Odd Thoughts on the Billboard Charts
Today I thought I'd take a look at the Billboard web site and see what sort of
things those crazy kids listen to these days. I haven't listened to the radio in
a while and I'm pretty much stuck in a musical rut, which I don't mind. I still
listen to new music, it's just new music from the old bands I've always liked.
Anyway, I have to admit that I am astounded at what I see on the charts. I
figured when I did this I'd at least have to read the lyrics of some of these
songs to make fun of them, but I don't even have to do that. Of the top 10
songs, only two (Unwell by Matchbox 20 and Miss Independent by Kelly Clarkson)
are free from silly/slangy spelling in the titles or the name of the artist. The
other eight spots are done by folks like Beyonce featuring Jay-Z, Chingy, 50
Cent (twice), Lumidee, Ginuwine, and Uncle Kracker singing songs with titles
like Rock Wit U, Right Thurr, and P.I.M.P. A name like 50 Cent (not cents, mind
you) tells me all I need to know about that performer. Jay-Z, Uncle Kracker, and
Ginuwine all fall into the category of silly spelling. I don't mind the sound of
Uncle Kracker, but I just can't get past that "K." And Ginuwine? Is that some
kind heavy-duty daiquiri? And then there's Chingy and Lumidee. Now that I think
about it though, Chingy Lumidee Booth wouldn't be a bad name if we have another
daughter. I almost wish I could go back and use it now, but I guess it's too
late. But be warned: Amy and I will be very upset if any of you folks out there
steal Chingy Lumidee from us before we get to use it.
Mariner Report
The Mariners are still playing poorly, and the month longs slump is really
starting to show itself in the standings. Our lead over the A's is only 3. I've
been told by readers of this report that I should worry about the season - I
should worry about the post-season. Well, at the rate we're going, there won't
be a post-season. The M's have wasted many opportunities to pull away from the
A's, and there won't be a wildcard shot. The Redsox are playing quite well thses
days; a division title is the only shot. In my opinion, the M's need two things:
1) bullpen help and 2) a big bat in the middle of the line up. The first need
will be taken care of when Kazuhiro Sasaki comes back and the other guys in the
pen can go back to their normal roles. The second need is a bit more difficult.
Obviously it would have to involve a trade, and I think we afford to do it. I
don't really know who we should go get, but I think Freddy Garcia will be the
guy we give to get him. Gracia has been the least consistent pitcher on the
staff, but he's young enough and has had enough past success that he still has
value around the league. Furthermore, he's a free agent next year, and clearly
not the M's long term plans. Otherwise, why would we have only given him a a
1-year deal? The rest of the rotation is strong, and Rafael Soriano can be moved
into the rotation to take Garcia's spot. I noticed that Melvin let Soriano go 4
innings last Friday against Texas. Why would a manager use his bullpen like that
unless he was grooming a guy to be a starter? Now, the question that remains is
who to get. Well, given the needs of the team, it would have to be a left
fielder or a third baseman. If we limit ourselves to those two positions and
assume that all the teams below .500 are sellers, then here's the list of
possibilities: Jeff Conine (BAL, OF-1B), Dmitri Young (DET, OF-3B-1B), Geoff
Jenkins (MIL, OF), Rondell White (SD, OF), Ryan Klesko (SD, OF-1B), Raul Mondesi
(NYY, OF), and J.D. Drew (STL, OF). If I had a choice out of this group, believe
it or not, I take Dmitri Young. His stats look good, but they're even better
when you consider he doing it for Detroit, in a giant ballpark, with no line up
protection. He plays third well enough to keep Randy Winn in the outfield, he is
a career .294 hitter, and he hits from both sides of the plate. However, I
haven't heard anything about the Tigers looking to part with him, and I don't
know what his contract status is. The second best idea is Drew. The Cardinals
have acknowledged wanting, or needing, to trade him for a starting pitcher. We
have a starting pitcher to give up. The specualation could go on and on, but
let's hope something happens this week, instead of just watch the A's role past
us this August like the did last August. Hopefully our general manager can shake
off the nick-name "Stand Pat" Gillick.
Mariner of the Week: This will actually be the Mariner of the Last 10 Days. My
choice is Ryan Franklin. Franklin has been the hard-luck pitcher on the team
this year, but he really stepped up big against the A's last Wednesday. Franklin
fired a two-hit shutout - the first of his career. Since the All-Star break
Franklin is 1-0 in 2 starts, allowing only 3 runs in 16 innings (1.69 ERA), and
6 strikeouts. He's throwing for us tonight against the Rangers.
Hall of Fame
Gary Carter and Eddie Murray were officially inducted into the Baseball Hall of
Fame today. Carter, who began his career as a member of the Montreal Expos in
1974, was one of my first baseball heroes when he starred for the Mets in the
mid and late 80’s. Carter was one of the greatest catchers of all-time and truly
deserves this honor. In addition to his twelve years in Montreal and five years
in New York, Carter spent one season as a Giant and one as a Dodger. Carter will
wear an Expos cap on his plaque; he is the only Montreal representative in the
Hall of Fame. Career Highlights: 11 time All-Star, 3 time gold glove winner, 2
time All-Star game MVP (1981, 1984), 4 top ten MVP finishes including 2nd in
1980, Led NL in RBI in 1984 (106), 324 career home runs (3rd all-time as a
catcher), 1225 RBI, 2,092 hits, .262 average. Murray came up with the Baltimore
Orioles in 1977 and made an immediate impact, winning the AL Rookie of the Year
Award. Murray was never the very best player in the game, and except for a
shared lead in the strike-shortened 1981 season, never led his league in any
statistical category. He was, however, very consistent, hitting 20+ homers in 16
of 21 seasons. Murray spent twelve years in Baltimore, three as a Dodger, two as
a Met, three as an Indian, and partial seasons as an Angel, back with the
Orioles, and back with the Dodgers. He will wear an O’s cap in the Hall. Career
Highlights: 8 time All-Star, 1977 AL Rookie of the Year, 3 time gold glove
winner, 8 top ten MVP finishes (2nd in 1982 and 1983), 6th all-time in games and
at bats (3,026 & 11,336), 12th in hits (3,255), 8th in total bases (5,397), 17th
in doubles (560), 19th in home runs (504), and 8th in RBI (1,917).
Name Game
Since I read Bart's post about naming, I've spent some time thinking about the
sorts of reasons people have for naming their children. I came up with 4 reasons
(in no particular order): sound, meaning, ethnicity, history (whether familial
or broader historical context). Obviously in America the sound of a name takes
precedent in most cases. I can't deny that sound was the primary reason for the
name we chose. Most of the reformed/intellectual sorts tend to argue for meaning
and history as the best reasons for choosing a name, but I've been wondering if
that position is missing something. My question is mostly directed toward the
linguist sorts among us (Courtney Huntington, Jeremy Wilkins, Doug Jones, Matt
Greydanus), but everyone should feel free to give their two cents. Anyway,
here's the question: what role should the sound of the words have in child
naming? It seems that J.R.R. Tolkien put a lot of emphasis on sound when he
created his various languages, and the same reformed/intellectual types referred
to above love to talk about sound in poetry and the way certain words fit
together.
Mariner Report
The M's were still unable to climb above .500 for the week, as we have shown
ourselves to be excellent when it comes to loosing series' to loosing teams
(this week it was Baltimore). The bullpen is still my biggest complaint.
However, we have a little break to look forward to and a schedule that looks
favorable for the rest of the month. After the break, we have three against
Kansas City, a team that we've been able to handle pretty well so far this year.
Brett Boone will be representing us in the Home Run Derby tomorrow. Boone
appeared in one Derby before (2001) and failed to get out of the first round.
I'll be rooting for him, but he is far from being the favorite. With a 3 for 4
day, Ichiro has taken his rightful spot atop the AL batting average chart
(.352). Let's hope that the second half goes better for us than it did last
year.
Mariner of the Week: In a surprise turn, I’m going with Willie Bloomquist based
on the strength of one game. Willie hit his first major league home run on
Sunday with a grand slam in the first inning. He also made a spectacular
defensive play at third base. It was a definite Web Gem. He went 2 for 5 on the
day with 6 RBI’s. For the week he went 5 for 10 (he hit the cycle during the
week) with 7 RBI’s.
MLB Report
I've covered and complained about all-stars, I've made a few observations about
the first half, so there's only a few items remaining before we head into the
all-star break. Has anybody noticed how hot Sammy Sosa has been lately? For a
guy that has missed about 25 games this season, his season numbers are not far
off from where they should be (18, 50, .310). In the last three weeks he's been
even better (11, 20, .338). Barry Bonds made it to 30 home runs before the
break, giving him 643 career, just 17 short of Willie Mays for third on the
all-time list. I expect he'll do it this year. Assuming he finishes the year
with 55 (668), he'll be just 46 away from passing Babe Ruth (713) - 88 away from
passing Hank Aaron (755). He may not be the most valuable player in the game (in
terms of a paycheck), but he is still the most feared hitter in the game. It
seems safe to say that when someone asked who the greatest player of all time
is, Bonds has to be in the discussion. Blue Jays star Carlos Delgado enters the
break with 97 RBIs. He's on pace for 167 for the year. That would tie him with
Joe DiMaggio's 1937 total at #11. Only two players in recent memory have driven
in 160 (Sosa, 160, 2001 & Manny Ramirez 165, 1999). Juan Pierre of the Marlins
has already stolen 44 bases. So he's on pace for 80+, which is not record
setting, but no player has stolen 80 or more since 1988 (Vince Coleman, 81 &
Rickey Henderson, 93). Of course John Smoltz and Eric Gagne are both on pace to
set the single-season saves record (57, Bobby Thigpen, 1990). Smolt is already
#2 on that list with 55 saves last year. Ichiro is leading the majors with 137
hits and is on pace for 239. That would give him 689 hits in his first 3
seasons. This is a hard record to research, but I did my best. I looked through
the top 100 on the all-time hit list. The only person even close in his first
three seasons is Lloyd Waner who had 678 hits from 1927-29. I realized how great
a feat that was when I looked through the same list to find players who could
exceed that hit total in any three consecutive seasons in their career. I found
only two: 703, Rogers Hornsby and 719 George Sisler. Both did it in the years
1920-22 and both hit over .400 at least once in that span (Hornsby .401 in 1922,
Sisler .407 in 1920 and .420 in 1922). Based on some rough projections, Ichiro
would need 270 hits to pass Sisler's total for a three-year span. That would
smash the single-season hit mark also held by Sisler (257 in 1920). Based on the
projection of Ichiro's at bat per game ratio, 270 hits would give him a .397
batting average. I suppose we can hope. The biggest projection questions for
this season involve Albert Pujols. There are two questions: 1) Can he hit .400?
2)Can he win the Triple Crown? He can't hit .400. He's just not the right type
to do it. He's right handed, not especially quick, gets too many walks, and
opposing teams want to pitch around him. (Ichiro seems to be thge most likely
candidate of current MLB players to pull off the feat - he's the opposite of all
my objections about Pujols - but it still seems unlikely to me that anybody will
do it again, including Ichiro.) Pujols could, however, win the Triple Crown.
He's running away with the batting title, 4th in home runs, and second in RBIs.
Of the players ahead of him in home runs, only Bonds is proven home run hitter,
and pitchers pitch around him more than any other player in the game, which
drives his home run totals down, and the other two guys (Jim Edmonds and Mike
Lowell) both have good pop, but neither has been a perenial slugger. Pujols has
better guys batting in front of him than Preston Wilson, who is currently ahead
of Pujols in RBI's. I'm not making a promise that Pujols will pull it off, but I
think he has the ability to do it, and I'm rooting for him to pull it off.
Shasta: 9/1/89 - 7/10/03
If you’ve seen verbingnouns today, then you're aware of our family loss. After
Dad called to tell me Shasta died I spent some time this afternoon thinking
about the nature of the relationship between people and pets (particularly
dogs). Dogs are a special gift from God for man. Aside from the many useful
things dogs have done over the years, they also provide a simple joy just to be
around (at least good dogs). Dad said it best in his comment on Christin's post
titled Shasta:
Your mom and I feel very sad today. We were sad to see her suffer and sad to see
her go. We cried, but we also knew it was time.
As a part of our family, Shasta received the benefits of the covenant household
-- since I belong to God so do the things I possess – children, land, money and
animals -- they are extensions of me -- it is my children, my land, my money and
my animals.
Animals are blessings at many levels, but pets are special because they bring us
joy, entertainment, companionship, comfort and more. It seems odd to say of an
animal, “she has her own personality,” (since she is not really a person), but
what else do you call it? Your dog treats you like you’re a god; it’s close to
worship. No matter how the world has treated you that day, your dog still loves
you and thrills at your presence. A pat on the head, a scratch on the belly, a
toss of the ball, or a chase around the yard is all it takes to give them pure
delight. In many ways they remind us of what’s important. (Who doesn’t want a
pat on the head -- or somewhere -- from time-to-time?)
Shasta was playful, affectionate, occasionally naughty, but always loyal and a
blessing to the Booth household. She was a gift from God. “The Lord gives and
the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” We will miss her.
Our Outrageous Government Strikes Again
Today I went to see one of my best and nicest customers. She is in her mid to
late sixties, and everytime I come she is keeping her four grandchildren. Today
when I arrived I noticed that the kids weren't there, so I asked about them. She
said that because her daughter was paying her to keep the kids ($60 a week) the
state of Louisiana would not allow her to watch the kids unless she successfully
completed a CPR training course. I have no speech.
Perhaps one of the most ridiculous things to do these days is to have bad art or
a silly bumper sticker on your car, but nothing says “I’m an idiot with a stupid
opinion” like a window sticker of Calvin peeing on something. Do people really
feel this strongly about a choice between Chevy, Dodge, and Ford? I’ve even seen
Toyota as one of the unfortunate recipients of Calvin’s uncontrollable angst.
Today I saw him relieving himself on Osama bin Laden. I would do this myself,
but I think I would appreciate a sticker of Calvin peeing on Calvin peeing.
Out of the Loop
I struggle and struggle each week to come up with something to post in addition
to the baseball stuff so that those of you who don't care about MLB will have
something to read and comment on too. I suppose I could do better if I had time
to look at the blogs the rest of you have. I just found out tonight that
Courtney and Lisa have a blog when I was looking at Jon's long list of links. I
just don't get around on the blogs enough. Maybe I should rename this place as
Ordinary Thoughts. I could go for cheap pop by getting Josh Melton all stired up
or complaining about race issues, but I don't really want to go that route. On
the other hand, no is news, I've come to believe, is generally good news. Maybe
some of you folks out there can give me a topic.
Mariner Report
I thoroughly enjoyed Saturday’s game in Arlington, as I had the privilege of
seeing our boys beat the Rangers in 10 innings. The pitching was very good.
Moyer pitched well, but got a no-decision and Rhodes, Nelson, Soriano (who won
the game), and Hasegawa (who saved the game) all looked sharp. The bats were a
bit slow, but we managed to score enough without it. Overall though, we stink. A
3 and 4 showing this week makes us 13 and 13 over the last four weeks.
Nevertheless, we are still the best team in baseball with a half game edge on
the Braves. Ordinarily, I would be looking forward to next week’s match-ups with
3 against Baltimore and 3 against Tampa Bay, but the way we’ve been playing, I’m
sure we’ll find a way to loose at least one of those series. On a note of minor
interest, Friday’s game will be Lou Piniella’s first time back in Seattle. I
expect the fans will give him a tremendous ovation. Although our record has not
been good of late, Freddie Garcia was named the AL pitcher of the month for
June, and we went the entire month without giving up an unearned run. Ichiro and
Edgar Martinez were both voted to start in the All-Star game, and not
surprisingly, Jamie Moyer and Brett Boone were named as reserves. Gil Meche got
the cold shoulder, but I am just elated that Shigetoshi Hasegawa made the team.
I’ve been pleased over the past few years that top notch middle relievers have
been chosen for the All-Star team, Hasegawa definitely fits the bill. (Although
Arthur Rhodes was severely snubbed for this honor in 2001 and 2002.) I do my
best to give praise to worthy Mariners, but even I have failed to give the
proper credit to Hasegawa. He has 44.1 innings pitched (more than any other M’s
reliever), a 1-0 record, 3 for 3 in save opportunities, and a microscopic 0.81
ERA. Thanks, Shigi. We couldn’t have done it without you.
Mariner of the Week: I got to give this weeks MOW to Jamie Moyer. After a few
down starts and poor run support, Moyer bounced back and got some run support
this week, winning 1 and getting a no-decision in another. In all he pitched 14
innings, gave up 3 runs (1.93), and struck out 5. Moyer ended his week by being
named to his first All-Star team in his 17th season.
MLB Report
There is not much to report this week besides the All-Star selections. So let me
give you The Real Game of the Week: Giants @ Diamondbacks, and move straight to
the mystery that is the All-Star teams. Click to see the NL team or the AL team.
Every year there are surprising selections by fans and managers as well as
significant snubs. The snubs are typically caused by bad voting on the part of
the fans, but this year I think the fans have done fairly well. I have no
disputes with the NL starters and in the AL I affirm six choices, am not
convinced of two (Hideki Matsui over several other deserving candidates and
Alfonso Soriano over Bret Boone), and strongly deny one (Troy Glaus over Hank
Blalock). I don’t dispute any of the reserves, but I need to qualify that
statement. There might be some players left off the team that deserve to be
there over another player who is there. But all the players that are going are
having All-Star caliber seasons. On the NL squad I was surprised by these
selections: Mike Williams (PIT), Paul Lo Duca (LAD), and Rondell White (SDP).
Notable NL snubs: Hideo Nomo (LAD), Octavio Dotel (HOU), Corey Patterson (CHC),
Juan Pierre (FLA). I was happy to see Sammy Sosa and Ivan Rodriguez (two players
I generally like) fail in the vote and then fail to be selected as a reserve;
they just don’t deserve it. On the AL team I was surprised by the selections of
Barry Zito (OAK), Lance Carter (TBD), Shigetoshi Hasegawa (SEA), and Carl
Everett (CHW/TEX). Notable AL snubs: Gil Meche (SEA), Sidney Ponson (BAL), Roger
Clemens (NYY – this is his last year, for crying out loud! I hate the Yankees,
but the guy is a baseball legend, and he has pitched well enough to deserve a
spot.), Aubrey Huff (TBD). Each team will have one more player who will be
elected by the fans. This is a really silly idea, but if you want to vote you
can do it at MLB.com. I am voting for Geoff Jenkins and Eric Byrnes, but Jason
Giambi and Benito Santiago will probably win.