Enough baseball posts already!
Well, it looks as if The Big Hurt may well have played his last game. I've written a few times here about how Frank Thomas was a real stand-up guy when it came to his voluntary cooperation with the Mitchell Report and Tom Verducci over at Sports Illustrated also wrote in praise of him and Ken Griffey Jr. for being two big sluggers to have emerged from the steroid era with their reputations intact. Rightfully so, because these two guys always played the game the right way, relying on their hard work and God given skill to get the job done. It's a shame that Junior had all those years where he was injured, because it might be him with the all-time record, not that cheater Barry Bonds.
But anyways, Frank Thomas was released by the Blue Jays before today's win over Detroit. He'd been benched just the other day and after that happened, this didn't come as a total shock, though I thought it would have taken a bit longer. Though he has always been a notoriously slow started, from what I've seen (and I've been watching a lot of games so far) he really hasn't had it. His .167 batting average is indicative of that. Plus although they're still on the hook for the rest of his salary this year, now they won't have to pay $10 million next year to a guy who is clearly on the downslope, not to mention can't run and can't play a position. Perhaps there's someone out there who might still want to take a chance on him, but it won't be at anywhere near that kind of dough. Frank is a great player and will rightfully wind up in Cooperstown, but this was the right move. Thanks again for the brief memories in a Jays uniform.
I went to the game on Thursday (they lost 4-1) and do hope to attend as many as I can this year. Yes I always spend too much (on the tickets, on awful food, on BEER) but it's a good time. Truth be told, I think in some ways I like watching it more on television in that I can really focus on the game itself much more effectively. I'm a baseball nerd and could watch almost endlessly. But of course there's so much to love about actually being there, even if the Jays don't draw like they used to and the cavernous Rogers Centre has to be one of the most depressing and sterile stadiums in the bigs. Also you can't really effectively heckle Rangers rookie German Duran from your couch. Shouts like "Come on Duran, don't Come Undone at the plate" or "You gotta be Hungry Like The Wolf to make it in this league". The folks around me thought it was brilliant, something which probably would have been lost on Bobo.
If I may quickly actually speak about another sport, I think it's awesome that Danica Patrick just became the first female driver to win an Indy Car race. Hopefully people will begin to realize that she's beautiful as well as talented. Even though in the past I've opposed to someone like Michelle Wie constantly playing on the men's PGA tour (when she hasn't even won a women's event), I think this is completely different. There's no reason why a lady can't be a good a driver as a dudes, unlike with sports that rely so much on physical strength (i.e. a man can drive a golf ball farther, hit a much faster serve, crush a women in a tackle etc.). Very fantastic achievement Danica, but this still doesn't mean I don't think you should stop posing in sexy magazine spreads.
That's it for now. I promise no more sports related posts for a while. I'll try to make the next one as depressing as I can and I'm also hard at work (sort of) in attempting to compile, yes....the One Hundred Greatest Films of All Time. It'll be better than that shitty AFI list, I swear.
But anyways, Frank Thomas was released by the Blue Jays before today's win over Detroit. He'd been benched just the other day and after that happened, this didn't come as a total shock, though I thought it would have taken a bit longer. Though he has always been a notoriously slow started, from what I've seen (and I've been watching a lot of games so far) he really hasn't had it. His .167 batting average is indicative of that. Plus although they're still on the hook for the rest of his salary this year, now they won't have to pay $10 million next year to a guy who is clearly on the downslope, not to mention can't run and can't play a position. Perhaps there's someone out there who might still want to take a chance on him, but it won't be at anywhere near that kind of dough. Frank is a great player and will rightfully wind up in Cooperstown, but this was the right move. Thanks again for the brief memories in a Jays uniform.
I went to the game on Thursday (they lost 4-1) and do hope to attend as many as I can this year. Yes I always spend too much (on the tickets, on awful food, on BEER) but it's a good time. Truth be told, I think in some ways I like watching it more on television in that I can really focus on the game itself much more effectively. I'm a baseball nerd and could watch almost endlessly. But of course there's so much to love about actually being there, even if the Jays don't draw like they used to and the cavernous Rogers Centre has to be one of the most depressing and sterile stadiums in the bigs. Also you can't really effectively heckle Rangers rookie German Duran from your couch. Shouts like "Come on Duran, don't Come Undone at the plate" or "You gotta be Hungry Like The Wolf to make it in this league". The folks around me thought it was brilliant, something which probably would have been lost on Bobo.
If I may quickly actually speak about another sport, I think it's awesome that Danica Patrick just became the first female driver to win an Indy Car race. Hopefully people will begin to realize that she's beautiful as well as talented. Even though in the past I've opposed to someone like Michelle Wie constantly playing on the men's PGA tour (when she hasn't even won a women's event), I think this is completely different. There's no reason why a lady can't be a good a driver as a dudes, unlike with sports that rely so much on physical strength (i.e. a man can drive a golf ball farther, hit a much faster serve, crush a women in a tackle etc.). Very fantastic achievement Danica, but this still doesn't mean I don't think you should stop posing in sexy magazine spreads.
That's it for now. I promise no more sports related posts for a while. I'll try to make the next one as depressing as I can and I'm also hard at work (sort of) in attempting to compile, yes....the One Hundred Greatest Films of All Time. It'll be better than that shitty AFI list, I swear.
posted by King Hippo at 6:36 PM
4 Comments:
Good luck on the top 100. Casablanca better be #1.
Ugh. I can't handle more baseball. Please - give me either more depressing or more lists.
Frank thomas has a soft spot in my heart as he's the only Jay I've ever seen just walking around on the street in Toronto. It wasright after he hit his 500th home run, so I kind of wish I had said congradulations.
The list is currently being compiled. It's quite the lengthy process, I'm about a fifth of the way through I'd say.
And that's pretty cool! I don't think I've ever seen any Blue Jay just walking the streets. Big Frank sure would have been a hard one to miss, that's for sure.
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