61.6- Advice From Bing Crosby

[chicoruiz]

In the movie White Christmas, there's a scene in which Bing Crosby serenades Rosemary Clooney with a song advising her that if she has trouble sleeping she should "count her blessings instead of sheep". This is no doubt sound advice, but I've seldom been able to follow it as general manager of the Atlantic City Gamblers.

In years past, I'd lay awake and try Bing's advice, but I'd only get to about two before I'd run out of blessings. I'd fall back on, "Well, I have my health", or "My owner has been pretty forgiving of my screw-ups", but those aren't really the kind of thoughts that induce slumber.

But this season has been different, at least so far. The old nine is actually above .500, and tied for second place in the admittedly uninspiring Atlantic Division. So now when my head hits the pillow I can summon up pleasant thoughts like these:

1. My starting pitching ranks second in the Johnson League in terms of ERA, and four of the five are age 28 or younger.

2. My trade with Boise, in which I gave up corner infielder Bill Kuhn for P Harry King has turned out to be one of those rare deals that helps both clubs. Kuhn is crushing it for Boise, while King is 5-3, 2.37 (5th in the league in ERA) with a 1.20 WHIP.

3. I say this with crossed fingers, but Okyay Nisanci hasn't been hurt yet this season, and is meeting, or even surpassing all expectations. He's OPSing .895 and has notched 2.5 WAR in 40% of a season. I went waaaaay out on a limb for him when most experts believed he was too wrecked to help a team, and it's really nice to be right for a change, though my fingers will remain crossed for the foreseeable future.

4. Tyler Ober, who just a couple of weeks ago was hitting .188 and very very close to being DFAed, has suddenly come to life like Popeye when he shotguns a can of spinach. As I write these words he's up to an .876 OPS with 15 homers. He may have just realized that his contract is up after this season and a trip to the GBC or even AAA was looming for him.

5. Kenny Peterson, the IFA who was dropped on me like manna from heaven, is batting .357 in rookie ball at age 17, and looking like a guy who might eventually replace Okyay.

6. Former high first-rounder Vadinka Zadoyan is OPSing .920 in AA at age 20, and might be the Gamblers center fielder sooner than expected.

7. Even the Glovemeister, shortstop Johnny Lazer, is hitting above the Mendoza Line in his first exposure to full-season ball. That may not sound like much, but with his glove, if he can develop enough to do anything at all with the bat, he's going to be an asset.

So there... seven reasons already, without really reaching. I'll sleep well tonight. Of course, June is traditionally a cursed month for ATC, so the next time you hear from me I may have bags under my eyes from tossing and turning all night and telling Bing to stick his stupid advice in his pipe...

[BaseClogger]

Everything's coming up ATC!

(Except stupid pythagoras)

[recte44]

I love that movie almost as much as I love seeing Atlantic City rising!

[chicoruiz]

I love that movie almost as much as I love seeing Atlantic City rising!

I used to work with Nick Clooney (George’s dad and Rosemary’s brother), and he told us about going out to Hollywood when he was 17 to visit his sister when they were shooting White Christmas. Anyway, on Christmas Day that year, Bing Crosby had everyone over to his house- he remembers that Grace Kelly was there- and Bing sang “White Christmas” for everyone. Fairly peak Christmas experience for a teenager from Maysville, Kentucky…