Discarded Peanut Shells - The Games We Play

May 9, 2008

Nice Girls Finish Last

Didn’t mean to scare anyone - I just needed some time off to refine my direction here and revamp the site to fit in the advertising that’s going to make me millions (of fractions of pennies) and keep me swathed in fancy photo equipment! Honestly, I had been kicking around the idea of quitting for several months, but I just can’t pull the trigger. So rather than continue to put out belated old-news drivel that at least for me, was nothing to feel proud of (photographs, otoh, I’m quite proud of!), I decided to come up with an editorial plan, so to speak. I’m still working on it, so here’s more drivel filler. The site may shapeshift a little more over the next couple days as I refine, but I think I like the way it’s heading now. I’ll explain the new header later! (Rebranding, baby! That’s today’s PR buzzword). I’ve been doing this for a few years now and obviously the landscape has rapidly changed since I started, as have the loosely defined “rules” of the blogosphere. I’m not terribly opinionated or mean-spirited, which in turn means what I write doesn’t really “sell”, so I’m going to try to stick with what’s worked. Just trying to adapt!

Evolution

Well, this is quite an interesting game! In with the cars, out with the horses! I had never head of “Auto Polo” before! Obviously, the apparently dangerous sport didn’t stick around to see the light of day in my lifetime, but think of the horses that went without exercise during its brief existence. That photo put out by the Library of Congress absolutely cracked me up this morning! It sounds like the sport was popular, but why are the stands empty? The photo also brought to mind the evolution of various sports over time…

Nate McLouth Is Dangerous

Ok, not really, but the equipment used during games can be. One particular evolution in baseball has been the migration from ash wood bats to maple for many players. So I mentioned I nearly got nailed by a Nate McLouth foul ball at a Pirates game during the last home series, right? Foul balls are only one danger of being on the sidelines or close in stands at the ball game. Jeff Passan at Yahoo! Sports has an in depth article focusing on the switch from ash to the more fragile maple bats, and specifically delves into an accident involving a splintered McLouth bat piercing the cheek of Don Long, the Pirates’ hitting coach. Yowzer! The potential to mandate thicker handles will be an interesting story to watch.

Blogging is Fun!!11!!

I’ve been hoping a National would take up blogging and was beginning to fear there was a team mandate against it. Have no fear, Zimm is here! It’s early in his blogging season, so I’m going to just wait it out and see how it goes. I only wish Comcast SportsNet had RSS feeds! I tend to forget to manually go check websites. Lemme know if anything interesting pops up, ok? Here’s hoping one of the more loudmouthed opinionated Nationals will follow suit!

Free Agent Gambles

Thud! That’s the sound of $6.5 million dollars in rehab. Both catchers Paul Lo Duca and Johnny Estrada were placed on the 15 day disabled list today. Lo Duca can now go watch his horses race while last year’s rule 5 draftee, Jesus Flores, makes what we knew would be his inevitable appearance in the big leagues again. Wil Nieves will be his backup with Ronnie Belliard and Aaron Boone as emergency catchers. (Really? Has Belliard ever caught before?) I’m just happy Wil Nieves is sticking around longer. Oh yeah, Elijah Dukes is returning today too. Now there’s a blog that would be interesting…

Speaking of Belliard, I had noticed he wasn’t getting any playing time for a stretch there. In fact, I asked Mr. Chatter prior to last weekend, “when’s the last time we saw Belliard pinch hit?” but was too lazy to go look it up. However, when I saw him at the Dream Gala Saturday, I mentioned to him that he hadn’t gotten much playing time lately. He smiled and shrugged, saying the team was playing well so it was all good. I still thought it odd - I mean everyone else had been pinch hitting! But I shrugged it off and figured if he wasn’t bothered, whatever! Turns out he was injured during that span of time and he and Manny Acta kept mum about it. You sly sly men!

Losing

can turn grown men into Losers….
Ok, nevermind. The video has been removed by MLB. Here’s King Kaufman’s write-up on the high ball.

Posted in Injuries, MLB, Natosphere, Players, Washington Nationals