About 35 years ago, in what seems like another lifetime, I was living in upstate New York. I had this friend who I'll call Jack Daniels (because that was his name) who very suddenly came into a bunch of money. From my point of view Jack dealt with this influx of cash in a very responsible manor; except for one thing. He bought a brand new 1972 Lincoln Continental Mark IV and promptly put the car in storage. Jack believed that this pure Mark IV would increase in value over the years and would reap a fortune for him at some later date.

Every year he would take the car off its blocks and take it to the local dealer and have it serviced. Once that task was completed he would bring it back to his garage and put it back on its blocks and let it stand until the next year. 

As it happens, our lives took different paths a short while later and I kind of lost touch with Jack. It was maybe about 8 years later when I contacted him and discovered that the Lincoln was still in his garage on blocks and his plans for it hadn't changed.  Now this whole thing never made any sense to me. I could understand the logic behind the endeavor, but I couldn't buy into the practicality of it. This was a machine and unless one uses a machine, it has no pupose. 

This morning I was reading the St. Pete Times on line. There was an article concerning the last 3 or 4 roster players who would make the Rays for opening day. The top of the discussion was who was going to be the 5th starter in the rotation. Edwin Jackson was traded to the Tigers over the winter for a kid who is injured and wasn't going to make the big club anyway, so the Rays needed a 5th starter. 

All spring long; there has been this competition between Jason Hammel and Jeff Niemann as to who that would be. The pitcher who didn't get the nod would then be relegated to the much coveted designated long reliever role. Now you must understand that neither of these guys has been the reincarnation of Bob Gibson this spring and there is someone on the staff who just might be that, only from the left side. David Price has shown the same skills he exhibited at the end of last season all through spring training yet according to this article, he is expected to start the season in Durham. Hammel and Niemann don't have any options left which means they can't be sent down without risk of losing them off waivers. The Rays can do whatever they please with Price.  

I had this vision of Jack Daniels beautiful Mark IV Continental sitting up on blocks contributing nothing to the quality of life of the Daniels family. Sending Price to the minors to start the season contributes nothing to the quality of life for the '09 edition of the Tampa Bay Rays; especially using the logic that they would be doing so to protect 2 pitchers who, after years in the organization, have yet to prove to anyone that they belong in the majors.  

I find it hard to question the decisions of Andrew Friedman and Joe Maddon after what they have accomplished in the last couple of years, but having David Price's number 14 on the back of a Durham Bulls jersey makes no sense to me at all.

Something's wrong, very, very wrong!

I spent part of the last three days at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg watching the Devil Rays play host to the Red Sox. It was almost like being at Fenway except that there was a roof; there was no wall or Citgo sign, and it was comfortable. Fenway Park was not built for people 6'4" tall and 220 pounds. The Trop was. At least 75% of the fans were in some sort of Red Sox gear. The first night I sat next to 2 guys from Manchester, NH. Saturday night it was a couple from Holbrook, MA on one side and South Boston on the other. Sunday afternoon I was surrounded by a family from Pawtucket, RI. I live here in Florida now but I felt like I was right back home.

I digress and I apologize. My purpose in writing this is that there is something very wrong with the bats these guys are using. I have been telling my wife all year that I have never seen as many broken bats as often as I have this year. I don't mean cracked, where a player goes back to the dugout and gets a new one, but broken; sheared; shattered. I saw infielders pick up at least six pieces of wood from the field over the last three days. The most absolutely fantastic thing I have ever seen was Big Papi's bat come apart on a check swing. Not a foul ball, not a big rip but a check swing. The bat was in two pieces. All he had in his hand was the stump!

Am I the only one who has noticed this? Did I miss the article stating that all the ash trees in North America are affected with some brittle wood disease? Did Louisville Slugger lay off its entire quality control department? I retired not too long ago and have far too much time on my brain. Maybe this has been going on for some time and I just never noticed. I would appreciate any feed back.