57.1- Casinotes Potpourri

[chicoruiz]

1. “Muttering Season” is finally over. That’s what I call the time of year when I’m obsessively wondering what be budget for the year will be. Called this because I find myself walking down the street talking quietly to myself about what my options are. Parents see me approaching on the sidewalk, dressed shabbily (I’m not the best-dressed GM in the BBA), and muttering to myself under my breath, and they pull their children a little closer to them. If they dared get closer, they’d hear me saying, “If it’s 130 million, I could maybe afford a good starting pitcher… if it’s 120 million maybe I can dump some salary in a trade…if it’s below 115, I’ll probably just walk out into the ocean…”

As I turned out, it came in at 142 million, and there was unconfined joy in the Gamblers front office. We even had a cake.

2. One offshoot of having a decent budget is that I was able to buy out the contract of alleged “pitcher” Antonio Garcia. At age 35, and coming off a season with an ERA in the sixes, I didn’t think he would get claimed on waivers, and frankly, I was just tired of his face. He came in to sign some papers and saw the cake, and thought it was a going-away party for him. He was deeply touched. Bon voyage, Antonio… and don’t come back.

3. Our first base coach retired, so I’m in the hiring process for a new one. What do you even ask a guy in a job interview for first base coach? “Are you able to tell runners who reach base how many outs there are, and remind them not to get picked off?” Or, “Are you comfortable retrieving body armor that the hitter jettisons…I mean, the bat boy gets most of it, but you’d be the primary backup retriever.” It’s just silly. I mean, what I really want is somebody who can coach our infielders, but for some reason the job title is named after the least important aspect of the job. Oh well, baseball is full of silly stuff that never changes because people value tradition more than common sense, I guess…

[trmmilwwi]

Aloha means goodbye.

[shoeless.db]

Umm... first base coaches also argue calls they don't like until the their big brother (the manager) scuttles onto the field and budges in front of him.