The world is not a prison house but a kind of spiritual kindergarten where millions of bewildered infants are trying to spell God with the wrong blocks. ~Edwin Arlington Robinson
Welcome back, Brandon McCarthy. Brandon McCarthy returned to the mound yesterday. He done good. After last season's big scare - getting nailed in the melon by an Erick Aybar line drive that resulted in brain surgery to alleviate a skull fracture, brain contusion and epidural hemorrhage - McCarthy returned to the hill. He's no longer with the Athletics. He signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks during the off-season.
McCarthy's final line: 2 innings of work, 3 hits, 1 run allowed and 4 strikeouts.
This also gives me an excuse to put up a pic of Brandon's wife - Hot Baseball Wife Hall of Famer, Amanda McCarthy...
I have a lot of sweet baseball memoribilia. Autographs from my favourite players - Ted Williams, Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr, Willie Horton, Bill Freehan and Bob Feller. I've got a uniform swatch and bat splinter from Ty Cobb. I've got ancient baseball books that have been out-of-print for decades. I've seen a no-hitter live - Jon Lester's No-No - from the Green Monster seats at Fenway. There's ONE thing missing. I WANT A SANDY KOUFAX AUTOGRAPH. I LOVE Sandy Koufax. To me, Koufax is baseball's version of J.D. Salinger - if Salinger could throw heat seeking missiles and a curveball that would drop off the face of the earth. Koufax is 77 years old. He is back with the LA Dodgers. He's at Spring Training in Glendale, Arizona as a special adviser to owner Mark Walter.
Three Cy Young Awards. Four World Series titles. Four no-hitters. An NL MVP award and two World Series MVP honors in just 12 seasons in Brooklyn and Los Angeles. This guy defines the term LEGEND.
On rare occasions, God creates a human with super-human skills - but puts an 'achilles heel' into the mix. Bobby Orr and his bad knees. Sandy Koufax and his arthritic left elbow.
I LOVE Sandy Koufax. Please, please...somebody hook me up!
Baseball is back! Today the revamped Blue Jays defeated the Tigers 10-3 in Lakeland. There were some promising signs - Prince and Miggy went DEEP and V-Mart looked good at the plate. But the important thing is - baseball's back!
Only in Spring Training can you view scenes like this - Austin Jackson and Willie Horton having an outfield chat.
To celebrate the impending return of the MLB season and spring - it's Induction Time. A knowledgeable baseball man, John B. Sharp, alerted me to the horrible oversight that Jillian Barberie-Reynolds is not in the HBWHOF! So, to make things right, today, Jillian becomes the 23rd member of the Hot Baseball Wife Hall of Fame Thanks John. You can follow Mr. Sharp on Twitter @freehan11
I'm sure that most of my readers are familiar with Jillian Barberie from her appearances on Fox Sports as the weatherperson on Fox NFL Sunday a few years back.
Jillian was married to former MLB second baseman Bret Barberie who played for the Expos, Marlins, Orioles and Cubs.
Pitchers and catchers report to camp tomorrow. Spring training is right around the corner. With that in mind, I have begun to peruse the various promotional schedules - cuz I love baseball giveaways. Here are a few of my early favourites...
1) The San Francisco Giants are hosting 'Metallica Night' on May 3rd. Metallica will throw out the first pitch and sing the national anthem. Fans will also get a special Giants/Metallica cap. Obviously, Metallica tunes will be played throughout the game.
2) The Oakland Athletics, Masters of the Giveaway, have some sweet freebies.
April 27th the A's are giving away a 1973 Reggie Jackson bobblehead.
On June 29th lucky fans will receive the 'Coco Lean' bobblehead. This is the BEST!
