Jab and Move

Between taking Father's Day off and this afternoon's fiasco, I've got a whole bunch of smaller things that I wanted to comment on. I sure hope this entry doesn't disappear, too. But before I get into anything else, I want to invite repeat viewers to email me and say hello. I can tell from my site meter that I have had hits from all over the place, and I'm really curious as to who you people are.

Congratulations to Jeff Biddle of Chicago! He won this weekend's Series Prediction Contest going three for three:

Toronto 800 to win 840
Boston 100 to win 60.61
Seattle 100 to win 60.61

Jeff had to make it hard on me by not betting round numbers, but he finishes with $1961.22. I had a rough time, ending at 625.


The Dodgers continued to face lefthanders against Cleveland, and with Roberts healthy, got him back into the leadoff role, and moved Izturis to ninth. They also had Mike Kinkade batting fifth, so maybe Jim Tracy is a reader.


Two blogs have listed me on their links, and they're both cool. One is Greg's Baseball, Etc., and the other is No Pepper. Gregg writes great Red Sox stuff, and has taught me to do some things with links (Don't worry, Gregg. we'll have you on favorite links soon) and No Pepper is about the most comprehensive Braves site you will find.


Milton Bradley continues to get on base at the same rate that he destroys his own reputation, which would seem impossible. He has only failed to get on base that one day I did a feature story on him. I checked Barry Bonds' record the last two years to see if this was comparable, and it turns out even Barry had hit a cold streak by now. It wouldn't surprise me if CC Sabathia wound up being the Token Indian (doesn't that sound terrible?) in the all-star game, which would be a travesty.

Nomar Garciaparra, who is perhaps the most athletic and how should we say this, non-cerebral Red Sox player of all time, ignored the fact that he already had three doubles and a triple in the game, and bunted with a runner on first in the 14th inning yesterday. The only thing more amazing was that Jimy Williams, with first base open, chose to pitch to Manny Ramirez instead of walking him, setting up a double play, and pitching to David Ortiz. Such stupidity can not go unpunished. Manny singled to win the game.


David Robinson won his 2nd NBA title in his final game last night. I read a story recently in which he commented on how there were no medium range shooters anymore, but I haven't been able to find it to link it. It was frightening how similar it was to my rant last week. Anyway, David was a truly dominant force in his prime, has always handled himself well, and will be missed.


Joan Laporta was elected President of the Barcelona soccer team, and now will try to convince David Beckham to let him purchase his services for 50 million dollars. Beckham reportedly wants to play for Real Madrid, the superstar powerhouse that makes the Yankees look like Devil Rays. Madrid has three former players of the year, and that is not a league award. That's planetary. The three are Ronaldo of Brazil, Zidane of France, and Figo of Portugal.