More than 100 golfers spent a perfect fall afternoon at Weston Golf Club on Monday, October 5th at the annual Walker Fore the Children Golf Tournament. In the year marking the 20th anniversary of the event, the tournament raised $140,000 in support of children and families who depend on Walker programs and services.

This year the first place award for low net score went to the team led by a special guest—former longtime Red Sox rightfielder Dwight Evans. He was joined by tournament teammates Richard Beradino, George Psyhogeos, and Dr. Tom Burke. Terry O’Connor led the first place winners for low gross, along with his fellow team members Douglas Moran, Shawn Mato, and Jeff Campbell.

An active tournament committee, led by John Boyle and Paul Shorthose, ensured an enjoyable day on the course and a post-round program packed with unique auction items. Charity auctioneer, Harry Rose led the bidding on a wide range of auction prizes, including a once-in-a-lifetime helicopter ride over Boston. 

“We are fortunate to have so many generous and dedicated friends,” said Walker executive director Richard W. Small.  ”And we are grateful for the support of so many corporations that share a steadfast committment to improving our communities through philanthropy.”

This year’s tournament sponsors included Intex Solutions, Inc., Proactive Community, United Benefit Services, Middlesex Savings Bank, ATG, Bank of America, The Thordike Family, John and Mary Boyle, and Pete and De Simone.

If you are interested in serving on next year’s golf committee or would like to learn more about the tournament, please contact Nicole Hand, Walker manager of events and corporate giving, for more information.

I won’t make any outlandish statements here about how this set should be worth more. But I will offer two more examples that show why this set features some of the nicest baseball photography, and displaying such images didn’t require flashy foil, slick card fronts or even a special name. A few months ago I highlighted my all-time favorite Roger Clemens card, which also hails from the ‘91 set. Here are two of his teammates from that year:

Dwight Evans

Wade Boggs

Finance director: Pittsburgh’s pension liabilities could top $1 billion – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review .

Yesterday, The New Right View, offered insight into the potential for some very interesting intra-caucus dynamics in the PA House Democratic caucus. The above article from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is the first sign that the Dwight Evans hostage situation will get worse before it gets better.

For weeks, the Allegheny County House members have been on board with the pension takeover. But the City of Pittsburgh REALLY doesn’t want it. They will now be pursuing amendments and fighting to change the bill – further putting Philadelphia in a precarious position. Todd Eachus and Keith McCall stalling consideration of this legislation only gives Pittsburgh the time it needs to have a legitimate shot to derail the fast track of HB 1828 – and further pressure Dwight Evans into their court. Time to pay the piper, Chairman Evans.

State budget talks 10 miles past the middle of nowhere.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette headline sums it up well. After a week of hearing House Democrats and Governor Rendell claiming “momentum,” and “progress,” and a “change of tone in the discussion” in resolving the PA budget deficit, it has clearly emerged after a 3:30 news conference that budget negotiators are NOWHERE CLOSE to an agreement. For the past 2 weeks, House Democratic leadership and Governor Rendell have been untruthful with the people of Pennsylvania in an effort to buffer themselves and their ineptitude from the people of Pennsylvania. They are fighting an impossible fight, a fight against the will of the voters of Pennsylvania and a fight against the right financial course of action in the current economic climate – no new taxes. Pennsylvania taxpayers have spoken loud and clear they can’t afford it…income tax, sales tax, whatever it may be.

The most important aspect of the 3:30 p.m. news conference though, was the participants…Majority Leader Eachus and Speaker McCall – who had emerged from negotiations today to report the bad news. But where was majority Appropriations Chairman Dwight Evans? He was notably absent from the press conference, and presumably notably absent from the negotiations. Ever since Governor Rendell signed the “bridge budget,” Dwight Evans has been M.I.A. Sure a death in the family is sad, and an understandable absence. But it has now been almost 3 weeks since he has been engaged in the budget process. Is that his choice or Eachus and McCall’s choice? We may just find out soon enough…

You see, the Pa budget impasse is about to take another interesting twist – and a twist that no one else is writing about. Last night, the PA Senate passed HB 1828 overwhelmingly. This legislation provides for a Philadelphia pension bailout, state takeover of distressed pension systems, and a variety of municipal pension reforms. Mayor Nutter has been lobbying hard – and using the scare tactics of police and fire layoffs – to get the Philly pension bailout passes ASAP (http://bit.ly/23Stah). One would think, the House Democratic leadership, sensitive to their large (and sometimes in charge) legislative black caucus would be in a hurry to get this legislation to the Governor for signature(after all, he and Nutter support the bill in its current form - http://bit.ly/17NiST), but they also announced at their 3:30 p.m. news conference today that they would not vote on that bill until AFTER Labor Day. Don’t forget, 2 weeks ago the House D’s were calling for immediate Senate action on the Philadelphia pension bailout (http://bit.ly/2n0OT2). So what has changed?

The fact is, Eachus and McCall have now taken yet another budget hostage…Michael Nutter, Dwight Evans, and the city of Philadelphia. Dwight Evans has been the primary advocate of increased taxes and WAMs in the budget debate – and it has caused significant problems for Eachus and McCall. Now they have the tool they need to bring Dwight Evans back into the fold, make him accept their budget principles and proposals, and bring a resolution to the budget. After today’s news, it is clear a resolution is still weeks away, but one of the most important pieces to resolve the crisis are now in place. Its not checkmate, but McCall and Eachus have put Evans in check – its his turn to act – he is on the clock.

Regarding PA Senate Bill 850 and The Arts: An Open Letter to Relevant Pennsylvania State Legislators, Administrators, Citizens, And Anyone Else Who Might Want To Get Involved In This Mess

Governor Ed Rendell has signed legislation that provides a temporary budget for the state of Pennsylvania. It’s flawed, incomplete by his own admission- but it ensures that state workers will be able to take paychecks home. In his statement to the press, he said, “I believe the bill presented to me for signature today is technically flawed and cannot be viewed as a constitutionally balanced budget enacted with the best interests of the citizens of Pennsylvania in mind; therefore, I am exercising my constitutional right to line item veto all but those appropriations that will allow state employees to be paid and those serving immediate basic health and safety purposes.”

State workers should get paid, and basic health and safety purposes need to be addressed. Despite this budget crisis that affects all areas of our state, the arts community in the Greater Philadelphia area is in an uproar. It’s being said that Governor Rendell plans to eliminate all arts and cultural funding from the budget for fiscal year 2010.

If state arts and cultural funding is eliminated, what'll happen to the Christmas lights in Rittenhouse Square?

Casinos are being viewed as a potential generator of tax revenue for Pennsylvania and industry. Mayor Michael Nutter said at the Mayoral debate on October 30, 2007, “The potential negative impact of casinos in Philadelphia I think we’ve not fully come to grips with: traffic, congestion, gaming addiction, as well as crime. It was not the best idea. It’s certainly not the way to try to develop our waterfront.’ (1) Since then, he and many other Philadelphia leaders have changed their minds. It’s incongruous that the potential entertainment factor of casinos could be considered such a saving grace while the arts and culture are ignored.  Creating entertainment opportunities via gambling, and taxing them, is a short-sighted measure. More attention to our state’s arts and culture will enhance our state, and create greater tax revenue, without the significant drain on our city and state resources that casinos would cause.

Proponents of the casinos claim that they will bring jobs. The Sugarhouse casino is being built in a Delaware River vacant lot, so supporters believe that this will enhance our waterfront. There is a theory that casinos in Philadelphia will enhance tourism and attract money that would otherwise go to Atlantic City. Greater arts and cultural opportunities throughout Pennsylvania will do all of these things and much more.

At the risk of boring the pants off of you with statistics and numbers, let’s look at the facts.

According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the state’s arts budget is $14 million. Writer Alice Carter broke this down to costing “each taxpayer a nickel per week or $2.60 a year.” (2)

Arts and culture are a $1.99 billion industry in Pennsylvania, says Citizens for the Arts in Pennsylvania. The arts provide nearly 62,000 full-time equivalent jobs and generate $282.98 million in local and state government revenue.(2)

So, essentially, the state of Pennsylvania puts out $14 million for arts and culture and gets two hundred sixty-eight million, nine hundred and eighty thousand dollars back. That’s quite a return on the investment.

Arts and cultural organizations spread the wealth around. “Nonprofit arts organizations and their audiences generate $166.2 billion dollar in economic activity every year—$63.1 billion in spending by organizations and an additional $103.1 billion in event-related spending by their audiences, proving that the arts are an economic driver in their communities that supports jobs, generates government revenue, and is the cornerstone of tourism,” Americans for the Arts reported. (3)

To put it more simply: “The typical attendee to a nonprofit arts event spends $27.79 per person, per event (excluding admission) on transportation, lodging, and other event-related costs. Nonlocal attendees spend twice as much as their local counterparts ($40.19 vs. $19.53). Thirty-nine percent of attendees are nonlocal. Few industries can boast this kind of event-related spending.”(4)

If you needed proof that casinos don’t enhance local business opportunities: The number of independent restaurants in Atlantic City dropped from 48 the year casinos opened to 16 in 1997. (5) Within just four years of the casinos’ arrival, one-third of Atlantic City’s retail businesses had closed. (6) But why should they try to help out other businesses? Why would you want your patrons to eat at a restaurant outside your casino when you can have them eat at a restaurant inside your casino? Play to win, folks.

Research sponsored by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development demonstrates that arts programs in public housing areas increase neighborhood pride, decrease vandalism, provide safe havens, improve inter-generational communications, and increase tolerance between different cultures and ethnicities. (4) and also, public art and a vibrant cultural community beautifies and animates cities, provides employment, attracts residents and tourists, complements adjacent businesses, enhances property values, expands the tax base, attracts well-educated employees, and contributes to a creative and innovative environment.(4)

It’s unbelievably easy to come to the conclusion that the arts are good for our communities. Yet it’s still being ignored. Maybe there’s a stigma that the arts aren’t an honest, hardworking profession; maybe there’s some stigma left over from our earliest Quaker settlers, who believed that the arts are frivolous. Times have changed, and we need to remove the stigma. We need to get out and enjoy the arts and cultural opportunities available to us, and we also need our legislators to take notice.

These are the people whom you should contact. Tell them that having the ability to go to museums, learn about history, see performances, and do something with your life other than shop, work, eat and watch television is important to you. Tell them that an investment in Pennsylvania’s arts and cultural opportunities will come back to the state government many times over.  Or just tell them that you think it’s a good idea. Thank the ones who are working for us. Nobody ever says “thank you” enough.

And thank you for taking the time to read this.

Senate

• Dominic Pileggi, R-Chester County and Delaware County. He’s the Senate Majority Leader and former mayor of Chester. Voted with the party for a budget that would eliminate cultural funding. http://www.senatorpileggi.com/ I’m sure he loves the Brandywine River Museum too much to see it go to waste.

• Jake Corman, R-Centre. Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Voted with the party for a budget that would eliminate cultural funding. http://www.jakecorman.com His “News You Can Use” section reminds you to use sunscreen, and that DEER ARE ON THE MOVE.

• Jay Costa, D-Allegheny. Costa is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, and showed his support for the arts as a speaker at the recent Rally for the Arts in Harrisburg. http://www.senatorcosta.com/

House

• Dwight Evans, D-Philadelphia. He’s the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and his office crafted the $29.1 billion budget plan that would retain cultural funding. http://www.pahouse.com/evans/

• Todd Eachus, D-Luzerne. Majority Leader of the House. http://www.toddeachus.com . He’s very concerned about healthcare.  You could tell him about how the arts aid in patients’ emotional and mental health and recovery. Or you could print this out and mail it to him: http://artsusa.org/pdf/get_involved/advocacy/research/2008/healthcare08.pdf

• Sam Smith, R-Jefferson. He’s the House Minority Leader, and voted for a budget that would eliminate cultural funding.  http://www.samsmithpahouse.com He says, “Real People Pay Taxes.” We know. Remind him about that $282.98 million in local and state government revenue.

Sources:

(1)    Casino-Free Philadelphia, casinofreephiladelphia.org

(2)    “At $14 million, the arts are a bargain for state’s budget” By Alice T. Carter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Sunday, August 2, 2009

(3)    Arts and Economic Prosperity III, Americans for the Arts, artsusa.org

(4)    Talking Points, Economic Impact, Americans for the Arts, artsusa.org

(5)    Evelyn Nieves, “Our Towns: Taste of Hope at Restaurants Casinos Hurt,” New York Times, March 23, 1997, section 1, p. 39.

(6)    Robert Goodman, The Luck Business: The Devastating Consequences and Broken Promises of America’s Gambling Explosion (New York: Free Press, 1995), p. 23.

My name is Lieutenant Jonathan Patrick McCarthy, Sr. of the Cambridge Police Department and I’d like to share a story with you about the time I pitched to new Hall of Famer Jim Rice in a charity-run celebrity softball game in 1995.

At the time, Mr. Rice’s post-career reputation as one of the most feared hitters of his era was still being solidified. Let me just say, I never questioned the reputation again after that fateful spring day.

I was one of 15 police local officers selected to do battle against some of Boston’s finest celebrities/retired athletes, including the always scary Jim Ed, former Patriots Tim Goad and Ronnie Lippett, Nancy Kerrigan, Lenny Clarke, film-makers Peter and Bobby Farrelly, the basist from The Cars and several of the Wahlberg brothers.

I’d like to be able to say I didn’t have to change my underwear after pitching to the Red Sox great in the fourth inning on that fateful day. I’d like to be able to say that…

After tossing a shutout over the first three innings of the game, a sergeant from Watertown by the name of Bobby Griggs was struck in the pitching shoulder by a line drive off the bat of Canadian football great Doug Flutie, who wasn’t invited to participate in the game but showed up with a glove, spikes, batting gloves and a Barry Bondsesque elbow pad, demanding a spot on the celebrity team’s roster. Sadly, Flutie’s gritty, compact swing ended poor Griggs’ day.

I was in left field at the time and had dropped a laser beam line drive off of Rice’s bat in the first inning. I guess the error convinced my teammates that I was best suited to replace Griggs at pitcher, a position that would minimize the impact of my suspect judgement in the field.

Growing up in Dover, Massachusetts in the 1975s-1986s, I was obviously a huge BoSox fan. Now, I must say I was always a Dwight Evans guy and, thus, found Rice’s value to those Sox teams of the 70s and 80s to be trivial and mostly forgetable in comparison to Dewey. Nevertheless, my blood pressure immediately skyrocketed when I saw Rice would be leading off the fourth inning. He looked menacing even while just standing in the on-deck circle.

I must say I don’t even remember those warm-up pitches I threw because I was too concerned with the prospect of Rice staring me down. He looked dangerous and I must say, as a young police officer who was fairly new to the force, my cackles stood up as he strode confidently into the batter’s box. I was a bit of a redass in those days and I guess you could say I was on edge.

He pointed the head of his feared bat right at my fearful head and it took all I had not to start visibly shaking out of fear. He seemed to be calling me out…challenging me, personally. I tried not to look scared. My first pitch showed the affect on my nerves as its high arc took it well out of the reach of my catcher, Joe Barry, the only officer in the Somerville police department to score above 75 on his civil service exam.

Frightened, my second pitch/lob bounced thrice in front of home plate before landing in the catcher’s mitt.

I motioned to Mr. Rice to step out of the batter’s box to allow me a moment to compose myself. He would not grant me that courtesy, instead holding the head of his bat over the middle of the plate as if to suggest the spot for my next pitch’s location. Unbelievably, I obliged and he smoked the most wicked line drive down the left field line into foul territory, where the menacing orb bounced off a pregnant woman’s stomach and broke an elderly woman’s nose before ricocheting into the celebrity dugout and bouncing off Nancy Kerrigan’s left knee.

Having no handcuffs readily available, I realized I would need to throw yet another pitch to this right-handed menace. So I did what any good, civic-minded police officer would do when taking the public’s best interest to heart: I threw Jim Rice two unhittable, unreachable pitches so far out of the strike zone Wily Mo Pena would have blushed at the prospect of swinging at either pitch.

Take your base, Mr. Rice, you won’t be hurting any more women and children with your line drives if I have anything to say about it.

 That’s right, I served up an intentional walk to Jim Rice himself in a Boston celebrity-police softball game. And I’ll do it again if I’m ever invited to play in one of those games again and that fear-mongerer is on the opposing team. I was stunned to hear the crowd booing me so heartily.

Fearing a riot, which would have put the public in further danger, I made sure to throw a strike to the next batter, Dewey Evans, who hit a home run that I believe landed somewhere on the other side of the Charles River roughly a year later. Incredible.

That’s my story, folks. I make no apologies for walking Jim Rice that day, but I do grudgingly congratulate him for his induction this weekend into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Thanks for reading and remember: Buckle up, it’s the lawr.

Dwight Evans, who helped UCF reach three NCAA Tournaments as an assistant, has taken an assistant coaching job at South Carolina State.

So, I’m a little behind after being in New Zealand for the beginning of the month that I have yet to comment on the MLB Hall of Fame vote this year. Congratulations to former Red Sox Jim Rice and Rickey Henderson (ok, Rickey only played part of one season, but whatever). The next closest to the 75% threshold were Andre Dawson and Burt Blyleven, with a disappointing 22.6% for Tim Raines. And hey, Mo Vaughn fell off the ballot after one year!

Back to Rice… I am happy he made it, I really am, but lets compare career numbers for a couple players I remember watching as a kid:

• Player 1: 8225 AB, 2452 H, 382 HR, .352 OBP, .298 BA, 9 All Stars, 1 MVP
• Player 2: 8996 AB, 2446 H, 385 HR, .370 OBP, .270 BA, 9 Gold Gloves, 3 All Stars

OK, so this is a bit unfair, but Player 1 is, of course, Jim Rice. Player 2 is his teammate, Dwight Evans. Evans fell off the Hall of Fame ballot rather quickly and Rice will have a bronze plaque. Now, Evans had a longer career to compile his counting stats, but Evans was also a dominant defensive OF as well as a great hitter. Now, should every Evans-like player be in the HOF? No, but I just wanted to point out that maybe, just maybe, the voters put the wrong Sox OF in the Hall.

Wow. Dustin Pedroia is on an absolute roll. He is clearly the best second baseman in the league. Clearly. And if he doesn’t get MVP I’d say there’s something seriously wrong with this picture. We’re talking CC-over-Beckett-for-Cy-Young wrong. Pedroia the Destroyah’s latest honor is his first career Silver Slugger award. He’s the fourth player in Red Sox history to win a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger in the same season; Dwight Evans, Ellis Burks, and Tek were the first three. We’ve had a player on the Silver Slugger team in each of the past eight seasons. Unfortunately, Aubrey Huff of the Orioles snapped Ortiz’s four-season Silver Slugger streak. Understandable, though, considering his injury-ridden season this year. Anyway, the MVPs are announced on Tuesday, and I fully expect Dustin to win it.

Jon Lester won the Hutch Award for courage from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, and Jacoby Ellsbury won the James Bell Legacy Award for steals. He led the American League and broke the rookie record with fifty. Dice-K placed fourth in the Cy Young voting. True, his outings this year were on the short side, but I thought he would’ve done a lot better. The winner was obviously Cliff Lee, followed by Roy Halladay and Francisco Rodriguez. Dice-K’s 18-3 record was good for fourth in the American League in wins, his 2.90 ERA was good for third, and his .211 opponent’s average was good for first. He truly perfected his Houdini strategy; opponents finished the season 0 for 14 with the bases loaded. The only drawback? His 94 walks led the American League. That and his short outings did him in.

Baseball Insider of USA Today evaluated all thirty Major League Baseball teams in nine categories over the past five years and ranked us number one overall. I have to say I’m not surprised. I mean look at what we’ve done over the past five years: four postseason appearances and two World Series titles. Not to mention our successes in the regular season, in the offseason, in the front office, and in the farms. So it’s true. It is absolutely true. We are the team to beat, and we are in the process of becoming the team of the decade.

The two-week exclusive negotiation period between Tek and the Sox is over. Theo had some discussions with Scott Boras, but obviously as I said the length of the deal is likely proving to be an issue. Big Papi has stated that he wants another slugger on the team; in my opinion, that would be Teixeira. I would say that Matt Holliday could be an option, but he’s already been traded to the A’s. Of all the teams, it had to be the A’s. Every team has a few teams that, for whatever reason, they just can’t handle. For us, it’s the Jays in September, lately the Rays, and the A’s. The A’s sweep us at least once a season. So of all the teams to which he could’ve been traded, it had to be Oakland. That’s great. That’s just great. As far as the rest of the free agent market is concerned, we’re also probably looking into Ben Sheets, AJ Burnett, Derek Lowe, Sean Casey, and Alex Cora. Rumor has it that we might even be interested in Rocco Baldelli.

In other news, the New York Jets defeated the Pats on Thursday to secure first place. They won it by a score of 34-31 with a field goal in overtime. But I think the Boston sports highlight of the week had to be Thursday’s game between the Bruins and the Habs. We completely crushed them, literally and physically. Our 6-1 rout ended our twelve-game losing streak against the Canadiens. And the fight between Milan Lucic and Mike Komisarek was absolutely epic. I mean that was a great hockey fight. Complete and total domination. Lucic clearly won that one. We did lose to the Rangers in overtime last night, but on the upside we’ve won eight of our last ten, and our 24 points is good for first place.

MLB Photo

I don't want these...

….and this was what I got. The group break, which was hosted by Youtube’s “thepackripper,” was for 10 tins of 2007 UD Sweet Spot Classic and a box of Topps Sterling. For those unaware of the group break concept, basically a person pays a fixed amount of money for a “spot” in the break (they can buy multiple spots if they choose). Each team in the league of the product’s sport is represented by these “spots.” When all spots have been filled to cover all of the teams, a random drawing is held to assign a team (or teams) to each person who bought in. The person would then receive any autographs, game-used, numbered cards (basically anything but base – except in higher end products) that were pulled of their team.

Anyway, I ended up with the Red Sox, which turned out to be a pretty good draw. I ended up receiving the following cards:
1. Luis Tiant base card (052/575)
2. Luis Aparicio Classic Memorabilia jersey
3. Jim Rice Signatures Red Stitch Black Ink (016/175)
4. Dwight Evans Signatures Barrel Blue Ink (48/75)

Unfortunately, I can’t stand the Sox so these cards have to go. If anyone wants to take the lot as a whole, let me know. Thanks for reading!

EDIT: THESE ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE!!!

-John

Some pre-packaged, pre-game thoughts:

• There’s no reason to be surprised or (if you’re one of the dozen existing Rays fans) concerned about the Tampa Bay Rays 7 game losing streak. Think of it as a “regression towards the mean.” The Rays have some top notch starting pitching among Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Matt Garza, and even Andy Sonnanstine has put up 10 wins, but they’re 8th in the American League in runs scored. Their everyday SS, Jason Bartlett, has 9 extra base hits (8 doubles, 1 triple) in 273 at bats! With the exception of rookie Evan Longoria, none of their “big bats” are performing anywhere up to par. From last season to this season, B.J. Upton has gone from a .300/24/82 with a.894 OPS to a .276/6/44 with a .787 OPS; Carl Crawford has gone from a .315/11/84 with a .821 OPS to a .270/8/47 with a .700 OPS; and Carlos Pena has gone from a .282/46/121 with a 1.038 OPS to a .236/14/47 with a .778 OPS. In order for the Rays to seriously compete with the Red Sox for the division crown, they’ll need major improvements from just about every offensive player on their roster in addition to adding at least one big right-handed bat and a shortstop with more power than a little leaguer. Realistically, the Rays are a 90-92 win team and serious contenders for a Wildcard berth, which is nothing to laugh at considering their pathetic team history.
• The Yankees are toast. And I’m not just referring to this season, but to next season as well. A team with a salary of over $200 million should NEVER have gone into a season relying on THREE rookie pitchers to carry them. Joba looks like the real deal but don’t you think they might be reconsidering not giving up Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, and Melky Cabrera for Johan Santana now? As it stands, they have somewhere on the order of $75 million coming off the books this offseason (Jason Giambi – $23.5 million, Bobby Abreu – $16 million, Andy Pettite- $16 million, Mike Mussina – $11 million, Carl Pavano – $11 million (remember him), Kyle Farnsworth – $6 million, the main culprits), but as a result they’ll have a number of huge holes. With no minor league position players they can realistically fit into their lineup, how do they not offer Mark Teixera 7 or 8 years at $150 plus million as well as $100 million plus to Ben Sheets and/or CC Sabathia? Not to mention, what do they do with Right Field? Do they sign Pat Burrell or Adam Dunn for $50 plus million, move Johnny Damon back to Center and put Melky Cabrera in Right? No matter what way you slice it, the Yankees will be forced to either overpay for position players or trade some or all of their top prospects for a player like Matt Holliday. And yet again, they’ll need to completely overhaul their bullpen aside from Rivera. They’re a disaster and I’m loving it.
• Most people didn’t notice but the Boston Red Sox may very well have won the World Series during last Friday’s 7-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles: JULIO LUGO TORE A QUADRICEPS AND WILL BE OUT FOR 4-6 WEEKS! Oh happy day! I’m not sure I’ve ever mentioned this but I have an almost irrational hatred of Julio Lugo. My enjoyment of watching Red Sox games is seriously hampered by his presence on the team. I would actually rather see him strike out with the game on the line rather than get a basehit at this point because of the possibility that that hit might extend his stay on the Red Sox. Now we get to see talented rookie Jed Lowrie take over — something which should have happened last season — and hopefully never give the job up. Julio Lugo getting injured is the equivalent of adding an Albert Pujols or Hanley Ramirez to the lineup, that’s how much he detracts from the team by his presence. At this point, I can’t see how the Red Sox don’t win the World Series — unless they put Lugo back in the lineup in September that is.
• There are 3 Jewish All-Stars out there tonight: 1B Kevin Youkilis (.314/15/63), 2B Ian Kinsler (.337/14/58), and 3B/LF Ryan Braun (.286/23/66). A pretty nice trio I’d say. I don’t know if there are any All-Star Jewish Shortstops on the horizon, but we certainly could put together a nice Jewish infield. Oy!
• My apologies to Cliff Lee, but Roy Halladay should be the starting Pitcher for the AL. I know that Lee has the better record and a slightly better ERA (2.31 to 2.71), but Halladay’s 7 complete games and 2 shutouts are remarkable in this day and age. If Halladay were on any other team than the Blue Jays, he would be openly discussed as one of the great pitchers of his generation.
• I’m usually fairly biased when it comes to anything related to Red Sox-Yankees, but there’s absolutely no question that Mariano Rivera should be the AL closer over Jonathan Pabelpon. Rivera’s had the better season, end of story. But the treatment that Pabelbon and his wife received during this afternoon’s Red Carpet parade of All-Stars down Avenue of the Americas, where he was booed unmercifully and some threats were hurled at him and his wife, was typical no-class chickenshit behavior from Yankees fans that was completely uncalled for. Now I hope Rivera is used in the 5th inning or not at all. Maybe they can detonate Yankee Stadium with those ass-clown “fans” sitting in the stands.

Game time! Finally, mercifully!

Whoops, my bad, the longest pre-game introductions in the history of sport continues.

• George Steinbrenner being wheeled out to the mound doesn’t quite give the same level of chills as when Ted Williams was brought out at the 1999 Fenway Park, does it?
• Ted Williams at Fenway was one of those special moments that only sports can deliver.
• From my fiancee: “Wade Boggs looks weird. Like a serial killer.”
• I think we’re possibly within 45 minutes of game time.
• I’m predicting a 6-4 AL victory. The AL’s pitching advantage is the difference. But for the first time in a LONG time, I would actually favor the NL’s line-up, particularly at the top. Ichiro/Jeter gets schooled by Hanley Ramirez/Chase Utley. You wouldn’t know it by listening to Tim McCarver, but Jeter is an average baseball player at this stage of his career. Ichiro has finally brought his average up to .300, but Hanley Ramirez is one of the Top 5 offensive players in the game.

First Inning

Top Half:

- Hallelujah, the game’s on!

- I can barely watch the T.V. when Hanley Ramirez is on. To think that I could have been watching him for the past two seasons instead of Julio Lugo!!! Sure, it’s nice having Beckett and Mike Lowell, but trading a future Hall-of-Famer always has its drawbacks.

- Wow, Cliff Lee is fired up. Let’s hope — for Cleveland’s sake — that he doesn’t overthrow and have to go on the DL like Pedro Martinez did after striking out 5 in a row to start the 1999 All-Star game.

- Nice, quick half inning. 17 more of those and it might make up for the 2 hours worth of pre-game introductions.

Middle Half:

- How is Milwaukee going to deal with the impending free agency of Ben Sheets AND CC Sabathia? I like the trade they made, they saw an opportunity to boast one of the top rotations in the game and they took it — unlike the New York Yankees, who have quickly grown into chickenshit “let’s hold onto all of our precious prospects” mode — but I doubt the Brewers can sign both. I would sign Sheets if I were them. Sabathia has pitched a lot of innings and would soon look like Jabba the Hut after a year or two of living in Milwaukee.

- What a chump A-Rod is for not participating in the Home Run Derby. The whole “it screws up your swing” meme is complete bullshit and he knows it. You think that Josh Hamilton regrets his experience? A-Rod’s a coward, that’s why he didn’t participate in the Derby. He was afraid of looking bad. While he may undoubtedly be remembered as one of the greatest players to ever play the game, he’ll never be a legend.

Second Inning

Top Half:

- Wasn’t Albert Pujols supposed to have blown out an elbow by now?

- Who saw this season coming from Chipper Jones?

- Ryan Braun strikes out! Jews everywhere hang their heads in disgust.

Middle Half:

- That Kevin Costner movie “Swing State” looks painfully bad. My advice: rent the 1993 Clint Eastwood-directed Kevin Costner movie, A Perfect World, instead. Very under-rated film. Highly recommended.

- The Red Sox don’t have much choice other than to pick up Manny Ramirez’s option for next season. What else are they going to do? Sign Pat Burrell or Adam Dunn to an overpriced 4 or 5 year contract, trade Kevin Youkilis and Craig Hansen to Colorado for Matt Holiday (that was a proposed trade), or give LF to rookie Brandon Moss? It’s only a one year commitment, hardly a difficult decision.

- I always liked Milton Bradley. Crazy as all hell, but I’m glad he’s doing well for himself. It’s doubtful that he’ll be able to maintain his equilibrium though — If I were the Rangers, I’d trade him before the deadline and restock my minor league pitching depth.

- Kevin Youkilis strikes out! The Jews are growing restless!

Third Inning

Top Half:

- Yogi Berra making fun of Derek Jeter. Classic.

- Is there a more pathetic thing in sports than Yankee fans who wear those fake Jason Giambi moustaches? Yay, he’s hitting again, so let’s forget that he’s a steroid-taking, gold thong wearing moron. If the average human body is 60% water, I would guess that Giambi’s is 15% water an 45% HGH at this point.

- I wonder if “Fukodome” is actually prounounced “Foo-kay-dome” in Japan? Are there any Japanese out there that can confirm this for me?

Middle Half:

- I also have to say that I loved the Chicago Cubs trade for Rich Harden. Pair him with Carlos Zambrano and that’s nice 1-2. Unfortunately Harden is as fragile as a leg-shaped lamp and there’s at best a 10% likelihood that he makes it to the post-season in one piece.

- Nobody hits into a smoother double play than Derek Jeter. He’s truly a gifted athlete.

Fourth Inning

Top Half:

- Raise your hand if you’re excited for the X-Files Movie? Nobody?

- Halladay is a free agent after the 2009 season. It’s funny you don’t hear any discussion of the Blue Jays considering putting him on the trade block. I would expect they could extract no less than 2 top tier prospects as well as a couple of mid-grade prospects for him.

- What a laser from Ichiro to gun down Pujols at second. There’s nothing more enjoyable than having an outfielder on the team you root for who has a gun for an arm like Ichiro or Vlad Guerrero. I still miss Dwight Evans.

Middle Half:

- Madonna? Seriously, A-Rod? That’s who you end your marriage for? Just when you thought he couldn’t sink any lower, he starts dating a 49 year old woman. He could have had a Paris Hilton/Lindsey Lohan sandwich, but he settled for someone who was born in the 1950s.

Fifth Inning

Top Half:

- Pineapple Express will be a huge hit. I read the screenplay and it is hands-down hilarious. After The Dark Knight it’s the movie I’m most looking forward to this summer.

- Home run by Matt Holiday and we have a run on the board!

- If the Rays are serious about this season, Holiday would be a good addition. They certainly have the prospects to get the job done. It’s a question of whether they have the desire. I doubt it.

Middle Half:

- I was a little surprised that Billy Beane traded Rich Harden. The As are 7 games over .500 and had a realistic chance at the Wild Card. Methinks Beane might know a little something about the health status of Rich Harden that he’s not letting on. To think of all the pitching talent that Oakland has traded over the years — including Danny Haren, the guy on the mound for the NL — and they still have the best ERA in all of Major League baseball!

- Ian Kinsler with a stolen base! First the Jews control the media, the banks, and Hollywood, and now we’re taking over baseball. What will we think of next?

- Thankfully for Derek Jeter there are already two outs so he can’t hit into a double-play…Only a ground out to the pitcher. Rally killed.

Sixth Inning

Top Half:

- If I were Jason Varitek I would be significantly embarrassed to be named to the All-Star team. I know, it’s a great honor to be chosen by the players, but have a little self-respect and come up with a “hamstring injury” or something. Is his .218 average the worst in baseball All-Star game history? To think just how much A.J. Pierzynski has to be hated by his fellow players for them to choose Varitek over him.

- Lance Berkman drives a deep out to Sizemore in Center, Hanley Ramirez tags up, and the NL takes a commanding 2-0 lead.

- You can choose to call it classy, but I prefer to see it as Terry Francona embarrassing himself with this whole removing A-Rod and Jeter in the middle of the inning so they can get a big cheer. Terry, have a little respect for yourself. These Yankee fans deserve an opportunity to be dipped in a barrel of feces before they deserve an opportunity to cheer for their hometown clowns.

Middle Half:

- I feel like it’s time for a good All-Star game beaning. Milton Bradley is coming up soon. Maybe we could get the first brawl in the history of the All-Star game.

- That was a nice pitch by Haren to strike out Sizemore. Again, I reiterate, it’s incredible the amount of talent the As have had to trade.

Seventh Inning

Top Half:

-Apparently Pabelbon’s pregnant wife getting threatened by Yankees fans is a lead story on the Nightly News here in Los Angeles. I wonder if this story will get national attention? I ask you, do Yankee fans have any decency?

- Can we all agree that it would be nice if the Minnesota Twins overtook the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central?

- I just saw the the Clippers traded a 2nd round pick to the Nuggets for Marcus Camby. Good move by the Clippers, I’m shocked. Camby’s only under contract for 2 seasons and will improve their interior defense signifcantly. Probably not the move that Clippers fans were hoping for after losing Elton Brand, but they may be better off in the long run.

Middle Half:

- Wait, Corey Hart is in right field? Is he wearing his sunglasses at night?…Sorry.

- Edwin Volquez really does look like a young Pedro Martinez out there. He brings the ball up higher before his release, but very similar to Martinez.

- J.D. DREW ties it up with a 2 run jack! I think I’ve mentioned this before, but J.D. Drew’s emergence into an All-Star this season has me worried that the apocalypse is just around the corner. I will never be shocked by anything for the rest of my life after his turn-around.

Eighth Inning

Top Half:

- If I were Jonathan Pabelbon, I would just turn and start firing pitches into the stands. Fucking cowards.

- And the next time the Red Sox face New York, I’d plug a few Yankees batters for good measure.

- Yankees fan start chanting “over-rated,” which of course is a chant they stole from Boston Celtics fans. How pathetic. I have a chant for Yankee fans: how about “YEAR 2000!…YEAR 2000!…YEAR 2000!”

- NL takes a 3-2 lead after Navarro throws a ball into centerfield, allowing Tejada to get to third and score on a sac fly.

Middle Half:

- You know what, it might be a good thing if the AL loses, because that way the Red Sox would be able to celebrate at Fenway Park after their 4 game sweep of the World Series.

- Hey, were you aware that this is the last season at Yankee Stadium?! Shouldn’t they have been drilling that into our heads every 5 minutes for the entire length of the game?

- I’m going to go out on a limb and predict 10 All-Star appearances for Longoria’s career. He ties the game with a double down the left field line.

Ninth Inning

Top Half:

- K-Rod is into the game. Apparently he has 38 saves on the season! I take back my earlier comment that Rivera should be closing this game. He’ll be a free agent this offseason, can you say 5 years, $55 million?

- Oh please God, let Rivera blow this game.

- Seriously, Terry, neither Rivera nor his mongrel fans deserve your deference.

- Oh well, strike em out, throw em out and the inning is over.

Middle Half:

- C’mon Kinsler, hit a walk-off. Do it for the Jews!

- Oh my sweet Lord, the Yankees are coming to Fenway Park next week! Let’s pray that Radio Shack is stocked up on batteries!

- Kinsler strikes out. First the Exodus and now this! Haven’t we suffered enough?

- J.D. is going hit another one, I can feel it…and he strikes out.

Tenth Inning

Top Half:

- Rivera’s still out there. I like Terry’s strategy now: wear out Rivera in the All-Star game before the Yankees come to town next week. Brilliant.

- 1st and third with one out. Rivera may blow this yet.

- Crap, double play. It looks like Rivera will get out of the game unscathed…unless Terry is thinking of bringing him out there for a third inning? That would be too good, but it’s not happening.

Middle Half:

- Uggla was Uggly on that play.

- Uggla does it again, right through the wickets and it’s first and third with no outs. Oh right, Uggla was also the batter who just hit into the double play. You think he might just want to dig a hole out at second base right about now?

- Walking the bases loaded. I like the strategy, not much else you can do at this point.

- Oh thank goodness Uggla didn’t choke on that one, might have scarred him for life. One out, bases still loaded.

- Longoria up with a good chance to be MVP if he can get the run home…And he grounds out feebly to third and there’s two outs. This game has had quite the ending.

- WOW, what a play by Tejada! He has to charge hard, the ball hits the lip of the glass, he fields it and then he makes a powerful off-balance throw to just catch the runner! How about Aaron Cook’s performance under pressure there?

- How excited is Uggla right now?

Eleventh Inning

Top Half:

- If this game ends in a tie, I am going to be SO pissed off for spending my entireevening doing this live blog. If I do a live blog, I’m going to pretty much demand that I at least get to see a winner and a loser.

- Rafael Soria pitches to Christian Guzman — quite the parade of stars.

- Well, that half inning was quite a downer from the theatrics of bottom of the tenth. Let’s hope this game ends soon.

Middle Half:

- Kinsler with a lead-off single! The Jews may rise again!

- Kinsler caught stealing on a pitch-out! And he wasn’t even tagged by Tejada! These umpires are all anti-Semites, I tell ya!

- J.D. Drew singles up the middle which should have been the game-winning hit. He still might get the MVP unless there’s a walk-off home run.

- What a play at the plate! Great throw by McLouth, great block by Martin. There’s nothing better than a bang-bang play at the plate.

- On to the 12th. My fiancee is NOT happy.

Twelfth Inning

Top Half:

- I promised to get my fiancee Pinkberry when the game is over so I think I’ve bought myself another inning or two.

- What the hell kind of flip was that from Morneau? This isn’t a egg-tossing contest, throw the ball!

- Then Morneau fields a bunt that was going foul. Is he trying to make Dan Uggla feel better about himself?

- Francona decides to walk the bases loaded.

- Longest game in ASG history. Figures.

- Uggla strikes out. Is it possible to retroactively revoke a player’s All-Star selection?

- A pitching change? Seriously, Terry? This might have been one of his worst coached games ever. I’m dying.

Middle Half:

- Carlos Guillen DEEP TO LEFT…and it’s off the wall. It’s officially the game that never ends.

- Uggla almost boots another one, but gets the out. Will they walk the bases loaded and try for the double play?

- Nope, they bring the infield in. Strange, I would have at least put a runner on at first base and tried for a conventional double play.

- Longoria strikes out and the fiancee is getting very restless.

- Now they intentionally walk Morneau and Kinsler again has the chance to be the hero.

- Kinsler grounds out to third. Maybe he’s only half-Jewish?

Thirteenth Inning

Top Half:

- I’m slowly losing my will to live, but I’ll press on.

- How long before one of those broken maple bats lodges into a pitcher’s face?

- Now I’m starting to wonder, what happens if the AL runs out of pitchers? Scott Kazmir threw 104 pitches on Sunday so he won’t be able to go too long. Will they have to bring in a position player? In which case would Kazmir have to play in the outfield? Or will they just call it a tie? This is incredibly intriguing.

- Was George Sherrill and his 4.08 ERA really the best that the Orioles had to offer this season? I can’t tell you how thankful I am not to be an Orioles fan.

Middle Half:

- Someone named Carlos Marmol is now in the game to pitch for the NL. Even Peter Gammons is scrambling for his program to figure out who this guy is.

- Marmol has an ERA of 13.50 for his last 12 appearances. My mistake, All Star all the way.

- Oh my dear Lord, ANOTHER error for Uggla? I feel like the crowd at the end of Braveheart: Mercy! Mercy! Mercy!

- J.D. Drew steals a base. He can taste that MVP trophy now. He will NOT be denied.

- I’m guessing that Marmol is a Dominican based on his Pedro Martinez-like delivery. This is incredible: there must be an entire generation of Dominican pitchers who based their delivery on Pedro and will soon decend on Major League Baseball. I’m very excited.

Fourteenth Inning

Top Half:

- McLouth drills it to right, back, back, back! And J.D. Drew brings it it at the wall. I could have sworn that one was long gone. It was like the hand of God kept that one in the park. This game might not be ending anytime soon.

- And Russell Martin clocks one deep to right…and Drew catches it just short of the track. What’s it going to take?

- You can’t deny George Sherrill, son! On to the bottom of the 14th.

Middle Half:

- Why is Clint Hurdle using Brandon Webb when he has Brad Lidge still in the bullpen?? Webb also pitched on Sunday and the D-Backs didn’t want him in the game. This makes absolutely no sense.

- And Brandon Webb mows the poor AL down.

Fifteenth Inning

Top Half:

- Scott Kazmir is in the game. Now I’m really hoping that this game goes beyond this inning and we find out what happens when the AL runs out of pitchers. What recourse does Major League Baseball have if there’s a tie? It’s not like they can retroactively declare that the league that has the better record in interleague play has home field advantage in the World Series, can they? I bet they’ll have to do something stupid like a coin flip. Too funny.

- Kazmir walks Wright but gets a one pitch groundout from Guzman. My vision is growing blurry. At least I live on the West Coast and it’s not even 11 PM yet.

Middle Half:

- Now Brad Lidge is in the game, the last pitcher for the NL. Oh please let this game make it to the 16th inning!

- Leadoff single by Morneau. You know the AL is going to win now that I want it to continue.

- Ryan Ludwick makes a great diving catch on Ian Kinsler. Anti-Semite!

- Dioner Navarro singles to center and J.D. Drew is up with the MVP on the line. One lousy, little single and he’s got it.

- J.D. walks. He’s now been on base three times with a steal and has 2 RBIs. He may have the MVP yet.

- Young with a fly to right…play at the plate…SAFE! Wow, that was close. He might have made it by a toe. AL WINS!

- Terry Francona is a little TOO excited. Eleven wins in a row for the American League. I guess the Red Sox will be celebrating in Chicago or Arizona this year. Alas.

- J.D. Drew gets the MVP after all. Suck it Yankees fans, suck it! Ha ha!

Peace, I’m out of here.

Since I’ve been home from Harrisburg over the past couple of weeks, I have logged some serious miles around the 46th District. Here’s just a taste of what I’ve been up to.

I met with local school superintendents from the Intermediate Unit One to discuss pending legislative issues ranging from increased graduation requirements for high school seniors to health care policy.

I attended the annual Relay for Life at the Chartiers Houston High School, where I had the honor of reading off names of cancer survivors as they made their way around the track.

Later that day, I attended the Buffalo Creek Watershed Festival, where I talked with constituents about the possibility of restoring Dutch Fork Lake. I also briefly considered taking a kayak ride in the Sunset Beach pool, but the weather wasn’t cooperating so much or at all.

Later that week, I attended a meeting with the Washington County Commissioners, representatives from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and local activist groups to discuss our efforts at the state level to procure funding to repair the dams at both Dutch Fork Lake and Canonsburg Lake.

That night I also attended the annual banquet of the United Labor Committee of Washington County, where my friends Clemmy Allen of the United Mineworkers of America and Mark Cummings of the United Steelworkers of America were honored for their service to the labor movement in Washington County.

A few days later I was in Avella to check out the circus that had been brought in to the Village Tack Arena by the Avella Volunteer Fire Department. Those guys do a great job of generating interesting and productive fundraisers for their organization, and this was no exception.

Later that night I attended a meeting of the Hanover Township Municipal Authority to discuss their upcoming sewage project. Not only did I have a great discussion with the board members and residents in attendance, but I announced that I would be holding a Funding Workshop at the Hanover Township Municipal Building on Saturday, June 14 from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM to help residents determine whether or not they are eligible for federal grants or loans to pay for their sewage tap-ins. I have held these workshops in other areas, most recently in Cecil Township, and they have been very successful. More details on that event in the days and weeks to come.

The next day, I spoke at the Fort Cherry Future Farmers of America banquet at Fort Cherry High School. I also briefly thought I had locked myself in the high school as I attempted to leave, but some embarrassing tales are better left untold.

The next morning, I welcomed House Appropriations Chairman Dwight Evans into the 46th District. We had a breakfast meeting with local business leaders from the Southpointe Chamber of Commerce and then went on a tour of the new Consol Energy Headquarters Building currently under construction in Southpointe II. Scheduled to open by Labor Day, this $100 million complex is just amazing, and more importantly, will bring nearly 800 jobs into Washington County.

On Sunday, I spoke at a Memorial Day ceremony at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies in Cecil Township. If you have not had an opportunity to stop over and explore this great facility, you really need to make the time to do so. The ceremony was a great way to kick of the Memorial Day festivities and talk to some of the people who have given so much for our nation.

The next morning, I was back out on the road. My first stop was just down the street in Muse, where I spoke at the annual Memorial Day ceremony. My old Boy Scout Troop 1369 was on hand, along with members of the Cecil No. 2 Volunteer Fire Department and many local veterans. We really couldn’t have asked for better weather to be outside paying our respects.

My next stop was McDonald, where I took part in the annual Memorial Day parade and ceremony. Instead of going into great description, you can just watch and listen to what I said yourself, thanks to our pals over at YouTube.

With the formal celebration over, I headed home and hosted a family cookout. Is there really anything cuter than my niece Ava giving my dog Caesar a kiss?

Aside from the excitement of the Penguins being in the Stanley Cup Finals and the fact that I still have a couple of hundred emails to respond to, all in all it was a pretty normal couple of weeks.

Well yesterday was my one day a week off, so I’m back today and in good spirits. This has been one heck of a box. So far I’ve only got eight doubles, and over 150 cards and we are only through the first nine packs. So I think I have decided to merge the two sites and keep them under the badwax.net website. I think it will just be easier. So to anyone who has them both listed on their websites, shift it back to badwax.net. I’m not sure how I am going to organize the content, but it should be fun. I’ll keep the other site up for a while, since a lot of people do love it. But all new content will be on the badwax site. Let’s get to pack number ten.

1. Vince Coleman – OF – Cardinals – 590 – It’s firecracker guy himself. I really did like Vince a lot growing up. I always loved guys who could steal bases and Vince was one of the best if not the best for a short period of time. In 1985 he stole 110 in 1986 he stole 107 and in 1987 he went 0.289/3/43/109 and finished twelfth in MVP voting. His fun fact was that in 1982 he attended Redskins mini-camp.

2. Ed Romero – SS/2B – Red Sox – 675 – Ed was a backup his entire career. 1987 was his second year in Boston and he went 0.272/0/14 for the season. He doesn’t have a a fun fact. So let’s end the brutality now.

3. George Hendrick – OF – Angels – 725 – By 1987 George had been in the league for 16 seasons. A very solid hitter whose career average was 0.278/21/88. However, by 1987 he was way past his prime and was regulated into backup role. In 1987 he went 0.241/5/25 in just 162 at bats. George has no fun fact either.

4. Steve Buechele – 3B – Rangers – 176 – This was pretty early on in Steve’s career, actually it was his second year. In 1986 he went 0.243/18/54 and the Rangers were expecting another big year out of him. In 1987 he went 0.237/13/50 so it was a bit of a regression, but it did set the tone of what was to come from him. His fun fact was that he relaxes by listening to country music. I don’t see hope that’s relaxing, it’s more like depressing.

5. Denny Martinez – P – Expos – 252 – After years of starting for the Orioles, he spent 1986 with the Expos and changed his career around. In 1987 El Presidente went 11-4/3.30/1.20 and established himself as one of the best pitchers in the National League. His fun fact was that he and his wife have 3 children.

6. Ed Wojna – P – Padres – 88 – This was Wojna’s rookie card., but heres the thing, he wasn’t in the major leagues a long time. In fact he was only in there for 36 total games in his career. In 1987 he went 0-3/5.89/1.69 in what would be his last year with the Padres and his second to last year in the bigs. His fun fact was that he aquired experience as a draftsman. Can anyone tell me what a draftsman is?

7. Kal Daniels – OF – Reds – 466 – This was Kal’s rookie card and one of three Reds rookies that were got to have cards in 1987 (can you name the other two?) Of the three, I would have figured him to be the best, but it didn’t turn out that way. In 1987 he went 0.334/26/64/26 in what was a fantastic season for him. His fun fact was that he went 0.500 in High School, he other fun fact was that his real name was Kalvoski.

8. Ed Vande Berg – P – Dodgers – 717 – This was Ed’s second to last season in the majors. Definitely not one of his better seasons as he was with Cleveland and went 1-0/5.10/1.62 in 55 games. His fun fact was that he graduated from Redlands High School and that he and his wife have 2 children. Hey at least his hobbies weren’t movies and music.

9. Jim Traber – OF/1B – Orioles – 484 – Jim was another short timer. He played in four seasons and only had 819 at bats. In 1987 he was still with the Orioles but was in AAA the entire season. His fun fact was that he is an accomplished professional singer and on the night he made his professional debut, he sang the National Anthem at Memorial Stadium.

10. Dwight Evans – OF – Red Sox – 645 – This was pretty late in Dewey’s career, but even at 35 , he was still a force in the AL. In 1987 he went 0.305/34/123 finished fourth in the MVP voting and made an All Star appearance and won a Silver Slugger award. What a year for someone out of the prime bell curve! His fun fact was that he and his wife have two sons and a daughter.

11. Chico Walker – OF/2B – Cubs – 695 – Chico was a seldom used utility guy. In his 13 year career he only amassed 1217 at bats, which is less than 100 per season. In 1987 he got 105 at bats and went 0.200/0/7/11. Nothing special from him and his fun fact was that he was an All Star Little League shortstop, can you think of anything more worthless to write on the back of the card.

12. Chris Bando – C – Indians – 322 – This was Sal Bando’s little brother, what is cool is that Sal’s career ended in 1981 and Chris’s began that year. In 1987 he 0.218/5/16 in just over 200 at bats. His fun fact was that he and his wife have one son (Ben).

13. Damasco Garcia – 2B – Blue Jays- 395 – He was our surprise All Star last year. The thing is that it wasn’t a matter of he was the only Blue Jay worth putting on the team, because they had Barfield, Moseby, and Bell as hitters and Eichhorn as a pitcher. Very strange that he made it. In 1987 he wasn’t even in the majors. Either he was injured or got sent down. Looks like he got send down. 1986 wasn’t a bad year for him a she went 0.281/6/46/9. His fun fact was that he was a soccer star in high school and quite baseball at 13. He came back to baseball when he was 18 and never looked back.

14. Tony Gwynn – OF – Padres – 530 – It’s an awful picture of him, with his butt to the camera. Take note Mario, no butt shots. In 1987 Tony continued his hitting dominance as he went 0.370/7/54/56, which put him eighth in MVP voting got an All Star appearance and also a Silver Slugger. His fun fact was that he played basketball at San Diego State and was chosen in the NBA draft by the San Diego Clippers.

15. Carmelo Martinez – OF – Padres – 348 – 1987 was one of Carmelo’s better seasons. He was starting alongside Gwynn in the outfield and went 0.273/15/70. His career got slightly derailed in 1986 but with the numbers he put up in 1987 he made up for it. His fun fact was that he plays winter ball in Puerto Rico and he and his wife have a daughter.

16. Chris Chambliss – 1B – Braves – 777 – So Chris gets the lucky number this year! By 1987 he was pretty much done with baseball. He took a year off and actually tried to come back in 1988 with very little luck. So let’s just say he really retired in 1986 and leave it like that. There is no fun fact for Chris.

17. Nate Snell – P – Orioles – 86 – Nate was a 31 year old rookie, but at least he made it. in 1987 , he pitched his last season in the bigs, as he went 1-2/3.96/1.50 in 22 games. Nothing special at all and nothing to bring him back for either. His fun fact was that his hobbies are horseback riding and tennis.

Overall we have ourselves a pretty good pack. There was one Hall of Famer (Gwynn) and a couple of very solid players in Dewey, Martinez, Coleman and Daniels. So just for those guys I am going to give this one 3 stars and I think it earned it. So once again, starting tomorrow I am switching the Bad Hits site information to Bad Wax. I hope you will all enjoy the new look.

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to get a chance to go to Fenway Park for Opening Day. Now, I’ve never been to any opening day before and to get to go for a ring ceremony too, that’s simply amazing. And it was. The early festivities were great with famous champions of the Boston sports scene bringing out the rings to the Red Sox ownership group. The group included legends like Bobby Orr, Bill Russell, Tedy Bruschi, John Havlicek and Curtis Leskanik. Truly awesome.

After presenting the rings, the Sox players all went out to center field to raise the banner. Unfortunately the wind didn’t cooperate at first, and the banner just hung there, but then, the wind, which previously had been steadily blowing picked up again and unfurled the banner to a big cheer from the Fenway Faithful.

But the festivities were not done. Arriving through the garage door in center field, Bill Buckner came out to throw the first pitch. It was funny how Joe Castiglione introduced him, saying amongst other things, “the Red Sox would never have won the 1986 American League pennant without him,” clearly so that there wouldn’t be people in the stands booing. Even though we’ve won the Series twice now, people in Boston are definitely still miserable about ‘86 and that could have put quite the damper on the whole afternoon if people had booed. I can’t seem to get the damn video to embed, and I have a bus to catch, so for the moment, the link is here.

Instead the crowd stood on its feet and gave a loud, hearty cheer as Buckner walked slowly in from center to the mound. When he got to the mound, the crowd started cheering wildly again. Clearly he was choked up. I was sitting high up in the rafters and could see the emotion on his face and him wiping his eyes. It was the first time he’d been back at Fenway since being the hitting coach for the White Sox in the late 90s. All in all, it ended up being a 4 minute ovation from the crowd. Add in the amazing music from the Boston Pops and Dwight Evans (one of my all-time favorites) catching the ball, and it was a truly epic moment and one I’m glad I was there for.

I’ll have some more on this later, but again, gotta catch a bus…