Today was supposed to be a BB site maintenance day for me, adding links and working on the Lineup (authors) page, but now a friend is in need of tech support, and his fridge is well stocked with beer. So I'm tossing out a couple of items, and if there's no breaking news and nobody posts any manifestos, you're invited to make this a catch-all discussion.
As I've mentioned before, there's nothing wrong with Richard Griffin when he isn't blinded by his anti-Blue Jays fury. His recent basketball work is entertaining -- I agree that Rafer Alston's a breath of fresh air in a stinky season -- and this praise of Bud Selig, though contrary to my opinion, is certainly not offensive. However, instead of twisting or ignoring facts, as he usually does in an assault on J.P. & Co., he plucks misinformation out of thin air:
If Dusty (Baker, managing the NL in the 2003 ASG) wanted to annoy his former team, he could bring in, say, Mike Timlin to close out the win in the ninth.
Sure he could, Rich. If Timlin was an all-star (not bloody likely) or if he wasn't an AL pitcher.
Also taking a day off from Jay-bashing -- is it within the realm of possibility that our outrage is reaching these guys? -- is Bob Elliott of the Sun, with a reasonable commentary on Doc's signing and a roundup of local baseball events. In the footnotes, he mentions the Best Ever Coaching Clinic, which for 16 consecutive years, has lived up to its name. I still employ defensive and baserunning strategies I learned there from Rod Delmonico, my hitting philosophy owes a debt to Gary Ward, and on more than one occasion, I chatted with the legendary Gordie Gillespie about intangibles. (GG, winningest NCAA coach ever, admonishing a catcher for not rifling the ball to 2B after warmup throws: "nine times a game, you get a chance to put the fear of God in them. Don't waste it.") Even if you're not a coach, you can expand your knowledge of the game, and it would be fun for any baseball fan; this year's attendees could rub shoulders with Kelly Gruber and Jesse Barfield.
From the London Free Press, presumably the paper of record in St. Mary's, Jim Kernaghan defends the nomination of Pete Rose to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, however dumb. If the CBHoF needs publicity so badly, they could get even more coverage by taking hostages, another ill-advised stunt with just as much chance to "regenerate grassroots interest" in baseball. There's a thread on this topic at Primer that includes this priceless "quote" from "This Just In:"
"The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, on the brink of insolvency, recently received what it called an anonymous donation of $100,000 U.S., which they say will keep its doors open for at least another 5 years, or until Larry Walker retires. The gift was delivered in a plain brown envelope by a mysterious American named Paul Janszen, who sped away without comment."
Very clever, and while probably not true, the best summary I've seen of Charlie Hustler's perspective in the whole fiasco.
Here's your weekly hit of Gammons (mostly about Theo Epstein, who was told by the quotable Ricciardi, "if you start listening to the guys in the stands, pretty soon you'll be sitting up there with them.") Even worse, Theo could end up posting at some baseball blog. He's sure feeling the heat from the Boston press, where fairness and objectivity don't seem to matter any more than they do to the local columnists. I'm outta here; enjoy the football games.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20030119111433999