Author Archives: Richard

Stamp of Approval

I remember back when we used to honor various worthies by putting them on postage stamps. Sadly, it seems that these days it’s just plants, animals, and inanimate objects that get the honor. I can’t complain about some of the wonderful designs and images we’ve seen lately, but a postage stamp is a quick and easy way to honor someone, and perhaps bring attention to someone we should know more or care more about. A heck of a lot easier to do than putting them on money…..

So here’s a half dozen notables that I think should be honored – and I might even get around to actually nominating them someday.

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Book Review: The Clockwork Dynasty

The Clockwork Dynasty
by Daniel H. Wilson
Doubleday Books
Ccopyright 2017 by the author

June Stefanov is an expert in the repair and restoration of antique “clockwork” devices and automata. She got into the trade thanks to some unintentional inspiration from her Russian grandfather, who survived the Battle of Stalingrad and bequeathed to her both a tale of a mysterious soldier of superhuman ability and an unusual bit of metal he recovered from that hellscape.

Now, she’s been summoned to an old church in Oregon, where they have one of these devices in storage – and is badly in need of repair. Unfortunately for her, there are people who would rather she didn’t fix it – and she finds herself caught up in a centuries-long battle among a hidden cabal of quasi-immortal machines.

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MOVIE REVIEW: Grabbers (2012, Ireland and UK)

It’s so common a trope that there’s got to be a name for it. A monster appears / arrives in a small isolated community. A few strange things happen, and then some people disappear. A few people in the community investigate, and discover the monster. For some reason, authorities outside the community cannot come to the rescue. So it’s up to our heroes to figure out how to defeat it and rally the community for the fight.

Movies from The Blob to Tremors have used it, and even movies outside the “monster movie” genre (like Jaws and Halloween) use at least some of the parts.

Given how common it is, any movie that uses it should be judged not on how well it uses the trope, but on the strength of any other ideas or sub-plots that are used. Continue reading →

The Deadball Project – Post-Series Wrap-Up

Naturally, I have some thoughts. Let’s get the negatives out of the way first.

The hardest thing to keep track of is probably the correct Pitcher’s Die to use. There’s the “handedness” factor and fatigue – it can be really confusing figuring out whether you’re supposed to use a d12 or a d8! Like me, many players will probably opt to drop the “handedness” factor altogether. Adding in the effects of player “traits” might get confusing, too. Fortunately, those don’t come into play that often.

Another thing that calls for adjustment is that all the plays to infielders are ground balls. No popups or lineouts. I may have missed something in the rules, but a player should naturally feel free to turn (for example) a 6-3 groundout into a popout to short if nothing else is affected by the play. Other tinkering should be possible to allow for players to play out of position – a shortstop at second, or a starting pitcher coming on in relief. That might already be in the rules (or in the expansions); I just didn’t read them closely enough.

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The Deadball Project – Game 6

Mets 6, Polish All Stars 4

Jerry Koosman had it; Phil Niekro didn’t, and the Mets took the series four games to two.

Koosman scattered four hits over seven shutout innings, while Niekro didn’t make it out of the second. “My knuckler wasn’t knuckling,” he said. “With one exception,” said Stan Musial after the game, “the hits were all weak singles. Bloops or grounders just out of the reach of our infielders.”

A parade of relievers held the Mets to just two runs afterwards, with the help of two double plays.

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The Deadball Project – Game 5

Polish All Stars 8, Mets 2

With the starting pitching being a rematch of the opener, both teams were hoping that this game would not be a repeat of that one, where both starters were knocked out of the box early. Both Seaver and Harry Coveleski lasted well into the game (six and seven innings, respectively), but the results were notably different.

The Poles figured Seaver out early, scoring four runs off him in the first three innings. The Mets got two of them back thanks to a home run by David Wright in the bottom of the fourth, but they’d manage only five baserunners after that.

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Adrián Beltré, Joe Mauer, and Todd Helton

Now that the confetti has settled, the people at the Hall of Fame can start designing the plaques to go in the actual “Hall”. Mauer and Helton will be easy; they’ll get Twins and Rockies caps, respectively. Beltré spent his best years with the Texas Rangers, so he’ll probably get their cap.

I don’t feel as excited about the announcements as I’ve been in the past. It’s not that the players aren’t deserving, it’s more that there’s been so much written about the candidates and voting and percentages and the like that it’s almost a relief when the announcement is made.

I do enjoy reading what the experts / professional baseball writers have to say; they are of course the most knowledgeable on the topic (especially when they are the ones with the actual votes). What does get tiring is all the over-detailed analysis of the vote tracking and other statistical minutiae. Tell us stories! It’s been years since we’ve seen them in action! Remind us how great they are, in a way that mere numbers can’t do!

Pond in a Jar – 4

The plants are “yellower” than they were two months ago, and there’s not much in the way of animal (insect and snail) activity. I hope it’s just because of Winter, and not that everything is dying. You’ll note that that sprouty plant – the one with the leaves – has taken over, and the hornwort has died away. The last diving beetle has died; its corpse is stuck in the fuzzy green algae (and not visible in the photo). Also note that a few snails have “suicided” by climbing up the sides and out of the water. Some bits of algae have also crept up the sides. It’s also hard to see, but there are a few bubbles trapped in the mess of algae at the top. They’ve been there since the beginning.… Continue reading →

The Deadball Project – Game 4

Mets 4, Polish All Stars 3:

Another nail-biter; another Mets win. “Ya gotta believe!” laughed Jose Reyes, who scored a go-ahead run for the Mets in the eighth, and drove in the winning run with two out in the ninth. Moe Drabowsky was responsible for both; giving him the loss. Jesse Orosco got the win, thanks to his getting Alan Trammel to ground into a double play in the top of the ninth.

The Mets got an early lead off Joe Niekro, with solo home runs from David Wright in the first and Keith Hernandez in the second, but he shut them down for the next five innings. Thanks to another home run from Ted Kluszewski, the Poles tied the score in the fourth. Continue reading →

The Deadball Project – Game 3

Polish All Stars 2, Mets 0

The Poles needed a win in order to avoid having to face Jacob deGrom down three games to none in the series. Stan Coveleski was up to the task. He notched eleven strikeouts while scattering six singles and two walks over eight innings, Mets batters complained that he was “putting a little something extra” on the ball, but as one of the known spitballers who were granted an exemption after the practice was forbidden in 1921, there was little they could do about it. Continue reading →