Baseball blatherings
*Tim Wakefield's name popped up in Pirates notes twice recently. When lefty stud-in-the-making Zach Duke made his MLB debut Saturday, he had nine strikeouts in a no-decision against Milwaukee. That's the most in a Pittsburgh starter's MLB debut since Wake whiffed 10 Cardinals in 1992. Then Kip Wells shut out the Phillies on Tuesday, the first Pittsbugh CG shutout of its in-state rival since Wake did it in 1993.
*Paul Konerko to Chicago writers on Scott Podsednik edging out Captain Courageous Derek Jeter, Hideki Matsui, Robinson Cano, John Flaherty, etc. in the All-Star final ballot: "When your team's going well and you're in first place, it brings out your fans. I think there's some sentiment that there are a lot of Yankees fans, but there are also a lot of people that hate the Yankees. It could be not that there are a lot of Podsednik fans, but a lot of people that hate Derek Jeter and hate the Yankees in general."
*If there was any justice in the world of baseball, Devil Rays owner Vince Namoli would be stripped of his franchise and never allowed near a ballpark again in his life. They have an all-time great manager in Lou Piniella and a staggering amount of young talent in the system (think the Quebec Nordiques about 3-4 years before Colorado won its first Stanley Cup), but things are so out of whack and the team is so cheap that Lou was experimenting with having relievers pitch the first two innings and then bringing in starters the rest of the way. We might see Lou on the bench in a straightjacket by September the way things are going.
*That Piniella item reminds me of one of the things I like about Safeco Field: They play "Louie, Louie" during the seventh inning stretch after "Take Me Out To The Ballgame." Trust me, it just works. On the other hand, whenever I hear Orioles fans all yell "O!" during the national anthem, I'm embarrassed for them.
*The Braves didn't just demote, trade or release righty Seth Greisinger. They sold him to the Kia Tigers of the Korean League. How much more of a hint do you need to hang 'em up?
*A phrase I never thought I'd type in my lifetime: Padres first baseman Mark Sweeney stole home last night.
*So this isn't baseball, but my good friend and peep from way back in tha day, Scott Tribble, checked in to call me onto the carpet about my Miami (Ohio) riff yesterday. Scott is in large part responsible for the existence of the Dave's World site -- thanks to his help, I can now do things like turn on my computer, all by myself. So if he has issues, I need to hear him out. Anyway, Scotty says:
First of all, there is no town or city of Miami, Ohio; the university is located in Oxford. Secondly, with regard to the relationship between schools, I would note that Miami in Ohio was founded in 1809, 36 years before Florida even became a state. Miami in Ohio also played its first football game 37 years before Miami of Florida was founded. So, on some level, you could make the argument that Miami of Ohio gets squatter’s rights to the non-parenthetical in the world of college football.
And, for what it’s worth, Miami owns the lifetime series against Western Michigan: 36-16-1.
BTW, did I mention that my girlfriend went to Miami?
Alrighty. You got me on the Miami (Ohio) thing. It would have taken me about 4.3 seconds to Google info on the school. But, dude … even if M (O) dominates the series, Western Michigan has defeated M (O) 16 times. So it isn't out of the question. In fact, I am now officially adopting the Western Michigan Broncos (1-10 in 2004) as the Official MAC Football team of Dave's World. I'd say lets make a wager on the game, but they don’t even play each other this year. M (O) probably backed out, is my guess.
Last week's baseball blatherings
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