Snowed Out

I can't believe it. I go out of my way to skip winter this year, spending November - March in Beirut where snow is a choice rather than a location tax imposed by the dictatorial hand of Mother Nature. Naturally, April came around and I was certain I had escaped her brutal oppression.

As you can see, I did not.

Boy is she brutal. Downright Qaddafiish, if you're into the whole making comparisons between totally trivial things and horrific real world monster thing. We woke up in sunshine and 63 degrees. By the time we got into downtown Denver and parked across the river, it was freaking freezing. (Ok, not literally freezing, but it had dropped to 41 degrees.) By the time we got to the stadium, it was raining. By the time we got our $4 Rockpile tickets and got into the stadium, white stuff was fluttering down from the heavens.

The woman at the ticket window told me the game was delayed - after I had purchased the tickets. No matter - I had dragged my friend out to the game and we had walked a mile to the stadium, so I was going in no matter what. He tried his best to hide the fact that he was not amused, but he wasn't very good at it and I felt a bit of guilt, as if I had any influence over the tyrant Mother Nature. What a bitch.

The concourse was pretty packed with hideous beer guzzling purple creatures. (Who on earth picked that color for a baseball team? Sorry, Rockies fans, but it's true.) I noticed there are hardly any seats in the stadium that are under cover, which meant that every brave soul who had dared the weather to come to the ballpark was standing in the concourse. It wasn't too bad back there - but if you got out into the open...wow. That wind was like a US missile tearing through a Qaddafi loyalist's body.

I only had one thing on my mind at that point - bratwurst. How do I explain the intense craving I've had for a good sausage for so long now? I don't even eat much meat, but the fact that you can't find a good sausage in Lebanon just makes you want one. I tell you what, for a culture that eats so much meat, it's surprisingly difficult to find high quality animal flesh for consumption. Well, there is some darn good seafood in the seaside towns.

If I hadn't been craving a good sausage for so long, I would be complaining about the soggy bun and the lack of good mustard and the overcooked onions and peppers, but I have to say, I enjoyed that bratwurst immensely. I didn't even care that the tarp was on the field or that I knew instinctively that I would not get to watch baseball that day. My mouth was so happy eating that overpriced brat. Didn't hurt that I had good company to eat it with.

It didn't take them long to call it. I'd say we were inside the stadium for about fifteen minutes before going out - you can actually get your hand stamped and exit Coors Field. I've been to enough ballgames in my life to know when a game is going to save itself for another day, and this one definitely was one of them. Oh, did I mention it was freaking freezing?

Contrast that with the day before, when it was 84 degrees! Look at the photos below to see the stark difference. It was such a beautiful night that we ate outside a few blocks from the stadium, where a game was going on. It was such a great day in every way, but I guess you could say Sunday, this snowy, snowy Sunday, was also a great day even if I didn't get to see the baseball game.

I'm going to try to hit the game tomorrow, at least for a few innings. At $4, a few innings is more than doable.

Ping! Part 2

A few years ago I attended a University of Maryland baseball game on a day that tried to disguise itself as spring. The grass was green and he sky was blue and the hot chocolate was a light, watery brown. Oh, we all tried to keep up the charade, but by the third inning we had put on our winter costumes and shifted our seats periodically to escape late afternoon shadows.

Today was much warmer than that day, but I still fought a winter breeze while surrounded by snowcapped mountains, determined to keep my sleeves rolled up and remain outside in the sun. Suddenly, I was struck by memories of playing softball in high school, of January gyms, February frosts, March mud, trying to get outside for practice, waiting, waiting, waiting for the good weather, sometimes pretending, the bulk of sweatshirts, the swish of windbreakers, the thud of a pitch in the mud, playing on brown grass.

Ping!

Not quite the crack of the bat, but a batted ball all the same. Sometimes those days don't seem like they really happened, the uniforms, the big yellow school buses with mud caked floors and angry drivers, thrown bats and helmets (yes, that was me), strapping on the shinguards, throwing out baserunners, oh, so much dirt and dust and mud. I've lived double my life since then, skipped much of the last two winters, and haven't played an organized sport since rec league soccer in DC in 2004. But spring, well, spring is always the same wonderful feeling, and every year the sight of Spring Training photos is warmth for the soul.

Thawing

Um...Spring Training...and the Reds come in as...defending NL Central Champs?

Anyone else still feel like it was all a dream?

I had a brief experience with winter a few days ago, that bitter, biting, bonechilling feeling that all who have lived in the Midwest and other wintry places know too well. The temperatures in Beirut are like those in Florida and Arizona at this time of year, but in the Bekaa Valley, sandwiched between snowcapped mountains, a version of winter wraps itself around the towns and villages and fields that sit eagerly waiting to be sown. Yesterday back in Beirut I sat by the sea and read a book trying to recall what bronze skin looked like, but despite having spent winter among palm trees and mild temperatures, I always felt it was winter in that extra-corporal sense. Winter, I think, if you're in a snow-free place, is a state of mind, and that state of mind lacks something: baseball.

I love this tidbit from Hal:

Baker was expansive about a number of subjects on Day One and looked at an Ohio writer with a tan and said, “What’s that, freezer burn?”

One of the many things that makes baseball so awesome is its start at the rebirth of the northern hemisphere when we stop shivering and start wearing fewer layers of clothing. Color starts to sneak back into the world, replacing the browns and grays with a crayola of life. The world is returned to us - no longer are we confined to our cabins waiting for winter to leave. It is going, forced out by the orbit of the Earth, and baseball is holding the door wide open for it.

Boy, this season is going to be fun, isn't it?

Today I wore shorts and a t-shirt for a couple of hours while sitting on the balcony, and there was one magical word to describe the spring air and the brilliant sunshine: baseball. Next up: tan.

Walt's flashing that Golden Buckeye Card

Is anyone else sick of the Reds signing folks from the nursing home? Edgar Renteria? That would have been awesome five years ago. Judging from the aches in my recently advanced age 34 year old body, I know a ballplayer at 35 isn't a spring chicken, or whatever they say. And of course, we have to worry about him playing everyday, as we always do, despite what Walt and Dusty say.

Poor Paul Janish.

So the government of Lebanon collapsed this week and Hezbollah asshole Hassan Nasrallah is speaking live right now, spewing conspiracy theories and blaming Israel and the US for his assholiness. Wanker. Meanwhile, life in Lebanon goes on, though the bars are noticeably emptier in the evenings. The first night of the collapse, the streets of Beirut were eerily quiet. Funny, I've gotten so used to the incessant noise that I couldn't sleep with all that silence.

Anyway, Fred Lewis? Could be worse, right? And Walt says he's done now? I suppose he is. I mean, we did win the division last year, so we didn't have that much to get in the first place. 2011 should be interesting, that's for sure.

I will have internet at home this week (finally), so I may be posting more frequently from now on. As long as war doesn't break out. (It won't.)

Happy New Year

Welcome to 2011, the year when the Cincinnati Reds earn their sixth World Series trophy.

In a little over a month, pitchers and catchers will report to Spring Training. I'll be on the beach a half a world away (unless a war breaks out). I'm supposed to be flying home the day before Opening Day, but I hope I can stay a bit longer. Another six month visa would take me to October, just in time for the Reds' playoff run.

Anyway, winter. Yawn. Off season. Yawn.

Weekly update

Internet connection still stinks...

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, blah, blah, blah.

So, we lost Rhodes? That saddens me a bit.

Still no Joey long-term signing? He really doesn't want to play in Cincinnati, does he?

I wore a t-shirt and sat outside for the bulk of the day. Very nice, very nice. I was going to go to the beach just to rub it in, but I was too lazy to walk down there after two days of Christmas celebrating. Cooked up some mulled wine yesterday when the night temperatures dipped into the low sixties. It just isn't the same when it's so warm.

I see retreads are being mentioned as possible Reds acquisitions - Podsednik, Webb, Renteria...no, no, and no thank you. Have we completely rid ourselves of the Edmonds menace yet?

Still a long way to go until Opening Day...

Al 'Ada min Al-Qahera

The return of Cairo. Whoopdeedo. Do we have a shortstop yet? Do we have a leftfielder yet? Big Donkey went to the White Sox, so that's out. The Reds never do anything at the winter meetings. Why do they even bother sending people? Save the money on the plane tickets and the hotels and all and use it towards buying Votto forever. (Yeah, I suppose that would take a billion winters to save up for. Joey might not be the same player in a billion years.) Someone actually used the word "splash" in a title for the Reds.com article about them resigning Cairo.

Nice they "locked up Bruce for the long haul." Wrong player, though. Anyone else sense that Votto doesn't want to play for the Reds for the "long haul?"

My internet connection is slower than dial up. This post might not even post. Lebanon.

Merry Christmas!

Fa la la la lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala...

This is the first day of Christmas. For the next twelve days, I will be posting about each day's number and its significance to baseball. So here we go: 12.

The Reds have made 12 playoff appearances in their history.

Did you know that when the Bankees$ originally began to wear uniform numbers that 12 was used by starting pitchers?

Reds players who have worn number 12 are: Smoky Burgess (1955), Darrel Chaney (1972-1974), Dave Revering (1978), Harry Spilman (1980-1981), German Barranca (1982), Wayne Krenchicki (1983), Nick Esasky (1983-1988), Joel Youngblood (1989), Paul Noce (1990), Freddie Benavides (1992), Willie Greene (1992-1998), Deion Sanders (1994), Dusty Baker (too long).

You can buy packs of a dozen baseballs at your local sporting goods store.

Twelve players tested positive for stimulants during 2009.

Roberto Alomar, who is up for the Hall of Fame with Barry Larkin, wore number 12 during his career.

There are 108 stitches on a Major League Baseball, which is divisible by 12, equally 9, which is the number of players on the field. This, of course, means absolutely nothing.

In 1912, Redland Field opened in Cincinnati. Redland, of course, was later renamed Crosley Field.

Is it April yet?

Since we're in an extended rain delay, I thought I'd post this Brandon "Lucky Charms" Phillips rain delay interview. Plus I can't think of anything to write about.

Sigh...I'd sit through a two hour rain delay just to be at a baseball game. Come to think of it, it rained in all but two of the ten or so MLB games I attended this year. (Funny, Peter Gabriel's "Red Rain" just came on the shuffle as I was typing this. No joke.) Actually, not true - one of those games it didn't rain but snowed.

Doo doo doo...banana phone...it's much too early to have the baseball restlessness.

The War on Errors: A Lesson in Language

The English word "Church" comes from the Greek word kuriakon, which was used to mean a place of worship. Many European languages use some derivative of this word - kirche in German, църква (crkva) in Bulgarian, kerk in Dutch, and kyrka in Swedish.

In the New Testament, the word "church" is the translation of the Greek word ecclesia, meaning "assembly." You might recognize it if you know any of the Latin languages - iglesia in Spanish, église in French, igreja in Portuguese, chiesa in Italian. εκκλησία is still used in Greek. Persian, too, uses a derivative of the Greek: (kilisa) کلیسا Turks use the same word, kilise. I imagine the Arabic (kinisa) الكنيسةis some bastardization of the Farsi or the Turkish, but I don't have direct knowledge of that.

The word "baseball" was directly given to human beings by the Baseball Gods but underwent babelian transformations as it slowly spread across the globe, from its humble beginnings in England to its perfection in America to its becoming the national pastime in Japan to its drafty abuse of Latin American children. Various forms of the game are beisbol in Spanish, honkbal in Dutch, bejzbol in Croatian, among a few others. For the most part, the word baseball has remained in its pure state - even the French, who are obsessed with having their own word for everything (see this WSJ article on their agony over how to translate cloud computing), use the word baseball.

In Arabic it is... كرة القاعدة (korat al-qaeda)! AHHH...baseball has been invaded by terrorists! It's the Crusades! We must arm ourselves against the hordes of leatherpants-clad warriors who hate us for our beautiful game! We must fight against the baseball extremists - Al-lenselig, Don Aldfehr, Al-Bert Poojols, Al-lCubsfans, Al-Exrod Riguez, Scott Al-Boras...

Ok, enough sarcastic hysterics. This is what happens in the off season. April 5th seems so far away...

I can see the ground

This is the first day I’ve really felt like spring is coming. The snow is gone in places where there were no drifts. The air has been warmer for three days in a row. The sun is out at dinner time. And ballplayers are starting to pack their bags for next weekend.

It’s about this time when you realize how long is the off season. It may seem like the season is long, especially when your team stinks, but the off season is, well, an eternity. Just think of all of the things one must suffer without baseball – cold, darkness, grayness, barren trees, high heating bills, cabin fever, icy roads, scraping windshields, empty washer fluid, getting out of shape, pre-Oscar movies, the excesses of Christmas, f00t-b@ll season, squeaky basketball shoes, hockey at Wrigley Field, bad free agent signings, worse trades…about the only good thing about the off season is that we don’t have to listen to Joe Morgan or Tim McCarver or Clownboy.

Right now, us baseball fans are sipping through a chewed up straw to get any drip of baseball that may be there at the bottom of the cup we found in the gutter of winter. Playing Bull Durham. Reading The Natural. Watching old games we’ve already seen and already know the outcome. Checking every website that may have any word about our teams. We know it’s coming. It’s like Christmas Eve that lasts two months. Saturday is like the start of Advent. By the time our Holy Opening Day comes around, we’ve been starving for so long that one sip of real baseball makes us drunk.

Won’t be too much longer now.
___

When the windchill is ten below zero...

I just have a nice big cup of Opening Day countdown...

It is 105 days, 5 hours, 48  minutes and 32  seconds until Monday, April 6, 2009 at 2:15:00 PM (Cincinnati time)

I'm gonna miss this

I went to the Reds game last night.

I haven't been to a game since June - two games in Cleveland. I haven't been to a game for several reasons, but when I said I wasn't going to a game while Patterson was on the team, I was serious. The Dunn trade solidified my desire to boycott.

But when someone gives you free tix in section 135, well...

I stopped watching the Reds, too, since the Dunn trade. I have hardly listened to any games in the past month. But when I found out I had some tickets, somehow, I became excited to go to the game. Perhaps my break had been long enough. I got up in the morning and put my Reds shirt on and was excited throughout the day. That first sighting of the stadium when entering the city from the highway felt like Opening Day. I enjoyed every tiny little detail of the game, from the way the ball gets tiny on a popup and then grows as gravity pulls it into a fielders glove to the red shine of the helmets under the stadium lights. I enjoyed that "by the numbers" thing they put up on the scoreboard that reminded me that Hal Morris once wore 23. I loved that crack of the bat.

It will all be gone soon.

Last night, the heartache was so bad I once had to fight back a tear. It's the heartache that comes from the death of a season, knowing that come Tuesday, I won't be able to see the Reds for half a year. The season may seem long, especially when your team plays itself out of the race in April. Yet that half a year of no Reds baseball is eternal, no matter how pitiful the team plays during the season.

Bob, sign Dunn in the off season. Get rid of Patterson. Make Barry Larkin the bench coach, Eric Davis the hitting coach, and Tom Browning the pitching coach. Get rid of Mark Berry. Find a catcher - if you have to trade Homer for Jared Saltamacchia, do it. Don't steal 2009 from us, too.

District of Warmer Than This

I've been thinking about the shorter, warmer winters of DC in the past, well, past since I've been in Ohio, which has been two months from yesterday. I've suffered the gray blankness, the white wetness, the flat, endless farmland that sends a feeling of nothingness to me, and I start to wonder if I should go back to DC. I've been thinking about the three Nationals seasons I spent, including last year's great season ticket package given to me for my 30th birthday, and I see all of the changes that Leatherpants has made and think, hmm, things are going to be different for the Nats this year. Not saying BETTER, just different. And with the new stadium, well, it won't feel like what I've come to know as Nationals baseball at all. Gone will be the drear, the chunks of stuff falling from the roof, the cheap seats that still have a good view, and the commute to the stadium in the middle of nowhere. The romantic side of me misses even that stuff dearly, even worse so as I stare out at the barren trees across a cold, white, empty field, and I think to myself, man, I need to move this computer away from the window...

Thanks to whoever quoted me in the Washington Post Express today and to Brendanukkah for pointing it out!
___

Below Zero

Winter's prisoner (that's me) stands at the window looking at the colorless, snowcapped barrenness and the shivering shrubs once surrounded by a rainbow of flowers and longs for the days of freedom when warmth and light reign and the outdoors are not a forbidden planet but something welcoming, inviting. The days are long then, and freedom wears a smile on its shining face as it frolics in the green grass, its skin exposed to the pleasant radiance of a summer sun. Oh, how the prisoner longs for those carefree days of light and glorious freedom, but this cold incarceration weighs heavy on the soul. Wherefore art thou, baseball?
__

Some science fiction - or another rant - or a thought on the signing of Jocketty - or some randomness

Once upon a time, there was a baseball team. Actually, there were thirty of them, until two of them from Florida went away because no one ever came to see them play. Then there were twenty-eight. Oh, they were glorious things, except for the Yankees and the Red Sox, who were the epitome of what eventually broke baseball, which was just a small scale tragedy in a drastically mutating world. When what was left of the human race - after Pakistan nuked Israel and then the US nuked Pakistan and then Russia nuked the US and then China nuked Russia and then surprisingly Switzerland nuked China - went to Mars and abandoned Earth, it was discovered that baseball just couldn't be played on Mars, for the atmosphere was too thick and it was too expensive to build ballparks that had to contain a thousand foot home runs. The first generation lamented the loss of their beautiful game, but subsequent generations forgot baseball ever existed because it was easy to play football on the surface of Mars, and they all got a kick out of the hits which sent men flying twenty yards down the field.

Once upon a time, there were mighty sluggers who hit 500 foot home runs. That was before children stopped building strong bones and muscle by sitting in front of the television during the time they were supposed to be out running around developing their bodies.

Once upon a time, there was a team called the Cincinnati Reds who had won more championships than only three other teams, yet the Information Age had decided that the Cincinnati market was too small to be worthy of attention and tried to bury it beneath the avalanche of Yankees and Red Sox crap, which was bought by people across the country who just liked to root for the frontrunner. There was all of this country music singing about the "simple life," lamenting change and praising the "country" way of doing things, yet it never said root, root, root for the home team or anything like that, and people who lived in the Cincinnati area wore Yankees caps like the guy in the restaurant right now or that guy right outside the window with the Red Sox cap...

I just don't get it. I guess I am more old-fashioned than any of these people who hang those communist stars on their houses and proclaim superiority over city folk, because I just think it's criminal to root for a team just because they've won for a few years instead of sticking to your own team. Now that the Reds have demonstrated a desire to win this year, I wonder how many bandwagoners will join us faithful if the formula works. Finally getting rid of John Allen, who has been there throughout the losing, may have been the biggest step towards ending this seven year losing streak. Signing Dusty Baker, Francisco Cordero, and Walt Jocketty is, in my not so humble opinion, going to change these losing ways.

I understand sabermetrics, but I think the overemphasis on stats is making people overlook what is going on here. There is a winning attitude here that you can't quantify. Jocketty has been to the playoffs seven times in his stint with the Deadbirds. (That's in 13 seasons - more than half!) (An aside - to demonstrate how much I hate that team, I even hate the cardinals I see sitting outside on trees and flying around in the winter weather. Environmentalists would abhor me if they saw my brain seeing these birds fall dead out of the sky!) Anyone who says that Jocketty isn't serving as a second GM is kidding themselves. And anyone who thinks Wayno has done a good job in his stint is overlooking the succession of failures like The Trade, Ryan Franklin, Jason Ellison, Mike Stinkton, Rheal Cormier, etc, etc, etc. (Stop with the Phillips Arroyo thing - they just don't outweigh the bad.)

I am so happy. I hope to see Bob Castellini on the winter caravan this year just to thank him. And in other news, I will be around Reds country to go to the winter caravan. I will be around Reds country all summer. I am going to Spring Training. And I will be in Cincinnati for the summer, which means I will be at the ballpark more often than not. Here's some math. If I have gone to about thirty Major League Baseball games every year for the past three years, doesn't that mean that if I'm in the city of my team, I will go to forty this year? Ha! I'll serve as a clubhouse accessless beat writer! Ha ha! Well, we need another voice on the Reds with the Post closing, don't we?

Oh, I can't wait for this season.

123 Days

Usually, my baseball restlessness begins much later than this. I don't get out Bull Durham or Field of Dreams until January. This year, however, I am squirming in my seat, and it's not even December!

Seems to me around Reds cyberland, others are feeling the same way, all due, of course, to Mr. Castellini's demonstrated commitment to winning this year with the Cordero and Baker signings. The moves are winning over the national crowd, too, judging from the column by Sports Illustrated's Tom Verdducci proclaiming the Reds to be next season's 2007 Rockies. Seeing this article serves as fuel for the restlessness.

Pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training on February 14 - 77 days from now. The first Spring Training game is February 28 - 91 days from now. And the holy day itself is on March 31 - 123 days from now. That's a lot of life between then and now! Look at everything that must pass before we can see the glorious light of Opening Day, when we can celebrate the praises of the rebirth of everything, when color once again exists and darkness drowns in life!

Nov 30 - International Computer Security Day - I'm not making this up. Also St. Andrew's Day, the patron saint of Scotland. Slainte!
Dec 1 - World AIDS Day - A disease that is wiping out an entire continent is also found in 1 in 20 people in our own nation's capital.
Dec 2 - International Day for the Abolition of Slavery - Yeah, it still exists, and it's actually making a pretty good comeback thanks to global corporatism. This is also the first day of Advent, the official church start of the Christmas season.
Dec 3 - International Day for People with Disability - Though they call it "international," it is only "observed" by people in Australia.
Dec 4 - First day of Chanukkah - I have a little dradle, I made it out of clay, and when its dry and ready, with dradle I shall play, dradle dradle dradle I made you out of clay, dradle dradle dradle with dradle I shall play.
Dec 5 - Day of the Ninja - Yeah, I don't know either.
Dec 6 - St. Nicholas Day - The day that started all of this gift giving madness that has descended upon us. Also, my sister's birthday. Happy Birthday, Jennifer!
Dec 7 - Pearl Harbor Day - A day that will live in infamy.
Dec 8 - Feast of the Immaculate Conception - Contrary to ignorant belief, this is NOT the day Christ was conceived but when Mary was conceived free of sin. How would she have conceived Jesus on the 8th and had him on the 25th? Also: Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji (Bikarami). It's a Sikh holiday. I just liked the sound of it.
Dec 9 - Independence Day for Tanzania - Go ride some zebras.
Dec 10 - Human Rights Day - Get out your copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It's a good read. Also Nobel Prize Day. Yay, Al!
Dec 11 - Proclamation of the Republic of Burkina Faso. The land of upright people. Seriously, that's what it means. Personally, I like the name Upper Volta better. Kind of sounds like it's full of robots or something. Or at least those people with weird ears and horns and stuff that you see in sci-fi movies.
Dec 12 - Agou - Arroyo (Manga la mer) - Voodoo holiday. Take that, Albert.
Dec 13 - St. Lucy's Day in Sweden - I have no idea who St. Lucy is, but I'd hate to be in Sweden at this time of year.
Dec 14 - Chingshan Wang's Birthday - Taiwan. Happy birthday to Chingshan!
Dec 15 - Bill of Rights Day - Did you know we had a Bill of Rights Day? Can we get off work?
Dec 16 - Boston Tea Party Day - Today they'd be called "terrorists." Also: first day of Posadas, a Mexican festival celebrating Mary and Joseph's journey into Bethlehem - not a certain aged Bankee$ catcher who signed a four year deal today. Also: Kazakhstan Independence Day. You like?
Dec 17 - Special Holiday - Solomon Islands. Real creative name there. Hey, I know - why don't we have a day and just call it Holiday. That would be fun.
Dec 18 - Arafa - Afghanistan, a day when everyone meets in the desert to see each other. At the end of the day they go throw rocks at Satan. So now you know - Satan is in Afghanistan. Personally, I thought he was in Washington.
Dec 19 - Asara B'Tevet - A day when a lot of wonderful dishes go uncooked and there are some hungry Jewish people around. (Oh, what I wouldn't do for a Jewish deli right now...)
Dec 20 - Eid Al Adha - The feast of the sacrifice, a Muslim commemoration of Abraham's sacrifice of his son to God. Lots of dead goats at this time.
Dec 21 - Winter Solstice - Ick. I hate winter. Also Yule, the pagan holiday from where we get our Christmas traditions like trees and such.
Dec 22 - Winter Solstice in Hong Kong - I wonder if there are any hardcore pagans out there who hop on a plane and celebrate the solstice twice?
Dec 23 - Festivus - The Reds really disappointed me this year! The bullpen stunk! Juan Castro, you need to retire! No bagel, no bagel, no bagel!
Dec 24 - Christmas Eve - Almost better than Christmas Day because of the anticipation.
Dec 25 - Christmas Day - Joyeux Noel! Feliz Navidad! Milad Mubarak! Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ùr! Froehliche Weihnachten! Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson honungradon nagwutut. Ojenyunyat osrasay. Lots of baseball stuff appears from under my family's tree!
Dec 26 - St. Stephen's Day - The first Christian martyr, revered by the Irish. St. Stephen's Green is a nice park in Dublin. Joyce's Stephen Dedalus is named for him. Also: Boxing Day, which is just a stupid name for the day after Christmas. Also: Kwanzaa, a made up holiday.
Dec 27-30 - That dead few days when a lot of people don't go to work and a lot of people who do go don't actually work.
Dec 31 - Amateur Drunk Night - I would never step foot in a bar on this night.
Jan 1 - New Year's Day - Kind of boring because everything is closed, but at least you get the day off. Eat your pork and sauerkraut for good luck.
Jan 2 - Bridge Day - New Caldonea. I'm sure that one spans across the whole day.
Jan 3 - Revolution Day - People's Uprising - Burkina Faso. Are they sure it isn't the "people's uprighting?" Also: Iowa caucuses. Let the hatred begin.
Jan 4 - Trivia Day - Gansta or Ganster?
Jan 5 - Dia de la Toma - Spain. The anniversary of the capture or taking possession of Granada by the army of Ferdinand and Isabella. Seems to be a lot of bell ringing on this day.
Jan 6 - Epiphany - We three kings and stuff. Traditionally a day when people give their loved ones twelve drummers drumming.
Jan 7 - Orthodox Christmas - The Byzantines just HAD to be different. Also: St. Ivan's Day here in Bulgaria, the patron saint of the country.
Jan 8 - National Takai Day - Niue. I don't know what a Takai is. I don't know where Niue is. But it has to be better than celebrating Elvis' birthday. Also: New Hampshire primary. Is it over yet?
Jan 9 - Al-Hijra - When Muhammed got chased from Mecca to Medina.
Jan 10 - My birthday - Since I am no longer in my twenties, I am no longer protected by the invincibility of youth, so I'll freak out.
Jan 11 - International Thank You Day - No kidding. Because we're all still trying to get our thank you notes written from Christmas.
Jan 12 - National Pharmacist Day - Because we should celebrate people who prey on the health of human beings.
Jan 13 - Defenders of Freedom Day - Lithuania. The name of this day sounds suspiciously like talking points from this administration...
Jan 14 - Ratification Day - Apparently this day exists in America, too.
Jan 15 - Fiesta del Nino Perdido - Huancavelica, Peru. That must have been one bratty child that they celebrate it being lost.
Jan 16 - Prohibition Remembrance Day - The most ridiculous period in the history of America has a remembrance day? Let's go out to our local watering holes and celebrate!
Jan 17 - Birthday of Al Capone - Ironically the day after Prohibition Remembrance Day.
Jan 18 - Maintenance Day - USA. Don't ask, I don't know.
Jan 19 - Ashura - Martyrdom of Imam Hussein - Shia holiday.
Jan 20 - One year until Inauguration Day - Can't come quick enough.
Jan 21 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - If there were more people like Dr. King in the world, maybe it wouldn't be so insane.
Jan 22 - Tu B'Shevat - Jewish New Year for Trees. Sounds more like a New Age holiday to me. Just how many new years do you guys have?
Jan 23 - John Hancock's birthday - Note to self: when signing important, history making documents, write really big for immortality.
Jan 24 - Economic Liberation Day - Togo. I'm sure living in poverty makes you feel economically liberated.
Jan 25 - Burns Night - Scotland. Haggis is disgusting.
Jan 26 - Australia Day - Well, duh. Let's have some shrimp on the barbie. Mmm...shrimp on the barbie...
Jan 27 - National Activity Professionals Day - If you are an activity professional, kindly write me and let me know what it is that you do.
Jan 28 - Democracy Day - Rwanda. Because you're a democracy if you have elections!
Jan 29 - Martyrs Memorial Day - Nepal. My favorite restaurant in DC was a Nepalese place. Oh, was the spinach and potato dish beautiful! It closed down, though, as it was too close to Dupont Circle and all of the chain stores pushed the costs of rent through the roof.
Jan 30 - FDR's birthday - Now there's a guy who changed the course of history.
Jan 31 - Nauru Independence Day - No, I cannot point to Nauru on a map. It's somewhere in the Pacific. Also: Nolan Ryan's birthday.
Feb 1 - Imbolc/Oimelc/Brigid - Some pagan thing. People will probably go out to the woods, light fires, chant some nonsense, drink fake blood, and wear long, flowing dresses and robes that blow in the cold January wind.
Feb 2 - Groundhog Day - Will it be six more weeks until spring or six more weeks of winter? Also, my Uncle Matt's birthday. Happy Birthday! Also: National Change Your Windshield Wipers Day. Seriously, shouldn't you know to do that anyway? Don't answer that.
Feb 3 - Bean Scattering Day - Shinto holiday. Throw those beans! (But not Bean Stringfellow, Cordero's agent.)
Feb 4 - Commencement of the Armed Struggle - Angola. Don't most countries celebrate the ENDS of their wars?
Feb 5 - Mardi Gras! - Fat Tuesday, when people indulge in hedonistic pleasures in a manner that surely would disgust the one who gets the next forty days of their attention. Theoretically, anyway. Also: my mom's birthday. Happy birthday! Also: Super Tuesday - Presidential candidates will be decided.
Feb 6 - Ash Wednesday - When Protestants wonder why some people's foreheads are so dirty. Marks the start of a 40 day period called Lent when Christians make "sacrifices" like giving up chocolate. Also: Bob Marley Day and Waitangi Day.
Feb 7 - Chinese New Year - Oh man, egg rolls sound good right now. I know there's a Chinese restaurant somewhere in this town...
Feb 8 - Boy Scout Day - Are there still Boy Scouts? I thought kids these days sat around playing video games or watching television and not developing bone mass that is going to cause a massive outbreak of osteoporosis fifty years from now?
Feb 9 - Feast of St. Maron - Lebanon. Mmm...feast. Hummus, falafel, babaganoush...
Feb 10 - Feast of St. Paul's Shipwreck - Because it's always good to celebrate transportation accidents, right?
Feb 11 - Vasanta Panchami/Saraswati Puja - Hindi holiday. Birthday of the Goddess of Wisdom. Wisdom is good. There's not enough of it in the world.
Feb 12 - Lincoln's birthday - Get rid of pennies!
Feb 13 - Jerry Springer's birthday - What do you get when you cross a black transsexual with a KKK wizard? An ex-mayor of Cincinnati.
Feb 14 - St. Valentine's Day - A holy day ruined by Hallmark. Also: PITCHERS AND CATCHERS REPORT TO SPRING TRAINING! Also: Winemaker's Day in Bulgaria. See why I like it here?
Feb 15 - National Flag Day of Canada - Thank you, Canada, for Arcade Fire. And for Joey Votto.
Feb 16 - Kim Jong-il's Birthday - How many people will he kill on this day?
Feb 17 - Random Acts of Kindness Day - Because you can't just be nice all year around? Also: National Public Science Day, because science is something you "believe in," right?
Feb 18 - President's Day - Stuffed between Lincoln's and Washington's birthdays, I'm not sure what the point of this being a federal holiday except maybe to give people a day off work so they can go to those big mattress sales at those stores where you never see anyone. Why don't we have Congress Day or Supreme Court Justices Day? Maybe we should - one in March and one in August when there are no federal holidays.
Feb 19 - National Flag Day - Turkmenistan. This year, their dictator will finally get around to putting his face on the flag. It's everywhere else in the country.
Feb 20 - Kurt Cobain's birthday - He was murdered, I tell you!
Feb 21 - Lantern Festival - China. I still can't believe Beijing got the Olympics.
Feb 22 - George Washington's birthday - I cannot tell a lie - you can't throw anything across the Potomac.
Feb 23 - Defender of the Fatherland Day - Russia. Who's gonna defend the journalists?
Feb 24 - Día de la Bandera - Mexico. Speaking of Banderas, Antonio's here in Bulgaria shooting a new movie.
Feb 25 - Norriture Rituelle des sources têt d' l'eau - Voodoo. A day when I will pour water over Voodoo Albert's head to drown his baseball skills.
Feb 26 - Liberation Day - Kuwait. The Iraq war that was justified.
Feb 27 - Dominican Republic Independence Day - Our new closer's homeland.
Feb 28 - FIRST SPRING TRAINING GAME! WOOHOO!
Feb 29 - Leap Day - One of the most bizarre necessities of human civilization. I wonder if Hallmark makes Happy Leap Day cards. Probably. They never miss an opportunity to make a buck or a billion.
Mar 1 - National Pig Day - Oh, I could really, really go for some Burbank's pulled pork right now. Also: St. David's Day, the patron saint of Wales. I don't care, I want the pork!
Mar 2 - Texas Independence Day - Good riddance. I hate the Asstros.
Mar 3 - Casimir Pulaski Day - Chicago holiday real Chub$ fans should know. Like the Sufjan Stevens song. Also: Doll Day in Japan. What if you have pediophobia? Also: a National Day in Bulgaria. Beer will be drunk.
Mar 4 - Town Meeting Day - Vermont. Shouldn't they meet more than once a year to run their towns?
Mar 5 - National Tree Planting Day - Iran. Because Iran really gives a damn about the planet.
Mar 6 - Alamo Day - Traitors!
Mar 7 - Anniversary of Bell's patent for the telephone. If only he could see his invention now. Wonder what his ringtone would be?
Mar 8 - International Women's Day - Because we're people, too!
Mar 9 - Baron Bliss Day - In Belize. I don't know what it is, but it sounds cool!
Mar 10 - Dry Season Celebration - In Myanmar. What happens if it rains on the celebration?
Mar 11 - Anniversary of Gorbachev coming to power. Fools were we to believe Russia would ever become a democratic state.
Mar 12 - Girl Scout Day - Mmm...Thin Mints...
Mar 13 - Revolutionary Attack on the Presidential Palace Day in Cuba - Castro's dead. Get over it.
Mar 14 - World Book Day - Turn off your freaking television! And Harry Potter books are for children! Read about Pi since it's also Pi Day!
Mar 15 - St. Lazarus' Day - Celebrated by Bulgarians. More beer surely involved. Also: Ides of March. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and leads your friends to kill you.
Mar 16 - Palm Sunday - I worship palm trees. I wish I could see them now instead of seeing my breath. Also: Freedom of Information Day. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Right.
Mar 17 - Guinness Day - The only commercialized holy day I have no problem with. Except for the Irish bars who charge a cover to get in. Yeah, you, 4 P's. And they raise the price of a pint by $2 to $7! What greedy pigs! This is about my favorite day of the year, but it sucks in DC. I've had the good fortune of being in Dublin twice for the day - awesome! Oh yeah, and that St. Patrick guy? They say he drove the snakes out of Ireland. He also introduced a big snake to the island.
Mar 18 - Recovery Day - Where's the aspirin?
Mar 19 - My grandma's birthday. Happy birthday! Also: St. Joseph's Day.
Mar 20 - Big day for holidays - Purim is celebrated by Jews, Muhammed's birthday is celebrated by Muslims, Petroleum Day is celebrated by Iran, and World Frog Day is celebrated by the whole world. Isn't it?
Mar 21 - VERNAL EQUINOX! SPRING! LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL! - Also: Good Friday and the Persian New Year, among other things.
Mar 22 - North American Wildlife Celebration - I'll pass on meeting a bear in the woods, thank you.
Mar 23 - Easter Sunday - What is supposed to be the holiest day in the Christian year and the reason for Christianity's existence is celebrated with giant rabbits bringing eggs and chocolates. I blame the dental industry, Cadbury, and Hallmark.
Mar 24 - Easter Monday - Lots of aching children's tummies. You know, I really like Cadbury Eggs. They're really about the only sweet things I love.
Mar 25 - Waffle Day - Seriously. In Sweden.
Mar 26 - Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana`ole Day - Hawaii. Do they know how lucky they are?
Mar 27 - Skyscraper Day - Just wow.
Mar 28 - Anniversary of the death of Virginia Woolf. Are you afraid?
Mar 29 - Cy Young's bithday - Holds the MLB record for most losses.
Mar 30 - E$PN extra profits game. Not Opening Day.
Mar 31 - OPENING DAY BEGINS WHEN THE ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS LOSE TO AARON HARANG AND THE 2008 NL CENTRAL CHAMPION CINCINNATI REDS! Truth be told, I wish they started the season against a more interesting team.

So you see, we still have what seems to be a lifetime between now and our holy day. But hey, at least that gives Wayne some time to trade for one more starting pitcher!

The Difference a Day Makes

Yesterday I was sitting outside at a baseball game convinced that Spring was standing outside the door waiting for us to answer it. The poetry of baseball flowed through my veins, and the sweet joy of the season seemed within reach.

Today I wake up and can't even drive to the grocery on account of the city's inability to clear roads of weather. This is the view from my bedroom window, a full picture of February gloom. Baseball seems as distant as the warmth and light it brings with it.

Why does this always happen on the weekend? Twenty-four hours later would have meant a free day from work!

Good news for those of us who subscribe to both MLB.TV and Gameday Audio. Gameday Audio is now part of the MLB.TV package.
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Ping!

It was a gorgeous day - cold but good enough for a doubleheader of George Washington versus Maryland baseball.

The cold did not bother me at first, for the sight before me was too beautiful - the green field, blue sky, bright red and yellow uniforms...It was such a thrill to be watching live baseball that I didn't think about the cold until about the 7th inning of the first game, when I had to step into the student union for a coffee to warm up. It made me miss college, and it made me feel old!

Sitting in a baseball stadium was a rebirth of sorts. Even the ice resting coldly on the concrete of the bleachers was not enough to keep away thoughts of Spring's proximity to the present. Those of us sitting in the stands could easily fool ourselves into thinking Spring had arrived while listening to the sound of a pitch hitting a glove.

I had the camera out - it's Spring Training for me, too! Gotta learn how to take decent baseball shots so I can 'shop em throughout the season. I moved around to all parts of the stadium, which had a decent crowd for the second game, especially given that the mercury did not go much higher than forty degrees - and that wind!

The starting pitcher for game 1 was Ryan Moorer. Moorer was selected in the 13th round of the 2004 Draft by the Chicago Cubs but opted to go to college. He pitched 6 innings giving up 1 run on 5 hits while striking out 3 and walking 1. Moorer is now 2-0 in the young season and I'm looking forward to going up to College Park a couple more times to watch him pitch. Several scouts were in the stands, and judging from their behavior, they were only there to see Moorer. I thought perhaps the job of baseball scout could be kind of lonely. All of the scouts were by themselves and talked to no one.

This scout was not very fond of the cold. He only appeared when Moore was pitching and stuck around for the pitcher who followed him in relief. I wanted to interview him but thought that I don't like to be bothered when I am working, so why should he? I guess I wouldn't be a good journalist because I don't have the gall to go up to people and ask them for interviews and felt bad enough just for snapping this photo. But like I said, it's Spring Training for me, too, so perhaps I'll warm up to interviews as the weather warms.


Mike Murphy was the third baseman for the Terps. I immediately took a liking to him because of the Irish music that played when he came up to bat. I know it's a dumb reason to like a player, but I didn't know any of them. I'm vaguely familiar with College Baseball but don't watch much of it until it gets close to the College World Series. Back in the day, I used to sit in the bleachers at Miami games and study. Perhaps this odd study habit contributes to the fact that I am more productive at work when watching baseball games?

Murphy was the leadoff hitter. He went 1-3 with a walk and was hit by a pitch in game 1 and was 1-5 with an RBI in game 2. The guy hit .290 last year as a true freshmen, starting 47 games at third. He seems to have a pretty good arm judging from the five assists I saw him earn. Small sample size, huh?

Maryland played game 1 in red and switched to black for game 2, hence the reason Mike has different shirts on.

Behind the plate for game 1 and DH'ing during game 2 was Chad Durakis. Durakis is supposed to be a power hitting catcher. I don't know much about college baseball, as I said, but the guy hits a lot of linedrives. I don't know how that translates into professional home runs. In game 1 he was 3-3, including a double, with 4 RBI and was hit by a pitch. In game 2 he was 0-4. Can't get much more extreme than that.



Here are some more photos from the game. You can click on them to make them superhuge, as I didn't bother resizing them, though I did crop them where necessary. They're all over the place because that's where Blogger puts them.

Winter of My Content, Part 2

A mural at the 86th Street stop on the 1 line.














A Yanks fan with cap in East Village.















Yanks gear at Times Square.



















A couple of pubs with baseball in the windows.






























Guy with Reds cap on subway.













Even the buses! LOL.















I've posted these photos here for a couple of reasons, the first being just to show that baseball is everywhere in New York. The bigger reason, though, is to see if posting photos slows down your page download time to the point where you just click away from the blog. Does anyone have problems viewing if I post a lot of photos here?

The third and final part of my photos from New York will be posted tonight or tomorrow.
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