In the grand scheme of things...
Heartfelt condolences to Wes Leonard's family and friends and everyone else affected by his sudden death last night. Man oh man. Here's the story. Yes, the next logical step is to determine the cause, but first let everyone come together and mourn/honor his memory. My cousin David also just passed away, yesterday. Moving on is fine, but grieving comes first.
I hope you will excuse me if I continue this blog post in a less somber tone, focusing on baseball. It's just a reminder that sports are fun and all, but there's far greater gravity to be found elsewhere in life. (And now that epic Heat collapse against the Magic doesn't quite seem so significant.)
The Blue Jays lost to the Pirates in Spring Training action yesterday, but if you read the recap, you'd see that the main story according to the reporting writer was Brett Cecil's three scoreless innings.
(Former Lugnuts update, Blue Jays edition -- Darin Mastroianni, 1-1, single; John Tolisano, 0-2; Moises Sierra, 0-1; David Cooper, 0-3; Jake Marisnick, 0-1. No pitchers. Former Lugnuts w/ Toronto are now 5-for-34.)
This is one of those weird things about Spring Training write-ups -- writers realize that March games are meaningless, and so they use their game recap space to write up a player profile piece and ignore 90% of what happened in the game. (Then at the end of March, they'll start realizing... hey, look at so-and-so, hitting the cover off the ball for the past few weeks!)
Elsewhere, for example:
From ESPN's Sweet Spot, Bill Parker writes that the BBWAA has made no bigger mistake than their treatment of Lou Whitaker as a Hall of Fame candidate. To sum up, briefly: Whit was a tremendous defender and his offensive skills were just about as good as Ryne Sandberg. He wasn't as powerful but he reached base more often and he played in a more difficult park for hitters than Sandberg. I grew up revering Whitaker and Alan Trammell. If/when the two of them receive their just due and end up in Cooperstown, by hook or by crook, I shall do my darndest to be on hand.I hope you will excuse me if I continue this blog post in a less somber tone, focusing on baseball. It's just a reminder that sports are fun and all, but there's far greater gravity to be found elsewhere in life. (And now that epic Heat collapse against the Magic doesn't quite seem so significant.)
The Blue Jays lost to the Pirates in Spring Training action yesterday, but if you read the recap, you'd see that the main story according to the reporting writer was Brett Cecil's three scoreless innings.
(Former Lugnuts update, Blue Jays edition -- Darin Mastroianni, 1-1, single; John Tolisano, 0-2; Moises Sierra, 0-1; David Cooper, 0-3; Jake Marisnick, 0-1. No pitchers. Former Lugnuts w/ Toronto are now 5-for-34.)
This is one of those weird things about Spring Training write-ups -- writers realize that March games are meaningless, and so they use their game recap space to write up a player profile piece and ignore 90% of what happened in the game. (Then at the end of March, they'll start realizing... hey, look at so-and-so, hitting the cover off the ball for the past few weeks!)
Elsewhere, for example:
- Jordan Zimmermann's return was considered the most important thing in the Nats/Cards game (a slugfest won by Washington, 7-5)
- The Tigers lost to the Braves, 4-3, in a dramatic walk-off decision... but let's focus on Chipper Jones instead
- Yes, the Astros defeated the Marlins, 5-3... but really, don't you want to hear about Jason Castro's surgery?
- Hey, look, Freddy Garcia wants to make the Yankees rotation. Also, the Yanks and Rays played to a 1-1 10-inning tie.
Remember Robinson Chirinos? He played for the Lugs in 2003 and 2004, and now he looks to be on the verge of making the Majors with Tampa Bay (after coming over from the Cubs in the Matt Garza trade). Thus far this spring, he's 3-for-7 with a double, a home run, and a team-high five RBIs in just four games. There weren't any ex-Lugnuts who made their Major League debut in 2010 - I'm hoping that gets rectified this year.
Comments