Random Notes, July 2019

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I'm visiting Scotland this week. I'm all over the place in every way, shape, and form:

+ Robert Mueller's testimony crystallized why less than half of all Americans want President Trump impeached. Even though Mueller was somewhat limited in his responses, he refused to be complicit or give any independent corroboration. Trump's most ardent critics have been trying to fill the holes before he was even elected, and they failed. It's not totally hopeless, though; Mueller's testimony (and report) did not rule out indicting Trump after he leaves office.

+ Europe seems to be a far-right populist kick. The latest in this trend is Boris Johnson, Great Britain's fourth Prime Minister since 2008. Unlike Trump, a man who he compares to in an unflattering manner, "Bojo" didn't have much competition on his ascension to PM. Then again, Parliament elects who leads the country, not the people. In any case, Brexit has its most hard-line supporter yet in front, and he'll have to navigate certain key issues (like the Irish border) that still haven't been answered.

+ I'm still active on eBay. Check out what I'm selling here.

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30 Teams, 30 Haiku: My 2018 Baseball Preview

I've been doing this for several years now. I assume knows the drill now, right?

I have guarded optimism for my Royals this year. We're easing ourselves into rebuilding; beyond the recent re-sign of Mike Moustakas, my boys will have healthy averages but struggle to drive in runs. The speedster depicted above might ease the pain as we aim for 75-80 wins again.

*notes wild card picks

AL East
1. Yankees. Dominant again/but don't Judge; mashers evoke/Bombers of years past.
2. Red Sox*. These new Killer B's/(Benintendi, Bradley, Betts)/could be fun to watch.
3. Blue Jays. Young hitting prospects/aren't ready yet; pitching health/makes hosers skittish.
4. Orioles. Boom-Boom Mancini/can't power-hit alone; Crush/and Trumbo must smash.
5. Rays. Less sting in Tampa/Kiermaier has a hot glove/...that's the one highlight.

AL Central
1. Indians. A healthy Brantley/would be nice, but depth and weak/rivals won't hurt Tribe.
2. Twins. These Cinderellas/need more consistent SPs/and fewer pumpkins.
3. White Sox. So much turnover/reminds me of '13 Cubs/youth might rule quite soon.
4. Royals. Not unwatchable/slow rebuild, offense struggles/regal fire sale?
5. Tigers. Odd mix of young, old/aging Miggy's huge contract/leaves Bengals toothless.

AL West
1. Astros. Youthful core remains/they won't win 100, but/they'll feast on the West.
2. Angels*. Ohtani, a rare/double threat; I love his arm/but where is his bat?
3. Rangers. Not much pitching depth/beyond Hamels; with hard hits/this offense intrigues.
4. Mariners. Farm system, gutted/ancient Felix, Ichiro/lead a motley crew.
5. Athletics. Fresh Piscotty takes/a baby elephant walk/with rebuilding club.

NL East
1. Nationals. A hundred-plus wins/aside, playoff glory now/or next year's Marlins.
2. Mets*. Vargas paints the strikes/but after lat tear, they can't/let Thor get hammered.
3. Phillies. Fat Odubel whiffs/Arrieta carries this/hodgepodge of youngsters.
4. Braves. Not a playoff team/yet; Acuna and Albies/must get their chops first.
5. Marlins. These fish are dinner/like '98, but way worse/Jeter is too vague.

NL Central
1. Cubs. Yu better, you bet/Maddon must care for pitchers/or '16? A fluke.
2. Brewers*. All bats, no pitching/85 high-scoring wins/quite realistic.
3. Cardinals. Weaver is a dream/if K's pile up. Who is/Miles Mikolas?
4. Reds. Hamilton must learn/to bunt; history has its/eyes on you, Billy.
5. Pirates. These faceless Buccos/have their work cut out for them/grievances abound!

NL West
1. Dodgers. Chokehold on first place/Matt Kemp is back? Good, I guess/on league's deepest team.
2. D-Backs. A small step backward/all that glitters is Goldy/bullpen needs more bite.
3. Rockies. No shade on Jon Gray/at last, an ace bolsters new/Baker Street Bombers.
4. Giants. Offense upgrades? Nice/but MadBum can't catch a break/and old guys must rake.
5. Padres. Very deep farm teams/will pay off by '21/Now? Say a prayer.

AL MVP: Mike Trout, Angels
NL MVP: Nolan Arenado, Rockies
AL Cy Young: Chris Sale, Red Sox
NL Cy Young: Max Scherzer, Nationals
AL ROY: Franklin Barreto, A's
NL ROY: Ronald Acuna, Braves
First Manager Fired: Mike Matheny, Cardinals
2018 World Series: Dodgers over Yankees in 6

Random Notes, March 2018

Russians hackers tampered with the 2016 presidential election.

The above sentence is an undeniable fact. What could not be proven, however was the curious but ultimately unconfirmed theory that President Trump's campaign worked with said Russian hackers to alter the course of the 2016 election, essentially performing a massive act of collusion. When it seemed like more time, money, and energy was needed to connect the dots, the GOP pulled the plug on their investigation. Robert Mueller et al. will continue to soldier on, dauntless albeit impartial, sending subpoenas were needed.

Other notes:

+ Next week, I leave for Austin! It'll be my second trip by airplane since 2005 and longest trip out of state since high school. Of course I'll be doing the tourist thing, but I'm going down to Texas first and forement for "The Bob Zula." This is a feature film produced, written, and directed by my friend Brandon Reich. He's crowdsourcing the film's budget, and even though there's enough to start filming, I want to make sure Brandon completes the project. I strongly encourage anyone reading this to donate ASAP. Even a $5 donation gets a "thank you" in the closing credits.

+ Wanna buy some late 60s/early 70s baseball cards? Message me for details.

Next week: my annual baseball preview.

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Summer Dazed

So far, this is not shaping up to be a great summer.

For the first time since 2012, I've been out of work during the warm months. I usually take a temp assignment during summer break, but it has yet to materialize and I fear that it won't anytime soon. I was able to clear out my credit card debt with part of my inheritance (thanks, Mom and Grandma) but I might end up back in debt soon enough. It has been a struggle to stay motivated on various projects. To elaborate:

I'm writing comedy sketches again. For the first time in nearly four years I'm enrolled in a class at Second City; I'm taking an eight-week writing intensive that is offered to conservatory graduates. I had to get a waiver for the course because it'd been so long since I graduated (almost four years ago).

When I'm not dealing with these two family estates, I've undertaken a long-delayed cleaning and organizing project. I have a large (to put it mildly) sports card collection; I've been fishing around for items to sell on eBay *cough* while also buying new supplies to store my cards. Some of the earliest cards in my collection, given to me by my great-great-aunt around 1989-90, were still in old shoe-boxes. Given that the market at a low tide, selling cards on eBay has been an uphill battle to say the least.

I guess there are some perks to being temporarily underemployed: my schedule is flexible enough to enjoy a few day trips, and I'm catching up with reading. Still, with five weeks until the school year starts, I sincerely hope I find some short-term temp work.

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It's (Still) In The Cards

As a sports card collector, I'm feeling some trepidation about the coming year. Last week, Topps began their first year since 1980 as the sole manufacturer of MLB-liscensed baseball cards. It won't be a flashy start to the year, it's merely Series 1 of their base brand release, though it's the first harbinger of all the sweeping changes that rocked the card industry last year. For those of you who don't follow trading cards anymore, here's a short recap:

In March, the Panini sticker company was granted an exclusive licensing deal by the NBA, and shortly afterward they bought out Donruss so they wouldn't have to start their trading card operations from scratch. In August, the MLBPA announced that because of the shrinking market only one company would produce baseball cards for the 2010 season; after a contested battle, Topps got the nod over Upper Deck. Three months later, the tables were turned when the NFL denied Topps' offer to produce football cards in 2010, leaving UD and the newly christened Panini America as the sole manufacturers in that category. Later this year, the NHLPA's exclusive deal with Upper Deck will expire, leading many to suggest that Topps might re-enter the hockey fold after a six-year hiatus.

While all this tightened licensing will result in fewer options on the market, I won't have as many headaches keeping track of the myriad number of brands that come out every year. Nevertheless, the jilted parties are improvising; Upper Deck may no longer have full MLB licensing, yet they're still releasing a handful of baseball products this year, albeit with no mention of team names (i.e. "Matt Kemp - Los Angeles (NL)") and obstructed logos in lieu of chintzy airbrushing (see above). In reality though, it's hard to tell who the real winners and losers are; every major company has whittled their product line down to one or two sports (to stay afloat, Topps also makes UFC trading cards). I wouldn't call it the death of a hobby, though I can't imagine anyone is benefitting from all this consolidation, either.

Other notes:

+ Very few things can make me shout "What the hell?!?!" in a public setting. This would be one of them. Luckily, I was in a crowded bar at the time, so my rare outburst barely even registered.

+ Was it a mistake to not mention the Lt. Governor's race in my Illinois Primary blog last week? I didn't vote for Scott Lee Cohen, yet I still feel blindsided by these shocking allegations. His press conference Sunday night was held in a pizzeria, evidently symbolic of the level of class and grace he showed while he tried to salvage his campaign. Good luck to the Illinois Democratic Party as they find a running mate for Governor Quinn that doesn't wear their checkered past on their sleeve.

+ Just a friendly reminder that pitchers and catchers report in one week.