Baseball Hall of Fame News....

In baseball news, Bud "Bud" Selig gets voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by some committee.  Here is how I summarize the Selig Administration:

1. He presided over the sport when he and his bosses, the owners, looked the other way when steroid and PED usage ran amok among all of major and minor league baseball.
2. He then took credit for ending the "scourge of steroids and PED usage" only when the United States Congress began holding hearings on the matter and threatened to "look into" MLB's anti-trust exemption.
3. Completely over-reacted when an All-Star Game ended in a tie and decreed that, henceforth, home field advantage in the World Series would be given to the team whose league won the All-Star Game. (Honestly, did it really bother anyone when that game ended in a tie?)  Curiously, on the same weekend that Bud's election to the HOF was announced, this particular legacy of his was scuttled by MLB.
4. He presided over a labor stoppage that covered two seasons and led to the cancellation of the World Series in 1994.
5. Presided over an era that saw gross revenues for MLB increase to $9.5 billion (that's with a "B", folks).

In the end, point number five, trumps the preceding four points, so Bud gets a plaque.  And as far as points one and two are concerned, with Bud now in the Hall, there is no way that guys like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and other stars of the "PED Era" should be kept out.

To be fair, he also saw MLB expand to thirty teams, and introduced wild cards into the equation of baseball's pennant races.  Some purists will no doubt bemoan this forever, but it has made baseball more exciting theater, and that has also played a big part in producing those billions and billions of dollars for the Lodge Brothers who own those thirty teams.

Hey, I love the Baseball Hall of Fame.  It's one of may favorite places to visit, but Bowie Kuhn and now Bug Selig have plaques in the place, and Marvin Miller does not, and that tarnishes the place a good bit in my mind.

One final comment.   As I usually do when posting The Grandstander, I looked for a picture of Bud to post, and when you go to Google Images, you get an amazing array of pictures of Bud Selig.  I chose the one that you see at the top, but it was a difficult choice from among these other shots of the Commish Emeritus:

I hope that they choose a similar image for the bronze plaque that will hang on the wall in Cooperstown.

My. Lebo Advances, A Pitcher for the Pirates, and Other Thoughts....

Cleaning out the Mental In-Box....

• I moseyed up I-79 today to the campus of Slippery Rock University to take in a first round game of the PIAA Quad-A Baseball Championship Tournament.  The Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils, sparked by a two hit, two run performance by third sacker Anthony Paladino, defeated Erie Bishop McDowell, 7-4.  The Blue Devils await the results of another opening round game in Butler this evening, but it just could be that they will get another crack at the Seneca Valley Raiders.
• I may go all season long watching the Pirates and the rest of MLB in 2012 and not see a single runner picked off of second base by the pitcher.  Today, I saw that play not once, but twice.  Both the McDowell and the Mt. Lebanon starting pitchers turned that trick this afternoon.
• Many readers may not be aware of the fact that I spent my first year in college at Slippery Rock State College, as it was then known.  All I can say is that that campus has changed amazingly since that 1969-70 academic year.  Beautiful place these days.
• I just finished watching the first hour or so of the MLB Entry Draft to see whom the Pirates would select.  Hey, they took a pitcher with their first pick!  What a surprise.  Welcome to the Buccos, Mark Appel.
• If - and I emphasize the word IF - it all pans out, how long until a rotation of Jameson Taillon, Gerritt Cole, and Marl Appel toe the rubber in a three game series at PNC Park?  In their first full season of Class A ball, Taillon and Cole, seem to be progressing nicely.
• Not to be a spoilsport, but the fragility of "can't miss" prospects came to light today with the announcement that they were proceeding with plans to make pitcher Stetson Allie (selected in the second round after Taillon in 2010) into a position player.  Call it a "Reverse John VanBenschotten". 
• Man, isn't Bud Selig a real stiff up there at the podium announcing those draft selections?
• And who was the bald headed dude with Harold Reynolds and John Hart at the anchor desk?
• Got around last night to watching what has long been considered a classic western movie, Howard Hawks' "Red River" (1948), starring John Wayne and Montgomery Clift.  Pretty good yarn about an epic cattle drive from Texas to Kansas.  Wayne was the definite star of the movie, but he was no simon-pure hero in it either, which I thought was interesting.  This was Clift's first movie, and he held his own sharing the screen with The Duke.  Clift is one of those much admired young actors from the 1950's who died young.  I haven't seen a lot of his movies over the years, but you can see how good he was in his role in "Red River".
• Regular readers will recall a post from last month about Marilyn and my trip to the Zoo. (http://www.grandstander.blogspot.com/2012/05/someone-told-me-its-all-happenin-at-zoo.html) As you can see, the post featured a picture of a baby gorilla with its mother.  The sad news came across today that that little baby ape died this past Saturday.  
• Getting back to the Pirates, how about that series win in Milwaukee?  Yeah, I know Prince Fielder is gone and that the Brewers had guys hurt, including Cryin' Ryan, but that takes none of the pleasure out of taking two of three at Miller Park.  Sunday's 6-5 win was especially satisfying with the Bucs hitting four home runs and holding off late rallies by the Brewers.
• Should be a fun series to watch with the Reds that starts tomorrow.  A three game sweep would put the Pirates in a tie for first place, but I'll happily settle for another 2-out-of-3.
• For a real inspirational story, check out this PG article from this morning about Robert Morris University assistant football coach, and former Colonials quarterback, Camdin Crouse:  http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/rmu/robert-morris-qb-coach-crouse-adapts-to-life-changing-events-638802/