If you ever wandered what Mark McGwire would be capable of without Androstenedione, we get a glimpse of it right here - a mere mortal working 9 to 5 who can't seem to land a girlfriend.
I'm assuming the "Without You" is an allusion to "Without the Juice" and that the girl is a metaphorical symbol of the money, fame, and free Big Mac coupons that are lost in its absence. Notice the palm trees and shoreline at 1:43, without a doubt a homage to Mark's days in Oakland - that is, in fact, Tony La Russa's residence in Southern California. The space station and galactic exodus? That represents Mark's message to the kids - don't look at the past, keep looking towards the future.
This video is more impressive than the Cardinals' off-season so far, I gotta say...
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Back to the Present, Part II
For the few who still straggle around this blog, you finally have some new content to read. How exciting?!?! OMG! OMG! Truth be told, my off-season has been about 100 times more exciting than the Cardinals'. I got to spend 10 days in Italy, where I visited Florence, Venice, Pisa, Siena, and Rome. I tasted the best pizza I've ever had in said Italy. I finally got around to seeing Shawshank Redemption, which is probably one of the greatest movies ever made. I caught up with friends dating back to before kindergarten, as well as friends from grade school and high school. And I still have a 4.0 GPA. Life has been pretty good, and finding time to blog has been pushed a little lower on my priority list as of late.
I don't intend for it to always be like that, however. This is still the place to talk about anything and everything Cardinals, and perhaps anything else that's on my mind or yours. I will make every effort to write when I can, which will certainly be more than once a month and probably be 2-3 times a week. Maybe more. In this time of economic crisis, I have set my hopes on securing an internship for this summer, so that will be my next time-consuming project this semester. If anyone has any tips or opportunities, please let me know.
Looking at the way this off-season has gone thus far, you can't help but be disappointed in the lack of clear-cut moves on behalf of our ballclub. The Cardinals have made several additions to the 40-man roster: Khalil Greene is now our shortstop, Trever Miller is now the go-to lefty out of the bullpen, and Charlie Manning and Royce Ring are two LOOGY's that have inside tracks to making the bullpen. That's about it in terms of outside additions.
But, essentially, the Cards have made a lot more moves than that indirectly. By not trading for or signing a pricey starting pitcher, they have shown that they are content with a Carpenter-Wainwright-Lohse-Wellemeyer-Pineiro starting rotation, and that they are confident in Carp's ability to lead this season as an effective stater.
By not signing Brian Fuentes or any other closer, they have placed Chris Perez back in that role, with Jason Motte getting an outside chance to steal it away. By keeping Rick Ankiel, Skip Schumaker, Ryan Ludwick, and Joe Mather, they have signaled that they are not quite sure Colby Rasmus is ready to play at the major league level, but, by not trading for Matt Holliday, they are keeping the door open for him as well as the rest of the plethora of outfielders in the dugout.
By not trading disgruntled second baseman Adam Kennedy, they have shown that they must be completely satisf... oh, wait. Nevermind.
The one move I had hoped the Cardinals make was to address the hole at second base. There obviously has been no market for Kennedy, and Orlando Hudson must be asking for too much money or too many years because he makes too much sense for the Cardinals to sign this off-season. The Braves were the last ones reportedly interested in the second baseman, but it seems talks have died between the two parties as well. We still have about $9m to spend (I'm not buying the recession-ideology for a second, these guys have money... loads of it) that is unallocated as of January 27th 9:30 AM. Signing Orlando to a three year deal for $8m per pegs him in the same ballpark as Brian Roberts and Jose Reyes, and you could add some escalators in that as well.
Oh well, it's not going to happen unless someone takes Adam Kennedy off our hands, which isn't going to happen until somebody has all their second baseman involved in a freak hoverboard accident that incapacitates them for the season, which isn't going to happen until Skip Schumaker decides to play fair and let the other kids borrow his.
Yeah, that just happened. Be back soon.
I don't intend for it to always be like that, however. This is still the place to talk about anything and everything Cardinals, and perhaps anything else that's on my mind or yours. I will make every effort to write when I can, which will certainly be more than once a month and probably be 2-3 times a week. Maybe more. In this time of economic crisis, I have set my hopes on securing an internship for this summer, so that will be my next time-consuming project this semester. If anyone has any tips or opportunities, please let me know.
Looking at the way this off-season has gone thus far, you can't help but be disappointed in the lack of clear-cut moves on behalf of our ballclub. The Cardinals have made several additions to the 40-man roster: Khalil Greene is now our shortstop, Trever Miller is now the go-to lefty out of the bullpen, and Charlie Manning and Royce Ring are two LOOGY's that have inside tracks to making the bullpen. That's about it in terms of outside additions.
But, essentially, the Cards have made a lot more moves than that indirectly. By not trading for or signing a pricey starting pitcher, they have shown that they are content with a Carpenter-Wainwright-Lohse-Wellemeyer-Pineiro starting rotation, and that they are confident in Carp's ability to lead this season as an effective stater.
By not signing Brian Fuentes or any other closer, they have placed Chris Perez back in that role, with Jason Motte getting an outside chance to steal it away. By keeping Rick Ankiel, Skip Schumaker, Ryan Ludwick, and Joe Mather, they have signaled that they are not quite sure Colby Rasmus is ready to play at the major league level, but, by not trading for Matt Holliday, they are keeping the door open for him as well as the rest of the plethora of outfielders in the dugout.
By not trading disgruntled second baseman Adam Kennedy, they have shown that they must be completely satisf... oh, wait. Nevermind.
The one move I had hoped the Cardinals make was to address the hole at second base. There obviously has been no market for Kennedy, and Orlando Hudson must be asking for too much money or too many years because he makes too much sense for the Cardinals to sign this off-season. The Braves were the last ones reportedly interested in the second baseman, but it seems talks have died between the two parties as well. We still have about $9m to spend (I'm not buying the recession-ideology for a second, these guys have money... loads of it) that is unallocated as of January 27th 9:30 AM. Signing Orlando to a three year deal for $8m per pegs him in the same ballpark as Brian Roberts and Jose Reyes, and you could add some escalators in that as well.
Oh well, it's not going to happen unless someone takes Adam Kennedy off our hands, which isn't going to happen until somebody has all their second baseman involved in a freak hoverboard accident that incapacitates them for the season, which isn't going to happen until Skip Schumaker decides to play fair and let the other kids borrow his.
Yeah, that just happened. Be back soon.
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