Baseball thoughts

I know, I'm supposed to be talking tennis, but a couple of baseball items came across m'screen today, and I thought I'd throw down a thought or two.

First up is the general weirdness of the major league baseball season so far - as evidenced by this recent SI cover story (with the cool cover). The first place teams (as of Memorial Day) are the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago White Sox, Florida Marlins, and Arizona DBacks - none of whom was expected to challenge for a division title.

The Yankees are in dead last as are the Mariners and Padres. All three teams were expected to be in the thick of things but wake up today finding themselves 5.5, 11.5, and 11.5 games out respectively.

There's Larry "Chipper" Jones hitting .417 instead of fading into obsucrity as 36-yr-olds are supposed to do. Honestly, though, that can be attributed to small sample size weirdness - as can the ERA of Edinson Volquez, the OPS of Lance Berkman.

Weird stuff happens if you take any month or two portion of the season, but that's all we have so far so it makes everything look that much more important.

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Rob Neyer's new book looks to be a great read. ESPN has a couple of exerpts posted. One is about Ty Cobb & Carl Mays and isn't all that thrilling, but the other one about Thurman Munson is great.

The book allows Neyer to research and provide evidence for or against some of the great baseball stories in MLB history. It's - like all of Neyer's books so far - not likely to be read straight through in a sitting. There isn't enough consistent story for that. But in bit and bobs, drips and drabs it could be fascinating.

And it's given folks a chance to tell their own stories, which is always a bonus.

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And I close with a look at this week's Pujols awards from the Hardball Times. They reference a Washington Post article regarding the Washington Nationals and their dissatisfaction over their new baseball stadium.

Apparently the fact that the tax payers ponied up about half a billion dollars isn't good enough. The stadium opened up ready to go, but the offices didn't open at the same time.

So the team wants $100,000 per day in damages.

Because they're offices weren't ready.

I'll let the Hardball Times speak on this one...

Unbelievable. The bloated, engorged leeches that make up the major league cartel are “demanding that the city cough up $100,000 a day in damages because, according to the Nationals, the stadium was not completed in time for Opening Night in March.”

Excuse me? You just received over $600 million in free money that could have been devoted to schools, health care, children’s services, libraries, etc. and you’re feeling cheated? Listen up you putrescent aromas of a just-opened exhumed casket—do you have any idea where the city’s funds come from? They’re tax dollars taken from everyday folks who are already doing with less just so you could have more. Now you’re demanding to root through the pockets of those whose income is a fraction of yours? (I was going to write “root through the pockets of those who earn far less than you” until it dawned on me that the taxpayers earn more than team owners who simply expect to be enriched without any effort expended on their part).

These are definitely the god-children of Bud Selig—a bunch of nymphomaniac fiscal succubi if there ever were one. The whole lot of them should be rounded up, stuffed into a time machine set to 1789 Paris where they knew how to deal with people like them. As a parting shot we could say “Let ‘em eat (bleep)!” To give you a hand in understanding what your new hosts are telling you, we’ll send along some baseball fans from Quebec to help you adjust.

For short-sightedness, small thinking, diminutive moral standing, undersized intellectual capacity, stunted mental and emotional development and having stooping so low that they got their nose hairs caught in their own fly and imprinted YKK on the skin between their nostrils. I award Nationals ownership “The Samson.” One of our friendly representatives has been dispatched wearing steel-toed boots to give you your just reward. To confirm its receipt he’ll be imprinting YKK on the steel toe.