But I ain't dead yet!

Oh my goodness, where to begin oh where to begin. I kind of let this blog go for a little while because work had me running everywhere and the umpiring little league games gig is now officially finished for the season. I think next year I will take a break from it and look at some other options. I love being an umpire and while it does make life interesting, it also sucks calling my son out at times especially when he makes a big mistake and then just stands there and looks pissed at me for calling him out. But usually by the end of the inning he's asking me what I thought of the plays he made.........sigh. Nothing like going from the good guy to the bad guy back to the dad and then to the bad guy when things don't go his way. My son loves me and that's all that matters.....but the boy was OUT! LOL!

I have kept tabs on a few things that have been happening in the hobby and it seems like Beckett is receiving the ol' loaded boxes again. Pretty sad to see that happening and yet nothing is being done about it. Topps has to fall and fall hard! Gellman had a great article that kind of sums it up! Rob over at Voice of the Collector touches on the subject as well.

Hey did you know that in the 2010 factory sets of Topps Baseball it includes Stephen Strasburg? I saw that in the State College Target store yesterday. Ya know it's funny.....he went on the DL already. Can anybody say, "MARK PRIOR"? And speaking of BIG NAMES falling fast.....anybody hear from Joba Chamberlain lately? And don't even get me started on all of the trades that have been happening in the past 24 hrs. My goodness you need a road map. Kerry Wood and Lance Berkman as YANKEES? UGGGGHHHHH!!! DeWitt went to the Cubs. Chris Snyder went to Pittsburgh. Rick Ankiel went to the Royals. Matt Capps went to the twins. Heck the Baltimore Orioles hired Buck Showalter as a manager.......NO ONE IS SAFE!!! And of course let's not forget Roy Oswalt going to the Phillies. All of these transactions have led to some setbacks for other players though. A bunch of semi stars have been demoted or released. Some have been promoted like Dominic Brown, Logan Morrison, and Brett Wallace. Who knows what will happen at 11:59 on July 31, 2010. WHAT I DO KNOW IS THAT THE METS HAVE NOT DONE A DAMN THING!

From the mouths of kids:

My son asked me a question about a game used pants card of Adam Lind that I acquired: "Dad, This piece of pants is not from his butt where he farted on them is it?" I suddenly stopped touching the piece of game pants card and tried to come up with an answer but I failed. He might have a point!

Tis the Season....Merry Christmas MLB Players!

My goodness how this off-season of Major League Baseball has been very "moving" to say the least. Some players have gladly welcomed their trades while other players are left saying, "what the heck" or "why" or some very flavorful choice of words like #**&*(&$#)#(@)##*. Here's an update of some notable players and where there new home is going to be in 2010:

John Lackey to BOSTON
Mike Cameron to BOSTON
Hideki Matsui to the ANGELS
Cliff Lee to SEATTLE and was rather quite upset about it to say the least after settling in Philly...or so his agent said.
Roy Halladay to PHILADELPHIA
Juan Pierre to CHICAGO White Sox
Randy Wolf to MILWAUKEE
Ivan Rodriguez to WASHINGTON
Bobby Crosby to PITTSBURGH
Chris Ray to TEXAS
Kevin Millwood to BALTIMORE
Curtis Granderson to NY YANKEES
Chone Figgins to SEATTLE
Gregg Zaun to MILWAUKEE

You can say all you want that Baseball is a business and it's bound to happen sooner or later with some trades. Sadly it seems though that the type of ball player that plays for only one team is fading away like a sunset. Welcome to the era of the "money ball". Looks like ticket prices are gonna go up again with some of these trades.....uggghhhh... ENOUGH ALREADY! I can see the prices now at the vendors:

Hot Dogs: 6.00/ with bun 8.00
Beer: 9.00 a bottle/ actually cold 12.00
Hamburgers (that weren't recalled): 10.00/ with bun 12.00
Popcorn: 6.50 (kernels only)/ actually popped popcorn 8.50
Programs: 8.00 (text only)/ with color pics 10.00

If we ever actually see these prices at a ball park then we just need to quit going to the games.