Notebook

Jamie Quirk's Sean Penn Moment

• I just read over my first three postings, and there are a few instances of sloppy writing.  Please forgive.  I type these things up listening to music and without proofreading, so from time to time I might use a word twice, or erroneously type an integer instead of actually spelling out the number.  If the choice is between a flawless piece and some solid tunes, I’ll take the tunes every time.  Sorry.
• Spring Training is just around the corner.  Pitchers and catchers across mlb report sometime within the next week or two.  This means that my favorite parts of the spring are also just around the corner.  This year I look forward to: 1) The annual “relative of a famous major-leaguer” story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  Ozzie Canseco once got this treatment from the Post.  I seem to recall a similarly-veined story last spring for Wilton “splintered-bat” Guerrero.  Who’s it going to be this year?  My money is on the Pujols cousin the Cardinals selected in one of the later rounds of last year’s draft.     2) Guys not playing in Spring Training games that they have to “cross more than two bridges to play in.”  Major-leaguers make millions of dollars every year to play baseball.  They get to spend February in Florida or Arizona playing ball and eating bar-b-que while the rest of us make it through yet another winter.  I guess it's too tough to ride the team bus to another exotic locale and put in a tough couple of innings in spring training.
• I was thinking the other day, what are my all-time favorite baseball player names?  Here’s the list: 10) Glenn Hubbard.     9) Mackey Sasser.  8) Eric Plunk.  7) Jesse Barfield.  6) Nick Esasky.  5) Vance Law.  4) Matt Nokes.  3) Quinten McCracken.  2) Ernie Camacho  And 1) Oddibe McDowell.  This list is subject to revision as I think of more guys names. 
• Say you’re taking a road trip with some people who know baseball.  What’s a good way to pass the time?  Instead of “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” try “First Name-Last Name.”  A buddy of mine who played in college used this to pass time on road trips.  What you do is name a baseball player, say “Ernie Camacho.”  The next person would then take the first letter of the last name and have to say a baseball player whose first name begins with that letter, say “Chris Sabo.”  If a player draws a blank he/she is out, and if the round is for the championship the surviving player must not only take his turn but also the turn of the player who drew the blank.  Otherwise, the game goes on.  Say what you will, but it’s better than “riddley-ree.”  Truth be told, I prefer music or quiet.