Archive for the ‘baseball’ Category

I might not be in front of the computer at noontime so lets take a look at the what’s happening on the blogroll:

Ruby Slippers reports on the rubes who actually think that the passage of Obamacare means they will actually get free healthcare:

Evidently not everyone heard that bit of bad news or missed it entirely while cheering the fact 26 year olds will be covered under their parents plan. Perhaps people stopped tuning in after Obama health care speech number 563. If all else fails as an excuse blame the critics for confusing this group of poor souls who just want their free health care and they want it now:

Ironically I just got a letter from our insurance company saying my 19 year old would soon be dropped from coverage, but can get in as a full time student. Maybe congress didn’t read this bill but the insurance companies sure did.

Peg at What if Has two related posts on the same subject, the first concerns why the Democrats cry “Racist” so easily:

The other day, my good friend Professor Keith Burgess-Jackson pondered why columnists like Frank Rich rail on and on about the racism of Tea Partiers – when nothing could be further from the truth. I added a comment that I thought they did so because they cannot win in the battle of ideas. So – they then resort to slurs and attacks of “racist.”

She links to Roger Simon who uses the Civil War Term “waving the bloody shirt” She then follows up with this item quoting the Washington post:

But by and large, no one I spoke with or I heard from on stage said anything that was approaching racist.

Almost everyone I met was welcoming to this African-American television news producer.

Maybe they can try, “Vote as you marched”, oops sorry the majority of votes for Civil rights were republican ones.

David Pinto at Baseball Musings is following games but also the business of Baseball:

The Yankees are now worth $1.6 billion, keeping them the most valuable franchise. The next closest team is the Boston Red Sox at $870 million. Given that Steinbrenner’s group bought the Yankees for $20 million, he made a pretty good investment. The Yankees do have a high amount of debt, but that’s due to their using the equity in the club to keep improving it, for example, by building a new stadium.

It should be interesting to see what attendance figures are at the end of the year.

Conservatives for Palin is all over yesterday’s Rally and interview with Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann appearance, their focus is media reaction:

Update #2: Andy Barr from Politico affirmatively reports that Palin and Bachmann spoke “[b]efore a predominantly female crowd of more than 11,000 fans.”

Update #3: The St. Paul Pioneer Press effectively confirms the Politico number by reporting that Palin and Bachmann held “a raucous campaign rally of more than 10,000 fans that exceeded the size of many presidential whistle-stops.”…

-Three more local Minnesota newspapers effectively confirm what was reported by Politico and the St. Paul Pioneer Press regarding the attendance at the Palin/Bachmann campaign rally yesterday.

Update: The St. Cloud Times reports a “crowd estimated at more than 10,000.”

I saw it last night, if you didn’t they link to video here. People who don’t think these ladies are going to be a force in the GOP are deluding themselves.

…they had a shot.

Then they went after the pope and lost me at once. This pope already stepped up to the plate on this and anyone who has followed the scandals for years would know this. I suspect they still haven’t read the links I provided yet.

The MSM has to remember they are not the only source of information anymore and anyone who is you know actually informed isn’t going to fall for this crap.

Update: Of course they aren’t questioning the NYT because unlike bloggers they have layers of fact checkers.

Update 2: The gullibility of the NYT makes Hot air’s headlines. Will it make the MSM’s anytime soon?

Update 3: And here are some interesting numbers care of POWIP

…on the NYT best seller list?

Whenever the NY Times places a “dagger” symbol next to a book, it signifies that “some bookstores report[ed] receiving bulk orders” for the book.

The NY Times placed not just one, but two, daggers next to Romney’s book. You can draw your own conclusion as to who it was that purchased Governor Romney’s book in bulk.

By contrast, the NY Times failed to place the “dagger” symbol next to Governor Palin’s book in any of the weeks she held the top position on the NY Times best-seller list among non-fiction hardcover books. Despite the left’s unsubstantiated theories, bookstores did not report to the NY Times that they received bulk orders for Going Rogue. See week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4, week 5, and week 6. As you can see, in none of these weeks is there a dagger symbol next to her book

I have NEVER heard anyone speak of Mitt Romney with anything resembling excitement and I live in Massachusetts.

BTW it is worth noting that Sarah Palin’s book is STILL on the list (at 34) after 17 weeks.

I take exception to Marc Armbinder’s comparison of Romney to Roger Maris. It is unfair to Maris who actually was able to hit his 61 under normal game conditions and won 3 World Series. Maybe it would be fairer to compare it to McGwire or Barry Bonds instead.

This is amateur night stuff, and this guy wants to be president? The blowback on this is going to be much worse that the positive press he got when the debut first was reported. Bad form Governor, bad form.

Anyone care to make book on how long it takes Romney to fall off?

Update: It is worth noting that Sarah Palin’s book is still ranked in the top 150, 143 at Amazon as of this morning, while Mitt’s newly released book is at 43, only 100 spots ahead.

Nomar rejoins Red Sox: Then retires.

Posted: March 11, 2010 by datechguy in baseball
Tags: , ,

I’m a sentimental guy so I absolutely loved this story:

The one time face of the organization announced today that he had signed a one-day minor league deal in order to retire as a member of the Red Sox. Garciaparra could not hide his emotions during a press conference held earlier this morning. At times struggling to get the words out, he expressed genuine happiness in being afforded this opportunity to leave the game of baseball in the same uniform he so dramatically entered in.

ESPN talked a bit about how things don’t always work out the way we expect:

But for a moment in time, Garciaparra was the darling among them. In that fourth season (2000), Garciaparra went 3-for-5 in the first game of a mid-July doubleheader in Baltimore — I was there — to lift his batting average to .403.

.403

Garciaparra went 0-for-5 in the second game that evening, stayed in the .390-.400 range for another few weeks, then batted .346 from Aug. 14 through the end of the season to finish at .372. Still …

.372

What we didn’t know was that Garciaparra had a wrist injury. A serious injury. In 2001, he didn’t play until late July, struggled in 21 games and shut things down for the rest of the season. There was a surgery, and it was “successful” … but Garciaparra would never again be that player, never again a threat to win a batting title or an MVP award.

I knew a guy who was convinced that Robin Ventura would be one of the greatest hitters of all time. Same thing.

But the best story as one might expect came from the best sports section in the country (although the rest of the paper rots), the Boston Globe:

“I teared up when I heard it,’’ K.J. Meline, a 61-year-old from Brentwood, N.H., said as she prepared to tour the park with her family. “I always loved him, and this just feels right.’’

For many, the man remembered yesterday was the “No Mah’’ who had electrified fans at shortstop and pushed .400 at the plate — and not the one criticized as a greedy, petulant ballplayer who let a contract dispute interfere with his play.

It is a nice ending to a story that for a brief period of time shone brightly across the New England Landscape.

Nomar always reminded me of Kirby Puckett a great hitter who swung at too many pitchers, but always managed to get hits anyway, at least until he got hurt.

And if you are superstitious consider…

…the last time Nomar left the Sox …we won the series!

Oh and Dan Shaughnessy dissents.