HERE WE GO AGAIN

All winter I have listened to and read how the Yankees have upgraded their lineup significantly and will not be the tansy-pansies they were last year. And what did we get? They put just seven runners across the plate in a three game series against the Astros, a team that had baseball's worst pitching staff. I don't recall reading that they somehow traded for Verlander and Kershaw, so what gives? On the other hand, the pitching was pretty good, allowing only 19 hits and 11 runs in the three games.
I've got to stop reading the NY papers.

Umpire Tim McClelland has injured his back and will be out for the year and may possibly retire. It's interesting that McClelland  has always been considered one of the best and most respected umpires in the game and yet he has been in the middle of some of the biggest and most controversial decisions in the past few years. He was the umpire who missed seeing two Yankees occupying third base at the same time. That's hardly a judgement call.

This little gem came from my friend Brad Dickson:
"On Friday, the Syracuse Chiefs, a AAA baseball team, is hosting "Deport Justin Bieber Night." It's just nice to see one minor league team stop with the dumb promotions and delve into important social commentary".
I've got to get to Syracuse this summer.

Met 2nd baseman Daniel Murphy has been criticized for missing the first two games of the season to be with his wife during the birth of his first child. Yeah right, you can always have more children, but miss a baseball game...? The talk-radio personalities had a field day with this one. Apparently Mike Francesa isn't the only clown that doesn't have his priorities straight.

Let's recap the Ryan Braun saga:
**Tested positive for PEDs
**Denied ever using them
**Took the examiner to arbitration and won
**Caught in the Bio-Genesis scandal
**Admitted to using PEDs and "apologized"
**Gets a standing ovation in his first game back
We know Braun has no shame, but what about the fans. Hit home runs and all is forgiven, I guess.

How's the new challenge-replay system working out? The whole idea was to get the call right and eliminate the controversies. Now the umpires refused to let a manager challenge a play because the request "...wasn't timely enough." It was before the next pitch was thrown. There was no timing issue mentioned in the rules. Were the umps worried that they wouldn't be able to exercise their haughty decrees from the throne?  I knew they'd find a way to screw this up.

The Oakland A's still have a problem with their stadium and it looks like they have very little chance of resolving the issue any time soon. One of the problems is that the drainage is terrible which is okay if you don't mind watering the field with raw sewage. Even the NFL's Oakland Raiders, who share the facility, have objected to this. C'mon. If the Raiders refuse to play in this mess, then you really have a problem.

College basketball's biggest show takes place this weekend. I'd predict a winner, but since my bracket picks became the laughing stock of our group, who'd believe me? Next year, I'm using Diane Chambers from "Cheers" method: Red beats Blue, Green beats Yellow, Orange beats...

***THEY SAID IT***
" Vladimir Putin's divorce has been finalized. Some bad news for Vladimir: his wife got the Super Bowl ring."  -- Brad Dickson
"In the first inning of today’s game in Pittsburgh, Chicago Cubs OF Junior Lake wore the wrong road jersey. Out of habit Roger Goodell fined him $20,000."  -- Janice Hough
"Italian Simone Origone broke his own world speed-skiing record when he clocked 156.8 mph down a slope in the French Alps. Origone credited perfect skiing conditions and a good coating of Clark Griswold’s latest kitchen-lubricant spray."  -- Dwight Perry
"The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Chicago Cubs in a 16-inning game that lasted 5 hours and 55 minutes. There have been seasons when both the Cubs and Pirates have been mathematically eliminated after 5 hours, 55 minutes."  -- Brad Dickson
" Ryan Braun desperate to regain trust of fans before cheating again."  -- TheOnion.com
"I'm questioning the logic of baseball’s new instant-replay system:  You really want to watch the Mets do that again?"  -- Alan Ray
"A Foot Locker store in Columbus, Ohio, had Aaron Craft basketball jerseys for sale with “Oiho State” stitched on the front.  Just be glad he didn’t play for Rensselaer Polytechnic."  -- Dwight Perry
"The president of the Miami Marlins, David Samson, wants his team to play quicker. This is news? For years Marlins fans have prayed for games to be over."  -- RJ Currie

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