Beat the Streak 2011 MLB Contest ~ Don't pick Manny Ramirez

I'm not one to play fantasy sports, but I came across this "Beat the Streak" contest for the 2011 MLB season.  The object of the contest is simple.  For each "game day" pick a player who you think will get a hit.  Be the FIRST to beat the streak of 56 games with a correct pick, and you win $5,600,000.00  Yes, that number is typed correctly.  I double-checked it.  I don't know about you, but I could use $5.6 million.

Jason Heyward at bat v the Cubs
on April 8, 2010.  He went 0-4.

So far the longest streak is 8 games.  Atlanta Braves' Jason Heyward was hitless last night against the Milwaukee Brewers and killed my streak of 4 games...  Ugh.  ****  Actualy, I just took a look at my photo files, and just last year I saw him against go hitless against the Chicago Cubs...  Great.

Good thing, I checked my upcoming picks today because I had selected Manny Ramirez for an upcoming game. With Manny's retirement announcement today, I doubt he'll be hitting again ~ period.  Don't get me wrong, I liked Manny. 

Manny Ramirez debuted with the Cleveland Indians in 1993.  1993 was also my freshman year of college, in Northeast Ohio, so I spent many a night at Jacobs Field (i.e. now named Progressive Field).  Manny was loved in Cleveland.  1993-2002 were some great days for the Cleveland Indians.  Those were the days of David Justice, Kenny Lofton, Omar Vizquel, Sandy Alomar, Roberto Alomar, Jim Thome, and Manny Ramirez...  I'm sure I'm forgetting some folks, but you know what I'm talking about.

Come to think of it, my best friend (i.e. Chubs) had a picture of Manny Ramirez in his spare bedroom.  He loved that picture.  It may have even been autographed.  Oh well. 

Manny Ramirez at bat v Pirates, April 30, 2010

The last time I saw Manny Ramirez play was less than a year ago against the Pittsburgh Pirates.  In addition to it being my first time at Dodgers Stadium, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar threw out the ceremonial first pitch.  ****  Kareem's presence made the game extra special for me since I'm an "old school" Laker fan.

But I digress...  So, let's get back to this blog post's topic.

Play the Beat the Streak contest and test your luck.  Further, with ANOTHER announcement of an issue relating to baseball's drug policy, it's hard to love a cheater ~ especially a cheater who's calling it quits.  Therefore, if you have Manny in any of your fantasy baseball contests, replace him now.


THE WIRK

Sports: Athletes and houses ~ free agency, trades, and real estate

It's been a rough day...  I woke up this morning after having a nightmare that my parents bought the house I used to live in, when I was engaged a million (ok, so it wasn't really a million) years ago.  The house is the one he and I picked out when we were dating.  He actually proposed to me in the backyard on the deck by the water. 

The house is also the same house where he and his current wife (i.e. who I used to hang out with and was once engaged to his former teammate) resided once I left town and they coupled up.  But, that's all neither here nor there for the purposes of this blog...

Needless to say, I was bothered by the nightmare.  I woke up angry.  Later in the day, I decided to Google my old address and wouldn't you know that house is for sale?  Actually, it was listed 10 days ago!  Scary coincidence... 

I've always been someone who can sense when there's a problem or when something is happening.  I get a feeling about people and things and most of the time I'm right.  Obviously, I'm not batting a thousand or I'd be wealthier and more successful in my professional and personal relationships ~ but I've learned not to ignore my gut feelings.

The owner of the house has always said that Cleveland will always be "home".  He was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1996 (i.e. 1st round, 20th pick).  Based on the effort to sell this house, all signs point to that not being the case.  I can't speculate on what I don't know, so I'm not going to say for sure that he hasn't purchased another home in Ohio.  I don't really care.  Obviously this won't garner as much attention as LeBron's decision to leave Cleveland, but for someone like me, I have to say I'm a bit surprised. 

I looked through the pictures on the house listing and am surprised to see so few changes in the house that I once called "home".  Of course, the woman that "replaced" me tried to renovate it and make it hers (e.g, redoing the kitchen, expanding the terrible closet space), but at the end of the day ~ that's still the house that he and I picked out for our life together and the house that she moved into AFTER I left. 

Admittedly, I wanted the house in Gates Mills, but he always wanted to live on the water.  ****  I conceded since he was only my boyfriend at the time and life was hard enough with him injured and on crutches.  When we were house-hunting it was my job to climb stairs or descend downstairs to check ceiling heights to make sure that a 7 footer could stand upright without hitting his head.

That reminds me.  One of the coolest basements I'd ever seen was John Hart's.  He's the former General Manager of the Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers.  Damnit, ironically I just read his wikipedia page and it says that he currently serves as senior adviser, baseball operations, for the Rangers. Ugh, I was just in Texas for the World Series!!!!  Anyway, John Hart had one of the best collections of baseball memorabilia I'd ever seen.  Baseball posters, stadium seats, signed baseballs and bats. It was awesome.  I remember walking down there and calling up the stairs to my guy, "You really need to come down here!" and watching him precariously negotiate the stairs and low-ceilings on his crutches.

It's not uncommon for athletes to sell or rent their homes to other athletes.  Free agency, trades, seasonal work, and retirement are part of the business of sports.  I watched MTV Cribs before and saw Shaquille O'Neal's Miami house.  It used to be Rony Seikaly's and Shaq put his Superman touches on it.  I remember Shaq and Shaunie remarking that it was nice to move into Rony's house because things were built/customized for a taller man (e.g. door heights). 

Here's one for you...  In the master bathroom the sinks were higher than your average sinks, to make it easier for him to wash his hands.  Um, that's fantastic.  What about people who have normal heights?  Do you know how gross and annoying it is to have water drip down your arm onto your sleeves?  I wonder if the toilet in the master bathroom of my old house is still raised.  It was elevated to the point that Danny Ferry once gave me a "step stool" as a joke for Christmas, since he was concerned my feet would dangle.  I never used it, but I still have the stool.

When a veteran Cleveland Cavalier moved out of his home after being traded, Damon Jones a "new Cleveland Cavalier" (i.e. at the time) moved right in.  That house was featured on an episode of MTV Cribs.  Seriously?!?!  I've been in that house many times (i.e. numerous parties, dinners, and random nights).  It's not that extraordinary.  I can't find the episode anymore. I can only find the unaired clip.  See for yourself with the following link.  Never Been Seen: Damon Jones: "Damon Jones lets us look behind his fully stocked bar, and gives us a spin in the chair in his private barber salon."

When I get around to it, I might post some pics of the house from back in the day or I might not, since it doesn't really matter.  I'm debating on whether or not I even want to post a link the listing, and at this time I'm deciding against it. I don't need/want my former address published. 

Mi "old" casa, es su casa ~ for almost $2 million.  The stories I could tell ~ priceless...


THE WIRK

Yankees v Twins, ALDS Game 1 ~ I'll be there!

After looking at Stubhub.com, Craigs list, and eBay, I decided to say, "to hell with it all" and hit the streets.  When did the going price for a good ticket hit $300?  Actually from experiences haggling with scalpers and researching websites for YEARS, the answer to that question is maybe 5 years ago... 

At lunch today, I decided to go out and look for scalper.  I was curious if I'd run into any Yankees or Twins grabbing food.  It's not a secret boys and girls...  Those men need to eat lunch, too...  Well on my path towards Target Field, I decided to go right to the ballpark to check out the scene.  As usual, I was at the right place at the right time!

Guess who just scored her ticket to the Yankees v Twins, American League Division Series (ALDS), Game 1!?!?!! Yep, this girl!  I cannot wait for the game to start...  Looking forward to watching CC Sabathia take on Francisco Liriano.  Great.  Now I have that little girl song in my head...

"CC, my playmate, come out and play with me."

Actually, when ever I think of Sabathia I always remember his days with the Cleveland Indians.  In 2002, when he was robbed at gunpoint, while trying to leave the Marriott Key Center.  Here's an article that provides more details for those of you that never knew.  For those of you that would rather copy and paste the URL into a new window, here you go: http://www.woio.com/Global/story.asp?S=793891.  It's scary stuff!  According to the article, "Sabathia was robbed of $44,102 in cash and jewelry, including a necklace and earrings."  I'm sure his fans are happy that no one got hurt.  It's great to see CC successful.  By the way, did you know that 52 is one of my lucky numbers?

As for me tonight, my only "concern" is what I'm going to eat on the Target Field concourse...  Do I stick with Murray's steak sandwich or try something else? :-P


THE WIRK

Manny Ramirez to help Chicago White Sox postseason push

As someone who watched Manny Ramirez when he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers once and numerous times while he was with the Cleveland Indians, I look forward to him joining former Tribe teammate, Omar Vizquel, on the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.  ****  If only Manny could've picked up a couple of weeks ago, when the White Sox were "in town" so I could've seen more of a Tribe reunion (i.e. with Jim Thome on the field for the Minnesota Twins).

As someone who has "adopted" the Minnesota Twins, I'm also curious to see how the addition of Manny affects the White Sox and Twin's race to the finish (i.e. the post season) since the White Sox are currently only 4 games back...

I remember Manny's glory days in Cleveland.  The city loved the Tribe and it wasn't easy getting a ticket to the game since the team was so talented (i.e. Sandy Alomar, Roberto Alomar, David Justice, Jim Thome, Kenny Lofton, Manny Ramirez, Jose Mesa, and Omar Vizquel etc.).  It wasn't uncommon for me to see them running around town, at the movies on a Sunday, or just miss them as my car was going in for inspection.  ****  Ugh.  Now I'm reminiscing about the good old days at Jacobs Field in Cleveland and watching post-season games at Nautica...  Those were great times with friends.  Too bad the Atlanta Braves had the Tribe's number those years...

Question:  Why does Cleveland appear to be the farm team for every major sport?

Regardless, here's my prediction:  The Minnesota Twins maintain their spot on top of the AL Central.


THE WIRK

Armando Galarraga and Jim Joyce - Excellence, Disappointment, and Professionalism on the Field

By now you've seen the video of Jim Joyce blowing the call and taking away Armando Galarraga's perfect game.  The game was Wednesday night and the Detroit Tigers were hosting the Cleveland Indians at Comerica Park.  I feel for the umpire, and I can't even imagine how bad he feels for making the bad call.  I also can't believe the reaction from Armando Galarraga.

While I'm sure Ernie Harwell rolled over in his grave at the umpire's mistake, Galarraga simply smiled when the bad call was made.  The poise that Galarraga showed and the strength it took for the umpire to apologize amazed this sports fan.  In a time when almost all the stories are about athletes and some sense of entitlement or unprofessional behavior I commend these two gentlemen for taking the higher road.

Here is footage of Jim Joyce talking about his blown call:



Here is a play by play of the action on the field:



It's my understanding that Bud Selig won't reverse the call and Galarraga will be denied the perfect game. Galarraga would've been the first to pitch a perfect game for the Detroit Tigers, and Wednesday night's performance would've been the 3rd perfect game pitched this season. 

I guess Galarraga's performance will be the text preceded by an asterisk in the history books, until he pitches a PERFECT GAME again.

The Tigers defeated the Indians, 3-0 ~ but I guarantee no one cares or will even remember the score... 

Coincidentally, in 2005, I went with friends to Detroit to visit Comerica Park and witnessed the same Indians v Tigers match-up.  A picture I took from my seat is here for you enjoy.


THE WIRK