Tuesday, January 4, 2011

This, That And The Other Thing


This:

I cut my hair today.  It's been a long time coming.  It got quite long and unruly, well for me.  So, I got out the trusty clippers and started shaving away.  I normally don't have long hair ever, but got lazy and let it grow, just to see what it would look like.  I had long hair in college for a while and then I shaved it all off.  For about 10 years, my hair styles have alternated between a pompadour, a flattop and then, the messy flattop (grown in a little, short, spiky and sloppy).  The past couple of years, since I've had my clippers, I just cut my hair down to a short length and let it grow out and style it the way it wants.  My hair allows me to do whatever I want with it, provided it's not too long.  When it gets long, it gets wavy and a mind of it's own.  So, it had to be dealt with.  I cut it down to a 6 (3/4 of an inch) to see what it looked like.  Still a little long, so I cleaned it up with a 4 (1/2 inch).  Perfect.  Swept up, jumped in the shower to clean off the hair.  Felt some long hairs that I missed.  Dried off and started to clip them off.  Forgetting, that I had taken off the length guard.  So, it went from 1/2 inch to skin, in one easy swipe of the clippers.  So, I'm a chunky, Ian MacKaye.  I just need the X's on my hands.  Hair grows back, thankfully.  I told my wife.  She doesn't like my hair too short, so "Lucy, there's some splainin' to do!"  She's fine with it.  She has no choice really.


That:

Tomorrow is the announcement of what players will be inducted into the Baseball HOF.  I don't claim to be an expert in baseball or any sport, but I like to think I know more than the average fan.  There are so many politics in Hall of Fame voting.  It doesn't matter if it's a sports HOF or the RnRHOF, they are all the same.  No player has ever been inducted into the Baseball HOF with everyone voting for him.  You need 75% to get in, but nobody has ever gotten 100%.  Even no-brainers like Babe Ruth, Willie Mays or Hank Aaron, just to name a couple of all-time greats, didn't get 100%.  People have agendas and often refuse to vote for someone in their first year of eligibility.  Just because...that's a good reason.  Remember when your Mom and/or Dad wouldn't let you do/have something and they didn't have a good reason, it was often...just because.  Didn't make sense then and doesn't make sense now.  Basically, it comes down to, "because I can."  I'll give you my little of list of players that I think should be voted in on 1/5/11.

Roberto Alomar: A lifetime .300 hitter, with the best range and hands I've seen on a second basemen.  Often made the incredible play look easy.  12 time All-Star and 10 time Gold Glove winner.  Finished in the top 10 voting for MVP 5 times, as a second baseman.  A very durable player over his career.

Jeff Bagwell: He was the player that got away, for us fans in Boston.  He was part of a very bad trade in 1990.  All because, we had two players ahead of him at third base.  We should have done what Houston did, made him a first baseman.  He goes on to become Rookie of the Year and an MVP winner.  I would have loved to see what he'd do at Fenway.  I'll keep dreaming.

Bert Blyleven: The argument against him is, he was never very dominant.  I get it, but he has 287 wins, is 5th all-time on the strikeout list and did it all while playing mostly for mediocre teams for most of his career.  Plus, he just missed getting in last year, so this might be the only guy I get right.

Barry Larkin: He is the prototype for the modern shortstop.  He proved that you didn't have to have your SS hit 9th in the batting order.  He could hit for power, run and get on base.  He won 3 consecutive Gold Gloves while Ozzie Smith (The Wizard of OZ) was still playing.  No small feat.  He also won an MVP award, which was unheard of, at the time for a shortstop.

That's it.  Those four and I won't be surprised if they all get in or if no one gets in.  That's how screwed up the voting is these days.  Different opinions, ideas on what makes a HOFer and agendas.  Who knows?  Not me.

The Other Thing:




OR


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