Rainy Day Videos

With rain, tarps, and all-around stress, time for some comic relief. Enjoy.

Lindsay Lohan's eHarmony Profile from Lindsay Lohan

Batman Garage Sale with Adam West from Adam West

MLB Stadium Visit #27

Staci and I made the long drive to NY on Sunday to see the new Mets' stadium, Citi Field. The stadium itself was great, but the Jackie Robinson Rotunda took my breath away. It was designed to resemble the historic Brooklyn Dodgers' stadium, Ebbets Field. And it did not fail to disappoint, as they missed no detail, down to the light fixtures. The tribute to Jackie was everywhere, from the old games playing on big screens, to pictures and a giant "42" that you can take pictures with. Definitely a must-see for any baseball fan.

48 Brutal Hours

As smoothly as the first 3 days of the first '09 homestand went, Tuesday and Wednesday went in the completely opposite direction. The rain started Sunday night, and was so bad, that our Monday game was postponed by early afternoon, which hardly ever happens. Our start time for Tuesday was 5AM. We pulled tarp, and then proceeded to grill 4000 hot dogs for our Middle School Day, which was now a doubleheader. After cooking, I headed to the side merchandise store, where I set a record for amount spent at the stand. Then it started to rain again, so instead of leaving at 1:30, we were there until 6PM.

After a few hours of sleep, we were to be back for an 8AM tarp pull, which led to 2 more pulls and a false alarm. Then the cleaning crew quit, so our entire front office had to clean a stadium that had been overrun with 4000 kids, on top of our normal work.

A brutal 2 days, but it finally ended and we are all enjoying some R&R for a few days. I'm sure the monsoons will be back in time for Tuesday's game.

1st P-Nats Weekend

The 1st 3 games of the '09 season went rather well. Some highlights from my responsibilities:

- The revamped Team Store was a big hit with the owner, and great sales came through on Opening Night and Saturday.

- I got to meet and greet my first 2 groups of the season, and all went well with that as well.

- Money Room started slowly through no fault of our own, but we quickly found a groove.

- Paul and I reinstituted our '07 tradition of Dippin Buns (patent pending), and it was delicious (see above).

- P-Nats won 2 of 3.

We had a rainout tonight, doubleheader tomorrow. 5AM start, pull tarp, 4000 kids. Can't wait.

62 since 42

62 years today, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball. A man who dealt with pain, insults, and racism more than any one of us will ever know. Every player in Major League Baseball is wearing 42 today in Jackie's honor, and that is a tribute that surely has him looking down and smiling.

Putting The Bull in Bull Durham

Let me start by saying that "Bull Durham" is one of my two favorite baseball movies ("Field of Dreams" being the other). And let me also say that virtually no one but me would notice a small discrepancy, or even care. But as we were watching "Bull Durham" on Friday night during my annual pre-season ritual, I paid more attention than usual.

"Durham" is set in the 1987 Carolina League, of which the Durham Bulls were a part of, and features many of the teams in the league at that time. The authentic uniforms and stadiums are a great snapshot of the time and especially thrilling for an amateur baseball historian like myself. But there's a few small problems. Here are the actual Carolina League teams from '87:

Durham Bulls
Prince William Yankees
Kinston Indians
Winston-Salem Spirits
Peninsula White Sox
Salem Buccaneers
Hagerstown Suns
Lynchburg Mets


Every one of these teams is shown and/or mentioned during the movie- except the Prince William Yankees (who became the Potomac Cannons, and my current Potomac Nationals). That's bad enough- except the movie also includes the Greensboro Hornets and Fayetteville Generals, who were not in the Carolina, but the South Atlantic, League at that time. So what possessed the makers of this movie to exclude one team and include 2 non-teams, when everything else was so accurately done? It may be a mystery that is never answered.

A True Baseball Curse

The tragic death of Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart on Thursday morning was shocking and sad. Only 22 years old, and having just pitched 6 shutout innings the night before for the Angels, Adenhart was killed by an idiot who ran a stop sign. Adenhart was thought of as an up-and coming pitcher who overcame surgeries and a 14th round selection, and an all-around good guy.

After digesting all of this yesterday, I started thinking about the so-called curses of baseball: Red Sox (Curse of the Bambino), Cubs (Goat Curse), Phillies (Curse of William Penn). All of these are silly notions that have to do with lack of championships and general ridiculousness. But the LA/California/Anaheim/LA Angels feels like a truly cursed team. Consider that since the expansion team began in 1961:

1965: Pitcher Dick Wantz died of a brain tumor just a month after his debut.
1972: Infielder Chico Ruiz is killed in a car accident.
1974: Pitcher Bruce Heinbechner is killed in a car accident.
1977: Shortstop Mike Miley is killed during spring training in a car accident.
1978: All-Star Lyman Bystock is shot and killed in his car, mistaken for someone else.
1989: All-Star reliever Donnie Moore shot his wife and killed himself, after fighting depression for 3 years following the famous home runs he gave up during the 1986 ALCS.
1992: The Angels team bus crashes on the way back from series in new York, severely injuring Manager Buck Rodgers.

All these things, plus a team that never won a championship for 41 years, led many to believe that the Angels were cursed. But all of that seemed behind them- a World Series title in 2002, a consistently winning team, and no tragedies for 17 years- until yesterday. And other teams have tragedies as well- Daryl Kile, Steve Olin, Tim Crews, Thurman Munson. But the Angels seem to have had more than their share. All things may not be related, but the sadness of Nick Adenhart's way-too-soon passing makes one wonder- is this the baseball curse that should really be taken seriously?

'09 Playoff & Award Predictions

AL MVP- Evan Longoria, Rays
NL MVP- Manny Ramirez, Dodgers

AL Cy Young- CC Sabathia, Yankees
NL Cy Young- Cole Hamels, Phillies

ALDS:
Angels over Rays
Red Sox over Twins

ALCS: Angels over Red Sox

NLDS:
Phillies over Cubs
Dodgers over Mets

NLCS: Dodgers over Phillies

World Series: Angels over Dodgers

Opening Day!

Enjoy one of the best days of the year, when even Pirates and Nats fans have hope!!

NL West Preview '09

First time I'm predicting my team to win the division. Which means they'll lose 100 games.

1. LA Dodgers
2. San Francisco Giants
3. Arizona Diamondbacks
4. Colorado Rockies
5. San Diego Padres

NL Central Preview '09

With me having an extremely busy week, I fell behind and must do a quick preview of the last 2 divisions. First up, NL Central.

1. Chicago Cubs
2. Cincinnati Reds
3. Milwaukee Brewers
4. St Louis Cards
5. Houston Astros
6. Pittsburgh Pirates

NL East Preview '09

A top-heavy division, with the Mets and Phils primed to fight it our again this year.

1. Philadelphia Phillies- The current World Champs are primed for another run, if the injuries don't pile up too quickly. Ace Cole Hamels and Chase Utley are both in rough shape right now, but should be back soon enough (esp. Hamels). The lineup is solid, top to bottom, and Ibanez is an upgrade over departed Pat Burrell. As long as centurion Jamie Moyer doesn't realize how old he is, and Cahn Ho park doesn't realize he's Chan Ho Park, the Phils should be division winners again.

2. New York Mets- Big moves were made to upgrade the horrible Mets' bullpen. K-Rod and JJ Putz will take care of the last 2 innings for the Mets, which will help a rotation that, with the exception of Johan Santana, can barely make it 6 innings. And besides Reyes and Wright, this lineup is old, and not that impressive.

3. Atlanta Braves- Derek Lowe is an underrated acquisition, and will lead the rotation. Brian McCann and Jordan Schafer lead the young players, while Chipper and Garrett try to have one more good year. Mike Gonzalez is a serviceable closer.

4. Florida Marlins- Who knows what the Fish will do from year to year? Having Hanley Ramirez is not a bad start, and Cantu and Uggla will provide good protection for him. The bullpen is mostly unproven, which is usually not a good thing. And the rotation is much of the same.

5. Washington Nationals- Shouldn't be as painful as last year, but not much better. The lineup is not bad, with Dunn and Zimmerman leading the charge. But the rotation is so full of question marks- John Lannan will be the ace, in his 2nd full year. Former P-Nats Martis and Jordan Zimmermann (above) will show if they're ready for primetime.