Andruw, Etc.

Andruw joined an elite club the other night…players who’ve hit 25 or more HRs in 10 straight seasons. They listed the members, and I was surprised that Hank Aaron wasn’t a member. For 9 straight years (55 – 63) Hank hit 26 or more homers. In 64 he hit 24 home runs. Then he had another 9 year stretch where he hit 29 or more homers. Hank hit 20 or more HRs in 20 straight seasons, which I think is a record. Barry Bonds hit 20 or more in 15 straight seasons…and had 25 or more in all of those years. Is Andruw doing so bad because he wants to re-sign? Such undiscipline. At least Frenchy is young…he appears to be learning and growing as a hitter.

Another big Monday for the Braves offensively. I’m starting to notice the runs the opponent scored in these blowouts, though I know Cox trots out different pitchers based on the score. Hopefully Kelly Johnson changing positions isn’t an option…we need to trade Edgar for a good pitcher. I saw Blanton pitch for the A’s this year in Houston…he did well. Bradley makes an obvious point regarding not relying on Hampton.

On another note, it was sweet when the Brewers were up by a run with 2 out in the bottom of the 10th, when Fox was announcing the player of the game: the Brewer who’d homered in the top of the inning. Thorman puts the first pitch in orbit. Nice wins on Saturday and Sunday. UGA win was also exciting...exciting finish. I was watching. Since it was late, as usual I had the sound off or low. With the college overtime rules and the momentum slightly in Bama’s favor, I expected them to go for the tie.

The announcer has to find stuff to talk about the entire game. You’d at least expect them to discuss the situation, especially since there was extra time to fill while the TD was being reviewed. I would’ve gone into detail about how since so much is on the line these days in college football with each win and loss (championship game slots, bowl games, rankings, recruiting, jobs, millions of dollars, etc), that more and more coaches are playing for the tie and hoping to win in OT. They did cover how UGA correctly won the OT toss and elected to play defense, and why.

Boston College always beats Tech. GT appeared outmanned, but the thought crossed my mind that the play calling could’ve been better…as a GT WR told an AJC reporter. Coming out passing was good, but I think they could’ve run better had they pounded away play after play, instead of calling so many sweeps, screens, and direct snaps…a play that’s taking too long to develop/hit the hole. We won't even talk about the UVA game.

My uniform favorites show I’m becoming more of an old fogey all the time (at least the term ‘old school’ is somewhat cool). Same story for Tech…they got all the narrow-minded alumni thinking championships and Heismans before getting into the meat of the schedule. I just hope they beat Clemson.

Leafed through a copy of Kicks the other day at Borders. Nice picture of Tony Parker. Eva’s dress the other night wasn’t too flashy…interesting that she says she wants to move to San Antonio. I just got some Puma ‘’driving” shoes that I didn’t need, but are fun. Also bought an old Lithuania Basketball tie-dyed T-shirt in Berkeley California, which seemed appropriate.

This weekend I found myself remembering Kincaid’s football picks. Every Friday he spouts off info from the betting services. He said Arkansas did poorly on the road against the spread in September…and they did. He got Chris Mortenson to change his pick from Seattle to Arizona, and Arizona won.

Last Friday I stopped at Goodwill and bought an authentic home Dodgers jersey, number one, with Mitchell on the back. Still had the tags on it. The back number and name were royal and trimmed in white, just like the big boys. Four bucks. Just what I needed…it’s now keeping my other jerseys company. I guess the jersey was a gift that the recipient didn’t like. A fantasy camp jersey usually isn’t this nice, and would’ve been worn. Still, it looks great. The jersey was next to a similarly sized Vick jersey, and a Reggie White Packer jersey (both replicas). Sometimes when they’re grouped together like that they were all donated at the same time…you never know.