Hardball Dream Team

Well the World Series is over. Now it is time for free-agency madness. Get the rumor mill rollin'. In the spirit of the free-agency period, and a desperate attempt to cheer myself up from the Cardinals winning the World Series, I have decided to make out my free-agency "dream team". These aren't necessarily players I would want my team to acquire as you will notice. This team would be for mere entertainment, jokes, and the like. This list includes only players who have offically filed for free-agency. So here is the lineup:

DL: Kerry Wood-I had to acquire at least one player destined to spend most of the year on the DL.

Pitchers: Steve Trachsel (doesn't he have some NLCS record?..whats that? Oh the highest ERA for a starter...oh well), Brian Moehler. (No I don't know who he is either but the Marlins always seem to stumble into talent.) Steve Kline-gotta love anyone who gives Tony LaRussa the bird. Barry Zito-I love his 12 to 6 curveball.

C. Henry Blanco-I could not figure out anyone else. The pickings were pretty slim behind the dish, so I went with a Cubbie.

1B. Tough choice...I like Doug Mientkiewicz for a few reasons. He is a good fielder. He probably has some record for longest name and it would be a season long challenge for me to learn how to pronounce it. Downside is he has a reputation of being a thief.

2B. Lots of decent second basemen out there. Second to none however is ... Alfonso Soriano. The downside is all the trade talk. He makes up for it with his speed and power. May have to work on the fielding a little though.

3B. No third basemen jumped out at me, so I will acquire Nomar and stick him on third. He is good for some Mia sightings even if/when he gets hurt. I better pick up Aubrey Huff too, just in case.

SS. Royce Clayton. There are a few people who probably understand this selection. He was mentioned in the "First Baseball Game", a Bob and Tom skit. It would be fun to quote that for 6 months.

OF. Craig Wilson. My wife calls him "white trash" because of his hair. It would be fun to say "hey Erin...white trash is up to bat".
Luis Gonzalez-the team he won a World Series for with a 9th inning hit doesn't want him anymore...that has be a good sign right? Plus, he can multi-task and give commentary during the game.
Dave Roberts- gotta respect him for the stolen base in the '04 ALCS.

DH: Frank "The Big Hurt" Thomas. Such a smooth swing for a big man. It is fun to watch him punish the ball. (Being a true NL guy, I normally do not recognize the DH. I had to get "The Tank" on here though.

Have a good one.

Seperated at Birth?

Hammerin' Hank

In the past few years Barry Bonds has made up quite a bit of ground on Hank Aaron's all time homerun record. Next year he could very conceivably break the record. Unlike the American public, I will grant Bonds innocent until proven guilty as far as "juicing" goes. At the same time, I think he did it. I don't know about that the book "Game of Shadows" that supposedly gives indicting evidence, even if it does it is probably in language the common man would not understand. Cansaco's "Juiced" is probably the most accurate, and it puts it in clear terms that the American public can understand like "he stuck a needle in himself". As a side note, only in America could a washed up athlete desperatly striving for attention create an investigation involving the government towards a professional sports league through a tell-all book.
Back to the point my ramblings. Hank Aaron will always be my homerun king. He had to go through outside pressures that I will never fully understand, he received all kinds of hate mail and death threats. I read one at a traveling Hall of Fame exhibit, seems like there were alot of "fans" that did not want him to pass the Great Bambino, the Sultun of Swat, the "Babe". He just kept playing though. He did it with grace and respect (from what I hear). Here is to you Hank.

In other news: I hurt my knee and am out of athletics for 3-6 weeks. Bone bruises hurt.

Rachel's Birthday Party

These are Erin and my creations from a trip to Seize the Clay. I never saw Ben's finished product but the Woods' projects turned out great. I will let you judge mine and Erin's for yourself. If you need help mine is on the right.

FYI: No the W is not a sign of alliance with the President. The W is a logo for an outdoor company, Moosejaw.

There is always next year....

The agony of another Major League baseball season is over. But the best part is just starting you may say. For a Cubs fan the end of September is more often than not the end of the baseball season and the beginning of "there is always next year...". Dusty and his toothpick have been run out of Wrigley as quickly as the farmer and his goat nearly 100 years ago.
I am still not sure how I feel about the firing. What does a manager really do anyways? There is no other person on the planet that could make up 30 games to draw the Cubbies to even a .500 record. Much less put them in playoff contention (although that would not take much more in the NL).
On the other hand, maybe just a fresh outlook could give a change in attitude much like what happened when Dusty came in 2003 and took them within 5 outs of the World Series (see A Cub Fans Lament).
Well, maybe some things will go right for the Cubs. The perfect manager will be hired, Prior will be healthy (or even better, we could trick someone into trading for him), Wood will be healthy, no costly injuries will occur e.g. Derrek Lee and his wrist and Micheal Barrett's uhm how can I put this, "private injury", and Cubs will ride the wave of loyal fanhood all over the nation straight to the World Series. There is always next year...