Lotsa stuff
*Busy day today over in Dave's World. Spent the first half of the afternoon confabbing with Mysterious Sports Freelance Superstar Christopher Warren, a high-level advisor in the Dave's World inner circle. Since I didn't have Dave's World Enforcer Steve Sears watching my back, MFSCW attempted to kill me in a wiffle ball game with a line drive direct to the cubes, but I shook it off and stayed in the game. Tonight is the big Dave's World Super Summit at Sunset Grill, with notable Dave's World Luminaries such as Official Tennis Correspondent Bucknell Jared and Chile's Corner's Chile Hidalgo. No doubt, some big announcements will be made regarding the site after this evening's festivities, perhaps the announcement of a new spinoff publication for people who cannot fend for themselves without a guide to better days.
*Last night added to the list of All-Star Memories for certain. Nothing quite like seeing three of the first four batters in the bottom of the first inning clad in Red Sox uniforms. But it turned surreal with A-Rod stepped up in the middle of that stretch. Especially because he was wearing white shoes.
I'm guessing A-Rod got them as a thank you gift from the little boy he saved. (You remember that, don't you? He saved the life of a little boy)(in Boston)(on Newbury Street)(in the middle of the day)(the truck was going 50 MPH down Newbury Street. In the middle of a weekday)(no one else saw the most recognizable personality in baseball rescue the kid from the barreling truck on Newbury Street in broad daylight)(not one other witness to back it up)(no police report)(the kid just so happened to be an A-Rod fan from New York)(whose dad works for a PR firm)(and somehow the story found its way to all the New York tabloids at once)(but the tab writers couldn't find anyone else who saw A-Rod rescue the little boy from the speeding truck in broad daylight)(But it really did happen)(Thank god for hard-nosed investigative journalism).
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, so this week's Dave's World Contest was simply asking about our readers' favorite memories of the midseason classic, and I pick my favorite entry. Some good stuff, scroll down a bit to see Scott's riff on about Cal Ripken's tee-ball clinic, for example.
I almost gave the award to Dave's World's Official Mets Correspondent, DG from Queens:
My favorite All-Star moment took place last year: Roger Clemens pitching to Mike Piazza. Despite Clemens and Piazza putting on public happy faces, you knew they despised the moment...and each other.
Piazza wouldn't even catch Clemens in the bullpen, during the player introductions. Instead, Piazza opted to be introduced to the Houston, Texas crowd. As soon as the "Formerly Enron" Field announcer said, "Catching for the National League...from the New York Mets...Mike...Piazza!" I turned to a co-worker and said, "Watch Clemens get lit up like Christmas and 4th of July rolled into one."
And what happened? Almost immediately, Clemens was banged around. Hard. It was funny and painful at the same time. You knew Piazza was telling A.L. hitters, "Yo, he's throwing a slider. Outside corner." When Manny hit the bomb, that was it. Piazza had gotten his revenge. My favorite All-Star Game moment.
Most weeks, that's my winner. But I gotta go with this, submitted by the Texas Yankees Fan:
I liked the Atlee reference, he allowed the first and still only All-Star Game slam to Freddy Lynn in 1983. Good stuff.
And if anyone claims any All-Star moment even compares to Ted Williams at Fenway in 1999, they should be drenched in the flammable liquid of their choice and before lighting the match, be forced to watch Howard the Duck, two hours of Golden Girls re-runs and Coy and Vance Duke in the final season of Dukes of Hazzard.
This is just a tour de force email, here. A first-ballot Dave's World Hall of Famer. For one, he referencedAtlee Hammaker. I clearly hinted yesterday I wanted to talk about Atlee Hammaker, and the TYF is the only one who picked up on it.
For some reason, everyone I know stayed home and watched the 1983 All-Star Game, and everyone remembers Hammaker (career record 59-67), in his only All-Star appearance, taking an utter shellacking. The damage: 2/3 of an inning, 6 hits, a walk, 7 earned runs, two home runs allowed. Jim Rice hits a solo shot (and boy is it a thrill seeing a Red Sox hit a home run in the All-Star Game when you're 10. Hell, it was fun seeing Ortiz and Manny go yard last year) and Lynn, as mentioned, the only granny.
For another, I mean, he's right. No contest. How can anything top the Teddy Ballgame scene in 1999?
And finally, wow. A Coy and Vance reference. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. So, for those not in the know, Bo and Luke Duke from the Dukes of Hazzard, a sublime bit of TV viewing, wanted more money and held out in contract negotiations, and CBS tried to replace them with Coy and Vance. It was one of the worst fiascos in TV history. Imagine if the Hulkster and Andre quit on the night before Wrestlemania 3, and they replaced them in the main event with Frankie Williams and SD Jones. CBS tried to take their popular, solid stars who always delivered and replaced them with super-cheap, unknown, untested help, and thought their audience was so dumb they wouldn't notice. That's happened somewhere else recently, but I can't quite put my finger on where.
I digress, again. An entry like that deserves no ordinary pocket schedule. Nay, for his efforts, the TYF gets a 2003 Montreal Expos calendrier officiel.
*FLAGRANT CHEST-THUMPING TIME: What did Dave's World write on June 23? Morse (a shortstop), center fielder Jeremy Reed, and second baseman Jose Lopez (the guy who's going to push Booney out of town) are three Mariners youngsters to store in your mental rolodex.
How long did it take for the Booney Prophecy to come true? About two weeks. What did Dave's World write about two hours after Booney was designated for assignment on July 3? I'm guessing if anyone did take a gamble on him, it would be Minnesota, which has a ton of infield injuries. But the Sox should stay away.
And where did Booney end up? Minnesota. One of these days, someone will start listening to me. And you all wonder why I have imaginary conversations with cartoon baseballs.
Speaking of which, DS, checking in from his seaside shanty in Hull, MA, notes: (Scooter's) tanner didn't take - he still looks like he was on a heroin bender.
True, that. Incidentally, Scooter asked me today why a company that just announced layoffs would cut the price of their product in vending machines in half. I told him if he asked one more similarly impertinent question, I'd arrange to have him served up to David Ortiz in batting practice.
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