Monday, June 04, 2012

BASEBALL AND OTHER STUFF

#  Baseball is a strange game. The Yankees finally managed to look like they could hit and they did it against arguably, the best pitcher in the game today. Verlander looked just a little off all day, but it wasn't all his fault, at least according to him. The game started 7 or 8 minutes late because of a ceremony honoring Maglio Ordonez. It was supposed to last about 4 minutes, but it actually lasted 3 or 4 minutes longer. Justin claimed it threw off the rhythm of his pregame ritual. He also said that the pitches that he "practices," weren't being called strikes, so he had to throw it over the plate more and the Yankees were able to hit it.
Next time, he should hand the home plate umpire a stack of newspaper clippings, so he'll know to call more strikes.
A-Rod hit a monster home run, or, as my Dad used to say, Verlander did a good job of hitting his bat. 

# George "The Animal" Steele threw out the first pitch before a game here in Rochester. Steele, as you professional wrestling buffs remember, used to tear off the turnbuckle padding with his teeth before a match. Fittingly, today he tore the cover of the baseball off with his teeth and threw the remnants of the ball toward home plate. Wrestling was a part-time activity for George. His full time job was, believe it or not, Principal of a high school in Detroit. (It might have been the other way around)

# Detroit doesn't have a very good defense. They made three errors and had two passed balls in the three game series. Santos, the catcher, looked particularly helpless behind home plate, and the Yankees seemed to be able to steal bases at will. Miguel Cabrera needed to be introduced to his glove before every inning, and waved at a throw from the second baseman that allowed Cano to score. Even Verlander looked disgusted at that one.

# I saw the San Diego Padres on ESPN's Top Ten  Plays this morning. It wasn't the Padres that were being highlighted. I did notice that they wore camouflage uniforms. With an 18-37 (.327) record, this seemed appropriate.

#  At a chocolate-tasting event here in Rochester, Dr. Greg Seeger, Medical Director and Psychiatrist at Rochester Genera Hospital, announced, "Chocolate is not a food, but a medicine. Eaten in moderation, chocolate can have a positive effect on diseases like diabetes and heart disease."  I have been unable to confirm that he was carried from the room on the shoulders of the chocoholics in attendance. Reporter Nancy O'Donnell said those believers see "death by chocolate" as more of a challenge than a warning.

# All 10 members of the eastern divisions of both leagues are over .500. Last place Boston would be in 2nd place in the Al West and the NL Central. Bud Selig better not find out or he may add three or four more playoff spots.

# Comedian Bill Maher has purchased a share in the New York Mets. That's what they need: more jokes.

# The Mets honored former pitcher Jon Franco, in a ceremony before the game yesterday. This delay so upset Met starter, Jonathon Niese, that he was only able to pitch 6 shutout innings, but, unlike Justin Verlander, he had to be removed from the game after experiencing a rapid heart beat (true story). Don't these pitchers have enough problems with upsetting their pre-game routines?

# The final leg of the Triple Crown, The Belmont Stakes ,will be run this Saturday. I'll Have Another will try to win the Triple Crown for the first time in 34 years. Just so you are aware that this IS a 'professional' sport, the horse's trainer, Doug O'Neill, has been cited for 25 separate violations in the past 7 years, including doping his horses. Let's see, PEDs in the Olympics, boxing, baseball, football, cycling and now, horse racing. What's left? Chess, bridge and Texas Hold 'em.

***THEY SAID IT***
"Londoners discover beer prices at 2012 Olympics were set by the N.Y. Yankees."  --  Fark.com
"There is speculation that Lakers forward Pau Gasol would rather play for Chicago: "Not the only Spaniard to want to run with the bulls."  -- RJ Currie
"Being with a woman all night never hurt no professional baseball player. It’s staying up all night looking for a woman that does him in.”  -- Casey Stengel
"Nice win for the Boston Celtics in OT tonight. As they take over the temporary mantle of “America’s ABM Team.” (“Anyone But Miami.”)  -- Janice Hough
"Do you know how tough the Belmont is? To go a mile-and-a-half when you’ve never done it before? That's like asking me to go a year-and-a-half into a marriage."  -- Norman Chad
"It’s a big night for hockey fans. It’s game one of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Kings are in the finals for only the second time in their history. What was on ESPN today? -- the national spelling bee."  -- Craig Fergusen
"Israeli scientists say they have developed a cannabis plant without the high, for people who want to use medical marijuana and not get stoned. That’s like developing Viagra that makes you just want to be friends."  -- Jim Barach

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