Cincinnati

Those of you who know and love me will remember that, after Connecticut, no team in all of College Basketball is dearer to me than Cincinnati. Ruben Patterson, Danny Fortson, Kenyon Martin, Nick Van Exel, so many wonderful friends have come to us via Cinci... Said day, especially as Bob Huggins is being mercilessly kicked to the curb... Corruption??? Pah!!!

Worst Off-Season Pick-Up

As disappointing as Randy Johnson has been for the Yankees, the Big Unit is still a respectable 11-8 with an ERA of around 4.34. His strike-outs numbers have been good also; the key difference has been the number of home runs RJ has given up, 29 so far this season. With his ailing back, and considering his predominant reliance on the fastball, it is not surprising that this has happened.

Johnson is far from the most-washed-up-free-agent-signing of last year. That honor has to belong to the suddenly anemic Steve Finley. Signed to replace the mercurial if ultra talented Jose Guillen, Finley has so far batted a career-low .214. He has also hit only 9 home runs after 36 last season.

I've always been a Finley fan, since the San Diego days, which is why this sudden decline has cast a particular shade of dolor over my summer of baseball fandom. Then again, this is also the season after the Red Sox actually won, so I suppose it's only natural that my enjoyment of baseball would be diminished slightly.

Lance and Bush

Tour de Crawford???

Very fucking funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New Blog

Yes, it was time I expanded my empire. And what better way to do it than to expand in a completely redundant, obviously derivative way!!!???

Delino DeShields and Marquis Grissom both have blogs "not" about them, but someone was missing from this potential triumvirate of mediocrity (though Marquis is actually still pretty nasty). That person is, obviously, Jose Offerman.

My love for Jose reached its zenith during his years as an All-Star? second baseman with the Boston Red Sox. His career statistics (via www.baseball-reference.com) reveal the depths of his worthiness:

Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
1990 21 LAD NL 29 58 7 9 0 0 1 7 1 0 4 14 .155 .210 .207 12 1 0 1 0 0
1991 22 LAD NL 52 113 10 22 2 0 0 3 3 2 25 32 .195 .345 .212 24 1 0 2 1 5
1992 23 LAD NL 149 534 67 139 20 8 1 30 23 16 57 98 .260 .331 .333 178 5 2 4 0 5
1993 24 LAD NL 158 590 77 159 21 6 1 62 30 13 71 75 .269 .346 .331 195 25 8 7 2 12
1994 25 LAD NL 72 243 27 51 8 4 1 25 2 1 38 38 .210 .314 .288 70 6 2 4 0 6
1995 26 LAD NL 119 429 69 123 14 6 4 33 2 7 69 67 .287 .389 .375 161 10 0 0 3 5
1996 27 KCR AL 151 561 85 170 33 8 5 47 24 10 74 98 .303 .384 .417 234 7 2 3 1 9
1997 28 KCR AL 106 424 59 126 23 6 2 39 9 10 41 64 .297 .359 .394 167 6 0 3 0 5
1998 29 KCR AL 158 607 102 191 28 13 7 66 45 12 89 96 .315 .403 .438 266 2 6 1 5 7
1999 30 BOS AL 149 586 107 172 37 11 8 69 18 12 96 79 .294 .391 .435 255 2 7 5 2 11
2000 31 BOS AL 116 451 73 115 14 3 9 41 0 8 70 70 .255 .354 .359 162 2 3 0 1 9
2001 32 BOS AL 128 524 76 140 23 3 9 49 5 2 61 97 .267 .342 .374 196 3 5 2 1 9
2002 33 BOS AL 72 237 39 55 10 0 4 27 8 5 33 29 .232 .325 .325 77 1 3 0 1 9
SEA AL 29 47 9 11 2 1 1 4 1 1 4 9 .234 .294 .383 18 0 0 0 0 3
TOT AL 101 284 48 66 12 1 5 31 9 6 37 38 .232 .320 .335 95 1 3 0 1 12
2004 35 MIN AL 77 172 22 44 14 2 2 22 1 1 29 31 .256 .363 .395 68 1 0 2 0 1
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
14 Seasons 5576 1527 71 524 100 897 .274 .361 .374 72 38 34 17 96
1565 829 249 55 172 761 2083
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
162 Game Avg 577 86 158 26 7 6 54 18 10 79 93 .274 .361 .374 216 7 4 4 2 10
Career High 158 607 107 191 37 13 9 69 45 16 96 98 .315 .403 .438 266 25 8 7 5 12
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP