Friday, August 03, 2007

I wish Bonds had hit 755 in LA

Three games at Dodger Stadium and Barry Bonds couldn't do anything. I'm a little disappointed. My reasons number two.

1. When Barry hits 755 and 756, it may very well drive a stake into the hearts of all those stat-geeks who base a player's candidacy for the Hall of Fame purely on numbers. These guys rate very close to the top of my list of people who need a punch in the face. With all the Cooperstown talk this past weekend as Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn got enshrined, I heard more of the, "Well, this guy has 2,500 hits and 500 homeruns, so he's gotta be in" talk than I care to remember. One discussion I heard on ESPN radio made my stomach turn a little. The topic was "Who from the list should make the hall?" The list of names that followed failed to impress. The ones I remember: Gary Sheffield? Debatable (which means "no"). Jim Thome? No. Omar Vizquel? No. All the guys, to me, were a flat "no." Stat-geeks have become so obsessed with numbers that they fail to grasp the whole point of a Hall of Fame: to recognize the players who were the greatest of their time. But the worst part is that, among this three-person radio show crew, all the guys were unanimously voting "yes" for EVERYONE. You're going to sit there with a straight face and tell me that Jim Thome or Omar Vizquel were one of the 5-10 best players in baseball when they played? Are you serious? Stab yourself in the eye with a broken bottle immediately. I don't need the guys who thought Rafael Palmeiro was a shoe-in for the Hall before he ruined his life getting paid to talk about baseball. When Bonds sets the mark, I'll be cheering. Loudly.

2. Seriously, wouldn't it have been perfect if Bonds tied or broke the record in Los Angeles? With all the love that Dodger fans have for Bonds and the Giants, it's the one stadium in the league where, on top of a full-scale riot breaking out, there would've been a half-decent chance that the homerun balls were thrown back into the field. A shower of boos, seats being uprooted, anyone with any Giants paraphenalia on not making it out of the stands... I'm telling you, would've been incredible. The most heated baseball rivalry this side of Yankees/Red Sox would've had one more feather in it's cap.

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I don't like Manchester United

Never have, never will. And neither should you, if you consider yourself to be a decent person. They're the monster, the evil empire. It looks like Carlos Tevez is going to land there -- not that his arrival should surprise anyone. The team with the most money generally gets it's way with the English FA. But that's not the signing by The Scum that's turning heads. Check out 9-year-old, Rhain Davis.

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