- J.P. Ricciardi should be fired immediately if this is accurate:
10:14am: Last month, Theo Epstein said Boston aggressively pursued Roy Halladay at the deadline and that their final offer was "probably the best offer [J.P. Ricciardi] received." According to Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun, that may have been a 6-for-1 offer of Clay Buchholz, Justin Masterson, Daniel Bard, Michael Bowden, Felix Doubront, and Nick Hagadone.
They later wrote that Theo Epstein responded with a "nope" at the speculation of such a trade.
Who knows?
But the bottom line is this: if that trade were offered for Roy Halladay and Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi didn't take it, he should not only be fired immediately, but he should be chased from Canada by the remaining Blue Jays fans who realize that Halladay isn't going to be a Blue Jay past January and whatever they get will likely be half what was offered by the Phillies and Red Sox.
That we're even debating whether Ricciardi's that stupid is a bad sign. Turning down a trade of six pitchers, which would almost automatically put the Blue Jays in competition for a playoff spot not just next year but for the next 4-5 years, wasn't just a mistake, but it was executive malpractice and would be a fitting epitaph to Ricciardi's tenure as GM.
- If you want to contend, this cannot happen:
Unless they right the ship (again), the Marlins are going to look back on the past few weeks and the bad losses to teams such as the Padres and Nats and realize where they blew their chance at a playoff spot. The good teams beat up on the bad ones; that's the law of the aquarium.
- Yeesh!!!!
This type of situation is perfect for the manager to come storming into the clubhouse and flip the food table, but I question whether Joe Maddon is capable of doing that or if the players would take him seriously if he did. Eleven losses in a row for a team with that talent is unacceptable.
- This is gonna be a bad ending:
How long before he's scrounging around for a job in baseball doing something, anything?
It turns out, in retrospect that I was right. As Dykstra was at the height of his "brilliant businessman" persona, I continually said to anyone who'd listen that the last guy from the 1980s Mets that anyone would've expected to hit it big in business was Dykstra; that the one whom everyone should reasonably have expected to wind up broke with the reckless lifestyle, lavish spending and incessant gambling, it would've been Dykstra.
Looks like I was right after all.
- Viewer Mail 9.14.2009:
You should really consider an internet radio show. Your opinions would generate lots of callers and you could plug your book. Do it!
My opinions are little more than facts that haven't happened yet.
I have to admit, it might get pretty entertaining if a stat zombie called in and I got my hands (figuratively of course) around his throat; or if two called at once and I was able to CLUNK their heads together. After the season, I'll start looking into it. It's a good idea...maybe. It could get pretty wild.
That was some column by Whicker. Some of us write tone deaf stuff from time to time, but what astonishes me is that an OCR editor, somewhere, didnt just say "No."
The Dugard case may present some interesting discussion points, but for a major paper to publish something so smirky, trivializing her ordeal/experience smacks of more than a lone writer's poor taste.
I'd have to guess that the editor didn't even read it. That's the only thing I could come up with that would even be in the ballpark of reasonable for that column getting through.
Agreed we all write things from time-to-time that we'd like to take back (me included) and most of those can be handled with a sincere apology, but that? Inexplicable even if Whicker was drunk, writer's blocked or getting story ideas from Glenn Beck.
And if he wanted to go with a story highlighting how things have changed in the past 30 or so years and what someone who was locked up in Pelican Bay or trapped on Tom Hanks's Cast Away island would've missed, there were a zillion other ways to do it. If I wanted to go in that direction, I would've written something along the lines of "The View From Inside Joba's Sarcophagus From 1980 To Now" or something like that.
One question: doesn't anyone get fired anymore? I've been fired from jobs for the stupidest reasons; sometimes I deserved it, most of the time, I didn't; I just pissed off the wrong people. (In fairness, it may be hard to believe, but I tend to be a bit unruly.) How do Whicker and that editor still have their jobs?
- Your intermittent dose of things I wish I'd said:
He is as clumsy as he is stupid.
- A note on my website PAULLEBOWITZ.COM:
1 comment:
I wouldn't be surprised if Glenn Beck had something to do with that OCR article. And if that J.P. rumor is true he would have some serious explaining to do. He reminds me of my 7 year old nephew who only does/wants things HIS way, all the time, with no regard for reality. That's okay for a 7 year old, as my nephew will eventually grow out of it, but an adult at the helm of a Major League franchise... well, that's just inexcusable.
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