A Critical Decision Due on Ryan Flaherty

BALTIMORE, Maryland, June 27, 2013- When the Orioles took Ryan Flaherty in the Rule 5 draft about one winter ago, there was word that the big prospect from Maine, the son of a college coach, had a huge upside.  That is, he was already good enough for the Orioles to virtually commit to keeping him in the big leagues for the entire 2012 season (that is, in short, what teams commit to when they take a player in the Rule 5), but he was potentially good enough to be a big league star.  He was all but invisible in the early part of the 2012 season, but as the year moved along and the Orioles became a huge factor in the AL East Race, Flaherty appeared more and more in the starting line-up.  As September rolled around and the Orioles battled into the playoffs, Flaherty began to show signs of why he was in the big leagues.  A left handed hitter with a very big swing, Flaherty began to hit for power.  It wasn't often enough to say Flaherty was a certain keeper, but it was more than enough for him to become an important part of the Orioles plans going forward.  Some thought the Orioles would trade for a second baseman over this past winter, but they didn't.  Many hoped that this would be the year that Brian Roberts finally put years of injuries behind him and returned as the Orioles regular second baseman.  After playing very well in spring training, Roberts did open the season, triumphantly, at second.  But within a week he was injured again and soon a hamstring injury required surgery.  Some thought he was lost for the season.  I was one of them. With Roberts hurt, some thought that Alexi Casila. whom GM Dan Duquette brought in from the Twins and who has almost 2,000 big league at bats as a second baseman, would be the starter when Roberts went down.  But instead the Orioles again turned to Flaherty, who battled hard in the spring to even make the team.  At first it was more disappointment for Flaherty, whose average hovered just over .100 for weeks.  But there was the occasional homer and his fielding - good enough last season - improved dramatically. With Flaherty, J.J. Hardey, Manny Machado and Chris Davis, the Orioles have a virtual Gold Glove infield. And then, all of a sudden, Flaherty started to hit the ball.like an accomplished big leaguer.  Including last night's 7-3 win over a very good Cleveland Team - Terry Francona is a great big league manager and he has the Indians playing like they expect to make the playoffs.  I expect them to make the playoffs.  They have pitching - Flaherty's average has improved some 100 points since early May.  He has three straight multi-hit games and five in his last eight.  He has 5 home runs and 14 runs batted in. Brian Roberts is going to make another start or two at Norfolk and then return to Baltimore.  He will almost certainly start against the Yankees on Sunday night before a national tv audience; and Saturday night isn't out of the question.  Whither Flaherty?

In the locker room last night one of the lads gathered around Oriole Manager Buck Showalter postulated that Roberts' return might mean then end of the road for Flaherty and Casilla.  Said Showalter:  that's not a certainty at all.  He reminded the scribes that the Orioles' opening day 25-man roster included Roberts, Casilla and Flaherty.  

I love Brian Roberts.  He is an All-Star quality second baseman.  He is so good that even though he has only played 118 big league games since opening day, 2010, and is now 35, Showalter says that when he returns he is the everyday second baseman.  Until about one month ago I assumed that would be the case.  

Now that Flaherty is hitting with consistency, now that he is playing up to his potential, the idea of him playing once every week or two does not fill me with joy.  I'm sure Mr. Buck will call Flaherty in.  I'm sure he will tell him all the things I've recited here.  He might point out that Roberts is oft-injured and, you know, 35.  And Flaherty does know that Mr. Buck and the Orioles stuck with him last season and early this season when he wasn't hitting a lick.  

I know, myself, that the idea of Flaherty going elsewhere and breaking out as an all-star when we had him here and stuck with him while he was getting the rocky road behind him, seems, well, something we ought to try like hell to work around.

An overlooked work of art portends a Renaissance

BALTIMORE, Maryland, June 25, 2013- {work in progress} First, and to be perfectly clear, I am not claiming that I have discovered anything.  How can you discover anything that is already on view in a major art museum?  What I am suggesting is that a small and beautiful painting in the Walter's Art Gallery in Baltimore is probably a lot more important than it is given credit for.  

No scholar suggests that the Italian Renaissance started in the 1100's.  Many lay folk say years such as those make up the so-called Dark Ages.  Scholars such as Peter Brown at Oxford and Harvard have pretty-much debunked those theories by finding the high degree of scholarship and intellectual discovery that was taking place during those years, even in the west.  Those years, politically, were pointing to the East, to Bynzantium and even further east into Iran and Iraq.  In the West the Roman Empire was gone and only the Church was seen as a basis for intellectual and theologic advancement.  In the 1200's a Renaissance of sorts did take place in northern Europe centered around the Hanseatic League.  The more familiar Italian flowering of the arts was still 100-200 years away.  But a painting in the Walters suggests that maybe the foundation of that artistic Renaissance was already in place in the 1100's.  

Mandela Remains Critical

BALTIMORE, Maryland, June 25, 2013- Nelson Mandela's condition remains critical this morning, according to the Cape Times.  The newspaper, in a story posted at 3:49 pm South Africa-time, quoted the South African Presient, Jacob Zuma, as saying that Mandela, who will turn 95 on July 18, is unchanged since his condition was downgraded on Sunday.  Mr. Zuma went on to say that "We must support him and support his family.  We must demonstrate our love and appreciation for his leadership during the struggle for liberation and in our first few years of freedom and democracy by living out his legacy and promoting unity, non-racialism, non-sexism and prosperity in our country."

Cold?

BALTIMORE, Maryland, June 24, 2013- At 10 am here in northeast Baltimore City it was 87 degrees.  It is going to be a hot day and it is starting out a hot week.  But, the weather lads say, that is about it for "hot".

We've had a cold spring and early summer.  This is, in truth, the first hot spell of the year.  The weather people say it isn't going to last.  The heat will start to break over the coming weekend, they report, and beginning on July 1, the temperatures will be below normal for virtually the entire month of July.  Go for it!

Mandela said to be critical; media reports Mandela left in freezing weather after ambulance malfunctioned

BALTIMORE, Maryland, June 24, 2013- Nelson Mandela is said to be in critical condition.  The London Telegraph reports that his family is at his bedside and "praying for a smooth transition" to heaven.  The 94-year-old World Leader is battling a lung infection complicated by tuberculosis.  Jacob Zuma, the South African President, said Mr. Mandela's condition had worsened in the previous 24 hours, according to the Cape Times.  The Zuma government was reeling over the weekend; the Cape Times said, after media reports that Mandela had been forced to spend some 40 minutes in freezing conditions after his ambulance broke down while transporting him to the hospital two weeks earlier.  

If you're voting for the Immigration Bill, be honest with yourself and the country and admit that it is little more than sugar-coated amnesty

BALTIMORE, Maryland, June 23, 2013- If you are in Congress and you are voting on whatever passes for an immigration bill, do the American people one small favor.  Be honest.  If you are "for" the bill, you are for amnesty for illegal immigrants.  This is what obama wants.  You know that, if you can be honest with yourself.  If you are against the bill, you are against amnesty.  Obama will not sign a bill that even comes close to closing the border.  You know that, if you are honest with yourself.  All the window dressing and so-called GOP amendments are just that and nothing else.  This Corker thing is a joke and only a fool won't admit that to himself.  If the Democrats reject an amendment to do something that Congress has already promised it would do - finish the 700 mile wall (only 36 were finished, then they stopped, seven years ago) - they won't do it now.  If they won't approve the amendment that says no amnesty until border authorities can verify that 90% of all illegal immigrants are caught, they won't do anything that will catch 90% of those coming over.  obama has said time and again he will not shut the border.  obama has said over and over that the border will not be closed while he is president.  So be honest.  Just this once, be honest.  If you are democratic, say I am voting for amnesty.  If you are against the bill, say you won't vote for amnesty until the border is closed.  We here in the trenches cannot get it through our thick skulls that in a nation of laws, we can have laws that leaders won't enforce.  If we are in favor of legal immigration, and I will bet that 98% of America is, tell me why we can't close the border and let legal immigrants come in legally.  Why isn't the simple answer to close the border and stop illegal immigration.  Then, streamline and change the immigration laws to allow more people to come in.  Why isn't that a good idea, obama?  I guess it doesn't have that marxist air about it.

Ten straight games in He....

BALTIMORE, Maryland, June 21,2013- Beginning on Thursday, June 13 the Orioles faced ten straight games against very tough teams.  The first four were at home against AL East Division Leader Boston.  Following Boston came three games in Detroit against the Central Division Leading (and Defending American League Champion) Tigers followed by three games against surging, enigmatic Toronto.  Seven of those games are now behind the Orioles.  They began them 3.5 behind Boston in third place.  Starting play in Toronto tonight, they have moved solidly into second place and now stand but one game behind the Red Sox.  They took three of four from Boston and two of three from Detroit.  They are doing this with a makeshift starting staff that has forced Buck Showalter to send call-ups from the minor leagues to the hill to start games three times in the past week.  Right now, it is their hitting and a resurgent bullpen that is carrying the load.  Among the regular starters, Chris Tillman and Miguel Gonzalez have been dependable, but Jason Hammel is recovering from a bad flu that caused him to miss two starts and Wei-Yin Chen is still on the disabled list with early July seen as the nearest date for his return.  The other news from Baltimore that cannot thrill the AL East is that Brian Roberts is due to return before the All-Star Break.

Downbound Train?

BALTIMORE, Maryland, June 19, 2013- A CNN poll has shown obama's approval rating has dropped 17 points in recent months, and now stands at 45%.  There are a myriad of reasons. The half-dozen scandals - Benghazi, the IRS, the NSA and all the mess surrounding Hilary's years at the State Department are catching up to obama.  And obama, himself, seems knee-deep or deeper in many of them.

USA Soccer in Commanding Position

BALTIMORE, Maryland, June 19, 2013- In Sandy, Utah in front of a sell-out crowd, Jozy Altidore scored a goal in his fourth consecutive game as the USA beat Honduras, 1-0, to take a commanding lead in the fight for a berth in next year's World Cup in Brazil.  The two teams had battled to a scoreless tie for over 70 minutes before Altidor charged to the goal and took a perfect pass from teammate Fabian Johnson.  He then rocketed his shot past Honduran keeper Noel Valladares for the game's only score.  A goal earlier in the half by Altidore was waved off after the lineman found him to be offsides. Replays indicated the call was correct.  US Keeper Tim Howard was spectacular on the few shots Honduras managed.  The best chance for Honduras came in the first half when a wing player got past the US Defense and took a hard shot to Howard's right.  But the American lunged to his left for the save.  On another USA surge, the ball richocheted off of a Honduran's hand in the penalty area, but the game official did not see the infraction and play continued.

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You have to play the game

BALTIMORE, Maryland, June 19, 2013- On paper, at least, the game in Detroit last night between the Orioles and the Tigers looked like the ultimate in lopsided match-ups. For the Tigers, leaders in the Central Division, Justin Verlander was on the hill.  The Cy Young-Winner had never lost to the Orioles, taking a 14-0 record to the mound.  The Orioles recalled from the minors young Zach Britton.  He had made one earlier start for the Orioles this season, in which he was shelled and sent back to the minors.  So what happens?  J.J. Hardey and Adam Jones ripped home runs and Britton retired Miguel Cabrera and company like a seasoned pro as the Birds won, 5-2.  Verlander sunk to 6-5 while Britton improved to 1-1 and lowered his ERA to under 6.00.  

Umpires sink to abject embarrassment

BALTIMORE, Maryland, June 18, 2013- Say whatever you want about umpires in the Major Leagues, they have never come close to devising a way to work together to avoid the pitiful display of umpiring in the seventh inning of the Oriole-Tiger game tonight in Detroit. It was like the Keystone Cops reincarnated when one of the most obvious calls was missed by the umpire charged with making it, while the other three stood around allowing the two-bit call to stand. Detroit had runners at first and second with nobody out when a ground ball was hit to Orioles third-baseman Manny Machado.  The sure-handed fielder scooped up the ball and firmly tagged the Tiger runner moving to third.  He then threw to second to complete the double play.  But the knuckleheads in blue said Machado missed the tag.  First, he didn't even come close to missing it.  Second, the runner went a good twelve feet out of the base line before staggering to third.  A prolonged argument by Buck Showalter followed but none of the other nitwits would add cognitive reasoning to the mess umpire Lance Diaz managed to bring down on the hapless crew.  There was justice, however, because the Birds got out of the jam without any further damage.  Even if you make excuses for Diaz missing the obvious tag - and a major league umpire just cannot blow such an easy call in the middle of the season - there is no excusing the fact that all four missed the runner nearly dancing onto the pitcher's mound as he "danced" to this left when Machado approached.  Machado followed perfect baseball protocol on the play, firmly tagging the runner on his ribs, the part of the body that moves the least as a player runs from base to base.  Making the call even more embarrassing, if that is possible, was the way Diaz gestured after sleeping through the tag.  He pointed at the runner quite forcefully, which is exactly how the second base umpire should gesture in calling the runner out.  Little League umpires working a game by themselves couldn't have made more of an embarrassing mess of the situation.  One hopes a call from the league office is on tap for the snoozing crew after the game, which the Orioles continue to lead, 5-2, in the ninth inning.  

One and one-half

BALTIMORE, Maryland, June 16, 2013- I was happily drinking a cold pint of Yuengling late on Sunday afternoon in a quiet first floor dining room at Tratoria Germano's in Baltimore's Little Italy.  It was Father's Day and my Father was doing the same thing.  We both wondered how the Orioles had done; when we came into the restaurant, the Red Sox had pulled to within 5-3.

[I've said, here, so often that I believe that Buck Showalter has no equal as a big league manager.  There are competitors: Jim Leyland, Dusty Baker, Ron Washington, Davey Johnson and Tampa's Joe Madden.  But nobody is quite equal to Buck.  That being said, I was saddened when Miguel Gonzalez, the wonderful and dependable Oriole starter yesterday, was left in to pitch to Will Middlebrook in the seventh inning.  I believe Miguel Gonzalez is the Orioles's best starter, but there is a wall for Miguel and it stands in inning no. 7.  In innings one to six the powerful Sox had no runs.  In the seventh, they put two men on.  The Orioles were ahead, 5-0.  Only a home run with two or more men on base would endanger that bulge.  It was the seventh inning (I know I keep coming back to that.) I know that Buck was thinking about it being about the end of the line for Miguel, because right after the three-run homer that Middlebrooks hit (it was his 8th, and rbi's 26, 27 and 28), Buck yanked him.]

Anyway, back at Tratoria Germano, in that quiet first floor dining room occupied by my family, another large table was now filling up.  A lot of these lately arriving diners were adorned by the latest Red Sox attire.  They whole bunch sat down.  They didn't talk. They didn't whisper.  They stared. Then, almost in unison, they all looked down.  Then, after a bit, a perky waitress arrived with their menus. I knew then that the Orioles had held on.  Boston came to town with a 3 and one-half game lead on the Orioles.  They left town with a one and one-half game lead.  They had lost a four game series to the young and still very hungry Orioles, 3-1. 

My dad, now 87, my family, including my wife, my 14-year-old (the other two were working), and my mother, Little Italy, The Orioles closing in.  Father's Day done beautifully.   

A Superb Four Game Series

BALTIMORE, Maryland, June 16, 2013- The Red Sox had gotten back into the series.  It was late Saturday afternoon and in Baltimore, the sun was setting.  The 40,000 or so sitting in the cool of the later afternoon at Camden Yards had seen the division leaders take a 5-2 lead on the younger Orioles.  And these late Oriole rallies had gotten old, right?  The Orioles had been very Oriole-like in the first two games, winning game one in 13 innings and game two by a 2-0 score.  So Boston, after falling behind in game three, 2-0, had now scored five straight runs.  Andrew Bailey was ready and this one was going according to plan.  I should tell you, here, that Matt Wieters whacked a two-run homer in the ninth, and that "safe" three-run lead was suddenly, very suddenly, in fact, unsafe.  Especially when J.J. Hardy followed Wieters' homer with a single.  Buck Showalter wasted no time in getting Alexi Cassila into the game to pinch run for Hardy.  How many teams pinch run for their shortstop?  So here comes Ryan Flaherty, the one weak spot in the whole Oriole line-up.  Usually.  Well, not so much lately.  Flaherty, now the go-ahead run, got into a Bailey pitch - crushed it, according to Casilla - pulling it deep into that coffin-corner at Camden.  For the unfamiliar, it's the one corner in big league baseball that isn't a real corner.  There is a huge tunnel there, and all of it is in play.  So if a ball bounces fair and then into that corner, well, pitchers get cold sweats just thinking about it.  From the pitchers mound you see your right fielder racing into the corner and then, then, then, well, he's gone.  He's chasing the ball in the tunnel and geez oh whiz the runner is tearing around the bases and the right fielder is still nowhere.  You see the centerfielder setting up as a relay man where the rightfielder usually plays, and this is really bad.

Anyway, that is where Flaherty's ball was heading and Casilla, at first, didn't hang around to find out what happened next.  He was, after all, the tieing run.  The bloody ball is still in the air and old Alexi is already around second base and digging for third. And then Shane Victorino catches the ball. In the air, he caught it.  In baseball, that is an out. That wasn't supposed to happen.  Ask Casilla.  He was about to round third base when Victorino caught the ball for the second out.  When Victorino realized Casilla's mistake, he almost leaped for joy.  The throw to first beat Casilla by about 90 feet. 

So, come Sunday, when Miguel Gonzalez pitches for the Orioles and Jon Lester for the Sox, two full games will be at stake.  If the Orioles win, they will leave for Detroit just one and one-half games behind Boston.  If the Beantowners win, the lead will be 3 and one-half.  

The Orioles win in 13; Surprise! obama ducking out of Benghazi

BALTIMORE, Maryland, June 14, 2013- Boston came into Baltimore last night with a 3 1/2 game lead over the Orioles and three over the Yankees.  No matter what any of the Sox were saying to the media, they were aiming for a split of this important four-game series, especially with the Orioles' bullpen scuffling.  Stats  on the TV indicated that the ERA of the Bird Bullpen was the best in the Major Leagues before May 15, but just about the worst since then.  With struggling rookie Kevin Gausman taking the mound for Baltimore, the Sox were hoping to grab Game 1, then steal at least one of the next three.  As is so often the case in baseball, it didn't work out that way.  First, Gausman was great.  Over five and 2/3, he limited the powerful Sox to two runs on five hits.  When Matt Wieters singled in a run in the fifth, the Birds led, 4-2.  But Boston tied it in the seventh against usually dependable Brian Matusz.  That, however, was it for Boston.  Over the next six innings - the game went 13 - Boston would not score.  Tommy Hunter, Darren O'Day, Troy Patton and T.J. McFarland baffled Boston and kept them off the scoreboard.  The Birds, alas, were having the same trouble with Boston's pen until the 13th.  After Alex Wilson, who overall pitched a brilliant 2 and 2/3 inning, retired the first two hitters, Nick Markakis drew a walk.  Adam Jones followed with a single, getting Markakis to second.  As Chris Davis walked to the plate, Boston's outfield retreated, showing full respect to the leading power hitter in the game today.  Wilson, nonetheless, moved ahead on the count, then seemed to get out of the inning when Davis' powerful swing only sent a weak pop up to left.  But Johnny Gomes was in left after pinch hitting late in the game.  On Davis' big swing, Gomes first stepped back, figuring, like most in attendance, that a shot to the wall would be what he'd have to deal with.  When he saw the big swing hadn't resulted in the anticipated long drive, he ran as fast as he could toward the sinking fly.  Markakis, for his part, was off at the crack of the bat and was well around third when the ball plopped into the wet grass in front of Gomes.  Markakis scored without a slide, and the Orioles had game one, second place in the AL East thanks to the Yankees' loss, and a 1-0 lead in the series.  Observers all wondered how the two teams would manage in the next game or two with their bullpens stretched as they were in game one.  The Orioles gave a partial answer within a few minutes of the end of the game, sending Thursday's starter, Gausman, to Norfolk to get a fresh arm into the pen for tonight's game....In Washington, obama and the functionaries pointed their efforts to immigration, drawing the obedient media with them.  Thus, another day without significant public progress into the obama-led Benghazi Cover-up.  As Credible and Incisive reported on June 4, the president himself hatched the cover-up immediately after learning of the death of four Americans, including the United States' Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Davis, in Benghazi on September 11, 2012, and then explained how it would work during a pre-dawn phone call to Hillary Clinton.  The phone call to Hillary was the only one made by obama between 5 pm Washington time and daybreak on September 12.  During the first hours of that time span obama had a range of military options before him, any one of which could have saved the lives of some or all of the Benghazi victims.  But, having campaigned on the premise that the elimination of Osama bin Laden had all but eliminated Al Qaida as a military threat, obama declined to send in military assets to meat the Al Qaida attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.  He even left orders with Leon Panetta, the Defense Secretary, to tell military assets primed to react to the Benghazi attack to "stand down," i.e., not get involved.  With only a few U.S. guns on site, the attackers finally managed to grab Davis and one other American and murder them after up to nine hours of frenzied fighting.  Some reports say that Davis was tortured and mutilated before his body was taken to a Benghazi Hospital that was under Al Qaida control.   
      After a few days of public hearings in Congress, obama and hilary have made every effort to avoid the scandal, which is no surprise to those privy to the facts.  Recent public polls indicate that most Americans believe there was corruption involved in the failure to react to the Benghazi attack, but, amazingly, most polled do not think obama - the primary perpetrator, was involved.

More on Mandela; Guardian: obama won't last term

LINTHICUM, Maryland, June 10, 2013- News reports out of South Africa say that Nelson Mandela's health was unchanged overnight, and that his overall condition, while described as stable, was also called serious.  Most vexing for the 94-year-old statesman and peacemaker was an on-going lung infection, complicated by years of struggling with chronic tuberculosis.  Mr. Mandela contracted that disease during years of imprisonment by his country's former apartheid regime.  Family members went to his bedside in the hospital in Pretoria, South Africa....In London, a column in The Guardian questioned whether Obama would last his term after his latest scandal blossomed into a full-fledged governmental crisis.  A former CIA computer analyst, now employed by a top defense contractor, with top secret clearance, quit and charged that obama's "Prism" program was so intrusive that all personal privacy was at risk.

Mandela, 94, Said to be Stable After Latest Health Setback

BALTIMORE, June 9, 2013- One of the preeminent figures of this or any other time, Nelson Mandela, is said to be in serious but stable condition in a Praetoria, South Africa, hospital.  Mandela, now 94, is the former President of South Africa, and the individual who is recognized worldwide for dssssdd his nation from the racist, anachronistic and dehumanizing rule of apartheid to the humanistic and life-affirming rule of democracy the nation operates by today, has been in and out of the hospital in recent months.  Governments from around the world sent messages to South Africa wishing Mr. Mandela a speedy recovery.  Among that group was David Cameron of England.

Whither the IRS

BALTIMORE, June 4, 2913- Tech savvy folk love Google.  Liberals, Leftists, Independents, even Moderates and those on the right all love the techsters.  They make life easier and better.  They define cool and hip and they are not just on the cutting edge, they are the cutting edge.  So imagine how sick I am to learn that the Google folk are schooling obama and his functionaries on ways to use tech against their enemies.  Enemies? You'll recall those elections last fall.  obama won. Yes he did.  But it was not a landslide.  Were it not for the IRS taking the wind out of the Tea Party, he may not have won. It's food for thought. Anyway, the fine tech-savvy folk at Google are helping those looney marxists ensconced in the White House to do very nasty things to obama's enemies.  And anybody who isn't an obama bootlicker is an enemy. All of this in the wake of revelations that obama and his far left uber agitation squad have turned the IRS into a sword over Middle America.  The lies are boffo big and made without batting an eye.  The acting head of the IRS goes to the White House over 150 times in a single year, but obama only learned about the unfettered harassment of the tea party when he read it in the paper. There is obama with that straight face of his asking America to believe he didn't know a thing about the wholesale pummeling the Tea Party was enduring.  Holder got into the act, too, saying he knew nothing about spying on journalists; i.e. fox, and yet the very next day we learn he signed an affidavit to get the wiretap.  People from all walks of government screamed at Bush for years to prosecute the leakers and the Man from Texas said, simply, no.  But obama has a leaker at state and he's ready to indict James Rosen of fox.  But first we have to be told he knew nothing.  Sgt. Schultz would be proud. At the IRS hearings, Bagdad Jim McDermott actually tells Tea Party witnesses who were savaged by the IRS that it was to be expected because, you know, they aren't with obama. Leftists like obama and mcdermott give humans a bad name.  Anything they want to do, to whoever they want to do it to, and the dems and media (as I repeat myself) cover it up or explain it away.  I am starting to think obama could shoot somebody in cold blood and the media would say, well, he had to because, you know, he wasn't with me.

You go barack! Who needs those aggravating working people, anyway.

Some remarks about obama and baseball

BALTIMORE, June 4, 2013- Here goes:

• Sources are now saying that on that terrible night, September 11, 2012, through the following morning, as four Americans were butchered in Benghazi, the only thing that obama did was make a lone phone call to Hilary to hash out the cover-up tale utilizing the You Tube film nobody saw.  In other words, once obama and hilary realized they had screwed up in a very big way, by doing nothing when leadership was desperately needed, the only thing the agitator in him knew to do was cover it up.  That is the only thing he did. The only thing.  The left wing shills and functionaries in the White House and in the media will, of course, deny it until they are blue in the face.  But the interesting question for the lot of them is: let's say it's true, just for arguments sake.  What then?  Is it okay for him and her to do what they did?  And if it is not, should he resign?  Should she not run?  I don't expect him to resign or her to not run.  What kind of people will you have to be to continue to support either of them?  Just wondering. Just...

• In the NCAA baseball tournament, in the regional at Chapel Hill (May 31-June 3), Florida Atlantic came out of the loser's bracket to knock off No. 1 North Carolina in the so-called first championship.  Since that first championship left each of them with a lone loss, they had to play again and this time it was winner take all.  In this second championship, North Carolina finally prevailed, 12-11.  So who was it that hung the first loss on Florida Atlantic, dumping them into the loser's bracket?  That would be Towson.  That's the same Towson whose low-brow president, Maravene Loeschke, called a meeting of the baseball team one Friday morning in February.  She called the meeting at 9:30 am, and told the players to report to a given location on campus at 10 am.  When loeschke arrived she entered the hall surrounded by about six armed campus police officers.  Another half dozen armed officers were left outside to "guard" her car.  When the meeting started she told those players who managed to make the meeting (at 9:30 am many of them were, guess, in class. Imagine that!) that she was eliminating baseball at Towson effective at the end of the season.  Then she up and left. The armed cotarie followed dutifully behind. She took no questions.  An uproar followed in the days and weeks that followed and many folk called for her resignation.  The Comptroller of Maryland was one of those persons.  I was another. L'il ole me (see 3/11 post).  Later, the Maryland General Assembly found $300,000.00 to fund the team for two more seasons.  That will help recruiting, I know that!  
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• Anyway, flip the calendar forward.  It is now June and those very same students who loeschke would only face when a contingent of armed men were in between, were still playing and representing the school. They hadn't had a great season, but like well-coached baseball teams at all levels, the Towson lads were playing their best at the end.  They won the Colonial Conference tournament and went tripping into the NCAA Championships.  Once in the big show, the powers that be did them absolutely no favors.  The NCAA invites 64 very good teams (I can't say the 64 best because the team recently at 26 in the RPI rankings, Maryland, was not in the field, although eight other ACC schools were), then divides them into 16 regionals of four teams each.  Each regional plays a double elimination tournament over four days.  The other schools in the Chapel Hill, North Carolina regional were No. 1-ranked North Carolina, powerful Florida Atlantic and upstart Canisius.  Towson drew Florida Atlantic in the opener, and darn if those Marylanders didn't take it to the southern school, winning 7-2, putting them in a winner's bracket game against North Carolina on Saturday afternoon. Not unexpectedly, North Carolina, 55-9, moved ahead in the game, 7-2, after seven and one half innings.  If the Tigers went quietly, who would have thought worse of them?  But they didn't.  They came roaring back, those Tigers did (sorry).  With one out in that bottom of the 8th, Hunter Bennet, the shortstop and number 8 hitter, cracked a double.  Zach Fisher then fell behind on the count, 0-2, before working the Carolina pitcher for a walk.  Pat Fitzgerald then fell behind on the count, 1-2, before being hit by the pitch.  That loaded the bases.  Designated hitter Kurt Wertz followed with a single through the right side of the Tar Heel infield, plating two Tiger runs and cutting the Carolina lead to 7-4.  Next up was left fielder Peter Bowles, and he jumped on a pitch and blistered it to left.  Sadly, it went right to the left fielder, but even then another Tiger runner scored, and now the heavily favored Heels lead was down to 7-5.  Next came the Tiger right fielder, Dominic Fratantuono.  He fell quickly behind, 0-2, before lining a single to center.  Wertz stopped at second.  Now, the tie run was on base and the go-ahead run was at the plate.  That hitter was the first baseman, Brendan Butler.  Butler proceeded to send the Carolina fans into momentary cardiac seizure.  But his fly ball to straight away center stayed in the park and the Tigers were retired.  The final score was 8-5, but with only one loss, Towson played on.  Sunday brought a rematch with Florida Atlantic.  The winner earned a right to play North Carolina on Sunday night in the so-called first championship.  This time, Towson struck for three runs in the first inning and was still tied with Florida Atlantic, 5-5 entering the ninth.  But the southern school pushed across a single run to win the rematch, 6-5.  The Tigers ended the season, 30-30, but a couple of heavyweights in that Chapel Hill regional won't soon forget them.
• Now I could end the story with a remark about  loeschke not having the simple decency of apologizing for the incredible scene with the armed guards, but when someone is that low-brow, why bother?

Columbia's amazing victory

BALTIMORE, June 2, 2013- Columbia University is an Ivy League school, and like all other Ivy League schools, it is an old school.  It was founded as King's College in 1764 after King George II of England issued a charter authorizing its founding.  It is one of nine so-called Colonial Colleges, indicative of the fact that it predates the American Revolution.  After the Revolution the school was renamed Columbia College and later, Columbia University.  
       After getting its start on Madison Avenue it was moved soon thereafter a bit further north, where it now is nestled into the upper west side of Manhattan's Central Park, in a neighborhood called Morningside Heights. Many a moon ago, it had some really great athletes.  There is the famous photograph of legendary Lou Gehrig, resplendent in his Columbia Baseball Uniform.  Be that as it may, the Lions have made but three visits to the NCAA baseball tournament, the one that ends in Omaha each season in the College World Series. These days, some 64 schools play in the CWS. Until last night, the Lions had never won even one game. Not one.  
       Last night, the powerful New Mexico Lobos looked for all the world as if they were going to extend Columbia's futility. The Lions were already in the so-called "Loser's Bracket."  In the double-elimination regional, the Loser's Bracket includes teams with one loss.  Every game in the Loser's Bracket is do or die. You lose, you go home. Columbia had lost on Friday to powerful Cal State-Fullerton by a 4-1 score. Moving into the 8th inning, the Lions had but five hits.  They had no runs. New Mexico had five. In fact, the five runs that New Mexico had looked like money in the bank because, heck, the Lions had only run run in 16 innings of regional play.
       One suspected, watching the game, that Lobo head coach Ray Birmingham was coaching for the tomorrows he hoped were coming.  After seven strong innings of shut-out pitching, he yanked starting pitcher Sam Wolff, and replaced him with a string of pitchers who had pitched less than 20 innings all season.  That tells you that he was saving his pitching staff for the games against Cal State-Fullerton and Arizona State, the other two teams in the regional, both of them perennial national powerhouses.  
       So now its the 8th inning and guess what, Columbia was just getting started.  With one out, and one run on, Alex Black got into a fast ball and launched it high and deep over the left field wall.  One had a feeling that the homer was more than just two runs; it was catalytic, it made Columbia's players realize they can compete against the big boys.  They should have already known it; back in March they played a three-game series at Defending National Champion Arizona, and while the Sun Devils took the series, the Lions played them tough all three games and won the Saturday game, 8-4. 
    What followed Black's blast was baseball at its nail-biting best.  You knew the Lions season was on the line; if they couldn't do it now, they couldn't do it.  Columbia loaded the bases, and got two Texas League hits to tie the game.  Joey DiNino was gut tough on the hill, throwing 6.2 shut-out innings and striking out eight.  He improved to 7-0.  In the fateful 13th, Nick Ferraresi, the catcher, led off with a single and the Aaron Silbar's bunt got him to second.  Then, Nick Crucet grounded a single to right that barely got by the second-baseman.  The right-fielder charged and threw a strike to the plate.  Ferraresi slid hard into the New Mexico catcher, who had the plate blocked.  The umpire said Ferraresi was safe and replays confirmed it, but boy was it close.  At that point, Lion coach Brett Boretti pulled DiNino and inserted Black, his closer, who had been playing first.  New Mexico got the tie run to third with two outs and they had their best hitter, D.J. Peterson, up.  Petersen is a finalist for national player of the year; but Black struck him out, then bounded off the mound, fists pumping, shouting for joy for all who would listen.  DeNino, left to watch the 13th from the dugout, instantly grew a smile wider than the mouth of the Lincoln Tunnel.  OK, it did look like the Lions had won the CWS.  And just for a minute, Columbia fans and students did, too.

A Saturday Morning Baseball Look-In

BALTIMORE, June 1, 2013- First I looked for the score of the first round NCAA Division I baseball game between No. 13 Indiana and unranked Valparaiso.  The game was played last night at Indiana, and quickly I saw that the powerful Hoosiers had prevailed, 5-4.  Then I hopped to the box score.  The Crusaders led from the start and still led, 4-1, entering the bottom of the ninth.  The Hoosiers had pushed across two runs, then Chad Clark, their second baseman, smashed a two-run homer.  You have to understand how hard a small school like Valparaiso has to work to compete with a big school like Indiana.  To lose a critical game like they did and the way they did has to be heartbreaking.  So today, at 1 pm, they are rewarded for their pain by getting to play, of all teams, Florida.  Well, you know what, you read it here first, Valpo will win that game.  Florida's 4-3 loss to Austin Peay was not an upset.  The Gators are now 29-28 while the Governors improved to 45-13.  Baseball is the strangest of games in college because small schools often have great teams, and, come tournament time, their playoffs are double-elimination. In other words, Valpo plays on. Elsewhere, Towson, small, unknown, unheralded Towson, smashed South Florida, 7-2, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina to improve to 29-28.  If you are a Towson fan, you might want to head south and watch these games because after the season the idiots that run their athletic program are dropping baseball.  Don't be shocked by the description of these administrators; no less than Maryland's Comptroller has called for the President's resignation (I have, also) over the low-brow sleezy way the affair was handled.  And really, the very idea that the school should consider dropping a well-run, clean, beautiful program like their baseball team is cause for resignation.  Today would be a really great day to make that announcement. Today, the Tigers play defending national champion and no. 1-ranked North Carolina.  And the game, of course, is in Chapel Hill.
       Anyway, in Bloomington, Chad Clark, Indiana's second baseman, committed an error in the top of the ninth that led to two Valpo runs and the 4-1 Crusader lead.  Valpo summonsed their lights-out closer, Karch Kowalczyk, who had surrendered only one run all season in 25 innings.  But Clark ended the game by hitting his homer off of Kowalczyk.  Baseball is so cruel; but it can also be redemptive.  I personally know that, but it is another story.  Hang touch, Karch.