Take A Ride With Me

east on I-80...

Here's the brief back-n-froth discussion between myself and Tony from The Blast Furnace (link at right):

Tony Says:
Hi there, EZ -
Last night's game was rough. Not so much because Victor Martinez single-handedly gave the game away ...
See, I don't get upset anymore when a guy plays like a completely boneheaded jackass. The truth is, we all have horrible nights from time to time.
For the last few days, an old frind of mine from my college/post-college haze days was in town. Earlier this week, we did our catching up, so last night turned into a nostalgia-fest (with wings & beer, which makes nostalgia tolerable). Most of the stories revolved around the idiotic things we witnessed/instigated/participated in between 1992 and 1998.
To be honest, there's a friggin' lot of stuff I did that I'm not proud of. There's plenty of stuff I wish I could apologize for, but what's the point???
Since then, I've been doing some really cool stuff with my life. No, really, I swear ... And so has he. Even back in the old days, when we were younger and my blood itself was probably toxic, we had redeeming moments.
And so does everyone else. We all go through this, I'm sure. Over the course of a baseball season, an individual player is going to have his ups & downs. And sure, Victor Martinez is having a rough year, but that doesn't mean he isn't one of the best young players in MLB.
This young Tribe team from the start of Spring Training was burdened with high expectations. Young players, in general, are inconsistent. Over the next few months and years, I know we're going to have a chance to see these guys develop into a great team.
I still have a little hope that we'll hang in the Wild Card hunt, if for no other reason, to have something to write about in my crappy little weblog this summer. At least they better, because this whole "I'm-mature-and-circumspect-about-shit-because-I'm-trying-to-redeem-myself-for-things-that-happened-13-years-ago"crap isn't going to wash if my baseball team keeps playing as crappy as they did last night.

EZ Says:

I can understand that you hope the Indians stay in the wild card race late into the year. If not, come September, you might be stuck writing about the Browns. Or maybe Massillion football.
Anyways, people in Chicago are not used to this kind of winning. Not in baseball at least (the 85 Bears, and the Jordan-era Bulls were entirely different stories). In fact, the last time a baseball team inChicago was running this far in front of the pack was in 1983, when the White Sox won the division by a record 22 games.
The pitching has got the sox where they are today. Freddy Garcia, though 9-3, still has not been the ace everyone anticipated. What did you think of Cotts? He's been a nice surprise, and looked good. Along with Politte and Hermanson, the pen went thru some really surprising changes this year.
Pablo Ozuna seems to have dropped right out of the sky. I can't beleive 29 other teams overlooked him. And I think at this time last year, Chris Widger was playing for Ironton in the Southern Ohia Independent League. He's been an outstanding back up to AJ.
During last ngiht's broadcast, Hawk and DJ were commenting that this years Sox team remind them of those great Indian teams of 1995-7 - in the sense that they could beat you many different ways (speed, power,defense). After my bad expereince working at WKNR, and the baseball strike, and moving to Europe, I gave up following baseball altogether. So, I don't know too much about those teams. I do recall that game 7 loss to the Marlins, and after watching games 6 and 7 of the 2003 NLCS, can almost sorta undertand the humilation that goes with losing to Florida.
Its a new day on the shores of Lake Erie. Here's hoping the Sox aren't too tired from a night in Flats. Is the Crazy Horse still there?
I went to college at Ohio U, so you know I did all kinds of crazy shit. I don't regret any of it. I'm just sad that I can't be 21 forever and do that crazy shit every day. Fuck, I miss Athens!

End transmission.

Stay tuned for part 2 - which will be less narrative, more Q&A.