stalking hOrses

There is lots of talking in baseball web sites these days. People ... talking about people. Like BONNIE RAITT SONG! So here is answers to questions, which you did not necessarily ask, but which you subconsciously pondered:

1. YES -- Suddenly penny-pinching Cubs should give up farm for Halladay. It's Cubs' best way to enhance World Series prospects.

1a. NO -- Cubs are not likely to get this done.

2. YES -- Mets will sign Matt Holliday to massive contract. Think 6 years / $120 million for Scott Boras vehicle. But Wayward O isn't sure Queens team's headlong forward dive into further uncertainty will produce anything more than typical year-in, year-out chaos.

2a. DUNNO -- Should Mets do this? Hard to say. Maybe? (See: 2a.)

3. YES -- Boston Red Socks will get it done with Jason Bay. Oh sure he'll go out a-Courtin' and other GMs will put on feathers boas and finery ... but in end he'll stay in Boston. Because Boston needs firepowers to pretend they're still going to be in mix vs. FrankenYanks. So Bay gets fifth year and anudder pile o' loot to stash next to other pile.

3a. N0 -- World Series-purchasing Yankees aren't likely to make big splashes. Wayward O suspects Yankees feel they're loaded for bear for next couple years. Unless they sneak in winning bid somehow for a Jermaine Dye or Red Sox drop ball on Bay. They feel like Swish is lucky mascot and aren't in hurry to bolster outfield.

4. YEAH -- You know who is going to be out there making a play for Dye? Is surprising Braves, who need a bat or two for a 2010 playoff push against Phillies, who appear to be standing pat. Our buddy Miguel Tejada might end up on Bravos for year or two, as well, as Astros decide to get younger.

5. NO WAY -- San Francisco Giants aren't going to play role of stalking horse bidders only to be outgunned by overcaffeined, big-market Omar Minayas of world. There's no upper decky for Hideki in right field, but Godzilla could provide a few relatively inexpensive splashdowns in McCovey Cove as Gints seek return to postsesaon.

6. SORTA -- Last year Team's massive offer for Teixeira proved to be just such placeholder bid. Sadly. Team doesn't see itself as stalking horse bidder and offer for John Lackey will be serious.

6a. DUNNO --
6a. (1) -- If said offer will be made public or
6a. (2) -- If said offer will be successful

6b.YES -- Team has more loot than most teams. (See: 6a.)

7. YEAH -- Dodgers are mess. Hard to see them making real plays in FA market this year given War of Roses at top.

8. YES -- COREY PATTERS0N IS FREE AGENT!! (See: List.)

9. YES -- Your blog is MAD INFLUENTIAL!!!

happy hallOween

Looks like good ol' Sammy Perlozzo found costume!


Image via FOX
Hey Sammy -- DON'T PULL GUTHRIE, OK?

Nevermind....

If Wayward O had his druthers, which he does not ... have ... he'd go as this guy:


Image via MASN

Or maybe a Memlo Hobo.

ez mOney manny

think manny will opt out of $20 million deal for 2010? you know, and re-test market?


Image via LA Times
why should he? he can behave how he likes and joe torre will do his best to find flimsy reasons why ramirez just a reguluh guy.

on bright side, they have some of world's top clubhouse cancer screening clinics in so cal.

grading the predictiOns

It is exceedingly weird that October is here and playoffs are not. As Wayward O's fourteen readers know, Wayward O makes very concrete and non-wishy washy playoff predictions in March. Here's how Blog did this year:

AL East: We said Yankees would "pile up the wins" and Boston would finish second and be in Wild Card mix. Check. And Check. Yankees did not exactly sneak up on anybody but a lot of folks were wary about how good they would be. Wayward O was not. Blog also correctly said Tampa Bay would fade and finish third. We picked the Blue Jays for last but noted they are "probably better than" Team, who we generously picked to finish fourth. Blog was far too generous in allowing Team a chance to finish at .500 but, aside from this essentially irrelevant detail, we lined up division with precision. Grade: A

AL Center: Only thing that doesn't stink about Site's predictions for this division is Site picked Twins to finish second. And even that isn't set in stone as of yet. Note to KC Royals: We kind of knew you were going to stink but we took a flyer based on previous improvements last couple of seasons and gave you a chance. Don't look for such magnanimity again from Wayward O! Look for ignOminity! Further compounding futility of Blog's picks is Tigers' return to playoff contention, which Site did not augur for some stultifying reason. They were supposed to do that last year. Grade: Flunk

AL West: Blog liked Angels to win division. Checkity. That counts for something. But Blog gave As way too much credit for off-season moves. Heck, Matt Holliday isn't even there anymore is he? Or something. We were right, however, that future of As has been distraction and attendance has suffered. We had Seattle and Texas bottom-feeding and those two made nice showings. As of press time, three of four AL West teams were on track to finish above .500 mark. When was the last time that happened? Grade: C

NL East: Blog picked Mets to win, but Mets Blog picked did not actually take field. So. That's a sort of a pass, EXCEPT Blog foresaw big Mets injuries in 2008 but did not repeat prediction for 2009. So really kind of a mild fail, in a weird, metaphysical way. Possible worlds and what-not. Blog picked Phillies to finish second so it stands to reason that Phillies would Phind selves in first with Mets as non-factor. Blog had Marlins and Braves in middle of pack -- right where they are -- and Nats bringing up the rear. Grade: B

NL Center: Like AL Center prognostications, Blog took some risks here. Blog said Cubs would finish first and liked Reds and Cardinals to contend for Wild Card. So -- bad. However, Blog did accurately predict 2008 October darlings Milwaukee would fade down stretch. Blog also saw Astros underperforming. And Pirates in basement. Could have been worse but Blog can't give self pass for again over-predicting Cubs and underpredicting Cards. Grade: D

NL West: Blog liked Dodgers to walk away with division. Which they did until they kind of took foot off gas pedal in recent weeks. Blog predicted Giants would improve. Figuring they'd keep their staff on field and find a bat, Blog saw Diamondbacks contending for a Wild Card. Diamondbacks have in fact been quite bad (they did lose Brandon Webb for season) and have not shown ability to keep key pieces of puzzle together. Blog did NOT foresee another Rocky Mountain playoff high. Grade: C+

PLAYOFF BERTHS: Blog accurately picked three of six division winners -- Yankees, Dodgers and Angels -- and made accurate allowance for one 2009 Wild Card team. Blog did NOT have Colorado in mix. Blog made some canny observations about season but also made some wild swings that did not connect. Overall Grade ...... you tell Wayward O in comments.

a rare night Off

One of great shames over last decade has been Ichiro Suzuki's lack of exposure to October baseball.

Ichiro-era Mariners did win post-season series in 2001 but were denied World Series berth by Yankees.

Not only has Ichiro come up with a well-documented, bell curve-shattering career thus far in Seattle, but he also has become one of baseball's great personalities.

Other night in Toronto, in case you missed it:


Image via MLB.com

Mr. Suzuki decided to go with visual Exhibit A to back up case that home plate umpire Brian Runge had called an outside strike. And result was ...

Image via MLB.com
Predictable.

Only thing that would have been funnier would have been if Ichiro pulled pair of eyeglasses out of pocket and gave to Blue.

It was reported that Ichiro had never before been ejected from game, not even while he was on Orix Blue Wave.

This, just about a week after right fielder who once argued with straight face that chicks dig Infield Hits more than the Long-Ball, hit a dramatic walk-off home run against Mariano Rivera at 1 a.m. Eastern Time.

Come to think of it, it's straight face that makes him so compelling. Here's to Ichiro's eventual return to playoffs!

all-star in-game live rhyme-O-mat

8:53 p.m.
Lincecum hits the hand of Jeter
Derek's lucky it wasn't a heater
9:00 p.m.
Two runs in in top of first
The hits were bad but the error was worse
9:12 p.m.
Rosenthal talking about Halladay trade
A typical, unsourced sideline tirade
9:23 p.m.
Three straight singles and a ground-rule double
Leave the AL in a bit of trouble
9:53 p.m.
This game is anything but slow
Four innings took as long as pre-game show
10:04 p.m.
He hits for average and for power
Tying the game is the spiffy Joe Mauer
10:14 p.m.
Adam Jones rips it to right
But the outs are piling up fast tonight
10:18 p.m.
Taco Bell airs a goofy ad
Christ, that food is freakin bad
10:29 p.m.
I hate to ask but I've never known...
Why are the Oceans "white with foam"?
10:34 p.m.
Hawpe hits a shot off Boston closer
But Carl Crawford, at the wall, says 'No sir'
10:43 p.m.
Granderson scampers after a clout
Good time for a triple, with only one out
10:49 p.m.
Adam Jones with a sac fly to right
The go-ahead run, late in the night!
10:57 p.m.
It's the All-Star Game, so say what you might
But it sure is strange seeing Adam in Right
11:07 p.m.
Howard strikes out on a ball in the dirt
An NL late comeback is rendered inert
11:20 p.m.
Slamming the door is Mariano
The Americans make it 13 in a row!

all-star pre-game live rhyme-O-mat

8:03 p.m.
Talking trash was President Obama
He made fun of Pujols' mama
8:08 p.m.
Adam Jones gets announced
NL Pitching he will trounce
8:15 p.m.
Yadier's faux-hawk looks atrocious
The St. Louis fans are quite precocious
8:20 p.m.
FOX sucks up to 'everyday fans'
But Rupert has nefarious plans
8:26 p.m.
Can't hit a ball? Bad with the glove?
You can still be a star at Serve.gov
8:36 p.m.
The pomp and circumstance has extended
Long after pre-game show should have ended
8:39 p.m.
Barack throws out the game's first pitch
FOX wrecks the shot with a camera glitch
8:42 p.m.
Here's Joe Buck and Tim McCarver
With their folksy brand of baseball palarver
8:49 p.m.
It's nearly bed-time in the East
The game is underway, at least

seniOr circuit seeks batters, any age

The Giants, Cardinals, Braves, Cubs and Reds are among at least five National League teams within 2 games of Wild Card with team batting averages and RBI totals at or below league average.

The Aubrey Huffs* of the world, the Jermaine Dyes and the Alex Rioses all are candidates to be on the move from AL to NL. They are legitimate RBI guys and they can play more than enough defense to get starts.

There are dozens of candidates. I mention these three because they have been openly coveted by NL teams in recent weeks.

Miguel Tejada is going to be in Houston for about another five minutes.

Stars are aligning for busy trading season.

* Personally Wayward O thinks Team would be nuts to trade Manhorse but in unlikely event somebody is going to give up -- say -- a young major league ready third baseman or something like that -- somebody like this guy -- then Team has to listen

walks will kill yOu

or will they? high-flying los angeles dodgers, who right now far and away are class of baseball, and who have 2nd best era in NL, lead majors in issuing free passes. they also lead majors in intentional walks with 29.*

despite leading universe in walks, they are 4th in majors with a 1.316 WHIP.

they are 2nd in majors in strikeouts.

while issuing more hall passes than a pushover substitute algebra teacher, they're on pace to win 109 ballgames.

their closer, jonathan broxton, truly is leading charmed life. he has 13 saves and a 6-0 record. he racks up close to 5 Ks for every free pass issued.

ramon "megatron" troncoso, too, is walking on water: his era so far is fully 2.5 points lower than last year. yesterday troncoso pitched the 8th and 9th innings in L.A.'s extra inning walkoff against philly. troncoso -- who sort of has been given title of setup man but not quite by manager joe torre -- gave up hit and walk in 2 innings, struck out nobody and escaped unscathed.



More than meets the eye?
Image: Dodgerblogs.net
torre has talked a lot about "matchups" being responsible for success. if you say so joe ... and who knows? it could even be true.

there are two ways for L.A. fanz to understand this, Wayward O guesses:

1) enjoy it while it lasts because phenomenon suggests dodgers have gotten some inexplicable good luck or

2) if walks start to come down (or "regress" as seamheads are so fond of saying) then L.A. is bug-eyed juggernaut and will run away with NL West by 20+ games

* guess which Team leads AL in intentional passes? yeahp. you guessed it...

defined geOgraphical radius

one of best things about baseball are baseball fans.

for example, earlier today baseball issued semi-official news story / press release touting new patented system for enforcing home market blackouts for internet game watchers .... this is excerpt:

"Major League Baseball was the first professional sports league to broadcast its full schedule live over the Internet, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,486,943 allowed it to happen within the well-established guidelines for a sport that is delivered over multiple platforms. All clubs have local TV broadcast rightsholders, and their contracts specify that fans inside a defined geographical radius who can view their broadcasts shall be blacked out from live online viewing. Everyone outside of that radius can see that club's games live with MLB.TV."

anyway .... readers on mlb.com quickly hammered baseball. here are some verbatim comments grabbed by wayward o before everything was pulled ....

"Congratulations, MLB. It figures that their one achievement would be a feature that PREVENTS people from being able to watch games. On the other hand, NexDef and the many other buggy aspects of mlb.tv also do a good job of preventing people from watching games (or watching them in high quality, at least). Now maybe they will focus their efforts on producing a product that actually works as advertised."

"Only Major League Baseball would have a press release commending themselves on what a fine job they do of screwing over people that actually want to give them money to see as much of their product as possible in favor of 1950's-esque broadcast restrictions."

"i'm in Seattle and the thing places me in San Jose, which blacks me out of Giants and A's games, which are the ones i care about. so hopefully if someone makes a geo locator that actually works, they won't be infringing on the patent. this story is the most repulsive case of unwarranted back-patting i've seen in a long time. P.S. information wants to be free. these sorts of algorithm patents are only meant to stifle competition, and they benefit only those that can afford large legal departments. makes me sick."

"It's ridiculous that this article is a feel-good story about how MLB patented a technology that they basically use to prevent people who subscribe to MLB.TV from watching their home team. All of this because the dinosaur executives at MLB and the Cable companies are too stupid to work out a distribution deal, and too foolish to take full advantage of the internet as a distrobution medium."

next time, wayward o guesses, baseball won't be so quick to brag about antitrust exemption and derivative ability to openly screw home-market customers by forcing them to pay for cable or satellite instead of giving them cheaper option of watching on Internet.

(now incidentally this article appears to have been pulled from mlb.com web site -- or if it's still there it's buried; can't be found readily in search, either)

finally, baseball gOt it right

amid all of the self-righteousness, disappointment and schadenfreude that erupted when manuel ramirez was suspended for rubbing hisself with female ointment, wayward o believes an important point went un-emphasized:

baseball now has effective drug policy
this, friends of the sport, is the day we've been waiting for at least seven years and possibly longer.

an effective drug policy with consequences may not remove the temptation to try performance-enhancing drugs, but it will periodically remind the public and the players that, like other leagues, baseball cheaters face the risk of being outed and the collateral risks of losing millions in salary; losing any shot at HoF; and losing playing time.

in a society awash with illegal drugs that's really all you can ask for.



OMG! Wayward O almost forgot. Blog received very nice e-mail this week from Tom Sedlacek who is PR guy for BOWIE BASEBALL BAYSOX and he wants everyone to know that THURSDAY NIGHT is Rock Paper Scissors Nite at Prince George's Stadium!

So go play some RoChamNattyBo and cheer on Bay Sox!!! Tell 'em Wayward O sent you and get a FREE ....... a FREE ....... a FREEEEEEEEEE .....

nope. you get nothing free.

fifteen seasOns

manny ramirez is kook.


Playing outfield!
and not a very nice one either. wayward O received very thoughtful message about mamble ramble from longtime baseball watcher via email machine:

I think this is the baseball story of the year. For the first time in baseball history we have a superstar who has mixed up the twin issues of baseball - the diamond and the business. By refusing publicly to play at top level performance with the Sawx he has thrown down the gauntlet. Can any team now hire him and expect to get performance? He and Boras are basically extortionists, saying to teams: "love him by giving him everything he asks, or he won't give it his all."

however, as l.a. time columnist bill shaikin and many others have pointed out:

Manny doesn't do losers. Full seasons in the major leagues: 15. Teams with a losing record: 0.

yet when he quit on the red sox last year that team was well on its way to a winning effort. so clearly above emailer is right: it's not even really about that.

wayward o suspects soon it may not matter: fifteen seasOns ... one day perhaps not so far off in future Manny's powers will diminish or disappear ... wayward o can't tell whether it would be fun if that happened during the tenure of his current $45 milllion, two-year deal.

it will probably be sad to watch.

in which we fOrgive larry bigbie!

this is how last week of steroids-related parOxysms made wayward o feel:


glad that accountability finally is setting in but -- at same time -- a MITE QUEASY!

mostly it was sad tejada that really made wayard o, you know, consider the EXISTENTIAL QUESTIONS OF LIFE!

also sunpaper has amazing brian roberts quote about larry bigbie:

"It's not Larry's fault. I don't blame Larry for my situation. I don't want to
relive this whole thing all over again, but I made a bad choice. I've dealt with
it, and I've moved forward. I don't hate Larry. How can I blame somebody else
for something I did? I feel bad for Larry for what he's gone through, because we
were good friends."

i urge diaspora to read entire article! and click on bankrupt newspaper's BANNER ADs! somebody has to fund Pete Schmuck's frozen margarita habit!!

also -- in all honesty -- wayward o now feels remorse for teasing larry bigbie. remember when we all thought that loping easy stride would turn into a blue chip major leaguer? steroids destroyed promising career. kiddies: take note!

pOwder blue

first of all, wayward O feels pretty bad about previous post in some ways because wayward O loves baltimore sun but sometimes insinuations that creep into reporting get him riled up. and it's not peter schmuck's fault that he is wholly owned subsidiary of sam zell. we all know team stinks ... however. is what wayward O is saying basically. no need to constantly remind us.

but wayward O did not come here today to make baltimore sun blingee ... though he still may. he came here to tell you a secret.

THE KANSAS CITY ROYALS MIGHT BE GOOD!


56 wins in 2005; 62 wins in 2006; 69 wins in 2007; and 75 wins in 2008. And all along the way they've made a few shrewd, mid-market type moves and developed some talent.

occasional pissing and moaning about ramon ramirez aside -- and we as Os fans know how precious good middle relief can be -- with additions of mike jacobs and coco crisp royale seems to have talent at every position, four decents starters -- all still on the upside -- and a talented closer.

The Royals. The Kansas City Royals.

Wayward O is going to tell you something right now. If Royale gets into the playoff mix in 09 -- sometimes known -- as the play9ff mix -- and team is flailing around as is its September custom, wayward O is changing name to Wayward Ro and buying Royals cap.

Maybe not moving to Kansas, but rest of trappings will be there! Including KC's theme song.

yOur shea stadium update

courtesy of meet mess ....



Outside


Inside

the cold wind is upon the withered heath!

grading the predictiOns

we stopped writing about dumb team about two weeks ago because it became .... not painful but just dumb. dumb orioles losing dumb games by the dozen in september. that should change soon. maybe. if things go as planned.

and if you want to read all the accolades for mike mussina's 20th win make sure you check out all his fanbois over at camdenchat. they've forgiven, forgotten, rationalized and stockholm syndromed their way into complete submission.

anyway now we gotta move fast .... no endless weeks of hype & hiatus between reg. season and playoffs in this sport. we've got some recaps and postmortems and we're preparing year 2 of our uncannily accurate "certainty points-based" playoff predictions for tomorrow hopefully.

but first, it looks like our playoffs are basically set ... with the chisox beating detroit (and officially sending tigers into last place) we've got a play-in game! but we're close enough. let's have a look, division by division, at Wayward O's pre-season picks (see hyperlinks) and grade them:

AL East: Hmmm. Let's see. We said Yankees would be "on outside looking in." Check. We said Red Sox were best team in division. Wrong (but they did make playoffs and might be best team in MLB, the AL East weirdness notwithstanding.) We liked the Jays in second but they came in fourth. We made no specific prediction about Rays except to say they'd be better. We said team would finish last. Grade: B C

AL Central: We said Tigers would come in first. They came in last. We discounted the Twins but they will play a play-in vs. Chisox. We liked the Indians at least to sniff the wild card. We liked the Chisox to contend -- not a sexy pick in pre-season. We accurately foresaw the Royale improving a little Overall this one was a mess but there were a few predictive bright spots. Grade: D+

AL West: We liked the Angels to win (duh). We liked the Mariners to contend a little for the Wild Card but noted they were over-rated. We also predicted issues with Ichiro in CF and sure enough he's back in RF. We foresaw Texas & Oakland in the junk pile. Grade: B+

NL East: We picked the Braves? Hideous. In our defense however we were trying to hit a long-shot, so to speak. And the B's did look good on paper until you remember what a bust Mike Hampton really is. We foresaw the Mets contending and the Phillies contending for Wild Card. Instead Phils won the division. We vastly under-rated the Marlins and pretty much got the Nats right. Grade: D

NL Central: Friends, we picked the order of finish in this six-team division exactly. And you could look it up. Just click the linky there. We also had the Brewers going to the post-season and hinted at the firing of the manager, and though we didn't read the Ned Yost tea leaves exactly, it was still an uncanny predictive display. Grade: A+

NL West: We and everyone had the D'Backs winning. Ehhh! We over-rated the Padres. But we did correctly predict the Colorado fall-off, writing Was 2007 a bit of a fluke? Yeah. Yeah it was. And we did have the Dodgers contending minus Manny. Nice job overall sorta. Grade: B-

Overall Grade: B ... one of the more depressing grades you can get. you kind of half-heartedly tried and in retrospect you'd be happier with a C if only you'd stayed up and partied instead of cramming. anyway .... if chisox beat twins tomorrow and sneak in bump it up to a B+ yeah i know that's a pretty friendly grade.

heartbreak On wheels

in a woooorld where blogging is a chore, one blogger stood alone....

thanks to reader anon e. mouse for the winning caption entry! simple yet elegant. timelessly witty.


now for a bulleted list of things wayward O is watching for & thinking as season winds down:

• team is serious about locking up (locking down?) b-rob and the young savior. now is not a time for chintzy! make them rich & happy and team will benefit
• aubrey is the answer next year at 1b
• we gotta let danny cabs have one more shot next year as sorry a sack as he is
• the brew crew is heartbreak on wheels
• somebody must stop mike moose-tina from his 20 win season. i wish it could be team but it appears pettitte will start sunday although there were rumours of a mussina start
• there is speculation the bedard might again be a member of team. is that good? figuring that out is above wayward o's pay grade
• that was a hella catch by that yankee CF last night to rob luuuuke. wayward o has comletely reversed course on luuuke btw. ok so he thinks god created the dinosaurs last week ... if you really think about it, there's nothing to disprove that assertion, provided you don't you know care about facts
• wayward o has been to 50 or so games at l'estada de Janqui. and he will grudgingly miss the place
• the Rays will get knocked out of the postseason quick-like (that's hope talking)

PS. postseason previews and regular season post mOrtem coming soon!

yOu can rest easy

boston fans should relax, knowing ROB MANFRED is on case...

The commissioner's office is investigating the circumstances of Manny's final hours with the Red Sox. The Globe has learned (from a source with direct knowledge of the inquiry) that Bud Selig directed Major League Baseball executive vice president Rob Manfred to contact all parties for an explanation of how things unfolded around last week's trading deadline. According to the source, Manfred has yet to report back to the commissioner. [Manny Mania takes over LA]

wayward O is sure he'll get to bottom of things soon.

garrett, yOur car is waiting

wayward o is exceedingly flattered about clamor for t-shirts, however, it's his belief that business model is not, um, ripe for any kind of windfall. also wayward o is not selling out (yet) but he does know a t-shirt mogul extraordinaire and so if it does happen it will happen right.

now that trade deadline is past, jason bay got boston on track, jr. got the chisox on track, and manny began process of destroying dodger's hopes with cancerous behavior, wayward o would like to point out that bronx bombers, having lost 4 of 5 lately and still tangling with hideously good angels team, are a team on brink. which is mostly an excuse to post this image, of which we can't get enough:


Metaphor for 2008 Yanks
Now we all know Janquis will continue to sign every free agent they can ... but if team doesn't make playoffs this year (65% likely as of today) what will they do with increasingly massive and messy payroll?

More importantly .... what if Garrett Olson -- now 8-5 -- finishes season say around 13-9? Wouldn't that have to qualify as Lost Season's biggest surprise? Flatbill's ERA from '07 means '08 isn't really too surprising. Aubrey posted good numbers except for 2007 so 2008 is hardly an aberration. Olson is perhaps most underdiscussed and underhyped outperformer of year so far. Last night he took shutout into ninth vs. woefully bad Mariners in blOwout win. You could make a case for Jimmy Johnson aka Young Houdini as well.


Sun Photo
Plus he looks like one of those young kids who is serious about life. You know the kind.

Ha! Check out Rock's new blog .... also notice Amber has her own MaSn blog but she doesn't know difference between "bean ball" and something called "beam ball." What is a "beam ball"? Wayward O asks you.

sidney is the tunguska cOmet

june 30, 1908 --> july 3, 2008

so much CONTEXTUAL REPERCUSSIONS

last chance to stOp the madness...

here are just a few scenarios for MLB to think about before implementing video replay:

• batter hits a ball down line, barely fair, but umpire calls it foul. batter keeps running but defense doesn't play the ball because of the foul call. batter scores on an inside-the-park home run. replays show ball was fair. can you take the run off the board? where do you put the batter? 2nd? and how long will it take to sort it out after both managers have hissy fits?
• batter hits squibber behind bag at first, runs down line until umpire calls it foul. first baseman, sure it's actually fair, plays the ball and tags the batter out. replay shows ball was fair. is batter out? and how long will it take to sort it all out?
• a batter gets screwed over a couple times on replay calls and, not wanting to get screwed again, refuses to stop running every time he hits one near the line regardless of the call.

surely there are more scenarios like that. if you think of one, let fly in comments.

just to be clear. this stuff

• is GOING TO HAPPEN (assuming any extensive replay system is adopted)
• and it's going to happen in IMPORTANT GAMES
• and it gives the UMPIRE MORE POWER, not less
• and it will take MORE TIME, not less
• because they will have to make JUDGMENT CALLS about what WOULD HAVE HAPPENED.

in wayward oriole's opinion it's a massive cluster(bomb) waiting to happen. the players need to trust the umps, for better or worse. the replay will undermine players' trust in the umps and force them to make their own decisions in "real-time" as to whether balls are fair or foul.

9:46 a.m. update: thanks to hans bungle for pointing out that replay right now seems only to involve questionable home run calls (i'm wary). hans bungle is a yankee fan so he rarely comments here but it's usually worth reading.

'shOw me the ball!'

wayward O used to get excited about every win by team but we are so great wins are like just part of day's work now. here at t.w.O. world HQ we weren't exactly surprised to see brandon fahey get sent down but we do NOT LAUGH at OTHER'S MISFORTUNE and we say to bloggers who do ... karma is a beeesh, mang.

anyway, did everyone see this one?


It came from the swamps of Florida!
here's the video.

it is dan uggla, who is king of baseball diamond today. florida marvins = NOT worst team in MLB!

Of nats and mets

is it wayward O or was last night's win over seattle the blueprint for team's success? ascension of BIG BIRD continues, FLATBRIM gets save and YOUNG SAVIOR plays big ball and small ball...

anyway, spies have been visiting NL EAST BALLPARKS. first, here is sponsort's report from NARTS' new stadium:

The most impressive thing is the video display. It feels as tho you are inside a hi-def video game. Humongous center field tv-scoreboard looms over the stadium; flashing, psychedelic displays constantly on the move around the entire concourse area. And the seating in the bowl is so close to the field that the field lights shine into your
eyes.

The structure, however, is mundane - gray concrete and gray steel girders give it the feel of an Erector Set construction. And the red-painted areas of the inside of the stadium are in a hideous tomato color. But the cherry trees were in bloom, and the 4 presidents race gives it a really neat touch (Teddy lost again, don't you know!).

The seating in the bowl is very flat. My sight line was through a mob of people who are constantly standing up and blocking the view. Better to sit higher up or further back.

Lastly - the cost. I don't want to sound like a miserly geezer, but it cost me over $100 for 1 person. Lower box seat (20th row) beyond the 3B dugout was $58 ($69 after all internet fees); Metro cost $16.70 (new thing - you are required to purchase a $10 Metro parking credit card even tho the parking charge is $4.25); Beer $7.50; Boardwalk Fries $5. I'm not including my delicious Subway Italian grinder which only cost me $3.50 on the way to the game.

So, if you are taking the family, bring your home equity loan checkbook.

sounds decent. perhaps fans are standing because there is prospect of home team finally winning a baseball contest?

and g. donovan, veteran METS BLOGGER, sends this shot of the ascendant CITIFIELD...


Don't bury Adam Wainwright
jersey in here, please!
wayward O shudders to think how expensive new Mets & Yankees ballparks will be.

frank thOmas

don't tell wayward O that blue jays' benching of frank thomas has NOTHING to do with his contract.

clearly it does.

toronto says it's because he was 1-14 recently. but he hit three home runs already in april. that's a 36-HR pace for season!

so chintzy blue jays are BOGARTING THE BIG HURT. because if he gets enough at-bats this year his $10 million option kicks in for 2009. here is what TORONTO STAR says...

the solution may be to simply release Thomas

amazing. here's what frank says...


'My career isn't going to end like this'
here is what wayward O says....

HEY BLUE JAYS....
STAY CLASSY!
wayward O also says .... let's um just suppose for argument's sake that 2008 orioles are a real team and they're over .500 come the trade deadline. perhaps big hurt might be option for a rental DH ... certainly he would be mOtivated to do damage to AL EAST FOES.

wayward O ain't sayin', wayward O is just sayin'....


update: thomas released! -- amazing. new low for blue jays!

sign jOhn up!

so Wayward O was going over Barack Obama's private passport file a couple days ago, just to you know see what the young man was all about.

NOT TRUE! but this is true! washington nationalz are stupid!

narts released john patterson. he is good pitcher!

he will be yankee! no wait. he lost some velocity ... he is a CRAFTY RIGHT-HANDER.

HE WILL BE ROCKIE. ROCKY. A ROCKY.

HE WILL BE A ROCKIE!

HE WILL BE MEMBER OF COLORADO ROCKIES!

orioles need this guy to help team navigate shoals of lOst season.

cOrey

Have you ever been mugged by a fond memory? Or perhaps stopped in your tracks by the stylized notion of a not-so-found memory as shaped by the fact that the past, while less-than-perfect, was nevertheless witnessed on a fine summer's day?


Don't go toward the light!
Today Wayward O misses Corey Patterson's wild fannings at the plate and fearless leapings in the field. Hear's hoping the crazy b@st@rd takes RYAN FREEL's JOB in Cincy!

silly seasOn

is it the baseball times yet?

these are the days that make wayward O anxious because waiting time is still here but wayward O is ready for baseball games and will have to settle for split squads and 35-pitch caps. but at least first Os radio broadcast is just THREE DAYS AWAY!

in meantime, please entertain yourself with suzyn waldman crying jag -- complete with .mp3 -- from teary moments following yankee elimination from 07 playoffs and also please feel free to contemplate implications of this:


An Equal Opportunity Mullet Employer
If Manatees travel with team to play Brewers, Milwaukee needs to have police guard on hand so sausage races can be run with out danger to humans INSIDE LIFELIKE MEAT SUITS.

also, in baltimore news, read about how team now has own BOY GENIUS to match wits vs. Brian Cashman and Theo Epstein. which leads to obvious next question: just what IS mike flanagan doing with self these days?

mOseby

Wayward O is back in snowy New York Town to-day. He took Amtrak night train all night and made several trips to BAR CAR.

Baseball is on everyone's mind these days!! Even Darvin Ham from Wizznutz is taking break from making designer men's suits out of old bacon packages and checking out VIDEOS FROM BYGONE ERA in hopes of someday seeing team return to glory. He sends this one along, which of course is the raison d'etre of this web site.



How do you get a name like "RANCE"?

i've been here befOre

wayward O is not big on "pitchers and catchers." to his ears it's like hearing somebody say, "only six more weeks of freezing cold 18-degree mornings and some squat thrusts and oh yeah and the baseball people get to head down to ft. lauderdale and get paid to lounge around at the marriott and drink frozen beverages and holler at pesky wildlife and file missives."

wayward O = jealous

brandon inge had six hits in 17 world series at-bats for tigers in 2006 but pitchers flamed out and detroit lost to lowly st. louie. he's been an everyday player for D-town for four years. and his career BA is ... is ... um ... is that right?

.241

so when organization says to a career .241 guy ... "hey why don't you take some snaps at catcher the spring and be ready to sub in at backstop and sub in for miguel cabrera at third base for a team that's got a GREAT SHOT at another word series berth?" you'd think inge would say, "indeed, can't wait to be a super world series sub and let's see how injuries go, etc." you'd think he's say:

boy would i like another shot at the ring.

anything you say, fellas. winning's the thing.

this organization has been great to me -- giving me 4 years/ $24 million --
and anything i can do to help is what i'm going to do.

i play baseball. that's joy enough. and i am handsomely
compensated to do that. wow. holy cow every time
i think of that it makes me want to pop a cork on some bubbly.

nope. that's not what .241 career hitter said. he said:

if i can't start in detroit, i prefer to play elsewhere

if i was detroit FO guy you know what i'd say to b-inge?

i'd say, "brandon, your happiness is important to me, that's why i'm sending you to kansas city for a couple prospects. have fun playing every day!"

brian raskOlnikov

wayward O is starting to wonder about what's NOT in columbo report...



"just one more thing
before i go, mr. roberts..."
or to put it another way: how does former senator have guys copping guilty despite what appears to be mere hearsay?

wayward O has THREE THEORIES as to why this is: theory number one is pedestrian in nature; theories number two and three SPAN AGES and deal in MAN'S TRUE NATURE and GOOD VS. EVIL.

THEORY NO. 1: confession amounts to FINAL PARTING of WAYS between roberts and organization, since orioles just yesterday attempted to DEFEND their DIMINUTIVE SParKPlug. roberts can't stand EVIL OWNER anymore and wants to MOVE ON. he waits until team defends him, then PULLS OUT RUG FROM UNDER team. wayward O doesn't think this is strongest theory, as he doesn't picture roberts as this type of passive-aggressive person.

THEORY NO. 2.: admission is like 'a tell tale heart', and roberts COULDN'T LIVE WITH THE GUILT. because as we know, roberts is a MAN OF INTEGRITY and he gives back to kids in community and fought off heart ailment as a child, beating the odds to become a MLB star in first place.




THEORY No. 3: our good friend and faithful oriole has copped to the pettitte defense, leading us to believe he has SEEN ERROR of HIS WAYS. this theory can also be called "CRIME and PUNISHMENT" theory. now, as rodion romanovich raskolnikov was exiled to SIBERIA for his CRIME AGAINST THE EVIL LANDLADY, roberts should probably be exiled ... to chicago! for you see mr. Roberts, all MEN are CREATED the SAME. there are no classes of men; no Giants walking among us...

the truth is out there, friends.

larry the canary

now that senator mitchell is done fixing ireland, he is fixing baseball with report!!

wayward O read report last night with great fervor. there were so many facts in there! mostly they established that YANKEE GREAT ROGER CLEMENS was SO MAD at RED SOX that he CHEATED HIS ASS OFF in order to prove former team wrong.

here is concise re-cap of winner and losers:


~BIG WINNER~ Adobe Acrobat Reader
~BIG LOSERS~ New York Chemical Yankees*
&
LARRY the CANARY

What's up with Larry's lame accusation? (Please turn to pg. 158 in your report)...

Roberts and Larry Bigbie were both rookies in 2001. According to Bigbie, both
he and Roberts lived in [David] Segui’s house in the Baltimore area during the latter part of that season. When Bigbie and Segui used steroids in the house, Roberts did not participate. According to Bigbie, however, in 2004 Roberts admitted to him that he had injected himself once or twice with steroids in 2003. Until this admission, Bigbie had never suspected Roberts of using steroids.

Not cool, big guy.



something tells me B-Rob cannot beat up Larry the Canary WITHOUT JAY GIBBONS' HELP. but now that gibbons is basically finished, he can be an MLB ENFORCER like how WASHED-UP HOCKEY PLAYERS stay in their league for couple extra years.

NOTE TO B-ROB: If you still live at Segui's house, you should probably move out.

* More on how Mitchell report is devastating to cheating Yankees later....

wayward O trembles with fear

now that tigers have retooled lineup to hang with red sox, let's have a look at projected '08 team with some key '07 stats:

curtis granderson .302 BA
miguel cabrera .320 BA
magglio ordonez .363 BA + retarded power numbers
gary sheffield .265 BA but look at the protection
carlos guillen .298 BA
ivan rodriguez
edgar renteria .332 BA
placido polanco .341 BA
jacque jones .285 BA

and super-sub marcus thames hit 18 home runs in 86 games.

it's a young lineup. it's an experienced lineup. it's a fast lineup. it's a powerful lineup. it's a world series lineup.

imagine what Tigers is going to do to Orioles next year...

beyOnd (the mississippi)

away back in july, wayward O reported upon some unsavory doins' afoot on Walter O'Malley front! why would pro-O'Malley movement be hitting radio and teevee waves all these years later, Wayward O asked amid summer's swelter, to sully Robert Moses and re-cast him as central villain in great saga of departure of dem Bums to sunnier climes of west coast in year 1957 AD?


It all seemed a bit random until yesterday:

But revisionist history has been relatively kind to Mr. O’Malley, who owned the Dodgers from 1950 to 1970. Many historians maintain that, still at the height of his city-shaping powers in the late 1950s, [Robert Moses] forced Mr. O’Malley’s hand by refusing to use eminent domain law to acquire land for Mr. O’Malley to build a new domed stadium along Atlantic Avenue to replace the undersize Ebbets Field.

Others say Mr. O’Malley forced Mr. Moses to force his hand by making unreasonable demands for land and snubbing Mr. Moses’s offer of a stadium in Queens. They say he was just looking for an excuse to move to Los Angeles, where he knew he could make a lot more money.

The NYT even plays REVISIONIST HISTORY CArD as t.w.O. did in July!

This episode proves BEYOND SHADOW OF DOUBT that there are secret, powerful, conspiratOrial forces controlling game of baseball to large degree:

• pynchonesque secret handshakes;
• out-of-temporal-phase meetings between greats past and present;
• karma-leases that don't come due for decades to come;
• atavistic urges;
• and other cloak-and-dagger renderings of truth that don't manifest themselves for lifetimes!

JAY GIBBONS, ARE YOU READING THIS? Fear not the moment, rather the DECADES.

"cooperstown ... we have a problem!"

coming soon to the vegas strip ... baseball's two-member HALL OF NOTORIETY.

wayward O can see the invite now...*

game's ALL-TIME GREATEST HITTER
JOINS
game's ALL-TIME GREATEST SLUGGER
for
COCKTAILS, COMMENTARY & INDIGNATION

and there they shall sit and tell the people ... one by one ... on RETAIL BASIS ... about how AMERICAN PASTIME left them BY WAYSIDE for sins men commit on REGULAR BASIS.


and together, mark wayward O's words, FEATS SLOWLY WILL BEGIN TO OUTWEIGH TRANSGRESSIONS until baseball itself, and its SWORDED & SHIELDED PROTECTORS shall slowly begin to look like fools.


Buncha stuffed shirts
running things now, eh Ty?* to be issued soon after mr. bonds clears up his, um, current legal troubles

red sOx win

you saw that coming, dint ya? if not, then (in parlance of david letterman) you might be one of them "dumb guys" people talk about! wow was that a shtoonking. wayward O isn't sure if rockies even knew what they were up against. clint hurdle managed poorly but it probably wouldn't have mattered even if he'd run his team with a sense of urgency.

rockies are so fraudulent, not even mascot is real deal. to wit:

REAL DINGER


FAKE DINGER


dinger the dino, probably drunk, pops a hammy on coors field dugout while dinger the rivercat busts out the classic jamzzz! the colorado rockies are definitely buggin'.

changing subject slightly -- it was very silly to see Alex Rodriguez' mug on the TV show as Red Sox were on cusp of winning WORLD SERIES. yes. wayward O imagines scott boras engineered all of it with crisp timing. leave voice mail on cashman's phone. call ken rosenthal next. give ken big scoop for broadcast. get more publicity for very famous baseball player!!

does everyone remember how kenny boy used to work at Baltimore Sun? and how he had BIG DREAMZ of scoops during world series? he must feel like a MAN IN FULL this quiet tuesday. but wayward O still thinks it was silly. wayward O wonders if ROCK will follow in K.R.'s footsteps.

and then during postgame scrum -- was it fox's own chris myers? -- somebody asked red sox owner john henry -- he of the leather glove held in the air like a fascistic fisticuff -- so what about a-rod? but john henry is a nice man, or so is the image he cultivates, and he said, 'we're enjoying a championship right now.' or something to that effect. oh sure!

meanwhile, a-rod continues to gulp all available oxygen ... for example check out mlb trade rumors. i mean how many a-rod stories can you write?? he's the britney sprears of MLB. nobody even reads about RENTERIA TRADE ... see below.

and wayward O thinks big offseason baseball story is CROP of CENTER FIELDERS ripe for signing shiny spanking new free agent contracts...

andruw jones, corey patterson (yes, indeed sir!), aaron rowand and torii hunter all are likely to be on merry-go-round! where she stops, nobody knOws ...

jones, once thought to be among the top four or five players in MLB, put together a hideous 2007 on offense (please don't mention steroids). patterson has never been known as a legit power threat (he once was known as potential power threat) but he is absolute vaccuum cleaner in center and he gets on and steals bases. rowand had career year in phillydelfia and one would think he'd stay but who knows? and hunter merely drove in 107 runs this year and may be premier center fielder in baseball.

if a-rod is worth $30 million per year -- which he's probably not but nevertheless if -- then what's torii worth? wayward O isn't sure what andruw jones is worth, either, but apparently braves are fully embracing youth movement; they've already traded edgar renteria to detroit for two prospects, including a guy who might be the next andruw jones in the ATL.

will leave you with following THOUGHT: wayward O has mentioned this too many times but he remains stunned by the accuracy of his new "certainty points" playoff ranking system.

it's almost octOber

shadows have low tilt. breeze has chill. hamptonites are back in town, crowding nyc taverns. on 4 train, a mets fan looked emotionally exhausted last night. he and wayward O we got off at same stop. wayward O and despondent Mets fan had following exchange:

t.w.O.: "did it go final?"
d.M.f.: "yeah."
t.w.O.: "man."
d.M.f.: "let's not talk about it."
t.w.O.: "ok."

and he disappeared into the friday night going out crowd. he wasn't going out. wayward O was going out. wayward O has no dog in this fight anymore, except Go Cubs and Go Whoever is Playing Yankees and Red Sox. maybe a little Go Mets, too.

and now, a mere 21 hours later, the phillies are desperate for a run and the so are the padres and the brewers all looking to take down somebody with 'em. somewhere d.M.f. is probably doing some voodoo dance as Nats try to hold off phillies in bottom of 9th.

Ruiz pops out of Belliard and Nats are handing out so much pain!

meanwhile, thanks to some hideous defense from bobby abreu, orioles can at least say they made a difference going down stretch. thanks to a couple of bad routes by bobby abreu and some cool-headed defense and clutch hitting from the young savior, and perhaps the most fittingly ironic melvin mora bunt of the year, Os solidified yankees' position as division runners up.

of course, in true oriole fashion, Os handed yankees opponent of their dreams. but at least this year October seems to have started a couple days early.

jay gibbOns' big chance

what do gibbons, rafael palmeiro, troy glaus, rick ankiel, jason giambi, sammy sosa, mark mcgwire, guillermo mota, barry bonds, gary sheffield, jason grimsley, countless minor leaguers, and so many others in the majors have in common? a couple things...

1) we're pretty certain they used steroids or hGH, maybe after it was illegal
2) they've been linked in some concrete way to said substances
3) so far, none has given a full, public accounting

there is a smaller group of players -- most famous among them david ortiz, miguel tejada and alex rodriguez -- who have been whispered about but who have never been linked to steroids and they are not part of this group.

so what does wayward O want from gibbons now that he clearly will never play in the majors again? wayward O wants gibbons to differentiate himself from this sorry lot by standing up in public like a man and giving a full accounting of his cheating ways.

don't do it for yourself jay ... do it for the thousands of screaming ten-year-olds who went to camden to root for you to hit home runs. when they're older they'll appreciate your candor.

wayward O is very sympathetic to players who used steroids and other now-banned substances before they were banned and sees no need to punish any such behavior. however, gibbons, it appears, continued to use and mask after baseball's wake-up-late policy was enacted.

on another note ... was it:

-- the new york times
--- espn
-- the daily news
--- the networks
-- and everybody else

who said george mitchell's little "probe" was impotent? yes. all of them...

the former senator from maine is the man behind the curtain, friends. he's getting it out there in ways no mere baseball player considered possible.

he got the irish to sit down and talk. did the meathead baseball players think they were going to outsmart or outlast him?

interlOpers

much has been made lately -- and for years -- about boston and new york fans invading camden yards for their team's away games. but where there's been plenty of grousing, whining and finger-pointing, analysis has been lacking!

let's go through such facts as we can ascertain, not by any type of study but by years of watching and figure out what they REALLY MEAN.

FACT ONE: announcers on YES Network, NESN, MASN, and even FOX tend to OVERSTATE number of enemy fans relative to Os fans, saying things like "it seems like there are more boston fans here than Orioles fans." but they invariably use words like: "it seems," or "it feels like," or "judging by the noise."

ANALYSIS of FACT ONE: while enemy fans do show up in force, they do not ever outnumber the Os fans unless Os fans have left due to blowout conditions. they are, of course, very vocal -- because some of them have made large emotional and financial investment in trip to camden but more importantly because they are from BOSTON and NEW YORK, cities famous for loudmouths.

FACT TWO: announcers and analysts tend to OVERSTATE number of fans who have TRAVELED from boston or new york as opposed to fans who ACTUALLY LIVE IN DC/Balt. area. they will say things like, "boy there sure are a lot of fans who traveled here from boston today."

ANALYSIS of FACT TWO: while its true that many fans do make the expensive trek, especially from boston (where tickets are prohibitively scarce and expensive) wayward O says more of them simply LIVE IN AREA because they work for the fed. conversely, what resident of LAND OF PLEASANT LIVING in his RIGHT MIND would RELOCATE to NEW YORK or BOSTON for ANY REASON? ahem, besides wayward O of course... but wayward O can be seen at many Janqui games sporting the orange and black. wayward O is simply a statistical outlier. however, if federal gov't were located in NEW YORK there would by dint of history by MANY FANS OF OTHER TEAMS IN NEW YORK. it stands to reason...

FACT THREE: baseball organizations seem to succeed and fail in LONG CYCLES. there are some weird exceptions, such as the florida marlins. but overall this trend is a powerful one. while yankees were in LOW EBB during early / mid 80s, orioles were thriving. now with Boston and Yankees both enjoying HIGH TIMES, with the AL East being a zero sum for success, other teams will BY DEFINITION not enjoy post-season success.

ANALYSIS of FACT THREE: if Orioles get good and win AL East for a few years, fan base will be energized, seats at camden will be harder to get and, conversely, seats in boston and bronx will be easier to get. more Os fans would be seen in other places. it's simple thermOdynamics and it has NOTHING TO DO WITH FANS HEART OR LACK THEREOF. many people have accused Orioles fans of lacking heart, a baseless claim if ever there was one.

FACT FOUR: espn, sadly the current 800-pound gorilla of the sports world, is BLATANTLY RACIST against Orioles. this is because ESPN staffers are preponderantly RED SOX and YANKEE fans. as we know, ESPN is based in Bristol, Ct., midway between YANKEE and RED SOCK sphere of influence. and while sports reporters tend pay lip service to objectivity, we know for a fact they are mostly JOCK SNIFFERS and love it when their own team wins.

wayward Oriole is not going to get into posting multiple examples of ESPN's anti-Oriole, anti-Blue Jay bias, because doing such research is too depressing, but he will give one recent example. in this ESPN story orioles ace erik bedard is...

Asked whether he would consider playing in New York, with one of the
toughest and biggest media corps [...]

"I don't know," he says.

think about it. of all questions ESPN could ask of our star pitcher and / or write about, they decide to hype possibility of him leaving baltimore for new york. this is just one of a thousand similar slights to baltimore at the hands of ESPN, the worldwide leader in bias.

ANALYSIS of FACT FOUR: many players and fans are not savvy enough to see this for what it is and after while they tend to believe the propaganda and simple assume that in new york and boston, water faucets flow with champagne and the streets are paved with chocolate. it is up to Orioles fans -- true orioles fans -- to RESIST THE PROPAGANDA. this is incidentally also reason why mike mussina will go down in oriole history as a GREAT TRAITOR to the cause.

CONCLUSION: wayward O submits to the diaspOra that, given what we now know about UNDERLYING CONDITIONS, we certainly should not be surprised about lots of enemy fans at camden. nor should we overstate their actual presence. nor should we fingerpoint at fellow Os fans. nor should we TURN DOWN ENEMY FANS' MONEY as it will help Orioles compete -- baseball gOds willing -- one fine day.

redemptiOn

wayward O was tired of watching Orioles lose to Mariners so he decided to watch Rick Ankiel and Cardinals play against Padres.

Ankiel's first two at-bats were pretty ugly looking strikeouts. But in bottom of 7th he came up with two men on and Wayward O had funny feeling something was about to happen so Wayward O fired up the silly old phone video deal.

Sure enuf...



Wayward O was so excited to see this dood hit home run. But he looks like another strikeout king in training, truth be told. And please please please don't ask him to throw a curveball.

Video quality is so hideous!! It reminds Wayward O of 0-21 season in 1988 -- same level of hideousness. But you get idea!

tOm glavine

ok everybody says mr. bravemet tom glavine will be last pitcher EVAH to reach 300 wins. wayward O was going over numbers and says it will happen again, verily, just not for about 10 years or maybe 15 until steroids are purged from system or at least re-marginalized to point where they don't hideously skew offensive output. anyway ... erik

BUH

DARD

is on pace for 287 wins in 2nd half alone.

nevermind tommy boy for moment wayward O will get back to him. there are MORE IMPORTANT questions about mets! for example:

question one: how come more teams don't have theme song like new york mets? and it IS great song. met fan at softball last night was going around singing it to torture yankee caps.

hot dogs, green gress all out at Shea
guaranteed to have a heckuva day!

couplet is particularly intriguing, as it is only team song in history to provide legal rights to fan, insuring heck of day and backing up with iron-clad money-back guarantee. in may wayward O went to stadium to watch mets vs. brewers and he was fully prepared to sue mets if he did not have heck of day but by all rights after game he could not in good conscience make legal claim that he did not have heck of day because in all honesty he did have heck of day. to recap:

heck of day = had

and that's just beginning of intrigue revolving around stanza of team song. here's more important follow-up question to question one:

question 1a: what will they do about shea lyrics when metsies move to CITIFIELD?

hotdogs, green grass all out at citi!
MON-ee back if day turns out to be shitty

or perhaps, in effort to "synergize" corporate ballpark tie-in...

hotdogs, green grass at citifield
your day will be like bond with high yield!

anyway Wayward O should like to hear from readers who perhaps have idea for new couplet involving mets new ball park. maybe they'll just go back to VAGUELY SEXIST ORIGINAL 1962 VERSION. which states:

Bring your kiddies, bring your wife,
Guaranteed to have the time of your life.

because everybody knows now that Queens is melting pots of many different values, cultures and creeds and not every mets fan has wife and kiddies.

oh. wait that is phillies fan. phigures. well he is more than welcome in METS NON-NUCLEAR FAMILY.

anyway, on to question 2: what would mets vs. red sox world series be like?

mets have best record in NL and pedro martinez probably coming back and red sox have picked up eric gagne and seem to be class of AL. so let's assume each team makes it to fall classic. that would be an AMAZING matchup and wayward O would hate to be in FIRST BASEMAN KEVIN YOUKILIS's shoes around Game 6. there would be SO MUCH HISTORY and SO MUCH WEIRD VIBES for him!

however since AL won all-star game, game six under such a scenario would take place in BOSTON instead of at SHEA. that would probably be MITIGATING FACTOR.

but red sox did not trade No. 46 Devern Hansack away to Texas ... instead dealing Kasey Gabbard ... this is significant because Reliever Bob Stanley, who was on mound covering first when the buckner play happened...

ALSO WORE NUMBER 46

so wayward O believes red sox nation can win world series in six games if they play mets in fall classic ONLY IF HANSACK IS NOT BROUGHT ON IN RELIEF.

in fact, wayward O issues fatwa to RED SOX NATION: must get hansack OFF ROSTER immediately otherwise post-season hopes preternaturally doomed!

wayward O has so many more questions today but he heard there is half-price special on stinkfruit on Canal Street and he must head into "CITI" with rumpled $10 spot to see if barter can be made.

congratulations mr. glavine and may OCTOBER be KIND TO YOU SIR!

revisionist histOry

man. all-star break is longest three days ever isn't it? wayward O thought about posting a 'state of Os' report but so many others have done that! no need to repeat about how jay gibbons cannot hit baseball!

so instead wayward O has very special treat. please enjoy timely email interview with lifelong baseball fan who was "dere" when Dodgers left Brooklyn and who begs to differ with those currently floating revisionist idea that Robert Moses was actually greatest villain.

without further ado:

the wayward O: There is a lot of sportsyack in Big Apple this week about HBO show about Brooklyn Dodgers. From what I understand about show, Robert Moses is new goat and Walter O'Malley and former Mayor Wagner are being touted as victims of a planner with too much power who had a vision for baseball in Flushing, Queens. Wachoo say?

sponsort: The record is clear - as early as 1953 O'Malley was conspiring to move da Bums. He nearly had a deal with Minneapolis but reneged (which is why they later got the Senators). He bought the land for Dodger Stadium secretly. He is, indisputably, the villain of the story who broke the hearts of several generations. And you could look it up.

t.w.O.: So you're saying even as O'Malley pleaded with NYC for new stadium, he was laying groundwork to build own stadium in California, right? And it follows that he could easily have:

1) torn down Ebbetts
2) played for a year or two somewhere nearby while new stadium went up
3) moved back in to new park on old site

Since he had money to build in L.A.

sponsort: The record that has come out since the move shows clearly that O'Malley was stringing Brooklyn along for years. Oh sure - if NYC had come up with a mammoth sweetheart deal, he could have dumped the Chavez Ravine site in L.A. (just like he did the site in Minneapolis). Peter Goldenbock's book "Bums" documented all this more than a decade ago (along with the infamous agreement by L.A. officials to keep quiet about all of it so as not to rule up the fans in Brooklyn).

I think the height of O'Malley's perfidy was convincing the owner of the NY [Baseball] Giants (Horace Stoneham) to announce that he was moving the Giants to S.F. before the Dodgers announced and BEFORE STONEHAM EVEN KNEW WHERE THE GIANTS WOULD PLAY. Of course S.F. ended up with a terrible deal, and a lousy stadium (Candlestick) and has never won a WS. As far as logistics goes, O'Malley already had the Dodgers playing some regular season games in Jersey City as early as '55 or '56 (not sure of exact date).

And since the Dodgers were only drawing 20,000 or less at Ebbett's Field, he wasn't losing any money by doing so. I don't recall that tearing down the old park and re-building was ever a viable option. Ebbett's Field stood on a tiny space with no parking at all.

I believe that everyone agreed a new site was needed. As far as money goes, recall that O'Malley got an amazing deal in L.A. As I recall, he basically got the land for free and had to pay only for the stadium construction. And while we are on the O'Malley topic (in this Jackie Robinson anniversary year) remember that he is the man who traded Jackie to the Giants in '57. Luckily for all that is decent Jackie retired instead.

t.w.O.: So, how do you think Rob't Moses fits into puzzle? Was it a situation where each man used other man and each gave own version of events? Moses clearly did not want O'Malley to built new park at Flatbush & Atlantic ... others are still fighting over that site to this day.

sponsort: I do not know any details of the role of Moses. I know from my reading that he was in the mix, and that he was a supreme egoist. For that reason I suspect that he would have loved to keep one or both of the National League teams somewhere in NYC. What I really DO know is that O'Malley smelled $$ on the West Coast (the arrival of cross country flights in the late 1950s made travel feasible). He wanted to be the first, but in order to succeed he had to become a traitor to Brooklyn. And he was - with malice aforethought, and he took Willie Mays and the Gi'nts along for the ride.

t.w.O.: I think it may be a case where both men are villains. I tend to think Moses thought a new Dodger stadium in Brooklyn would compromise his vision for the huge complex in Flushing, Queens, which now includes Shea and the Tennis Center.

sponsort: Sorry, but I can not defend the idea that both were villains - Moses was trying to keep the Dodgers in NY. Instead of moving the Dodgers a few miles east O'Malley moved them 3,000 miles west .

What's wrong with this picture? I think I just figured out what's going on here. L.A. apologists have been lobbying to put O'Malley into the Hall of Fame (Executive Wing).

They believe that his "leadership" in bringing baseball to the West Coast makes him deserving (even though baseball on the West Coast was going to happen in any event). [It's] probably part of a campaign to rehabilitate O'Malley and get him elected to the H.o.F. Well it WON'T WORK and will be OVER OUR DEAD BODIES!