Ramblings from the Weekend

Other random thoughts from the weekend:

• With the previous post, this blog crossed the 100,000 word mark.  That’s probably most frightening to me and me alone.

 

• Didn’t Johnny Damon have his hair cut and his beard shaved off not that long ago?  Did he sweep it all up afterwards and glue it back on?  He still looks like Sasquatch.  

 

• If the Marlins trade for Diamondbacks’ centerfielder Steve Finley, I may be forced to stop going to Marlins games.  If he returns in 2005, I may not renew my seats.  Since my tickets are out in right-centerfield, I’ll have a nearly unobstructed (and completely unavoidable) view of Finley’s incessant crotch scratching.  Hopefully Mr. Loria will include some sort of a provision in any deal involving Finley that will contractually prevent him from rubbing himself throughout the game.  Also, I apologize if you have not noticed this disturbing habit of Mr. Finley’s.  I too was not aware of it until this season, when it was pointed out to me.  Since then, I have been unable to watch Finley – and even Diamondbacks games in general without becoming acutely aware of the issue.  It’s kind of like when you come up to a car accident on the other side of the road when you’ve been waiting in traffic for an hour.  You don’t want to look – you just want to get moving and get on with your life and wish the poor injured people well, but you can’t help it, you go slow and you look.  Please Mr. Finley, don’t give us anything to look at anymore.  Think of the children!

 

• Business has apparently improved for the Blue Jays and so they’re allegedly not looking to trade Carlos Delgado anymore (I know I read this over the weekend, and now I can’t find a source for it).  I’m not quite sure if that makes sense, or even if it’s true, but that’s what’s being reported.  I suspect that the Jays would trade Delgado if they could, if only so they could get something (more than a compensatory draft pick at least) for him than simply losing him in the offseason to free agency, but Delgado is unlikely to give-in on his 10-and-5 rights.

 

• It’s nearly the end of July and the Rangers are still in first place in the tough AL West.  I find this to be nearly incomprehensible.  Offensively, with young stars like Texiera, Soriano, and Blalock, most everyone thought they’d score some runs.  Pitching was supposed to be the Rangers deficiency, but it hasn’t held them back so far.  Using RSAA, Ryan Drese and Francisco Cordero have been their aces.  Maybe they’ll make an acquisition, and maybe the team as presently constituted is really good enough to win the division.  A staff led by Ryan Drese and Francisco Cordero doesn’t seem to me like one that’s destined for World Series greatness though.  I suppose that’s what everyone said about a staff led by Josh Beckett and Dontrelle Willis last year though. 

And now we're entering the home stretch of the year for the Marlins.  While that may not be true literally, it is true figuratively.  The Marlins start a four game series against the Phillies tonight (at home).  How they fare during this series could turn the Fish into buyers or sellers as the trade deadline approaches this weekend.  Once the Phils leave town, the Expos return, but that's not always a good thing for the Fish, as they were beat up last week by the last place Pirates and Expos (albeit on the road).

A similar schedule faces the White Sox this week, although they are more firmly ensconced as buyers in the trade market - or at least not as sellers, as they'll square off against the Twins, also in Chicago.  Hopefully the Sox can take the series from the Twins like they did late last month.  If they're able to, they'll put some distance between themselves as we head into the stretch run.