It's always good to be home even when you've had a great vacation. 10 days is way to short a time to spend with close family, but it was time well spent. Primary highlights included my Uncle and I getting a "Boston" against our wives in Spades (where you win all 13 tricks and automatically win the game), introducing my son to the beach, walking down the "Bloody Lane" at Antietam, standing in the game room at "Games and Stuff" in Glen Burnie, MD basking in the furious tempest of "nerd" in the air, and of course seeing my grandparents. My little man gained at least 2 lbs and discovered he could play with toys. It was fascinating how tangible the change was. One day he would stare blankly at the wall while waving around the little ball and the next he was studying it and trying to shove it in his mouth.
Our little family set out intending the trip to be a cursory exploration of the possibility of exchanging WI for VA as our place of residence. Anytime you can exchange WI for VA you have to do it. We came away with a renewed desire to get the thing done, however challenges still loom. The primary questions center around employment which is no surprise given the economic climate which has beset our fair country the past decade or so. However, while finding work in a county like Dodge, in which the largest cities barely touch 30,000, is always a miracle, the Tidewater area is both teeming with humanity and commercialism. People go where the stuff is and there is loads of stuff in the quasi-metropolis of the Hampton Roads-VA Beach-Norfolk-Portsmouth-Suffolk-Newport News-Chesapeake urban sprawl. That being said its still whole lot a divine intervention to make a massive life-altering relocation, so here's to that.
Over the next few weeks I'm going to wax political, addressing DOMA, Trayvon, the Arab Spring and maybe have a guest writer. Then I'll start a yearly tradition with a series of sports posts, the NBA summer transactions, the MLB postseason awards and predictions and an NFL primer. Stay tuned for interruptions of that schedule cuz I'm getting closer to finishing "The Fall and Decline of the Roman Empire" and it deserves a review as well as any movies my wife and I absorb that get my gears spinning. Also, I would love to get some good conversation going on any of these posts, even old ones, don't be scared just talk to me. It's ok, I sign my name with an initial meaning I'm something like a doctor.
Anyway, the greatest sporting event of the year is tonight, coming in just ahead of the Super Bowl and the NBA All-Star weekend.
--- Side Note --- Sporting Event Power Ranking:
1. MLB All-Star Game
2. NBA All-Star Game
3. Super Bowl (and Playoffs)
4. World Series (and Playoffs)
5. NBA Finals (and Playoffs)
6. Braves Playoff Game
7. Summer Olympics
8. March Madness (and Tourney)
9. Vikings Playoff Game
10. Reg Braves Game
11. Clemson Bowl Game
12. Stanley Cup (and Playoffs)
13. Reg Clemson Football Game
14. NBA Regular Season
15. MLB Regular Season
16. World Cup Final (and Tourney)
17. Reg Vikings Game
18. Wimbeldon Final (and Tourney)
19. NFL Regular Season
20. Winter Olympics
21. UEFA Cup Final (and Tourney)
22. NCAAF Championship
23. College World Series
24. French Open Final (and Tourney)
25. Either Brother Football or Basketball
etc etc etc etc......in case you're wondering, any Major Golf Tourney comes in around 35 and any Major NASCAR race is down around 50, at best.
Thanks for reading.
Braves hit the break with the 9th most wins in Franchise History, that's a long time folks. However, they got super snubbed for the All-Star game with only Craig Kimbrel getting in initially, Freddie Freeman being selected on the last-spot ballot and Brian McCann replacing him during to injury. Outrageous.
Look at Chris Johnson's credentials:
.330/.470/.841 (BA/SLG/OPS)
The batting average is 4th in the NL (because of an early platoon he's still a little under the qualifying line)
1.0 War, meaning he's worth a full game more than the replacement level 3rd basemen, which was all the Diamondbacks thought he was when they threw him in the Upton-Prado deal
He's smacked 6 dingers and driven in 31 while playing 3rd, 1st and batting 3rd, 5th, 7th and 8th at different times during the year, aside from Freeman he's my first-half Braves MVP and because his production is more surprising the best story of the year so far out of Atlanta (barely edging out El Oso Blanco)
DEFINITELY BELONGS - weakness: Platooned earlier, hits a lot of singles
Now Mike Minor's
9-4 with a 3.02 in 122 innings
115 K's, 1.08 WHIP, and a most impressive 4.42 K/BB
This comes out to a whopping 2.2 WAR (which is a compiled stat, the best of the best ending up around 7)
He's also homered, driven in 4 and has pitched himself into the position of Ace of a 1st place ballclub
BELONGS - weakness: NL pitching is really strong this year
Now Evan Gattis'
One of only 7 players in MLB history whose name starts with GAT... (its true)
14 Homers in 167 ABs (1 every 12...not far from Ruth, Bonds..etc)
Has played 54 Major League games and already is the most feared pinch hitter in the last 20 years
1.7 WAR!?!?!?!?
Has a ridiculously amazing story of overcoming adversity and going from Janitor to Brave and stuff
PROBABLY BELONGS - weakness: oblique injury a week before voting started
How about Justin Upton?
16 homers (12 in May) 1.1 WAR
3 hitter for a 1st place team (I know numbers before status but its got to mean something)
Has a decent shot at a 20/20/20 2B/HR/SB and should walk more times than ever before in his career
Seamlessly shifted from RF to LF after the trade and has made some slick plays
MAYBE BELONGS - weakness:went into an icy cold slump and is on pace to K 200 times for the 1st time
I'm pretty upset, but it won't tarnish my enjoyment of the game at all. Nothing possibly could. It is the greatest few hours of athletic entertainment available. Don't even consider calling or texting me during it.
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