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The Monroe Doctrine

There was a time in America when most people thought that black and white TV was enough. But it wasn’t, now we have color/digital/plasma/HD/watch-your-favorite-show-on-
your-cell-phone.

There was a time when cars that could go 55mph were enough. But it wasn’t and now we have remote key entry/multi CD disc changer/GPS to keep you from getting lost in the parking lot/cars.

And there was a time in the Rebel household when the

by Rich Bentel

Fair Lady Rebel Kim and her “Boy I Out-kicked My Coverage When I Married Her” husband thought that three beautiful daughters were enough.

But the void was always there, and I’m happy to say that last Tuesday (just 17 ½ hours before the trade deadline expired; and I thought Hunter Pence was untouchable) the void was filled when Baby Rebel, Cooper Wrigley arrived. The stem is ON the apple!!!

Named for the location of Baseball’s Hallowed Museum and Baseball’s Ultimate Shrine, Cooper arrived exactly 18 years to the day that the Cubs beat Philadelphia (actually the Cubs and Phillies split a doubleheader that night, but I’m focusing on the positive – and to bring things full circle, the Cubs beat the Phillies last Tuesday 7-3) in which Sandberg homered twice and Sutcliffe had a complete game win.

Unlike the win that night, Cooper’s delivery was not completed in a snappy two hours and thirty-eight minutes. He made Kim work for 8 ½ hours. And since he arrived nine days before the 19th anniversary of the Cubs first scheduled night game, he also provided me with the best birthday present possible. The lengths Kim will go to not have to go shopping and fight the crowds! Just as we were told in school, the best gifts are homemade, not store bought.

I, being the proud and over-anxious Papa, have already put my name on the waiting list for tickets to next year’s Cub Convention

The girls are beside themselves in maternal joy and cannot wait to teach him things that he doesn’t need to know yet. Like how to hide the cookies for a late night snack, how to throw a Frisbee so that it rocks Papa right in the pills, how to get away with absolute murder with a quick smile and the bat of an eye.

Soon Cooper will round out a formidable lineup during Bentel Infield Practice. With Katelyn covering the hot corner, Ally providing the target at first and Kristi anchoring the keystone, Cooper will fit in very nicely at shortstop (he is, after all, the shortest of the four).

All the joy and mayhem in the Rebel household has made me truly understand (and unabashedly admit) that I am half the man Dick Van Patten is. Four really is enough.

De Aza (.12)-o-Meter

OBP:	.314
TB:	15
RS:	4
RBI:	3
SB:	1

A package of newborn diapers (that last all of three days, thank you very much!) is a budget breaking 133.25 De Azas.

In 2008, the teams that finished in 5^th-12^th 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 5^th place team they are at the end of the year, in terms of a percentage of the 5^th place team's point total.