September 4, 2009

Alas, 156 league games later and the season is over. I'll get to how much fun it was shortly, but let me give you a little update on the BLOG itself.



First of all, since I started keeping stats on it on August 21st, we've had 198 first time visitors to the site. I actually understand how this stuff is tracked, but it so boring that I'd probably fall asleep half way through the explanation; so I'll save all of us the grief. This doesn't necessarily mean that 198 individuals are looking at it. Some people look from work & home or from a blackberry for example. Those would all be considered unique and it skews (love that word) the numbers a bit.



Anyway, enough of that, I just thought it interesting. Today's edition of the BLOG is my own little book of lists. Some sincere, some funny, others....well you can judge.



10 things I wish I knew as rookie and mistakes I won't make next year!



1. The rookie doesn't have to buy lobster dinners for the captains after the team's 10th win. (and to think I had poor Cliffy bring that back from Newfoundland)

2. The rookie doesn't have to arrange limo service for the team for games at coventry. (It cost so much I actually thought of getting my own stretch)

3. A hit does not equal a jug. (55 hits. It was getting to the point that I was trying to make outs. may explain a few things).

4. Everyone doesn't put their 1st and last name on their jersey. (Like Bob Marley said, "Don't let them fool ya, or even try to school ya!)

5. The rookie doesn't have to sweep the infield between odd number innings. (Explains some of the laughter)

6. Neither does the rookie have to vacuum the outfield between even number innings. (Honestly the cord was becoming a bit of an issue).

7. Not all rookies are required to call their captains "sir". (I'm not sure about the saluting).

8. Most teams only attend their own games. While I enjoyed going to 6-8 games a week, its apparently not a "requirement" as I was told.

9. The penalty for wearing a hat in the Legion is buying a round NOT standing on the pool table in your jockeys reciting nursery rhymes. (There had better not be video)

10. Apparently there is not a trade deadline, an affiliate in Bond Head that you can be send down to, nor are players typically released due to poor performance. (That threat really hurt!)



The top 10 all time offensive seasons in major league baseball history



So anyone who's read this from time to time knows that I make the ocassional reference to old time baseball. I'm a bit of nut with old school ball so indulge me with a little list. (this is of course totally subjective)

1. Babe Ruth (1921 New York Yankees). 59 homeruns, 177 runs scored, 171 RBIs, .378 batting average, 44 doubles, 17 triples and 16 stolen bases.
   
   
2. Lou Gehrig (1927 New York Yankees). 47 homeruns, 149 runs scored, 175 RBIs, .373 batting average, 52 doubles, 18 triples, 218 hits and 447 total bases.
3. Jimmy Fox (1932 Philadelphia Athletics). 58 homeruns, 151 runs scored, 169 RBIs, .356 batting average.
   
   
4. Hack Wilson (1930 Chicago Cubs). 56 homeruns, 146 runs scored, 191 RBIs, .356 batting average.
   
   
5. Ty Cobb (1911 Detroit Tigers). 248 total hits, .420 batting average, 147 runs scored, 127 RBIs, 83 stolen bases, 47 doubles, 24 triples.
   
   
6. Rogers Hornsby (1922 St. Louis Cardinals). 40 homeruns, .401 batting average, 152 runs scored, 151 RBIs, 46 doubles, and 250 total hits.
   
   
7. Chuck Klein (1930 Philadelphia Phillies). 40 homeruns, .386 batting average, 59 doubles, 158 runs scored, 250 total hits.
   
   
8. Stan Musial (1948 St. Louis Cardinals). 39 homeruns, .376 batting average, 50 doubles, 18 triples, 131 RBIs, .450 on base percentage.
   
   
9. Joe DiMaggio (1937 New York Yankees). 46 homeruns, .346 batting average, 167 RBIs, 151 runs scored.
   
   
10. Albert Pujols (2003 St. Louis Cardinals). 43 homeruns, .359 batting average, 124 RBIs, 51 doubles, 137 runs scored.
    
    

My thank-you's



Thanks to the following people who allowed me to poke fun at or with them and didn't swing back.



1. To Rob Farah & Doris Casullo who encouraged me to run with this BLOG despite its tendency to make them the object of my back-handed humour (what can I say, this thing pretty much writes itself).

2. To Mark Doyle and Jim Rouleau who (along with Rob & Doris) were instrumental in spreading the word word of this whacked out BLOG and building a growing audience.

3. To Rob McCarron and Doyle for letting me play with the OBA race when I'm sure they would have preferred to fly under the radar. (not THAT radar)

4. To the Grisslies team, John Harrett (who's name I inexplicably spelled wrong), Steve Wynnyk (who I stole an out from), Doris (who I stole a hit from), Billy Cloutier (who had heart failure watching me trip around bases), Diamond Jim Rouleau (who went hoarse trying to get me to stop at third), Cliff Stacey (who's probably still peeved about the hand held phone picture), Ingo Bartens (who actually came through fairly unscathed), Dan McCallum (who's still trying to figure out why everyone yells "big Mac" when he hits), Rob McCarron (who spent half the season moving me in and the other half moving me back in the outfield), Dave McGovern (who thankfully doesn't read the BLOG and hasn't had cause to be upset - yet) and Rob Farah (who allowed himself to be the brunt of all the jokes). Thanks guys.

5. To other players throughout the league who either purposely or accidentally became targets of the BLOG's sick and distorted sense of humour. Some that come to mind are Rob Hayward, Dan Chaisson, David Polny, Chris Ross, Chuck Cragg, John Stiff, and Bob Candy. Thanks for letting me carry on like an idiot.



BEST SINGLES HITTERS OF ALL TIME



Yeah, yeah, everyone "digs the longball". ===> CLICK ME



But home runs are only worth one unless you have guys on. While I appreciate the brute strength of the homer, I dig the precision and finesse of the single. Here are the top 10 singles hitters that I have ever seen play.

1. Pete Rose - Yes he did a comercial in leopard skin jockeys, yes he got thrown of baseball for gambling, yes his hair looked like Jim Carey's in Dumb & Dumber; but the man could hit!
2. Rod Carew - #6 all time in career singles. There was only one other player I enjoyed watching as much as him (we'll get to that, he's next), Carew was magic with the bat.
   
   
3. Tony Fernandez - He's number 114 all time in career singles. Watching slap bunts over the third baseman's head or hitting ball after ball to the opposite field with total grace.
   
   
4. Ichiro Suzuki - Much like Carew and Fernandez he is all about balance at the plate. He has no real weaknesses, he can single a bad pitch as well as a strike.
   
   
5. Tony Gwynn - #8 all time in singles. He like all other singles hitters had very little plate discipline and didn't walk much. Didn't matter though because he was seemingly always on base.
   
   
6. Wade Boggs - #15. I hated Wade Boggs. Watching him loft ball after ball of that green monster in Fenway and consistently turning doubles into singles drove me nuts. But, he was money getting those singles.
   
   
7. Rickey Henderson - For a guy who is the all time leader in stolen bases, he wasn't actually all that fast. I don't remember Rickey getting a lot of infield singles. I DO remember him getting little texas leaguers, skipping out of the batters box and trotting down to first base for a brief rest before making the catcher look stupid when he'd swipe second.
   
   
8. George Brett - I know, George had buckets of power, but he also had over 2000 singles in his career. He wasn't just a masher, he had a knack for getting the key hit when KC needed it.
   
   
9. Derek Jeter - Yes Jeter is easy to dislike. But, he passed Mickey Mantel for 1st place in career at bats for the Yankees earlier this year and he's 8 hits away from passing Lou Gehrig for all time hits. Jeter doesn't need me to say it, he's great.
   
   
10. Roberto Alomar - Sort of like Jeter and Brett in that he was more than just a singles hitter. While his glove was probably the best part of his game, he was a great slap hitter with power when he needed it.
    
    

An EXTRA Special note of Thanks.



There is nothing to "read between the lines" here. No hidden meanings in the words. No trickery.



I would like to give an extra special thank you to Tito (the Fonz). Tito, a veteran in the league, a good player and a good guy allowed himself to play the part of the foil for the BLOG. So whether he was Lex Luthor or whether he was Superman, he let me write the script without ever really getting close to giving me the round house kick to the head that I thought was coming. Let's face it, I probably deserved a couple.



After my first "Tito rant" a lot of people assumed that he and I had a history of this kind of banter. That's not the case. We actually only met this year through baseball and they fact that he let me have fun at his expense is a testament to his sense of humour.



So Tito, thanks.



URBAN LEGENDS or HOAXES



Oh, we've all gotten those emails. The abducted child without a last name in Alabama that we need to circulate the picture of? The email that's been around the world 7 times? The free whatever you'll get from whomever if you forward to 10 fiends? Yeah, those. I hate them. There is a website (www.snopes.com) that debunks urban legends OR sometimes identifies the odd one as true. That's the 1st place you should go when you get one of those. Here are 10 annoying ones.

1. You get 100% if your roomate dies in university / college. NOT TRUE. I know you heard from a guy who knows a guy that this happened to, but trust me. It didn't.
   
   
2. Mr. Rogers was a Navy Seal. NOT TRUE. I've heard this about John Denver too. Seriously, Mr Rogers, trained to kill?
3. The tourist that wakes up in a hotel bathtub packed in ice missing a harvested kidney. NOT TRUE. For the love of god, if Ted Rogers could die needing a heart transplant, don't you think he'd have had enough money to pay one of these rogue kidney theives to do a little work on the side?
4. The Mikey kid from the LIFE ceral commercials died from mixing pop rocks candies and coca cola. NOT TRUE. That doesn't mean we didn't want it to be true, but it never happened.
   
   
5. Poinsettia (christmas flower plants) are poinsonous to humans. NOT TRUE. Not only are they not poisonous, but they taste awful. You couldn't choke down a leaf if you wanted to.
   
   
6. The baby ruth chocolate bar is named after the baseball player Babe Ruth. NOT TRUE. The baby ruth was named after the daughter of US president Grover Cleveland in 1916.
   
   
7. Phil Collins wrote "in the air tonight" after witnessing a man refuse to come to the help of another man drowning. NOT TRUE. Plus its just stupid. If Phil Collins actually saw that wouldn't he have ALSO been not helping the drowning guy?
8. Charles Manson once auditioned for the Monkees. NOT TRUE. Although this one isn't quite as crazy because he did write a song for the Beach Boys. TRUE.

TEN THINGS THE TOTTENHAM OLDTIMERS DID FOR ME



10 things that I wouldn't have done this year if it weren't for baseball OR memorable events that occurred because of baseball. Listed in no particular order.



1. Played in the Help the Kids tournament. I wanted to play, selfishly, just to play. However, it quickly became apparent that everyone there, while totally interested in playing ball; were also sincerely participating to help the cause. At the next executive meeting there was a full report of the tournament as well as how the money raised goes to help local kids. This was such a cool thing to be part of and something that I will do in the future as well as encourage others to do.

2. From real to self centered. I got to "field for the cycle" this year. I pitched parts of 4 games. 3 of them well, one I'd like a do-over. Other than that I played a lot of outfield and all over the infield. In the last game of the season Doris gave me an inning at shortstop completing my fielding cycle, giving me at least one inning at every position on the field.

3. The oldtimers golf tournament. There are three things that stand out for me with this tournament. The first is the constant harassment on every tee that I took from Chris Ross. I get it. Its payback and I probably have more coming. Then there is the video evidence of my pathetic play that Murray Saunders has probably already loaded on youtube by now. The third is that I was able bring a friend from out of town to golf with me and 120 people that he had never met and he had a great time. Fabulous day and a great group of guys.

4. The showdown with The Wild. Both the Grisslies and The Wild were white hot at the time and as is usual, everyone had a great time and hung out in the clubhouse afterward.

5. The Strikeout. All I'll say (because I STILL get asked), is that I did not strike out on purpose. I wish I had. That was great fun and Tito and I will be signing memorabilia next August on the first anniversary of the event.

6. The team. Whether on the diamond or in the clubhouse, the camaraderie, the laughs, and the jabs were all great.

7. The help. As much as I joke around about being left to wander aimlessly as rookie; nothing could be farther from the truth. I actually used to play a lot of ball (I know - its hard to tell) but it had been 15 years or so. That plus the fact that I didn't know anyone on the team kind of had me behind the 8-ball. Rob Farah was always quick to remind me of some finer subtleties in the rules that differ from league to league. Doris was always watching out for positioning. Big Mac was constantly barking out the outs, the count and bases in play. Two quieter "helpers" for me were McCarron who would always discuss hitters tendencies (during play or between innings) and Billy Clouthier who is a wealth of baseball experience and information.

8. Friday Nights. Ahhh, Friday nights. Rob's backyard where we once again recount every play, every coulda, shoulda and woulda. It is amazing that we could have the same conversation for 16 or so consecutive Fridays and it hasn't gotten old.

9. Friendships. I won't get too sappy here & you know who you are. This year wouldn't have been a 10th of the fun without the players and wives joining in the banter and good honest interest and concern for each other. Be it Friday nights or any other time.

10. The BLOG. Definitely wouldn't have happened without baseball. Last summers BLOG about doing nothing went nowhere, so I'm sure of this!



That is it for lists, mercifully.



THE SONG



I wasn't going to do one....then I went out this evening to watch the Recycled and Joints play their final games of the year. Anyway, this song popped into my head.



PLAYOFF BASEBALL DREAMIN' (to the tune of)

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' by the Mamas and the Papas.



Music ===> CLICK ME

Music is brought to you by our sponsor Parsons ADL

All the leaves are brown

And the scene’s insane

I will take a walk

If it wins the game

I’ll be heading home

There will be no play

Playoff baseball dreamin’

On a nice September day

I won’t be in a lurch

At first I’m gonna stay

Well, no sliding on my knees

I won’t get caught today

You know the bats they will be bold

It has to be that way

Playoff baseball dreamin’

On a nice September day

All the leaves are brown

And there’s a game today

Standings no longer matter

It’s a new season to play

Our gloves are gonna be sure

That I’m good to say

Playoff baseball dreamin’

On a nice September day 

Playoff baseball dreamin’

On a nice September day

Playoff baseball dreamin’

On a nice September day

Cheers, thanks, out.



DD