Trip Notes and the Off Season

Scouting Trip

I was on a 11 day - 5 island Carribean cruise, and as you can see the Pittsburgh Pirates were looking for a new manager, another stooge they can blame things on when they 70-92 next year.  The guy to left doesn't look much smarter either, so maybe their choice was better.

A great vacation folks, the wife and I were very happy, and are hoping to plan another one for 2012 I am guessing.  In gthe interim, back to reality, baseball in it's silly season, awards all handed out, and to the right players and managers.

Now we begin with the Cliff Lee dance, but at least there are only 2 teams, NY and Texas, and if he signs in the next 2 weeks, the winter does not drag on wondering what happens to all the other pitchers who have to wait out where Lee lands.

If he gets a 7 year deal from the Yanks, I cannot see Nolan Ryan matching, but 6 years, $130 million , well maybe, with bank financing as well.

Nutzy crazy Derek Jeter is trying to pretend he has any leverage against NY, and CA$HMAN at least has the good sense to try and limit the term to 3 years, and $ 15 million, still too much for a diminishing skills player. Even theYanks knew when to say goodbye and farewell to Babe Ruth.  The modern day Bombers are using the media the same way that Jeter's camp is, playing it tough , he has not place else to go, and will be 40, and a very old slow 40 or older when he completes the next and last deal, so who does Derek think he's fooling.

Who pays $ 17 million for 5 years, I mean c'mon pal, it's the Yanks, or nobody, take the money, show up in Tampa in February and try and wipe that smirk off your face, you still hosed New York.

Later on this month I plan on really looking hard at free agents, new playoff structure, and maybe a few Christmas rants and raves.

Off now, Grey Cup Sunday, Go Green Roughies

Let them eat cake

Every Dog Has his day

Tomorrow I celebrate another anniversary of the day I was born, and I never forget for one minute how damn lucky I am.

Family will be there and that is what's important to me. Presents are nice, but uneccessary, as my best present is life and what you experience in it.

In terms of what life has brought me, it's a wonderful 28 year relationship with my wife, a 26 year marriage, and my kids.

The fact that my father is still going at 88, and my 2 sisters have good families of their own. My workmates enjoy my company, and my company respects my talents, so what else is there ?

Well we can hope for our fave teams and players to do well, win the odd championship, but I have had 4 Stanley Cups, 3 Grey Cups, and 6 Super Bowl wins from my teams, plus of course 2 World Series wins, and fantasy baseball, I have 2 Hockey and 2 Baseball championships to boot.

I have everything I could want, so let me use my birthday wish for the following;

1.  How about 10 days of no murders in North America
2.  How about the end to this crap in Afganistan, bring the Canadian boys home for Christmas
3.  While we are at it, can I not offend anyone by saying " Merry Christmas " ??
4.  Can Rob Ford stay on his diet for 2 weeks, the guy looks like a heart attack waiting to happen.
5.  Can the Leafs win enough to make the last month interesting again.
6.  A light snow on Christmas day.
7.  A few more day baseball games
8.  A new puppy in 2011, please....

Playing Catch Up

I had a lot of time between the last blog due to a nice 11 day cruise, whereupon much happened during my absence, so let's try and play a little catch up.

The SF Giants won the series, in 5 games over the Texas Rangers, with relative ease.
The Blue Jays announced a manager, and he in turn announced his complete staff, welcome back Pat Hentgen.
MLB began handing out hardware for Gold Gloves, again to that over hyped guy in New York that plays shortstop.
Manny was sighted in Toronto sparking many tongues wagging about a Manny signing.
Cliff Lee started planning his exit strategy from that sweltering heat in Texas, gezzus christ Cliff, doesn't $25 mill a year buy a peck of AC units.
Brian Cashman trying to live up to his last name, backing up the Brinks truck for said FA Lee.
The game lost a real treasure in Sparky Anderson and then broadcaster Dave Neihaus.

A lot seems to happen when I leave for vacation, but ya know, have to keep the wife happy.

I correspond routinely with Fantasy guru Glen D, now touring France chasing Elliott Murphy from venue to venue. He e-mails that the Toronto Sun report the Jays may be trying to deal with KC for Greinke and Alex Gordon for "can't miss prospects",  does that mean Snider and Drabek ??? C'mon Glen, you're on freakin holidays, lay off the internet.

Chris Bosh continues this Toronto rant with the one about enduring bad cable channels, ah tell this motor mouth to shut the hell up already, he has gone way past annoying, and he's approaching heemoroid territory.

Also of note we see that Jose Bautista can bargain with his Silver Slugger Award in tow, are you paying attention Alex, opening bid is now $ 12 million for 5 years, and if wins the MVP , the $15 million per annum awaits.

A few routine signings, releases, and manager carousel of course in Metland, Pittsburgh and other exotic locales, while Timmy Lincecum has his photos taken in Orlando with Goofy, Mickey and the Duke, no make that Donald Duck, his fave. The G-Men looked like the team with all the mojo, winning with the bat boy in the outfield and the trainer on 3rd, jsut as long as The Freak, Cain and The Beard were pitching, you could have had McCovey at 1st, and Tom Haller catching, and they would have won.

The Rangers edge throught the playoffs seemed to depth of rotation, and timely hitting, and big innings, none of those did they enjoy in the World Series.

Have to say quickly I am enjoying a book called Crazy 08', a time period baseball book my son downloaded that is not a history lesson of 2008, but 1908 no less. A great walk throught the new century's first decade and all the changes that actually began during that year, withn the backdrop of a 3 team National League wire to wire pennant fight between the Pirates, Cubs and John McGraws Giants.

So far it is far from a baseball standard offering, and has capured the spirit of the times, the politics, the race riots, the workers struggles, and how all those elements were mirrored in baseball.

I will write reams on the loss of Sparky, or Captain Hook as he was called during his time as skipper of 2 time Series winner in Cincy. ( 75 and 76' ).

I look at the clock and that means it is time to sign off for now, back to the grind, but will back soon banging on the keyboard with off season speculations, and Free Agent news and notes,

Stay tuned !!

Back fighting the good fight

World Serious Time

Last night the American League and the National League began their annual ritual for the ultimate in baseball prizes, the World Series, and baseball supremecy.

Each team sent it's ace pitcher, the unfatiguable Cliff Lee, the undefeated on, versus the kid they call the Freak, Timmy Lincecum. And they even call him Timmy. Age versus youth, best against best.

The Rangers have the hitters, the Giants have the beards, moustaches, and weird lingerie, so the story lines go.  A game started also when it was still light out, a novel twist for those of us that can recall day baseball.

The game began with all the fanfare, the aged Giants from the past, Monte Irivin at 91 tossing out the first pitch, a strike, as called by Rick Sutcliffe ( still the Charlie Sheen of baseball broadcasters ).

The final score was 11-7, an neither ace lasted even 6 full innings.  The stuff of legends, hah ! Not even close.  MLB was quietly seething as these teams from such places as Arlington and San Francisco mugged for camera time, and the networks pined for New York New York final. Someone tell the Mets about this.

It was a spotty first game, errors, base running gaffs, and it made for more of carnival atmosphere than a traditional World Series game. But that's what we get more of these days, bread and circuses, not 1-0 games picthed by guys named Whitey Ford, Bob Gibson and Orel Hershiser.  We got parity now, and $ 55 million of payroll ( in Texas ) does buy you a nice trip to the west coast.

I am rooting for the Giants, ans I can here Tony Bennett beginning to loosen his pipes and singing about where he left his heart, not because of any hate for Texas, but this Non Barry Bonds squad is just way too appealing with it's collection of great front line pitchers, and odd balls like cast off Cody Ross, red thonged Aubrey Huff, Juan "I hope my belt does not break" Uribe, and rookie catcher Buster Posey, they aren't your fathers' Giants of McCovey, Marichal and Willie Mays, but they have game.

The other interesting side story is that of Ranger ( and ex Giant ) Bengie Molina.  So get this straight, no matter who wins, Bengie gets a ring. He played enough time for both team. He gets a ring even the Giants win. Sit down for that one.

The one story I still laugh over is the one where as the Rangers beat the Yankees, it was suggested that the ALCS MVP was none other than Bud Selig.  Come again ??  Bud Light for MVP, because as you see, when the Rangers were trying to complete the deal for Cliff Lee, they were held in trust ( prior to their sale to Ryan and Daniels ) by MLB. So they needed approval from Buddy. They got it, Lee won every game in the ALDS and ALCS, so if MLB had said no, would the Rangers have beaten the Yankees ?

I am now off until the 12th of November, so likely no blogs until the Series is over.

More Perfection

Doctor Roy

So it was that our former local hero got his chance in the post season against the Cincinnati Reds and he danced through their lineup with effective breaking balls that were set up with a cutter, and fastball that destroyed the Reds confidence. If he were anymore in control they would have given him a saliva test.
    Is this anything new for Jays fans ? C'mon we've watched him for years and have become accustomed top Doc's perfect prescription. The only thing that eluded Halladay here in Toronto was the supporting cast of eager med students to let him reach his Mayo Clinic of baseball, the playoffs.
    So it was that Doc finally got his chance on the big operating room, and surgically and dispassionately carved the Reds up like my Thanksgiving turkey.  Roy, save me the drumstick.....
    A near perfecto, one scant walk, lot's of nice defense, but a lot of Halladay pitches that mesmerized the hitters, but his best pitch all night was Strike 1, which he followed up a lot with his second best pitch, Strike 2.
    Such was the effectiveness we have not experienced in the playoffs sine 1956 and Don Larsen, who when contacted was retrospective that it brought his own memories back, and equally proud to see another pitcher toss a no hitter.
    The commentators joked that as Halladay was going into the clubhouse between innings, perhaps he was on the bike, or stretching, or lifting weights. Roy's regimen is maintained even when he is playing the perfect hand each half inning. No surprise to Jays fans, this one act play we've watched since he started in the majors.
     Since the Reds lost game 2 as well, we might have to wait until the Giants/Braves series ends next week when hew will get another chance to perform in the NL Championship series for the pennant.

    It is Doctober, and the good doctor is definitely in !!!
 

162 and Done

Sunday evening arrives and the last games of the 2010 season have been played, with some predictable results and some surprises.
The Padres went down to the last weekend, the last day, hoping to force game 163, but were sent home packing by their chief nemesis, the Giants from San Fran.
This all started way back in April, all the teams had optimism, every team was 0-0 and tied for first, in the Pirates case it was as close as they'd come.  The Mariners, Royals, Diamondbacks and Orioles all had similar grand expectations but injuries, poor decisions and at time indifferent play put their post season hopes into a clear picture.

So we find ourselves looking ahead at the playoffs, and for some teams, it is a case of what went wrong, why did we do so poorly. Let's look at some teams that the experts had doing better.

The Boston Red Sox -  They finished 3rd, and while that is a credit to Terry Francona, it won't do in Beantown.  A season filled with injuries just piled up on Francona and it never let up. Stars like Mike Cameron, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jason Varitek, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis all went down for appreciable time. Johnathon Papelbon struggled tot close games, and Josh Beckett was not, well, Josh Beckett.
Victor Martinez can leave as a free agent, so it can get worse for Boston, but the money is there, so expect them back in the AL East hunt come next year.

The Seattle Mariners - were to be the class of the AL West, facing off with the Angels for the division, and again injuries played a part, but they never executed the master plan, Cliff Lee and King Felix plus Eric Bedard were a trio of Cy Young candidates that should have dominated. They got a great year from Felix, but Bedard never surfaced, and the team soon to be free agent Lee to the Cinderella Texas Rangers. Chone Figgins never added the oomph the offense needed, and the hitters were less than productive. Ichiro had another fine season, but there was too little from the other 8 in the line up so they finished last, and changes will be expected in the Pacific northwest.

The St. Louis Cardinals with Wainright, Carpenter and Jamie Garcia , add in Fat Albert and Matt Holliday should have been shoo ins to make the playoffs, and I still look at their team and wonder how did they lose ??  The rest of the team was just okay, and rest of the pitching staff was again, just okay. You cannot win a division with 5 players alone, even those 5 players. The Reds simply had a better 9, and a deeper bench and their MVP won out ( Joey Votto ) over the Red Birds MVP of Pujols.

I could toss the Mets and Cubs in, but that would be silly, they were pretenders not contenders.

8 teams remain, 20 pack up, some finished on an upward note, like the Jays, and Diamnond Backs, the Rockies and the Padres, the team even I had finishing last in the NL West.

Fresh predictions on the playoffs are coming.

Bailey

This is a very personal blog I write this evening, as it involves the recent passing of our last Golden Retriever Bailey, at the rip old age of 14 1/2 years. We came to the decision that Bailey had fought all the fight, and with deteriorated hips, failing eyesight, a lack of appetite, and his other recent obstacles, Cindy, the kids and I all came to the conclusion we could not let him suffer anymore.
To the end, he enjoyed last car ride he watched the cars whiz by, kept nudging my hand to keep petting him, with the breeze coming through the back window.

 He was for me also my baseball pal, as on many walks I would try and engage him in discussion about my many fantasy baseball teams, who should I keep Bailey ?   Maybe Ortiz, Soriano ?? Who ?   Bailey often just continued to sniff the trail, hoping to pick up the scent of another dog, skunk, squirrel, etc. Occasionally he looked up quizzically at some comment about drafting another rookie, I guess at his age he favoured the vets. At his age, I guess he was partial to experience over exuberance.

Bailey was part of the 2 dogs we had from 1996 to 2010, having lost Keon to that bastard called cancer, or whatever the canine version is called. Walking both meant a free for all in a round table discussion on any baseball related topic, with much disagreement between them both.

Bailey was on the DL many times, but kept coming back, seemingly like he would play forever. As you know, not even the superstars ply forever, their time comes as well.  He was born with his testicles not having descended, he had hematomas, bad ear infections, ripped nails, geriatric vestibular syndrome ( twice ) and later on eye problems, and the muscle in the back legs just about disappeared.  He still fought on, tried gamely to navigate the back deck, and even as far back as 10 days ago allowed me to walk him around the block.

My heart is very heavy tonight, my family feels the emptiness, the quiet is too quiet, he is missed from his evening post beside my chair, seeking my stroke, my touch on his head, a scratch of his nose, or chin, a reassuring word, a cookie for being the companion he always was.

He was rambunctious as a pup, jumping up on folks, to lick them, show affection, the opposite of Keon. That prompted many to turn towards the taciturn and friendly Keon while Baily bore the rap of the that crazy puppy, the diamond in the rough. Bailey ran faster, ate faster, challenged Keon more to fisticuffs, and was the aggressor as they grew together, but my best memories are the quieter, more mature dog, who for many years waited at the front door watching for me to walk up to the house, and the howling would begin, the excitement was genuine and never wavered.

He was my personal bench coach,  whatever my suggestions were, if I asked him if he disagreed, he offer his low bark, or short yip of approval or disapproval, he always had a response.

My daughter Kelly taught after much work to offer his right front paw, ah a natural righty !! , Keon could offer either paw, showing his ability to be a switch hitter if necessary.

My kids grew up with both these animals and realised that with Bailey's passing, a bit of their youth was lost on Monday, but have fond memories, of tea parties, dress up, and snuggles.

He was born in Beeton, Ontario in April of 1996, and he will find his rest in Mississauga with his brother.

Bailey was chosen from a good size litter, and essentially Kelly picked him out still wearing a little magenta colored collar, and we were the richer for having in our lives.

Please God, please take of my two boys, they are together again, as it should be in your house.

Bless you Bailey, rest easy,

My Bailey