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 →

Never Forget

Never forget the sore loser who still cannot abide the FACT that he LOST a legal, legitimate, and entirely above-board election.

Never forget who summoned the crowd that day.

Never forget who egged them on and encouraged them, turning the crowd into a mob.

Never forget who sat around and did nothing for hours while the mob stormed and rampaged through the Capitol, causing injury and death.

Never forget who still hasn’t faced any consequences for his actions that day, not even so much as being disowned by his political party.

Never forget.

2023 in Review

Well, another year is in the archives.

Usually, I’d use this post – the first one of the year – to go over the stats from the previous year. Which posts got the most views, where my visitors came from, all of that.

But 2023 was my tenth year at this – with about 50 posts each year.

That’s a LOT of posts.

So I thought that instead, I might go back and pick my favorite posts from each year. The ones I had the most fun doing, the ones I’m most proud of, whatever.

Continue reading →

Requiescat in Pace

There are so very many newspapers, magazines, and websites that are publishing lists of “celebrities” that have died this year….. Somehow, they always seem to miss a few people of note. People – and even things, on occasion – that have left their mark or have some claim to fame that makes them worthy of remembrance.

Here’s a final salute to some of those who might not appear in the usual places: Continue reading →

The Deadball Project: Game 2

Mets 5, Polish All Stars 4

“It was just like the way we worked on it in Spring Training” – Tug McGraw

It was quite the finish. The Mets had a one-run lead going in to the bottom of the ninth, and the Polish All Stars had the top of the order coming up. A leadoff double from Alan Trammel was followed by two quick outs, and it looked like the Mets could get out of it. But Stan Musial dropped a single into shallow left field, putting runners on the corners, and bringing Ted Kluszewski to the plate. “Big Klu” was 3 for 4 so far, with a home run and two singles. On deck was Troy Tulowitzki, who was hitless in four at bats – and had grounded into two inning-ending double plays. Continue reading →

MOVIE REVIEW: Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)

Seems every week there’s another article out about people being Concerned over the possible dangers posed by artificial intelligence (AI for short). A lot of the tech people involved in developing it are asking for some government guidelines and regulation, Somehow, they can’t seem to slow down on their own. Can’t afford to let someone else get it first, you see.

The big worry is that somehow, any AI might determine that its goals are not in line with those of humans, and it will take over the world. The one movie that’s constantly referenced is The Terminator (1984), in which the military gave control of its weapons systems to something called “Skynet”, which became self-aware and turned against humanity. Some commenters might mention War Games (1983), where a supercomputer was given control of the US’ nuclear missiles and then, thanks to some glitches, thought that a simulation was a real attack…..

So far, though, I haven’t seen anyone mention what is probably the first of these “give a supercomputer control of the nukes” movies – the adaptation of D.F. Jones 1966 novel, Colossus: The Forbin Project. Continue reading →

Generic Christmas Post 2023

Because I’m too lazy this year to do anything significant.

Look, you can always click on “Christmas” in the tag cloud over to the right – the stuff there is still good. Not much more I can say after ten years of this anyway.

Mr. Weebl is at it again with another Advent Colander Calendar Camembert:

This is my Christmas Tree:

I’ve had this thing for I don’t know how many years. I keep it in the closet with a bag over it for protection. Sometimes I tinker with the ornaments, which are mostly little charms and tokens I’ve collected over the years.

And why is it so hard to find boxes (or at least multi-packs) of humorous Christmas cards?

That is all. Go deck the halls or something.