Sunday, November 03, 2013

SO NOW IT'S STARTS

***THE SILLY SEASON***
Silly season, n.: That time of year when BB Gen. Mgrs, talk big and act silly.
      The opening salvo is always fired by the agents. Robinson Cano's agent is 'asking' for $301 million over 10 years. Jacob Ellsbury's agent wants $120 million over 8 years. Shin-soo Choo is asking for $90 million over 5 years. Cano and Choo are 31 years old, Ellsbury is 30. Money has never scared off General Managers, but the long term contracts are starting to. They point to Pujols' deal, to Hamilton, to A-Rod and to Sabathia. Cano is probably the prime free-agent on the market, but clubs asking themselves, "Do we really want to end up paying a 41-year old 2nd baseman $31 million dollars?"
Well, it's too early for the ODO (One Dumb Owner) to show up, but I'm sure if he's out there, Uber-agent Scott Boras will find him.

OVER THE TOP - WAY OVER
After winning a World Series, players like to take some memento of their season: a ball signed by the whole team, one of their uniform tops or a picture of them holding the trophy. That's seems like a nice thing, but I think Jake Peavy went a little overboard. In their victory parade on Saturday, the Red Sox rode in Duck boats, those little amphibious boats. Peavy wanted to remember the joy of the parade, so he bought one of the boats. Gotta love that: "Never mind the ring, honey. Look what I got! This will look great in my den."

COMBINING OVER THE TOP AND THE SILLY SEASON
The Yanks have re-signed Derek Jeter for one more year. $12 million for a 40-year old shortstop. Oh well, at least he runs hard down to first base every time. Harder than Cano and that's with a broken ankle.

TWO LOSSES
Center Walt 'The Big Bell' Bellamy died this week. Even though he never achieved the level of play everyone thought he might, he played for NY, Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta and Baltimore over 16 years, averaging 20 points per game.
The Yankees lost a former player - Johnny Kucks. He only played for 6 years, but he will be remembered for throwing a 3-hit complete game shutout over the Brooklyn Dodgers in game seven of the 1956 World Series.

GOODBYE TO THE "8TH WONDER OF THE WORLD"
At least, that's what they called the Houston Astrodome when it was built. Right now, they are selling off parts of the stadium to fans, who are buying seats in groups of 4 for $200.
Trivia question: Who hit the very first home run in the Astrodome? Bonus question: What was the original name of the team?

ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE ANNOUNCER'S DUMB PHRASES
"He put the ball on the ground" For those of us who don't speak Colorman-ese, He fumbled.
Note: the adjective "Dumb" may be in the wrong place in the headline.

***THEY SAID IT***
"During last week’s game, Raiders defensive coordinator Jason Tarver flipped the refs a “double bird.” The TV analyst said that Tarver was angry. This is why we have NFL experts, to explain stuff fans never could have figured out."  -- Brad Dickson
"Phrase I’d nominate for oblivion: “Keeping bowl hopes alive.” Right, because everyone plays football in hopes of that magical 6-6 season."  -- Janice Hough
"The Red Sox finally won the World Series at Fenway, ending a 95-year drought at home. Meanwhile I lost another argument with my wife, extending a 22-year drought."  -- RJ Currie
"Yankees sign Jeter to the DL for $12 million.”  -- Fark,com
"Friday marks the 100th anniversary of Bowlers Journal magazine. Any celebration will be so understated, editors say, that you’ll probably hear a pin drop."  -- Dwight Perry
"Only 96 more days until the start of the Winter Olympics. It’s about time I started reading scouting reports on the world’s best curling teams."  -- Bob Molinaro
"San Diego State played its annual Halloween baseball game with everyone in costume. So what? For eight straight games the Jacksonville Jaguars have looked like clowns."  -- RJ Currie

Trivia answer - Mickey Mantle in an pre-season game against the Houston Colt 45's.

CP-



















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