The Daily Plunge » Baseball

Sarasota Spring Training

Henshaw — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 01:43:46 +0000

Despite all of my complaining about the current state of affairs I am a very thankful American. My wife’s health has been a challenge, but we been blessed so far. I love Sarasota, Florida. It’s a beautiful place. Today I took a small break from work and went to a Baltimore Orioles Spring training game with a few colleagues from work. The improvements to Ed Smith stadium are great.

I’m not a fan of subsidized stadium projects, but the finished project was enjoyable today.

Bring in the Ghouls

club soda — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:35:58 +0000

As a vocal proponent of amending the Constitution so that the Federal government’s sole and exclusive power is to regulate college and professional sports, I am still somewhat dismayed at the news that sullied my desk the other day about Roger Clemens.

Roger the Rocket, so dubbed for his ability to strike out batters in years past, is now better known as Roger the Dodger for his inability to tell the truth about his use of performance-enhancing drugs. Unfortunately for Roger, the truth apparently eluded him while under oath before a Congressional hearing on steroid use in professional sports. As a result, Roger has been indicted by a Federal grand jury for what amounts to perjury.

In a sane world – that is, one in which the Federal government’s sole responsibility is policing sports – Clemens’ indictment would have been a necessary evil as part of the government’s only Constitutional power. But in this mixed-up, muddled-up, shook-up world, Clemens is being persecuted for no good reason.

It’s absolutely pointless to spend tax dollars on a Federal show trial of Clemens. I must have checked my copy of the Constitution at least a dozen times searching in vain for any mention of Congressional responsibility for Major League Baseball. But maybe it’s one of those clauses that covers everything, like the Commerce Clause or promoting “the general welfare.”

Let me be clear… This has nothing to do with anything other than a bunch of Congressional blowhards taking down easy targets so they can at least look like they’re accomplishing something. There’s nothing at stake here; only the apparently fragile egos of our beloved representatives. Congressional hearings have become nothing more than a three-ring circus of ghouls pick-pocketing the dead and then piling into their gas-guzzling freeloader-mobile to pick-pocket the taxpayers.

Meanwhile, the city of Houston has to undergo another indignity in a long line of indignities that stretches back to the 1979 Cotton Bowl.

Real Problems: Baseball’s Katrina

Henshaw — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:15:41 +0000

Armando Galarraga lost a perfect game last night because umpire Jim Joyce made a mistake on the final out. Some might blame the umpire. Others might blame it on the fact that there’s no instant replay. Personally, I blame it on the federal government. How can they let this happen? What is Obama doing to prevent this from happening again?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmCNNxRg_Og

President Obama should instruct the justice department to investigate Bud Selig and Major League Baseball. Someone has to pay for this travesty.

obama receives boos at all star game

Henshaw — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:45:09 +0000

President Obama continued his run for president in 2012 by throwing the first pitch at the All Star game tonight. He received a mixture of cheers and boos; about what you would expect from a red state and from a country in which the President’s approval rating is around 50 percent.
I’m not surprised, but the left doesn’t know that “The One” isn’t exactly the king of popularity.
From Twitter:

mattandkiwi: Who are the assholes who booed President Obama during the first pitch of the All Star Game?!?
publius2k: Everybody who just booed President Obama at the All-Star Game can go jump in the bay.
sergiotovar: I love Barack Obama! (And hate those who randomly booed him)

sarasota turns its back on baseball

Henshaw — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 18:24:05 +0000

On Thursday April 2 I had the opportunity to watch the Cincinnati Reds play their last spring training game in Sarasota. The stadium was about half full. Most feasibility studies fail to account for days like that. A half full stadium is a great reminder of why it’s insane for cities to subsidize sports clubs. I love baseball, but it’s not the draw it used to be, especially for spring training. Sure it cool to see major league players. I loved watching the Braves play the Pirates in Bradenton this year, but I don’t remember anything from the game (Chipper hit a home run). The games are rather pointless.
There are only a few teams available who can consistently sell out spring training games and the cost to bring those teams it is too expensive. Before the game a few city council members took the field to pat themselves on the back for “trying” to keep the Reds in town. It was the usual suspects of incompetent city planners. Everything was going well until faux mayor Lou Ann Palmer grabbed the mic.

Sarasota mayor Lou Ann Palmer was on hand to address spectators prior to the game. But she was interupted by repeated booing. “I’m glad so many of you are angry,” said Palmer, wearing a red shirt and red hoop earrings, “because I’m angry that the Reds are leaving, too. “We feel exactly the same way.” But it was evident that many in the crowd did not think the City of Sarasota did enough to make sure the team would not leave.

The mayor was angry and eventually ended up in tears. Someone in the crowd yelled “shut up” a few times. That’s got to be a real confident boost for the council. The city commissioners presented the Reds with a key to the city. I wonder how many feasibility studies had to be commissioned to figure out if that was a good idea. The only reason these people keep their jobs is because the city boundaries are drawn to protect the status quo. The city commissioners got booed for a good ten minutes. The pointless rotating mayor tried to calm the crowd, but she only made things worse. The mob was angry and they have a right to be… these commissioners are a joke.