"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what
I do, I stare out the window and wait for spring." - Rogers Hornsby
al yellon rants about the Cubs, the universe, and everything"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do, I stare out the window and wait for spring." - Rogers Hornsby
:: Cubs' final 2004 record: 89-73, 3rd NL Central, -16. Last game: 10-8 win over Braves
:: Al's final 2004 record: 51-41, .554 (44-37 home, 7-4 road)
:: Cubs' 2004 record in all other games: 38-32, .543 (1-0 home, 37-32 road)
:: Next spring training game: Thursday, March 3, 2005, vs. A's at Phoenix, 2:05 pm CT
:: Next game: Monday, April 4, 2005, vs. Diamondbacks at Phoenix, 4:40 pm CT
:: other pages on this site :: home | baseball | sabr | genealogy | contact/comment ::
:: Saturday, January 25, 2003 ::
THE SUPER BOWL:: Friday, January 24, 2003 ::
I'll go on record today, so everyone can laugh at me tomorrow:
Raiders 27, Bucs 24
:: posted by Al at 9:19 AM [+] ::
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WAR...
... or the possibility of it.
We stand today on the precipice of war, thanks to GW Bush's preoccupation with Iraq; I have no doubts that he is doing this partly to avenge his father's election defeat, and the attempted assassination of Bush the Elder in 1993 (after he left office, FWIW).
However, I also have no doubts that Iraq is dangerous; that they have been lying through their teeth about what weapons they have, and that in fact they may have hidden some weapons in Syria.
I was a real war skeptic till I read "The Threatening Storm" by Kenneth Pollack, a book by a former Clinton administration CIA analyst, who makes a very convincing case that we must do this.
It's a tough call. I do think we ought to give diplomacy a final chance, but Saddam Hussein has shown little regard for diplomacy in the past.
:: posted by Al at 7:06 PM [+] ::
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It's winter. It's Chicago. It's cold.:: Thursday, January 23, 2003 ::
This isn't news to those of us who have lived here all our lives, but to hear TV newspeople and newcomers talk these days, you'd think it was the coldest winter in history.
It's not. It has been below freezing for 13 days, which is a lot, but nowhere near the record 33 days set back in the 80's. In fact, there was a ten-year period from 1976 to 1985 when it was either brutally cold, brutally snowy, or both, for the entire winter. In 1978-79 snow covered the ground for 100 consecutive days.
This year, it's been just barely below zero, there's no snow at all on the ground, and the cold snap will be over in a few days.
Chin up. January's almost over and it's only 73 days till the Cubs home opener on April 7.
:: posted by Al at 12:36 PM [+] ::
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ROLLING STONES ROCK!:: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 ::
Before yesterday, I had never seen the Stones in concert, and it was worth every second, every dollar.
Mick Jagger is an incredible showman; I should have half that much energy at age 60. And their music still sounds fresh, though there was only one new song ("Don't Stop") performed.
Highlights were an extremely high-energy version of "Satisfaction", an unexpected cover of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone", with Mick playing harmonica (!). Then he brought the house down with "Brown Sugar" and the encore, "Jumping Jack Flash".
Oh, and just as the opening act (Ryan Adams) was finishing, the guy sitting next to us puked all over his seat. Despite their efforts to clean it up, the area still smelled, so the United Center staff wound up finding six seats for those of us affected, slightly closer to the stage than what we had. Kudos to the UC staff for handling this quickly and in a professional way.
Great show! I'll go again to see the Stones -- who in their program, said they'll be the first band to literally rock till they drop. I believe them.
:: posted by Al at 9:08 AM [+] ::
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Ivan Rodriguez signs with the Marlins:: Tuesday, January 21, 2003 ::
Well, this was unexpected. I would have thought he'd take a deal with the Cubs, where he could get national TV exposure, or even with the Orioles, who have a rabid fan base and might take to him, and where he could DH a couple times a week.
The Marlins make very little sense for him; it's clearly just a one-year deal.
I hope he enjoys playing in front of 60,000 empty seats every night.
:: posted by Al at 5:17 PM [+] ::
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BIZARRE IDEA OF THE WEEK
Rumor has it that Mayor Daley may run for the Senate!
OK, let me repeat what I said about Carol Moseley-Braun's candidacy for President:
WAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
(sure, there may be a couple extra A's in there)
The Washington Whispers column in this week's US News & World Report hints that Daley might take on Sen. Peter Fitzgerald next year.
Oh, sure, his machine could probably get him to win, even though he'd be embarrassed in a debate, since he can't put two sentences together.
But Daley's got power in Chicago. As one of 100 senators, and at the bottom of the seniority ladder to boot, I think he'd find himself a real fish out of water.
:: posted by Al at 8:49 PM [+] ::
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Say, does anyone reading this know how to adjust the HTML for the tracker I'm using?:: Monday, January 20, 2003 ::
If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you'll see the little icon (the globe with the thing around it) which is for my website tracker. Where I want this is centered at the bottom of the page, but I can't seem to figure out how to do that.
Or ideally, I'd like it in the blue band where the Blogger icon is, only on the left, where the Blogger icon is on the right.
So, if you have any ideas on how I can fix my HTML, click on the "contact/comment" link at the top of this page and let me know.
Thanks!
:: posted by Al at 9:19 AM [+] ::
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Two years from today...:: Sunday, January 19, 2003 ::
There will be another thing to add to this site.
(that'll be the day of the next presidential inauguration, hopefully someone different from the last time.)
:: posted by Al at 9:46 AM [+] ::
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The Cubs Convention, Day 2
Today's topic is Sammy Sosa.
His session was the largest-attended of the day -- an overflow crowd in the Grand Ballroom, probably 5,000 people shoehorned in there.
He showed up 20 minutes late -- because he was finishing signing *every* autograph at his previously committed autograph session. He gave the full hour, staying 20 minutes past the scheduled end time.
Look, I used to be a Sammy basher when he had the chains and the Jheri curls and we knew him as "Selfish Sammy". And yes, he's got a huge ego.
But not a single one of you can argue with the production he's given the last five years. Example: Sosa has walked over 100 times the last two years. Do you know how many other Cubs have *EVER* done that? ONE: Jimmy Sheckard, in 1911 and 1912.
When he hits his 43rd HR of this season, he'll be the all-time club leader.
He's the only player to hit 60 HR in a season three times.
If he hits 50 this year, he'll become the only player to do that *five* times.
Yes, he's a showboat. But he didn't get where he is by being one; he got there by working his butt off, and IMO he's still doing that.
He addressed the music issue, and I think he's defused it. Yes, he's going to play his music. But I think his teammates won't LET it become a distraction. Yes, he'll show up late to spring training. Who makes this an issue? The news media, looking for a story.
He had high praise for Dusty Baker and a veiled slam at Don Baylor by doing so, and I think Baker is, as I've said before, the *perfect* manager for him.
Am I going to fawn over him? No. Am I going to criticize the bad parts of his game? Sure -- he's got no speed any more and he's become a mediocre right fielder; I'd think moving him to left when Alou is done would be a fine idea.
But we are seeing the man who will probably, statistically at least, be the greatest player in Cubs history. Enjoy.
:: posted by Al at 11:37 AM [+] ::
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