Notes From No Fixed Address (MLB Mid-June Report)

--Due to a power outage two weeks ago at our school we must go an extra half day tomorrow with attendance expected at around 25% which in turn repeatedly prompted this conversation today:

STUDENT: Guess what?
ME: You have an end of the year gift for me?
STUDENT: No, but I'm not coming to school tomorrow.
ME: That's the greatest gift of all...

Now that school's out I can spend more time on my own non-censored home computer...a scenario in which I believe everybody wins...

--In other work related news I was on my way to an interview Thursday when I realized I could not be bitter and/or sarcastic which, quite frankly, is tying my hands right there. Or as an ex-girlfriend once noted, "if it wasn't for bitterness and sarcasm you'd have no personality at all." All things considered...probably didn't get it.

--Now I see it. That's the actress who played Sue Ellen Mischke, the Bra-Less Heir to the O. Henry Candybar fortune, on Seinfeld in the ad for the new Dallas on TNT. So thank you IMDB for saving me from having to watch that steaming pile of garbage.

In 1995 we loved actress Betty Strong and her free-wheeling, Devil may care attitude...17 years later hopefully she's thrown a blouse on...

--On June 1 Mets manager Terry Collins was on the horns of a dilemma after Johan Santana had successfully completed 7 hitless innings vs. the St. Louis Cardinals. On the one hand  Mets history regarding this possibility was akin to how Hawkeye Pierce liked his martinis, "dry, drier, driest...a veritable Dustbowl of no-hitters", but at the same time if the surgically repaired shoulder of Santana was going to complete the feat it would require him to throw enough pitches to make Iron Man Joe McGinnity wince (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_McGinnity). In the end Collins left Santana in, he threw 134 pitches, but got the first no-no in franchise history...So was it all worth it?

    I'll say mostly yes and a little no. Yes because loyal Mets fans deserved it. Now I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea of this Mets club as a playoff contender, but in the parity of the NL it's not out of the question. Still it's nice to have some seasonal highlights to hang your hat on if the whole thing does tank lest you wind up with a season-ending video like that of 1979 Mets (63-99) titled "Turning It Over" and featuring shots of every single one of Frank Taveras' and Doug Flynn's league leading double plays (defensive, not offensive). Additionally Santana is not a youngster. He can determine his own breaking point and if he decides he wants to push it, well Hell, he's likely not coming back anyway when he contract expires so the risk is his own.

    On the other hand are no-hitters really that big a deal anymore? Kevin Milwood and a cast of several that included such luminaries as Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge and the naughtily named Charlie Furbush twirled one on 6/8. Not to mention Phil Humber's back in April. A feat that has produced worse followups than M. Night Shamaylan with Humber going 2-4 with a 6+ ERA since. Additionally 2011 saw hitless hurling from Ervin Santana and Francisco Liriano, 2010 from Ubaldo Jimenez and Dallas Braden, all moundsmen whose careers have turned considerably downward since those efforts. Toss in the fact that the Metropolitans really took one step forward/two steps back as the high pitch count forced Collins to push Johan's next start back in favor of Jeremy Hefner who got his ascot knocked off in a 5-3 loss to the Nats. And even when he did return he admitted to fatigue being the cause for a 5 IP, 6 ER, 4 HR performance against the Yankees.

    So in short, no-hitters...I could take 'em or leave 'em, but as a Mets fan I'm happy for Johan Santana's cherry-popper....You always remember your first.

Did we mention Scott Podsednik was signed as a free agent by the Red Sox...well now we did...so this picture of his wife is no longer gratuitous...

--Working at a school I get to see every even moderately special event turned into a Papparazzi fest that would make you think Kim Kardashian was going down on the ghost of Michael Jackson every other day in our Multi-Purpose Room. Or as comedian Jim Gaffigan once put it, "parents today have more photos of their kids than times my father even looked at me."

    In other words it's easy these days to make too much out of a small thing, but I do think there is something to be made of Tigers recent 8-4 run coinciding with the return of CF Austin Jackson. Now I'm no huge fan of Jackson who rode an inflated BABIP to an All-Star season in 2010 only to regress by 20-50 points in every triple slash category in 2011, but he is a table-setter scoring 193 runs while stealing 49 bases in those years.

    The real benefit of Jackson's return is that it has allowed the benching/scuttling of several Jim Leyland pets. I've always maintained that when you can no longer distinguish the feces from the food you're but a housecoat and pair of ratty slippers away from a spot on Animal Hoarders and by throwing personal favorites like Brandon Inge, Andy Dirks, Clete Thomas, Don Kelly, Ramon Santiago and Ryan Raburn into the outfield mix over the first two months Jimmy L. began to resemble nothing so much as the Crazy Cat Lady from The Simpsons as the Tigers floundered several games below .500.

    But surprinsingly the Jackson injury allowed irony to show its face in the Detroiters favor...no, not the Alanis Morrisette fly in your soup ironic which isn't ironic, but simply unfortunate, more like the first person to clone a sheep being a Scotsman kinda ironic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_(sheep  ...in that it produced the callup of Quintin Berry (.305 BA, .389 OPS), a player so far down the minor league pecking order that even hardcore MLB Annuals didn't have him on their radars.

    Now Inge has been released, Dirks DLed, Thomas traded, Kelly benched and Santaigo/Raburn confined to a 2B platoon that improves the Tigers by halving the number of positions they can drag into the Replacement Level abyss. Of course since I started this rambling dissertation Detroit dropped two of three on the road to Pittsburgh. Still Berry/Jackson have become the top of the order guys needed in front of Fielder and Cabrera while their speed and glovework drastically improves the outfield D and consequently the staff particularly pitch-to-contact guys like Rick Porcello and Doug Fister, as well as, flyball throwers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.

    Additionally the Motor Citizens have played 45 games vs. +.500 teams vs. only 26 vs. sub-.500 squads, a stark contrast to the near 50/50 split faced by AL Central leaders Chicago and Cleveland. The bullpen is messy, but deep with Benoit, Coke and Dotel all able to take high leverage turns until Jose Valverde gets straightened out (figuratively, not literally), the starters might get a boost if 21 year-old phenom Jacob Turner can followup on his decent 2012 debut (5 IP, 1 ER vs. St.L.) and if a bat can be added at the deadline the White Sox and Indians may be sorry they didn't bury the Tigers when they had the chance.

--News reports indicate that fans at a Wrigley Field performance of "The Wall" by Roger Waters remained unmoved when a small remote control plane crashed into the side of the stage and caught fire apparently thinking it was part of the act. Then again after 104 years of pennant-less futility perhaps they were just "Comfortably Numb".

Finally, a chance for me to get some reading done...

--And finally in the ongoing aftermath of the Roger Clemens acquittal I'm sure you'll hear him blame his plight on everyone from Brian McNamee to George Mitchell to the owners to the media. The one person/group you won't here him excoriate though is the one most responsible for his ordeal, his fellow players.

    Clemens wants us to believe he's somehow different than McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, Palmiero and the litany of liars that have been exposed before him. And to disassociate himself from the Canseco's, Caminiti's and Jason Grimsley's who have already revealed the sordid underbelly of the sport during Clemens' prime(s). He wants to stand alone and be judged which seems quite convenient considering he was happy to stand silently together with these same folks when the late 80s Collusion Ruling sent salaries skyrocketing or the MLBPA refused to even discuss drug testing of any kind in their collective bargaining.

    That the studly ex-ballplayer and his Barbie Doll wife were able to sway a jury better than a confessed drug dealing, divorcee who falls somewhere between Ratso Rizzo and the guy who played Luther in 48 Hours on the Pauly Shore Scale of Weasliness is hardly a shock.

Hard to believe the same guy also played a character named Luther in The Warriors...what range!

 But while it may fool 12 people who, as they say, weren't smart enough to get outta Jury Duty I'm proud to say it's not enough to fool true baseball fans.

    Police have often faced the same skepticism of their integrity when the vaunted "Blue Wall of Silence" has been erected to coverup malefeasance and bad cops. The difference is we are willing to forgive these indiscretions since these people, particularly in inner cities, put their lives on the line everyday and for that we accord them some latitude. Clemens and company play a kid's game for 100 times the salary. Their "Wall of Silence" was built of greed and ego and that deserves no latitude at all. In the long run maybe time will make it seem meaningless, but in the short-term here's hoping folks save their sympathy and their HOF votes for the more deserving.

OK, now this one's gratuitous...

--Wow, heavy stuff...where did that come from? Not really sure, but we'll be back by the end of the week with more crap including our update on bat-finding Red Sox starter Aaron Cook and his consecutive K-less inning streak, some Fantasy Football stuff and what the Hell a Corn Dog! Yeah, at this point I don't know either...Comment below...and Good Night!!

MLB Snide: Week of June 11th

--This is the new format with shorter more succinct observations, but the same low-brow humor. But don't think of it as smaller. instead like a bite-size Snickers or what I tell my girlfriend in the bedroom...let's call it Fun-Sized.

--May have a slightly better offer to teach 3rd grade next year which creates a conundrum. On the one hand I'd be forced to cut my vocabulary in half not to mention be nice...which frankly rubs me the wrong way. However I'd also have the advantage of being one of the few male teachers meaning by simply raising my voice I could have it running like a Cambodian sneaker factory in there; as opposed to High School where the kids shrug and tell me to "settle down Ugly Matt Damon". I'll have to drink on it...

Thank God the pictures are back...and it's nice to see a young person celebrating the Queen's Jubilee...particularly this young person...

--Has anyone else noticed that the Mets lineup leans to the left more than a Wobblie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Workers_of_the_World)? To date the Metropolitans are 7-15 vs. LHP a figure that's only bettered by the super cellar dwelling Padres and Cubs in all of baseball. Good thing I noticed this just in time for David Price and the Rays to sink my Antigua based "investment" account a few more bucks on Wednesday night.

--And in more Met meanderings...With expectations at an all-time low heading into 2012 to date the Mets have played under less pressure than you'd find in the whipped cream cans after one of my High School shifts at Baskin-Robbins (a thought that has me pondering: 1. Do I have any Redi-Whip in the fridge?...and 2. Can urine tests detect high concentrations of nitrous oxide?). Then came the intensity of the Subway Series rivalry and the early Ass-Kickin' Amazins shriveled up like a drunk undressing RuPaul and suddenly we're back to reality.

    So as a Met fan I say thank you to the "200 Million Dollar Men" of Yankee Universe as even a skeptic like myself, who falls somewhere between Holden Caulfield and George Carlin on the Cynical Scale, was starting to believe a Wild Card was in reach. Of course as I write this the Mets are in the process of sweeping the Rays so the whole gut wrenching process could be starting up all over again. But if I have to watch Jon Rauch in high-leverage relief situations with the playoffs within reach I can gaurantee Proctor & Gamble won't make enough Pepto to make that run worthwhile.

I'm no Mr. Blackwell, Lord knows, but the hat, the suspenders, the tiny t-shirt with "Mets Girl" written on it? Is she supposed to be a new villain in the porno version of the Batman TV series...and I've already copyrighted that so make it and you'll owe me...

--Are the talking heads of ESPN letting slide a humorous happenstance every time new Anaheim catcher John Hester appears in a highlight wearing the Angels' big, scarlet "A"? Then again I guess Nathaniel Hawthorne jokes are why I'm in the bowels of the Internet and they're live in your livingroom every night...water really does seek its level...

--Funny how so many dating site profiles indicate that women love "hiking and long walks on the beach" yet ask the same women to go to the kitchen and get you a beer and suddenly you're worse than Hitler. It's the difference between early impressions and long-term reality. A reality that is to the Pittsburgh Pirates as gravity is to High School girls with enormous racks...in that it's comin' to get 'em!

And congrats to the L.A. Kings...mostly for finding a way to bring this into the sport, but what the heck for their first Stanley Cup also.

    On Sunday the Pirates woke up tied for first with the Reds, by Tuesday they were in second and if last season is any predictor by the end of August they'll be deep into another season even Marilu Henner would try to forget (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2012/04/actress-marilu-henners-rare-super-memory-recalls-every-day-of-her-life/). You see last year we went through the same Dog-and-Pony act as the Buccos were playing .500 ball over their first 62 games only to go 41-59 from there on on their way to an ignominious 19th straight losing season.

    This year the Jack Sparrows are an even better 32-29 as they approach their 62nd game, but while 2011's club was performing to levels approximating that of a .500 squad the indicators in 2012 look worse than the prospects of a Chris Brown/Drake duet album (yeah, I don't know who they are either, but it's all the kids could talk about). According to Baseball-Reference.com's expanded standings they are the luckiest team in baseball right now outplaying their record based on Run Differential (PYTHAG W/L) by 5 games. In fact the only teams that have a run differential worse than the P'burghers are all clubs 10 or more games under .500 and Miami. Additionally, they are a league leading +7 in 1-run games, 3-0 in extra innings and have feasted on sub-.500 clubs at 17-7.

    On the individual side their pitching has been much improved which might bode well for the future if that improvement wasn't boosted by Erik Bedard and A.J. Burnett. The former so brittle he could hurt himself trying to jump on top of the Saturday paper and the latter sure to collapse like a futon in a fat guy's house if the games ever get meaningful. Even 27 year old James McDonald, who seems in the throes of a breakout year, is benefitting from a depressed .259 BABIP (career is .298) and could have regression in his future. And that's not good considering the offense has not held up it's end of the deal and currently sports only 1 player, righty CF Andrew McCutcheon, with an OPS over .700. Which in turn may be why the Pirates are much better vs. lefty starters than righties. Another not good thing considering right-handers outnumber their Devil-armed brethren by a 2:1 ratio.

    Of course, outside L.A. and Washington the rest of the NL is re-defining mediocrity for folks who don't remember Foreigner after they recorded "I Want To Know What Love Is" so the Yinzers may hang around for a bit. But once age, injuries and regression catches up to the staff and bullpen and clubs start pitching around McCutcheon like he was Kelly Leak (he already leads the team in IBBs, but with only 4) it'll be wait til Steeler time again on the confluence of the Ohio, Allegheny and Monongahela.

Thanks for coming and we hope to be up again by Sunday with some stuff featuring Johan Santana, Phillip Humber and Aroldis Chapman plus why I always hated Marlboro Bucks (do they still have those...I mean at $9 a pack you'd think they'd still throw you a bone). I'm always here for you...

Life Is Full Of Disappointment...And I Am Full Of Life (MLB Idiocy)

--Woke up Sunday Night to the MTV Awards somehow on my TV...so when did they get rid of Martha Quinn, anyway?...Alan Hunter? Nina Blackwood? Mark Goodman? Don't even tell me Triple J is gone? Not to mention 7 versions of MTV on my system and not one music video airing? Have I been asleep/drunk that long?

--From the deserts of Algeria to the valley of Dienbienphu, from the Maginot Line to the Ardennes Forest depending on the French in any contest of agression is hardly a recipe for success. On the other hand when it comes to fries, toast, kissing and, surprisingly, overtime series clinchers between the Rangers and Devils Franco-phoning it in ain't a bad way to go. So as the cries of "Matteau, Matteau" are replaced by "Henrique, Henrique" and the potential TV ratings darling New York Rangers are off on the golf course here's hoping Derby/Preakness winner I'll Have Another has been on his most careful behavior over this week as Belmont-airing NBC can seemingly turn viewer gold into ratings garbage without even trying.

--And in other non-MLB news it appears former heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield is headed to jail for owing over $350K in child support on 11 children. I can't help, but think if Mike Tyson had only bitten him a little lower a lot of these problems could've been avoided.

--Now it's hard to believe one old man could take down an entire multi-million dollar operation, but just like Modern Family would be little more than an annoying bunch of whiney Yuppies plus Sofia Vergara's breasts without Ed O'Neil so too, it seems, are the Atlanta Braves but a shadow of themselves sans Chipper Jones. Over the last several seasons the Farewell Tour-ing Jones has been yo yo-ed between the starting lineup and the DL so often you'd think Tom Smothers had a string up his ass, but at no time has the effect been as stark as at the beginning of the 2012 campaign. So far the Bravos are 19-6 in games in which Chipper has batted more than once and an astonishing 9-19 in all other contests. So there's your problem, right?

    Well not really...You see despite Jones' abscence, Freddie Freeman's Mr. Magoo impression and the Sub-Replacement Level Homesick Blues of Juan Francisco at 3B Atlanta still ranks 3rd in the NL in runs scored. Conversely they rank 10th or worse in ERA, Runs Allowed, HRs Allowed, Walks and Ks as they struggle to find anyone beyond Brandon Beachy who can give them consistent, quality innings. With Triple-A banished Jair Jurrjens velocity having dropped like that of a Smart Car on Lombard Street, youngsters Mike Minor/Randall Delgado seemingly overmatched to this point and the Tommy Hanson/Tim Hudson inconsistencies hinting at possible nagging injuries the return of Chipper Jones seems moot.

    Up to this point the Braves have far outplayed their run projections so that even with Chipper they are likely to drop back to somewhere closer to their #10 finish of 2011. That means unless one of the aforementioned under-achievers turns it up, Kris Medlen becomes the greatest swingman since Aaron Small circa 2005 http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/smallaa01.shtml or the Noc-A-Homas find help at the trade deadline it could be but a mediocre sunset Chipper Jones rides off into this fall. And with each passing day those Washington Nationals NL East pennant tickets I picked up in Vegas are looking better and better.

--But, as I always remind myself, things could be worse...you could be a fan of the Oakland A's. I mean not that anyone thought the Athletics were going anywhere this season. Still it's always nice to at least see some entertaining baseball when you come to the park or turn on the set, but this version of the A's features all the excitement of a Bill Pullman Film Festival...or do I mean Bill Paxton...wait, umm...well actually I guess that makes my point right there.

    But if you need more evidence consider May 22nd when the A's were 1-hit by a combination of C.J. Wilson and Ernesto Frieri while putting forth a lineup that packed less punch than the drummer for Def Leppard. With Yosenis Cespedes and Josh Reddick dinged up the Oak-ies trotted out an order of Crisp, Cowgill, (Seth)Smith, Gomes, Donaldson, Pennington, Rosales, Barton and Recker in a veritable "Who's That?" of Triple-A lifers. In fact this clout crippled crew reminded us of nothing so much as an Amish Prince impersonator in that they batted like it was 1899. With 5 of the 9 spots manned by swingers below the Mendoza line the group sported less wood than the placebo control group in an Erectile Dysfunction drug trial and the highest batting average (.250 in 4 ABs) belonged to Adam Rosales a dis-utility infielder coming off a season in which, forget Mario Mendoza, he batted 1 point below the Barbara Feldon (Get Smart) Line at .098. Meanwhile bringing up the rear was LF Colin Cowgill (in the Dirt) who was at .128 in both batting average and slugging percentage. Since then things haven't got a lot better and presently Oakland stands dead last in the AL in every triple slash category. So to Billy Beane one has to ask...how's that Moneyball thing working out for you now, huh?

--Years ago after attending the movie Indecent Proposal with a girlfriend she asked, "Would you let me sleep with Robert Redford for a million dollars?" To which I replied, "Let's be serious...where would I get that kinda money?" Or in other words I know a little something about mis-speaking. In fact, the only difference between my ill-timed statement and last week's rants by Indians closer Chris Perez about lack of fan appreciation in Cleveland is that Perez had a litany of reporters/microphones/cameras in his face when he mis-spoke...well, that and he still had a chance of getting laid afterward.

    Still I understand, to a degree, where Perez was coming from. His comment on the Indians being in first place in the standings, but last in attendance does seem to accord him latitude along the lines of "righteous anger", but that's taking the short-sighted view of things. So let's take a quick stroll back through time to see just how a fanbase may have reached this point of epic apathy and, what the heck, point out why Chris Perez is such a Mullet-headed moron in the process.

    Now in the cult Sid Vicious biopic Sid & Nancy (didn't see that coming I bet) there is a scene late in the film where a completely strung out Vicious and girlfriend Nancy Spungen beg a supplier to get them more heroin as the grovel in their own refuse on the floor of a disheveled room at the Chelsea Hotel. After teasing them a bit the pusher finally grabs the money then quips sarcastically as he exits, "now you two don't go nowhere while I'm gone..."

    From a career path pointing toward Rock God popularity to murder and finally misplaced martyrdom Vicious' story is a cautionary tale of the perils of addiction. One that baseball fans in 1981 did not heed (and considering the movie didn't come out until 1986 it woulda been difficult) when 72,086 of them poured into Cleveland's cavernous Municipal Stadium to celebrate that year's All-Star Game put on by a group of owners and players who had held America's Pastime hostage for 48 days in a strike that lasted from June 12 to July 31 and forced the splitting of the season into two halves.

    And from that point on the powers that be in the game knew they had a blank check to tell the ticket buying public to "don't go nowhere" while they ushered in the era of parking fees, cable-only telecasts, multi-millionaire utility men, $6 hot dogs, $9 cans of beer, taxpayer funded stadiums, seat licenses and any other udder they could grab on to milk more out of the willpower-less Diamond Dependent.

    So 30 years later is it any wonder that a mouth-breathing moundsman like Perez feels a sense of entitlement so great that he doesn't just want to get paid millions for his 3-4 innings pitched a week, but also wants a large contingent of unconditional cheerleaders on hand to stroke his ego as well.

    It reminds me, many years ago, of the complaints by Doctors who said Health Insurance Companies were squeezing them by only paying say $250 for a procedure that they previously charged $500 for. What these Hippocratic Hypocrites failed to realize is that the price of everything whether it be a Box Seat ticket or a Colonoscopy is determined the same way...by What The Market Will Bear. When Doctors priced themselves beyond the market they forced patients into the arms of the Insurers and once the Insurers became ubiquitous the balance of power shifted. The Healthcare carriers had the knowledge of what procedures were necessary, how often they should be administered and what was a fair price with an eye toward protecting their client (the patient) and their own bottomline. If the White Coats so chose they could refuse to accept Health Insurance, watch their appointment books go blank and seek a job as Mitt Romney's Personal Physician, I guess.

    But that's Capitalism. Unlike the one Perez' teammate Fausto Carmona was caught going the wrong way down prior to his DUI it's a two-way street. Everyone loves it when the flow is going their way, but when the traffic turns against them they cry foul...or Socialism...or some such thing. For the owners and players the idea that folks would just keep turning out no matter the cost has almost never been challenged. But even in a town that once gave as idiotic a promotion as Nickel Beer Night there is no Loaves and Fishes Day at the ballpark.

    So perhaps it's the down economy or more likely it's the lack of commitment/poor planning by the Tribe's front office, but no matter the reason the fans of Cleveland have seemingly shaken the horse-hide monkey off their backs and lapsed into a Missouri State of Mind. Demanding that the Indians "Show Me" their turnaround is serious before they turn over their ever-decreasing paychecks and increasingly clogged hearts to the team this time.

    And based on recent events in Tribe-dom who can blame them. Since their improbable run to within one game of the World Series in 2007 they've jettisoned two Cy Young Award winners (Lee/Sabathia) for the Quadruple-A likes of Matt LaPorta, Jason Donald, Lou Marson, Michael Brantley and Zach Jackson. When that hasn't worked they flipped the equation and sent prospects like Drew Pomeranz and Alex White to Colorado for the diminishing returns of Ubaldo Jimenez or tried to pretend there were any missed bats left in the sinkerball stylings of the carbon-dating required arm of Derek Lowe. And if all else fails ownership cries injury pointing to the lamentable tales of Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner and now the cranial traumatized Carlos Santana.

    At this point they've almost run out of ways to distract the fans from the fact that they are paying Kellogg's Frosted Flakes prices for $1 Store Frosty Flake entertainment. By the time kids like Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis become stars (if they do) monetary concerns could take Asdrubal Cabrera, Shin-soo Choo and others away as the interminable cycle of rebuilding feeds on itself and the big market clubs go veteran-ly rolling along.
   
    And maybe that's why I can't recall any of the Cleveland brass publicly reprimanding Chris Perez or discounting his words. They've run out of excuses to fool asses into the seats so they hope angry words might shame folks back to the ball park. Too business savvy and without the athletic credentials to get away with it they were more than happy to let their erratic and easily replaceable closer do the dirty work for them.

    Attendance figures indicate it hasn't made much difference so far particularly in the face of the Tribe getting knocked out of first by the red-hot White Sox. But that's alright there's always one last trick up the proverbial ownership sleeve. And when Clevelanders hear the idea of the Charlotte/Jacksonville/Vancouver Indians bandied about in the near future they should take it with a smile, after all, they'll be reminded, it's only Capitalism.

    Yes I promised less verbose postings, but had to clean out the last of the notes before we moved to the new format. Within the next few days we plan to move on from the pithy titles and long-winded rants and move on to date-stamped MLB commentary on a bi- or tri-weekly basis. Also we hope to have full blown Fantasy Football advice here soon. Become a Follower at the top right, find us on Facebook at "Bowling Til' It Hurts" or on Twitter @sprtcom102...and now to find out what this whole "Bath Salts" thing is all about....