Passings

One point I was going to mention -- it's been going around -- was the spate of retirements around MLB...Tex and A-Rod, Lincecum getting waived...it IS a generation of players going off into the sunset (two for Tim)...these were the players I grew up with, so...it is a little nostalgic.  As for Lincecum (he helped me to win three straight strat-league championships)...you'd think he could transition to a relief role (he's had success there in the past).   I mean, Joe Blanton -- who didn't have quite the stuff or career -- is still kicking around for the Dodgers as a set-up guy; I'd like to think Tim could be that guy, or even, say, Scot Sullivan.

As for A-Rod...I'd like to think he will come back next year, but...his path to a job in Miami is blocked by Ichiro!, of all people.  I mean, given the seven-man bullpens, there just isn't much space for a PH anymore.  Ichiro!, at least, can sort of play the OF (at least the corners) and can run a bit, and seems to have accepted the role of 4th OF.  A-Rod can really only PH/DH now, and there are few teams who need one (Boston will next year!)...and if Ichiro stays, well, there goes THAT idea.  I think that A-Rod will come back to make 700, asterisks and all...the money is in the bank, and, well, maybe a restful and prolonged offseason will help.  Maybe.

Watched "Red Dust" yesterday on TCM...pre-Hays Code classic, and you could tell it right away...I liked it, not for the scandal, but because it was...well, fairly...tight in plot, and the acting was first rate.  445!