Play ball!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
This Is the Pitching As Best As I Can Remember It
This is my favorite time of year - warmer weather, plants budding, and baseball beginning. After the very unstable start of the MLB season in Japan between the Red Sox and the A's, the real MLB season is about to begin. As always, the Texas Rangers are not expected to do much of anything. In fact, it will probably be considered a success if they win 70 games this year. Even so, I love baseball. (I am disappointed that the Rangers will only be televised on regular TV about 40 times this season. As one of the few remaining people in the country with just rabbit-ears as our TV service, I am frustrated that so many games will be on Fox Sports rather than My 27 or whatever the station is currently called.)
Of course, the Ranger problem this year is a familiar one - pitching. It has been maddening to see the many pitching duds come to town. From Oil Can Boyd to Chan Ho Park to Kevin Millwood, it seems that the Rangers have a hard time landing good pitching. So I began to wonder, "Who are the best pitchers I have ever personally seen pitch?" Not on TV, but in person, at the stadium (or Field, or Ballpark). Here's what I have determined are the best pitchers I have ever seen (in no particular order):
1. Nolan Ryan - Arlington Stadium - early 90s. Even though I missed his 7th no-hitter (9th grade Biology Bug project), I was fortunate enough to see Ryan on other occasions. Definitely one of the greatest.
2. Greg Maddux - Wrigley Field 2006. I don’t have a list of things to do before I die, but if I did, I always said that watching Greg Maddux in person would be one of them. In my opinion, he is the best pitcher in my lifetime. I know that he has deteriorated a bit over the last few years, but in his prime, the Cy Young Award could have been renamed the Greg Maddux Award. Nothing imposing about his presence, just knows how to pitch.
3. Roger Clemens - Fenway 91? and Tampa 2002. I will set aside his performance enhancing drug use to say this - He was awesome to watch in person. While he was with the Red Sox, I saw him at Fenway, then as a Yankee, he was making a rehab start for the Yankees AAA team in Tampa. I got to watch him for a $1. He has the presence and he was good.
4. Pedro Martinez - Spring Training 2002. Yes it was just a Spring Training game, but he was amazing. I am glad I got to see him in person. He may rival Greg Maddux as the greatest pitcher of my lifetime.
Honorable Mention - Kenny Rogers - Ballpark - Perfect Game. I only saw the last inning. I was working one summer at the Ballpark, exchanging the vendor's money for their product. As he got closer to the perfect game, the vendors began to cash out for the night so they could go watch it. I counted the money quickly and headed out too. I sat in the outfield bleachers with $5000 in a bag, high-five-ing drunk guys all around me. It was awesome. And I made it to the bank safely with the money too.
Well, that's my list.
Of course, the Ranger problem this year is a familiar one - pitching. It has been maddening to see the many pitching duds come to town. From Oil Can Boyd to Chan Ho Park to Kevin Millwood, it seems that the Rangers have a hard time landing good pitching. So I began to wonder, "Who are the best pitchers I have ever personally seen pitch?" Not on TV, but in person, at the stadium (or Field, or Ballpark). Here's what I have determined are the best pitchers I have ever seen (in no particular order):
1. Nolan Ryan - Arlington Stadium - early 90s. Even though I missed his 7th no-hitter (9th grade Biology Bug project), I was fortunate enough to see Ryan on other occasions. Definitely one of the greatest.
2. Greg Maddux - Wrigley Field 2006. I don’t have a list of things to do before I die, but if I did, I always said that watching Greg Maddux in person would be one of them. In my opinion, he is the best pitcher in my lifetime. I know that he has deteriorated a bit over the last few years, but in his prime, the Cy Young Award could have been renamed the Greg Maddux Award. Nothing imposing about his presence, just knows how to pitch.
3. Roger Clemens - Fenway 91? and Tampa 2002. I will set aside his performance enhancing drug use to say this - He was awesome to watch in person. While he was with the Red Sox, I saw him at Fenway, then as a Yankee, he was making a rehab start for the Yankees AAA team in Tampa. I got to watch him for a $1. He has the presence and he was good.
4. Pedro Martinez - Spring Training 2002. Yes it was just a Spring Training game, but he was amazing. I am glad I got to see him in person. He may rival Greg Maddux as the greatest pitcher of my lifetime.
Honorable Mention - Kenny Rogers - Ballpark - Perfect Game. I only saw the last inning. I was working one summer at the Ballpark, exchanging the vendor's money for their product. As he got closer to the perfect game, the vendors began to cash out for the night so they could go watch it. I counted the money quickly and headed out too. I sat in the outfield bleachers with $5000 in a bag, high-five-ing drunk guys all around me. It was awesome. And I made it to the bank safely with the money too.
Well, that's my list.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Happy Easter
It hasn't felt like Holy Week to me this year. Maybe it's because Easter is so early this year, maybe it's because I no longer work in a church so I am not as mindful of it, or maybe it's just me. But I have had to remind myself that this is Holy Week. So I have been reading the crucifixion and resurrection stories in the Gospels, reminding myself of God's amazing love for us.
One passage in particular stuck out to me. It is a rather obscure couple of verses in Matthew. I do not recall ever hearing a sermon on these verses, but yet, the power of Jesus' work on the cross is mightily revealed in these verses. The verses that grabbed my attention were Matthew 27:52-53. Jesus has just given up his spirit, the curtain in the temple tore in two, and there was an earthquake. Then Matthew writes in verses 52 and 53, "The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people."
Wow! I know I must have read that many times in my life but I can't really fathom just how wild that must have been. Imagine being in Jerusalem and one day seeing a bunch of people that had been dead coming through the city again alive. What a crazy scene. The life that Christ brings through the cross was so powerful that it broke open some graves and brought folks back to life even before Christ was resurrected.
It reminds me of eight years ago when Jessica and I were in Washington, DC over Thanksgiving. (Thanks Dad for the free trip!) (Funny side note: We had spent Thanksgiving Day touring the various monuments and museums. However, being Thanksgiving, there were no restaurants open there around where we were. So for our Thanksgiving lunch we ate at the little deli connected to the Holocaust Museum. Probably the most random place to ever eat a Thanksgiving lunch - and why exactly is there a restaurant as part of the Holocaust Museum anyway?) But anyway, one day we made it out to the National Cemetery. As we were looking out over all the white tombstones in the cemetery, I remember a lady and her friends discussing how crazy it will be when Christ comes back and the dead in Christ rise. She was describing how so many of the graves we were looking at would tear open as the people would rise to meet Christ in the clouds. A pretty amazing picture!
Well, this passage and this memory have helped me reflect on the significance of this week and on the amazing love that Christ has for us. God loves us so much.
One passage in particular stuck out to me. It is a rather obscure couple of verses in Matthew. I do not recall ever hearing a sermon on these verses, but yet, the power of Jesus' work on the cross is mightily revealed in these verses. The verses that grabbed my attention were Matthew 27:52-53. Jesus has just given up his spirit, the curtain in the temple tore in two, and there was an earthquake. Then Matthew writes in verses 52 and 53, "The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people."
Wow! I know I must have read that many times in my life but I can't really fathom just how wild that must have been. Imagine being in Jerusalem and one day seeing a bunch of people that had been dead coming through the city again alive. What a crazy scene. The life that Christ brings through the cross was so powerful that it broke open some graves and brought folks back to life even before Christ was resurrected.
It reminds me of eight years ago when Jessica and I were in Washington, DC over Thanksgiving. (Thanks Dad for the free trip!) (Funny side note: We had spent Thanksgiving Day touring the various monuments and museums. However, being Thanksgiving, there were no restaurants open there around where we were. So for our Thanksgiving lunch we ate at the little deli connected to the Holocaust Museum. Probably the most random place to ever eat a Thanksgiving lunch - and why exactly is there a restaurant as part of the Holocaust Museum anyway?) But anyway, one day we made it out to the National Cemetery. As we were looking out over all the white tombstones in the cemetery, I remember a lady and her friends discussing how crazy it will be when Christ comes back and the dead in Christ rise. She was describing how so many of the graves we were looking at would tear open as the people would rise to meet Christ in the clouds. A pretty amazing picture!
Well, this passage and this memory have helped me reflect on the significance of this week and on the amazing love that Christ has for us. God loves us so much.
Monday, March 10, 2008
McCain and Autism
“It’s indisputable that autism is on the rise among children,” Senator John McCain said while campaigning recently (March 4, 2008) in Texas. “The question is, What’s causing it? And we go back and forth, and there’s strong evidence that indicates that it’s got to do with a preservative in vaccines.” (To read this article, click here.)
A couple of weeks ago, I contacted the McCain campaign, asking if the campaign would address the issue of autism, not realizing that McCain has actually been concerned about the issue for sometime(The embedded video was recorded a year ago). Still, I am very impressed that he has addressed the issue on the campaign trail this year(I realize that countless people have likely contacted the Senator about this issue, so I am not taking credit for him addressing it obviously). While he will undoubtedly take a lot of heat from drug companies and vaccine producers over his above quote, I am proud to support a candidate who is not afraid to seek answers, even if it means ruffling a few feathers along the way. Nothing can be ruled out as to why autism is on the rise. While I am not saying that vaccines are the cause, I don't think they can be ruled out either. I do think more studies need to be done to see whether, in some cases, they are. I am thankful that McCain apparently feels the same way. Just another reason to support John McCain.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)