My Man...

My man.

So Dodge was asked to come join his old team for the state baseball tournament.  I remember now why we left last year though and got picked up by another team.

In general, the team can not identify pitches in or out of the strike zone.  (When I say this I really do mean they strike out on ball six, i.e. they could have been on base already, but grandma is too busy reminding them to hit a home run that they have never been able to do in practice or games.)  They don't play defense.  They have one pitcher; well two if you add Dodge.

I realize there are different tiers of teams in baseball, first tier that play all three facets of the game well.  Second tier that play generally two of them well and then everyone else who probably struggles to play any well.

Last year with this team, Dodge had back to back no hitters.  The first game was against the team that would pick him up for their World Series run last year.  The second was a perfecto where he faced twelve batters and took them all down on strike outs.  I realize that a four inning game is not a "full" game in the Major Leagues, but if that is the full game at age nine, a full game it is.

Fast forward to this year's state tournament.  The team he is playing for scored eight runs through two games.  He was responsible for half the runs and RBIs.  That's right, he either knocked you in or as lead off man scored himself.  He only has one hit, but got on base in all four chances and collected six stolen bases in the meantime.  On the bump, he collected the only win with three strike outs in 2.1 innings.  He pitched mostly right handed though - his non dominant side.  (Oh yeah, he switch hits, like plenty of hitters do, but he also switch pitches.)

I realize one kid can not make a team, but one kid can also nor carry them on his back either.  When one kid has to put up 50% of the teams run production, the "team" is probably not going far.

True to form, I suspect that while the team he is helping this weekend is pretty limited on their options for advancing I am glad he is just out there playing and enjoying the game.  I look at some of the coaches who didn't want him this weekend and their resulting records getting blown out 24-0 or losing more games than they won and have to ask is your system really that stellar?

In any case, I love watching my man play the game he loves and succeed at it.

Put Me In Coach...

So this week's Friday Night Music selection is all about baseball.  This weekend we begin our state tournament for my eldest son, Dodge.

His fall team decided to move up to select ball, though they were ill prepared for the competition as evidenced by their 3-7 record and no tourney wins.  Ouch.  That meant Dodge ended up in the draft with an "expansion" team of kids who had never played ball before or who were dropped or left the team for whatever reason.

Needless to say, we barely got across the .500 mark for the season and while I want to avoid pride, find myself beaming that Dodge finished the season with a 5-0 record as a pitcher, though he did earn one of those wins via the blown save.  Nonetheless, he was ace, closer, and whatever else the needed when it came to an arm while holding down short stop otherwise.

He has now been picked up by his old expandion team, the Cedar Hill Ruff Ryders, for the State and potentially World Series tournaments for both his pitching and defense and I believe his ridiculous ability to get on base.

In any case, it is time for a new tournament and being picked up as a proverbial waiver wire pickup.  Results will come soon from the tournament.  Until then, enjoy the tune.

Really?

As I noted the other day in a blog piece, Yogi Berra was right when he said Little League was a good thing becase it got the parents off the streets.  If only I could keep the careless ones out of baseball coaching.

Once again, adults who barely understand the game and go out of their way to not understand its rules are jeopardizing weekend plans because they do not have their acts together.  I realize some of us are more disorganized than others, I
realize some parents have kids with ADD who do not understand how to follow instructions, but do us a favor and do not get into the coaching business then if your own game is not fixed...first.

Crazy idea I know to have your own act together before you try to help pre-pubescents with theirs.

I know the concept is a big one that you should be able to have your act together before you take on responsibility for someone else, but apparently this lesson in organization, teaching, and motivation has missed some folks and they seem to have congregated these past few weeks in little league baseball.  Let me paraphrase a great quote about baseball: nothing is easy, but nothing is impossible in the game.  That being said the adults have got to get out of the way of the kids or baseball will continue to see dwindling numbers at the youth level.  Pathetic!

Lunch Crawl

Hmmm, so what to do on a Friday without the children and your wife is home?  Well, how about lunch?  The problem: which restaurant?  The solution: three of them.

FOR LUNCH?!?

Yes, this would be my first lunch crawl, akin to the bar crawl though with much less alcohol.  In between getting CDs unlocked at the library and visits to the farmer's market and grocery store for a Memorial Day weekend that would start off with lunch, or lunches, so the adventure begins with a little Luck.

The restaurant: Luck.  The score: 4 stars.

Luck was my first choice for where to eat if we were going to dine in a single location at Trinity Groves.  All of these restaurants are in the
Trinity Groves complex located at 425 Bedford Street, Dallas, Texas  75212.

Luck had the most inventive menu overall I would say though that might have to do with my prejudice towards Fried Green Tomatoes which of course is where I started.  Since this was going to be a multi-course crawl meal I wanted to pace myself so this would be both a great appetizer for my palate as well as not to be too filling, except, the chunks of tomato were huge.  Nice job chef with the surprise.

I washed down perfectly textured tomatoes with

Oak Cliff Beverage Works root beer and continued with the Blueberry and Raw Butternut Squash Salad.   (For those of you who know me, I really really did have butternut squash.)  Again, proportions were much larger than expected so half the salad was boxed up for later.  The staff at Luck is attentive without being over bearing and what I had from the menu I found enjoyable.  I wanted to try their beer battered apple fritter funnel cake as I am a fan of most funnel cakes (who isn't?) ice cream, but dessert was to come elsewhere.

My biggest disappointment was Luck is a beer only establishment.  I get the craft beer craze, but I drink liquor if I am going to imbibe.  Other than that, four stars.

The next stop, was Resto Gastrobistro.  A little swankier or wannabe maybe, I almost suggested this place for appetizers as I was interested in how they were going to do their pork belly gorditas.  Crab cakes and roasted artichokes might have been interesting too, but I was now on an entree course which for me meant a lobster corn dog.  The BBQ chips that came with it seemed home made, but the corn dog was just okay.  I am not sure if they just extracted a hot dog from the bun and filled it with lobster.  Again, okay, but not great.  Maybe I came for the wrong part of the menu, but I certainly came at the wrong time of day.

While they were able to make my personal martini I drink, they seemed slow to follow up and unprepared for the bus of folks that dropped off an elderly sight seeing group.  Maybe any Friday night would have been better than Friday holiday lunch, but slow service and okay food yields a forgiving three stars.

Finally, we go to the pop up kitchen with the rotating chef, Kitchen LTO (Limited Time Only).  We are now on second entrees and dessert, except...(I will get to the exception in a minute.)  So again, the starters looked more interesting and since I already had an entree perhaps I should have had another starter as an ender, but I got flatbread.  My date got a chicken salad sandwich.

If you want to talk about boring and unimaginative, have
flatbread with "fresh mozzarella" (is anyone using old mozzarella), arugula, and kalamata olives.  Of course, I had the crazy dish as they chicken salad was less impressive than what I make at home.  Sunflower sprouts do not a $12 sandwich make.

While the service was better than Resto, the communication was not.  Their website advertised a buttered popcorn creme brulee.  Want to guess what I am having?

That's right, the LTOMG! Chocalate Dome because the staff removed the dish from the menu without updating their website.  A chocolate dome with fresh caramel over vanilla ice cream does not normally get me excited, but it was something.  Still, in this day and age, don't advertise it, if you can't do it.  The service and food was underwhelming, but stable so three stars.  I think I would go for appetizers and  desserts next time except who knows what the menu will (or won't) have on it when I get there.

One thing I do know is if you have the time and
the desire, a lunch crawl is a fun way to look at multiple restaurants when they are housed so close together.  You get to try multiple places and figure out who does what, how they do it, and can they provide the service you are looking for in a quicker period of time than usual.  Have fun and enjoy your meal.

Happy Birthday 'I'...

 While I doubt anyone referred to him as I, Ian Fleming, could have gone through this moniker.  Or perhaps Fleming, Ian Fleming, station J...Jamaica.  In any case, today we celebrate the man's birthday who created James Bond.


Fleming who himself was a British Naval Intelligence Officer during World War II likely had a first class seat, due to his assignment as well as his upbringing, to spy craft in its golden age of espionage.

Beyond the explosions and Walther PPK/s that appear again and again throughout the series, no Bond film would be complete without his martini.

In a bit of an unusual departure in Casino Royale though, Bond moves from the ubiquitous vodka martini - shaken, not stirred - and 
goes for the Vesper, the drink named after Vesper Lynd, Bond's love interest in the film.

For those fans who do not remember the recipe, the Vesper is made with:

• 3 measures of Gordon's Gin
• 1 measure of vodka
• 1/2 measure Kina Lillet (Kina Lillet is a White or Blanc Lillet. It's a brand of dry vermouth  made in France since the late 1800's that is often referred to as "the apèritif of Bordeaux".)
• Lemon peel for garnish

Here is hoping you celebrate Mr. Fleming's birthday with a proper Vesper martini.

...Showing Up Isn't Enough

What a wasted night.  More or less like what feels like a wasted weekend for me.

I realize Memorial Day is supposed to be about remembering our fallen, but for some reason my son's little league chose to schedule the end of season tournament when people normally go out of town.  They did nothing to commemorate the weekend for veterans other than those umpires who would turn around and thank those who served (Bravo!).

So, last night Adrian Beltre had the opportunity to finish a game in the ninth inning with a routine grounder and throw to first.  Eduardo Nunez was on second and went around him, reportedly so he could make a clean throw, but Beltre chose instead to attempt to tag Nunez who then made it safely to third and the batter to first.  What?!?  Why would you even consider this play as an option?  Needless to say, the Rangers went on to load the bases and then lose the game on a fifteen foot dribbler off the end of the bat of a AAA call up.  The whole thing was a comedy of errors that reminded me of my weekend.

This weekend our little league team found a way, well via more Errors than innings played, to give away three winnable games.  We went up against one team that had the same record as us and our 3-4 hitters decided that sttriking out four times in four at bats was the way to win a game.  In the second game against one of the top teams in the league, we led 6-1 going into the third when our second basemen decided he would stop playing because he wasn't behind the plate.  That's right, you are ahead in a game and you allow five runs on errors.  The elimenation game Sunday was more of the same.  After falling behind a higher seeded team, our 7 hole hitter punched one into the outfield for a double.  Our eight hole struck out, but could have run to first on a passed ball.  Instead he froze not realizing what to do (hence, you show up on time for games and find your way to practice now and then...read Dianne's talk for more).  So we have one out, down two, and Dodge is sure to get up.

Our nine hole hitter who has one hit all season somehow gets on base on a bobble at short stop.  He even steals second before almost getting caught out on the base paths half stealing third.  Dodge hits him over and gets himself on base.  Now what?  Well, I get yelled at for telling nine hole kid to call time because Dodge isn't in scoring position.  (Dodge is yet to be caught stealing this season and routinely steals home.)  The dad who yells at me then watches as his son pops up and he doesn'd hold his runner on the bag who dashes home only to be doubled off third.  End of game...end of baseball weekend.

Look, I don't care about your kid's ability.  As one of the coaches I will work with them...IF you will.  Yogi Berra said "Little League is a good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets."  If only that were true.  Instead of working with their kid on their chosen craft, the team was scrambling minutes before game time to figure out would we have nine to play with.  (I gave up the beach for this?)

I know it sounds crazy, but your kid can't pitch because he doesn't know how to throw from the outfield.  No, your kid can't play first because he can't catch the ball during warm ups.  He is still using a glove from teeball.  This isn't to be rude, but when you sign your kid up he needs to be ready with the right gear and the right mindset.  As an example, let me show you kid B.  Kid B has played one season previously.  He started the season in right field after basically being kicked off a pseudo-select rec team.  He wanted to learn though.  In four games he went from playing right field to being our starting third basemen.  Why?  Because he would stop grounders and threw across the diamond.  He put his body in front of the ball as we taught him and when he had success he celebrated, when he didnt have success he would ask "What can I do different?  Show me a different way coach and I will change what I am doing."  I can barely get my kid to change his deal.  He wanted to pitch so we gave him a basic drill - which he did on his own.  The season wore on, but you know what?  He pitched in the end of the season tournament for us.  His first game: 2/3 inning, 0.00 ERA with a strikeout.  He was coachable and I hope my son gets to play with kid B for a while because he is a great example of how to get better.  He shows up before time, puts in effort, and wants to help...the team.

Like the play last night...take the easy out.  Play strong fundamental baseball because showing up isn't enough.

I Don't Forget...

 ...no, today and this weekend is not about hot dogs and fireworks, but is time for remembrance (I hope) of what this nation had to go through first to earn her freedom and then to keep it.

I love this song by Toby Keith because I feel like it embodies some of the national rage post 9/11.  While I prefer alternatives to war, there was a clear attack on our soil that day and the response America was able to deliver should have been awe inspiring.

We can talk another day about the merits of going to war and the Pax Americana or the foreign policy that has since followed it and its relative success and failures, but for today I bring you Toby Keith and "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue."

When you listen to it, remember not only the success we have had, but the thousands of losses as well.  Enjoy!

Bull Durham

Annie Savoy: "The world is made for people who aren't cursed with self awareness."

Truer words may have never been spoken.  Some days you look around and you see people who seem successful based entirely on pure dumb luck.  They don't look in the mirror to know thyself.  They just look in the mirror.  For me that has never worked as I have always tried to follow the Shakespearean sentiment from Polonius "to thine own self be true." (Hamlet: Act I, scene 3)

In any case, this month's baseball movie is Bull Durham - the story of the Durham Bulls, currently the AAA franchise with the Tampa Bay Rays.  At the time of the movie though they were the A ball team for someone.

It seems an appropriate time to talk about working through troubles and figuring out what you need to do now - in the springtime.  Like in life, we start by learning how to play the game, and as we go through life we theoretically get better at playing the game of life until our middle years when hopefully we are at the top of our professional game.

There are some interesting parallels from the movie and life though.

One, get your team involved.  As Crash Davis noted, don't try to strike everyone out.  Throw ground balls and get your defense involved behind you.  His point wasn't to make a commentary on facism versus democracy, but to say get your people on your team working behind you.  Leaders would call this delegation.

Two, as Coach Joe Reardon said...there is no room for lollygaggers.  You have to hustle to play baseball or live life.  Hustle out there.

Finally, as Walt Whitman once said, "I see great things in baseball. It's our game, the American game. It will repair our losses and be a blessing to us."  I know when I have had a hard day or challenges abound, a simple game of catch helps get me through.  Few things can relax and inspire me at the same time, but baseball does and I am thankful for that.

Spend a little time thinking about the lessons in your minor league stint and I think you will find they are similar.

National Financial League

Good news NFL fans.  Your league is about to further dilute the playoffs by adding another wild card team.

No, thankfully it will not happen this year, but according to sources, 2015 looks like it will be the year when we have seven playoff teams in conferences with only sixteen teams.  Maybe they should just allow every team with a .500 record in...that would add to the playoffs, right?

And the question as to what competitive advantage this will provide?

Well none.  They aren't adding a team for competitive advantage.  When asked why do this, the first answer back was because it added revenue to the league.  The league already rakes in $9B per year, but the owners want more.  That part isn't surprising.  What is surprising is they did not have the good sense to at least lie to us and argue for some competitive issue.

Of course, they can;t do that.  The league is all about dollars and cents and could care less about your pocketbook or player injuries.  The league continues to send Super Bowls to cities that fleece their local taxpayers and continues to fight issues of hiding concussion/brain injury data from players and now has a new scandal dealing with force feeding pain killers to its players.

It is too bad the NFL can;t fess up and become a game again.

Do You Hear The Cheers?

I wrote about this just over two months ago when problems were first reported, but I wonder if the Allen ISD School Board and voters are hearing the cheers?  I might be thinking of how Nefertiti hardened the heart of Pharaoh by asking if he heard the applause after Moses had freed the Israeli slaves.  Perhaps I should not harden the hearts of Allen voters who might vote to rebuild and create an even bigger monstrosity, but you have to continue to wonder what goes through people's minds when they approve a $60M football stadium.

It has become official that Allen ISD will need to find a new stadium the coming football season and will not be playing in their own stadium two years after construction.  Two years!

Again, I bring up the idea that couldn't that money have been more usefully spent....on science and lab equipment?  Information technology upgrades?  Almost anything?

Well, the voters of Allen disagreed and they bought a $60M joke.  Yes, you have a 5A State Championship football team.  Too bad you don't have 5A state championship architects and builders who put children's safety before dollars and cents.

EMS Week

This is you, right?

You sacrifice.  Miss any of your kid’s birthdays or Christmas or ballgames?

You get up in the middle of the night to take care of strangers.  You might be paid, you might be volunteer, but either way you spend your days and nights caring for those who are in crisis.

If you do this for money, you made the wrong choice.  You can make more money at McDonald’s with less education.  If you did this for the high-speed adrenaline rush nothing will say high-speed and adrenaline like getting puked on by the town drunk at 3 AM.

This is the week we recognize EMS providers their contributions to public safety.

For those of you who I know around the country I hope you find fulfillment in this job I hope you find the honor in taking care of those whose lives seem disposable to so many others.  My original EMT Instructor though started out that when people call 9-1-1, their life puzzle is broken.  They trust two or more strangers to put that puzzle, their puzzle, back together.

That is honor.  That is commitment.

I pray that you are safe every day and night again.  Too many of us leave the job due to back injuries.  Too many of us are assaulted in our rigs trying to care for others.  Too many of us are injured on the side of the road,

For those ambulance drivers out there who aren’t sure if they make a difference this week is not about the free lunch that your local hospital may provide or the coffee mug with your organization’s logo, it is about the brotherhood of those who come together to serve others.  This past week the 9/11 Memorial opened and while there are lots of signs of the commercialism that negatively affects a great deal of our society, those of us who spent some time responding to one of those sites share a bond few understand.  Those of us who did double duty and ended up at Katrina or another nationally recognizable event have a second story, but the bonds are the same.

Again whether you are paid or volunteer, we are the modern good Samaritans.  Use this week to take your bow.  Enjoy our brief moment in the sun because you know it won't last as attention turns to the more popular public safety folks.  Then find the resolve to recommit yourself to your continuing education because we really don’t have any idea what the next one will be so find a way to be ready.  Step up and recommit yourself to what you do and the difference you make.  Finally, come home at the end of your shift.  Come home the same way you came in...maybe a little tired, maybe a little unsure what the next twenty-four hours will bring, but ready to be someone's hero.

On The Rocks?

This has to be one of my favorite songs from Sara Bareilles.  The good news for me is it has the same title as the Neil Diamond song, but isn't at all the same.

Unlike a lot of other music I listen to I am not sure if this song is about alcohol or the intoxicating effects of the wrong relationship, but Sara's voice, timbre, and delivery make the song intoxicating for me.

Here's a simplification of everything we're going though
You plus me is bad news

Too tired this time to deal with old suits you wear with your ties that won't bind.

Babe, baby believe me
If I stay it ain't gonna be easy
Okay we'll do it your way
But this is the last time
You'll hear the beautiful sound of love coming down
Love on the rocks.

I mean in this who world who has time for the runaround she speaks about in the next stanza?  And I wonder if Miss B might have spent a few moments reading through Fifty Shades of Grey with the line about "with your ties that won't bind?"  She talks about hot as Hell and cold as ice.  Sounds like one of those classic rocky relationships that people go through that is perfect despite its imperfections.


I guess is the question is will Miss B and whoever actually be over after this "last time" or will their music keep going?  Binding ties and old suits or otherwise?

Into The Woods....

Ahhh...how life imitiates art.  Or is it the other way around?

I can never remember.

In any case, today was a get stuff done day and while some it got done, I enjoyed a little background music in the form of Stephen Sondheim's Into The Woods.  The entire play really throws the Grimm fairy tales for a loop when you consider the juxtapositionof Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, and the next door baker.

The entire play really makes me think about us as we chase things and opportunities.  As was said in the movie Love Affair and I paraphrase, "getting what you want isn't hard, it's wanting it after you get it."

The bakers wife and Cinderella oppositely yearn for the Prince and wonder if he is what she wants respectively.

However, I feel like if we go back to the first Act, where Little Red Riding Hood hasjust been rescued from the mouth of a wolf that this is much like life.

So we wait in the dark

Until someone sets us free,

And we're brought into the light,

And we're back at the start.

How many of us wait in the dark or even think we know where the light is and chase after it blindly?

I was recently asked for assistance by someone in EMS.  This person is chasing their dream, not living it.  They are still in paramedic school though and our educational system has failed them.

They are a good student, do not get me wrong.  The grades are there, the effort is there, but somewhere along the line they decided they could do everything by themselves.  I guess when they were in class we didn't teach the teamwork side of things.

I guess the music going and the emails going back and forth made me think about people who want to do things on their own and don't realize there is no problem asking for help.  This is a team based sport and their decision making made me think about Jack's mother's comment during the First Midnight scene in Into The Woods.

She said "Slotted spoons dont hold much soup..."  While I think we would all agree with that sentiment, I wonder how many of us are lost in the woods looking for a bowl of soup for their slotted spoon instead of the much more filling potato that is sitting in front of them.

Here's hoping we can all find our way out of the dark and into the light.

I Guess It Happened...

Okay, it has happened.

Hell has officially frozen over...or so I am guessing.  Bill Maher, the comic and liberal nutjob, has finally stumbled uncontrollabnly into the truth on an issue.

Please don't ask me how or why and I am confident he will screw this up somehow, but he is right. In the case of Donald Sterling he is right.

This case isn't about racism.  It is about who controls your speech and therefore your thinking.

Did Donald Sterling say things that were inappropriate?  Yes.  Did Donald Sterling say things that were reprehensible?  Of course.  Should he be denied the ability to own a team?  No.

Bill Maher speaks almost as a Free Speech advocate when he mentions a Washington Post editorial that says we should edit our thoughts.  "Even at home?" he quips

He raises an important point as the editorial continues "speaking one's mind isn't all it's cracked up to be."  How in the world do you come to that conclusion given you just wrote an opinion piece?  You know...speaking your own mind?

For me this is a simple issue.  If you don't like what Donald Sterling said, don't buy his product.  If you work for him companies and don't like how he behaves, find another job.  He isn't stepping on your rights by expressing his.  The last time I checked that was what the country was about.  I disagree with quite a bit of what he said, but isn't the idea to defend his ability to say it?

Perhaps things are so upside down that not only do Bill Maher and I agree, but speech isn't a freedom anymore.  I guess it might have happened...

Mothers

"God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers." - Rudyard Kipling

So Mother's Day comes again.  Or so the calendar says.  Mothers come in all shapes and sizes, good dispositions and bad, but I suspect I agree most with Rudyard Kipling about mothers.

From a religious perspective, I believe in the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).  Beyond that is Saint Mary, an easy one for Catholics, but one step further has to be mothers.  They bring us to life.  No not alone, but without mothers would men carry children?  I doubt it.  Pregnancy would be too cumbersome and get in the way of all the things we like to do so that leaves the fairer gender.

In my case, I am lucky to be married to the best mother children could have in Dianne.  The thing that amazes people the most about her I think is how she balances work as a full time risk manager for a Big Four tax firm with the care and instruction of four children ranging in age from ten to almost born, for what will be our fifth addition.

Some days I am not sure how she can manage a conference call on a contract with a subsidiary of a Fortune 500 in Brazil with a school parent-teacher conference and then get Dodge to baseball practice.  Not sure how, but never unsure about her ability to find a way.

At the same time she teaches the girls how to be a lady and encourages a little brother to find his footing in a household dominated by a dominant older brother who seems to excel at things with ease.  Somehow she also seems to keep him in check as well without being overbearing.

She does it all with what seems ease...in a million places in a million moments with few tasks that she can not perform.  Perhaps Kipling was right and mothers are God's other representatives to show us how things can be done with grace, determination, and care.  I think so.

Baseball Finishes

How do you finish your baseball season?  How about on your knees taking grounders at your chest.  That was how we closed out warm ups for my eldest before a game to help him stay down on the ball.  He hasn't been a mistake machine, but has let a few through his legs not getting his glove dirty.  What can you do?

Will this lesson pay off?  I don't know.

What I do know is he has every win on his team for the spring season.  It wasn't perfect, it wasn't always pretty, but he consistently did his job, and the last game of the season was pretty similar.  Dodge got the game start and as I prefer, he was able to finish out even pitching through a little trouble he put himself into in the fourth inning.

As a pitcher he ended with a four inning Complete Game.  He gave up one Earned Run due to three singles and worse, three walks across the four innings.  All in all, not a bad number of earned runs for a WHIP of 1.33.  He did help himself out though making three infield plays where he induced ground balls and he struck out eight so while he had a WHIP of 1.33, his strikeout per nine was 18.0 which will get it done in almost any league.

He also helped himself at the plate going two for two, scoring a pair of runs, plating another runner, and running like Jackie Robinson swiping five bases in two plate appearances.  It has to be a good feeling to get both the game winning RBI and the game Win.  I hope the finish to this season gives us an opportunity for the future.

No No-Hitters Here, Only Curses

So a dinner party this evening interrupted what would have likely been a night of watching Disney Channel with my eldest daughter.  If somehow I had not been watching Charlie or Austin & Ally or whatever other show she had on, I might have found my way to the Red Sox - Rangers game.

Why blog about it though?  Well, when I started flipping channels and saw the possible no hit bid was in progress it was in the middle of debate between Harold Reynolds and co-anchors on the MLB Network.  Would Yu Darvish finally get a No Hitter?

The question that existed was whether or not a hit or an error had occurred in the seventh inning.  So does rule 10.12(A)1 apply in this case?  I guess I would say it does, but it doesn't.

For me, the important issue in this game is not the no hitter, but the providence of the Baseball gods as it were.  We here the phrase all the time, but it was mentioned, I believe by a Reynolds co-host that if the seventh inning ball that dropped was meant to be a hit to break up a Perfect Game, then another hit would happen; if not, Darvish would complete the game.

As fate would have it, Darvish went all the way to the last out against David Ortiz - the same player who had hit a ball that either fell in for a hit or should have been caught and an error was assigned earlier.  Truly the baseball deities would have a chance to weigh in and they did.

With two strikes, Ortiz belted a ground ball past two infielders (three were there for a common defensive shift we see all too often) into right field.  For a ground ball to make it past all three, I have to believe that the baseball deities who were watching deemed Darvish just a little short of perfection that night.

I might also note that Mac Engel of the For Worth Star-Telegram had a great piece on the Rangers and a possible curse brought on by their former team President Nolan Ryan.  I wonder if these results are from that curse.  In any case, this reminds me of another baseball axiom: Nothing is impossible, but nothing is easy.

The Science of Attraction...Or Not

Okay, so my concept of romance has been completely trashed by the TED talk I referenced in my earlier blog post.  That being the case and me needing to get my faithful readers something for their Friday Night Music collection, I am going with one of my favorite songs when I was an aspiring teenage guitarist: "I'm Not Your Man" by Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers.

I find the song itself a little bit funny.  Conwell takes on the role of the anti-knight in shining armor saying "You're looking for a hero, baby it aint me;" so much for chivalry I guess. Of course for me, I am just enjoying the juxtaposition of romance has nothing to do with attraction/love and this song which is the anti-love song I remember growing up.

I am sure there are others, but for now, this is it.  Enjoy the music Friday night ladies and gentlemen.

The Science of Attraction...Part Deux

Okay, so I realize I just wrote about the science of relationships and attraction a few weeks ago, but apparently gravity has nothing to do with it.  In this recent TED talk on attraction I saw, the process has more to do with sensory input than it does on gravity.

They completely remove the possibility of randomness, Cupid's arrow, or the helplessness that seems to accompany puppy love.  Well, for all those going out on dates tonight, I hope you are visually appealing because that is what will get someone close enough to smell you for pheremones, listen to you, and potentially taste you (via a romantic first kiss of course).

I did find it interesting that several people immediately removed a potential love interest based on first kiss abilities having been told by a girl or two my kissing is top notch back in the proverbial day.  Sorry ladies, you will have to take my word for it or maybe I can dig up an old girlfriend for a reference or two.  In any case, so much for love being romantic, if its all science/

Cano's Swing And Miss

In yesterday’s blog, I mentioned Mariano Rivera’s new book, The Closer.  In the book he talks about second base and the difference between Dustin Pedroia and Robinson Cano and that Pedroia though a former arch-enemy who plays for the Boston Red Sox would be a better second base choice that Robinson Cano.

Rivera says that while we are all aware Cano has the physical abilities to perform at a Hall of Fame caliber level, it does not appear he has to drive to do so.  Cano's answer to this was simply to note Rivera is entitled to "his opinion,"  While I get he doesn't want to engage in a he said/he said with Rivera and was smart to say he is concentrating on his new team, I am not sure he gets it.

In point of fact, he is, but he also spent several years with you Robby and happens to know a thing or two about the game.   Rivera is a first ballot Hall of Famer, or should be if I had a vote.  He pitched in seven World Series, thirteen All-Star games and holds the career record for most saves.  While we can argue the value of this statistic, you cannot argue the value of Mariano Rivera to the New York Yankees over the past nineteen years.

Cano would do well to consider Rivera's comments about drive, especially since he just left a championship caliber organization to go to Seattle that has not been in contention for the better part of a decade.  While I will begrudge no man the opportunity to follow big dollars, Cano seems to be driven less by championships than he does dollar and cents.  His retort that Rivera is entitled to his opinion indicates to me that Robbie Cano clearly swings and misses when it comes to what’s important in baseball and in life.