Being the most un-handsome athlete in all of sports (tied with Willie McGee) probably helped him stand out.
The way the Mariners have been playing perhaps it's appropriate that they unveiled the statue of Jr last night, an off day. That way folks could honor Jr and not bother with having to suffer through a game. At least they got the statue right:
Holy shit! The M's have won two in a row! That's a winning streak right? James Paxton is now 2-0 with 0 runs allowed in 21 innings through 3 starts. Maybe he and his 98 mph fastball have figured things out.
I had my first visit to SunTrust Park last night. Meh. It felt like the zombie apocalypse - there was NO traffic on the interstate. I figured with I-85 shut down, the exploding lanes on I-20, it would be a nightmare. But, oddly, I sailed right up 75/85 through the heart of the ATL at 5:45 and didn't even tap the brakes. Weird. But, even with no traffic, it takes me an extra 20 minutes to get there. Parking and traffic around the stadium actually wasn't too bad, considering there is a bunch of stuff still under construction. And, the start time is 7:30 this year, instead of 7:00, so I will basically get home an hour later. The extra stuff ("The Battery") area is very cool, and will be a great economic success, it appears. The ballpark itself has nice atmosphere, and it's most definitely in a better area, the walks are safer and all that. The sight lines are excellent, but I was already on the front row, so not an improvement for me. The wall for the edge of field is 4" or so taller, and the seats are about 10" below the field. So, now the top of the wall is at about my chest height while seated. And, the tarp is in front of me now, so no more access to rolling ground balls. (But, Difo, with the Nats did toss me one after warmup.) Spoiler: Ball The bad part, is that this was the 6th home game, and first against the Nationals, and the place looked half empty. One of the main reasons they relocated the stadium was to be in the heart of their ticket sales base. Fail. They're not going to win the World Series this year, and I don't expect them to make the playoffs. But, with the good young talent and competitive veterans, combined with the shiny new stadium, that place should be near sellout well into August. It's sad, really. Granted, a lot of the empty seats I saw, were people exploring the park features and milling about, socializing in the standing areas, but it was still pretty lame. But, the tool race starts right in front of me now, so, there's that. Spoiler: What a Tool
This article pretty much sums up why so many Yankee fans are so reviled. It's written by a Yankees fan, who's deceased father was a Yankees fan, and how baseball is the bridge to keep her father's memory alive for her young son. It's really heart warming. "It would be an understatement to say my dad (everyone called him Max) was as diehard of a Yankees fan as you could find. The New York Mets were his sworn enemy; once, 20 years ago, he met John Franco in our South Brooklyn neighborhood and asked him to sign a dollar bill, only to destroy it later on as an insult." So...her father asked a stranger for a kindness, the stranger did him that kindness and he later destroyed it for no fucking reason other then to insult the stranger. That's the act of a deranged fucking lunatic, not something to be told to future generations as a tale of what it means to be a baseball fan.
The Athletics have won five games in a row for the first time in two years. They have taken the last two series from Shimmered's Rangers and ToyToy's Mariners. They are currently in second place in the American League West and I am boasting about it all while I can. Plus the A's are having $4 budweisers during the fourth inning of every game. All other teams should take note.
You won't get a Budweiser at Suntrust Park. Miller-Coors paid a shit ton to keep them out. (The seats in the Coors Light Chop House have bar tables with refrigerated cup / bottle holders recessed in them.) And, since M-C bought a majority stake in Terrapin, you can get Hopsecutioner in the can, and a similar Chopsecutioner version on tap. But, no Bud or Bud Light.
Fuck the Mariners. 1-9 on the road. What the fuck is wrong with them? It's to early in the season for me to be this worked up about them fucking up, but I am.
My general rule has always been unless said team is doing either historically bad or historically good, I don't pay attention to any W-L records until after the All-Star break. There's simply too much that can happen.
The Mrsanthropic, Missanthropic, and I just completed a 3 stadium tour - Wrigley, Miller Park and White Sox Stadium (Guaranteed Rate Field sounds retarded). Seeing a game at Wrigley was great from a historical perspective, and it really is a beautiful ballpark. But holy fuck is it small. I have no idea how they managed to host a World Series there. There is essentially only one concourse, at field level, so everyone is packed in like sardines by the 5th inning. Miller Park had better amenities (I actually liked the cheese curds), but it looks like the inside of an airplane hangar. That and the passive aggressive nature of the people there turned me off. One example - In a stadium maybe 1/3 full, some older woman had a snit that my wife was (accidentally) in her seat, even though there was another empty seat next to my wife at the end of the row. And empty seats al around us. There were other examples, but suffice it to say we checked off the Miller Stadium box and have no intent of ever going back. I expected to hate GRF from things I had heard, but it was actually our favorite of the 3 stadiums - great sight lines, small sections, great food and beer, just a really nice stadium. Granted, its not a Fenway or Camden Yards, but it was pretty nice. A big surprise to me was the lack of beer variety at Wrigley and Miller Park. I've been to about 2 dozen stadiums now, and other than the old stadiums I've visited - Three Rivers Stadium, Shea and Riverfront Stadium - these two stadiums had some of the crappiest beer selections.
Sheesh. So, King Felix left last night's game after 2 innings with a "Dead arm." Then Mitch Haniger (Tied with some guy named Mike Trout for the MLB lead in WAR) left the game with an oblique injury. At least Canseco is keeping us informed...
The Hays may suck balls, but last night they beat the Cardinals and had the be-all, end-all home plate tag dodges in baseball history. ...,This is just awesome. Even the Cards fans applauded it:
I wonder if Coghlan told Molina when he left the plate "Just to let you know....when I come home I don't intend to slide."