Diarrhea of the Mind

--Lebron James is the real deal. I hate the guy and he hasn't won anything yet, but things are finally looking up for the city of Cleveland. Don't ask me why I think that, I've been drinking.

--Is it just me or does everyone else hope Barry Bonds gets hurt before he hits his record breaking homerun and has to retire?

--Hey Now! The Nats beat the Orioles on Tuesday night! I know it's too early to tell, but maybe the O-wee-oos should follow the "build from the bottom" model like the Nats have and plan for the future.

--I suck at Fantasy Baseball.

--Does anyone really care how John Daly got those cuts on his face? He still sucks!

--Only ten more days until the NHL Entry Draft! Here's hoping the Caps draft James Van Rims Dick and puts him on the same line as Alexander Semin.

--Gilbert Arenas is opting out of his contract and has told us that he will be his own agent. That gives new meaning to title "Agent Zero", as in "Zero IQ". I hope he stays. Or, maybe we can trade him to the Lakers for Kobe. That way we can rape the competition. (Insert your Duke Lacrosse Joke here.)

--Can you believe that even with the so called worst collection of starting pitchers in MLB history, and with 4/5ths of the original "Loser Rotation" currently on the DL, the Washington Nationals are only 10.5 games out of first place in the NL East? For the record, I am now gay for Nationals GM Jim Bowden. Mike Mussina who?

--In response to the nasty comments on my blog about how I compared Mike Mussina's career stats to those of Jim Palmer, I say this : Wake up, you idiots! The only grossly different stat is Mussina's ERA, which is just a little more than one point higher than "Underwear Boy". Considering the fact that Mussina pitched in the "Steroid Era" and the "Era of the Bandbox Ball Park", Palmer and Mussina's stats are more than comparable. I never said that Mussina was better than Palmer. Palmer was great, Mussina slightly better then good. But I think Moose deserves consideration for the Hall of Fame based on his statistics.

--I had a good friend tell me I was gay for Mike Mussina. Sorry, I am not. I don't even think he is good-looking. And I certainly don't have every baseball card of his, or locks of his hair and his sweaty jock from the '79 World Series (like one friend of mine, who services Eddie Murray any chance he gets). If you knew me, you would know I am gay for John Druce. Nice try, dumb ass.

--I met Ted Leonsis--again--at the Orioles/Nationals game at RFK on May 20th and he is still the nicest guy in sports! He accompanied last year's first round pick Nikalus Backstrom (who wears number 19, by the way) while Backstrom threw out the first pitch. The crowd gave Backstrom and Leonsis a standing ovation. And you don't think this is a hockey town? Whatever!

--Although the Yankees are starting to win, does anyone really care?

--I hate those people on bikes that ride down the shoulder of the road and think they have every right to hold up traffic so they can pretend they are professional bike-riders. Don't they realize that people in cars can kill them? I don't care if there is glass on the shoulder of the road that can puncture your tires. I have a car that can knock you 20 meters into the woods, Copernicus! This isn't the Tour de France, Greg Lemond. Get the hell out of my way!

I love you all. Thanks and good night.

Pesky Nats,Swelled Bonds and Unsung Moose

buzz... Remember back when spring training began in February and the Washington Nationals brought 37 pitchers to camp? buzzzz... Remember how the writers and baseball experts from all over this great land of ours predicted that the Nationals would not only be terrible--what with such a collection of has-beens, never were's and almost-were-going-to-be's filling out the starting rotation--but would be historically awful. buzzzzzzz... Did you hear that? Nah, my imagination I suppose.

The word in the papers, on the talk shows and everywhere else in the baseball world was that the 1921(?) Cleveland Spiders and the '62 New York Mets would be giving up their titles as the worst teams in baseball history and that the 2007 Washington Nationals would take over that dubious honor on their way to losing more than 120 games by seasons end. buzzzzzzzzzz... The fans of DC would be incensed and stop buying tickets to RFK this season and maybe not even buy tickets to the new Nationals Park in Southeast for next season. buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...The new owners and front office were playing Russian Roulette with a very sensitive and disgruntled fan base. Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... What the-? I know you heard it that time. Didn't you?

Well, its June 2nd, boys and girls, and the Nats are not only 9 games under .500, but they only have the 6th worst record in baseball. The patchwork rotation has kept them in most games this year, and the offense has been on a tear since hardly producing in the first 5 weeks of the season. BUZZZZZZZZZ... Looks like as each month passes and the Nats keep playing good ball and winning (7 out of their last 10 and 14 out of the last 21....BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...) the team keeps proving that the brain trust of Al Lerner, Stan Kasten and Jim Bowden knew what they were doing over the winter. BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ....There are 4 months to go, I know, but it's been more than fun so far; it's been great! BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ... Holy crap! Do you hear that buzzing sound, or is it just me? What they hell is that?!


Bonds Spits in the Face of History

-Barry Bonds was quoted as saying he is keeping all of the historic memorabilia during his march to the homerun record to, "Look out for me." Bats, gloves, jersey's, you name it. All of it is being catalogued and stored in a warehouse for future Bonds generations. He also claims not to care about his place in history or if he gets into the Hall Of Fame. Which is probably for the better. His head has grown so much in the last five years that he nor his hat could fit thru the door to Cooperstown anyway.


Under-Appreciated Moose

A few things I did not realize about former Oriole Mike Mussina:

--He has 241 career victories! When did that happen? Imagine if he had not pitched for such crappy teams in Baltimore in the 90's. (Jim Palmer finished his career with 268.)

--He has 104 career No-Decisions! Christ, if he had gotten run support in just half of those games, he would be a no-brainer, first ballot Hall of Famer and we all would be watching him close in on 300 wins! (Palmer had 138 career no decisions but started 38 more games than Moose.)

--He has 2590 strikeouts to date. Now, that doesn't make Mussina Nolan Ryan or Roger Clemens, but Jim Palmer only had 2212.

--His winning percentage, as of June 2nd, 2007 is .638. Palmer's? The exact same, .638. Cool, huh?

--In his 17 year career, Mussina has walked 726 batters. Palmer walked 1311 in his 19 seasons. Mussina gave up 350 homeruns, Palmer only 303 plus Palmer never gave up a grand slam. Mussina has given up grand slams, but I can't find the stat to tell me how many.

--Palmer won 20 games eight times, Mussina never has but has won 19 twice, 18 three times and 17 twice. Palmer started at least 36 games in each season he won 20, the highest total being 40 in 1976. Mussina has never started more than 36 games in a season, which he did once in 1996 when he won 19 games.

--Career ERA for Moose: 3.66. WHIP: 1.178. Palmer's ERA was 2.86, WHIP was 1.180.

--Palmer won a few World Series titles and had much better teams around him for the majority of his career, while Mussina has only played on a couple good Oriole teams in 96 and 97, and lost a few World Series with the Yankees, although not due to his performances.

What's the point of all this? I am bored. Also, Mussina definitely benefited from playing in New York. His stats would be much different if he had stayed in Baltimore. In comparing the two pitchers, and considering the different eras, I think you could make a good case for Mussina to be sent to Cooperstown. He might not and probably won't, which would fit with the rest of his career: just missed out on 20 games a few times, just missed a few no-hitters and perfect games, just missed winning a few World Series trophies and had some bad luck on days he pitched better than good.

Hats off to the guy. He has pitched well for 17 years. Only three more seasons with 20 wins and he can reach 300 wins.