When will that asshole Joe West be stopped?  On Friday night, West added to his already long rap sheet of abuse of power with his ejection of the Nationals’ Ian Desmond in the bottom of the 7^th.  After tagging from 2^nd to 3^rd on a fly ball to the center, Desmond over slid the bag with a pop-up slide but was called safe by third base umpire Paul Schrieber.  After Dusty Baker complained, the umpires lead by crew chief Joe West, gathered to discuss the play and ultimately ruled that Desmond was in fact out.  Frustrated with the ruling, Desmond dropped his helmet to the ground and was immediately ejected by West.  Much like when he tossed Mark Buehrle and Ozzie Guillen on May 26^th, the ejection was unprompted and absolutely preposterous.  Maybe it wouldn’t anger me and the rest of baseball so much if West didn’t immediately waddle off after the ejections, showing no desire to explain himself and avoiding confrontation at all costs like a complete coward.  What a country-music-singin’ asshole. It’s absurd that we are so concerned about the accuracy of umpires’ calls when we have fat assholes like Joe West sucking the life out of professional baseball games.  Despite it’s significance to the game, Jim Joyce’s screw up was part of umpiring and part of the game.  Joe West’s screw up(s) is just the product of him being a genuine, egocentric asshole.  Major League Baseball needs to step in and put a stop to Joe West before somebody decks him on the field- seriously.   Then again, I guess it’s hard to can somebody when they are already only being paid in Cracker Barrel gift certificates.



First off, let me apologize for my delay in releasing any new pieces for all the people of Sombrero Nation.  This last month has been quite a ride.  First there was the state tournament (in which the Scorps lost their semi-final game in heartbreaking fashion), then I had to finish up my first year, as a high school teacher, and most recently I have just become an uncle for the first time.  Big ups go out to my sister, Blaire.  She needed a mere 3 pushes to pop that beautiful baby out and into the world.  Congrats, I love you Blaire and baby Londyn.

Anyways, on to what the article is really about, Ricketts Park.  As I helped as an assistant to the varsity squad in May, I took notice of how special Ricketts was.  This was not the first time I had felt this way, but it was the same feeling from a different perspective.  I had casual conversations with graduating seniors about what it meant to have played at such a great field.  I also had conversations with younger guys who have their whole high school career in front of them.  There were as many similarities in their answers as there were differences.  No matter who I was talking to, I started each conversation the same way, “So what has it been like to play as a Scorp at Ricketts?’  Older guys answered with comments like, “It’s fuckin’ awesome, man” or “It’s so badass” and one kid, who will remain unnamed, responded with “It’s the fuckin’ shit.  There is nothing else like it.”  The second half of this last quote is what stuck with me, mostly because there really is nothing like playing at Ricketts Park.

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As even the most casual of baseball fans know by now, Armando Galarraga retired 26 consecutive batters to open a game against the Indians on Wednesday, but failed to complete a perfect game as first-base umpire Jim Joyce incorrectly ruled that Cleveland’s Jason Donald beat out an infield single with two outs in the ninth. In the wake of such a stunning event in baseball, which made headlines well beyond the Sports section, there is bound to be overreaction, and there has certainly been no shortage of that in the 24 hours following the umpiring debacle.

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As many of you may know, a colossus of baseball has retired recently.  It was a first for me.  It was the first time in my life that I had witnessed the retirement of not only my all-time favorite baseball player, but my boyhood idol.  Griffey did more for me than most fans.  He not only seduced me with his effortless swing, like he did millions of others, he taught me how to play baseball.  He was a perfect combination of natural born talent, charisma, effort (I’m talking to you Hanley), and youthful vigor, all rolled into the one and only live action Roy Hobbs action figure.  His game had the grace of an antelope fused with the spirit of a 10 year old kid.  If Michelangelo were to paint the roof in the House That Ruth Built, Ken Griffey Jr. highlight reel catches and home runs would fill it from corner to corner.

If Bo knew, The Kid did.  Anybody out there remember how sad they were when Griffey’s season was ruined by having to receive a plate and multiple screws to repair a broken wrist after making a diving/jumping combo catch into the wall?  Complete disregard for his body, all in the name of wanting to make the coolest play a 14 year old could think of.  As a young, fellow south-paw, and eerily similar named kid who loved baseball, I used to mimic his every move between on the diamond.  Shit, at one point I actually learned how to do the Griffey homer hand shake during the ’93 season.  I rocked the backwards hat.  Left-handed swing? check.  And you can bet the barn that I smiled as much, if not more than he did too.  Oh, and that smile. That infectious smile.  Anytime you saw a Griffey highlight you saw that picture perfect smile that was a leftover from his devilish deeds of thievery in the outfield.  This smile is how you knew he was still just a little kid leaving a dream.  He was fortunate enough to have gifts, so gifts are what he gave back.

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June 3, 2010

June 1^st is a big date in the Fantasy Baseball World.  As TMR alluded to in his article on ESPN.com earlier, it marks the opening of trade season.  It is also about the time that you begin to have substantial enough data sets to start forming a solid opinion as to what kind of fantasy impact a player might have for your team.  It is around this time that I really like to go find one or two guys for my team to replace that early season bust.  On that note here are three guys who are available and worth more than just a look in most leagues and definitely in deeper or NL/AL only leagues.

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