The Gray Pages

Monday, April 28, 2008

The Sara Chronicles

We keep the radio on the oldies station fairly often -- happy music, happy baby, no Wiggles or Yanni or KidzBop or Barney the Purple Dinosaur or whatever.

Typically, when I sing along with the radio and to Sara, I insert her name somewhere in the song or somehow make it about her. This works pretty well. First of all, the word "baby" is already in about 90 percent of the songs ever recorded. Second of all, she doesn't understand what the lyrics are about (thus making it not-at-all weird when I sing "Brown-Eyed Girl" to her). ("Makin' love in the green grass behind the stadium with you, my brown-eyed girl.")

Yesterday, KC & the Sunshine Band messed me up. "Shake-shake-shake! Shake-shake-shake! Shake your baby!" This is not recommended by the Academy of Pediatrics.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Step One to the Cleveland Pennant

Back on March 25, I said Cleveland would win the AL Central -- but that depended on Joe Borowski getting hurt so that his idiot manager, Eric ("The") Wedge, wouldn't use him.

Today, my dreams moved a step closer to reality, as Joe Blowoutski (get it?) was placed on the DL.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Farewell, No. 6

A tired story, put to rest. Buckner is forgiven, again.

BY ART MARTONE
Journal Sports Editor

BOSTON -- Those tears he wiped away were real. Bill Buckner admitted that his suprise appearance today at Fenway Park touched him deeply, and that he was indeed teary-eyed as the fans cheered while he made his way in from left field to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

"It was about as emotional as it could get," Buckner told a group of reporters in the Fenway Park interview room immediately after the ceremony. "A lot of things were going through my mind" as he walked in from left field. "Just good things . . . which is a good thing.

"I appreciate all the thought behind [the invitation from the Red Sox organization]. It was hard to do for me."

The emotions stemmed from the ordeal he's beeen through since committing the error in Game Six in the 1986 World Series that came, rightly or wrongly, to symbolize nearly nine decades of frustration for the Boston organization.

"I had to . . . " he began, and then he stopped for a few moments, choking up again. "I had to forgive, not the fans of Boston. In my heart, I had to forgive the media for what they put me and my family through. I've done that, gotten over that, and just thought of the positives, the happy things."

One of the reasons he views the media differently now: His daughter Christen is a television reporter, and was at Fenway covering the event herself.

"It's helped me accept you guys back into the family," he joked.

He said he understood the criticism he received for the error.

"As athletes, we know . . . going in [that failure is part of the package]," he said. "But what message do we want to send our kids? If you don't succeed, don't try?"

But he felt that the criticism, at time, was unjust.

"Some of it was over the line," he said. "The hard part was how it affected my family, my kids."

Buckner said the Red Sox contacted him about a month-and-a-half ago, asking him to part of today's ceremonies, and at first he declined.

"But I prayed about it a little bit," he said, "and now I'm glad I'm came.

"They're such a class organization," he said of the Red Sox. "They do things right, and the players appreciate it."

Nor was he really surprised at the rousing ovation he received.

"I did my best while I was here, played hard, and I know the fans appreciated that," he said. "The fans have been great. It was tough for me at first to understand the mentality of New England sports, but I did after a while and I like it. I love the passion. I don't like apathy, like in Los Angeles where the fans all leave in the seventh inning.

"My two best memories were 1990" -- when the fans gave him an ovation similar to today's when he returned to the Red Sox after 2 1/2 years away -- "and today."

He threw out the first pitch to former teammate Dwight Evans, who was delighted to see Buckner return.

"To see him walk out, I was so happy for him," said Evans. "It was emotional for me, too."

Friday, April 04, 2008

My favorite DL status

"Day-to-day."

Entirely thanks to Vin Scully: "Andre Dawson has a bruised knee and is listed as day-to-day (pause). Aren't we all?"

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Worst at-bat songs

Top Five, Courtesy of Paste Magazine:
  1. “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” – Culture Club

  2. “Songbird” – Kenny G

  3. “The Girl From Ipanema” – Astrud Gilberto

  4. “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love” – Peabo Bryson

  5. “4’33’’” – John Cage

(Dis)honorable Mentions:

“Black Velvet” - Alannah Myles

“Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” - Frankie Valli

"Come Sail Away" - Styx

“Dancing Queen” - Abba

"Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" - Rupert Holmes

"Fields of Gold" - Sting

“Fishheads” - Barnes & Barnes

“Please Don’t Go Girl” - New Kids on the Block

“Puttin’ On The Ritz” - Taco

“Theme From A Summer Place” - Percy Faith & his Orchestra



...


I'd like to nominate "Me and Mrs. Jones" as the worst song, unless Todd Jones is pitching, in which case, it's the best.

Poor kid

"You know what the funny thing is? I wouldn't have caught it, anyway." -- Moises Alou

Ah, baseball

- The Giants' offense is absolutely pathetic. What was that terrible Tigers' team? 2003? This team might score fewer runs than even they did.

- Welcome back, Gas Can Gagne!

- Speaking of Tigers, now THERE'S a lineup that can score some runs. Ditto Cleveland.