Mike Bridenstine's Tumblr Thing

Tommy Lasorda looks like shit.

Since Carl Yastrzemski’s 1967 Triple Crown seems forever doomed to be the last time anybody ever did it, I took a look at his stats from that year (44 HR, 121 RBI and .326 AVG) and wanted to see if anybody had equaled or surpassed all of those in one season, since ‘67.  Here’s who’s done it…

1993 Barry Bonds 46 HR 123 RBI .336 AVG (MVP, HR title, RBI title)
1996 Mo Vaughn 44 HR 143 RBI .326 AVG 
1997 Larry Walker 49 HR 130 RBI .366 AVG (MVP, HR title)
1998 Albert Belle 49 HR 152 RBI .328 AVG
1999 Manny Ramirez 44 HR 165 RBI .333 AVG (RBI title)
2000 Vladimir Guerrero 44 HR 123 RBI .345 AVG
2001 Todd Helton 49 HR 146 RBI .336 AVG
2001 Sammy Sosa 64 HR 160 RBI .328 AVG (RBI title)
2001 Barry Bonds 73 HR 137 RBI .328 AVG (MVP, HR title)
2004 Adrian Beltre 48 HR 121 RBI .334 AVG (HR title)
2004 Albert Pujols  46 HR 123 RBI .331 AVG
2006 Albert Pujols 49 HR 137 RBI .331 AVG

Alex Rodriguez 405 (0), Jim Thome 349 (4), Manny Ramirez 333 (4), Albert Pujols 326 (7), Carlos Delgado 323 (3), Barry Bonds 317 (0), Vladimir Guerrero 301 (1), Andruw Jones 293 (2), Jason Giambi 291 (1), David Ortiz 289 (0), Lance Berkman 289 (5)

Most Home Runs By Decade

1990s  Mark McGwire 405
1980s  Mike Schmidt 313
1970s  Willie Stargell 296
1960s  Harmon Killebrew 393
1950s  Duke Snider  326
1940s  Ted Williams 234

1930s  Jimmie Foxx 415

1920s  Babe Ruth 467

The Pirates have (right now… in April) the best pitching in the National League.

The staff has the lowest ERA in the National League.  Zach Duke is 3-1 with a 2.43 ERA.  Paul Maholm is 3-0 with a 3.09 ERA.  But none of their pitchers are overpowering.  They’re LAST in the league in strikeouts.  And before the season, Sports Illustrated said their best pitcher was Maholm, who they called the 118th best pitcher in baseball.  Duke was 210th.  They said the staff was a mess.  Last year, the Pirates ranked last in ERA, base runners allowed and strikeouts, and a bunch of other stuff.  They said Maholm would be a 3 or 4 starter on most teams.         

They have some new pitching coach that a lot of people are writing about.  It’s a decent story early in the season.  But seriously, when are they going to start sucking?

The St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers and fading Florida Marlins are the three best teams in the N.L. with a 4th place tie going to the Pirates and Padres.  The Cardinals have the best offense, while the Pirates have the best pitching.    

Albert Pujols leads the league in SLG, RBI, HR and OPS and is in the top 20 in AVG.  Ryan Ludwick is in the top 20 in HR, RBI and AVG, as are Joey Votto, Aramis Ramirez, Matt Kemp, Manny Ramirez, Bengie Molina and Ryan Braun.  Carlos Beltran leads the league in OBP and AVG.  

Johan Santana leads the league in ERA and K and is in the top 20 in W.  Chad Billingsly leads the league in wins and is in the top 20 in ERA and K, as are  Josh Johnson, Javier Vazquez, Adam Wainwright, Chris Volstad and Derek Lowe.       

The best three teams in the A.L. are the Blue Jays, Mariners and Red Sox.  The Royals, Tigers and White Sox are all tied in the Central.  The Blue Jays have the best offense, while the Mariners have the best pitching.    

Kevin Youkilis leads the league in AVG, OPS and OBP and is in the top 20 in HR and RBI.  Miguel Cabrera is in the top 20 in HR, RBI and AVG, as are Ian Kinsler (SLG), Aaron Hill, Evan Longoria, Robinson Cano, Jason Kubel and Justin Morneau.  Carlos Pena leads the league in HR.  Mike Lowell leads in RBI.          

Zack Greinke leads the league in W, K and ERA.  Jarrod Washburn, Armando Galarraga, Erik Bedard, Mark Buehrle, Felix Hernandez, Roy Halladay and Scott Kazmir are in the top 20 in all three.     

Zack Greinke of the Royals is 4-0 with a 0.00 ERA after 29 innings pitched.  He actually has 34 consecutive innings pitched without giving up a run.  The record is Orel Hershiser’s 59. He also leads the American League in strikeouts.  That’s a pitching Triple Crown.  And it’s still April 25th, but Jesus Christ.  Since when did Greinke decide he was the best pitcher in baseball?  

Greinke is 25 with a losing career record and ERA in the 4’s.  But he was the consensus for best pitching prospect in 2003.  Then he had social/emotional issues, which hampered his performances.  He’s on meds and he’s better.  Before the season, Sports Illustrated said he was the 46th best pitcher in baseball, but said his new changeup could make him one of the “true aces of the game.”  It’s been working so far.  And the fucking Royals are still in first place in the Central, with the second best team ERA in the league.  

Update: The streak is over at 38, but still.  It was unearned.    

The last 10 pitching Triple Crowns.

•  
  • 2007. Jake Peavy.
  • 2006. Johan Santana. 
  • 2002. Randy Johnson.
  • 1999.  Pedro Martinez. 
  • 1998. Roger Clemens. 
  • 1997. Roger Clemens. 
  • 1985. Dwight Gooden.  
  • 1972. Steve Carlton
  • 1966. Sandy Koufax
  • 1965. Sandy Koufax

Last week, I begrudgingly attended a performance of the Vagina Monologues at the Pico Playhouse on the westside.  I say “begrudgingly” because I’m clearly not the target audience for this type of performance.  It just sounded like the last possible thing I would want to go to.  Me and serious issues don’t really mix well, to say the least.  But I came away from the performance very impressed.  And I actually recommended it to other guy friends of mine, who seemed curious and interested.  What I liked about it was the way the cast (Renee Gauthier, Tara Donovan, Danielle Ozymandias and Andrea Gauthier) used comedy to ease the audience in, juxtaposed with the serious subject matter and overall message of the show.  The humor worked as a way to magnify that overall message.  It made it hit harder.  It was every aspect that I enjoy about comedic one-man/one-woman shows.         

I decided to look Online to see how the show was being reviewed, if at all.  That’s when I read this review of the show.  It’s a joke.  And I’d hate for this to be the only review of the show anywhere on the Internet.  So I have to mention it.  I don’t know who this person is, but she seems to have D-level headshots of herself wearing dominatrix pleather with captions that say things like ‘WORSHIP ME.’  You know, stuff most theater critics would have on their sites to be taken seriously.  Okay, got it.  You hate yourself, but need all of the attention to be on you.  So let’s do that.  Let’s go through her review point by point.

The first thing the dominatrix mentions is how she once did the play at some small liberal arts school with her friends (“all of whom were sex-positive, feminists who clearly loved their vaginas”), and says the performance at the Pico Playhouse couldn’t hold a candle to her friends’ show.  Right.  We’re all real sure it was amazing.  You and your friends who clearly loved their vaginas clearly.

So with that, she has established herself as an expert on all things Vag Mono.  What else did she think?  She hated that there was a “pointless” clip from Comedy.com featured at the beginning and then whines that men are not allowed on stage, as per the Vag Mono bi-laws she has memorized.  Aww, poor girl.  She thinks showing a video clip featuring men constitutes *gasp* men being on stage.  ”That rule is in violation of rule V-22!  Mayday!  Mayday!”  

That clip, by the way, was the cold open of the show.  And it got laughs.  So this girl, who pretends to beat men with fake whips and also pretends to be a vag expert for a living was sitting in the audience stewing about the rules and technicalities of *gasp* men on stage from the get-go.  You can’t pretend to beat everything you don’t like, lady.  It’s not all about you and the same frowny face you make in all of your headshots.  Maybe if I had sat there worried about the rules and regulations of Vagina Monologues, I would have missed a few things as well.  

Then the pleather blogger complains she didn’t get “moist” during the moaning part.  Instead, the moans were done for comedic effect.  In fact, most of the show (when it wasn’t actual heartfelt pieces about how awful women are treated in the Congo) was done in a funny way.  And, as I said at the top, I completely appreciated that because the serious undertones of the show need levity.  I think this girl just wanted to see the play as some sort of excuse to get her date wet so she could pretend to beat her later with toy whips.  Life can’t all be about frowny face do-it-yourself headshots and Hot Topix dressup sex.  The show was intended, in parts, to be funny.  It was very funny.  And that’s why you didn’t like it.  

The frown blogger mentions she would finally get her date moist around the corner at a strip club.  Fantastic.  Maybe you should have just gone there in the first place.  Then you can stop masking your constant need for sex performances with your other need to try to come off learned and cultured in the ways of non-sex performances.  Frown away, Frowny.  If somebody like me, who pre-judged the show as not-for-me walked away thinking it was good… then it means it was probably pretty good.  

But I would be open to seeing footage of your community college production, as well as your dominatrixing, so I can be proven wrong about how amazing you are.  I’ve pre-judged that as well.      

This article shows how retarded and greedy the Yankees (and shitfuck Mets) are for thinking assholes will pay thousands of dollars to see their crappy games.  

I was just talking with Holmes about how Len Kasper and Bob Brenly are growing on us.  Then we tried to guess how long they’ve been the voices of the Cubs.  Dude.  2005.  This is their 5th season.  Kind of insane that it’s taken them 4+ seasons to grow on us.  

Thing is, I don’t know what I wanted.  When I was a kid, Steve Stone and Harry Caray called the games.  I loved Steve Stone and I know Harry Caray is legendary and lovable, but he honestly frustrated the shit out of me.  Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who needed to clear their throat and it makes you want to clear your throat just listening to them?  That’d be Harry for 3 innings.  And a lot of people thought it was cute and endearing that he couldn’t say ‘Rafael Palmeiro’ or ‘Pete Incaviglia’, but it was like fingernails on a chalk board to me.  Harry did have numerous unintentionally hilarious quotes that I love (and I could go on and on about those) and I still get goosebumps listening to YouTube clips of him calling old Sandberg or Dawson home runs from the ‘80’s and ‘90’s.  But it’s not like I didn’t like Kasper or Brenly because they’re not Harry.  

Steve Stone was like a god to me.  He could tell you what pitch Rick Sutcliffe (or whomever) was going to throw 6 pitches before he threw it.  Or so it seemed.  And my appreciation of him grew around 2000, when he sat out the season with health problems and they replaced him with Joe Carter.  Whereas Steve Stone could tell you everything you wanted to know about (let’s say) the Cub’s upcoming interleague game against the Royas, Carter would say things like, “Kansas City… man, they have the best strawberry soda.”  I actually believe that’s an exact quote.    

But Stoney got angry or something towards the end.  He was critical of the Cubs and Dusty Baker in ‘04 (and rightfully so), but that still doesn’t excuse Kent Mercker and Moises Alou (who I hate) to act like bitches about it.  I listened to Stone call a White Sox came the other day and it brought back fond memories.

So I’ve grown to accept Kasper and Brenly as the voices of the Cubs.  I remember saying in 2005 that watching Cubs games felt like watching early Simpsons episodes, where you recognize the characters but the voices sound different.  By comparison, I hate listening to Joe Morgan do color commentary of Cubs games on ESPN.  I kinda like these guys.  They’re all right.  And it only took me five years to think so.      

The Mets fucking suck.  Dwight Gooden recently signed his name (with mentions of his 1984 Rookie of the Year, ‘85 Cy Young Award and ‘86 World Championship - all with the goddamn Mets) on a blank wall inside a bar in the new Citi Field.  He signed it after a worker at the restaurant asked him to.  Now the Mets are saying they plan on removing the autograph, as if it were graffiti.  Gooden had a bit of a falling out with the organization until he got a huge ovation in the final game at Shea Stadium last year.  Now with his nephew, Gary Sheffield, playing for the team, he planned on being around more.  Now he’s reconsidering.  What the hell is wrong with the Mets organization?  Why don’t they want the autograph?  It’s Dwight fucking Gooden!  Is it because he didn’t play for the Brooklyn Dodgers?  Jesus Christ.  

And happy 420 to Donnie Baseball!  Don Mattingly is 48 today.  The Yankees, by the way, at least have retired Mattingly’s number and have a tribute to him in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium.       

I saw something recently about who should be the Cub of the Decade.  After this season, I think the edge would go to Carlos Zambrano or Aramis Ramirez… who would both edge out Sammy Sosa.  I was talking to OPRJ about it last night as well and I devised a point system for seasons as a starter, All-Star game appearances, MVP votes and Cy Young votes and those are the results I got.  When I applied it to the ‘80’s and ‘90’s, Ryne Sandberg and Mark Grace won.  Again, Mark Grace also squeaked one out over Sosa for the ‘90’s.  

Then OPRJ went so far as to say that Sosa’s 2001 season (64 HR, 160 RBI, .328 AVG) is the best by a Cub ever and that his number 21 should be retired by the Cubs.  Don’t tell Milton Bradley.  Anyway, you can’t deny that Sosa was a monster for the Cubs.  The pop and hop, the peace sign chest bump thing, the 1998 homer race, the 9/11 home run trot with the American flag, sprinting into right field, etc.  He hit 20 home runs in June of 1998.  He hit 60 home runs in three seasons.  609 career home runs.  Ridiculous.  

But things started to go sour for Sosa in 2003 when he got ejected for a corked bat.  The next year, Sosa went on the DL after he SNEEZED while talking to reporters.  At the end of the 2004 season, Sosa requested to sit out the last game of the season and left the game early.  That was the last straw for Sosa with the Cubs.    Since leaving the team, Sosa has had his problems with steroid allegations and he fell out of favor with the city of Chicago.

The question is whether time will forgive Sosa (especially in Chicago) and if his name will be cleared in the whole steroids thing.  I doubt the latter will ever happen.  The former is a more interesting question.  And it needs time.  Mark McGwire who was arguably more beloved in baseball than Sosa, still hasn’t cleared his name after retiring in 2001.  Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens also won’t help his situation.  Sosa is technically one of the greatest, if not THE greatest Cub offensive player of all time.  He was a shitfuck outfielder and I always hated that the right field bleachers cooped the swami bow they started using with Andre Dawson in 1987.  But you can’t deny his numbers, steroids or not.  Would I retire his number?  No.  Not yet.  But if it’s any consequence, I’d retire Mark Grace’s #17.     

Randy Johnson took a no-hitter into the 7th inning today, before getting his 296th win against the Diamondbacks.  He now has 19 K’s, so he just needs 192 to get to 5000.  

The Mets, Dodgers, Padres and Cubs have the best records in the N.L.  The Marlins are 10-1.  The Cardinals lead the league in runs, while the Pirates lead in ERA. 

Ryan Ludwick leads the N.L. in OPS, SLG, RBI, is tied for HR and is third in AVG.  Raul Ibanez is second in OPS.  Kosuke Fukudome is third in OPS and is in the top 20 of HR, RBI and AVG, as are Chase Utley and Aramis Ramirez.  Cristian Guzman leads the league in AVG.  Alfonso Soriano is tied with Ludwick for most home runs.  Fred Lewis leads in OBP.

Johan Santana leads the N.L. in strikeouts and ERA and is in the top 20 in wins.  Josh Johnson is in the top 20 in all three, as is Chad Billingsley, who is tied for the lead in wins.  And Cla Meredith is 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 4 innings pitched.          

The Blue Jays, Mariners and Royals are the best three teams in the A.L.  The 4th slot is a tie between the Orioles, White Sox and Tigers.  The Blue Jays lead the league in runs, while the Mariners lead in ERA.  

Nick Markakis leads the A.L. in RBI.  Aaron Hill is in the top 20 of HR, RBI and AVG, as is Ian Kinsler, Miguel Cabrera (OBP and AVG leader), Adam Lind, Evan Longoria (SLG leader) and Nick Swisher.  Longoria, Kinsler and Cabrera are 1-2-3 in OPS.  Carlos Pena and Carlos Quentin lead in HR.           

Zack Greinke leads in SO, ERA and is tied for W.  Erik Bedard, Gil Meche, Roy Halladay (tied for wins), A.J. Burnett, Kevin Milwood, Matt Garza, Mark Buehrle, Edwin Jackson, John Danks, Armando Galarraga, Kyle Davies and Brian Bruney are in the top 20 in W, ERA and SO.  

Other times 500 home run club members were on the same team while having 500 home runs…

2005 Baltimore Orioles.  Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro. 

2008 Chicago White Sox.  Jim Thome and Ken Griffey Jr. 

Gary Sheffield hit his 500th career home run against the Brewers last night.  He’s the 25th member of the 500 club.  

It could be an interesting year in New York, as teammate Carlos Delgado is 28 homers away, himself.  

Theeeeeooooooooooooo

I saw the Dunkin’ Donuts ad I shot back in November twice tonight on Comedy Central.  It’s all CGI’d up.  I haven’t seen it online yet, but I’ll post it when I do.  

Bethenny, from Real Housewives of New York City, is supposedly dating A-Rod.  I guess I’m a sucker for terrible* Bravo reality shows, but the Housewives shows might be my biggest guilty pleasure.  The New Jersey one looks fucking insane.  New York is still my favorite.  The lady got me hooked on it last season and I still watch from time to time, even if I’m at my place.  Too bad I like Bethenny and don’t quite care for A-Rod.  I wish it was crazy Ramona or the Countess de Lesseps.  Because I just like saying, “the Countess de Lesseps.”     

* Not terrible (esp. Inside the Actors Studio, Millionaire Matchmaker and Top Chef)

In the new Rolling Stone, Hulk Hogan talks about his divorce from Linda and says he totally gets what OJ did or something.  People are making a big fuss out of it.  Didn’t Chris Rock say the same thing a decade ago?  I guess Chris Rock isn’t physically terrifying and wasn’t going through a messy divorce when he said it.  Anyway, Hulk has recanted his statements and Linda’s lawyer is taking the comments very seriously.  And Linda says Hulk’s serial cheating ended their relationship.  I guess I care because I just read the Rolling Stone article and I was big into pro wrestling from 1985-1991 and again in 1997-98.

And by the way, this is the second issue of Rolling Stone in a row with controversy.  In the last issue, Ethan Hawke wrote a piece on Kris Kristofferson that got Toby Keith all hot and bothered.      

He made his return to Seattle after 10 years.  Clips of the fans going nuts exist.  

Tom Glavine had an MRI done on his shoulder and is giving himself two weeks to decide if he’ll play again.  

With 305 career wins, 2 Cy Young Awards, 10 All-Star Games, a World Series ring, a World Series MVP, 12 post season appearances and five 20-win seasons, he’d be a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame.

But these ‘80’s players are dwindling like WWI vets.

As the season began, Randy Johnson needed 5 wins to reach 300 wins and 211 strikeouts to reach 5000.  It’s not looking that good.  Johnson is 0-2 with a whopping 11.42 ERA.  He does have 12 K’s, so that number is down to 199.   

Barry Bonds needs 65 hits to have 3000.  Nobody wants him because of his giant steroid controversy and he hasn’t played since 2007.  

Mariano Rivera needed 18 saves to get to 500.  He has one.  17 to go.  

Gary Sheffield has 499 home runs.  He’s currently 0-2 on the season.  

Alex Rodriguez needs 47 home runs to get to 600.  He’s yet to play in 2009.  

Carlos Delgado needed 31 home runs to reach 500.  He’s got one, so it’s down to 30.  

I took the virtual tour of Citi Field and watched ESPN gush about it.  I have a few questions: Why the raging boner for the Brooklyn Dodgers?  The Mets’ new stadium is basically based on Ebbets Field and it has a rotunda honoring Jackie Robinson.  Jackie Robinson is great.  But he’s also a Dodger.  The Dodgers still play baseball.  And they’re not the Mets.  The Dodgers used to play in New York.  But it was Brooklyn.  And the Mets play in Queens.  It’s not the same thing.  I can get a map if need be.  The Dodgers left town after 1957.  The Mets didn’t even exist until 1962.  The New York Mets are not the Brooklyn Dodgers.          

Ebbets Field was great and everything, and Coors Field in Denver and Safeco in Seattle also kinda copy it.  But they don’t have a rotunda also dedicated to a Dodger.  Yeah, I get that all of baseball honors Robinson by retiring his number and that he’s absolutely worth honoring.  But come on.  New York + Ebbets + Robinson?  The Mets also base some of their seats on the Polo Grounds.  They’re basically taking ownership of all New York baseball that doesn’t revolve around the Yankees and the Bronx.    

I read an article by a guy who thinks the Mets should honor Daryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden in the new stadium.  That’s a far cry from Jackie Robinson, but I have to kind of agree with the guy.  They’re Mets.  They’re also Indians, Astros, Devil Rays, Yankees, Giants and Dodgers… but they’re mostly Mets.  I guess they had Mike Piazza and Tom Seaver do the first pitch honors yesterday.  But Piazza also spent 7 years with the Dodgers.  This is so confusing.  If the Mets are the Dodgers… then who are the Dodgers?    

1898 Braves. vs. 1984 Tigers.

The 1898 Boston Braves went 102-47.  They’re the only 19th Century team I have left in this pretend tournament.  And they wouldn’t have worn gloves.  But they did have Billy Hamilton, Jimmy Collins and Fred Tenney.  Plus, Kid Nichols, Vic Willis and Ted Lewis on the mound.  But they literally had 7 pitchers.  I don’t know how those 7 guys would have faired against Lance Parrish, Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammel, HoJo, Kirk Gibson and Darrell Evans.  Nor do I know how somebody like Fred Tenney have done against Jack Morris or Willie Hernandez.  But we imagine it wouldn’t be good.  

I’ll take the Tigers.  

I forgot I was doing this.  1927 Yankees vs. 1940 Reds.

The 1927 Yankees went 110-44 before sweeping the World Series.  The 1940 Reds were 100-53, but it took them 7 games to beat the Tigers in the World Series.

The Reds had two 20 game winners in Bucky Walters and Paul Derringer.  Walters was also the ERA leader.  Ernie Lombardi and Frank McCormick had great seasons as well.  They averaged 4.6 runs per game, compared to 3.4 allowed.  It was an all-around great team.  But how well would they have done against Murderer’s Row?

The Yankees scored over 6 runs per game.  Babe Ruth had his best season ever, coupled with great seasons from Lou Gehrig, Earle Combs, Bob Meusel and Tony Lazzeri.  Plus the top 3 guys in the league in ERA were the Yankees’ Wilcy Moore, Waite Hoyt and Urban Shocker.  Herb Pennock also had a great season.  

It’s too much.  We’ll take the Yankees.   

Week One in Baseball: Who’s doing awesome?  Just in hitting.

Albert Pujols, Jorge Cantu, Joey Votto and Ryan Ludwick are in the top 20 in HR, RBI and AVG.  Pujols leads in RBI.  Alfonso Soriano leades the league in home runs.  Ryan Theriot leads the league in AVG, OPS and OBP.  Kosuke Fukudome and Troy Tulowikzki are third and fourth in OPS.  Pujols is second.  Tulowitzki leads in SLG.    

Adam Lind, Miguel Cabrera, Evan Longoria, Nick Swisher, Ian Kinsler and Marco Scutaro are in the top 20 in the AL in HR, RBI and AVG.  Longoria leads in HR and SLG.  Lind leads in RBI.  Kevin Youkilis leads in AVG.  Swisher leads in OPS.  Longoria and Cabrera are second and third.  Cabrera leads in OBP.        

Kosuke Fukudome!  I got caught up in Fukudome Feaver last year and even have a t-shirt jersey I bought way too soon in the season.  By October of last year his name pissed me off more than anything else in the entire world.  And didn’t he get benched by the Japanese World Baseball Classic team for sucking?  At this time yesterday, I was convinced he was the worst player in the history of baseball. He was almost falling down whenever he would swing the bat.  I was convinced I was better than him.  Anyway, today he went 4-5 with a home run tonight against the Astros.  His first hits of the season.  Yeah, it’s only the third game, but I’m a Cubs fan so you tend to get furious at a 97 win team when they’ve lost 9 consecutive playoff games.  I’m honestly happy for Fukudome.  You know who I’m not happy for?  Milton Bradley.      

I’m rooting for this so hard.  Griffey hit his 612th career and record-tying 8th Opening Day home run (he tied Frank Robinson).  

And Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez led off the 1st and 2nd innings with home runs in their win against Houston.  Fukudome went 0-4 and Milton Bradley went 0-3.  Bah.  

Also: K-Rod closed a Mets game started by Johan Santana.  Looks like that’s gonna be a ‘thing’ this year.  Tony Clark and Felipe Lopez each hit 2 home runs from both sides of the plate for the Diamondbacks.  CC Sabathia got lit up in his Yankees debut, as did Cliff Lee with the Indians.    

This is the Scientology Celebrity Centre on Franklin Street in Hollywood.  It’s right across the street from the UCB.  I think it’s hilarious that they actually call it “The Celebrity Centre”, which is a whole ‘nother story, but I also wanted to know what the hell that building used to be.  

It was built as luxury hotel/apartment house in 1929 by the widow of famous director Thomas Ince (and designed by Arthur E. Harvey) and called the Chateau Elysee.  There was a rumor that William Randolph Hears financed the construction because he accidentally murdered Ince, while trying to murder Charlie Chaplin, on a yacht in 1924.  Ince was a silent movie pioneer and the ‘father of the Western.’  It is a replica of a 17th Century castle in Normandy.  And Hollywood celebs used to party there in its heyday.  People who’ve lived there include Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Edward G. Robinson, Carol Lombard,Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, Ginger Rogers, Ed Sullivan, Gracie Allen and George Burns, George Gershwin and Cary Grant.

It was run down when it was purchased by the Church of Scientology in 1972 and refurbished for 20 years.  It had been a retirement home since the 1950’s.  Anyway the restoration work was done by the Scientologists’ Rehabilitation Project Force, which is basically slave labor used as punishment.       

Recently a guy with samurai swords was shot and killed there by Celebrity Centre security.  I think the Japanese learned in the 19th Century that guns overpowered samurai swords.  There’s a movie about it starring Tom Cruise.  And he’s coincidentally, the most famous Scientologist celebrity.  There you have it.  

Wow.  The N.L. East is represented well.  3 Mets in the top 5.  And Grady Sizemore is the best player in the American League?  We’ll see.  

2 more Mets.  No wonder SI has them winning it all.  

By Position: 

RHSP

LHSP

CL 

C

1B

2B

3B

SS

LF

CF

RF

DH