GFBB Note: Well this “does” have a baseball element to it. Check out those “Baseball” Earrings! :))
Just a note here. We’re a mom and pop type outfit. With the exception of a few vintage items, everything’s made in our shop; none of that “Made in China” stuff here. And if you’re looking for lizards and frog designs you’ll have to go somewhere else. Our jewelry is classic, tailored and fits in anywhere.
VISIT OUR NEW EBAY STORE: WWW.EBAY.COM/STR/MAXES
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GFBB Comment: “Maybe the time to limit their ace was “before” he had to have the Tommy Johns surgery. Just saying……”
The Washington Nationals announced earlier in the year that they will shut down their ace Stephen Strausburg somewhere in between 160-180 innings pitched. The team planned to be extra careful with the young star who is coming off Tommy John surgery. It seems like a great thing the team is doing looking out for his health. I have a feeling it is going to blow up in their face. The Nationals are having an amazing year and it will be a challenge to make a deep playoff run without Strasburg. All the talk about shutting him down has seemed to rattle Strasburg, his numbers the past few starts have been sub par. Strasburg has never come out and said he is having any trouble with his arm and that he wants to play it safe. Until he does this the Nationals should allow him to focus on pitching. If he…
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Melky Cabrera. Photo Courtesy Jason O. Watson/Getty Images
The Melky Cabrera’s 50 game suspension for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs occurred on August 15, the day I left for vacation. I had no access to the internet for three days and wanted to wait until I returned home to figure it all out. My response was and is “Shame on You Melky!”
I mean haven’t these guys learned anything? Are they so desperate and stupid that after all the grief baseball players, and for that matter the entire game of baseball, have gone through with PEDS, suspensions and hall of fame concerns, do they think they’re the one lone infallible soul that won’t get caught? Good grief. Major League Baseball took much too long to finally take a stand and, now that they have, the rules are written and they need to be followed. The thing that really stuck in my craw was the nonchalance with which basically Melky answered, “I did it” and then didn’t have the guts to face his teammates. Nothing, nada, zilch, not a word.
“Uh…. Duh….”
The San Francisco Giants have had this albatross around their neck for a long time beginning with Barry Bonds (though he’s never admitted it) and several in-between dandies ending with Guillermo Moto’s 100 game suspension that ends this week. Is Barry Bonds guilty? Probably. But at this point does it matter? Baseball has to get past this and it starts with the players. It’s called personal responsibility and it’s something that’s sadly lacking in our new- age culture. Don’t like your boss? Sue him. Made a bad investment? Sue your broker. Your doctor didn’t quite fix your hangnail the way you wanted? Sue him. Nobody takes responsibility for anything anymore. It’s always somebody else’s fault. The players are paid huge sums of money to play the game and to play by the rules and it’s their personal responsibility to see that they do.
But here’s the crux of the matter, the redeeming feature of the story. The SF Giants are doing just fine without Melky Cabrera, thank you very much. Since his suspension the Giants have won 7 of 10 games and now lead the National League West by 3.5 games. They were tied with the LA Dodgers when Melky left. It’s possible Melky might end up winning the batting crown this year, but you know what? Who cares? Nobody remembers a batting crown champion ten years down the road, but for sure they’ll remember a 50 game suspension.
So you go Giants! And that goes for any other team who has to put up with this type of embarrassment. If you have a player who doesn’t play by the rules, who needs him? Who cares? Not this fan ~
Before Giants fans start panicking about the Dodgers re-loading their roster with Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford,and Josh Beckett, consider this.
Loading your roster with superstar talent in order to win a championship isn’t always a guarantee. Let me give you a few examples.
First off, Giants fans, your 2010 team beat a roster full of talent. That’s right, the Texas Rangers had a very talented roster that couldn’t get it done. Guys like Josh Hamilton, Michael Young, Cliff Lee, and C.J. Wilson didn’t (and have yet to) win a World Series. Those guys minus Lee failed again a year later.
Let’s also look at the Evil Empire, that’s right,the New York Yankees, who from 2001 to 2008 had a $200 million roster that did not win a World Series, sure they went there twice, but there’s a big difference between just getting there and winning it all, ask the Texas…
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Jeter’s Split-Second Timing
I’ve been on vacation this past week and have been frothing at the bit to get back to baseball! I’ve been hearing bits and pieces about Felix Hernandez’ perfect game and Melky Cabreras’s not so perfect choices and wanting to get back into the nitty-gritty. But today I landed on Craig Calcaterra’s article about Skip Bayless article about Derek Jeter…..fun stuff!
Here’s the article from Calcaterra. Be sure and click on the link to Bayless’ video. If nothing else, it’s certainly entertaining! We’ll save Felix and Melky for another day when I get back home to my own turf and can put some thought into the process. Hope you’re all having a great summer!
GFBB Note: Good grief! I wonder how many guys they have sitting around figuring out all these stats? Last nite the Giants had a pre-game ceremony for Matt Cain’s Perfect Game. The start of the game was delayed at least 15 minutes ~ must have sent the stat guys straight into orbit!
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During the seventh inning of a Cardinals-Giants game on Monday, a fan was arrested for shining a laser beam at Giants’ pitcher, Shane Loux . I was watching the game on the tube and the announcers talked about the delay, but no one really knew what was going on, and eventually the game resumed. As it turns out, the fan was a 17-year-old teenager who was with some friends in an expensive private suite along the first base line and maybe thought he was just having a little fun.
“Craig Calcaterra’s Cat?”
My story’s not about the 17-year-old mis-guided laser-pointing fan. It’s about a follow-up blog written by Craig Calcaterra on NBC’s HardBall. The post shows a supposedly comical picture of a cat wanting to catch that “red dot”. In the article Calcaterra says he sure hopes it’s not illegal to use those things or else he’ll have way less fun with his cat, making light of what could have been a really serious situation.
My immediate concern was for the pitcher ~ that he could be blinded by the laser and throw a wild pitch, injuring the batter, catcher or umpire. When you consider the speed of some of those pitches, upwards to 100 mph, you have a potentially deady combination. And that can be true even with perfect conditions, which doesn’t include having a laser flashed in your eye.
But according to a Cardinals’ security spokesman there are other situations that need to be considered. With laser-pointing, there is no way to distinguish a prank from a gunman aiming a laser-equipped firearm. Joe Walsh, Director of Cardinals’ Security puts it this way, “… when you go into what’s been going on in the country right now, it’s totally irresponsible to pretend you’ve got laser sights on somebody”.
The details of the incident are linked here, in a well-written article for the Post-Dispatch by Christine Byers of STL Today.com, and no matter how you want to spin the story, it’s no laughing matter.
I sure don’t want Calcaterra to miss out on any fun with his cat, but hope he has the common sense to leave those things at home when he ventures out to the ballpark and other public places.
Posted in A1 Baseball, General, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals
Tagged Cardinal Security, Cardinals, Cardinals security, craig calcaterra, Giants, Joe Walsh, Laser, laser beam, Matt Holliday, Mike Matheny, NBC, NBC hardball, no laughing matter, Rick Hummel, Shane Loux, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Non-Blind Unhappy Umpire”
On Wednesday, August 1, 2012, the home plate umpire for a minor league game between Daytona and Fort Myers in Florida ejected the guy in charge of music from the ballpark. Not only did he eject him from the ballpark but he demanded no more music or public address system announcements be made for the remainder of the game.
The cause of this heinous infraction? The music being played over the PA system was “Three Blind Mice”, after what some, and obviously the DJ, considered to be a questionable call. And even though the umpire’s actions might seem a little drastic, there is a precedent for this and “Three Blind Mice” does have a definite history in Major League Baseball.
Consider this. Back in 1941 the Brooklyn Dodgers had a somewhat volunteer band made up of fans that paraded around the stadium during the games playing fight songs, charge songs, and doing the regular things that pep bands do to inspire the crowds. Not that the Dodger fans needed inspiring. And when, in the minds of the fans and the band, an umpire would make a questionable call the band would break out into “Three blind Mice” much to 
the thrill of the wild and rowdy crowd. Ebbets Field probably only had an average 5,000 fans at the park back in those days, but it sounded like twice that many as the noise from the stadium was loud and intense. Rumor has it that the practice continued until the National League added a fourth umpire to the previous crew of three, rendering the three mouse ditty passe’. But in reality, the league office ordered the team to stop the practice, likely in response to umpire antagonism and threats of a walk out related to the unruly crowds inspired by the song.
This probably wasn’t the case last Wednesday in Daytona Beach, Florida, but you never know. There is such a thing as respect you know? Just saying …..a one – a two – a three
This early morning blog caught my attention since I’m a huge fan of the old-fashioned “socks up” look. The SF Giants tend to favor the long pants, some of them are so long the pants legs drag around on the ground. And others, like Barry Zito, have pants that look like they’ve been sprayed on, but he does have his socks up. I’m not sure why this has been an issue with me. Maybe it relates to old-time baseball ~ one of the most memorable and romanticized times in the history of sports. At least that’s this fan’s opinion. Here’s the blog from an Atlanta Braves fan from Austin, Texas. The blog title is “Gross Knowledge“.
The Final Season: Socks Up, Boss.
Socks Up! Play Ball!
15% Discount ~ Use Code 72F5ZSB5 at Checkout.
"David Freese on Defense"
Shortstop for the Redmond's for 11 great years!
Society for American Baseball Research
Garlicfriesandbaseball's Blog 