We'll Jete Again Soon

Baseball Spring Training is just around the corner! Hells yeah! I know its considered a "grandpa" sport by some, too long and drawn out, but it's one of the few sports I enjoy and understand what the hell is going on.

The countdown to the 2013 Baseball Season is on!

Suspended!

Et tu Manny? Say it ain't so Joe! LA Dodger Manny Ramirez has been suspended by MLB for 50 games for testing positive for a banned substance. Dammit boys. First A-Rod, now you...

The Whispers At First...

...but Jeter hasn't been caught stealin' yet!
Of course, I don't play baseball...
I'd catch 'im.

So Who's Your Favorite Dominican?

Cross post on all three blogs Chocolate & Salsa, MALE, and Weilding The Axe, peeps! So tell me, is it:

St. Louis Cardinal
Albert "The Machine" Pujols (José Alberto Pujols Alcántara)

L.A. Dodger
Manny "Man-Ram" Ramirez (Manuel "Manny" Aristides Ramírez Onelcida)

New York Yankee
Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez (Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez)

Tough decision. Curious to see who y'all pick. I bet A-Rod, Mr. "I'm so overrated but still damn cute." But Manny and Albert got plenty fans out there, so maybe I'll be surprised?

He's Outta Here...My Thoughts.

It's a somber day here in Philly. Wow. I feel like somebody sucker punched me. Death is never expected, anticipated maybe, but never expected. It's hard watching television because word of Harry Kalas' death is all over the news. There's retrospectives on Harry Kalas and his tenure with the Phillies. John Kruk almost broke down on ESPN. So sad.

Seems like slowly but surely the old time members of the Phillies family are moving on to Glory. Richie Ashburn, Tug McGraw, John Vukovich, now Harry... I konw it's a part of growing older, but the sadness is tough. Feels like I lost a member of my own family. Ask any Phillies fan. Harry was a Philadelphia institution, like the cheese steak, the Liberty Bell, or Independence Hall. Now, he's gone. Gone to join his brother-in-arms in broadcasting, Richie Asburn.

Currently, the Phillies are leading the Washington Nationals in the 9th Inning 9 to 8. I hope in Harry's memory the Phils beat Washington today. Nothing against the Nationals, but Harry deserves as much...

High Hopes

Harry's signature song...

Harry Kalas...

March 26, 1936 - April 13, 2009

Long time Phillies anouncer Harry Kalas died today around 2 PM this afternoon. Details on the circumstances of his death aren't available yet...

Veritek

Happy 37th Birthday to Boston Red Sox Catcher Jason Veritek.

Play Ball!

Despite all the controversy, my beloved game, baseball, is back tonight. Forget stupid A-Rod and his foolishness. He's still on the DL (in this case boys, "dl" means disabled list!) so we don't have to think about him for several weeks.

Hallelujah! Unlike most other professional sports, baseball is one I can watch without getting distracted, if you catch my drift, purely for the sport, not the menz. Oh sure. there's a piece o' candy here 'n dere, but you know, here isn't there?

The World Series Champion Phillies face the Atlanta Braves down at Citizens Bank Park. Saw the game will be aired on ESPN so I don't have to worry about missing the first game. Certainly hope the Phillies fair better now that Spring Training is over. The boys really didn't fair well in March.

Tampa Bay. Oh And David Price Too!

You might remember this up and coming phenom pitcher from last year's World series when the Tampa Bay Rays (what happened to the "Devil" part?) fought tooth and nail against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Ah, last season's World Series was a nail biter. The playoffs started with several of my favorite teams competing for a spot, but in the end, my Phillies prevailed. Besides, I had to go with my hometown ball club.

Always been a fan of the D-Rays. St. Petersburg is home away from home. Got family on both sides of the Bay, in Tampa and St. Pete, and I'm hoping to get down there this summer at some point.

With loads of eating and things to do, you can't go wrong. From Fort De Soto to Pass-a-Grille to St. Pete's Beach, I'm in love with the area. St Pete's Beach is so friggin quaint. Certainly could see myself retiring there. With the beach, shopping, (my favorite are the Bealles outlets), year round nice weather, what's not to love? Only thing caution note is for those not accustomed to all the little lizards running around, cause they're there aplenty! All in all, Tampa Bay is a great community. And tons of hot guys with slammin' gay night life in Tampa (not-so slammin' St. Pete's, but you can find bars there).

Back to Dave. Unfortunately, the only time I saw a Rays' game was during Spring Training when they faced the Phillies. David Price probably was still in high school then, if not junior high, so I didn't see him. But what I saw of Pitcher Price during last year's Series was enough to impress me.

So here's a nod of recognition to David....

Albert Pujols

Lord knows, I'm no fan of the St. "Screw-us" Cardinals, I do enjoy watching Albert play.

Thank God baseball starts in two months. I'm soooo tired of winter. Baseball always means Spring is near, which leads to warmer weather! My hope is to catch as many games as I can, between Camden Yards and Citizen's Bank Park, as possible to watch the Boys of Summer this 2009 Baseball season. Probably will only be able to afford the nose bleed section, but hey! Cheap-o seats are still seats at a game, right?

You know that's right!

Moments...

The past few days have been annoying as hell. My computer is having all kinda problems and I'm ready to drop kick it out the window.

Sorry Darius. You caught me dead to rights. I wanted to throw a couple thoughts up last night, but my old Dell wasn't havin' it. Time for an upgrade, right? Well if I could afford one, I would've by now.

So after 28 years, the Phillies are one again the World Champions of Major League Baseball. I heard Philly was unhinged last night. Both Miss T and I cried tears of joy last night. Now if we can feel this way on Tuesday.

Speaking of Barack, what did people think on his commercial last night? I watched parts of it, but walked out the room a few times. I hope the commercial did some good. My thing is, if you don't know by now who you want to vote for, then when will you??? The Election is five days away, and by all means, I'm glad. Tired of waiting, but now I'm so overdosed on all the news media channels, it's ridiculous...

He Got This

Just one "Barry" picture this morning for your Obama Friday post. I'm running late and have so much to get done before the day is done. I've PT, a host of errands, household chores, and to complete the day, a banquet tonight.

Busy isn't the word. Sheesh. More like chaotic! I'm tired this morning. Went out last night with friends, then to Hester's for dinner and a movie. Finally caught Iron Man. Yeah, I know I'm a day late and a dollar short (seems to be the story of my life, LOL).

At least I now have perspective on the current situation involving Terrence ("Tur-entz") Howard being dismissed from the next project. Seeing Iron Man, I really can't see Don Cheadle taking over the role of Colonel Rhodes. Howard preformed admirably. And that's saying something for me because, Terrence, while he fine and all, he's not my favorite person.

We'll see. Further details on my thoughts on Iron Man when I have more time.

I won't talk about the World Series today (groan), but that's alright. Everybody's entitled to a screw up now and again, just don't do it again Philly!

So what's on tap for you good folks this weekend? In the words of my favorite diva, Neicy Nash, "Whatever you do, be good. And if you can't be good, be careful."

Happy Friday folks!

The Morning After

The Rays gave the Phillies a run for the money last night, but in the end, Philadelphia held on to their 3-2 lead and won Game 1 of the World Series.

Rays batters like BJ Upton and Carl Crawford are gonna be fierce competitors against Phillies' pitchers. Damn! Those brothers swing their bats with a mission. There's another Rays player, forget his name, but he's an Asian player and he was getting some base hits. So this ain't gonna be a cakewalk for the Phils. The Rays want this. The Phillies want this. It's a matter of who wants it more...

While watching the World Series, I was also flipping back and forth between CNN, and MSNBC. Larry King Live had on his panel, of all people, turncoat Lynn Swan. Now this has to be the whitest black man in America next to OJ Simpson! Gr! Swan needs to go sit in a corner somewhere and shut the hell up. He's still smarting his loss as Pennsylvania's Governor back in 2006. Though he's a Republican, these good folks of PA know Lynn Swan is fulla shit. N-word please! Please turn in your Black man carrying card status card now!

Thanks to Lady Miss T, Keith Olbermann and The Rachel Maddow Show have fast become two must-see programs over on MSNBC. Anderson 360 on CNN is starting to feel trite. To be honest, I'm overdosing on Election coverage. As I've read on more than a few blogs, "We're ready to vote! Enough News Media spinning already!"

The turnout for early voting has been phenomenal! I'm surprised how impassioned folks are this Election season. Wow! Truly surprised. More and more in my neighbor, the McCain signs are disappearing, and the Obama signs are out in full force. And believe me, theiving and vandalism has nothing to do with it. Folks, in the final days, are latching on to Obama's message. A'ight. I don't care when you get with the program, just as long as you do.

Now, I'm not sure if PA if having early elections (probably) or not, but I'm waiting to cast my vote on November 4th. My polling station is up the street and I plan to be there, promptly, at 7:00 AM. Might arrive at 6:00 AM just in case their might be a long line.

Russell And Manny

I love the camaraderie that exists between these two. Giving the boys in Blue some respect. Doesn't mean I want 'em to win over the Phils, but givin' some Dodger love in case...

Three Up, One To Go

Last night's match up between the Phillies and the Dodgers was a nail biter. I was yelling and cussing, throwing shit across the room the whole night. Had to turn the game off in certain spots.

The Dodgers fought hard. To their credit, the sea of Dodgers' Blue in the stadium musta had a powerful effect on the club. These boys aren't going down without a fight.

I stayed up to watch the final score, so I'm tired this morning, but grateful I stayed up. At one point when the Phils were down 5-3 in the Eight inning with several Dodgers on base, I was tempted to go to bed and wait until Game 5 for the Phillies to redeem themselves. Boy why did I ever doubt?!?! Philadelphia ain't nicknamed the Fightin' Phils for nothing.

Still, I have to admit this series is difficult viewing. If the Phillies weren't contenders, I'd root for the Dodgers. They're a good ball club and I know it's been a number of years since they've seen a World Series (can't recall when, off-hand). But the Phillies are my hometown team. Got root for the hometown boys; get enough flack for being a Pittsburgh Steelers over in football. (You better believe if the Eagles had a shot going to the Super Bowl this year, I'd support 'em. Despair not true Steelers fans, the way Philly's been playin' this season, the chance is slim to none!)

The next schedule Championship Series Game is scheduled for tomorrow. Doubt I'll watch the whole way through, instead tuned into to the final Presidential Debate. With each passing day, my confidence increases Barack may have this, but I digress, lest I bring bad luck on the brother. Fear not though, I'll jump back to the Game when McCain speaks. There's nothing "Barney Rubble" has to say I wanna hear, LOL...

NLCS Game One:

And the first victor is????


Game 1 to the Phils. Game 2 is this afternoon. Not sure if this a best out 5 or 7 series, but it's gonna be a nailbiter. I watched part of the game last night and the Phillies were down 2-0 in the fifth inning. I turned it off. Miss T called when Chase Utley belt 2 runs in then later when Pat Burrell got his solo shot to lift the score 3-2. Whew! This ain't gonna be no cake walk....

Keep your fingers crossed for Game Two Phillies fans.

Swing And A Miss...

As the Tampa Bay Rays take their American League Division Series with a defeat over the Chicago White Sox, let me express my condolences to Senator Obama and the rest of the ChiSox fans. It's gotta be tough now that both the Cubs and the Sox are out.

Boston and the Angels go next. As much as the Boston fan in me wants them to win, my heart goes out to Tampa Bay who has never seen at World Series. I've relatives on both sides of the Bay, in Tampa and St Pete, so I know folks must be ecstatic the Rays have made it this far.

Speaking of celebrations, with the Phillies' win over the Milwaukee Brewers yesterday, Philadelphia fans haveta be beaming with pride, naturellement, despite the Eagles loss to the Washington Redskins. That's the problem when you have two or more sports running concurrently. My theory is no two Philadelphia sport franchises can win the same day.

Putting negativity aside, the Phillies' next opponent will be the Dodgers for the National League Championship. Definitely not a free ticket to go to the World Series, especially now powerhouse Manny Ramirez is in Dodger Blue. The Rays will face whoever wins between the Red Sox and the Angels (Are they the LA, California, or Anaheim Angels now? Hahahaha!).

Baseball needs fresh blood injected into the game. My prediction is the Rays will make it to the big show. Nothing against Boston, but they've won twice this decade (I'm not complaining) and I think baseball needs diversity to keep interest up. We'll see I s'pose. Until then...

Congratulation to the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays!

Kid Cali in Tejas Kountry

Geez man. It's harder than Hell to keep up with some of your favorite ball players once they move out west. Hadn't heard anything on Wolfy in a while so I went to check out the San Diego MLB site and he wasn't. Was well aware Randy got sent from the Dodgers to the Padres at the beginning of the 2008 season. I'd assumed he'd still be throwing for the club. Wrong!

After some Google searching, I found my favorite Southpaw is pitching for the Houston Astros.

The Astros? Yup, the Astros. Now I've never been to Texas, but I can't imagine a California boy living in landlocked Texas. Not knocking Texas, I'm sure it's a fine state, but I know how different the Keystone State is for folks from the Californian Republic.

Houston, huh? Maybe after this season, Wolfy will be finished with his wanderlust and come on back to Philly. I'm sure they'd have him back.

Hope Wolfy's 32nd birthday was well spent!

Oh, And My Thoughts On Manny...

Though I'm a day late and a dollar short, you honestly didn't think I was gonna forget to mention words about Manny Ramirez being shipped to the LA Dodgers, did you?

Fortunately Manny got sent to one of my favorite baseball teams. Yes, LA is still one of my teams, even though it's oh-so-far-away. Not like Boston is exactly close for that matter either.It's about an eight to nine hour drive. I hope Manny is a happy player out there in Angel City. I keep reading about all his homers of late. Damn bruh!

Not sure where I found this video, but I find it amusing as Hell. It's of Manny and his then teammate Julian Tavarez from maybe a season or so ago. I love the commentators' response.

Watch and enjoy.