going out on top

i wasn't expecting it, but wasnt fully surprised when news broke today that greg maddux is going to announce his retirement on monday at the winter meetings.

i'll be honest. i was never a big fan of the mad dog. in hindsight, im going attribute that stupidity to superficiality (cos he always looks awful in his roster pic) and general lack of understanding of the nuances of the game.

it was years before i realized that maddux was a true artist, that he didn't always get the strike out when a ground ball was more valuable. hitters got the hit when he let them. he rarely lost his cool (unless it was with a cooler in the marlins dugout in 2004 when the cubs were playing absolutely horrifically). and he was never a prima donna, despite the fact he's played with some grade-A douchebags. apparently if asinine behavoir was catching, maddux was immune. (are you listening chipper jones?)

this is a great espn article on all the reasons why maddux is irreplacable to the game. and no doubt will be a 1st ballot hall of famer in 5 short years. i wonder if the cubs will retire number 31 before that happens. they should. they knew before 2006 they were going to retire the number, otherwise they would have let lilly wear 31.

thanks mad dog. for everything.

i don't get it

no way no day will i cheer for edgar renteria. he's a thug. and im still pissed at him for attemping to break mike fontenot's nose in 2007. although, to be fair, some blame does go to sori-overpaid's hot dogging.

renteria isn't fit to clean omar's cleats. he plays dirty. with all the shortstops on the free agent market, why sign him? there are so many better, sometimes cheaper options -- david eckstein, rafael furcal, or even ozzie nemesis orlando cabrerra. and wasnt khalil greene available to be traded from the padres?

i don't get it.

no more bobby d

bobby howry is officially gone from the the cubbies, he signed a 1 year deal with the SF giants today. he returns to the team that gave him up in the storied white flag trade of 1997.

bobby d didnt always get it done for the cubs, but i am still sad to see him go. he stepped up and filled the closer's shoes when wood was out with his pesky blister before and after the all star break. too bad the rest of the season was downhill from there.

im glad that the baseball buddy and i will get to see him on a regular basis at at&t park next season. he's not that great of a pitcher anymore, and probably on the down side of his career, but having a former cub nearby is somewhat comforting. and im sure the giants fans won't be nearly as brutal on him as cubs fans were. and he's got to be better than now-departed tyler walker, right? just keep him away from barbeques.

but i don't even like the phillies that much

so yes, i am rooting for the phillies in the WS. i want to see former cubs draft pick jamie moyer get a WS ring before he retires. but i dont like them that much. im just glad there is some baseball available during this time in my life where it is still Too Painful To Watch Archived Cubs Games.

but honestly, do i like the phillies enough to sit in a bar FULL OF OHIO STATE ALUMNI during the 2 hour rain delay of game 3 of the ws? one would think not. but hey you and i did it. we showed up at pete's tavern in soma promptly at 5 pm PST yesterday, not realizing weather on the east was going to delay the game for so long.

just like for game 3 of the NLDS, the place was crawling with ohio state alumns. wtf? i thought it was a giants bar. but apparently not.

ive always hated the ohio state univeristy, and it was pretty gratifying to see Penn State pull out a last minute win. it made the torture of sitting through the game with a bunch of drunk idiots almost bearable.

even hey you realized the hostile territory we were in. there was one woman (sober, no less) who was obviously an alum, who cheered and booed every play, loudly. and in this phony way, that seemed like she was just trying to get attention. she was also trying to start conversations with strangers who wanted nothing to do with her.

hey you summarized the experience with a single sentence "i never knew how annoying i was until today (when i had to sit in a bar full of ohio state alums)"

so true.

Q: how do you get an ohio state grad off your porch?
A: pay them for the pizza

phillies 5, rays 4

an in-depth look at game 1 of the world series

COLE HAMELS IS A BEAST.



phillies 3, rays 2