"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

:: Friday, November 28, 2003 ::

Movie Review: "Love Actually"

This is the most expensive movie I have ever seen.

No, it's not because of the budget of the film, which I'd expect is actually fairly small.

It's because I underestimated the length of the trailers, etc. and the time ran out on the parking meter and I got a $50 parking ticket. Well, you probably know how I feel about the city of Chicago parking system, and I won't go into it further, but I am going to appeal it anyway. At the very least, that buys me a month or two before I have to pay it.

Oh, the movie. Well, it was written and directed by Richard Curtis, who was responsible for such comedies as "Notting Hill", "Four Weddings and a Funeral", and "Bridget Jones' Diary", and he's pretty much put just about everyone who was in those three films in this one (except Renee Zellweger, who is presently busy putting weight back on to appear in the "Bridget Jones" sequel that's out in 2004).

At first you're thinking this is like the old TV series "Love American Style", since it's about several (I lost count, actually) love stories that wind up intertwining, and in a way, that's a device to get us to the climax, which happens at a Christmas school concert, where one of the principals, a 10-year-old boy who is hopelessly in love with a girl who doesn't even know his name (so he thinks), can perform something that he hopes will win her heart. The boy's father is Liam Neeson, who recently lost his wife and who his stepson, the boy, is hoping will also find love.

There's Hugh Grant's sly portrayal of a British prime minister who looks surprisingly like Tony Blair, and who is far more accessible than you'd think someone in that position should be; there's Emma Thompson as his sister, there's Laura Linney and one of her co-workers trying to tell each other that they are crazy for each other, but can never figure out how, and there's Billy Bob Thornton, playing a U.S. president who is kind of a cross between the bluster of George W. Bush and the randiness (as the Brits would say) of Bill Clinton. Thornton's role is small but pivotal in the life of Grant's prime minister, and of this I shouldn't say more because it would be a spoiler.

There's one that seems silly, about a British young man who can't seem to find a girlfriend, and thinks that the only way to do so is to fly to America. Where he winds up, and what he finds there, is both hilarious and sweet, but I'll let you find out for yourself.

There's more, but frankly, it's not worth spoiling any of the love stories contained in this funny and sweet film; go see it for yourself. It could have wound up cloying and stupid, but instead seems completely realistic, funny yet poignant, with many of the characters learning lessons about life and about themselves. A British newcomer, Keira Knightley, who was so terrific in "Bend It Like Beckham", plays a woman who gets married for what seems like no particular reason, but also winds up learning an unexpected lesson about love. Knightley is a terrific talent and watch out when American directors find out about her; she could be the next Zellweger.

You'll pick out your own favorite among all the love stories told and when I picked mine, I was surprised to find that Roger Ebert, in his review, thought this one wasn't even worth putting in the film.

I heartily disagree. It's about a young British writer named Jamie, who goes to a lakeside home in Marseilles, France, to write, and on arriving hires a Portuguese housekeeper named Aurelia (Lucia Moniz, an actress actually from Portugal, though she did spend a year in high school in Minnesota and in reality, does speak English). It's clear from the beginning that they are falling in love, though he speaks no Portuguese (in fact, at one point he tries to speak Spanish to her) and she speaks not a word of English, as they feel that they don't communicate, we learn from clever subtitles that they are actually feeling and thinking the same thing. When they part, it appears to be for good, yet both of them wind up doing something to please the other, and when they... well, I won't ruin it, only to tell you that even when it appears that two people simply don't understand each other, that love wins in the end.

Wonderful film. Don't miss it.

AYRating: ****

:: posted by Al at 8:23 PM [+] ::
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How To Have Thanksgiving Dinner... Without A Kitchen

If you've followed this saga for any length of time you know that our house is still a construction site, though it should be finished in about two weeks (all fingers crossed, for sure!).

And if you are not from the USA perhaps you don't know what a big deal Thanksgiving is; it's my favorite holiday, mostly because many of our other holidays are exclusive to different religions, or not inclusive enough.

But Thanksgiving is for everyone. I've always liked the Thursday date; I love turkey (and used to love the stuffing, but I don't eat it any more), the football, etc. It just seems so uniting, and we need more of that these days.

So, as we have done the last two years, we put the turkey on the grill outside (luckily, it wasn't raining today), and since I don't eat stuffing any more (good as it is, it's basically mushed-up bread), and the kids don't eat it, we had sweet potatoes in the microwave, some salad, and for the special occasion, Eli's Cheesecake, a Chicago favorite; I figure I can indulge myself a piece of this once a year.

It worked really well; it was a really nice dinner, and with paper plates and the turkey resting in a throwaway foil pan, the cleanup was minimal. And there is nothing better than a turkey sandwich for lunch the day after Thanksgiving!

After dinner Mark showed off his skills at NBA Live, and he showed me some goofy tall players he created. He also made me into a player, and I suddenly turn out to have a wicked outside jump shot. We put me and all the other players on the Lakers and they are absolutely unbeatable.

Did I mention I love Thanksgiving?

Hope yours was wonderful. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

:: posted by Al at 8:48 PM [+] ::
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The Lee Deal

In case you have not yet heard, the Cubs traded Hee Seop Choi and a PTBNL to the Marlins today for Derrek Lee.

On the surface this looks like a horrid deal, particularly since it seems to be sending two messages:

1) That if you are younger than, say, 28, you will simply not get a chance to play for the Cubs under Dusty Baker.

2) That although the Cubs' recent farm system products have been highly praised, they will simply not get a chance to play for the major league club, unless

3) They are pitchers.

(Yeah, yeah, I know, I said "two messages". Always remember Monty Python's Holy Hand Grenade when you try to count to three. I'll come in again.)

Lee is 28, hardly "old", and in his last four full seasons, his OPS increased each year, to a career high .887 in 2003. Unlike Randall Simon (who no doubt will be kept around as a bench player/pinch hitter/sub first baseman), Lee does draw a lot of walks, and let's hope Baker doesn't convince him to stop doing that. He also is a good defensive player who made only five errors last season, winning a Gold Glove (though as we all know, those awards often go to players having good offensive seasons too).

He stole 21 bases last year and 19 the year before, but I wonder how much of this is real baserunning speed and how much is the team philosophy on running. He never stole more than five bases in any year before that.

On Lee's downside, he strikes out a lot (though I think we could have expected this from Choi as well), and hits into a fair number of double plays, odd considering he has baserunning speed (which is probably something else that enticed Baker to want him. I presume this deal is 100% engineered by Dusty Baker, not Jim Hendry).

All of these are things that Choi might do in the next few years, and I guess what the Cubs thought is that Lee has done them now, and is likely to do them again for the next few seasons.

I have heard that the PTBNL will NOT be one of the Cubs' top minor league pitchers, any of whom could be traded for help at other positions where the need is greater (second base? Jose Vidro, maybe?).

Lee's OPS over the last three years is .887 on the road and .828 at home, which suggests that he might be able to sustain a close-to .900 OPS with Wrigley Field as his home park, which also means he'd play more road games in Houston & Cincinnati, other good hitters' parks, rather than New York and Montreal, not good hitters' parks, as he did with the Marlins.

End result: this isn't a terrible trade, just an unnecessary one, as the Cubs have larger holes to fill. I'd suspect Lee could bat fourth, behind Sammy Sosa, with Aramis Ramirez fifth and Moises Alou dropped to sixth.

One final note: Lee's father is Leon Lee, brother of former major leaguer Leron Lee. Leon Lee worked for the Cubs for many years as Pacific Rim coordinator. Ironically, that means he's almost singlehandedly responsible for the Cubs having Choi in the first place. Lee also signed Jae-Kuk Ryu, a Korean pitching prospect who was perhaps best known for injuring an osprey, an endangered species in Florida, while pitching for Daytona last year, forcing his demotion to Lansing. He was listed as one of Baseball America's Top Ten Cub Prospects for 2003.

Final note: if you haven't heard about the ticket-scalping lawsuit involving the Cubs' own ticket brokerage, a Cook County judge ruled in the team's favor yesterday. This is nothing short of outrageous; a lawyer friend of mine who has argued in front of this judge tells me that he has often wondered if she "gets it" (meaning the legal points being argued).

It's clear to me that the Cubs scalping their own tickets is in violation of a state statute that dates back to 1935, and was upheld by the Illinois Supreme Court in 1974. If the plaintiffs have enough money to appeal, I'd think they'll certainly win.

Oh, and if you haven't heard about this, it's probably because you are reading only the Cubs website (no link here today, go find it yourself!)... they haven't mentioned this story at all.

Sad. The fan gets screwed again.

:: posted by Al at 7:06 PM [+] ::
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More Cub News From Venezuela

Jose Pulido, whose Magallanes blog charts the fortunes of that Venezuelan winter league team (once again, it's in Spanish, but you can run it through Babelfish or any other online translator and at least get a sense of what it's about), e-mailed me again about Hee Seop Choi's performance with the team, which, as it turns out, he has now left:

Choi played for Magallanes until November 22nd. I was informed about ten days ago that his contract was for half the season with an option to prolong his stay, but he preferred to get some rest before spring training. He finished his visit with an 0 for 5 day in a 12-inning game that Magallanes lost 1-0. Choi was the last out against Francisco Rodríguez, of the Anaheim Angels and the Tiburones (Sharks) of La Guaira. Choi did well during the first month, but I think he is not quite ready to be the left-handed power hitter the Cubs have been looking for. Last two weeks he was especially vulnerable, recording only 2 RBIs and striking out 10 times in his last 25 ABs. I think the league caught up with him and he didn’t adjust to the situation. Left-handed pitchers dominated him changing speeds and throwing curve balls. He killed fastballs and was patient enough to get an OBP over 450, but his tendency to miss slow breaking pitches was frustrating. Considering all, Choi is not completely ready, but I think he is better than the Simon/Karros platoon the Cubs had at the end of the season. If the Cubs do not make a move, I think Choi could be good for the team in the long run, but he is going to miss in specific situations, particularly at the end of games against left-handed relievers.

Based on the Choi I saw play in both last spring training and in the half-season or so that he did play, I think this is a very accurate depiction of the Choi we can expect to see if the Cubs decide to go with him, or try to platoon him and a re-signed Karros, again. I've had long discussions with several people, including Craig Bartholomaus and David Geiser from the Cubs newsgroup about the holes in Choi's swing. You can argue semantics all you want, but this is a perfect example of what I'm talking about, and also, it does appear that he's a real streak hitter, since he started the winter season on a real hot streak, but ended it cold.

It's a good thing that he got the at-bats that he wasn't getting during the season, and I also think it's a good thing that he did get the extra rest he said he wanted before spring training begins. Remember that he is less than six months from a serious concussion, and I think people tend to forget how difficult it can be to come back from such an injury -- some players have even been forced to retire post-concussion.

I had mentioned to Jose in an e-mail to him that I thought the Cubs should try to trade for Richie Sexson (I presume that any trade acquiring Sexson would probably include Choi in return), and his comments were:

I think Sexson is one of the most underrated stars in the game; he is an amazing player. I guess the argument against the trade is that, with Sexson, the heart of the Cubs line-up would have a succession of right-handed hitters with no impressive OBPs. My two cents: with the great (and cheap) pitching staff the Cubs have, the organization should do everything possible to get the best available players to complement the pitchers. I don’t know if in four years, with Prior and Zambrano earning what they should, the Cubs are going to have the flexibility to get a 12 million dollar a year power hitter. I think this is a great time to gamble on Sexon. It’s not like he has to learn the pitchers on the division or make a drastic change in lifestyle. It’s true, the only left-handed batter would be Patterson, but if the project doesn’t work, the Cubs would have talent to trade.

Once again, this is very insightful. Yes, there would be a preponderance of right-handed hitters in the Cub lineup. But with the extra power (and OBA) that Sexson would provide, so what? It appears this off-season that the Astros and Cardinals may be cutting payroll, so the Cubs ought to go into the 2004 season as the favorites to win the division. With the pitching the ballclub already has, why not try to upgrade the offense with a ... I hate to say this, but I'm forced to ... "proven veteran".

And it's not like Sexson is 34 and on the downside of his career. He is 29 and had the best year of his career in 2003, and I believe he could do the same for another four or five seasons. I would not make this deal unless they had him signed at the time the deal was made, though; no way would I go through the 2004 season with him as a free agent.

On a day when the forecast in Chicago for tomorrow morning calls for snow flurries, isn't it good to think baseball? Only 100 days till the first spring training game!

:: posted by Al at 7:49 PM [+] ::
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