Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Fouled-Off Bunts: Brahman Bodes Redux Edition

One of the front-runners for the Boston GM job, Dayton Moore, has said "No Thanks!" He joins a growing cast of thousands who've turned down the job. Jim Bowden, of the people they've interviewed, is probably at the top of the list now. Buck Says that they'll be looking for a few more good men before settling.
  • Nationals Farm Authority notes the not-so lamentable loss of two of our loveable farm hands: Rich Rundles, and Kenny Kelley. Neither is going to crush the team, but it is strange to see the franchise lose some depth, even if the depth is about as shallow as the kiddy pools I used to pee in. (And no, "used to" doesn't mean last week.)

  • The Distinguished One applies a rigorous scientific analysis to determine whether Bodes' unhealthy love of Juan Encarnacion would accomplish his stated off-season goals. Unfortunately, it's 87.5% NO!

  • The Federalist riffs off a comment from one of my posts yesterday, looking at whether a Wilkerson/Marquis trade would make sense. Short answer: it'd be better than trading him for cash.

  • The TPers discover a giant lake monster, and how that relates to the Nats.

  • Nats Blog, apparently not content with the idiot who gave Roger Clemens a first place vote for MVP, wonders why more starting pitchers don't get MVP support.

Finally, a hearty good job to our friends at MLB for one of the few things they've ever done right since allowing Jackie Robinson to play. I think that 50 games for a first steroid offense might be a little too high, but there's no doubt that it will serve as an effective deterrent!

Two thoughts, though, and they both relate to something the probably senile Senator from Kentuck' said on the radio this morning.

First, he said that records of steroid users should be wiped from the books (although he doesn't think that that's Congress' place to decide) This idea, which has gained traction in some circles, is patently stupid. The record book is just a list of numbers. It contains no value judgements. When reading it, you're free to make those judgements yourself and discount performance in your mind. No one who looks at records is going to think that Rafael Palmeiro belongs in the same breath with Willie Mays and Hank Aaron in the 3,000/500 club. If Palmeiro does go into the Hall (which I don't think will happen at this point), don't you think that the first thing anyone brings up will be his guilt? His stats will be an afterthought.

Second, he made the bizarre claim that no one used amphetamines while he played, which directly contradicts statements by a number of players, notably Pete Rose and Jim Bouton. Greenies were used by almost everyone every day. Maybe they didn't take them out in the open (though given some of the accounts in Ball Four, I doubt that), but they WERE prevalent in the good Senator's day. That he can't recall is either an indication of his increased senility, or a sign that he's not discussing these issues in good faith.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home