SB Nation User Blog: DrCrawdad

Gordon Beckham gets hit where it hurts.

DrCrawdad — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 17:47:44 -0000

Gordon Beckham gets hit where it hurts.

OT: Laborious Song List For Today

DrCrawdad — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:16:17 -0000

* There is Power in a Union, Billy Bragg

* Night Shift, Bob Marley

* Cleaning Windows, Van Morrison

* We Gotta Get Out Of This Place, The Animals

* Finest Worksong, REM

* Fruits Of My Labor, Lucinda Williams

* Hard Times For An Honest Man, John Mellencamp

* Honest Work, Graham Parker

* I Am The Working Man, Dusty Drake

* I've Been Working, Bob Seger

* Labor Day, Black Eyed Peas

* Man In A Cornershop, The Jam

* Workin' Man Blues, Merle Haggard

* Mr. President Have Pity On The Working Man, Randy Newman

* Smithers-Jones, The Jam

* We Can't Make It Here, James McMurtry

* Welcome To The Working Week, Elvis Costello

* Working Class Hero, John Lennon

* Working In A Coalmine, Lee Dorsey and Devo versions

* Working Man, Rush

* Working Nine To Five, Dolly Parton

* Maggie's Farm, Robert Allan Zimmerman

* Why Don't you Get a Job, The Offspring

* Dirty Work, Steely Dan

* That's It, I Quit, I'm Moving On, Sam Cooke

* Hard Day's Night, The Beatles

* Money, Pink Floyd

* Workin' for a Livin-Huey Lewis and the News

* Takin' Care of Busines, BTO

* The Promised Land, The Boss

* Career Opportunities, The Clash

* Death Or Glory, The Clash

* Money for Nothing, Dire Straits

* Truckin', Greatful Dead

* 30 days in the hole, Humble Pie

* We built this City, Jefferson Starship

* If I had a Hammer Take, Peter, Paul, & Mary

* This Job and Shove It, Johnny Paycheck

* Blue Collar, Bachman-Turner Overdrive

* Working on the Chain Gang, Sam Cooke

* New York Mining Disaster 1941, the BeeGees

* Five O'Clock World, the Vogues

* Just a Job to Do, Genesis

* 40 Hour Week, Alabama

* 16 Tons, Tennessee Ernie Ford

* Cumberland Blues, Grateful Dead

* Lord Have Mercy On The Working Man, Travis Tritt

* Fade Away, Stellar Road

* Welcome To The Occupation, REM

* Workin' On The Highway, Springsteen

* Everybodys working for the weekend, Loverboy

* Dirty Work, Steely Dan

* Bang the Drum all day, Todd Rundgren

* Waitress, Freddy Jones Band

*No Thing On Me, Curtis Mayfield

* U.S Blues, The Grateful Dead

* Working For The Man, Roy Orbison

* Pay You Back With Interest, The Hollies

* Let's Work Together, Canned Heat

* Passenger Side, Wilco

* Back on the Chain Gang, The Pretenders

* Get A Job, The Offspring

* Come Monday, Jimmy Buffett (early in the song mentions a "Labor Day" show)

Ernie Banks, Meet Ernie Banks

DrCrawdad — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:11:32 -0000

Yesterday I heard an interview of Ernie Banks (Mr. Cub) and Ernie Banks on Jonathan Brandmeier's show (around 9am). A coworker heard it too and she called it a "heartwarming interview." It was pretty cool. I believe you can hear the interview on Brandmeier's PodCast. This other Ernie Banks plays for the Washington Wild Things. You can read more about him here. Brandmeier had Mr. Cub on his show and called this young Ernie Banks. The younger Banks was clearly fresh out of bed and was not expecting the call. But he right off expressed his admiration for Mr. Cub.

LIFE magazine has made many of their photos available online (Cubs). I particularly liked the ones...

DrCrawdad — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:40:36 -0000

LIFE magazine has made many of their photos available online (Cubs). I particularly liked the ones of Charlie Grimm and the one of the "college of coaches."

Andrew Greeley at it again...

DrCrawdad — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:13:03 -0000

What is it with Andrew Greeley? Why does he feel compelled to smear and put down Sox fans?

When the Sox won the World Series Greeley wrote an ugly, hateful smear on Sox fans. Now he's at it again. This time it's a gratuitous smear of Sox fans.

Who are those who reject compromise of a useless and criminally deadly war like Iraq? They are the blusterers, members of "veteran's organizations," mountain folk, crackers, West Texans, blue collar workers, evangelical clergy, neo-cons, Republicans, white ethnics, Sox fans...

Here's a heaping helping of the smears, stereotypes and lies spread by Greeley less than 3 years ago:

It's not as though the White Sox are a real Chicago franchise like the Cubs or the Bears or Notre Dame...the behavior of White Sox fans, an intolerable bunch of human beings when baseball is the subject (who beat up on wives of opposing players)...My seminary classmates who were Sox fans were insufferable on the days they won and we lost. More mature than they were, we Cub fans felt no need to cackle triumphantly when the Sox lost...

So, let's see Greeley thinks Cubbies fans are superior to Sox fans and he demonstrates this by stereotyping and spreading ugly smears. Really, "father," WWJD?

WSJ: The Decline of the National League

DrCrawdad — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 02:04:44 -0000

The Wall Street Journal examines "The Decline of the National League." Included is a graphic entitled: "The Long National League Nightmare."

Of course, all said and done the history does not make an AL victory inevitable Tuesday nor another World Series Championship to the AL.

Interesting read.

They play the same game. They pick from the same pool of players. For some reason, though, they don't get the same results.

By just about every measure, the 16 teams in Major League Baseball's National League are inferior to the 14 in the American League. The AL has won 11 of the last 16 World Series, including three of the last four. The annual All-Star Game, to be played Tuesday, has practically become a farce: Not counting a 2002 tie, the AL has won 10 straight.

Zambrano, White Sox fan, future Sox pitcher?

DrCrawdad — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 04:47:40 -0000

'I told my family and my friends that before my career ends, I want to play for the White Sox. Right now, my priority is helping this club. That's what I am trying to do. But I used to be, when I was growing up, I was a White Sox fan. But every time I say that, the Chicago Cubs fans get jealous and pissed off.'' - Carlos Zambrano, as quoted in the Sun-Times, March 16, 2008

And with that comment, the heads of many Cubbie fans explode!

The 18 Best Jewish Ballplayers of All Time by Salon.com

DrCrawdad — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 04:44:29 -0000

If you're looking for a bit of baseball fun reading, head over to Salon.com and read the article, "The 18 Best Jewish Ballplayers of All Time"

"So who are these 18 bashin' boychiks?"

If you're looking for a bit of fun baseball reading, head over to Salon.com and read the article, "The 18 Best Jewish Ballplayers of All Time"

I'll post the names but leave off the comments from the article on each player.

"So who are these 18 bashin' boychiks?"

"...counting players with one or more Jewish parents (even those not raised Jewish), converts to Judaism, and non-Jews who practiced the Jewish faith. For instance, Rod Carew was married to a Jewish woman, raised his children as Jewish, while never actually converting to Judaism himself -- but he still counts."

Why only 18?

"...in Hebrew numerology, stands for the word "Chai," meaning "life." It's also a symbol for good luck -- not that any of these guys need it."

Ian Kinsler
Brad Ausmus
Dave Roberts
Ryan Braun
Kevin Youkilis
Harry Danning
Benny Kauff
Ron Blomberg
Mike Lieberthal
Steve Stone
Sid Gordon
Shawn Green
Ken Holtzman
Al Rosen
Lou Boudreau
Rod Carew
Hank Greenberg
Sandy Koufax

I did not know that Lou Boudreau was a MOT. I never saw Lou play, but have nothing but respect and for Lou, who was kind to kid when he didn't have to.

The author of the article mentions the 1998 documentary "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg." I really enjoyed that documentary too and recommend it to any fan of the great game of baseball.

http://www.salon.com

Biggest choke job, 1969 Cubs or 2006 Sox?

DrCrawdad — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 00:56:47 -0000

The Tribunes own Jimmy Greenfield says it's the 2006 Sox.

In an article entitled, "Choke on this, Sox fans
2006 White Sox on target to replace 1969 Cubs as Chicago's biggest chokers," Jimmy Greenfield claims that the '06 Sox are bigger chokes than the 1969 Cubs.

IMHO the '06 Sox certainly flopped and failed to live up to the high expectations as defending World Champions. But they did not choke. If the Sox had in fact lost out on the playoffs last year then I would have agreed that that was a monumental choke.

The Sox have not been in first place since June, IIRC.

On August 15, 1969 the Cubs were 74-44, the Mets 62-51 (Mets 9.5 GB).

The '69 Cubs had 3 Hall of Famers plus Santo, a fourth Hall of Famer in the minds of many. The '06 Sox, none at this point.

I can understand why Cub fans such as Greenfield are eager to shed the "choker" label but claiming that the '06 Sox are bigger chokers than the 1969 Cubs is silly, at best.

Frankly too, I don't think it's necessary to rank everything, such as "chokes."

A friend of mine said this in response to Greenfield's article:

"Hey, Jimmy Greenfield, ** you.

"pops in 2005 World Series DVD box set

"Choke on that, ***."

Baker hasn't given up on playoffs

DrCrawdad — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 11:41:34 -0000

Keep on the sunny side...

http://www.nwherald.com/SportsSection/pro/342368553605551.php

Baker hasn't given up on playoffs

[published on Sat, Aug 5, 2006]

CHICAGO - A part of being invested in the Cubs, whether as a player, a manager or a fan, means sometimes existing in alternate universe. It is there that you see things that others don't.

Which helps explain Cubs manager Dusty Baker, his team tied with Tampa Bay for the third-fewest wins in all of baseball as a sunny day dawned at Wrigley Field, saying before Friday's series opener with Pittsburgh that, in his mind, the Cubs are still alive in the National League wild card race...