Albert Pujols won his second MVP award today, and I’m feeling quite relieved. I was prepared to swear off baseball if Ryan Howard won the award. I refuse to believe a player who barely bats .250 and strikes out 199 times is the most valuable player in a league. Of course, his team won the World Series, but so did Pujols’ team in 2006 when Howard won the MVP award.
I can proceed waiting five month more months till next season.
17 November 2008 – 11:48 PM
Back in 2002, I visited several California Missions. My first stop was to San Juan Capistrano, but I arrived there after the mission was closed, so I never got to see inside of the walls.
Now that I live in California, and I theoretically would have an easier time at it, I could finish the trip I started back then. However, I admit my interest has waned on the subject. After seeing Mission San Juan Capistrano yesterday, though, I was reminded of why I was so taken with the missions.
There’s a link to the past I feel when I’m at these missions. I imagine the people who occupied the same ground 200 years ago. When I looked at the ruins of Mission San Juan Capistrano, I smiled, and said to myself, “Wow. Imperialism.”
Imperialism, since 1776.
Baptizing the savage boy in a loin cloth…
Richard Nixon rang these bells.
There was an 1880s reenactment that day.
I also headed down to San Diego for the first time in 20 years. I went to the Padres–Braves game. It was 1998 NL Championship Celebration and Family Fireworks Night. I’ve never really followed the Padres. The only recollection I had about their 1998 season was that they were swept by the Yankees in the World Series. However, I found myself almost teary eyed during the pre-game ceremony. Members of the 1998 team were there, including Kevin Brown (for how much, I wonder…) and Ken Caminiti (in spirit), and then millionaires and alleged drug users threw out the ceremonial first pitches to current members of the Padres. Then, they hugged and shook hands while “Now and Forever” played.
I thought the choice of music seemed odd because of the general machismo of baseball. (”Now and Forever” was the opening song for A League of Their Own.) Then, to turn the celebration up a notch, they played “We Are Family” (you know, “I’ve got all my sisters with me”). I had a great time, though, and the game had some good “small ball” plays. I mean, Greg Maddux stole a base, for chrissake.
Out of the 13 ballparks I’ve been to (two of which are now defunct), I must say PETCO Park is the nicest one I’ve seen. I wasn’t that enamored with the old ballparks that everyone ogles over (Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, Yankee Stadium) and I also thought new ballparks were pretty lame (AT&T/SBC/Pacific Bell Park, Minute Maid Park/Astros Field/Enron Field). But, you can’t trust my opinion. I like Shea Stadium.
When I first heard that this ballpark was going to be named PETCO Park, I thought it was a silly idea. PETCO? But, now that I’m a pet owner, and I’ve seen the PETCO mascots, I think it’s kind of cool. Much better than Qualcomm Stadium.
The ballpark feels intimate, yet the field is big. No easy homeruns. I liked how the ballpark faced the skyline and blended into the urban landscape, while the ocean breeze blew from behind. Airplanes touched down in the distance. It was incredible. To watch the fireworks, the people who sat in the lawn and bleacher areas during the game were allowed to sit on the field. I thought that was a nice gesture.
13 July 2008 – 2:00 PM
As implicated in a previous post, I’m not a fan of Roger Clemens. I may think Roger Clemens is a fat mercenary, but I’m saddened that he was named in the Mitchell Report. As I gleaned the 400+ page report, I thought of the paragraph from Seth Stevenson’s essay where he says:
It started, Mr. Clemens, when you left the Sox in 1996. You were in a steady decline, and seemed on the cusp of retirement. Then you signed with the Blue Jays and put up two Cy Young campaigns in a row, completely owning the league. Putz.
Stevenson attributed it to Clemens only trying hard when he feels like it. But, now, allegedly (and I say that like Kathy Griffin would), it was because he took steroids.
I feel sad about a player that I don’t even like, mostly because he’s supposedly the “greatest pitcher of all time” and baseball achievement means something to me. I don’t think I can look at baseball the same way anymore.
14 December 2007 – 10:00 PM
In light of Roger Clemens’ start today, I am reminded of one of my favorite written pieces by Seth Stevenson, “I hate you, Roger Clemens.” It’s an eloquent piece.
$28 million for this guy? Prorated, of course,
because God forbid he play an entire season.
27 June 2007 – 7:30 PM
I was going through some baseball cards I have lying around and I came across this 1991 Fleer card for Bill Pecota:
Just because a guy has a lifetime batting line of .249 BA, 22 HR, 148 RBI doesn’t mean that Fleer ought to immortalize him swinging and missing. After all, he only struck out 160 times in 1527 AB. Plus, he seems to be the only player with the name Pecota to have played in MLB.
24 April 2006 – 1:00 PM