Off Base
With Football on a Bye, We Say Hello to Baseball

January 30, 2008

Now that football has once again taken the extra week for no apparent reason, what do you say we turn the page on the bleakest winter in recent baseball memory, and get back to basics.

There's no denying the misery of this offseason, and it's been an especially depressing few months for yours truly. But come this exact time of year, when the NFL trades the momentum of Championship Sunday for the hype and manufacturing of its signature event, the Super-Something-or-Other, I inevitably thank my lucky stars for the genuine greatness of the World Series.

So thank you, football. The distress and distraction of the winter of 2007-2008 has been shaken. The fog has been lifted.

That said, we'll keep the steroid talk to a minimum. Just a couple swipes.

As lame as it was for Bud Selig to get a contract extension seemingly within seconds of his groveling appearance before Congress, what a quote from the commish, huh? Did you see this? "By the time I leave, you won't recognize the sport." Wow. I'm confident I don't need to explain the irony of the line to this audience.

So, I guess it's a shame that Paul Lo Duca messed up a knee and will be out awhile. I guess. And it's nice to see that the Nationals followed up by signing catcher Johnny Estrada almost immediately, but it would considerably better if someone in the Washington organization actually had the balls to step up and jettison Lo Duca altogether. If only.

Prediction: Roger Clemens will either renege on his promise to show up for his Congressional hearing next month, or do a 180 and take the Fifth. Either would be a better course of action than what he has scheduled...

OK, enough with the drugs for this time. Pitchers and catchers and Tom Martin report February 14. Let's get ready to rumble…

Talkback: Your comments are always encouraged…

Seems like as good a time as any to celebrate George Carlin's "Baseball and Football." This is my favorite line: "Football has hitting, clipping, spearing, piling on, personal fouls, late hitting and unnecessary roughness. Baseball has the sacrifice." And here's a video from a live show...

Dodgers Doings: Not much doing, actually. But it's just as well that Mike Easler is taking over for Don Mattingly. Easler is the better qualified hitting coach, and no big knock at Donnie Baseball, but Mattingly really had no business being anointed the Dodgers-manager-in-training. He'd done nothing to earn it. Besides, Mike Scioscia ought to have had his fill of Anaheim in three years. There's your next L.A. skipper.

In case you missed the big news, the Dodgers signed lefties Mike Myers and former-Dodger Tom Martin to minor league deals and invited them to Spring Training. Well, it's always nice to get an invitation, so props to the club for its courtesy. Meanwhile, there's no reason to quibble over a hundred thousand dollars or two. Rudy Seanez should be re-signed promptly. Mike Sweeney too…

Baseball in China? Don't care. It's not that I think baseball in China is a bad thing, per se, but if the Chinese don't care, why should we? That was the point of the article, wasn't it? More importantly, Bud Selig's name should be forever linked with All-Star Game ties, World Series cancellations, and performance enhancing drugs. If international baseball detracts from that, then giving it as little pub as possible is the way to go…

Media Savvy: Keeping tabs on BaseballSavvy.com favorite Brett Tomko, who received a $3 million dole from the Kansas City Royals last week. As is often the case, we couldn't say it any better than Rotoworld. "It's so ridiculous to complain about what Alex Rodriguez is making when baseball is swimming in so much cash that Tomko can disappoint organization after organization and still receive $3 million. The soon-to-be 35-year-old had a 5.55 ERA while pitching in two of the National League's bigger ballparks last season. Once in 10 years -- with the Giants in 2004 -- has he actually met the expectations a team had for him. There's simply way too much money being made by baseball if he's worth $3 million."

Of course, you could argue that Tomko has met expectations every year except 2004...

Statue for Sandy: The Koufax in bronze campaign continues, with perhaps a little progress to report. Perhaps. I don't want to jinx it, so just stay tuned. All I'll say is that sports sculptor Malcolm DeMille, much considered the "Leroy Nieman of bronze," is in vogue currently, to say the least. That's Tiger Woods below, with Malcolm's 2008 Buick Invitational championship trophy. And as you can see, pretty much everyone wants to get his hands on a DeMille.

If you haven't already, please Vote “Yes on 32.”

And I still say "the Tiger Slam" sounds like breakfast at Denny's…

Investors Wanted: No joke. We have some ideas up our sleeve. No emery board in the pocket, but ideas up our sleeve. Buy low, sell high, I always say. Inquire

Remember, glove conquers all….

 

 

 

 

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