SI1020

Like I said before, the night my wife and I saw him in Charlotte his stroke was as long as ever and pitchers were taking advantage of him by getting him to bite on offspeed stuff when he seemed to be looking for the dead red fastball. Don't we have any teachers in our organization. With a little work Borchard can be good IMO.

Ah the suburbs, the land of success and civility. I love how school administrators try to distance themselves from this. Glenbrook North is probably in the top ten or 15 high schools in the state of Illinois in terms of student achievement. They're gonna have a hard time explaining this away however. I went back to school as an adult and got a degree and teaching certificate. Never got beyond subbing. When I see stuff like this I don't regret it for a minute.

I was in Columbia, South Carolina recently and I took a meal at a Waffle House. I was also engrossed in a book. The waitress didn't ask me why I was reading, but she did look at my book and then look at me kind of funny. The breakfast was great, even the juice was cold. I gave her a nice tip anyway.

Missed this story completely. Wha Hoppin'?

You can't even begin to realize how glad I am to be getting out of Pittsburgh. About all it has going for it now is great hospitals and universities. I took advantage of both. That and getting rid of Kordell. If the Sox tank, don't look forward to football season. Not with that guy at QB.

Columbia, South Carolina.

I've been told that I'm unique with my sense of humor and my analogies. Sometimes people are complimenting me and sometimes ..... well you get the idea. I live in Pittsburgh, at least until May 14 I do. I call Pittsburgh "a poor mans San Fransisco". Come here some day, the hills and vistas are magnificent, until you look closer and see a badly decaying rust belt city. Albert Belle and Carl Everett, the same surly countenance but lets say Belle is SF to Everetts Pittsburgh. By now Steff you are probably saying " shut up already SI". But I say why give a simple explanation when a more complicated one will do? Oh yes, and I still don't want Everett. Sorry if that's more than you bargained for but moving is making me neurotic.

A poor mans Albert Belle. An emphatic no to this idea. Do we have to pick up every psycho and malcontent when he becomes available?

We do not live in a meritocracy. Lots of talented people in all fields of endeavor never "make it". Look at any work bureaucracy. Those that learn how to kiss ass and "play the game" get promoted. KW anyone? Here in Pittsburgh where I live the state of journalism is beyond pathetic. The two best writers IMO toil for the left wing oriented free newspaper called the City Paper. It's Pittsburgh's version of the Chicago Reader. One thing you've done is made me curious about Hicks. I love comedy and now because of you I'm going to check him out.

Lowe pitched here in Pittsburgh last year. He started off lousy, then hit his stride, slumped again and was released. Colorado picked him up in September I believe. He really seemed unglued by the trade. In spring training 02 the Pirates were trying to decide between Lowe and Fogg for their fifth starter. The demotion to the pen seemed to put him in a funk. Lowe is another player who I was told did not see eye to eye with KW.

Chocolate chip catatonia. Neopolitan nod off. Vanilla valium. How's that for starters?

Honestly.

Sorry I couldn't resist. For all baby boomer Sox fans from the go-go era or anyone who's interested in Sox history.

Oh boy this could OT in a hurry. How about his famous "Hymietown" remarks in 1984? He wasn't raked over the coals like Lott or Santorum. Back to the topic at hand. We have a lot of incompetent employees in management who happen to be minority. We've had some doosies that were white too. Hawk Harrelson and Terry Bevington come to mind. The point is the whole organization is suffocating now. The stakes couldn't be higher. Come Eddie E, do it now!!!

Greatest basketball player ever. Biggest ego too. Who was the great American writer who said "You can't go home." Can't remember his name. Maybe MJ can.

He meant exactly what he said. This is the age we're living in. I'm resigned to it. I accept it and I also loathe it. Someday the pendelum will swing back but not in my lifetime. Maybe in my grandkids.

I have been complaining about the failures of American public education for years. Can't you folks see, Jerry M like millions of others was probably taught the new math!!

I know the Braves have only one WS win in their long run of success. However, to me they are a model of consistency and winning organization from top to bottom. Every year the prognosticators predict their downfall and every year they are right there. They move players around and most of the time they come through for them. Smoltz is just the latest example, and hell ya the guy does look good out there with the game on the line. I wish our organization functioned as well. They are a model of how to go from the bottom of the heap to perennial contender. Why not us?

To all of you younger posters out there with little experience in the work world. There is NOTHING and I mean nothing worse at the job than having an arrogant prickface of a boss who thinks he or she if that be the case knows everything. It ruins morale, it ruins productivity and it makes your whole life a veritable hell, because most people need a job to pay the bills. Some of us have been there and done that. If you're young and have your working life ahead of you, I hope you NEVER have that experience. HSC and some others have given chapter and verse over and over. KW is a poster boy for what I am describing. Somebody in the organization with half a brain, do something about this situation. Quick! We will be swimming with the Indians and Tigers in no time flat.

I warned about this guy when the Sox first got him to the yawns of everyone. I did qualify it by saying that maybe a change of scene will do him good. It turns out that Klesko and others were dead on about him. At the moment our "up the middle" situation is not Major League. That's putting it mildly.

Billy Pierce was and is my all time favorite Sox player. I finally got a chance to meet him in 1999 at Comiskey. The guy is a complete class act, intelligent and a very dry wit. We talked briefly about 59 and how he got his chance to shine in the post season in 62 with the Giants. His all time record is very good, but would have been great if he had gotten Yankee like run support. I always thought Al Lopez was the best Sox manager ever, but he could be stubborn with a mean streak. His refusal to start Pierce in 59 cost the Sox any chance to win the 59 WS.

I thought it was Polanski.

It's why I went to work for myself.

When I saw him on Friday nite he went 0 for 4 and looked totally lost at the plate. He needs a hitting coach bad to work with him and to shorten his stroke. I know that's not original but it was painfully obvious to me watching him. Our seats were great.