Craziness Over Memorial Day Weekend
Photo by Michael Larson using Randy’s phone…
I have plenty to catch up here. Hey, what can a baseball fan before losing phone and internet connectivity in the sticks?
Controversies! And, there’s plenty of muck to sift through – and not the stuff looming off the Gulf of Mexico, either!
1. I expected Mr. Inappropriate (i.e. Ozzie Guillen) to blow up at an umpire, but Mark Buehrle? So, the umpiring didn’t go your way? It’s Joe West for Pete’s sake! You’d expect him not to be controversial? Let alone – react to him? That’s what West wants – a reaction. Now, you three pay your fines and concentrate on the job at hand – yours!
BTW, someone should fire West. We’re done with his declining of care for the game as an umpire. If West wants to put this game into ill repute, someone should note this to Jimmie Lee Solomon and soon!
2. What’s Hanley Ramirez’s deal? You’d think that misbehaving as he did a week or so ago is conduct unbecoming of an all-star. So, Hanley was hurting – it didn’t excuse him or bobbling and booting the ball to instigate the vitriol that came afterwards. Ramirez was rightfully benched by Fredi Gonzalez, but that didn’t give the Florida Marlins’ biggest star the right the go after his manager for this action alone! And, further to assail his manager in a press conference? Good one, Hanley!
At least Ramirez apologized. All is well in South Florida – for now.
3. Is Milton Bradley really happy now? I know several players were confused when the troubled Seattle Mariners’ outfielder left midway into May 4th game to emerge on the Restricted List, but sometimes, things like this is necessary. When he returned this week, everyone expected a kindler, gentler Milton Bradley. Thankfully, he did. He even said that he is at peace with himself for the first time in five seasons – amen to that!
Want to put bets on how long that will last?
4. Lastly, I hoped former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani enjoyed his “economy of scale” trip to Minneapolis on Wednesday. People paid $4.95 to get motivation from him (and a cast of dozens) during the day – only to see him scamper across the street to catch the Yankees’ “sweep” of the Twins. At least he didn’t pay his usual $1,800 for his seat, as he would back home…
See what happens when you scale back the number of games to go to in a season? The anxiety of it all!
Oh, and let me plug a new podcast: Red State, Blue State‘s! If you love reading Jeff and Allen’s treatment of the game and American society, you can listen to it on your iPod (Except its Jeff and some local Chicago musician buddy – enjoy!)!
The Heirloom 