Spring is turning into a Bad Deal for the Real Deal, according to this Strib article. Seems like the Real Deal, who has been pitching like ass-crap all spring, has lost his confidence. Mostly. He's still able to give quotes like, "I worked my tail off in the offseason, getting my arm all ready to go," he said, "and I come here and can't find the arm slot. It's frustrating...Real Deal has got to be himself."
Batgirl can't understand someone referring to himself in the third person like that.
Speaking of sucking, Grant Balfour/NoBalls is continuing his annual process of irritating the @#$% out of the coaching staff. He's injured again. Kind of. I mean, he might be okay. He might not. But you never know about these things. It can be so hard to tell. So stop pressurizing him, eh mate?
Meanwhile, the Job-like trials of Doctor Morneau continues, as is seems
he has developed a cyst on his appendectomy scar. Pretty soon, the good doctor will be able to operate on himself.
In more general news, the New York Times reports that the National League is now turf free.
And the hyperbole of the day award goes to Stanley Brand, lawyer for the commissioner's office, who vows to fight the congressional subpoenas of baseball's merry band of 'roid ragers--NOT in order to avoid getting a spotlight shown on MLB's complicity in allowing these players to do permanent damage to themselves, but in order to protect this country's sacred institutions.
"The audacity, the legal audacity of subpoenaing someone who's been a grand jury witness before there's been a trial in the case in California is just an absolutely excessive and unprecedented misuse of congressional power," Brand said."Not even the Iran-contra committee attempted to do that, and when it did, it tainted irreparably the prosecutions that came out of that investigation. Now, if that's what Congress wants to do to advance what it says is the public interest in combating a very serious problem that baseball has confronted, then, in my judgment, they've torn loose from their legislative moorings and they're marauding in an area of the law that has very serious consequences for the judicial system."
Batgirl thinks The Real Deal could learn something from this guy.
Posted by Batgirl at March 10, 2005 11:15 AMMaybe Grant should start working on his knuckleball... I can understand a little bit of frustration on Gardy's part, but what's the guy supposed to do? Does he pretend he's feeling great when his arm hurts? He's got his future to think of. It's just like what we were hearing from Jim Bouton, about the pressure to say everything's fine when it's not. I'm not sure how I would deal with that if I were in Grant's place.
Posted by: Pepper at March 10, 2005 12:03 PMds thinks its great for ds to be the first person to comment on speaking in the third person. ds finds it funny and doesn't take it seriously. ds also is having trouble with his arm slot, but ds declines to give details
Posted by: ds at March 10, 2005 12:04 PMHas anyone ever looked in Doug M.'s Mets locker to see if he has a Morneau voodoo doll? It has to look like a porcupine by now.
NIH
Posted by: NIH at March 10, 2005 12:32 PM"Not even the Iran-contra committee attempted to do that, and when it did, it tainted irreparably the prosecutions that came out of that investigation."
So which is it? Did they attempt to do that or not?
Confusedly yours,
YankeeFan
I'm with Pepper on the Grant situation--what's he supposed to do? I actually think that the problem with Grant/Gardy is either personality difference. I know I'd be saying the exact same things as Grant--he doesn't want to say "Hey, I'm fine" just because he feels good one day, because he knows with this type of injury he might come back tomorrow and say, "Err, no, I guess I'm not." I think that would annoy Gardy more. I think Grant knows he hasn't recovered totally, and doesn't want to make a statement until he knows he has. Some people keep their feelings/thoughts in the public; some people keep them private until they've reached a conclusion. If that's the case, it's not all Gardy; Grant should learn to talk more, too.
As much as J.D. annoys me with his attitude, I want him to do well. I want him to have confidence, not cockiness. I think he referred to himself in the third person because he knows the guy talking today is not the Real Deal--the Real Deal is locked up the same place Kyle Lohse was last year.
About Justin, I called my mom and told her "I'm a bad person. I laughed when I heard Justin had *more* medical problems. It's just getting to the point of ridiculous now." She admitted she laughed when she heard the news, too. We're going to send him a box of get-well cards and tell him to open one each time he has another problem, and to let us know when he needs more...
Just Beth
Posted by: Just Beth at March 10, 2005 12:38 PMHas anyone else noticed that the new slogan for the Baby Ruth candy bar is "The Real Deal"?
Posted by: Saajak at March 10, 2005 12:49 PMWell...do the Twins have good health insurance? Or should we start up a "Justin Morneau surgery fund" just in case he needs any other emergency surgeries?
Posted by: ForMorneau at March 10, 2005 01:14 PMI just kinda wonder whether the use of steroids in baseball is really the most important thing that the U.S. Congress has to worry about right now. Just asking.
Smitty,
I guess their subpoena of Osama bin Laden went unanswered.
YF
Posted by: YankeeFan at March 10, 2005 02:08 PMDon't knock players referring to themselves in the third person - Rickey doesn't like that. Rickey thinks you might be talking about him. And Rickey's the greatest. Rickey's humble, too.
Posted by: The Navigator at March 10, 2005 02:45 PMI'd rather Balfour be honest, even if it can be a little confusing.
Seems like too many players don't let on when they're having issues, until an injury really causes trouble. How many times have we heard stories like that, where we learn later that a player has been silently dealing with some problem or another for days or weeks.
What does Congress hope to accomplish? Steroids are already illegal, so apparently there are no laws to pass. MLB has already toughened their testing policy, so it seems that they are trying to address the "problem". For the life of me, I can't possibly understand what these hearings are actually related to the business of Congress. Unless, of course, Congress is looking to avoid the tough issues of the day and engage in some grandstanding. That seems to be the in-fact business of Congress.
I have to agree with the attorney. Why are they handing out subpoenas to people who have testified in front of a grand jury? Are they going to ask those people the same questions? What if those questions are deemed not relevant in the upcoming trial? Do they hope to taint the jury pool by making those secret answers public? I don't get it.
Posted by: SBG at March 10, 2005 05:54 PMForMorneau,
I agree with Batgirl in the original post; Justin should know what to do by now for DIY procedures. So an emergency surgery fund may not be a good option, since who wants to pay *other* doctors when you can do it yourself?
Maybe he'd be better off with a copy of Gray's Anatomy?
Posted by: mk at March 10, 2005 09:44 PMI wonder if Doc Morneau would be able to perform surgery on any Batlings should the need arise?
Posted by: Stacy at March 10, 2005 10:22 PM