Winding down …

There is not a lot to cover off at the moment. Fortunately, my specialty is talking a lot without saying much.

Heh.

I have done two columns for MSN Canada about the Mitchell Report that are currently AWOL. I have no idea when they will be running. My boss has been out of contact since the middle of the week. When this happens, it means something has seriously gone wrong for him on the home front.

I hope it isn’t the case.

My first THT column dealing with TMR entitled “Idiology” can be read here with another slant taken on it that will run December 28. It has inspired a total of seven columns and blog posts combined and parts of five other posts here at TPoSGD. It’s the gift that just keeps on giving eh?

Speaking of THT, starting in the New Year, I will be doing a second weekly feature at The Hardball Times. The tentative title will be either “This Week’s Heroes and Zeroes” or “Heroes and Zeroes for the week of …” It will be a compilation of props and snark regarding people in baseball (including the media) where we will recognize the best and worst of a given week. I’m hoping to come up a catchier title where I name the award after an outstanding baseball personality (think Albert Pujols) and an equally destructive sort (think David Samson).

Back in the days of FASTBALL.com a poster on the Blue Jays forum did a weekly feature about various weekly goof ups. It was entitled “The Huckleberries” after a snake bitten Blue Jays southpaw named Huck Flener who would be injured in the oddest fashions.

I’m aiming for something like that.

It will be a reader-interactive feature where I will ask the readers for their candidates/submissions (which will be properly credited of course) so I don’t have to do the actual legwork I can have a lot of options to choose from. Some weeks nobody will distinguish themselves for better or worse and it will be strictly a ‘heroes’ or ‘zeroes’ piece. If you have any ideas for a column name or anybody you wish to nominate drop me a line.

I’m going to be headed to Cooperstown next Wednesday hopefully to sequester myself into their library to gather research materials for some projects I hope to start. I’m mulling writing a book and am looking for a subject that I can devote 300 pages to covering. I love the Hall of Fame but whenever I go there, they have the library locked for whatever reason. Should that be the case I guess I’ll just take in the exhibits with my brother and nephews and pout about my poor fortune.

Of course, I’m tentatively scheduled to have my segment on ESPN 1450’s Mike Gill Show Friday 6:05 PM if we’re back from upstate New York by then. I’ll be in London Ontario for that and I really should let Mike know about the change of locale for next week.

Getting back to coverage of the Mitchell Report, I know you’re sick and tired of reading articles about it--the thing is ... there’s not much else for columnists to cover at the moment. Folks in MLB are, like most people, getting ready for the Christianized festival of Saturnalia (the rebirth of the unconquered sun) and New Years celebrations and aren’t getting into a lot of mischief at the moment. Quite frankly, we’re reaching--need proof? Check out these storylines :

• Does Yankees’ Steroid Use Taint Torre?
  
• Players from past eras ‘enhanced’ with character
  
• Time To Tear Down Wrigley
  
• Did George Bush’s thirst for power launch the steroid era?
  
• Rowand will inject life into Giants
  

We’re trying, but reaching here folks; the Mitchell Report was a godsend to us ink-stained/bandwidth devouring wretches. This is supposed to be a Blue Jays blog (eventually, I guess) but they’ve been so quiet that the Toronto Star’s Richard Griffin was covering the trials and tribulations of John McDonald’s mishandling by J.P. Ricciardi. Of course, if Ricciardi were to find a cure for cancer tomorrow Griffin (Canada’s answer to Bill Plaschke) would criticize him for not doing it sooner. He would then line up interviews with people who have lost family to the disease to demonstrate the human cost of Ricciardi’s tardiness.

Writers and vendettas are a poor mix--everybody comes out smelling like a just opened exhumed casket that was buried under an old outhouse now used for disposing of rotten eggs that was placed on top of an old well that was abandoned because the water had a high concentration of sulphur.

If something happens in the next few days (even if it is a column going live) I’ll let you know. Stay safe over the holidays and if you drink--don’t drive.

Best Regards

John