Weird. That's all I can come up with. It's weird. Two actual real-live-they-count ballgames have been played and the MMXII MLB is off and running. The A's and Mariners now have a week off. I wonder, did they have to set their 25-man roster already? Or do they get a do-over because they still have exhibitions to play? Like I said, weird. Even weirder is price of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Two freakin' billion, man. That's some serious scratch. The Guggenheim-Johnsons must throw a mean cocktail party. It's brilliant, really. Frank McCourt pissed on the rug, dug up the lawn, and knocked over the statuary but still sold the mansion for a profit. How? Because it was a mansion, dude, up there in Malibu with all the rest of the killer mansions. He brought way more attention to the club by being a total douche and as a consequence people paid extra to get their hands on it. McCourt is the new FreeMarket™ PosterBoy© and will probably run for president next. The Tea-Boys will love him. And the Resurrection of Earvin, to boot. Talk about magic--that's a coup. He is easily the most famous and beloved athlete in SoCal, not to mention an international star. Brilliant, like I said. Let's just hope the Dodgers will be cash-poor for a stretch and not just buy all of our players when they reach free agency. Matt Cain, are you listening?
A fond farewell to Mike Fontenot--check out El Lefty Malo for a fine take on the tale. I must admit to being a big Fontenot fan. I think he'd be better as the utility guy than Ryan Theriot or Emmanuel Burriss. With Freddy Sanchez in doubt, the extra infielders looked like a team strength, then they went and got rid of the best of the rest. I don't like it, but it dampens not my enthusiasm. If utility guys really are fungible, then the Giants will just have to get fungy and find another one.
The Barry Zito Follies continue. The days of wishing for mediocrity are over--he's toast. The flesh is willing but the mind is weak. Or something. How the hell should I know? But he may never get it back, no matter how hard Rags & Co. work. The Giants don't have $40M to toss away. I should say they do, of course, because they do. They are one hella-rich ownership group. Ask all the partners to ante up another half-mil each and they can buy (or buy out) anyone. But this is a TV, tickets, t-shirts, and Garlic Taters kind of outfit. They aren't going to kick in any extra. Oh, they'll get the oil changed regularly, and use premium gas, but they won't lay out for the turbo upgrade. The smooth and dependable Camry will never be a Ferrari, but that don't mean it can't pass you on the interstate.
Enough of the jibber-jabber, I'm sick of spring. Let's play some baseball.
--M.C.
5 comments:
I'm a little worried about the rotation, with both Vogelsong and Surkamp on the DL and Zito being horrible. Tim has been inconsistent but Cain and MadBum have been strong.
Magic is the face, not the money. I read where the sale is highly leveraged, and they hope to pay for it with TV deals. If the doggers are worth 2 billion then every other team in the league's value just doubled. Chavez latrine is now the oldest stadium in the NL except for Chicago, and after that guy got beaten almost to death by the thugs that call themselves fans, the announcers were saying that there was 10K people, tops, in attendance. How do you think the people of LA will respond when they are asked to foot the bill for improvements?
And don't think the players didn't notice. Expect them to want a bigger piece, and, of course, it will be the fans who pay.
The more they invest in the bums, the more the value of the giants goes up. Amazing how that works.
I am waiting in anticipation of your post on the signing of Matt the multimillionaire Cain. Stay healthy my friend.
The more they invest in the bums, the more the value of the giants goes up. Amazing how that works.
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