"There is magic
in the moment, for when I open my eyes and see my sons in the place where my
father once sat, I feel an invisible bond between our three generations, an
anchor of loyalty linking my sons to the grandfather whose face they never saw
but whose person they have already come to know through this most timeless of
sports, baseball."-
Doris Kearns Goodwin
I made quite the digital haul in terms of Father's Day gifts
today ... Michelle and the boys got me the Chicago Cubs Legends Great Games DVD
set that I mentioned in a
report earlier this year, and to go with it, the complete DVD set of Ken
Burns' Baseball documentary.
With the Padres beating the snot out of Rich Hill today, I
turned to the Cubs set for consolation, and god is it a lot of fun. You
can reference the earlier report for a listing of the contents, but I popped
several of the discs in and hopped around, reliving such moments as:
The Daily Double in action in the "Sandberg
Game" (Dernier leads off the bottom of the first with a single, steals
second, and scores when Sandberg raps a base hit to left)...I left the real
fun of that game to savor at a later date
Dernier, Sarge, and the Red Baron taking Eric Show deep
in Game 1 of the NLCS later that year
The Hawk crushing 3 homers in a game against Phillies (it
was great to hear Harry, Steve, and Dewayne again)
I also watched some of the "bonus footage",
including Ernie Banks' 500th home run. I've seen that footage hundreds of
times before, but today something really struck me -- Mr. Cub was playing in a
home game, chasing a milestone achieved by only 8 other players in the history
of baseball to that time, and there was hardly anyone in the park.
Now, I assume it was a weekday game, and I don't know what the weather was like
on that day, but there were dozens of empty seats behind home plate and even the
LF bleachers seemed sparsely populated. When Ernie fouled one off to the
right side earlier in the at-bat, it looked like there wasn't anyone sitting
past first base on the right field side. Something tells me things would
have been a bit different today.
There are lots more goodies to explore in the set, and I
encourage any Cub fans out there who don't have it yet to check it out.
I've seen it listed for as little as $40-$45 on some websites and at Sam's Club,
which is quite the bargain for 8 DVDs.
The
Monroe Doctrine
A wise man
once said “It is important to know from whence one
came.” I don’t know who said it and if no one did
say it, I think I would like to have said it; it
sounds kind of cool.
Anyway, in
what is becoming a multi-part story, I took a trip
down memory lane of CFCL History. Being a statistics
and numbers guy (as in Hank Aaron has 755 homeruns and
the next active player in line to potentially pass him
is Ken Griffey Jr. with 578. If you want to include
Bonds and Sosa, then let Aaron’s number be indexed
for steroid inflation), I noticed some interesting
numbers and information about our current and past
owners.
by Rich Bentel
That’s almost as many teams that make
the NHL playoffs each year: There have been 34 franchises in the 24
year history of the CFCL.
Two score and many drafts ago:
Four teams have been in the CFCL for at least 20 years (Rebels &
Copperfields – 24 years; Ruffins – 22 years; Lambchops – 20 years;)
Baker’s (not Dusty, dude) dozen:
Of the 34 owners, 13 stayed in for at least 5 years. [Kenn and Teddy, you’re
one year away from making it an even fifteen]
One is the loneliest number:
Seven teams only stayed around for one year.
A long way to go and a short time to
get there: The Bald Eagles were in the league for only six years and
yet 90% of the Constitution is written because of him.
And somehow Steve Irwin wasn’t part
of the CFCL: Seven franchises have been named from the Animal Kingdom
[Big Dogs, Lambchops, Reservoir Dogs, Penguins, Eagles, Swordfish and Bulls]
Richie Daley has nothing on us:
Six owners have been related. [Fred, David and Paul Mahlan – Father and sons;
Rich and Matt Bentel – Cousins; Ken Welsch – Brother-in-law of Rich Bentel]
Down home country: One
team was named for Americana. [Davies Crocketts]
Amazing but true: The now
defunct Six Packs have a longer tenure (16 years) than all but five current
owners.
Forgive me, father, for I have . . :
One team was named for the clergy. [Fred’s Friars]
What happens in Vegas, stays in
Vegas: Even though some anal retentive regulatory boards are trying
to call this gambling, only one team had a gambling theme in its name. [Aces to
Win]
Man, he looks familiar:
One owner named his team, apparently after looking in the mirror. [Bald Eagles
– if you knew Bob Monroe you know what I’m talking about. If you never met
Bob (consider yourself lucky – that means you weren’t at risk of being
coerced into a lopsided trade) check out the history part of the CFCL for Bob’s
picture.
Hey that sounds familiar: Two
teams are homonyms {not that there’s anything wrong with that}. [Picts and
Picks]
Well what did you expect:
We should have seen it coming. Of the teams that bailed after one year, the team
names should have given us a clue they weren’t long for the CFCL. [The Apollos
– named for a defunct space program; The Headless Horsemen – how long can
you last without using your head? Aside from the 24 years exhibited by the
Rebels, I mean; The Ghostbusters – really, no substance; The Spherechuckers
– borderline racist name; Z-28s – a broken down, outdated car]
The question has to be asked:
Who in the hell was/is Paul Skupien??! (owner of the Swordfish)
If this trip down memory lane didn’t make you feel old, then
here’s this: HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to all you dads out there!!
De
Aza (.12)-o-Meter
OBP:
.314
TB:
15
RS:
4
RBI:
3
SB:
1
Don’t forget your
dad today. Typical card runs about 20.83 De Azas.
Hometown Discount Watch
In 2008, the teams that finished in 5th-12th
place in 2007 will receive a budget of up to .06 to use toward reacquiring
players who had played out their option with the team (B-contract players). The
exact amount each team receives will be based on how far behind the 5th
place team they are at the end of the year, in terms of a percentage of the 5th
place team's point total.
Team
Points
%
of
5th Place
Discount
Budget
Kenndoza
Line
71.5
100.00%
.06
DoorMatts
64.5
90.21%
.05
Steve's
Stones
59.5
83.22%
.04
Splendid
Splinters
59.5
83.22%
.04
Mo's
Red Hots
59.0
82.52%
.04
Nick's
Picts
57.5
80.42%
.04
Eric's
Lambchops
44.5
62.24%
.03
Da
Paul Meisters
33.0
46.15%
.02
Record Book
Week Ending 06/17: No new
records were set this week.