PERIOD # 9. "Baseball, Bacala and Blue Comets"

In the immortal words of Phil Leotardo......

"Lemme tell you a couple three things."

Hear the Bucs took another pitcher in round 1 of the amateur draft today. Oh well, let's just schedule the T.J. surgery immediately and get it over with.......

As the NPL race keeps evolving with somewhat of a log jam in the middle, the ROCK CAT juggernaut keeps rolling along. John lets the lead over 2nd place get down to about 30 or 40 points, and then he jacks it back up to 150. Then down again, and back and forth we go. What a tease that Raven is.... And the BIG TRAIN has a strangle hold on 2nd place as tight as the one Silvio Dante had on Burt Gervasi. The Train had active Closers this week, as it was The Izzy and Putz show. Isringhausen had 2 Wins and JJ 3 Saves to lead the pitching staff.

The OWLS continue to be steady and they keep the press on. However, it's the end of the Cha Seung Baek regime. Cha Seung, we hardly knew ya...... But JF now embarks on the Adam LaRoche era. In today's first official game as an Owl, Adam went 0 for 4 with 2 K's. Don't worry John, you get used to it after awhile....... And I'm sure this statistic is available out there somewhere, but I'm just too lazy to look it up right now... Any volunteers?? I would think it's a good chance that in the GIDP leaders, LaRoche has to be at the top. It's to the point that you hate to see him come to bat with a man on first and less than two outs....

That team from 69'ERS land made an ex-Pirate pitcher swap on Wednesday. Jason Schmidt and Jeff Suppan trading the roster spot. Piff says..... Go Schmidty.... I'm not sure what the significance of this next fact is, if there is any, but the KIDS have not made a regular "Drop" move since May 9th. I know......... Who cares!! It looks like the ALABAMA'S are tryng something that worked well in 2006. Are young guns Tim Lincecum and Kevin Slowey this years version of Paplebon and Liriano??

Looks like the DAWGS "33 days" needs to be revised to 38. Clemens vs. Maholm. A mis-match on paper if there ever was one. Al wanted T & E to know that he's predicting 5 solid innings for the Rocket and then the Yankee pen blows it for him. I can't repeat here what Tony had to say to that. Keep in mind, this is a family blog!! Rumor has it that Eddie may be at the same social function as Harv this weekend. Yikes... Wear the flak jacket Ed.......

The PITT O's are not playing close to the vest this season. They opt for the next big thing at 3rd base, as Larry picks up his Josh Fields of Dreams. The minor league stats say this kid has both power and speed. And Big O is already reaping the benefit of his new Pirates Closer. Word out is that the Pittsburgh O's may be re-named "Capps Crew." And the training for Altoona Curves Fantasy Camp Day continues........

The verbal barrage between the owners of the H-BOMBS and LOCKHORNS continue on Wednesday evenings with yours truly playing the role of the bald guy "Steve" from the Jerry Springer show.












(Hey, doesn't Steve look like Cal Ripken Jr??)

Harv said that the league will have a better chance of seeing Billy Donovan's family vacationing at Disney World than we will of seeing the Bombers move into 9th place!!!

Big Daddy countered with...... "I hear Harv is replacing Rosie on The View."

But anyway............... Is this DeJa Vu?? As it was in 2005, Big Daddy's plan is to make every move he can think of - and by the All-Star Break if he's at 30, then it's over and it's time to check out Camp Tomlin. Remember at the Owls Nest in '05 when John F brought out the surprise cake for B.D. to celebrate the call -out of move #30 by the Bombers? It's that season all over again.... J-Schom said the pick-up of Homer Bailey was due to the fact that Bailey is John's Golden Retriever's name and his team is playing like a bunch of Homer Simpsons.

The Horns gave Jack Cust his walking papers this week.... What a whirlwind ride it was for Jack.
The Cust era had reached the point where I'm sure Harv wanted to brag about picking him up for the Lockhorns. After all, he came on the scene with 8 HR's, 14 RBI and a Slugging Pct of 1.077 in his first 7 games. Harv was proud to have him. It was like finding out your son got a scholarship to CMU or something. Then, 3 weeks later, it's like Cust flunked out of CMU, started taking night classes at CCAC and fell for a 41 year old divorced waitress with three kids. That quick it turned into bad times for Harv and the Jack Cust era......
-------------
The Sopranos:
THE BLUE COMET













What a tense and compelling hour. I was ready to break out hard stuff. One thing about this show. It's history always has major action (whackings) take place in the penultimate episode of each season. Great filming /cinematography. Especially in the Train shop with the cuts back and forth between Bobby being shot and the model train going around the track and the look of terror in the faces of the figurines on the train display. Poor Bobby Bacala. They did him like he was Sonny Corleone at the toll booth. But he stood tall and took a lot of led. One regular contributor to the Sopranos conversation stated they felt bad - sort of like when Adrianne got it (well almost!).

Now, onto some general observations....

More brilliant filming with Melfi reading the psychology report and the hi-liting of certain words on the paper.

I'm sorry, but Melfi's mentor - Elliott, is a douche-bag.

Loved the cameo by Jets coach Eric Mangini. Wonder how Roger Goodell and the NFL will feel about that one, especially in light of a previous episode in which the Tony character is a notorious gambler on NFL games!

When Melfi and Tony have their verbal battle. The scene closes with them staring at each other and she closes the door on him. Symbolism? Remember in The Godfather, the final scene, when Michael and Kaye were staring and Michael closed the door as Kaye looked at him, effectively shutting her out. Just tossing it out there......

Good to see Artie Bucco and Charmaine again. Probably for the last time. Don't see how they would fit into the last show.

When the 'cousins' from Italy got the wrong guy - didn't you get a chill - knowing this wasn't good for the Jersey crew?

Is Sil possibly kept alive so he can come back for The Sopranos movie in 10 years from now?

A cool scene when T and Sil were shadow boxing in the restaurant. The background music was theme music from Raging Bull.

Was that a Silvio Dante cardboard cut-out in the Safe House??

SOME GOOD LINES:
Phil -- "I took his fat f-ing hand in friendship."
Phil -- "Guys don't get their finger pricked. There's no sword or gun on the table. Either it has meaning, or it doesn't."

QUOTE - REGARDING THE SHOW....
"In regards to this second-to-last episode of The Sopranos, I truly believe A.J. finally surpassed Fredo as the most sniveling and pathetic Mafia-related family member of all time. He was on the cusp in the previous episode, but he officially grabbed the reins this past Sunday at approximately 9:46 PM ET."
- - - Doug Hoerth

WHAT NEXT?
The final episode is called "Made in America." Not sure yet of the relevance. A lot of theories, maybe a lot of red herrings. Is Paulie with NY? Why did they let him off the hook on their hit list?

Tony alone with his AK-47. "Say hello to my little friend." Will he go out in a blaze of glory, kinda like in Scarface?

Is Carlo crooked? He had to call for Pizza as soon as they got to the Safehouse? And he's blood cousin to Bert Gervasi, who Sil choked to death (although I'm sure he doesn't know it was Sil.)

I was still thinking Tony goes Witness Protection. But Al pointed out that for only 1 hour left, that may not be enough time to formulate that story line.

Is the Terrorism angle still out there in some way? AJ's new friend - the girl from the mental hospital - "Rhiannon" was reading the terrorism info on AJ's computer - remember when Tony stared at it? On her IMDB.com page, (actress name - Emily Wickersham), she's listed as being in this final episode.

And concluding this with some Christopher Moltisanti trivia, courtesy of TV Guide.

The very first time that you ever saw Christopher in The Sopranos, he was wearing a baseball cap and driving Tony. Ever recall him wearing a baseball cap again?? Until his final scene, in which he is wearing a baseball cap and driving Tony.

See ya..... Enjoy MADE IN AMERICA!

PERIOD # 8. "33 Days."

INFIELD CHATTER:

What is the significance of the title 33 Days? That is the number of days that the DOGS will have patiently waited for Roger Clemens to pitch for their team. By using scoring periods, it was four complete weeks (#5 through #8) that Roger was on the Dog roster but preparing for that first start which will come on Monday, June 4. How many points were potentially lost? Well, going every 5th day would be 6 starts. If 3 of those are wins and say an average of 5 K's per game, that would be an estimated 75 points that a fairly decent pitcher would have earned. So, now that we have that figured out, Tony and Ed say it's time to go out and earn your keep Rocket, and make up those points. And you can see Tony is pumped about it as he gives Clemens the Fist Bump after his workout today.

And just to put a wrap and a bow on week 8 of the KIDS, I should have known it was going to be a good week when Kevin Youkilis of all people hits an inside the park home run! The guy's a decent hitter, but certainly no speed merchant.

You know, the NINERS outfielder Ichiro Suzuki is having another nice season, currently batting .336. However, here's a fact about Ichiro I came upon that has to do with his defense. I know, defense doesn't mean anything in fantasy, but I'm throwing this in only because I like the cool nickname of the old-time player that will be mentioned............ So here it is....... Now that Suzuki is in center field, he is on pace to eclipse the record for OF Put-Outs in a season (547). A mark held by Taylor "The Ball Hawk" Douthit, of the 1928 Cardinals. Perfect nickname for a defensive center fielder, isn't it?

After a couple of rough weeks, the HORNS seem to be back on track. Harv was thrilled to see ................ BAY's BACK!

Bay-Watch makes his annual late May push for good lookin' stats to be the Pirates All-Star representative. Good times for Harv and Jason. Harv was also in a good mood on Wednesday as he took the opportunity to rip on his arch-nemesis Big Daddy, saying he's back where he belongs - in the basement! In fact, Harv said he called Eddie and asked him ..... "How's Big Daddy now that he's buried in 10th place?" Harv said Eddie's response was ............. "He has a look on his face the same as Brady Quinn did after hearing that Ted Ginn Jr went # 9 in the NFL Draft." Hmmm. Eddie is known as an NFL guy... Ok then......

So, what's up with those BOMBERS?? They're going through a rough stretch, and H-Bomb starter Carlos Zambrano is so frustrated that he started to beat up on catcher Michael Barrett in the dugout and clubhouse on Friday afternoon. We're waiting for a response from Barrett's owner - Piffy of the 69'ers! This is sort of like waiting to see what Phil Leotardo is going to do in response to Tony Soprano beating up Coco!

You know the AL SLAMS got their first Complete Game of the season this week (James Shields), as Alabama was the last remaining team still looking for a CG. But this team has perhaps the SP with the toughest luck in MLB right now. This note in Friday's USA Today said that..... "Erik Bedard has a 1.50 ERA in his last 5 starts but only one Win to show due to lack of run support." But despite that, the Slammers are poised to bust into the top 5, sitting about a dozen points out at this writing.

With all teams now having at least one CG, we still have 5 teams waiting for their first Shut-Out. And that includes the 3rd Place OWLS. And as John recently pointed out, that should be no surprise as in 2006 the Birds were the only squad that did NOT have a Shut-Out for the entire season. Which caused me to go back and look at the year before - 2005, and review those Shut-Out numbers. Ironically, JF's boys led the league that season in SH-OUTS with 10. Go figure! Maybe new Owls Starter Cha Seung Baek (pronounced "Bake") can get one. After all, the legend of Pusan, South Korea posted a big W for the Owls on Thursday night.

You knew he couldn't stand it for too long...... The TRAIN had to bust up the Leyland boys. Durbin and Robertson got their train ticket out of Franklin Park this week. And on Thursday night at PNC Park, Bob got an eye-witness view of his catcher Josh Bard doing his best impression of George Brett in the famous "Pine Tar Game." Wow, I happened to be at that game as well, and the big guy with the shaved head looked like a raving lunatic charging out of the dugout towards the umpire with his shin pads on. And I don't think Bob's too happy with Bard on the 3 game suspension, but Big Train management stated they will appeal it.

Something I mentioned in the NPL news article..... On Wednesday when I was talking to the 1st Place CATS, I was letting John know what call backs I was waiting on and so forth...... I then said that ..... "Big Daddy has to call me back and so does Harv but right now he's busy feeding the baby." To which a visibly shaken Raven blurted out...... "HARV HAS A BABY?????" I stated that wrong - meaning of course that it was Big Daddy feeding the baby, and when I later told Harv of what I had inadvertently said, his only response to hearing that he was feeding the baby, was a one-word --- favorite word of yours truly....... "Yikes."

And what's the deal with the BIG O being sent to "AA" as I teased in the website news article??

One jokester e-mailed me saying that it must be "Alcoholics Anonymous." Ha-Ha, good one, but not exactly correct..... This demotion is taking place on Sunday, June 17th, Fathers Day.

If you recall, in 2006, Larry attended the PIRATES Fantasy Camp. After all, you should remember the story of Big O beaning the old guy, and then the next inning the old guys son pitches against Larry and throws him some chin music!! (one of my favorite stories by the way). And in case you had forgot about the fantasy camp experience, this should jog your memory.....

And now the young Southpaw is being sent to the AA - Altoona Curve for a one-day Curves Fantasy Camp on Fathers Day. The Curve has also asked Mr. Ott to work with top prospect Andrew McCutchen while he's there.... Time for O to limber up the arm. Like Roger Clemens, he's making a mid-season comeback!!!

SOPRANOS:

No show last Sunday, and the final two upcoming....... But in the meantime, Al sent these two Sopranos related links......

Maxim Magazines Soprano Mistresses.... Note: Regular actresses, not the Bada-Bing girls (sorry!)

Make sure you check out "#4."

http://maximonline.com/slideshows/index.aspx?imgCollectId=195

And, from You-Tube. Every single Sopranos "whacking" in chronological order. Almost 10 minutes worth!! After these final two episodes, there may be a lot more to add......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvp45eE5dSM

Note: To watch this one, you may have to register with You Tube (free) to view.

And lastly, this picture had nothing to do with anything, and I can't imagine why these two individuals would ever be in the same room together, but here's my advice........

Mario - turn and run...... Run as fast as you can and get away from this guy!!!!

Later - Kommish.

WHEN THINGS DIDN'T GO WELL FOR THE BIG TRAIN, WALTER JOHNSON

A few weeks ago, I went on at length about the greatness of Baseball Immortal Walter Johnson. I retract nothing of what I wrote then, but in doing some reading recently, I stumbled across some writing that detailed a series of head-to-head matchups between and the Big Train and another futyre Hall of Famer wherein Johnson didn't fare so well.

In 1916 Johnson, who was in the midst of 10 consecutive 20 win seasons, and this mound opponent squared off against each other on five occasions:

April 17 - Johnson was a 5-1 loser in a rain-shortened six inning affair in which he gave up 11 hits.

June 1 - Johnson lost 1-0 as his Senators managed only 3 hits against the young opposing hurler.

August 15 - Another 1-0 loss for Johnson who pitched 12 innings and gave up 5 hits.

September 9 - A complete game 2-1 loss. The Senators managed only 4 hits.

September 12 - Two days later, the same two pitchers hooked once again. The Senators trailed 2-0 heading into the ninth, but the opposing picher was removed from the game when the Senators scored two in the ninth to tie the game. The Senators would win the game in the tenth as the "other" HOFer received a no decision.

Throughout the 1916 season, Johnson and this other pitcher won a total of 48 games, and neither surrendered a home run.

This other pitcher had previously beaten Johnson once in 1915 and then again in 1917 to run his streak aganst the Train to 6-0 before Johnson would finally beat him by score of 6-2 in September, 1917.

Oh, it just ocurred to me that I haven't mentioned the name of Johnson's nemesis opponent back in '16. At this point, I think I'll leave it that way and see if any of you baseball gurus in the audience can provide the name of this future Hall of Famer.

PERIOD # 7. "69'ers step up again."

DIAMOND NOTES
In no particular batting order.

Well, well, well….. The KOOPERSTOWN KIDS finally pulled the trigger and cut loose Adam LaRoche this week. No matter what he does from here on out, it felt good to say the word “drop” with his name. I feel like a 100 pound weight is lifted off of my back. Who could be the next Pirate to be dismissed from an NPL roster? I would have to think the PITTSBURGH O’s may have Paul Maholm on a short leash. As should Tracy and Littlefield. The O’s have emerged from the basement and are grinding it out to move up in the standings. It has helped that Albert Pujols is coming around and this player came close to getting cut, but now Ken Griffey (the original Junior) is regaining form. 159 points in 138 At Bats, hitting .304 with 10 HR’s.

The LOCKHORNS are in a slump. But at this moment, still in 5th place. On Team Totals they have the # 2 Pitching Team in NPL scoring but are # 9 in batting. However, Harv is happy with ex-Pirate Oliver Perez. Ollie is the 13th best in scoring among Starting Pitchers in our league. Harv says Perez is getting stretched out and he likes the way he looks.

When looking at Year-to-Date NPL Pitcher scoring, it was interesting to note that Closers hold down 7 of the top 9 pitcher spots. Are they becoming more valuable that SP’s? And the leading scorer among the Starters is the 69’ERS boy – Cole “Hollywood” Hamels. He’s 3rd in overall pitching points, behind Closers Francisco Cordero (Dogs) and Jose Valverde (Horns). Those ALABAMA SLAMMERS are steadily gaining ground. Now just 20 points out of the money and behind Al’s long time fantasy sports rival, Mr. William Harvey. The Drew’s (J.D. & Stephen) are just so-so for Al, but the Ramirez’s (Hanley & Aramis) have been huge. As you can imagine, Al did not have kind words for Pirates management when I spoke to him this week.

The consistent OWLS are holding down 3rd place. Even though A-Rod has slowed down, he is still the top individual NPL batter at this time. But Dan Uggla of Florida has come on like gang-busters. He’s out-pointing Owl hitters such as Adam Dunn, Jeter, Travis Hafner and Bobby Abreu. Actually, he’s outscored all Owl hitters except for Alex-Rod. John made three pick-ups off of DROP moves this week, the same number he had made on the season to that point. And putting on their feathers and joining the Birds are two former Lockhorns – Carlos Quentin and Edwin Encarnacion. We’ll see how these young guys do in their second NPL tour of duty. (A little military lingo with Memorial Day coming up.)

In an unusual roster alignment, THE BIG TRAIN have 50% of their starting pitchers coming from the Detroit Tigers. It’s Bonderman, Velander, Robertson and Chad Durbin. Will Bob will be scouting free agent Mike Maroth this week? Of course this development should come of no surprise. After all, Bob has always been a Jim Leyland guy!! On the hitting front, The BT continues to pound the ball as 4 of the top 9 NPL hitters ride the Train, as they continue to try and run down the Cats for # 1.

And those ROCK CATS keep hanging in there. Just when Bob gets close they seem to pull away again. In what could be a big development, we’re starting to reach Johan Santana’s time of year. He’s traditionally a slow starter, but then look out. The Cats grabbed Outfielder Elijah Dukes despite his continuing off the field troubles, this time on the domestic front. If Dukes were in the NFL, he would no doubt be a Cincy Bengal.

The H-BOMBS are trying to move out of the cellar. But in the meantime, J-Schom had a major birthday bash for Kylee’s 1st this week. And as usual, Big Dad was the life of the party!


The Roger Clemens watch continues for the BULLDOGS. Eddie had to cancel his planned trip to Trenton NJ to watch the Rocket as he had an accident at home. Seems Ed was helping a neighbor with some yard work and he lost his footing and slipped on a hill side – went down and cracked some ribs. That can be painful. And everyone was surprised that Tony would allow Eddie to make the moves this week while Ed is on the high powered medication Vicidin! Some guys said ….. “Send him for a drug test, T.” And as you can imagine, there are rumors going around the Post-Office as to what really happened to Eddie. Big Daddy’s story is that Ed was cutting grass and drinking beer at the same time, then tripped on an empty and fell forward, his chest crashing into the handlebars of the mower!! Yikes… After hearing that, Mr. Dubis had this message sent by a couple of gents to Mr. Schoming.....

THE SOPRANO'S

May 20, 2007. “The Second Coming”

What a gripping episode this was. Let’s start with AJ in the swimming pool. I don’t know if anyone else thought this, but after last week with Christopher, I was wondering if Tony was going to think twice and push the kids head back under the water!

FAVORITE LINE: From AJ, talking about Blanca….
“She’s not black! She’s pretty tan.”

The family is really all alike….. How ‘bout in the therapist’s office, when Tony says to AJ….. “Poor you.” Just like Livia would say to him. And in a different part of the episode, AJ saying….. “Why can’t I catch a f-ing break.” Just like Dad is known to say..

Some general observations…….

Loved Tony’s eye roll when Carm suggests keeping Kelli financially sound.

Phil’s pissy comment about not getting a thank you note for the flowers he sent to Christopher’s widow.

Those “Lincoln Log” sandwiches looked gross.

Meadow dating a mob connection again. Didn’t she learn anything from the Jackie Aprile Jr relationship??

And come on Meadow……. She didn’t realize that telling Dad about Coco would be a problem for that guy?

And Patsi Parisi’s kid? Remember in the early part of the series when Tony had Patsi’s twin whacked and a drunk Patsi later pissed in Tony’s pool?

The Coco curbing was the most intense Tony rage scene in quite a while. Maybe since he went after Ralphie in his kitchen after learning he intentionally torched Pie-O-My.

What next????

Tony getting chummy with the Feds, and the Middle East guys seem to come up each week. A terrorist attack and someone close to Tony dies?

Is Sil next? Payback from New York? Silvio hasn’t had major air time yet.

If someone from New York is to get it, I hope it’s that creepy looking “Butchie”, the Peter Lorrie look alike with the off center eye. Reminds me of “Golum” from the LOTR trilogy.

A theory offered from John Stasko is one he says has been going around…. It was mentioned by Meadow that her car was rear-ended (not shown). Could she be borrowing Tony’s car – going to New York to meet Patsi Jr. again, and Phil’s guys see the car, do the hit, but its Meadow in the vehicle, not Tony? A case of mistaken identity.

In any case, hate the two week wait…..

And from the week before….. The actress that played the part of the college stripper friend of Christopher’s from Vegas……. Her actress name is Sarah Shahi… A former Maxim model and also a former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader. But as an actress, bedding down Tony Soprano has to help the Q rating more that the cheerleader thing, don’t ya think?

Later…….

PERIOD # 6. "NPL at the Quarter Pole."

Wow, we've played 25% of the season already! And we'll have a little Sopranos action at the end, so here's a tease on that.... Remember a couple of episodes ago when the family was discussing Meadow's "mystery date?" Well, the NPL Blog has a picture!! But first, let's take a look at the league with some......

QUICK HITS:

It looks like the race is on. The ROCK CATS hope the new bats at the corner infield spots will help, and Reyes, D. Lee and Smoltz are battling the Day-to-Day bug, but the Cats lead on the Northbound BIG TRAIN is currently at 91 points. The Train is now the leader in overall hitting points. In addition to the big bats of Utley, Hardy and Fielder, a young man by the name of Hunter Pence is starting to emerge. Bob got a break with Wednesday being the day Bonderman and Tracy were DL'ed but the Josh Beckett blister situation is still clouded.

The LOCKHORNS are locked in a struggle for 3rd/4th place with the YANKEE OWLS, currently seven points apart. But Harv gets Felix back and if this Jack Cust guy can keep it up, the Harvster will be happy. Meanwhile, JF's team is # 3 in overall hitting and # 4 in pitching points. John gave a long list of SP's for his move this week, although he probably really didn't expect it would go down to the # 4 guy, but that's how the moves played out as his top three SP choices were grabbed in basically the order John listed. Did you know Yankee Owls Jeter & Posada are 1 -2 in the A.L. batting race, with Yankee Owl A-Rod checking in at # 8?

I take it you have guessed by now that Piffy likes Bowling!!! But anyway - keeping it to baseball, the Cole Hamels draft pick may be a steal from the 8th round. He had the perfect game going late vs. his 69'ERS teammate Jeff Suppan, but settled for the Win and a bunch of K's. Last week on the ESPN Sunday Night game, Jon Miller said the scouts stated that Hamels has the 2nd best Fastball - Change-up Combo in MLB. 2nd to only Johan Santana.

The BULLDOGS currently lead a pack of five that are trying to claim at least Piffy's 5th place spot. The five-some is separated by approximately 105 points - 6th thru 10th. So far playing shorthanded at the Starting Pitcher spot hasn't statistically hit the Dogs yet. If you look under STATS, and then TEAM TOTALS, the "Games Started" category is led by the Owls and Dogs, both with 67. Tony has directed that Eddie travel to Roger's minor league starts and scout them in person. So, Ed will be in Tampa (class A) this week and Trenton (AA) next week. But hey Ed, minor league games are actually a lot of fun!

The ALABAMA SLAMMERS are the only NPL team that has yet to get a Complete Game in this first quarter of the 2007 season. But Al almost saw one in person on Saturday night as Chuck James was mowing down the Pirates - No Hitter style until the 7th inning. Grady Sizemore shook off the Sports Illustrated cover jinx to finish the week strong and looking at the A.S. roster, there are some good performers who seem to be under the radar. How about Carlos Lee at 9-37, .327 and the American League ERA leader in Dan Haren (1.64) and K leader Erik Bedard (63). As for the KOOPERSTOWN KIDS, I'm not sure what to make of this, but I'm 9th in Year-to-Date Hitting points, but I lead the NPL in Home Runs with 80.

The PITTSBURGH O's were the Comeback O's this week, making a move, getting some production from the Pitchers for a change and even doing something Jim Tracy and Littlefield (David K.) haven't been able to do yet ----- show Paul Maholm the door. The O's are back with the bunch and kicking it up a notch. And The Roadhouse was off this week. After 3 scheduled games last week, the men needed some additional time to get their legs back!!

Before we talk about the H-BOMBS, let me first say a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Kylee P. Schoming, who is exactly one year old today, the day I write this (May 17). If you recall last year at this time, the 17th was a Wednesday and what a wacky Wednesday it was, with Big Daddy making baseball moves while poor Heather was in labor!! John had a rough week and bottomed out in the NPL but he's not worried. Says that after winning the league last season, he's on a "Free Pass" in 2007. The Bombers plucked one of my former pitchers off the waiver wire this week in Jose Contreras. Good luck with him B.D. I found out from personal experience that Contreras is like the Kirsten Dunst of pitchers. When he's looking good, he's looking real good.......

But when he's going bad............

Well, not so much.......

THE SOPRANOS:

May 13, 2007: "Kennedy and Heidi."

The title is the name of the two teenage girls who were (almost) involved in the accident with Chris & Tony. David Chase always has references in this show. Kennedy?? Don't you think this could be for Ted Kennedy, who's auto accident off the road (or bridge) killed Mary Jo Kopechne? Just a thought....

About the car accident.... Just before it happens Christopher puts in a CD for "The Departed" (soundtrack), saying to T.. "This Departed soundtrack is a F***ing killer." Wow, Departed is right on the nose along with the killer description. Some further observations.....

Christopher even gets Paulie's goat in death with the competing wake. And now Paulie is "stuck with 500 prayer cards." That's tremendous!

Favorite Line: From Paulie: "He had a heavy foot that kid. Almost put me through a billboard one time." Because with Paulie..... it's always about Paulie.

If you watch it again, look for the moment Kelli screams and drops the phone upon getting the news. In perfect harmony, the TV in the background has Letterman and Paul Shaffer laughing just as she screams.

Kelli coming into the funeral home - Diva style, all sunglasses and cleavage with Tony saying.. "Jackie Kennedy."

With Chris going down at the hands of Tony, think about his other "friends" who met the same fate directly from T....... Big Pussy, Ralphie, Tony B (also his cousin) and it would have been Furio too if he could have got his hands on him!!

Can they all be killed off?? In an interesting thought, Al has one theory that New Jersey & New York all kill each other off and the two Jason's and that gang of Rutgers thugs becomes the new Mafia!

The whole Las Vegas scene with the girl and the drugs was sort of weird. But when he started winning at Roulette, was he laughing cause maybe he though C.M. being gone has changed his luck?

And don't know how many watch Entourage too, but how odd was it that the endings of the two shows were somewhat the same, although Entourage is a comedy. With Tony looking over a dessert canyon and then screaming out to no one in particular ("I get it.") while Johnny Drama in a similar venue, dropped on his knees, raised his arms and yelled "Victory" at the top of his lungs, which is the mantra from his cancelled TV show "Viking Quest."

"I get it." ??? Not sure if I did, but maybe John Frissora described the Las Vegas visit the best with one sentence......... "I thought I was watching a Jim Morrison documentary."

Now...... For the picture that I promised of Meadow's mystery date.........

Wonder what Tony would think of this guy????

Catch yins later.....

PERIOD # 5. "Rock Cats Roll (and Rock Cat Rule)"

Around The Horn:

ROCK CATS: As mentioned in the NPL home page news item, the Cats are hitting and pitching great. Year-to-Date, they have the highest BA at .293 and the lowest ERA with a 3.36. Here’s an odd fact…. Derrek Lee leads all of MLB in Average with a .394 mark. But in NPL hitting points, he’s actually 4th on his own Rock Cats team behind Reyes, Bonds and Holliday. Of course, those three are batting .352, .329 and .374 respectively. If you want to purchase one of those Rock Cats game jerseys as pictured on the CBS Sportsline NPL site, the cost is $295.99, payable to “Jonathan Stasko.”

LOCKHORNS: The LH also has good stats in hits and pitches and it’s been a big boost to get the kind of production that Yo-Adrian Gonzalez (round 21) and John Maine (round 23) have provided. Lance Berkman, one of the many MLB players off to a slow start, belted out 41 points for a .429 BA for the week. Harv considered dropping Chone Figgins because of his 1 for 21 start, as he was fresh off the DL. But Harv then said he’s not the type of owner to make quick judgments on players!!

BIG TRAIN: Have you heard that commercial? “How do you stop a Train?” Good question. Cliff Lee, coming back from injury is permitted to go the distance for a CG-Win. Since it was on the West Coast, a nice bonus to wake up to for Bob. At this early stage, the BT leads in Complete Games with 4. What’s the definition of “Bitter Sweet” for Bob? How about having his two Milwaukee sluggers Prince Fielder and JJ Hardy rack up big points in the week, although most of the damage was done against the Pittsburgh Buccos. In talking about the Train’s surge upward, Tony may have put it best…. “This actually got started last year at the All-Star Break.”

OWLS: If one team seems to be locked into their current position (4th), it’s the Birds. A-Rod continues to lead all hitters, while Adam Dunn is 10th. Former Lockhorn Shane Victorino had a big week with 42 points. That was good for 2nd best among Week # 5 hitters. Chris Capuano had a shut-out going but Brew-Crew manager Ned Yost only permitted him to pitch 8 innings, and this week they add Carlos (not Jose) Silva to the staff. And…. The Jason Kendall HR watch continues!

69’ERS: Back on the Niners squad is Brett Myers, only this time in the position of Closer. The 69 team continues to quietly move up in the standings. After Period 3, they were in 9th place. Of course, right now the gap between 5th and 9th is only 57 points. Piff had everyone scratching their heads on Wednesday with the pick-up of Anthony Lerew. Not that he isn't a good choice; it was just that no one seemed to know about him. But don’t under estimate the Niner owner. On Wednesday down at the office, Piff was no doubt looking at Free Agents like he was Jim Garrison studying the Zapruder Film. And speaking of film….. while in Altoona for the Bowling Tournament last weekend, Piff spotted Erik Estrada – former TV Star of C.H.I.P.S.

KOOPERSTOWN KIDS: I have just seen that one of my Wednesday Night pitcher DROPS – Jose Contreras, tossed a Complete Game Shut-Out today (Thursday). Don’t ya just hate when that happens!! I’m trying to hang in there with a number of Sub-Mendoza line guys. And a couple of people wanted to know why I didn’t take ANDY LaRoche, to go along with Adam? Geez, what am I, a masochist? Here’s another odd fact…. The Kids lead the NPL in strike out totals for their hitters, while on the pitching side my staff is in last place in K's obtained. Gee, why do I look this stuff up??

ALABAMA SLAMMERS: Hey, did you notice that the Slams changed their team Logo on the website? Looks like a tribute to former Slammer and Cardinal pitcher Darryl Kile. Al said that the Slammer Baseball Organ-i-zation has never seemed to be the same since that 2002 tragedy. But grabbing perhaps the most anticipated pitching call-up of the season, the AS grabbed 22 year old former Washington Huskie Tim Lincecum of the G-Men. Because of his small stature, some have been making comparisons to Roy Oswalt. But the MLB scouts have given Lincecum their own pet nickname. It's "Seabiscuit." If you know the story, that would be considered a compliment. And the Ryan Doumit FA pick of a week ago could turn out to be a stellar one. Could he be this years Freddy Sanchez?????

H - BOMBERS: The Bombs are showing great patience with pick-ups this year. Got a trophy, no need to panic I guess... And Big O has to wonder what's going on... Rivera is grabbed by the Bombs and immediately gets two Saves in one day!! New addition Andre Ethier hit a cool .388 in his first week for the HB's. Currently in 8th, but with a bunch of teams grouped together, they're right in the thick of it. Remember a couple of weeks ago when the Pirates had their first "Pups in the Park" day? Could this be Bailey Schoming down at PNC Park? Or, perhaps Deuce Jones?

BULLDOGS: Tony & Ed have to be glad to get all those points from Closer Francisco Cordero. Right now he leads all NPL pitchers in points scored on the year with 173. But his manager Ned Yost (there's that name again) has through Wednesday pitched him for SIX freakin days in a row!! On the season he has 15 Saves and 23 K's and his arm is scheduled to fall off on June 4th of this year. But the big news in Bulldog camp is the Roger Clemens pick-up under the new "Rock Cat Rule." A hotly debated issue by the boys down at the BMC. In the lunch room, Dogs Co-Owner Tony sits behind the table explaining the merits to co-workers Al and Big Daddy, while Dog teammate Eddie looks over his shoulder. Eddie says "I got your back, T."

And then, T&E want the Slammers to know that this coming week, they are looking at Bryan Bullington as Rock Cat Rule pick #2!! Meanwhile, back to Clemens...... With him re-joining Andy Pettitte AGAIN, does anyone else think that this situation is the Brokeback Mountain of major league baseball????


PITTSBURGH O's: Another week, a couple of more guys to the DL for the hard luck, injury riddled O's..... But the good news is that Junior seems to be back on track as he hit for 36 points and a .392 average for the period, and even though a Cleve Indian pitcher went to the injury list, Larry was fortunate to be able to pick up a quality replacement from the same team.




MISCELLANEOUS STUFF:


JARROD SALTALAMACCHIA:
You may have seen this name recently. The call up by the Braves. A highly touted Catching prospect. He's known for the 14 letters in his last name, which is now a new record for longest last name in MLB history. But here's a little know fact about "Salty" that you may or may not be aware of...... The 22 year old is married to a woman who is 10 years his senior. No big deal, I agree.... However, she was also a former high school teacher of his!! That's kinda creepy...



HAROLD REYNOLDS:
Remember how Harold was fired by ESPN? H.R. is still out of work and is suing the nationwide leader over this. He won round 1. Connecticut State Court has approved his motion for discovery. ESPN is now forced to turn over all personnel files, documents, etc. on Harold by May 18th. If you recall the original event, Reynolds was fired for Sexual Harassment of female employees at the station.



Come on now....... Our boy Harold wouldn't do anything like that, now would he??????





THIS WEEK IN TELEVISION:
4 seems to be a big number this week. For example..... American Idol was at their Final 4. Then, tough luck as the Aretha Franklin lookin' chick with the last name of Jones got the boot. Dancing With The Stars is at their Final 4 and I tell you what....... Speed Skater Apolo Anton Ohno seems like a pretty cool dude, and I just KNOW that Laila Ali would kick Oscar De La Hoya's ass. And The Bachelor (Officer & A Gentleman) was down to the Final 4 space cadets until Andy finally dumped that head case Amber from the list....... But, as much as I know you all care about those particular shows, lets move on.......... With 4 episodes left in it's final season, it's.......

THE SOPRANOS - May 6, 2007. "Walk Like A Man."
A couple of observations......

• Was A.J. ever referred to as "Tony Soprano Jr." before?? Seemed to be a little bit of a power trip for him.
• Did you also say.... "Oh shit" when Christopher tossed Little Paulie Germani out the 2nd floor window? Holy crap!!
• Was it great or what when Paulie Walnuts was doing donuts and driving over shrubs on Christopher's $50,000 landscape job?
• Were you surprised when Chris turned and blew away JT Dolan? But think about it... If you recall, a couple of episodes ago, Christopher did tell JT never to get "snippy" with him again.
• Seems like the Middle-East guys - the FBI - the terrorist thing, may have something to do with the final ending. And Agent Harris is a cool customer. How about when he ripped on Phil Leotardo's integrity as a thug, knowing that Tony would buy into that.
• And lastly....... Check out the picture above in this posting. Christopher wearing the track suit. Who wears stuff like that in 2007?????

Catch yins later.....

Now Pitching in Relief, Walter Johnson

The headline refers, of course, to the fact that Beloved and Respected Kommish Dave has opted to pull himself from the game for a week and has summoned the Big Train in from the bullpen to serve as Guest Blogger for the week. Incidentally, a check of the record book shows that Walter Johnson did occasionally come out of the bullpen for the old Washington Senators, often enough to have accumulated 34 saves in his Hall of Fame career. More on Walter Johnson later. In any event, I only hope that I can live up to the Pulitzer worthy prose that Dave puts forth each week. My words alone will have to suffice since I will not be putting in the jazzy photos that always appear in Davey's blogs.

Week Four turned out to be an exciting week for Yours Truly, as I was able to string together the high score for the second week in a row. This has pushed me into third place ahead of fellow Colonial / Highmarker John Frissora. He and I have been see-sawing back and forth quite a bit over the last week or so, and I suspect that that will continue. At least I hope to remain in a position where I can be battling for a top spot.

Very quietly in Week Four, Dave Jones' Kids and Piffy's 69'ers had strong weeks and vaulted back into contention in the NPL race. Piff's 516 points moved him into the first division and Dave's 492 (third best for the week) have him a mere 7 points out of fifth place. It should be noted however that only 95 points separate spots 5 through 10 in the standings, so any one is just one hot week away from grabbing a money spot.

At the top of the heap, Rock Cat John has established a 73 point lead over Harv, but I, for one, fully expect Harv to be challenging for the top spot all season long. I mean, isn't Harv always in the money?

At he other end of the spectrum, Al fell below the Mendoza Line with a mere 321 points for the week. It has gotten to the point where Al actually selected a Pirate - Ryan Doumit - in the weekly pick-ups!!! By the way, I see that in tonight's series lidlifter in Brewtown, Doumit is playing first base and Adam LaRoche is riding the pine for the Buccos. Did you get some inside dope from David K. Littlefield on that move, Al?

A final comment on the NPL's teams (sorry, but I will not be as detailed as Dave always is in his analysis), and that comment is...Whither Big Daddy? The defending Champ front loaded on pitching on draft night, and that strategy shows up on 720 pitching points, third best in the NPL. The other side of the coin, however, shows that his hitters are ranking dead last in the league with 1,135 points. Pitching may be the name of the game, but you gotta have some hitting, too (as a certain major league team I can think of is currently proving in the National League Central).

SOPRANOS THOUGHTS

As has become the custom, I must offer my thoughts on Episode 4 of the final Sopranos season. It was a slow episode in terms of action, as no major player got taken out, but the storm continues to brew between New York and New Jersey. One comment I read this week summed up the situation between Tony and Phil thusly: "Sooner or later, one of these guys is going to push, and the other is going to shove back and disaster will follow."

Speaking of disasters, could you believe the action of Little Vito in the school showers? Man, I never saw THAT coming. That certainly broke a barrier in home entertainment. And how about the counselling sessions he got from Phil and Tony? I can't understand why those meetings didn't straighten the kid out!

SOME WORDS ON WALTER JOHNSON

I thought I'd take this opportunity to share a little with you about the inspiration for my team nickname, Walter Johnson, the original "Big Train."

Johnson was one of the five original inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and if you wanted to tell me that someone other that he was the greatest pitcher of all time, you will have to work mighty hard to convince me.

Consider the Johnson's numbers:

WINS - 417 career wins, second of all time. Of all pitchers in the post-WWII era, only three are in the top ten in this category: Warren Spahn, 363 (6th), Roger Clemens, 348 (8th), Greg Maddux, 335 (10th).

COMPLETE GAMES - 531, fourth all time. Only Spahn of the post-war era is even in the close, and he's way down the track with 382 CG's (21st).

SHUT OUTS - 110, first all time, and this one is really amazing. The second most on the list is Grover Cleveland Alexander with 90. I was surprised at how many post-war guys are in the top ten in this category, though: Spahn, 63 (6th), Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver, 61 (T7th), Burt Blyleven 60 (9th), and Don Sutton, 58 (10th). Among active guys, Clemens, 46, Randy Johnson, 37, and Maddux, 35 are way down the list. Paul Maholm has 1.

STRIKE OUTS - Johnson's 3,509 has fallen to 9th on the all time list, but it took almost 50 years before someone finally caught up with him, and it took 30 years until any pitcher got to within 1,000 K's of Johnson's total.

(As an aside here, when you do research like this, you keep seeing Burt Blyleven's name amongst all of these all-time greats. Shouldn't Burt have plaque in Cooperstown, too? Just asking.)

ERA - 2.17. Lowest in baseball history for anyone pitching at least 3,000 innings.

Over the course of his career, his lifetime record of 416-279 is 137 games over .500. On the days that he didn't pitch, his teams were 180 games under .500 on the days that he did not get the decision.

He won games by a score of 1-0 38 times, more than twice as much as any other pitcher (Alexander is second with 17).

In his book, "The Thinking Fan's Guide to Baseball", Leonard Koppett wrote of Johnson: "When I call Johnson 'the greatest of all pitchers,' I may get an argument and be judged wrong, but I can't be accused of coming to an unreasonable conclusion."

Not much more I can add to that.

TO THE KOMMISH

Thanks for giving me the chance to come in in relief for you. We'll all look forward to your return next week