After droppin' 'boutta grand yesterday over in a Louisiana casino (paid immediately, btw: See Charles Barkley), Da Stevo's kinda worn-out.  Since that's da case, and I wanted to blog.. SUMPTHIN'...Here's what I got forya and you can use yer computers for research, if ya wanna, but be fair and guess first:

WHO IZ THIS GUY?

Once pinch-hit for Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski and Roger Maris.

Might givya a hint ifya have probs widdit...

Starting in 1993, the home run totals hit in the past 15 years for the AL, NL and MLB are:

(AL total, NL total, MLB total)
 
1993: 2074, 1956, 4030
1994: 1774, 1532, 3306* (Strike-shortened)
1995: 2164, 1917, 4081
1996: 2742, 2220, 4962
1997: 2477, 2163, 4640
1998: 2499, 2565, 5064
1999: 2635, 2893, 5528
2000: 2688, 3005, 5693
2001: 2506, 2952, 5458
2002: 2464, 2595, 5059
2003: 2499, 2708, 5207
2004: 2605, 2846, 5451
2005: 2437, 2580, 5017
2006: 2546, 2840, 5386
2007: 2252, 2705, 4957
2008 MLB TTL        1021 to date.

     Lessee...that projects into 'bout..oh...4000-4100 total 'til the end ofda season, give or take a few dingerz..or more thanna 20% drop since the peak steroid years. Pretty close to it just from last years declining totals.  In other wordz....jussa 'bout right.

     'Course...that might change significantly...assumin' Andruw Jones comes around...He oughtta have a cupla 3 peak years in 'im...donchya thank?...

And if Prince Fielder ever gits right ,(onna pace to hit 20 after slappin' 50 last year)...and you'd thank he hadda few 'taters left in 'im...woodencha?

Gotta be a coincidence...donnit?

This dude's on fiiirrre.  I know...it's early...but thru the first quarter of the season, the man known azda "The Big Puma" down here in H-Town, iz knockin' da cover offda ball. And, not coincidentally, has the Astro's inda thick of thingz ..The star cleanup hitter raised his average from .382 to .393. In 15 games since April 26, he has batted .509 (29-for-57).

Berkman went to Rice and was National Player of the Year under Wayne Graham in '97..and iz one helluva interview az well...With the line-up the Stro's have, guys like Pence, Tejada, Lee surrounding Lance, not to mention if SB guy Michael Bourn can get on base a li'l more, write him in for 140-150 RBI this year and somewhere around 50 dingers...

The major concern was pitchin' inda Stro's camp this year, but If their staff can hold their ERA to under 5.00, they'll be in most games thruout the year...These guys can erupt at anytime.  It is without question the best offensive line-up the Stro's have ever had...They're fun to watch...well, unlessyerra Dodger fan or sumpthin'...

     OK...like it or not, agree or disagree, "right" or "wrong" or fair or unfair..Da Stevo thinks it safe to say that Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are the faces of the steroid issue...an issue that needs to be as forgotten about as much as possible...It's time for healing and the fact that any team would consider putting them on their roster is so laughable that it borders on hysterics.

     All MLB needs is for someone like a drunk, alphabet-challenged, nonetheless, intelligent, when he's sober, guy like Tony Larussa proposing the employment of  one Barry Bonds to strengthen a run for the pennant. 

"One reason I would have loved to have had him as a teammate over the many years is his competitiveness, his talent and his work ethic," La Russa said. "This guy, that's some serious work that he does to get himself ready to compete."

Righhhttt...Tony.

     I respect Larussa as a baseball man, regardless of his unfortunate run-in with the law,  which could happen to anybody.  But, the fact that I respect him, makes it worse that he would even propose that notion to anyone, is detrimental to any kind of healing that MLB might hope for.  The last thing MLB needs is for someone with LaRussas' high-profile stature to endorse even the thought of bringing Bonds back. 

     Is it collusion?...Nope...it's just good business....and any team that hires either one of these guys becomes "one bad apple that spoils the whole bunch" . Howwzat fer prose?   

 Winning, at all cost, is a myth.  When you compromise integrity in order to get an edge, you've won ...nothing...In the publics eyes...you lose...oh!....unless yer Bud Selig or Donald Fehr...or...jus' simply a public that closes their eyes to the truth and elects to pay for a shallow form of entertainment that disguises itself as the "real deal"...you know...kinda like Reality TV...which use ta be what sports wuz all about...

     Imagine you're the owner of a Major-League baseball team.  Not a very good one, either.  Say you're largest crowd of the year was 9,000 fans andya struggled payin'  to keep the lights on for night games.  Chances are pretty good that yuh might jus' hafta consider bailin' outta this kinda investment and....puttin' yer dollars into sumpthin' a li'l less risky....you know...like a Ponzi Scheme or sumpthin'..

     What ya need izza "sure thang" to come along and rescue yersself from this misery...Hell, justa temporary fix to getya from point A to point B..a li'l cash-flow 'tilya right the ship.  Whutya need izza bona-fide attraction.  Sumpthin' that would fillda stands and lessen da strain on yer wallet...You need sumpthin' that you can just sorta use, exploit and summarily discard when yer done widdit.

     It ain't like ya ain't got any assets or nuthin'...after all, ya got the first-round draft pick, a reward for yer abysmal failures...and there is this kid ya been hearin' a lot 'bout down there in Houston fresh outta high school...been all overda news...The way you understand it, he's a lefty...and fer cryin' out loud...this kid has only given up 3 earned runs in 148 innings of pitchin' and 18-0...You do the math..

     David Clyde out of Westchester High School redefined the word "phenom"...took it to another level, ifyawill.  If this kid gave up anymore than 3-4 hits inna game it was considered a bad outting.  Yup...he wuz that good...

     A lottaya know this story.  Bob Short, owner of the Texas Rangers nee Washington Senators, at the time, drafted this gifted kid 1st back in '73...gave 'im 125K signin' bonus, then the largest ever...only 20 days outta high school and with no minor-league seasoning had him start the minnit he hit the Big Show.  And a Big Show it wuz...and a fine payday fer Short...Over 35,698 (first sell-out in the teams history) were in attendance that day and they witnessed a shaky start as Clyde walked the first two Minnesota hitters...and then...proceeded to strike-out the next  three...Went 5 innings and struck-out 8, got the win and it appeared that the Rangers had their cash-cow...Not so fast sports fans...

"Whitey Herzog, Clyde's manager in 1973, said in his 1986 autobiography White Rat, he regrets going along with Rangers owner Bob Short's desire to rush Clyde to the big leagues. According to Herzog, he was often forced to leave the young pitcher in the game way longer than he should have, because fans wanted to see the 18-year-old "phenom" pitch. This led to Clyde's arm burning out an early age. Herzog also said he regrets letting older players supply Clyde with beer and liquor, as Clyde later developed an alleged problem with alcohol that affected his pitching performance. Herzog said that Clyde was hung over many times to the point that he should not have been pitching, but he was pressured by the front office to pitch him anyway..."   Wikipedia

     Clyde finished the year 4-8 with a 5.01 era and a cupla yrs later wuz traded to the Cleveland Indians and after 9 years of pro-ball, almost 5 in the Majors, Clyde retired from the Houston Astros farm system in 1981.  Career: 18-33 4.63... Kinda sad....ainnit?..The Kid who saved a Franchise....

     .....David Clyde only needed 27 days in the majors to qualify for a MLB pension... 

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 Any.. takers .....?

     Now, I ain't no name-dropper or nuthin' and could really care less 'bout people that are, after all, meetin' celebrities ain't really that bigga deal.  Like mostuvya, we all have met people of note in our lives and even tho' it's kinda cool, it ain't all that life changin' or nuthin'..Matter-a-fack, out of all the famous sports celebrities I've met....I have yet to even ask one for an autograph...not that there's anything wrong with askin' em.  In fact, in a way, I kinda wish I would have now...You know, E-Bay and all...cha-ching!

     I can honestly say that every famous person I ever met has been a random meeting...right place atda right time.  In my lifetime, the best place I found to meet 'em was in bars...and since I spent a large part of my free time in saloons..back-inda-day, ya gotta figger my margin and odds for meetin' 'em anywhere else, were 'bout as long as Roger Clemen's comin' out smellin' like a rose after the last year or so.  But this ain't about a-holes.

     Back inda mid-80's, Da Stevo useta hang-out inna kinda upscale country-western bar, and even tho' some uvya might call that an oxymoron, lotsa folks with upscale dollars useta come in there.  One night, I found myself talkin' to a latina girl who looked like she was havin' a lotta fun...I asked her if she was married and she said, " Yes."  I then made a request to her to "Git rid of him" and she said, "You might wanna take that up with him", and pointed to a guy standin' behind me.  I turned around and my eyes were face-to-face with the tip of a necktie onna nicely-pressed dress-shirt and sharp jacket wrapped around both.  I raised my head up to see what giant might be wearin' this ensemble, and sure 'nuff:

     Yup...Rudy T....Nearly, pi*sin' in my boots, I quickly stuck my hand out and said, "RUDY!..Whatya drinkin'?.."   He shook my hand, and with a smile on his face, he accepted a Miller-Lite, if memory serves me correck'ly.  Knowin' I'd dodged a bullet after hittin' on his ol'lady..Me n' that cat spent a cupla hrs buyin' each other beers and talkin' sports and whatever else came to our minds.

   Makin' a long story short, Rudy Tomjanovich, is truly one of the most genuine people I have ever met and I'm not really even sure if he knows or cares that he's famous.  Matter of fact, when he took over the Rockets reign as interim head-coach, a few years later, after Don Cheney resigned, It wasn't even a job he lobbied for...As I remember, he did so reluctantly..and that ain't bad ferra nice guy that led the Rockets to back-to-back championships and coined the phrase: "Never underestimate the heart of a champion..."

     After we both decided to git up from our barstools, me, to make the rounds, and Rudy, to share a dance with his wife,  he extended a compliment to me that I'll never forget. "Steve, I gotta tellya, It's been nice to talk to someone that obviously knows what he's talkin' 'bout and I thoroughly enjoyed talkin' withya.." ...Better'n an autograph...ainnit?

     Even if that guy wasn't Rudy T...No way his wife woulda "got rid of him..."

 Here's toya, Rudy...one of the nice guys....

Note: The only autograph I considered even payin for, was at one of those shows they put on where celeb's show up...I coulda gotta signed pic with me standin' by Ken Osmond...You 'member him...Eddie Haskell of "Leave it to Beaver" fame...might still do it one uv these days...

(Heh-Heh-Heh-Heh)

BEST STAT & WORST:     Jokerswild put up some beautiful stats bein' logged by Cliff Lee of the Indians today, dude's a phenomenal 6-0 witha 0.81 era this year.  I dunno if any pitcher that I can remember ever had a start like that...Those are Gibsonesque or Koufax-like numbers, or maybe numbers some hot-shot still in high school might enjoy.  Now I'm jus goin' from memory alone and the name Valenzuela seems to keep poppin' up, but I dunno fer sure...I may do some checkin' onnit later...

     Anyway, it got me thinkin' bout stats, which i've always believed that stats are the engine that drives a whole lot of the attraction of baseball, or any sport.  It's also why I despise Selig and Fehr...but that's another story...

     Having said that, Da Stevo is gonna show you what I think is the most beautiful stat in baseball.  More than anything it's a stat that validates the consistency oBLEEPuy outta St. Louis, aptly nicknamed: "The Man".

.......ARE YAW"LL READY FERDIS.....?!?!?!?

Total Hits at Home: 1815

Total Hits on Road:  1815

Total Hits Career:     3630

Anybody out there gotta prettier one?

Worst stat? 73* and 762*

UPDATE: "Valenzuela's efforts made him the odds-on favorite to be the league's top rookie in 1981, and he didn't disappoint, starting the season 8-0 with four shutouts and an ERA of 0.50. ..."...Wikipedia...(took 10 seconds....great fad.... this Internet...)

....Attempting to decide what athlete is the best in their sport or "The Best There Ever Was" is always arguable...Well, except for mebbe Roy Hobbs in "The Natural".

     Not only do I think that Michael Jordan was not necessarily "The Greatest Athlete of the Last 100 Years" as he was named at the turn of the millineum, I could make a case for a woman, namely Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrickson-Zaharias from down here in Texas as havin' a better resume for that lofty honor.  Takin' it a step further, Da Stevo, doesn't even think that Jordan was the best in his sport...Great?...notta question...Best?...arguable.

     Whether or not one agrees or disagrees with the athletic merits of golf or not, to call it anything less than a sport would be another story.  And even tho' you don't check-out the Business Section to find out the results of yesterday's tournament, or football score, etc, the fact that one goes to the Sports Section makes it fair to assume a whole lotta people definately think it is a sport....(Side note: With all the money these guys make, you can go to the sports section and learn a li'l 'bout "business", however...lol..more than we care about..)

     With that digression outta da way, I DO think that the only sports figure that I think can be definitively called "The Greatest in His Sport", would be Eldrick "Tiger" Woods.  By now everyone knows of his rapid rise to the top of his game as well as the stats to prove it...he's done what no one has ever done in the storied History of the game and no one has come close to doin' it as fast...not close.

     To think that golf will see a true rival to Woods, ala the Nicklaus-Palmer days, get over it..It's jus' not gonna happen.  Not only is Woods a giant among mere men in his sport, he is also an aberration...The golfing world will dread the day that golf ever gets back to normal. 

     The likes of Jordan, Babe Ruth, Brett Favre or whoever, will be seen again, if they haven't already. Team sports always discovers a stand-out figure and the one common-ground that all team sports has is that they all need help from teammates to get to where they are.  In team sports the only athlete that I could say might be the "Best Ever" might be Wayne Gretzky.

     Not Woods...he takes on a hundred or more a week-end, by himself, and kicks some serious BLEEP inda process...

     As the great, wise old sage, Brian MacNamee once shared with Congress:

                                                  
  "It is...............What it is.."

     OK_HERE"S_DADEAL...

     How many times haveya heard a sports-talk radio show host or sportswriter make the statement:  "Wellll, (insert name), Clemens, Bonds, Sosa, Whoever) was a Hall of Famer before he did steroids so, he's got my  vote."...?

     Other than the obvious, ie., "So was Rose, So was Shoeless Joe, etal.."....Why izzit so hard to figger out that every ONE of us is impeccable before we SCREW-UP!!!...Even OJ was considered OK before he took it up on himself to slash his ol' lady's throat...Hell, I know a few guys that had perfect drivin' records before they gotta DWI...My sister wuzza virgin before....well, you gitda picture...

     These idiots, and there are a lot of 'em, fail to grasp that inda real world, whenya get caught screwin' up, the last thang ya get is anything close to a plaque honoring ya fer breakin'  da rules...generally, ya pay...The only one of the aformentioned people or instances, I mentioned that got rewarded...was,  hopefully... my sister...

     Do me a favor..idiots!..... S-T-F-U!!!!

..............Puttin' 'em in makes "The Hall of Fame" a Joke...Clemens iz wearin' me outtttttttttttt...lol

Other than the fact that this might be the lamest non-story and headline inda history of  Sports media, might be the fact that ...I elected to recognize it. 

Ivonne Hernandez...jus' another drunk inna bar...Happens every day...donnit?!?!?...Dude musta not read my previous blog...

???????....wtf...az they say...

I'm Ouuuuuuuuuuutttttttt!

     A few days ago over on Lisa's Blog, the subject of "pick-up" lines came up in the comments section.  While it's arguable that this subject might have nuthin' to do with "Sport's", there might be plenty of ya out there that may disagree.  I mean, I could make a case for even using "pick-up" lines as a form of equipment to go into battle with the opponent....you know, kinda like cologne, attire, money, etc...In other word's...It's kinda hard to play baseball without a glove, bat or ball...There are some thingz ya jus' gotta have to even the playing field or to get an edge.

     Now, before I get into this, Da Stevo wants you to understand that I don't necessarily consider myself a "ladies man" or any kind of authority on this age-old pastime...Like most of you, I've had good nights and bad in this arena...I ain't no lothario and these are just  random observations and thassall...

THINGS NOT TO DO:

1) Maann, If you're dousin' yerself with "Brut", "English Leather", or "British Sterling" or "Hai-Karate"...this jus' aint fer you...Go play intramurals, brutha..

2) Never git sh_t faced drunk...It's anythang but "cool"...If ya can't recognize when to "just say no"...You'll be hearin' that word all night long.

3) Never go on and on 'bout yerself without any regard for her and don't dominate the conversation..remember, if she's talkin' to ya at all, you may not be in scorin' position but at least yer at bat....Time to focus onda pitch..

4) Never let "dead air" linger..Bein' a former radio DJ, I can tellya it's a killer..

5) Never go on and on about "how fine" she is right offda bat.  That sorta thing can be saved for later on in the conversation...'sides...if she is that fine, you can bet that your over eager assessment of her unparalleled beauty might be a li'l unoriginal..she's heard it and she knows it...Try bein' different..you know...like mebbe "yourself"...Helluva concept, ainnit?

6) Here's one that may surpriseya: Never go into a bar thinkin', " I'm gonna pick-up sumpthin' tonight..."  Instead, try thinkin', "Maan, I'm gonna have a good time in here.."..One common denominator that everyone in the place has, is just that...If you and a buddy, or just you by yerself are smilin' and laffin' and appear to be jus' havin' fun..before you know it, you'll be surrounded by people, without even gittin' up from yer table or off yer barstool...you'll own the place and instead of "pick-up" lines, ya might even find yerself in some genuine conversations...people in bars are drawn to good times and good people...If they weren't, they'd still be at home where the drinkin's cheaper...Btw, regardless of whether or not you picked-up sumpthin or not, or Heaven forbid, you were picked-up (always the best deal), you will have achieved yer goal of havin' a good time...That innitself, makes you a winner.

7) Never use pick-up lines unless you have the ability to charm yer way out of 'em... If you do use one and it works, you also better be able to keep whatever charming, witty, intelligent thing you said to her goin' so at least she thinks you had the snap to make it your line..insteada one you borrowed..If the pick-up line worked forya you better be able to back it up with stuff that she see's as original the rest of the night...

8) Breakin' wind is rarely a plus...Go with me on this'un...Motto: "flatulance--jus' don't cut it.".

OK....that's enuff fer today...I was kinda free-formin' this blog from the git-go anyhow...kinda like when I useta go into singles bars...heh heh...and always remember Da Stevo's Credo:

" It's All BS....But...There izza sucha thang az "GOOD" BS..."

(You ladies also needta take inta consideration that ifya fall ferra bad-line of rap, it may say more 'bout you than him.  The exception to that might be that a lottaya jus' ain't happy lessya got sumpthin' ya need to fix... That's one ofda reason's why ladies love outlaws, as they say...and you'll find more than yer fair-share of fixer-uppers in dem places..)

 Next time, in another segment, I might tellya 'bout the line I used on my lady, twenty years ago...Caveat: It's for Big Leaguers  only...lol

Most of us have seen a lotta sport's events that we will never forget...Moments that giveya chill-bumps...or even in one great athlete's case...tears..

      One of my favorite moments in time was back in '73 when Secretariat won horse-racing's 3rd-leg of the Triple Crown at Belmont by 31 lengths...I still get chill-bumps when I see that scene in my mind and when it was over all you could do is shake your head and think...

......."That...is one bad-BLEEP horse..."

     It had been 25 years at the time, since The Triple Crown had been won, so this was special....I'll tellya how special it was to one man...

     Golfer Jack Nicklaus told a story once 'bout how he was watching the race on TV, and as Secretariat began to widen the gap to 10-20-25-30 lengths, he found himself crying.  After the tears subsided, he couldn't understand why those tears happened.  Men like Nicklaus don't shed tears easily...

     He goes on to tell an interviewer that after a few days, he ran across a sports theBLEEP/psychologist he knew and asked him about the moment of tears...I don't remember the guy's name off-hand, and that's "my bad", cuz what he said was genius:

"....Well, Jack....What made you so emotional was...You just witnessed an athlete reach ...........perfection..."

     It was only then that Jack finally understood...

Note: Secretariat was on the cover of Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated the same week...

Also, you can click here and see the race and the background, more in-depth.  Scroll down to the 3rd "You Tube" monitor on the sight and enjoy this ifya wanna...The one withda old dude inna brown suit wearin' glasses...lol...Classic stuff..Or you can just see the race here:

By now, everyone knows about Mindy and John Daly's ex...here's another one fer yer perusal:  (a man could do werse, jus' sayin'..)

"Angela Moyer, a 30-year-old Realtor who lives in the Pennsylvania 's Harrisburg area has bee exposed as the second secret woman of Roger Clemens. This just came days after the country music star Mindy McCready was revealed to have a ten-year affair with the former New York Yankees' baseball star.  Clemens was said to have helped pay the rent on Moyer’s Houston apartment and even after she had moved to New York and got a job as a bartender at Sutton Place from 2000 to 2004. Not like Mindy McCready who had confirmed the romantic relationship with Roger Clemens, Angela Moyer only said "no comment" when asked about her case on Tuesday night. Source: New York Daily News"

I dunno 'bout you but "no comment" to da Stevo...izza comment...

    I wuz trollin' 'round on some blogs this mornin', huntin' fer more dirt onda Rocket and Mindy, and and it started makin' me reminisce 'bout baseball cards, wimmin' and money....Back inda '50's and '60's, Da Stevo useta collect these thangs...One thang you could always count on wuz openin' a pack of Topps Baseball Cards and gettin' a Bob Uecker...Uecker was one of those marginal guys that Topps usually stuck in yer pack as a "filler"...Yuh always had 'bout 15-20 Uecker cards and they usually wound-up on my bicycle spokes so the neighborhood could hear me comin'...made yer bike sound like a "dreamers's Harley" or sumpthin'...well...mebbe a "Vespa", anyhow...Either way, Uecker wuz worthless...Nuthin' like this guy:

   Anyhow, over the years, Da Stevo managed to collect, barter and pay for thousands of these cards...Nobody hadda clue that ifya jus' held on to 'em ferra 'bout twenty years that yuh might wind-up witha nice piece-a-change...I stuck 'em all inna huge cardboard box and kept 'em inna closet on top of a broken Etch-a-Sketch, a mangled Hula-Hoop and an all bent-up Slinky...

  ...I'll never forget the day thatta 10 yr-old kid came by when I wuzza 'bout 16 and opened my closet and his eyes got as huge as saucers as he gawked in awe at my collection...Since I was at the age when testosterone wuz over-comin' me and gittin' into wimmin' and stuff...I looked at him and said,

"Ya want 'em?"

Dumb Question....

Just like that, I prob'ly threw away 10's of thousands of dollars...Jus' like that...

...Wouldn't be the last time wimmin' caused me to lighten my pocket-book...or comprimise my common sense...

  Ouuuuuuutttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt......

     The way I understand it, Roger sent Mindy money thru a third party via Fed-Ex.  This kinda begs the question, "If it was on the up and up, why did he need a third party?"  Today,  she says that they did not have sex until she was 18 and moved to Nashville...

    'Course...Yesterday she also said that she "couldn't refute anything in the (initial) story.."

 Wonder if Fed-Ex was busy yesterday...?

...You know....li'l "damage control" dollars...?