To Absent Friends - David Brenner
Add me to the list of those offering condolences over the death yesterday of comedian David Brenner.
The last time I remember seeing Brenner was when he played himself on an episode of "Modern Family" a few seasons back. Prior to that, I can't remember when I had seen him last, but he certainly was a ubiquitous presence on TV back in his prime.
I was surprised when I saw that he was 78 years old. That shocked me, but then I remember that I would watch him on TV when I was in college and THAT was forty or so years ago, so if he was in his thirties then, well, time does have a way of passing by, doesn't it?
RIP David Brenner.
"Boardwalk Empire" Binge Watching
Marilyn and I are spending the weekend binge-watching Season Three of the great HBO series "Boardwalk Empire". We are halfway through it as I type this. Yes, I know that Season Four has already come and gone on HBO, so we are way behind the curve here. It really is a terrific series - great writing, great acting, great production values. Incredibly violent, but compelling nonetheless.
Season Three of Boardwalk takes place in 1923, which is the exact year in which the recently completed Season Four of "Downton Abbey" took place. The juxtaposition of what was occurring at the exact same time on both sides of the Atlantic - the fading days of British aristocracy, and the battles of the Atlantic City, New York, and Chicago underworld during Prohibition in America - fascinates me. It will never happen, but wouldn't it be great to see these two worlds collide in some great crossover show? Personally, I'd love to see Nucky Thompson give Thomas Barrow just exactly what he deserves! And I think that there would be a place for Mr. Bates in Nucky's Boardwalk Empire.
In an episode we watched last night, Eli Thompson approached his brother and said, "Nucky, I'd like a word, please." Maybe the two shows are more closely related than we think.
The Volquez Situation
One of the matters that has Pirates fans knickers in a knot this Spring Training is the performance of $5 million free agent pitcher Edinson Volquez. He had an outing in a game yesterday wherein he gave up five runs in three innings and that actually brought his spring training ERA down to 11.00. And this is the guy who will take A.J. Burnett's spot in the rotation?
Well, it is worrisome, to be sure. Fans can hope that Ray Searage can work the same magic on Volquez that he did on Francisco Liriano last season, but no signs of that yet. Like it or not, I think that the season is going to start with Volquez in the rotation, but for how long if his ineffectiveness continues? In 2013, the Pirates wasted little time in canning Jonathan Sanchez from the rotation and the team when it became obvious that he wasn't going to work, but the team hadn't invested Five Large in Sanchez as they have with Volquez. Will the team be willing to eat that much money?
Someone on Pirate Chat suggested that perhaps the team will figure out a way to put Volquez on the DL and give Searage a little more time to tinker with him, much the way it happened with Liriano last year.
I sure don't have the answer, but I am sure that the Pirates Brain Trust is asking the same questions.
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