Sammy Sosa hit his 600th career home run last night, and as he rounded the bases, the stadium PA began playing the theme from "The Natural." There's nothing natural about Sosa's 600 home runs. He used steroids and a corked bat - shouldn't he be at 800 by now?
Jason Giambi faces a deadline today to agree to meet with George Mitchell's steroid investigation. Bud Selig says he wants players to come forward and provide information, but the one active player who's said anything about the issue, Giambi, now faces possible suspension. And in other news, the former Mets clubhouse attendant's offer to plea-bargain was rejected. The only way Selig will get the information he seeks is to offer amnesty - there's no way to go back and correct the record books, all we can do now is move forward more informed.
And speaking of the record books, some would argue the steroids era makes it impossible to compare records from previous years. Yet Babe Ruth never faced a black pitcher, so how legitimate are his records? To get an idea how comparable baseball records are from different eras, take a look at the National League record for wins in a single season - 59. By "Old Hoss" Radbourn in 1884. Baseball records have never been comparable spanning eras - you can only look at what someone did in relation to his peers. I don't see anyone else sitting on 748...
Showing posts with label baseball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baseball. Show all posts
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Friday, April 20, 2007
NY Yankees 6, Boston Red Sox 7
Eat it, Bob Ryan. So the rivalry doesn't mean what it did when you had a shade of color to your hair? I'm so tired of old people saying the game isn't as good as the old days - ever since they raised ticket prices to a quarter. Right here, right now. There is no other place I'd want to be.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Thank you Mr. Kerry
As long as we're dogging on Warner Bros today, let's keep it going...
I've been criticized a lot in the past for my support of John Kerry. Fine by me... He became my senator in 1983 and consistently fights for causes I support, and one Karl Rove-led smear campaign doesn't change how I feel one bit.
I'm a life-long Red Sox fan who moved to North Carolina in the great Money Magazine Migration of 94 - for about five years nothing made me more homesick than not being able to see my team play except the occasional game against the Orioles, and then I'd have to listen to the inane ramblings of Jim Palmer. Then Time Warner Cable picked up the InDemand package MLB Extra Innings, allowing viewers all over the country, for a hefty fee, to see almost all the games played each night. It's great to know after a hard day's work you can come home and witness the continual unfolding of the artisan tapistry of a baseball season - even if you don't watch every night, to know you can is relaxing.
Now InDemand is working on an exclusive deal with DirectTV so Extra Innings won't be available to cable subscribers. This is disturbing, but what's surprising is how few people it will affect - only 400,000 people subscribed to the service last year, and about half that through cable. Not enough for Major League Baseball to be concerned, and each team will receive about $20 million for the deal.
In steps John Kerry. He voiced concern over the deal to the senate and the FCC, and this week will bring hearings on whether the deal can proceed legally. He probably won't win - when monopolies collide it's always the consumer that suffers. But at least he's once again fighting the good fight. Here's a politician battling something I have no control over, but that will affect my daily life. Isn't that exactly what a politician is supposed to do?
I've been criticized a lot in the past for my support of John Kerry. Fine by me... He became my senator in 1983 and consistently fights for causes I support, and one Karl Rove-led smear campaign doesn't change how I feel one bit.
I'm a life-long Red Sox fan who moved to North Carolina in the great Money Magazine Migration of 94 - for about five years nothing made me more homesick than not being able to see my team play except the occasional game against the Orioles, and then I'd have to listen to the inane ramblings of Jim Palmer. Then Time Warner Cable picked up the InDemand package MLB Extra Innings, allowing viewers all over the country, for a hefty fee, to see almost all the games played each night. It's great to know after a hard day's work you can come home and witness the continual unfolding of the artisan tapistry of a baseball season - even if you don't watch every night, to know you can is relaxing.
Now InDemand is working on an exclusive deal with DirectTV so Extra Innings won't be available to cable subscribers. This is disturbing, but what's surprising is how few people it will affect - only 400,000 people subscribed to the service last year, and about half that through cable. Not enough for Major League Baseball to be concerned, and each team will receive about $20 million for the deal.
In steps John Kerry. He voiced concern over the deal to the senate and the FCC, and this week will bring hearings on whether the deal can proceed legally. He probably won't win - when monopolies collide it's always the consumer that suffers. But at least he's once again fighting the good fight. Here's a politician battling something I have no control over, but that will affect my daily life. Isn't that exactly what a politician is supposed to do?
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