And It Rained: Baseball Conversations With a 5 Year Old

Quite a few Saturdays ago it rained. Such an infrequent southern California occurrence warranted observation and appreciation. So out to the garage we went. With chairs unfolded and the garage-door lifted, the daughter and I sat . . .


"It doesn't usually rain in San Diego." I said.

My little one answered, "It's raining right now."

"But it doesn't usually rain. Our climate is dry in San Diego" [It's never too early to begin geography]

"I like rain." she innocently proclaimed.

"Me too." I said.  "You know where it does rain a lot?"

Familiar with but a few cities on the map, the little one boldly asked, "Where?"

"In Seattle."

"What's Seattle?" she inquired.

How best to explain such things to a child? 

"Well. Seattle is a city. Like San Diego is a city. And it's in a state called Washington. It rains a lot there." I answered with confidence, despite never having set foot in the pacific northwest.

"Oh."

Thinking it was time to expand her baseball horizons I fired off another question. "You know who plays baseball in Seattle?"

"Who?"

"The Mariners."

"What's a Mariner?"

I did not know if this was the best answer but I went with it, because . . . well, she's five. So I said, "It's like a fisherman. Someone who goes out in the ocean."

"A fisherman?"

"Yeah. A fisherman. You know what?"

"What, daddy?"

And with all the seriousness I could muster I threw down the gauntlet and let the young one know what kind of a life she was in for as a Padres fan.

With straight face, I told her, "As a Padre fan you're supposed to hate the Mariners."

Confused, she wondered aloud, "Why?"

"Because Bud Selig said so, honey."

"I like Bud Selig. He's my favorite Padre."

I laughed out loud at the suggestion and went about properly educating her, "Bud Selig isn't a Padre, honey!"

"Well who IS he?"she demanded.

I thought for a moment. "Well . . . he's a used car salesman."

"What's that?", she carefully inquired.

I could only smile and instead decided to put her mind at ease. "Never mind. Let's enjoy the rest of this rain."

And so we did.

Bud Selig: A Real Man of Genius

Manny and his three ring circus will arrive on Friday at which time his suspension for Performance Enhancing Drugs will be lifted, permitting him to reemerge against the Padres.

Well the suspension was already lifted....... since Manny's already played games in Albuquerque and up the road in Lake Elsinore within the last few days. It may seem odd that a player suspended for 50 games is playing right now, but really it's not. It's quite brilliant. It wouldn't be fair for Manny to show up on Friday July 3rd without the proper "fitness regimen" that an eight game minor league stint provides.

It is in the dialogue between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association that these concessions are haggled over and it takes a true Leader to approve of these negotiations. That leader is Bud Selig and he doesn't get paid $17 million a year for doing nothing....

“Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.”
-Stephen Covey

Stephen Covey's seminal work, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, is required reading amongst the elite performers in the business world of which Bud Selig is no doubt an adherent. Bud Selig, as Commissioner, has MLB's ladder leaning against the right wall. How else could you explain ONLY two players' names being leaked from the confidential PED test administered in 2003 (Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa)? Selig's brilliance is not limited to slow leakage, though.

"Hace calor en Albuquerque.....Yo soy listo para un Isotope frio. Me gustan Isotopes."
(It is hot in Albuquerque...I am ready for a cold isotope. I like isotopes)
Seriously...direct quote...Manny being stupid Manny

It is his silence regarding Manny Ramirez's allowance to play baseball for a Dodger minor league affiliate while on suspension that is the true sign of leadership. To showcase Bud's ability to lead, MLB officials came up with "Rule 9(i) rehab" (from Bill Plaschke of the LA Times):

When negotiating the drug policy three years ago, baseball officials felt they had to allow for minor league rehab assignments in order to get union agreement on a 50-game suspension total. The union was claiming that, otherwise, with the player needing to get back in shape, the suspensions actually would amount to more than 60 games.

Officials were also receiving pressure from their clubs to allow the players to do rehab assignments during the suspensions, instead of later, so the teams did not have to pay the players while they were in the minor leagues.

In the end, the baseball bosses were so desperate for any sort of penalty, they caved in to everybody. And perhaps they hoped that everyone would be so happy the druggies were finally being punished, nobody would notice.

Genius!

Now that's having your ladder leaning against the correct wall. Leadership, people. Leadership.

Bud Selig: A leader for a new time.
Managers do things right; leaders do the right thing. This is the primary difference between a good manager and a good leader. A good leader is passionate about excellence and must therefore strive for continuous improvements and change. In other words, a good leader knows that insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting different results.

Friday night's game is sold out....I can only hope that the intrigue is a result of reasonable fans going to the park to boo ManRam and not an impending Dodger fan exodus from LA arriving in SD Friday night. This is San Diego and unfortunately I believe it to be the latter.......

We Endorse The "Vote For Manny" Blog

Satire is good.

Through humor, eyes are pried wide open. Satire promotes inquiry. It can even be a catalyst for change. When we discuss "change" it is not in the political context of "Change we can believe in"......no, the change we have in mind is not some ubiquitous slogan which was put through market research groups, approved, and printed in mass.

No, the change some of us are looking for is not in the abstract but the concrete......wet concrete......and to mix our metaphors we'll just say, the sloppy sort of wet concrete mess you might find in the shorts of Commissioner Bud Selig as the 2009 All star game approaches. Hard ball fans: we bring to your awareness.....

www.voteformanny.blogspot.com

A clever blog by a NY fan/writer/polemicist whose purpose is to promote the selection of Manny Ramirez INTO the All Star game via fan vote......but not for the reasons you think. This venture is strictly a means to an end for we, the fans of the game.

The idea: to force Bud Selig's hand in having to acknowledge and then address the possibility of a positive testing player (Performance Enhancing Drugs) making the all-star team. As San Diegans we saw a similar situation and the firestorm that ensued back in '05 when Shawne Merriman made the Pro Bowl after having served a 4 game steroid suspension. We are presented with a fantastic opportunity sport fans. Do not let the possibility of that Dread-head douche occupying left field in Busch Stadium deter you from forcing the issue.

There are those that will argue that voting for Manny, who is currently running fourth in the voting, will only prevent a more deserving player from earning a spot:

Raul has been solid. You need not worry. Mr. Selig will do the right thing.

Sorry. Sometimes you must destroy something beautiful to rebuild it correctly. Without pain there can not be gain. Insert any other metaphor you'd like but the bottom line is that the drug issue must be confronted on a national platform and more likely than not Raul Ibanez would thank you for providing him a nice little vacation during the middle of an arduous season.

There are those that will argue that this sort of measure will only serve to further damage the image of MLB:

C.J. has tarnished his own image. Edit twice...publish once my friend.

See previous argument. MLB already has two black eyes and they've been achieved under the stewardship of Commissioner Selig. This could be an opportunity for Bud to do the right thing by implementing a policy shift that illustrates an act of good faith for MLB's fans (i.e. banning Manny and all future positive testers from All-Star games and to take it a step further---ban these players from eligibility for individual season awards----this would show that he takes the PED issue seriously).

Lastly there are those who just don't quite understand the literary device of satire....

No....insanity is responding to things you disagree with at 3:30 AM

....or you don't know how to read and instead resort to inferences based on the titles of blogs you look at-- and please notice that we use the words "look at" and not "read". Hopefully one day you'll get it and when you do, "it'll be the most beautiful day of your life." A Durdian moment to be sure.

Vote Manny in so that Bud can vote him out. Exact some Change We Can Believe In: Vote on-line for Manny Ramirez and visit the blog created in his "honor". Vote For Manny Blog

Los Angeles Dodgers Website for Direct Voting and Ballot Box Stuffing.

**Comments courtesy of nit wits visiting the Vote For Manny Blog.