Open House

Welcome to the World
It's not all I'd have given you
Just shining pieces of a dream
Almost could have been
And still might yet come true
- Welcome to the World, Ratdog


Waking up with an endorsement from Aaron's Baseball Blog is kind of like the day I tried to sell my condo by myself, with some help from my Dad. You want to get everything just right, but before you know it, there are thirty strangers at your door wanting to take a look around, examining everything. You quickly realize that there's no point worrying about the fact that you can hear the neighbors flush the toilet through your paper-thin walls (or the lack of pictures due to Blogger not letting anyone update right now), and to just roll with it. After all, I'm really proud of the place.

Take a walk with me
C'mon and talk with me
- Welcome to the World, Ratdog


So here's a quick tour of my home's best stuff. I like the paint job we did upstairs (Brother Blood, 7/13), the new hardwood floors (6/24 Bruce in Fenway), and the pool right outside the back door (6/23 Larry Doby and the Negro Leagues). And there's also that great snapshot of me on that wall over there (7/8).

As for today, let's move on to what normally would have been a "Jab and Move" column.

I've been thinking a lot recently about reviving the Paul DePodesta Medal of Honor, and today seems like the perfect day to do it. The PDMOH goes to players who do something positive during every single plate appearance of a game, and do not do anything negative on the base paths. These players never get recognized on ESPN or even in their own local papers, unless they go 4 for 4, so in that way winning the PDMOH is a unique achievement.

Here are today's winners of the Paul DePodesta Medal of Honor!

Darren Bragg - 3 for 3 with two walks!
Rich Aurillia - 4 for 4!
Magglio Ordonez - 3 for 3 with a walk and a homer!
Shannon Stewart - 4 for 4!
And my favorite . . .
Scott Rolen - 2 for 2 with three walks, a homer, and a stolen base!

The teams of those six players went 6-0, and scored 45 runs. That's 7.5 runs per team that has a hitter who doesn't make a mistake. Coincidence?


The great parity that exists in baseball (no matter what Selig says, although it's interesting how much quieter he has been since the contract situation has been resolved) has produced a ton of great baseball series as we enter the second half of the season. Here's the rundown on all of the key series this past weekend:

Toronto at Boston - The Sox win the last two to split the series. They have a three game lead in the wildcard race. Toronto is 7 back.

Oakland at Minnesota - I know us statheads don't believe in wake-up calls, but WOW! The Twins sweep the series. The A's are now 5 back of Seattle. The Twins are still 6.5 behind KC.

Seattle at KC - The Royals take 3 of 4. Seattle has gone 11-16 since June 18.

St. Louis at LA - They split the series.

Colorado at SF - The Giants sweep, crushing the Rockies' tiny playoff dreams.

The clash of playoff contenders continues this week, with Oakland at KC, Toronto at NY, Montreal at Florida, Chicago at Atlanta, and Arizona at San Francisco.


NBA Police Blotter
We have a bunch of new names to add this week. Please welcome Samaki Walker, Gary Payton, Jason Caffey, Sam Cassell, and Chris Webber. All of these names appeared in the paper recently in connection to criminal activity.

One last plug for myself. I've got a better way to determine the College Football National Champions than anyone, and it's different than what you'll see anywhere. If you like College Football, make sure to come back for that. Of course, you might want to come back tomorrow, too.

Comments? Counseling?