Rivera: Unanimous

Mariano Rivera was elected to the hall of fame, the first unanimous selection in history. People get all mad at voters who leave greats like Hank Aaron or Greg Maddux off their ballots, but they can only vote for ten players off a ballot with as many as 30 or 40 players. The voter knows the obvious hall of famer will garner enough votes, so they leave him off and vote for other worthy players instead. Not sure that is right.

 

Also: Mike Mussina, DH Edgar Martinez, and the late Roy Halladay. Our local group of 48 baseball experts recently conducted our own informal hall of fame ballot. Only Riveria received 75% of the votes. Only 14 voters picked Andruw Jones, one of the greatest four or five defenders in history, who just happened to hit 300 home runs.  

 

The Braves just signed a member of the 2018 NL All Star team to play right field. Gold Glove Award winner as well. Signed him for one year at a relatively low salary, so if a better outfielder became available they’d be able to sign them as well. The Phillies and Nationals and Mets better get out there and sign someone, or they’ll just fall further behind the defending NL East Division Champion Atlanta Braves.

 

Still well over two months until Opening Day, and almost a month before Spring Training begins. Still plenty of time for the Braves to make more moves. And I will guarantee you – they will sign more new players before the start of the season.

 

Monday: Cold. Dressed extra warm. Wore gloves at work with no fingers. Left at 3:55 and made it to small group at 4:35. Just me and Rob, but we had a good time. Got a lot done and was home by 5:45. Rob lives right around the corner. Interesting that we have four good friends living within walking distance.

 

Ceil cooked chili and tossed a salad. Then at 7:45 I drove up to my local Home Depot for my focus group interview, about motion sensor lights. Got paid $75, then spent $74.98 on a spare key for my car. Ran into a couple from the Sunday School class. Back home for laptop and Hallmark Channel, then bed at ten.

 

I was looking into getting rid of Comcast Xfinity cable. Hulu TV and YouTube TV are cheaper and have all the sports we’d need. The one thing they don’t have? The Hallmark Channel. No deal.    

 

Tuesday: got a lot done at work. Had a conference call that lasted over an hour, but I was able to get a little work done during the call. Left at 6:15. Ceil cooked homemade cornmeal tortilla shells and refried beans. Watched another hilarious episode of “The Kids are Alright” and “This is Us.” Went to bed at ten.

 

Wednesday: busy at work, but I’ve been making a lot of progress. Worked until almost 6:30 since Ceil had small group. Stopped by the bank on the way home. Also Dollar Tree and Kroger. Pouring rain, so it wasn’t fun. Was 7:45 before I got home.

 

There was just a tiny bit of leftover chili, but there was also a tiny bit of leftover black beans and some leftover rice and beans, so I mixed them all together to make plenty for supper. Ceil got back just as Chicago Med was coming on at 8 pm. I was still eating.

 

Thursday: email problems this morning, but I think they are all fixed.

 

For over 30 years on Friday mornings, a small group of salesmen from my company meet up for breakfast in downtown Duluth at the Family Restaurant. Over the years the people move on and other people go. We had   a new guy at work last week, and he joined Alex, Ben, and Ashley. Interesting to see that tradition continue for so long.

 

Last night James Harden tied the Madison Square Garden record for most points scored in a game. Someone tweeted that it was the most since Wilt, and only one person corrected him, saying Wilt’s 100 came in Toronto. I had to correct both guys. But like most things on social media, most didn’t notice the error or correction.