Coolest Guy Ever!

This man is going to be starting in left field for the national league in the All-Star game. Also, in case you don't already now, C.C. Sabathia is now a member of the Milwaukee Brewers! I don't want to jinx this in any way, but this is very exciting stuff for the Brewers, the city of Milwaukee, and the state of Wisconsin. CUBS SUCK!!!

P.S. For the thousands of readers that don't reside in the state of WI, or hail from there as I do, my humble apologies for geocentric post. However, you should become a Brewers. They are the new Red Sox, for real. If you are one of those great people that always cheers for the perennial underdogs, the Brewers are your team. Oh yeah, one more thing, VOTE FOR COREY HART!!!

Lester Throws a No-No

For those of you that are not already aware, Jon Lester, the 24-year southpaw for the Boston Red Sox threw a no-hitter last night against the Kansas City Royals. This is even more impressive because Lester is a cancer survivor. After the 2006 season he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Lester's outing last night was also his first career complete game.

After the Brewers were swept out of Boston over the weekend, by the very same Red Sox, I made a conscious decision to try and limit myself from the world of baseball. However, a story like this was more than enough to end my brief hiatus. Lester's no-no is definately going to be remembered as one of the greatest of all time, not so much for the pitching (two walks, one error) but the circumstances Lester had to endure in order to come out on top like he has. His story is an inspirational one that we should all remember when times get tough in our own lives. As the great Aragorn said "there is always hope."

Congrats to Jon Lester and the Boston Red Sox.

P.S. Aragorn is a Lord of the Rings character for those of you that live under a rock

Photo courtesy of Flickr user purchase97 May 20, 2008

Trouble in Houston

It seems as if Miguel Tejada is in a lot of trouble. First off, it turns out that Miguel's last name is Tejeda not Tejada. Also he lied about his age, he's 33 not 31 (Why!?! Plus at least make it more than a two year difference!). Finally, there is of course Tejada's surfacing in the Mitchell Report for possible steroid usage. If your asking, what's the big deal. Here's the big deal: Tejada lied about his age and name while applying for a green card post-immigration. Plus, when applying for a green card, the applicant is asked about drug usage. Whoops! This could all lead to Tejada getting deported; or, at best, he could be turned into an informant to rat out other players to the Feds. I have to say, while I shouldn't, I actually kind of feel sorry for Tejada, or should I say Tejeda. Basically the only reason any of this is coming to light is the fact that the guy more likely than not joined the Roid Raiders club (Canseco, Giambi, Piatt, etc.) in Oakland. I mean, let's be honest, in late 90's Oakland, who wasn't juiced!?! The men in the A's clubhouse had more testosterone pumping than the rest of the Bay Area combined. Clearly, Tejada has made a number of bad decisions, but you have to wonder how many other players out there have just as many skeletons in there closet (cough cough Ankiel cough).

Now that I got the pleasantries and compassion out of the way, in the interest of full disclosure I should acknowledge that as a Brewers fan the Houston Astros are one of my favorite opponents. Pretty much every time the Brewers play the Astros (whether in Milwaukee or Houston) we just beat the living shit out of them. Seriously, we won a game in Houston like 15-1 last year! What?! Needless to say, if this causes the famously dysfunctional Astros to become more dysfunctional, the only wisdom I can impart is that this is natural selection taking its course.

Finally, in other baseball related news, I love 5 gum. Seriously, it's freakin' fantastic. I was at CVS over lunch and noticed for the first time that 5 is manufactured by Wrigley. This causes a dilemma for me. I love the gum, but I hate to think that my love of 5 gum is in some way support for the Cubs. But what can I really do? Wrigley pretty much has a defacto monopoly on the chewing gum market, and it's just so damn good! Ideas?

Photo used courtesy of flickr user gajdam1 Apirl 18, 2008.

Hats Off

Tim Brown has a well written and touching column over at Yahoo! Sports about Doug Davis. Davis has a cancerous thyroid that he is having removed that will sideline him for at least six weeks. Despite this Davis pitched effectively in his last start before surgery and led Arizona to a 10-5 victory over the Dodgers. Not only did Davis get the job done on the mound he also produced at the plate and drove in a run. That's the way you want to go out before facing major surgery.

I remember Doug Davis from his years with the Brewers. I'll be honest the guy used to give me fits with all the walks, but he was always a classy guy and a good team player. According to Brown, Davis's mother is a thyroid cancer survivor and the cancer has a 97% cure rate. One can only hope that the surgery goes well and that he will be able to return this season to contribute more for his team.

Good luck Doug!

Selling Wrigley

Gene Wojciechowski has an interesting column up at ESPN.com regarding Sam Zell's sale of naming rights for Wrigley Field. While I could take the classy route and say how this is an affront to baseball lovers everywhere, but in this case it's much more fun to be honest; and I have to say as long as it hurts the Cubs and Cubs' fans it sounds like a great business move to me.