The Giamatti Baseball

Stopped by a thrift store on the way home yesterday. I usually swing by the sporting goods section and check out the golf clubs, golf bags, weights, and baseball gloves. Normally I don’t look closely at baseballs, but for some reason I picked up a ball that was partially buried under other stuff. It was an official National League baseball from 1986-1988 – stamped with the signature of then NL president / future commissioner Bartlett Giamatti, in decent shape. A steal at 77 cents. I was so excited that I forgot to ask for the senior discount. That photo wasn’t the actual ball, but one I found on eBay selling for $28.00.  

Many dislike him, but Giamatti’s love of the game was one of the things that got me back super interested in baseball in the late 80’s.

You need to register now for the Quicken Loans / Yahoo bracket challenge. A perfect bracket wins one billion dollars. Others win $100,000.00. But only 15 million can enter, so register now.

Worked til 6:15 Tuesday night. Did some extra talking about inventory issues with my new boss, who seems ok. Yesterday New Boss was wearing a Patagonia jacket and my favorite kind of pants: lightweight North Face hiking pants that convert into shorts. But it would’ve been weird for me to have said “Hey – nice pants!”  

Tech beats Syracuse: Didn’t I just say last week that it had been a while since Tech had pulled an upset like this? Last year they upset Miami. Syracuse is really in a funk, or maybe they aren’t as good as everyone thought. I do love their throwback uniforms.

Some people may get the wrong perception about Miller because he doesn’t look like a fierce killer. Instead he gets labeled a gentle giant. Didn’t Coach K praise Miller before the recent Duke game? Recently Sports Illustrated profiled two tall brothers playing center for New Mexico State: Sim and Tanveer Bhullar. Their parents moved to Toronto from India. Sim is a 7’5” 310 lb sophomore (size 22 shoe) who averaged 10.1 points, 6.7 RB, 2.4 blocks as the conference freshman of the year. His 85 blocks set the conference record. Tanveer is a 7’3” 290 lb redshirt freshman.

One in 50,000 American men 6’2” – 6’4” aged 20-40 are NBA basketball players. Only one in six American men at least 7 feet tall aged 20-40 are NBA basketball players.

Just thought of something. Since I stopped buying and drinking diet soft drinks and started drinking more water and low calorie kool aid I have gained more weight. I think the real reason I’ve gained weight is that I am exercising less. Guess that means I can’t go back to drinking lots of diet coke.

Birthday Clubs: I read all this when it came out. Fun to do if you have the time. Half the list is places I had never heard of. Most come with qualifiers. It’s free for you, but unless you eat alone you pay a bunch for whoever is eating with you. I’m a member of a few birthday clubs. At Moes you get a free menu item. Baskin Robbins free ice cream cone. The free birthday Fuddruckers burger is good. Burgers at Ruby Tuesday and Red Robin. Used to get a free Firehouse Sub sandwich.