We Await the Japanese Language Signage Behind Home Plate

Now that Kosuke Fukudome is signed up for 4 years, we can see if he is closer to Ichiro Sukuki, Hadeki Matsui, or So Taguchi....

Well, if nothing else, I now know where my increased season ticket payment is going.

The First Post-McDonough Promotion Set

According to sources, the Cubs will be having its First Turn Back the Clock Day, wearing the 1948 uniforms. No date was set.

Seems like McDonough always said that every day was Turn Back the Clock Day, so there was no need. Was this a promotion that he had vetoed up until his travels to West Madison Street?

We'll see...

"That's Why They Call Him Dick" Williams to HOF

Dick Williams, the manager of the 1984 San Diego Padres, and the A's dynasty of the 70s, was elected today to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Hopefully, he will not spend time in Cooperstown in the same way he did before a fantasy camp in January 2000.

Back then, rollers were called to Williams' hotel after several guests reported that the 70-year-old was walking naked and masturbating outside of his room in Fort Myers, Florida, where he was attending a Fantasy Baseball camp. For the record, Williams denied the part about the tossing off.

He was known as a gruff guy. Not gruff but lovable, just gruff. The scuttlebutt was that the arrest caused HOF officials to encourage voters to keep him out in the Spring 2000 veterans' vote.

Good to see jerking off in public won't keep one out of the Hall of Fame.

Meanwhile, Marvin Miller, not to mention, Ron Santo, is on the outside looking in.

Looking at this picture, Dick looks like the Strother Martin character in Slap Shot, and here is him talking about Dick's "avocation:"

P.S. Tossing off, or Throwing Things, Indeed...

Say It Ain't So, Dan!

Based on the increased traffic here, especially after a long layoff, I checked google news to see what was the reason:

Here's the reason:

Major League Baseball suspended free agent pitcher Dan Serafini 50 games Tuesday for testing positive for a performance- enhancing substance in violation of the league's joint drug prevention and treatment program.

Serafini appeared in three games this past season for the National League champion Colorado Rockies and recorded just one out while allowing two runs and two walks. Prior to his short stint with the Rockies, Serafini last pitched in the league in 2003 with the Reds.

"Although I understand that I must accept the terms of the suspension, I want to make it known that I did not use any banned substances in order to gain a competitive advantage," Serafini said in a statement. "However, while playing baseball in Japan, I suffered two significant injuries that limited my playing time to seven games in 2006 and nine games in 2007.

"While trying to accelerate the healing process of these injuries, I took substances that were prescribed for me by a doctor in Japan. What I did not know at the time was that these substances would cause me to test positive once I returned to the US. I have not taken these or any banned substances since returning to the US and signing with the Colorado Rockies organization in July."

A cynic would say that you shouldn't use Japanese doctors, but while in Japan, do as the Japanese do. A cynic would also say that there is no need to ban a guy who is likely going to be on the outside looking in anyway.

Also, for those that think I am the real Dan Serafini, please take a look here and here.

Finally, a special HELLO to the gang at MLB, ESPN, RedReport, and Desipio!

Dan Serafini to Get Good Look at World Series

Dan didn't get a shot to pitch after that night in Philadelphia, but he has had a great look at one of the great stretch runs and playoff runs in baseball history. The Colorado Rockies have simply torn it up, and are now waiting (cooling their heels would be redundant in Colorado) until the Indians decide whether to choke away the series to the Red Sox.

So, even though Dan won't be eliglble (unless they change the roster) to pitch, he will be in the dugout and/or bullpen, with the proverbial "front seat to history."

Eva Mendes is Good Looking

Righteous Indignation from Knight's Sheep

So, yeah, Kelvin Sampson made some mistakes with phone calls. Things probably Robert Montgomery Knight had no history of. Things that likely would not have seen the light of day had an intern not discovered them.

This has given ammunition to the (coincidentally, white) Knight followers who forgive the litany of excesses from him because of national championships twenty years ago, but cannot stomach a few extra phone calls. Phone calls to recruits that wouldn't give Knight's Indiana program a first, let alone second look.

From the Indy Star:

Reaction by former IU players Monday was swift and harsh. Kent Benson, a two-time All-American, called the situation “a total travesty.”

Ted Kitchel, another former All-American who previously criticized Sampson’s hiring by saying he “wouldn’t hire that guy to coach my fifth-grade girls team,” said the new reports suggest Sampson does not believe rules apply to him.

Joe Hillman, a member of the 1987 national championship team, said it’s embarrassing to “the program, the university and to Rick Greenspan.”

Benson, in particular, blasted the university. “I’m absolutely, totally embarrassed for the Indiana basketball program,” Benson said. “They need to do the right thing. If no tolerance means no tolerance, they get rid of him. And Greenspan should be right behind.”

A teammate of Benson on the '76 championship team, Bobby Wilkerson (coincidentally, black), feels differently:

“All coaches advertently or inadvertently make those mistakes,” Wilkerson said. “He hasn’t done anything other coaches haven’t done. They have a million rules. I think he’s a good coach. He’s a coach IU can grow with. I support him 100 percent.”

Seems to me Benson, in particular, is carrying water for Knight. To continue to beat the drum about "zero tolerence" tells you what this really all about.

I agree with Wilkerson about everything he said.

Soon to be Seen at Great American Cinergy Riverfront Stadium Ball Park

I will say this much for the guy, he is a hell of a good interview. April 15 he will be at Wrigley, dude.

Wait Until Next Year

It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops.

A. Bartlett Giamatti

Cubs Lose Game One, but it's a Best of Five Series

I hate the idea of facing Doug Davis down 1-0.

I would have more to say, but I was too focused on the “Cub fan” right behind home plate who spent the night talking on the phone, putting up signs, chatting up the blonde with his back to the game before bringing attention to himself on the ninth with the flashing light. The downside to HD, I suppose, is seeing that so clearly.

Tough call to take out Zambrano, but I was in support at the time. Leaves Z with a good feeling going into Sunday, and his arm should be fresh. Assuming we get there. Unfortunately, the Cubs were swinging hard and to pull against Webb, and the result was predictable. Piniella’s post-game comments were right on, and Z just as easily could have given up the bomb to Reynolds…

Listen, you guys, this is only the first game. There's a lot of baseball to be played in this series, OK? Let's not gloom-and-doom this thing."