So, it’s yet another X-mas and my brain tends to wander to strange places when I’m in the shower, or when I’ve had too much to drink trying to drown out the screams and passive aggressiveness going on between my family members…

My recent thought this morning was in the realm of Santa Claus, and how the general public deals with the wonderfully fictitious gentleman. My first question is this, where the hell does all his mail go? As I’m sure most of you non Jewish/early atheist folk partook in was the Christmas List to Santa Claus. You sat down, pencil and paper in hand and roughly scrawled out a string of meaningless platitudes before you got to a laundry list of items which your parents deftly memorized and got you probably 1 or 2 items from the list and wrote the rest of it off as wishful thinking. But my question is where do the letters go?

Back in the “old days” I’m sure that the parental figure helping you write the letter, address it, and get it sealed up surreptitiously removed it from the mailbox before the mailman came and hid it away in the same place that they kept the Santa presents, but nowadays there apparently is an actual address that the postal service asks you to use when sending letters to Santa.

Now my Postal Worker friend Damon can probably answer this question easily for me, but I don’t really undersatnd how this can work, especially where federal law is concerned. Let’s look at this objectively: First of all they address it t a location in Alaska, which is fine if Santa does in fact send an Elf down to pick up his mail bags and then read each list so he can compose his list. But since Santa is a little less fictitious than Fox News, we all know that he has no elves who make the trip to pick up the mail. So what happens to those letters? As we know, it is against FEDERAL LAW to open any mail that is not intended explicitly for you, so the postal carriers cannot open any of the letters, and unless there’s someone on Anchorage’s staff who has legally changed his name there is no way around this fact. And even if the USPS broke the law and opened all those letters, what the hell would they do about it? Laugh about what some poor Latino child wants, or sob about some black kid in the Bronx asking for world peace and for his mother to get better? I mean, I know a postal worker (the aforementioned Damon) and even though he gets paid BANK, I’m pretty sure he can’t afford COMPLETE world peace…maybe some small 3rd world country like Belize or something, but not the entire globe…

Anyway, if they don’t open the mail in accordance with the law, do they just destroy the letters? And if this is the case isn’t it a horrible waste? Wouldn’t they be doing the equivalent of a small deforestation? And I guess they could recycle them, but how much MORE guilt is heaped on the poor postal worker’s shoulders when they get a latter that they have 100% certainty will not make it’s way to a jolly old elf at the top of the world? Seems like a terrible shame: If the kids ever found out they’d be devastated, and the postal workers feel like crap because they are only aiding and abetting in a grandiose lie.

I’m sure that most postal workers love helping out with the illusion, and they are happy they can help some wide eyed brat “get his message to Kris Kringle” but the logistics of it must be a night mare. And what happens if they do read the letters, and they find one akin to the X-Mas lists that Calvin used to write like the one featured above? In this day in age with homeland security, the kid would be lucky to make it to New Years. It used to be that “boys would be boys”, but now if you ask for a projectile weapon you are a “suspected terrorist”. And Calvin’s schizophrenia over his stuffed tiger wouldn’t help his case much either…

Aside from Postal Nightmares during the holidays (isn’t that a double negative? Isn’t the Holidays a general “postal nightmare” the whole time anyway?), my other question for you once believers is this: when was Santa Claus ruined for you? Such as, when did someone or something spill the beans for you that basically illuminated the truth that Santa Claus wasn’t real? I can remember it well for me. I was sitting in 5th grade, at a mere 11 years old, and my teacher flat out told us that Santa Claus wasn’t real. She even wanted us to do some homework on the subject as I recall. As I also recall, she was a horrendous bitch who should burn in hell (or it’s equivalent) forever for ruining a fun part of X-mas for a group of 11 year olds.

What’s even worse is it truly shattered all my past X-mas memories as I looked back on all the times my family tried to make Santa a reality (i.e. at midnight jingling some bells and bellowing HO HO HO after they set out all the “Santa Presents”, or leaving notes from “SC” as well as eating the Cookies and drinking the Milk we left out for him), and promptly ruined all those fond remembrances.

Anyway, merry X-mas to you all, and if you still believe in Santa Claus, remember that everything I’ve said here is absolute bullshit and I am the devil in disguise. For those of you like me who were ruined at an early age, I hope you were smart enough to play your parents to get those extra presents, even though you found them in the closet the week before!

See you in the new year where my resolution is to post to this thing more!

Happy Holidays!

~JYH

I was actually going to write one of my trashy little posts but, I’m going to go more into what I did today and what I’m expecting to do in the future due to what I did today.

Okay, first off, I finished Vampire Diaries. Well, the first four books at least! You know, the amazing new show that came into CW and that everyone is comparing to Twilight? Turns out these books were written before Stephenie Meyer even thought about writing Edward’s name in a piece of paper.

What is it about this book that’s so good? Nothing.

I mean, interesting plot and all but, you know, vampires are in now so the books are as well. I mean seriously, since 1991! Well whatever, finishing these books added to my to do list and reminded me that I have to keep up with Laurell K. Hamilton who has now one book out that I still haven’t read. That means, she’s ahead of me. In other words, bad! I’ve always managed to keep up with my favorite writers but suddenly I have too many writers with too many books…hm. Cut down? Don’t think so. Speed up? Maybe.

That brings me to improving my EYEQ. That is…reading faster. Right about now I’m about 300 words per minute, take or give a few. That needs to go up to 600 or maybe 800 in order for me to get started again. Suddenly 30o is not enough! Worse off, I was at 500 and now I’m down. So much for progress!

Progress…that brings me back to colleges.

I got accepted into Florida International University, I might have mentioned so somewhere else but, I’m waiting to see what other schools give me a take on what they think about me in order to make a choice. I hope I have choices.

Christmas is here! I mean, seriously! It’s Christmas Eve! Yay =]

Anyways, somehow Christmas this year has made me think about what I want for Christmas NEXT year. Hey, I’m finally going to be 19 at the time…you know, that’s breaking way to 21 Not that I hope to get there any time soon…2012 you know. Psh, don’t even get me started on that. It’s a draft on my blog Expect me trashing that sometime soon…along with other things. Oh my….a song about Louboutins? Is that how you write it? Wohoo for J.Lo!

I want to watch the movie(s) Avatar and The Princess and the Frog. Yes, a new princess! Or maybe not so new but, whatever. Does well for Disney. They need the money!

I officially finished my Christmas shopping tonight. And I even got all of Avery’s birthday gifts. I wanna know whose idea it was for me to give birth to a child the day after Christmas… that was VERY poor planning on someone’s part!! Up until now, it hasn’t really made much difference because Avery was too young to care that she didn’t have a big birthday party or that her birthday gifts were wrapped in  Christmas paper. But, she’s definitely old enough now to notice… on both counts!

I think I’ve come up with a solution for the party issue, though. Because Damon’s birthday is only a month after Avery’s, we decided this year to try having a joint party for the two of them, somewhere in between their birthdays. Today I booked the party place for the weekend before Damon’s birthday… so, Avery has to wait quite a while for the official celebration of her sixth birthday, but I think it’ll be worth the wait! She’s going to love having all of her friends there. And, really, with only 3 years between them… and now that the kids are in school together… they do have a lot of the same friends. So a joint party should be pretty nifty!!

I love the idea of having a party somewhere other than my house! It’s so much less stressful that way.

And, this Saturday, we’ll celebrate Avery’s actual birthday the way we usually do… with cake and gifts and her four favorite people in the world by her side. She’s an easy-to-please-kinda gal, luckily!

Six years ago today was actually my due date when I was pregnant with Avery. I knew I wouldn’t be lucky enough to have a child on my actual due date, however… and, because she’s a Witschey, I pretty much knew I wouldn’t have her EARLY (God forbid one of these Witscheys ever give me a break! lol). But, I was a little preoccupied with preparing for Damon’s 3rd Christmas at the time. I was actually pleased to be able to spend all of Christmas at home with my little boy, knowing it would be the last holiday that we’d get to totally devote to him.

Now that seems like a lifetime ago!! Tonight there are two huge kids running through my house, anxiously awaiting Christmas morning. And I’m taking a (short) break from yelling at them to reflect and realize how very blessed I am.

All in one place like never before!!!
Pilot
Episode 2: Night of the Comet
Episode 3: Friday Night Bites
Episode 4: Family Ties
Episode 5: You’re Undead to Me
Episode 6: Lost Girls
Episode 7: Haunted
Episode 8: 162 Candles
Episode 9: History Repeating
Episode 10: The Turning Point

Now, you can enjoy re-runs that work during the holidays. All links are checked fully. They all work. A lot of them are on megavideo, so just remember their 3 hour restriction. I think it’s a good thing, that way you won’t watch it all in one go. it’s like sweets. Be careful about the amounts, because they dissapear really quickly.

Episode 11: ‘Bloodlines’ airs on January 14th, 2010. Are you on the edge of your seat waiting for it?
If so, run to the cinema and watch Saint Trinians 2: the Legend of Fritton’s Gold

It looks just…legendary I remember all the fun I had watching the first one. Hopefully this one is going to be just as good, although a repeated plotline seems a bit of a dreary fact…

As I’ve been crummy about photographing my eats this week, I’m switching things up a little today and catching you up on my latest reads!  I picked up  most of these books through SwapTree and have 5 more books in the mail!!!

The Road by Cormac McCarthy:

First off, I cannot wait to see this movie, I know it’s in theaters now, but as I could barely contain my tears at the end of the book – I probably shouldn’t see it in the theater.  This book is written in a different style than I normally read – a little more “artsy” and descriptive than a plain old novel, but once I got a chapter or so in – I was hooked!  This is a great story of a man and his son trying to find civilization, safety, and just stay alive after some sort of cataclysmic event set the country (world?) on fire.  The book never tells you exactly what happens, and the reader is left to wonder how the man and boy ended up on the Road and are given brief flashbacks of the man’s younger life as clues.  Be prepared with your Kleenex for the last chapter!

The Vampire Diaries (The Awakening and The Struggle) by L.J. Smith:

First off – I love, love, love that this was book 1 and 2 in the same cover!  I was so engrossed in book 1 I would have had to gone out and buy book 2 that night had it not been in the same book!  So far, this series is different from the Vampire Diaries TV show that I watch on Thursday nights (back in January, woot!!) – for instance, in the books, Elena is blonde, Bonnie is a red head, Vickie is a random girl not Matt’s sister, and Elena has a 4 year old sister instead of a teenage brother.  The other story lines are different – but I don’t want to give too much away!  A brief synopsis is that Elena is the “it” girl in school and can have any guy she wants, and she wants Stefan!  As we all know Stefan and Elena end up together…and then Damon enters the picture (*shakes fist at Damon and his bad boy hotness*) I could not stop turning the pages when I got to the end of book 2.  And then I sat there, in shock!  I cannot wait to read book 3!

Plenty – One Man, One Woman and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally by Alisa Smith & J.B. MacKinnon:

I had to read this book after seeing the 100 Mile Challenge TV show on Demand.  The book was written by Alisa and J.B. who live together in British Columbia and one day decided to try to eat locally – within a 100 mile radius of their apartment.  The story follows all the trials and tribulations of finding food to sustain them within 100 miles as well as their personal growth and struggles with their relationship/friendships and family over the year.  This book made me SO excited to plant a garden when Chris and I find a house, I have canned jelly and frozen corn/berries in the past…but now I have even greater goals!  This book wasn’t as personally engrossing as other local eating books I’ve read (such as Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver) and I have to admit that I skimmed over some of the historical parts of the book, but the actual story about the couple’s life during the 100 mile challenge was very good.  There are also great 100 mile recipes at the beginning of each chapter.

Next up for books:

• The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
• The 8th Confession by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro
• Shopgirl by Steve Martin

What is the best book you’ve read recently?

Happy Reading!

The Rock said it best. If Johnny Damon wants to return to the Yankees, it should only be a 1 year deal. None of this 2-3 year deal bullcrap.

Why? Because Johnny Damon is old. The Yankees, however, need to get younger. Why would you give an aging, declining left-fielder a multi-year deal when there are in-house options who can get it done. Yes his bat is big, but he can be replaced. As a team, the Yankees need to get younger. Here’s why.

1b- Tex- in his prime, but is inked to a long term deal.

2b- Cano- young and dirty. He is part of the future.

ss- Jeter, the face of the franchise but getting up there in age. He still has years left too.

3b- ARod, he wont age like most players, but he has a long deal. He’ll be around for almost another decade.

rf- Swisher- young and great energy, great vibe for the clubhouse.

cf- Granderson- in his prime, should put up good numbers.

lf- Mekly? he lika da woman. 24. Young. Talented. Is it enough?

c- Jorge- senior citizen. Watching him run out a groundball is embarrassing.

Johnny Damon is an aging player who’s numbers, while good at home, will more than likely decline. Watching him catch a fly ball is like watching a car slam on its brakes just as it avoids an accident. You pray to Mo nothing too terrible happens. Scott Boras will likely claim Damon can play til hes 45, but thats simply not the truth. There is no room on a roster for an aging player like Damon for more than 1 year. It’s foolish to do it.

Damon is not Derek Jeter, he is not Mariano Rivera. He will not get the deal he wants because of his legacy with the team. He needs to know his role, its take it or leave it. He has the opportunity to rejoin the best team in baseball and try and repeat, or he can go somewhere else and fall short. His choice.

Jason Bay

The Mets, Angels, and Mariners are the front-runners for Jason Bay right now, but Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald reports that the Yankees have contacted Bay’s representatives. The Yankees currently have Melky Cabrera, Curtis Granderson, Brett Gardner, Nick Swisher, and Rule V Pick Jamie Hoffman on their 40-man roster.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Yankees make a surprise move and get Jason Bay. Acquiring Jason Bay would probably require the Yankees moving Melky Cabrera, but the Yankees have their DH spot open after Hideki Matsui agreeing to a contract with the Angels. With Mike Cameron going to the Red Sox, it seems more likely that the Yankees will try to re-sign Johnny Damon rather than signing Bay since Damon is a better fit defensively and in the #2 spot in their lineup. I certainly hope the Yankees don’t surprise their cross-town rivals by signing Bay with their limitless amount of money and only leaving Minaya and the Mets with trade options for a power bat in LF (or outbidding the Cardinals for Matt Holliday.)

More photos of le bebe du jour:

Like any vampire lover I got into the show “The Vampire Diaries” when it came out on The CW. After a few episodes I thought, “Hey this is pretty good. I should read the books.” And so I did. I went and read the first book online. It was amazing how completely different the book is from the show. Nothing and I mean nothing in the show happened in the book. They changed so many things it drove me crazy. Elena, the main character, is supposed to be blond with blue eyes. The Elena in the show has brown hair and brown eyes. WTF? Right? AND in the book Damon is the one that’s supposed to have dark eyes and Stephen is supposed to have green eyes, but they completely switched them. Oh and OMG! Elena is supposed to have a little sister named Margaret, not a teenage little brother. I don’t even remember his name for crying out loud. LIKE WTF CW!? Bonnie is supposed to be a white girl! They took out Meredith, who is supposed to be Bonnie and Elena’s best friend. They took Caroline and made her they’re best friend instead, when in the book she’s supposed to hate their guts. AND VICKY! She’s not even supposed to become a vampire. She’s supposed to die! In the show Damon is the one feeding off of her, but in the book it’s Katherine. Yes, that’s right…KATHERINE. You have no idea how dumbfounded I was. On the other side I do enjoy both the books and the show. But I just felt the need to rant about it and get it out of my system. Anyway, I LOVE “THE VAMPIRE DIARIES”!

Damon's left handed pull tendencies are perfect for Yankee Stadium.

Johnny Damon stood in the limelight of the 2005 Winter Meetings as he jumped ship from Beantown to New York. Given a 4-year, $52MM deal to play centerfield for the Bronx Bombers, Damon did not disappoint, giving the Yanks a valuable $49.6MM worth of production, despite nagging injuries throughout the course of the deal.

However, Damon could not stick in center and spent nearly all of his innings in left or in the DH slot from 2008-2009. This significantly lowers his value, and he also cost over a win because of defense alone. Seeing him play the field on a daily basis was not pretty in 2009, and the whole league already knows about his noodle arm. Simply put, Damon is not going to get any better on defense, although a slight bounceback in UZR is not out of the question (sample size issues, you know the deal).

As far as his hitting abilities go, there is no debate — Johnny Damon can still mash. In fact, he’s become a better hitter since coming to NY, even accounting for park/league factors. He set career highs in BB% in 2007 (11.0%) and again in 2009 (11.4%). After a few injuries in his first two seasons with the Yankees, Johnny racked up a ton of plate appearances in ‘08-’09 and managed a wOBA over .370 both years. While he may still have the stigma of “leadoff guy” attached to him, he really doesn’t fit that bill. Regardless, Damon is a valuable bat going forward and should be a solid bet for .350 wOBA’s for the next year or two, assuming he stays healthy.

Superagent/villian Scott Boras is not settling for any one-year deals though. Some reports say that a four (!) year deal is going to be the deal breaker. Bobby Abreu, who the Yankees let go last offseason because of horrendous defense, just got a 2-year, $19MM contract from the Angels, and he was only half a win worse than Johnny last year, so Damon could still be a $10MM a year player. However I find it hard to believe that the Yankees would be willing to take such a big hit on defense again, and with Hideki Matsui also a free agent, it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad idea to bring Damon back as the primary DH and occasional corner outfielder. This lowers his value a bit (about -1 wins compared to LF) but he cost over a win on defense anyway, so he would be worth a tick more overall. There’s also the possibility that it helps him stay fresh and healthy throughout the season too.

Johnny Damon might not make a ton of sense as the Yankees’ left fielder of the future, especially now that the Yankees have four outfielders on the roster (Melky Cabrera, Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson, and Jamie Hoffman, all of whom are capable centerfielders). However, he could be a great asset as the team’s DH. If he’ll take a similar deal to Abreu, the Yankees should bite.

East Coast Bias Alert!!!!! East Coast Bias Alert!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that the winter meeting have come to a close and we can stop reading every mindless tweet out of Indy and focus on what teams in the AL look like they’re making steps forward (Mariners, yankees, Texas) and what teams appear to be attempting to regroup (Tigers). 33 Problems will have a more in depth look at the winter meeting and the new and bizarre coverage of them from our favorite media outlets over the weekend.  But first a quick discussion on this Mike Lowell trade and who the Red Sox think they are and what exactly they think they are doing.

This is obviously a guy that they’re going to move. He’s a hard hitting guy with tons of offensive upside but not a strong defensive presence behind the plate. If the sox are looking for a backup backup catcher defense will be the priority. They’re going to move him. Hopefully this season as a part of something sexy like Miggy C or Gonzalez or maybe down the line for something else.

You could see the writing on the wall that Lowell was going to go sooner rather than later. We all love Mikey Lowell, class guy, whatever. Remember, had Theo not disappeared for a few weeks in that monkey suit, Lowell would never even played a game as a Red Sox. We would have Hanley Ramirez as our SS and probably not that shinny WS ‘07 ring (but why not ‘08 or hell maybe ‘09, who’s to say). Lowell was perhaps the worst base runner in the bigs last year. The Venuist and I would joke about how ‘06 and ‘07 Lowell would take away at least one double every game. Last year he gave a lot of those doubles back.  I know his injury was supposed to take last year to heal completely, but if you’re buying into this whole ‘bridge year’ thing you might want to get while the getting’s good and get yourself a nice chip to now.

Again, they’re going to move this guy.

from the Archives: a young Theo Epstein attends his first MLB "Winter Meetings" in 2002

Hell, if I’m Theo I make this move just to have a guy called Max-Ram on my club. Max-Ram! That might be the coolest first name/last name contraction things that A-Rod has made so popular. This move also was necessary if any of the big trade targets were to become possibilities. If you think the sox got the shaft picking up most of the 12 million left on Lowell’s contract, imagine making this same deal after just trading for Gonzalez or Miggy C.  We’d be lucky to get Texas’ water boy particularly because this off season is silly with quality 3rd basemen on the move. I know it stings  sox fans because the yankees got Granderson and we lost Lowell. Get over it.  With few exceptions (Damon being the biggest) Sox tend to make the right call on letting players go. Pedro, Manny, Nomar, Billy Mueller, Trot Nixon, all these guys were let go at the right time. The trick is to turn this into something and it better not just be Beltre.

More to come on the Winter Meeting winners and losers, why Joe Mauer needs to stay put, Strange Tweets, and why I might just climb a clock tower if the Sox commit years and money to Adrian Beltre.

Winter, 2005: Somewhere in Boston the Red Sox are trading Hanley Ramirez while Theo Epstein (pictured above) lays away to conteplate his future in this remote mountain shed...

Yesterday, as we were walking home from the bus stop, Damon says to me, “Mom, my girlfriend… Elizabeth… is gonna call me this afternoon.” I almost tripped over the sidewalk under my feet but managed to stay upright and calmly replied, “Oh, uhhh, okay.”

Apparently he gave Elizabeth our phone number yesterday, and she then told him how her number would come up on caller ID so that we’d be sure to answer it (that made me giggle… I guess it’s standard procedure for kids today? to give their phone number and their caller ID name??).

So, at 4:30 on the dot (exactly when she said she’d call), our phone rang. And, sure enough, it was Elizabeth’s caller ID. Damon was sitting in the middle of the living room, playing Legos with his sister with the phone right next to him when she called. So, he answered and casually said, “Oh, hey, Liz.”

Liz??? He’s on a nickname basis with this chick?? They’re EIGHT. Breathe, Mom, breathe. I did. I breathed. I managed to maintain a cool, calm, “whatev” exterior. Damon never knew how freaked out his old mom was by the afternoon’s events.

Honestly, I think it’s kinda cute. And it brought back memories of when I was in Sixth Grade and my little “boyfriend” called me, without fail, every evening… and we talked for HOURS every evening. I think it’s cute and sweet… but I guess I didn’t think it would happen this soon. At eight. And I didn’t think he’d be calling her “Liz” with such familiarity. He’s still my baby boy. *sniff, sniff*

So, right now, Damon is on the phone with Liz… second day in a row. And yesterday’s 3-minute conversation has now turned into a 20-minute conversation… that’s still ongoing. It sounds like they’re watching TV together and discussing what they see. Oh, young love.

And, if Liz breaks my baby’s heart, I might have to hurt her.

“Oh, she’s a full-on Monet ….. You see, it’s like the painting. Seen from far away, it’s okay; but up close, it’s a big ol’ mess.” ……. Cher Horowiz, Clueless

My jaw dropped yesterday when I heard that the Yankees had gone out and acquired Eric Davis from the 1986 Reds. “Oh boy, this is gonna hurt,” I thought. So imagine my relief when I heard that my info had been wrong and the Yankees had NOT reached back in time to acquire a game-changing centerfielder. Instead, I am now told that the Yankees merely acquired a “Monet” named Curtis Granderson.

I have plenty of thoughts on the deal so here goes ……

Folks, Curtis Granderson is a nice player. Nothing more and perhaps a little bit less.

Granderson’s resume is highlighted by a terrific season in 2007, his third in the majors. He then took a step back in 2008 and two additional steps back in 2009. So the question is …..was 2007 a complete aberration? And if so, who is the real Curtis Granderson? Something in between 2007 and 2009 or a relatively young player who has been figured out by the league and is now in decline. In other words, is he Alfonso Soriano?

Much has been made of Granderson’s complete inability to hit lefties so I won’t delve too deeply but I want to make this point. Jason Varitek was PITIFUL against right-handers in the second half of last year. Absolutely pitiful. Well, Curtis Granderson’s numbers against lefties, for the entire year, were comparable to Tek’s 2^nd half numbers against righties. Yes, he was THAT bad. His .484 OPS vs. lefties last year is AA bad and it ensures that he will only hit against lefties after the sixth inning next year.

Granderson has a reputation as a terrific CF because he is great at the wall and plenty of those grabs get attention as web gems. But Granderson’s highlights and reputation seem to outpace his ability. Based solely on UZR (a defensive metric) , his ability has been in decline and if you want to get anecdotal, he was Curtis the Butcher in the final three weeks of last season.

CG’s weighted On-Base was .395 in 2007. Last season, it was .340. If 2007 was an anomaly and you back it out, you are left with a player whose career wOBA is just in the .340s. And with nearly 5000 professional plate appearances, I think it’s safe to assume that Curtis has put in a top.

Part of last season’s decline can be explained by the following …… Curtis wasn’t swinging at more pitches out of the K zone. But he was hitting a far higher percentage of those balls. In other words, he got much more efficient at doing something that he shouldn’t be doing in the first place. And the results showed. To recover from last year, Curtis really needs some of that bad-ball contact to go away.

Curtis is due just $5.5M next year. And yet the Tigers were motivated sellers. Does this tell you anything?  

Now to the good stuff ……

Curtis seems like he has been a victim of Comerica Field as his career numbers confirm he hits much better on the road. Home OPS ….785. Road OPS ……869. If you don’t think Brian Cashman will lead off the press conference with that nugget than you don’t know Brian Cashman.

More importantly, he seems like a guy who could feast on that 260 foot porch at Yankee Stadium. Why? Well, a quick look at Granderson’s career shows that he has morphed from a ground ball hitter to a fly ball hitter over his career. As such, his flyball rate leapt from 36 percent in 2005 to 49 percent in 2009. You have to think a number of those will be souvenirs at Yankee Stadium. In light of this trend, perhaps Curtis got moved to a place where a negative becomes a positive.

 Thoughts on the trade and money …..

* To hear the Yankee camp tell it, the Bombers got a steal and this is Brian Cashman just weaving his magic once again. Magic? He once again got a player in a salary dump. How is that magic? On the bright side, the Yankees didn’t give up much. Ian Kennedy is a AAAA guy and Austin Jackson regressed each month last year. If the Tigers plan on playing him this year alongside Clete Thomas and Magglio Ordonez, then they have problems.

* True, Cashman gave up very little, but he did take on a decent-sized three-year contract. After all, while Granderson is cheap in 2010, he is set to make $25.75 million over the next three years or $38.75M over the next four. The Yankees can obviously afford this move but it reduces the chances that the Yanks will have a “lower” payroll in 2010. With Granderson on board and Pettite looking like he will come back for $12 million, the Yanks are on the hook for $187M for just 12 players and Kei Igawa. Throw in another $3M for Melky and you are up to $190M. Major league minimums for the rest get you in the 195 area. That doesn’t leave much room for Matsui or Damon, their replacement, a reliever or a starting pitcher. The moral to the story ….. the Yanks will probably not be cutting much salary this year. Like a super-rich divorcee,  Brian just can’t live without his $200M.  

*  If Granderson is a replacement for Damon …… the Yanks certainly got younger and better defensively but I, for one, take Damon’s bat.  Put it this way, I would rather have Granderson over a season but I want Damon in there for the playoffs. So this is the deal …..if Damon comes back to DH, he replaces Matsui and Granderson replaces Damon. That is a wash. But if Damon doesn’t come back and Matsui doens’t come back, I say the Yankee offense will be a bit worse off.

And finally,  a quick review of the reviews ……

Thumbs up to Keith Law for his cautious words and even Buster scores well on this one.

Thumbs down to Bob Klapisch from Jersey who seemingly tossed objectivity out the window while he was celebrating the Yankee championship

Big thumbs down to Dave Cameron at Fan Graphs. He hasn’t missed something this badly in a while.

So yesterday was the first and last time I will ever do anything like that again. I truly believe that. I really felt dirty afterwards. Not so much when I left Damon’s, but after his place, I went to my fave gay bar to hang out with some friends and my ‘Will’ was informed of everything, that’s when it hit. I don’t mind something on the side, but it has to slow down. I think I just want one steady guy…and not Devon. He’s cute and an amazing fuck, but he’s becoming too attached and there is nothing going on upstairs.

The feeling only got worse when I got home and my husband and I engaged in sex. 3 men in one day is too much for me! I was too tired to do anything for him. I let him eat me out til I came in his mouth and then hop on top. He thought it was great, but compared to what I’ve been giving out, not at all.

I’m not sure if I’ve found my steady guy though, that’s what sucks. I’d like to say Damon. I’d even jump for The Chef, but not sure where they are at. I just know that there will be no more yesterdays for this whore!

Met Damon at his place last night. He’s packing to move, so everything was in boxes and it was freezing in there. He’s a poor college student and doesn’t run his heat much. Thank goodness he’s cute. 6′, medium to dark brown hair – kept short, but curly. He looks Grecian, but says he’s Russian and Polish. Dark olive complexion. Hair, which I usually hate, but it worked on him. Runners build and needed magnums.

A little awkwardness when I walked in, he invited me to his room and for some reason I had a case of the giggle. Blame it on the fact that I was freezing cold from the rain, his apartment and sitting on a bed with a complete stranger. So as an icebreaker, he kissed me and it moved very quickly from there.  Lot’s of kissing, very hungry kissing, but he wasn’t much for foreplay. I gave him a little head, he put on a rubber and climbed on top. He did tell me it had been a while and his first round usually was a quickly one. He was correct, but he was able to thrust deep and hit nerves I didn’t know I had. After he came he layed beside me and I put my head on his shoulder and we kissed.

We talked a while. I really liked him as  a person. There was a lot of laughter – another pot head and smoker though. But, we had a lot in common – music, classic movies, our hatred of religion. During our conversation I started playing with his cock again and noticed it was taking some time. He said he’d taken Aderol earlier in the day and it can cause his dick to be little slow to wake up. I played a while more until it seemed it was ready, he went to go doggy style, he lasted a bit, but it turned soft he just wasn’t hard enough. All I had to say was the words “do you want to put it here” and grab my tits, and the little fucker turned to stone. I went ahead and let him get off on my tits. As he was looking for a towel, he chuckled and I asked what was so funny. Said he was the first time he’d ever done that. Completely blown away. When he got back into bed, he grabbed me and began to passionately kiss me again and then fell on his back breathless.

Again, we laid there and talked and laughed for what seemed like forever. I finally got around to grabbing his cock and he’s like “I’m sorry baby, I’m so out of shape there. It’s been forever.” I kept playing, but gave up after a while. Kept talking and listening to music, kissing, caressing and before long I grabbed his cock and there was life!

“I knew you had another round in you” I laughed.

I leaned over, sucked the pre-cum of the head and took it deep. Slid between my tits and back into my mouth and made sure it was good and hard. He grabbed another condom, spread my legs and slipped in. After a few minutes I had a small orgasm, nothing to make me squirt and then he  jumped off me and grabbed his leg. I was like ‘oh shit, did I? Did it freak him out?’ Nope, leg cramp. Poor kid is 22 and falling apart. We both laughed it off and I have him so much hell about how a 22-year-old thinks fucking is nothing more than a bed, condoms, dick and pussy…if all that. An adult will think about hydration, potassium, stretching  and etc.

We ended up laying in bed for a long time just talking. I thought at 22 this was going to be a young stallion, especially since he is very good-looking, but I really like the idea he’s rather inexperienced. He’s moldable. Last nights romp was far from the best sex that I’ve had in my life, but I really enjoyed it, and I enjoyed being with him. I don’t know

Media Savvy Granderson Should be a HIT in NY.

One day after acquiring Player To Be Named Later from the Washington Nationals for one of their crappy relief pitchers, the Yankees made a bigger splash in a three team trade. The Yankees dealt more surplus mediocre pitching and a prospect-wannabe for all-star Curtis Granderson. The smooth centerfielder is one of four players in baseball history to hit 20 doubles, 20 triples, & 20 homers while stealing 20 bases in the same season. The departed Yankees include P Phil Coke, P Ian Kennedy, & OF Austin Jackson. Yankee fans are already downplaying the loss of Jackson who was once viewed as an invaluable prospect. The trade all but spells doom to the possibility of both Damon AND Matsui returning to the Yankees. Granderson was responsible for one of the Yanks more embarrassing playoff defeats in the decade. After his first full season in 2006, Granderson helped oust the Yanks from the playoffs with a .294 Avg, 2 HR’s, a triple, a steal and 5 RBI in the LDS. Coke and Bruney will certainly not be missed as they contributed to the only weak link of the Yanks recent playoff success, the middle relief corpse.

Bailey is an idiot.  Liza is a bigger idiot for playing into this brat.  She has no money, no place to live and is all of about 17 years old.  She’s got Damon her super duper lover man.  Why the hell did Liza and Colby move out of their home for the tart?

If I was writing this s/l I would have had Liza kick Bailey out of the house and let her take Stuart with her while keeping an eye on Stuart the whole time.  Liza has money so that wouldn’t have been a problem.  Without a Myrtle like character to help Bailey where would she go?  She has no job…and the way they loser boyfriend is written neither does he.  Then Liza could rescue Stuart from the two losers from hell.

I know I’ve written about this before but I feel the need to revisit it.  Aidan turned psycho is very annoying and pisses me off!  I’m an Aidan fan and to see this crap going on is maddening.  Aidan was a soldier that saw horrors in Afghanistan and rescued Jake even though it was just a trial Zach set up to get him killed.  He rescued Annie and fell in love with her only to fall out of love with her and want to make her pay for something imaginary.  He then fell onto the crazy bus and kidnapped Kendall after developing a magical obsession for her.  Now holding Kendall at gunpoint I’m sure that Pratt will have him die in a bloody reign of gunfire…you know just for Christmas.  Nothing says Peace on Earth like blood shed.  I hate what Pratt has done to Aidan Devane.

While some s/l’s are actually good most are annoying.  The glimmers of hope are there in Tad and Krystal sharing a laugh, Tad telling Jake (while JR listens) that blood doesn’t determine the love of a child.  That Trevor is his son and he can’t give up on him to be raised by the amoral David.  Tad’s friendship with Liza.  I love that David isn’t Trevor’s father and that he’s now drugging himself to simulate chemo.  I also enjoyed the scene where Jake gloated over the fact that once David is dead he, Amanda and Trevor will be the family they were meant to be.

I’m thinking that the Hack known as Pratt isn’t writing the character of Tad because he’s been superb.  I know I keep threatening not to watch anymore but I think my loyalty to the actors is too strong.  Day after Day the are forced to recite crap and you can tell they hate it.  I can’t belive I actually miss Megan McTavish.

Here Endth My Rant!

When I first moved to Grand Rapids, I was interning at Coastline Studios and thats where I met George Moss. George is a Hip Hop artist from the Grand Rapids area. John, from CS previously shot one on George’s CD Release shows. He was around the studio when we were editing his videos… (I helped edit this Trailer.)we got to talking and I was looking to collaborate so I stayed in touch with George. We eventually shot and collected 6 episodes worth of material, and called it GMTV. It’s kinda like George’s Reality Show…These are the first two episodes of six. I had alot of fun making these, just going out and shooting, and not really knowing what you’re going to get is exciting, then going back to the editing room and watching the moments over again. A lot material hit the floor… Tune in and tell me what you think!