the history of baseball and a sure-fire first ballot Hall-of-Famer. With any justice, the HOF will induct him wearing a Dodgers hat. His statistics with the Dodgers and Mets are nearly identical, so the edge has to go to the team that gave him his start. Either way, I will be sitting there in Cooperstown in August 2013 to watch my all-time favorite player become enshrined. We will miss you, Mikey.

Bittersweet Symphony

Last night was the first game here between my former and current teams- and it was strange. Unfortunately, none of the P-Nats front office were able to make it up, but I did run into pitching coach Randy Tomlin and pitcher Jack Spradlin, both of whom remembered me and exchanged pleasantries. It was the most of a game I had seen all year here, and I found myself not knowing who to root for- the P-Nats, who are well on their way to the first half title, or the Rocks, who are foundering in third and hoping for a regrouping in the 2nd half. I decided to stay neutral, and the P-Nats won 5-2 behind future pitching star Ross Detwiler. I'm sure it won't be as strange in the future, but if I work for a third Carolina League team next year, that's when it gets complicated.

TWIB Notes 5/20

- Have to start with the obvious- Jon Lester's no-hit game last night was the REAL feel-good story thus far this year. A year ago, Lester (above) wasn't even strong enough to stand on a mound, as he was recovering from a rare form of cancer. To see him return late last year was wonderful, and last night was simply incredible.

- Lance berkman is just hitting the ball silly, hitting .389 (2nd), 16 HRs (1st), and 44 RBIs (1st). Talk of a Triple Crown is pointless in every way in May, but keep an eye on this kid- he could go places.

MLB is already at the quarter mark of the '08 season, and while some things are still out whack, some of the baseball universe has returned to normal.

- First, the normal: Boston, Anaheim, Cleveland, the Mets and the Cubs all reside at or very near the top of their divisions. Cleveland and the Mets are still only so-so, the rest of their divisions have just come back to earth.

- The abnormal: Tampa, White Sox, Florida and St Louis all continue to linger near the top. At some point, these teams will either show their true colors are force people to really start to believe.

- The downright putrid: Detroit, San Diego and Seattle have the worst records in baseball. All potential division winners, the wheels have continued to stay off, and something drastic will have to take place soon for these teams to recover.

To hear from the Tim Kurkjian to my Buster Olney, see here.

A New Minor League Jewel

On Friday, we treked the 15 miles to the new ballpark in Allentown, home of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. I was afraid I would be biased against it because of the shoddy way I was treated during my job hunt last fall, but you can't deny beauty like this. The stadium is simply amazing. Everything from the outer fascade to the comfortable seats (Which unfortunately were wet because of the rain), even the food was memorable. I'm sure, with this being our "home" team now, that Staci and I will make plenty of trips to see the I-Pigs.

Olbermann's Citi Field Tour

Following up last week's tour of Yankee Stadium, Keith toured the new Mets' stadium, Citi Field. This one I am really excited about: the front area will be almost exact to old Ebbets Field.

A Decade Hasn't Stopped The Pain

Tomorrow will be 10 years since the "perfect storm" hit my life. On May 14, 1998, within hours of each other, my favorite show (Seinfeld) ran its last show (a stinker, by the way). My favorite singer, Frank Sinatra, passed away. But worst of all, one of the most ridiculous trades in baseball history took place, and it involves my favorite player. Since this a (mostly) baseball blog, I will concentrate on this.



The Dodgers, recently taken over by Fox, decided instead of negotiating with potential free agent Mike Piazza, to trade him and third baseman Todd Zeile to the Marlins for OF Bobby Bonilla, OF Gary Sheffield, PH Jim Eisenreich, C Charles Johnson, and P Manuel Barrios. The Marlins, 5 days later, traded Piazza to the Mets. First, the stats for the players, post-trade Dodger career:

Bonilla- 72 games, .237, 7 HRs, 30 RBIs
Sheffield- 3 1/2 yrs, .312, 129 HRs, 367 RBIs
Eisenreich- 75 games, .197, 0 HRs, 6 RBIs
Johnson- 102 games, .217, 12 HRs, 35 RBIs
Barrios- 1 inning pitched

And the careers of the two traded Dodgers?
Zeile- 7 years, .260, 96 HRs, 470 RBIs
Piazza- 10 years, .295, 250 HRs, 772 RBIs

Lop-sided, to be sure- Sheffield was a productive pain in the ass, everyone else was riding the last train of their careers. But it was much more than this- in '98, the Dodgers were on the verge of greatness, 5 straight Rookies of the Year, 2 playoff appearances and a 90-win season- potentially a pitcher or two away from a couple World Series championships. And maybe even more importantly, the face of the franchise was gone- and the last one that LA has had. There are so few players who embody an entire team-think Jeter, Pujols, Gwynn. This was the beginning of the end of the tradition of Dodger baseball- 2 playoff appearances in 10 years, 0 playoff series wins. 6 managers in 10 years, after 2 in the previous 43 years. New ownership has tried to undo all the damage done by evil Fox's regime (Kevin Brown, anyone?), but it is a long painful process. And it all started when the greatest-hitting catcher in history was traded for the equivalent of a bag of baseballs.

Olbermann's New Yankee Stadium Tour

Pretty decent video of the inside of the new stadium, courtesy of diehard Yankee fan Keith Olbermann. The most interesting thing to me? A diehard baseball fan who worked in sports for 2 decades, Olbermann has been to 27 Major League Parks- only 3 more than me. :)

Wilmington in NYC Paper

Well, kinda. Article in the New York Post about Salem Avalanche's Koby Clemens, son of you-know-who, and his struggles because of unnamed father. The Post was here on Monday to interview Clemens as Salem has been playing the Blue Rocks. Full text below:


May 7, 2008 -- WILMINGTON, Del. - As Koby Clemens travels to Carolina League stadiums from Delaware to South Carolina, he hears the hecklers. As he walks past the clubhouse TVs tuned to ESPN, he hears the commentators joking about his family. He tries to tune it out, but sometimes he'd like to yell back.

"I just want people to look themselves in the mirror before they judge," Koby said. "People make mistakes. I'm not perfect. I'm sure you're not perfect. Nobody's perfect."

Switching from third base to catcher should have been the most difficult part of this season for Koby Clemens. Instead he's spent bus rides from Delaware to Myrtle Beach thinking of his family back home in Texas, trying to tune out TV talking heads screaming about what his father may or may not have done. The 21-year-old is Roger ClemensRoger Clemens ' oldest son and is in his fourth year in the Astros farm system, currently playing for the Salem (Va.) Avalanche.

His father's inclusion in the Mitchell Report and the subsequent fallout overturned his life. Since then, he's watched his father get beat up in the media, the latest round dealing with whether his father was faithful to his mother.

He sat down with The Post last night before his team faced Wilmington and acknowledged the last few months have been difficult, but the recent storm has not fractured his family.

"We're strong and closer than ever," Clemens said. "No matter what anybody can write, no matter what anybody can say, you'll never break our family. That's how I feel about it. I'm not even going to give him a name because I'm not as low as that guy."

That guy is, of course, Brian McNamee, his father's former trainer and the man who has accused his father of using steroids.

"There's a lot of people that you think are your real friends. As it's gone further and further there aren't that many people pulling for my dad anymore, which really hurts. There's a lot of people that have done tons and tons of worse stuff, including the man that is against him."

Koby Clemens has thrown himself into baseball. He was batting .292 with one home run and 12 RBIs before last night, but the harder part has been adjusting to his new position. Koby has leaned on his father for advice on how to call games and how to communicate with pitchers.

"I can say that there is no person that could say that they could possibly ever have a better dad than I've had," he said. "My dad's always been there for me. My dad's done so much for other people. That's what really fires me up and (ticks) me off."

Red Hot And Dodger Blue

Dodgers have come on as the hottest team in baseball the last two weeks, winning 10 of 11 to pull within 3 of the cooled-down Diamondbacks. As with any streak, a team usually wins in many different ways. Last night was yet another, as rookie feel-good story Blake DeWitt hit an inside-the-park home run as the Mets' Ryan Church fell down on the job. See the video below to enjoy. DeWitt started spring training no better than fourth on the Dodger third baseman depth chart behind Nomar, Andy LaRoche, and Tony Abreu. Then ALL THREE went down with long-term injuries. DeWitt was sent down when Nomar became healthy, then called up a few days later when Nomar was injured again. All he's done is hit .317 with 18 RBIs while playing a solid defnese. Let's hope he keeps the job when the others come back.

The biggest reason for the Dodgers' resurgence from a lackluster start is the offense has finally started to warm up. Matt Kemp(above) was named Player of the Week after hitting at a .414 clip with 11 RBIs- simply en fuego. Torre seems to have found the right mix with lineups and playing time. Now if we could only get rid of Andruw Jones...

Toronto Trip

We had a great trip this weekend up to Toronto. It's a very nice city, clean, friendly, and easy to navigate with plenty to do. Staci, Ian and myself went to the Hockey Hall of Fame, the CN Tower, and of course, a Blue Jays game. The Skydome was a cool place to see a game, and I was pleasantly surprised to see knowledgeable fans that lived and died with every pitch. Very fun weekend with our neighbors to the north!

Buzzie Bavasi 1915-2008

Roy Campanella’s Introduction to Buzzie

Anyway, Finch (an assistant to Branch Rickey with the Dodgers) was on the phone again to Rickey. Roy sat back hopefully, and when Finch smiled for the first time as he spoke again on the phone, the relieved ballplayer felt the gloom lift from his heart. “It’s all set,” Finch grinned. “I told you that Bavasi was a swell fellow. Real progressive guy. When I explained to him that you were one of the Negro players Mr. Rickey wanted, he almost got sore at me. ‘I don’t care if he’s green with orange spots or got two heads,’ he hollered at me. ‘If he can catch and hit, send him up.’”- Milton J. Shapiro, The Roy Campanella Story, 1958


Being away for the weekend, I didn't have a chance to write about the passing of yet another of the Brooklyn Dodger greats, this time one of their finest executives. If there are trades to be made in heaven, Buzzie is already working the phones to get DiMaggio and Spahn for next to nothing. From MLB.com's article:

"Bavasi spent 44 years in organized baseball including 34 in the Major Leagues. He got his start in 1939 as the traveling secretary and publicity director for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He served various roles in the Dodgers front office, before being promoted to the position of general manager before the 1951 season.

As the long-time general manager for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers from 1951-68, his clubs won eight NL pennants and four World Championships in his 17 years at the helm. He built the Dodgers' only World Championship team in Brooklyn (1955), building clubs that included Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Don Newcombe, Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese and Roy Campanella. He then led the Dodgers to three World Championships following their move to Los Angeles (1959, '63, '65).

Bavasi also played a key role in Jackie Robinson's integration into Major League Baseball, the first African-American player to appear in the Major Leagues. Bavasi spent four years in the military during World War II, serving in the infantry as a machine gunner from 1943-46."

TWIB Notes 5/1

Hard to believe a month is already in the books for the Major League baseball season. As usual, some teams have already come back to earth (Nats, Royals), some continue to amaze (Cards, DEVIL Rays), and some are right where they should be (Red Sox, Cubs). For more on the Cards and Chipper Jones adoration, stop by here.

Other news to close out April:

- Josh Hamilton (above) continues his feel-good story for a second year. After years of severe personal and drug-related problems, former top prospect Hamilton leads the AL in RBIs and appears to have cleaned up his act completely.

- The Dodgers have finally gotten hot, winning 5 in a row. And they're doing it by...hitting?? Wow..They still have those ridiculous Diamondbacks ahead of them, however. My thougt is that the D-Backs cannot stay that hot. Let's hope not.

- The hopeful crumbling of the Yanks continues as A-Rod, Jorge Posada and Phil Hughes are all on the DL. I won't truly believe they're out of it till the D-Rays are up by 20 games. I'm sorry, I meant Red Sox.

- On a personal note, I get MLB stadium number 24 in on Sunday as we head to Toronto. Roy Halladay pitching as I see my first game out of the US. Should be awesome!