Josh Hamilton - the true comeback kid

When I got home from work today and checked the mail, it was nice to see Josh Hamilton on the cover of Sports Illustrated...Hamilton is my new favorite player...

In 1999, I saw Hamilton when he played for Short Season Single A ball for Hudson Valley in the New York-Penn League...Hudson Valley played our Mahoning Valley Scrappers in the first round of the playoffs...Hamilton was the best player to ever pass through Eastwood Field - and that includes players like C.C. Sabathia, Victor Martinez, Alfonso Soriano, and Ryan Church...Hamilton went something like 4 for 5 with 2 homres and 5 RBIs...he was a freakin freak...he was a beast!!...

But we all know that he had a weakness for drugs...he could not shake his drug habit until he hit absolute rock bottom - when he was hired to clean toilets and line the field at some independent baseball league...

I don't know how you cannot root for Hamilton...I believe that people deserve a second chance and this kid is making the most of it...there is no doubt that Hamilton probably takes a lot of shit from opposing fans...all indications show that this kid is trying his best to shed his past...

If he continues this pace, he should easily win the American League MVP...Hamilton will always live with those drug demons...but for his sake, and for the fans of baseball, hopefully he will be able to lead a quality life because this kid is a FREAK!!!...

It's always about the Clintons

Will someone tell this guy to shut the fuck up already!!!...good ole Bill Clinton wants to be president again so he is crying about a conspiracy against his wife because it looks like she will not get the Democratic nomination...will someone just get this guy an intern and a cigar and tell him to go visit a third world country and rake in a million dollars to speak there...

Personally, I think the only conspiracy is that of the Clintons trying to screw Barack Obama out of the presidency...think about it, if Obama becomes president, that will basically rule out the opportunity for Bill/Hillary to run on the Democratic ticket in four years...I don't see her running against a sitting president from their own party...she would have to wait 8 more years which would make her 69-years-old...

However, if the Republican John McCain should beat Obama, then Hillary/Bill will be able to run against McCain in four years...plus, Obama will be out of the way because he would have gotten his chance to become president in 2008...

The Clintons want McCain to become president because remember, it is ALWAYS about the Clintons - and don't let them fool you!!!...

Willie Randolph Situation

Less than two months into the season and a New York manager is under fire and in the frying pan....nope, it is not happening (as of yet) in the Bronx....this is occurring in Flushing as Mets manager Willie Randolph is in trouble...in a nutshell, about a week ago Randolph shot off that he felt he was being unfairly scrutinized by the New York media because of his race...

He was right about one thing, he was being scrutinized, but it was because his team has been laying an egg since last September....no matter what sport you coach and/or manage in New York City, you are always under the spotlight...if anyone should know, it is Randolph who is a New York native...

Just two years ago the media was calling for the ouster of Giants head coach Tom Coughlin, who happens to be white....he was bashed that he was “out of touch” with his players and a tyrant in the locker room....last season was going to be his last with the Giants....then suddenly, they got hot and won the Super Bowl...

Even Joe Torre is not immune to being scrutinized.....after all he did in the Bronx, the media still criticized Torre after the Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS last season....I have already read a few grumblings some are having about new Yankees skipper Joe Girardi....the New York newspapers lambasted him three weeks into the season after he made a bonehead move against the Boston Red Sox....

I’m sorry Willie, but the fact is that your team choked in the final weeks of the season last year and the poor play has continued this year....if that kind of collapsed happened across town in the Bronx, the manager would have been fired immediately after the season....but Randolph got another chance and his team is underperforming....

So it is time to sack it up Willie and worry more about your team than about if you are being treated fairly because you are African-American....

Random Baseball Thoughts

Can you believe the Phillies Ryan Howard is batting .204...

Through Memorial Day, A.L. MVP is Josh Hamilton...this kid made an amazing comeback from drug addiction with his play last season with the Reds...he is now a bonafide stud...

My N.L. MVP - Lance Berkman...he is the most unappreciated player in baseball...

Many thought the St. Louis Cardinals were going to struggle this year...they are one behind the Cubs...never count out a Tony Larussa managed team...

Many thought the Atlanta Braves were going to struggle this year...they are 2.5 behind the Marlins....never count out a Bobby Cox managed team....

Willie Randolph will not be fired during the first half of the season....If they don't get out of their poor play by the end of July, he is a goner...

The Tampa Rays - in first place on Memorial Day - story of the year....

At 44-years-old, Randy Johnson is 4-1 this season...

Whatever happened to former Yankee great Bernie Williams?...

Mike Piazza retired this past week without much fanfare...

Junior Griffey has never played in a World Series....so why in the world would he want to be traded from the Reds to the Mariners?....Seattle has the worst record in baseball...

The Dodgers are over .500 despite Brad Penny and Derek Lowe struggling....if the Indians woes continue through July, is it possible to see C.C. Sabathia wearing Dodger blue by August?...

NEVER FORGET

Sunday stories - Hoops, hockey, and more

Penguins-Red Wings
Gene Collier of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes why Detroit is still called Hockeytown despite empty seats in Game 1... "Still, some wonder how Hockeytown can have a Stanley Cup finalist that doesn't routinely fill its arena, and how the most celebrated athlete in Hockeytown this weekend is probably Richard Hamilton, whose one-handed runner in the lane the other night pulled the Detroit Pistons even with the Boston Celtics in the National Basketball Association's Eastern Conference championship, which are, many have noted, 100 percent ice-free." ...

Gene Collier

Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News writes how the Red Wings too out the Penguins star lineup... "The Wings did everything but knock the C off of Rosby, er, Crosby, holding him to three shots and Malkin to one. When Crosby did get in close in the third period, there was Osgood, squatting low and standing tall." ...

Bob Wojnowski

Pistons-Celtics
Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press writes how the Celtics had more fire in Game 3... "The Celtics weren't merely the better team in their 94-80 full-scale dominance in Game 3, they were also the hungrier team. They wanted vindication more than the Pistons wanted a victory." ...

Drew Sharp

Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe writes how it took the Celtics a while to win on the road, but they did it big on Saturday night... "The Celtics played like champions last night. They played like the team New England fell in love with during the 82-game regular season. They stalled the Pistons, moved the ball, threw down ferocious jams, and silenced the Motown crowd with a 94-80 victory at The Palace of Auburn Hills." ...

Dan Shaughnessy

Spurs-Lakers
Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News writes how the Spurs are an older team who better take advantage of how far they have come this year... "This is who they are, a smart, experienced group that needs naps. This is why Gregg Popovich opted to ration minutes during the regular season, opting for health instead of the best available playoff seed." ...

Buck Harvey

Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times writes how Bill Walton may not be on television, but he makes sure he keeps in touch with son Luke... "Luke Walton doesn't do e-mail, so this is all he hears, his father calling him before each of the Lakers' first two postseason series with an important message. An imitation of an opposing star talking trash." ...

Bill Plaschke

Other sports
Christopher Clarey of The New York Times writes how 25 years ago Yannick Noah took the French Open and his country's heart... "It has been 25 years since Yannick Noah won this tournament, beating Mats Wilander in the final, then leaping, dreadlocks flying, into the arms of his father, Zacharie, and embedding himself in the memories of a generation." ...

Christopher Clarey

Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun-Times writes how the Bears are headed for trouble with Cedric Benson... "When general manager Jerry Angelo seconded those opinions by saying, ``The thing I am most disappointed in is the fact that he put himself in a position to be the victim,'' the Bears should have realized, once and for all, that he's hopelessly unreliable and should be purged from the franchise." ...

Jay Mariotti

Steve Politi of the Newark Star-Ledger writes about a one-time hoops stud... "Louisville declared him academically ineligible last week. Head coach Rick Pitino does not want him back on the team. Caracter first said he would enter the NBA Draft, then changed his mind -- but after his struggles in college, the league's general managers would make that decision for him. Even getting picked in the second round is a pipe dream. He was a prodigy at 13. He is nearly washed up at 20." ...

Steve Politi

MICHIGAN - BIG TEN CHAMPIONS