Spanning the Globe

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

Magallanes 5, Aragua 4 in Aragua.  Pedro Guerra retired all five men he faced, striking out three, for Magallanes.

AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE

Adelaide 5, Brisbane 3 in Adelaide.  Rory Rhodes was 1-for-4 with a home run for Brisbane.

Sydney 4, Perth 2 in Perth.  Jacob Younis was 1-for-4 for Sydney.  Luke Hughes was 2-for-5 with a double for Perth.

In a game not involving Twins players, Aguilas defeated Licey 5-4 in the Dominican League, and so will play Escogido for the championship.

FMD: Jan20, 2012

I should probably shut up about Lana Del Rey, but after her awful SNL performance last week, I went through the comments sections of several websites to read people's thoughts. (I was really hoping to find a writer at Pitchfork or somewhere similiar to have a thoughtful take on it rather than comments, but no dice.)

I was surprised to see that some people were taking a face-value reading of the lyrics of "Video Games":

I'm in his favorite sundress, Watching me get undressed, take that body downtown
I say you the bestest, Lean in for a big kiss, Put his favorite perfume on
Go play a video game
It's you, it's you, it's all for you...

With her flat, dispassionate delivery, I thought this was an ironic song, talking about her dedication to a boyfriend who isn't showing that much interest in her. Like she's realizing that there's nothing there. (Kindof like a reversal of Lydia Loveless's "More Like Them". [Man have I got my obsessions, I should really try to think about other artists from time to time.]) But several commenters made it sound like this was a devoted love song.

However, if I don't pay attention to comments on news or baseball sites, why should what a few comments on music sites carry any weight with me. Mostly, I was just surprised that people would get a different interpretation from this song: I thought it was pretty clear, and my levels of obsession led me to write these two hundred words on it.

Finally: this is probably just for Nibbish, who seems to be the only other person here who digs her music as much as I do.

Let the Random Ten Rumpus begin!

Happy Birthday–January 20

Everett Mills (1845)
C. I. Taylor (1875)
William Eckert (1909)
Jimmy Outlaw (1913)
Joe Dobson (1917)
Gene Stephens (1933)
Camilo Pascual (1934)
Dave Boswell (1945)
Cecil Espy (1963)
Ozzie Guillen (1964)
Kevin Maas (1965)
Marvin Benard (1970)
Brian Giles (1971)
David Eckstein (1975)
Geovany Soto (1983)

Everett Mills holds the record for most at-bats in a season without drawing a walk (342).

We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to FTLT’s firstborn.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–January 20

Spanning the Globe

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

Aguilas 7, Cibao 1 in Cibao.  Alexi Casilla started the game and singled in his only plate appearance.  Wilkin Ramirez was 0-for-4 for Cibao.

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE

Caguas 4, Mayaguez 1 in Mayaguez.  Daniel Ortiz was 1-for-4 for Mayaguez.  Nelvin Fuentes gave up a run on a hit in two innings for Mayaguez.

AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE

Canberra 16, Melbourne 7 in Melbourne.  Sam Gibbons surrendered six runs (five earned) on six hits in three innings for Melbourne.  Markus Solbach gave up a run on two hits and three walks in two innings while striking out two for Melbourne.

Perth 4, Sydney 3 in Perth.  Luke Hughes was 0-for-2 with two walks and scored once for Perth.  Jacob Younis was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI for Sydney.

Happy Birthday–January 19

Chick Gandil (1888)
Lee Head (1899)
Rip Radcliff (1906)
Chet Trail (1944)
Jon Matlack (1950)
Rich Gale (1954)
Brad Mills (1957)
Rick Adair (1958)
Chris Sabo (1962)
Jim Morris (1964)
Orlando Palmeiro (1969)
Phil Nevin (1971)
Jeff Juden (1971)
Chris Stynes (1973)
Amaury Telemaco (1974)
Byung-Hyun Kim (1979)

Chet Trail is the only player to have been on a World Series roster who never appeared in a major league game, regular season or post-season.   

Third baseman Brad Mills was drafted by Minnesota in the 16th round of the 1977 January draft, but did not sign. 

Continue reading Happy Birthday–January 19