hall of fame, yuck!

So I didn't write about my thanksgiving.
It was great,
went to Las Vegas,
then to the OC,
where turkey stuffed with pork beats turducken in my book.

Didn't write about the recent games.
didn't write about the upsetting loss
that was Big Game 2007,
Stanford over Cal, 20-13.

Whenever Cal is favored by 2 or more touchdowns,
and its a "sure thing",
then guaranteed:
1. They won't score as much as they should
2. one of their big players (DeSean Jackson this time) will be hurt
3. they'll barely be in it
4. things will look bright for a win, until
5. Nate Longshore will throw an interception with 2 mins. left
and then 6. Cal fans will be hurting all the way home.

the story of the 2007 Cal football team.
I blame the hippies in the trees of Memorial Stadium.
no team can win
when silly hippies occupy the trees outside their stadium.
well, then I should also blame the Cal organization and university,
because who goes out of their way
to not incorporate a few trees
that are a hundred yrs old, thousand yrs old,
and who lets crazy hippies sit in the trees for a year,
(the protest's 1 yr anniversary was last night)
during football season anyway?!?!


that's real bad karma and luck and such,
and so how was Cal supposed to keep their #2 ranking anyway-
oh well,
they will make the Armed Forces Bowl,
and they'll play the Coast Guard or someone,
and be favored by 20-something points,
and one of their big-guys will get hurt in practice,
and then things won't look too bad,
until Longshore throws a pick with 2 minutes left,
and they'll lose.
so sadly,
I'll have to take the National Guard team over the Golden Bears,
especially if the line is 12 or more.

So on to the main event -
another one of my arguements about the
BASEBALL HALL OF FAME
and why it sucks!

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Five managers and executives were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Monday under revamped rules that created separate Veterans Committee ballots.

World Series-winning managers Billy Southworth and Dick Williams will be joined in the Class of 2008 on July 27 at Cooperstown, N.Y., by former Commissioner Bowie Kuhn and owners Walter O'Malley and Barney Dreyfuss.

Williams, who won the World Series in Oakland and pennants with Boston and San Diego, and Southworth, who won the Series twice with St. Louis, were on a ballot of 10 that combined umpires and managers and included former managers Whitey Herzog, Davey Johnson, Billy Martin and Gene Mauch, plus umpire Doug Harvey.

So they elected a few old guys -
why don't they ever elect the right guys?!
Walter O'Malley moved the Dodgers from the heart of New York, in Brooklyn,
to make tons of cash in Los Angeles, in 1958,
when the western-most team was in Kansas City.
He moved for selfish personal and financial reasons,
leaving a legacy of groveling fans
and a Hollywood-embraced team.
If that's not selling-out, I don't know what is.
He also forced out/bought out Branch Rickey,
who signed Jackie Robinson to a Dodgers contract in 1945,
and integrated Major League Baseball.
So he forced out baseball Gandhi, and made MLB on FOX possible,
that's not right for so many reasons.
Why does he get to be in the hallowed Hall?
Because he expanded the league to the West Coast?
couldn't they just have created the LA Angels a few years earlier?

Then they vote in Bowie Kuhn,
maybe on the sentiment that he just passed away this year (on my birthday!),
and what did he ever do?
argue with Curt Flood about free agency?
and then not go see Hank Aaron break Babe Ruth's Homer record,
because he had something to do in Cleveland?
and then put players on trial during the 1983 season for drug-use,
and not steroids but cocaine?
So he soiled the game thrice,
and three strikes, you're out, right?!
so why does he make the Hall?

and Dick Willams was a damn good manager,
but what about Billy Martin?!
he took the Yankees to the World Series a few times,
while fighting the wrath of Steinbrenner -
that's pretty good too.
and its the Hall of FAME, right?
Billy Martin is more famous than every guy elected today combined!
Who the hell is Barney Dreyfuss anyway?
why do owners who no one knows get into the Hall of Fame?!

I guess Bud Selig will get in the Hall of Fame someday too, huh.
He did everything these guys did-
he was an owner that nobody knew or cared about,
He let the league go on strike and skip a World Series,
he didn't go see Barry Bonds break Hank Aaron's Homer record,
because he had something to do in Cleveland (again? why always Cleveland?)
and then put players on trial during the season for drug-use,
So he soiled the game thrice -
GREAT -
let's put him in there today!
then I'll really not care about the stupid baseball Hall of Fame,
because baseball
especially Major League Baseball,
belongs to us,
the fans,
the people that pay outlandish prices
to sit on top of mountains called stands,
just to watch grown men
play a childrens game
and get paid like nobody's business to do it.

We own it.
We didn't vote on these jokers
(except Williams and Southworth, who were damn good managers)
because except for the managers,
who among us (not LA Dodger fans though)
would vote any of these guys into the Hall?!
I woulda voted Doug Harvey in most of all -
he made "You Make the Call" on TV possible.
Bud Selig just made MLB on Fox possible.
He should be put in the HALL OF LAME!
(okay, not my joke, but my sentiments, exactly!)

with love
from the Hall of eating and drinking (the Mess Hall),
Laffy

a new post to reacclimate you to my post

so I haven't been writing for a while.
I have been semi-passively observing
the MLB baseball season, and now its over.

i've gotten a few notes of confidence,
votes of confidence even,
that the public,
at least those in my vicinity,
want to hear from me.

so here I am.
here but for the grace of sportstalk radio, go I.

I gotta say,

1. i was getting pretty tired of being a baseball-only geek.
that's a lot best left for the geeky
locked-in-the-basement-writing-formulas-for-new-baseball-stats
kinda guys, which i don't think i am (anymore at least),

and 2.
i have been getting into the habit of looking forward to saturdays,
when college football brings me
to a different place in the sports fandom universe.
f--k the red sox in the American "Fever Pitch" movie,
based on the book
about being an English Soccer fan,
by Nick Hornby.
That honorable position should be given
to the fans of a college football team.
someplace honorable in the ncaa ftbl world,
like Alabama (the big red-also see Forrest Gump),
Ohio State (with the big 'O' guy as a mascot),
Penn State (with old as Joe-Pa, and the first cool 90's logo),
Auburn (to be fair to my boy P-Conn)
Texas (hook'em horns isn't known worldwide only cause of Geo.W)
and even the yankees of college football,
the Notre Dame fightin' irish.
i love how the host of a KNBR show,
who is the biggest ND fan on the air
(while being about the size of the leprechaun mascot)
got mad at me on the air,
when i spelled the name Norte Dame
for him on the caller computer.
that's how you say it, right?
Nor-ter Dah-m
or i guess Noh-ter Dah-mm
oh kay, so Notre Dame it is.
my bad, Fitz.

anyway, I guess i'll be writing more frequently now.
now that its the time of year
when typing keeps my brain warm.
also, how do you like this new psudo-format?
i got some positive feedback
when i emailed in the "prose" format
that i have comfortably created,
because i don't like punctuation
and all its technicalities.

if you find this format hard to read,
please email me with your formal complaint,
because getting the point across
is what communication is about.

also, i guess if i promise to write again,
like i did in the post entitled:
"my first post for june"
then i guess i won't for another 5 months.
so i'll end by telling you
that i won't write.
ever again.
then i'll write all the time,
unless anti-jinxing
becomes a jinx on its own.
this total thought process
is what it takes,
to be a true boston redsox fan,
which i'm not, because its too much work!

okay,
no more lingering good bye.
talk to you soon -

JN /LT

JUNE 1st post - weekend update!

So I went to Japan, which was great and which I wish to return to for future radio or sports employment. Working a convenience store there wouldn't be too bad either, but for now, I'm working semi-convenience store hours at the sports radio station, which beats my former hours, 6a to 2p on glorious weekend mornings.

Working evenings at sports radio gives me access/the privilege of cutting highlights from the weekends' games and events, which is what sports is all about.

Some notes:

The Giants blew a 4 run lead, and got beat by a little fly to left by the Phillies' Shane Victorino (whatta name!), who is a decent hitter, and has paid his dues being passed over in the minors. But this homer barely made it to the stands in Philly, barely made the flower pots they have separating the stands from the outfield fences. Good for him, but what a way to lose.

On the other hand, the A's beat the Twins on Saturday on a Joe Blanton shutout, all of an hour and 40-some minutes of a game. On Sunday, little Chad G0-Dan, the goatee-wearing, French-Canadian-heritaged righty from Louisiana (one of my favorites), beat Johan Santana, the little lefty from Venezuela (born exactly a day before me, was a lefty shortstop in his home country, another one of my faves) . Frail Bobby Crosby drives in a run when his broken bat flying at the Twins thirdbaseman "breaks up" a potential double play (his off-balance throw misses secondbase, and goes into right field). Good for him - its about time he's regaining his clutch RBI powers...

and finally, golf, which I never care about. KJ Choi beats out Tiger Woods, among others. He's been decent for a long time, so good for him. I hope some of you out there won bets on that one. What a longshot!

For Johnny Laughs Sunday night update, this is Johnny Long...

Recap Special-Editon: Tokyo- Saturday 5/12

Date: Saturday, 5/12/07
Time: 6p-10p
Place: Tokyo Meiji Jingu Stadium, north Tokyo, Japan
Game #: Yakult home #20/#38 total -JN #14 of 2007
Attendance: 37,000? (no exact figure, max is 37,933, and it was pretty damn full)
Those Present: JN, JN's mommy
The Players: The Tokyo Yakult Swallows, and the visiting Hanshin Tigers
Final Score: Tigers hold on for to 3-2 win.

update coming...

An Apology, a Welcome-back, and a Primer to the World of Hanshin Tigers Baseball

Firstly, I apologize to you who have been patiently waiting for Johnny Laugh's newest entries. I have been busy immersing myself in Japan and Japanese culture and language, to the point where I have been thinking in Japanese, which does you and me no good in this blog, since I don't write or read Japanese well, and you probably don't either.

That being said, I also had a few chances to immerse myself in Japanese baseball, between viewings of New York Yankee and Seattle Mariners baseball on Japanese TV (every single day, damn Yankees!). The funny thing is that their "Direct TV" is called "BS", Broadcast Satellite, so we were watching BS-1 and BS-3 everyday, a funny thing to yell in English.

***

Alot has been said about how the Hanshin Tigers of Japan's Central (National) League are the Boston Red Sox of Japan. They are good, but only so good, taking the Japan Series in 1985 after a long hiatus and backseat to the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants (the Japanese Yankees), and then not reappearing there until 2003 (and losing in the series then).

Their futility (many credit a curse started when happy fans threw a KFC Colonel Sanders statue into the local river in celebration in 1985) is noteworthy, and as a bigger-payrolled and more historical team (since 1935, proclaims the logo), makes them a target for Red Sox-esque failure-complex.

Also paralleled to American ball is their rabid #1 in Japan fanbase versus the old-guard by-default-type Tokyo Giants fans (think smug Yankee fans, and then loud/obnoxious Red Sox fans at whatever stadium you've been to), and their yearly, three-week, built-in road trip (when they vacate their sacred Koshien Stadium in Osaka for the national high-school baseball tournament - think March Madness, in one stadium).

All this, and from America, my mom and I have been patiently watching, thinking that the fans and the happy-go-lucky team have been A. Obnoxious, and B. Curious.

What makes these fans so so loud and crazy? Other teams have an organized fan-cheering section, and since the country is small (the size of the state of California), most teams cheering sections travel to road games (Tokyo as San Francisco, and Osaka as LA, in geographic terms), but the Tigers fans are the loudest, the most numerous, and the loudest (really).

We took a few trains to Meiji Jingu Stadium, in northeast Tokyo, to find out. Luckily, our good local friend and host got us some prime "Tigers' Corner" bleacher seats, 2nd row! and we were in the epicenter for the earthquake that is Tigers Baseball Fandom...

UPDATED- Brady Quinn & gripes about drafts on the tele-

Brady Quinn, formerly of the Notre Dame Irish, who, after spending 21 picks crying in the back room of the Radio City Music Hall, is picked at #22 by the Cleveland Browns. ESPN tells us with pictures, that Brady was a Cleveland fan as a kid. Thanks, for the knowledge, guys...

Oh yea, Tim Couch was supposed to be good too.

*****

A Follow-up and anal-lysis:

I think what appalled me about this media-mediated event was the extreme close-ups (XCUs) of Mr. Brady Quinn, who did not get picked for the first 20 picks. They made him a golden boy, predicted his being drafted in the first few picks, then tore him down right before our eyes, as they showed MORE XCUs of him half-tearing up, nervously chatting with his girlfriend, they put her name on the screen, and then finally narrated and showed his departing to a "non-media-accessible" back room, to wait for his being drafted, finally, at pick 21, some 2 hours later. This is what happens when a non-sports event is televised as sports. Maybe the MLB WAS right in not making their draft a big deal. Then again, baseball can't make a big deal picking players out of school when they'll have to navigate the slippery slopes of the minor leagues first, and 1st round picks disappear a few years down the road a lot of the time anyway.

Remember- Ty Griffin, Cubs 1st round pick in 1988? probably not, although he was an Olympic silver medalist with the 88 Seoul USA team. What about Kurt Ainsworth? 98 Olympics to 1999 #1 pick SF Giants (24th overall), to traded to the BAL Orioles (July 31, 2003: Traded by SF with Ryan Hannaman (who?) and Damian Moss (the no-control, crazy-sideburns, dto the Baltimore Orioles for Sidney Ponson). Another wasted talent by the Giants...

Another piece of Baseball "knowledge": Marvin Benard, the least-likely hyped draft pick: 50th Round! by the Giants in '92 (50x26 teams at the time= he was about the 1300th! pick overall, and at a tiny 5'10", he played a total of 8 yrs in the hallowed majors. This is why I can never rag on him, no matter what anyone else says. He stole home once in 1995, and he stands for all of us, who love baseball and always wanted to play, but for lack of talent or size...

Silver Screen Blues

Going to sleep before my morning shift, I get looney.

Last night's featured idea: Great sequels never made, such as:

Forrest Gump II: Forrest raises little Forrest, and one day decides to run to an island, where he finds it is deserted, and little Forrest has to find him, with the help of dead people that only he can see.

Memorable lines include:

Tom Hanks: "But Lil' Forr'st, I don' see a-ny pee-pole ova he're."

Haley Joel Osment: "But dad, I see them. (whispers) I see dead islanders."

The Natural II: Roy Hobbs son grows up to become a Major Leaguer, under his father's tutelage. He ends up getting shot by ex-sportswriter Max Mercy, who has been blacklisted for selling steroids to ballplayers, because Roy Jr. won't take them. Roy senior ends the film by hitting a used syringe into the ocean.

Memorable lines include:

Robert Duvall: "But kid, what you don't understand is that your pops was juiced. The Whammer was juiced. You don't make the headlines if you don't take the strong stuff."

Roy Jr.: "Sir, my father may have been a philanderer, but he was certainly not a cheater. Now get out of my dugout before I tell Pop Junior."

and also:

Clubhouse Guy: "Nine, ya got me. I think that's permanently taken, but Ninety-nine. Now that's a number!"


I guess its not that funny unless you've seen the first films multiple times...

Stay tuned to Im-Dib TV for more potential screen-breakers, coming soon to a Straight-to-video near you!

ABOUT ME

Saturday, 4/28/2007

San Francisco-
I'm working the morning shift out of KNBR, 1050 AM.

I realize that you haven't heard a peep out of me since my writing explosion last last Wednesday.

So I want to give you the snippets that make working here very, uh, great!

NFL Draft:
After jibbering and jabbering on Fox Sports Radio, who's taking (rival network) ESPN's audio of the NFL commissioner, the Oakland Raiders anti-climactically picked JaMarcus Russell, big-guy QB from Louisianna State. Denny Green exclaimed something about "Crowning" him, in his raspy hoarse-call.

The 49ers picked an LB from Old Miss, which was probably a good pick, because I've never heard of him. We wondered whether Ralph told him "Go Sharks!" on the phone.

The ESPN talking heads were pretty convinced about Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn going top-3. When he didn't, Chris Berman said "this is the first curveball of this draft." I wasn't listening, but I think he said that every time Quinn wasn't drafted, which, at Green Bay's #16 pick, still hasn't happened.

A sad sidenote, GreenBay picked a Defensive Tackle with their first pick. I don't know who he is, and at #16 overall, alot of people don't know him, but they show a crowd shot of little kids boo-ing the pick with their dads.

How can you boo your team's draftpick?! He hasn't played or even put on the team's uniform yet. What has he done, except for not been hyped enough, to get booed before even playing for them. I just remember Donovan McNabb, drafted by Philly, who went on to playoff-runs every year, and a Superbowl appearance, being drafted and getting booed. Who were the Eagles supposed to take instead?! No one remembers because that guy was not worthy of playing in the league.

And the Warriors won -
who knew? I still don't believe they made the playoffs. If i start acknowledging it, then they'll lose. I actually ran the board for the game lastnight, and after crazy playoff-related technical difficulties (what was on the paper, and in the computer, were 2 different things), we had a great! broadcast. Tim Roye is good at making it exciting, but the way the W's were playing, and the crowd was into it, they didn't need much help anyway. The producer calling me on the phone kept getting drowned out by happy-excited crowd noise- that is the best sound on radio that there is...

Jackie Robinson, and the numbers game

So last Sunday, it was great to see Jackie Robinson honored league-wide.
Bud Selig, for all the bad-mouthing I do about you, and will do for sure, did something decently this time (next time Gadget, next time!).

So 42 could have been worn by each and every player in the league for that day, and it would have been cool too (after seeing the Dodgers all wearing it, and having strange flashbacks to seeing Jackie Robinson pictures, and then having them transposed on Randy Wolf, No-maah, and the rest). The solidarity thing would have been a major point for me, if I were in charge. So, Bud, thanks for more nothing.

Jackie Robinson, for the newbs, was the first black (dark-skin-toned) player in the Major Leagues in the 20th century. There were black players in the big leagues in the 1800's, but they were forced out by the league after Cap Anson and a few superstars boycotted their games because a player with dark-skin was playing for the opposition.

I make that distinction (skin color, not ethnic background) because a few Cuban players (of Spanish decent) played in the 1920's-40's, because their skin color was not the problem to the league.

The leagues also made the distinction that they were not the reason why there were no "black" players in the league. It was a "gentleman's agreement", they called it, between all the team owners that prevented any players of color from being hired. A few owner/general manager/managers had tried to bring a player of color onto their team (John McGraw, Bill Veeck), but were quickly shot down by the other owners, and the commissioner of the league.

So the general manager of the Dodgers hired on Jackie Robinson, and both understood the weight that they were about to carry, being the first in a long, long time to be part of a team with a player of color on it. There was even a proposed petition among some of the Dodger players saying that they wouldn't play if Robinson played. That was quickly put to a stop by the team.

The whole problem was that this shaky experiement could have put racial integration of the team to a stop if Robinson lashed back at those attacking him on the field, or if he did not perform well on the field. Either would have showed the pundits that he was not worthy of playing with the non-players of color, and there would have been hesitiation among the other teams to hire any black players.

As it turned out, Jackie was something like Super-Ichiro in his first year, the spark of the 1947 Dodgers, the fire-starter, and the most inspirational player to his teammates (both on the field, but also in his determination against what he was up against). His team went all the way to the World Series after not being there for six years, and went again and again, going six years in Robinson's 10. Jackie began a movement to hire black and players of color, that continued to every other team, the Yankees and Red Sox being 2 of the last. They say that the slow adjustment to this major change (can you believe that in 1946, there were no players of color in the Major Leagues?!) was why the American League trailed the National League for so long in the strength of their teams and level of play.

---

Okay, so the half-tribute to Jackie Robinson put to a stop the tidbit I was going to write about:


A buddy and I were thinking, if 42 day went over so well, there could be other tributes.

Barry Bonds can and will break the all-time American homerun record (755).

Those in support of his record-breaker can wear the number 44 the day after he breaks the record, in tribute to Hammerin' Hank Aaron, the former record-holder.

Those who don't believe that Bonds is the new rightful record-holder can wear the number 3, for Babe Ruth, symbolizing a different era in baseball, when players of color were not included, and asterisks were put next to new records because they were not considered worthy of the old ones (Roger Maris hit *61 HRs in 1961). The Babe has cursed every player to pass one of his records. Maris' hair fell out, and he went on to get hurt a bunch, and never saw the * taken off his record. He's still not in the Hall of Fame, which should at least have a "Memorable Moments and Records" wing, if not just honorary induction for record-breakers like Maris, and Mike Benjamin, former Giants infielder, who got a hit 14 straight times. a new record, in 1995.

Bonds will wear his own 25, until he breaks the record, after which, he will wear 00, until he hits another HR, and the number will go up to 01, and so on. Or, maybe he should wear 56, for 756, the record-breaking number, or maybe just 756 (although that might be getting a little ridiculous).

Maybe A-Rod and Sammy could join in. They could wear the number which they would have to hit, to catch Bonds (a fluctuating number), or even Aaron (a set number, he having retired in 1976).

Maybe everyone could wear 76, for the year Aaron finished his record. And those who support Bonds could wear #07.

I wonder if Bonds will be at the All-Star Game. It would be sweet if he didn't make it, but showed up at the homer derby, to calls of Ba-rry, Ba-rry, ala Reggie Jackson at the 1993 Homerun Derby. Incidentally, he went out to the cheers of Baltimore's All Star crowd, hit a real homer to right field, and returned to the clubhouse, where he found that someone had stolen his glove. That sucks...

On a lighter note,

Craig Biggio is about a hundred hits from three thousand. Players in support of this record are allowed to wear 3, 30, 0, or 00, on the day after he breaks 3,000.

haha.

JN

The Recap Edition, 4/18

Date: Wednesday, 4/18/07
Time: 12:35p-3p? (I;m never good at end of game times)
Place: Oakland Coliseum (for the second yr in a row, presented by Mah-caffee, an Irish coffee from Boston?)
Game #: Oakland #8, JN #10? of 2007
Attendance: 17,322 for $2 Wednesday (1st of this yr)
Those Present: JN, Tommy
The Players: A's and Angels, gm 2 of 2 for the short series.
Final Score: A's 3-0 in systematic win.

The $2 Wednesdays inspire those of us who would otherwise go to work, or stay home and ponder working, to go see baseball at the Major League level. Also, it makes for good target practice for our good-section-sneaking skills, in a less-than challenging atmosphere. (The guards/ushers checked our tickets for the Plaza outfield $2 sections, but not the juicy Plaza infield secs, non $2 sections. but enough writing about trade secrets).

So it was freezing out there. Weather dot-com says it was 61 to 47 F in the area today. I know exactly what 47F feels like now- I was debating whether my red cheeks were from (I did not imbibe during the game) the decorative sunlight, or the tundra winds.

We got right-field deck seats, which are a steal at $2, as long as you don't mind not seeing the fences (you're sitting a deck above the fence), and as long as bleacher-creatures are not your friends (the bleachers are also a deck down below). We did see some flag-folks, but I did not see Duke-X, or the 510 jersey guy though. Maybe some people get day-jobs after all (look who's talking).

We did encounter creatures though. We sat by a group of adults, who we affectionately thought of as the "short bus group". It turned out though, that they were more like on a field trip from the Crazy L, as we used to call the half-way-house-type-resident-hotel down the street from where I used to live in Oakland.

Now, there is nothing wrong with resident-hotels. My Giants-fan-buddy lives in one, and he has a respectable job and is the greatest guy I know. These were not those kind of guys and women though. The ex-chopper-rider was yelling about "his" Angels, and the others would stand up against the guardrail fence at the front of the deck and stare, and stare. I was beginning to question my own sanity, which I have a weak grasp on to begin with.

Overheard:
Raspy Chopper Guy: "Whatta my gonna do with this fuggin' Bay Area?"
Guy behind us: "Leave!"

So I told Tommy that "WE should GO get some beers after this inning", and we snuck down to Plaza level, by first base. Plaza Level, when I was younger and only accustomed to Candlestick and Pac Bell, was the greatest non-lowerdeck level I had ever been to. The players seem bigger than action figures in view, and the action is bigger than on TV.

So they don't look as close as in the lower deck, but for the price, it is really awesome (a more mature perspective, I'm sure). Dan Haren pitched great, mixing speeds really well, and keeping the hitters off balance (some fell over as they swung through his changeup, 81-84. His heater was hitting 91 to 93 on the stadium gun.

The A's side was as much as we could ask for, especially if you saw or heard the A's/Yankees game on Saturday last (got a runner or 2 on in the 9th, 10th, 11th, none scored, and the Y's won, on a Giambino homer, yuck). Swisher up with the bases loaded, no outs. A freakin' double-play would score a run, and it almost did, as Swish grounded to second, and the relay was late/Shannon Stewart went for 2b Erick Aybar's legs. Chavez lined to a diving 3b Macy-er Is-Tourist's glove, but too hard for him to hold on, and another run scored.

We ran into a group of 3 guys, drunk, happy, and baseball fans. The eldest of the three was happy about the A's winning: "They should take Haren out before he gets tired. I like giving them standing ovations." The youngest guy was just happy to be there, about Tommy and my age. The middle guy was a Giants fan (maybe that's why he was so annoying), but a nice guy, who wasn't yet over the Giants' 8th inning upset to Colorado the day before. He had all kinds of funny things to say, and when the Ben&Jerry Bars guy came around yelled to the next section, and us 4, "Ice Cream?! Anyone want one?! I'm buying!" He had no takers- ice cream needs 40F to stay cold, which is what we had in the shade of the stands. Funny Guy!

Haren for seven, Duke-sher for one (the guy should announce it Number Fifty-eight, Jus-Tin, Duke-SHHHHHERRRRRRRRR, with every er-er-er in there. that would be coool), and Street for the final 3 batters (M says that Huston Street has the "sexiest intro music" ever, and he still does this year).

Speaking of which, Tom was thrilled when he saw the films of the 70's WORLD SERIES A's set to the theme of the Who's He's a real good lookin' boyyy! They brought it back this year, and I like it even more the second time around. Here's to less PR, and more value for your ticket, even though its only a two-dollah sneak-pass.

JN


...On the way out: scalpers selling caps: "get your souvenirs, only five dollahs!"; two sax players, the one skinny one with shades, that like playing "Elmo's song", and a new one, round with glasses, playing jazz tunes (Take Five, among others); guys selling knockoff "official" Oakland Athletics teeshirts, and jersey guy, with nice looking "The City" official looking bright blue Warriors caps. He always has good stuff, but not always at $5.

News and Notes, 4/18

Off the top, after the Giants win in 12 on Richie Aurilia's gap hit.
I wonder if he still drinks 2 espressos before games (did he say caramel macchiatos back then) like he did his first time around in 2001, when he hit 37 HRs.

Also, I was in attendance with good 'ol Tommy for the A's first $2 Wednesday of the year, versus the Angels (or Angles, or Angees, apparently (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Riggs)

For the newbies- much love, and I go here for quickly-updated scores:
http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/scoreboard
They update quickly, with less ads that take time to load (on dialup like at my folks house).

Today's Featured Obscure Player (FOP) of the day: Pete La Forest (http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/teams/players/bio/?id=3553&hubname=mlb-padres),
a Canuck who is finally getting his big-league chance.
He had great power in the minors, and was great in my Baseball Mogul game, when I turned around the TB Drays, but that was half-fantasy. Now he's off to a good start. I'm not picking him up for my fantasy team, the Fremont F's, just yet though, because I'd have to drop:

-Mark Burly Buehrle, who tossed a 6-0 NO-HITTER vs. Texas tonight. Haven't seen film yet, and he walked one, with no errors for the ChiSox. Glad I kept him on my team, after he was hit in the arm by a liner earlier this month. The Yahoo preview before the game said:

Buehrle tries for his first win of the season against the Rangers, who have caused him some problems lately.

The left-hander won his first seven starts against Texas, posting a 1.79 ERA in those games, but has gone just 1-3 with a 5.28 ERA in his last four starts against them. He was 1-2 with a 5.32 ERA against them last season.

and the wrapup of the boxscore showed these nuggets of beauty:

CHICAGO PITCHER MARK BUEHRLE HAS A NO-HITTER THROUGH SIX INNINGS.

CHICAGO PITCHER MARK BUEHRLE HAS A NO-HITTER THROUGH SEVEN INNINGS.

CHICAGO PITCHER MARK BUEHRLE HAS A NO-HITTER THROUGH EIGHT INNINGS.

CHICAGO PITCHER MARK BUEHRLE HAS A NO-HITTER THROUGH 8 1/3 INNINGS.

CHICAGO PITCHER MRK BUEHRLE HAS A NO-HITTER THROUGH 8 2/3 INNINGS.

CHICAGO PITCHER MARK BUEHRLE HAS THROWN A NO-HITTER.

Boy, who wouldn't want to see that at the bottom of their boxscore, eay?
So much for guess-timation, based on previous stats.
Mark Burly, the Fremont F's thank you...

Dewey-Eyed Moment I

A Dewey-eyed moment I:

In Fremont, land of the car-and-driver,
I saw a man and a dog standing on a corner in the distance.
I wondered why they were there, not moving.

As I came closer, I saw that the man was blind, and the dog was a guide dog. I've seen these setups in the city, so I wasn't surprised, but they stood still as I passed on the other side of the street.

I was down the street and past them, when I saw that the man pointed which way to go, in a general direction for the dog. The dog's job is to keep the man safe, and walking in a safe place, which was hard, because they were trying to cross a T-intersection with cutouts for people making right turns.

The dog was confused because the man was pointing diagonally across the intersection. I wanted to go back and help, but I was pretty far already. (okay, those of you who want to call me a heel, go ahead now). I watched by looking back as I walked (I was late to work already, and was supposed to be rushing) and saw the dog and man stumble over the cutout islands in the intersection to get to the safety of the curb. There were so many cars that realized what I did, and stopped, and didn't honk, and waited on the otherwise fairly wide-open speed-friendly spot.

I was relieved when the man and dog finally made it, but felt really bad that I didn't do anything about it. I half-figured that the dog did his job, and the others around did theirs too, and maybe I shouldn't feel so bad for letting the blind guy live his life, but also that there are alot of places where we take sight and our senses for granted, when we shouldn't.

JN


(Thanks for picking up the phone at 1050 everytime its the blind guy with the 209 number calling for the scores).

the Giants weren't perfect in the beginning

The postscript from the first posting:

As I sit here at the 107.7 fm the Bone studios, listening to:
"Tell Me Baby" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Trampled Underfoot" by Led Zepplin
"Its a Long Way to the Top" by AC/DC (remember School of Rock's version?!)

Hard (and somewhat softer, beat-oriented) Rock, has always powered me through things, like cleaning my room (not done yet, if you've ever witnessed it), I will tell you:


In the year 2000, I went to the SECOND SF Giants game at Pac Bell Park. The G's had lost most of the exhibition games that they played in their then-new home. (The Yankees played them in the first ever-EVER game, and Jorge Posada un-virgin-ed the water with the first-ever splash-hit into the "cove.")

They don't count exhibitions as "official" games, and the Giants lost their home opener. I remember the paper with a big color picture of Bill Mueller sliding home for the first ever Giants run in their new home. (I think when I buy a house, I'm carrying whoever over the threshold, then I'm putting her down, and running and sliding "home" across the rug- someone better take a pic of that one!)

Then I went to Pac Bell for a little known 500 day-of-game tix sale for the 2nd official game. I got them, after waiting from 2 or 3 pm (for a 7pm start). My mom and I were so excited, even though we were aware that we were going to sit on an ass-hurting metal bench that night (actually, we didn't know what we were getting. Glad I didn't pay fifteen bucks to stand around and mingle- what bullshit! $15 dollar "standing-room" tickets are).

Then the rain came. It was surreal, because it was such a beautiful park, and a great Giant/Dodger game, and then, it started to trickle down. It got heavier and heavier (sounds like women every month- never mind). We couldn't believe it wasn't going to stop for such a monumental occasion (ok, 1st game was big, and it was sunny- this was the 2nd game).

It was one of those San Francisco high-pressure-induced sunny warm-streaks before a pacific storm reaches. And it did. The game got rained out, and we learned about the hiding places from the 'rain in the grand new park. Big concrete spaces with pipes above that make you think you're not supposed to be there.

We eventually gave up on the game starting back up (it was called at that point, being past the 5th inning, and the Dodgers had taken the 2nd game of the season as well as the 1st. (It looks like they finished up the game the next day where they left off -

(http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN200004120.shtml)

-but we were not there, not having a ticket to the next game (another mind-numbing technicality-like saying "the movie reel in theater 2 stopped short of the ending of the film, so the people in theater 3 get to see the end of that one, and their own upcoming film for the same price).

As I wrote a post earlier, the G's ended up losing their first 6 home games at their new home, a fact that the SF Giants PR people probably are instructed to never ever post anywhere ("We lost our first 6 games here, but go ahead and overpay for tickets today! Do you speak SF Giant?!")

That was in my second tour of duty as an SF Giants fan, having been raised on them since 1989, and then taking a sabbatical to become an LA Dodger(?!) fan for a while. How could I help it, the Dodgers had NOMO, Piazza, Karros, and Hollandsworth (4 rookies in a row) between 1995-8, and the Giants, in a preview to the ineptitude of their farm system, raised Jaime Brewington, Shawn Estes, Bill Mueller, and Marvin Benard (whom I adored) in that same time period. Looking back, they were not BAD, but they woreout their welcomes, or became great elsewhere (let go of Mueller for RUSS Ironglove DAVIS?!

I felt the Dodgers had a "winning image," something that my mother (the BIGGEST Giants fan I know, with somewhat of a bias) never understood, and something that I can now explain as a fit of adolescent image-driven fad-jumping. Of course, that is very hard to explain-off, seeing that I have become an A's fan (smart management), a Detroit Tiger fan (after losing 119 in 2003, 1 loss from the all time record), and this year, a Cubs fan in-training.

So as I watch the Giants and Cards battle on TV in the warmth that is a Rock Radio station, with the game literally down the street at the park, I tell you my confessions, and with this spirit of honesty, tell you that when you read my writings, I give you my best every time out. Put me in, coach.

JN

so off we go!

I am a perfectionist (no matter what you think of me in person). This combined with laziness results in my not posting anything, resumes or blogs, in a great while.

So I realized that its okay to not be perfect in the beginning.
In 2000, the SF Giants (BONDS JUST HIT ONE - #738!)
okay, the SFG's opened their new ballpark.
They lost their first six home games in their new stadium.
I was thinking that maybe they should go back to ol' Candlestick to get some wins- they had probably trangressed in the eyes of the baseball gods (Babe Ruth and the boys).
But then they won their first home game at the end of the month, and then went on to record a great record at home (55-26, .679 pct!), took the NL West, and made the playoffs.

All this to say, that perfection in the beginning is nothing compared to how you finish.
In the spirit of the Giants' humble beginnings in their new home, I humbly submit my first posting here, and online in general (the opening greeting was an exhibition game), and I hope you enjoy my scribe-manship from here on.

JN
4/18/2007
from The BONE 107.7 studios

So THIS, is blogging...

Hi all-
John Madden here...

I wanted to start one of these for so long.
I'm sure my girlfriend wanted me to as well,
figuring how many times she's had to cut me off from BASEBALL talk in her ear
over the past few years.

so happy reading, and hope you have something to say in response!

JN