Photo for Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Posted: 12:08 am, Wednesday, July 22nd

I was reading this article about a dude who could throw way over 100 back in the 60s (you'll never believe this, but his elbow gave), when I noticed a mention of a 'Shrine of Eternals'. Unfamiliar with this, I bopped on over to the Baseball Reliquary, which is fucking awesome. Membership in the Shrine is not limited to statistical greats. Instead,

Criteria for election shall be: the distinctiveness of play (good or bad); the uniqueness of character and personality; and the imprint that the individual has made on the baseball landscape. Electees, both on and off the diamond, shall have been responsible for developing baseball in one or more of the following ways: through athletic and/or business achievements; in terms of its larger cultural and sociological impact as a mass entertainment; and as an arena for the human imagination.

The initial class (three a year) included Dock Ellis. I hope I don't need to tell you that the good Doctor threw a no-hitter while tripping on acid, but, if I do, that should also tell you everything you need to know about the Shrine of Eternals. My favorite Sock (eh?), Bill "Spaceman" Lee, was in the second class. Other luminaries in the Shrine include Jim Bouton, Bill Veeck, Jr., Josh Gibson, Jim Abbott, Mark "Bird" Fidrych, Bill Buckner, Buck O'Neil, Bill Piersall, Satch, and Fernando Velenzuela. Voting membership starts at $25 a year. Charlie Brown is up for membership this year. I have missed the cut-off for registration in time to vote for '09, but if he doesn't get in, I will join every year until he does. (I will also vote for Fred Merkle, of the famous boner, Dr. Frank Jobe, of the Tommy John surgery, and 'Nuf Ced' McGreevy, of the Royal Rooters fan club of the Sox back in the early 1900s.) They also have a fan award (Bill Murray, the dude who bangs that fucking drum at Indians games, and the lady who wrote Meets the Mets are all winners), and a historian award (I am not immediately familiar with any of the the winners).

I saw a kid reading a comic called Captain Canuck on the subway the other day, and I could not decide for the life of me if it was a joke or not. I guess it wasn't. Now I need to know if he was reading an old copy or if they still publish comics on the paper that's yellow by the time it gets to your hands, because that's what this book looked like. It was riveting.

God dammit, the limited-edition Knives Chau "Love" t-shirt is awesome.

Because I am well-documented as hating our freedom, I'm excited that the funding for the extra F-22s has been cut down. How fucking weird is it that we have t-shirts advertising military jets? This country is so screwed up.

Get your tubby ass in shape with 101 salad recipes from the Times.

Alright, I am off for Portland, Oregon. Everything should proceed as normally, except that posting may occur later in the morning, owing to the Pacific Time Zone.

bullfrog

Miyaa -- Wednesday, July 22 2009, 06:42 am

You've got to head for the coast during your trip! You'll especially love Seaside and all those parks that are just along the coast.

Driving over the mountains and along the coast side maybe an entirely different thing though.

Will you endure the New Stadium to see ND - Army?

Zero

What the hell is "Meets the Mets"?

Oh yeah... First Place Yankees!! First Place Yankees!!

While in Portland, don't forget to have a couple Deschutes.

Yay Portland! Say hi for me.

No. Screw you, Spacegirl.