Wednesday, October 01, 2014

LIFE WITHOUT THE YANKEES

I don't normally pay much attention to baseball once New York gets eliminated, but, as I told Annie-O last night, with so much on the line, players go all out. This mean the chances of some great play occurring increase significantly. Of course, it also means mistakes will be greater, too. And the networks will see to it that everything is magnified. So, party on, folks and I'll catch some of it.

**This is a new one. A game and a playoff spot turns on a simple tag at home plate. Billy Butler completely screws up a first & third double steal by leaving first too soon. The A's were able to throw out Eric Hosmer running home from third easily. However, the A's best defensive catcher, Goevany Soto, injured his thumb on the play and had to come out. That brought in Derek Norris, the regular starter, to catch the rest of the game. Unfortunately for the A's, Norris doesn't have a very good arm and the Royals almost ran him out of the stadium.

**I wrote on facebook that it was a bad week for Twins managers, Gardenhire became Garden-fire and Tom Kelly suffered a mild stroke. Gardenhire is one of my three favorite managers, along with Terry Francona and Mike Scioscia, I may add Buck Showwalter this year. 

**GM Theo Epstein says the Cubs are aiming for the playoffs in 2015. That's kind of hard to believe unless the Cubs were aiming for last place in the NL Central Division this year.

**Two headlines on ESPN this morning: "How The A's Lost" and "How The Royals Won." Seems like that should be just one article, doesn't it?

**From Brad Dickson's  "Bottom 10"
4. Troy (0-5): The low point of the season this far for the Trojans was last week’s 66-0 drubbing by Georgia in which Uga IX, the Georgia mascot,  ran for two touchdowns.

**Adam Dunn of the Oakland A's has announced his retirement. What, no farewell tour?

**Should it go that far, game 7 of the 2014 World Series will be on October 29th. Oh good, I was afraid it would interfere with Halloween. I can only handle one group of people with their hand out at a time. Kids I can deal with, MLB executives, not so much.

**Derek Jeter has launched a new athlete website. Phew! Thank goodness. I was starting to suffer  Jeter withdrawal pains.

**Greg Walker, hitting coach of the Atlanta Braves resigned yesterday after the Braves finished next-to-last for all MLB in runs scored. If history is any judge, I'm sure we will read at some point the he is "one of the most respected hitting coaches in the game." Why is it that whenever a coach is discussed, be it hitting, pitching, bullpen, bench or even Gatorade coach, they are inevitably described as "one of the most respected?" I suppose we'll never hear, "Nobody likes him. He's not very good."

***THEY SAID IT***
"Suggested ticket-selling slogans for Michigan football: "Watching them in person is cheaper than breaking your TV."  -- Sportspickle.com
"Tight end Joseph Fauria of the Detroit Lions, sprained his left ankle scrambling to prevent his 3-month old puppy from urinating in his apartment. Doctors say Fauria can't resume practicing until he can lift his leg."  -- Dwight Perry
"Forbes is out with a list of the 10 richest people in the United States. Six of 'em caught foul balls hit by Derek Jeter in the past two weeks."  -- Brad Dickson
"Theo Epstein said the Cubs’ “goal is the NL Central title next year.” And millions of women are thinking “Yeah, our goal was to marry George Clooney too.”"  -- Janice Hough
"A toast to Nova Scotia's Esther Chute, 101, who received an international award for 53 years of square dancing. And here's to the Chicago Cubs for their 106th year of going in circles."  -- RJ Currie
"Orange News reports a U.S. woman has spent over $20,000 to give herself a third breast. Looks like the Maple Leafs aren’t the only ones overspending on useless boobs."  -- RJ Currie
"Derek Jeter is one of those guys you pick first. Then you decide what sport you're playing."  -- John Madden

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