In this bit by boston.com’s Chad Finn, there’s one my my favorite blocks of text I’ve read since Gravity’s Rainbow.
Loved Bobby V.’s comment to my colleague Nick Cafardo when he was informed that a scout said Angels phenom Mike Trout reminds him of Valentine as a young player. “As a matter of fact, he’s the only player I’ve ever thought was a similar player.’’ While some might take that as another foray into the depths of Bobby V’s ego, consider this: As a 20-year-old shortstop in Triple A in 1970, Valentine hit .340 with a .910 OPS, had 14 homers, 16 triples and 39 doubles, and stole 29 bases. Those stats suggest a similar skill-set, don’t they?
I love that Cafardo is mentioned in stupid stuff about Bobby V in the Boston media even when Cafardo isn’t the Boston media buffoon writing the stupid stuff about Bobby V.
Since Toronto Blue Jays manager John Farrell moved Colby Rasmus to the second spot in the batting order on June 5, the young centerfielder (entering Monday night’s game) has a triple-slash line of 352/364/648. That’s an impressive mark, but those numbers are, on their own, absolutely meaningless except as a nice topic of conversation a la “Hey Colby Rasmus has been hitting well the last couple weeks.”
Bill Clinton was the last great US President and will likely remain so for a while. People can quibble with certain aspects of his tenure. He should have been more proactive in intervening in a few different foreign conflicts. He signed the Gramm-Leach-Billey Act, leading to greater deregulation of banks. For the most part, though, he was a tremendous steward and leader of the country, and one who most everyone, conservative and liberal, can look back on and remember well.
Bids should now be in to the representatives for Cuban free agent Jorge Soler. Buster Olney at ESPN reports the Cubs, Dodgers, Yankees, and Braves as being the four most interested parties. Rumor has it, the final price for Soler will come somewhere in the $25-35 million range.
