The Daily Dose/January 16, 2020
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience…
AS LONG AS WE’RE ON THE SUBJECT…AGAIN: Something else that we got to thinking about regarding the Houston Astros sign-stealing imbroglio: –
What in the hell were the Astros opponents thinking?
We touched on this briefly yesterday. More than one story on the matter said opponents suspected their signs were being stolen, something that isn’t hard to deduce: pitches a batter had no business expecting are put in orbit, or maybe a base-stealing or hit-and-run attempt didn’t work because the defense pitched out. This is not rocket science, it’s baseball. When this happens you change your signs. Or don’t change your signs and don’t run the play or deliver the pitch called for. Either way, you’ve got options.
Dry, Technical Matter: It’s silly that careers are being ruined over this. Look, there’s cheating and then there is gamesmanship. Cheating is defined in some dictionaries as:
To act dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain an advantage.
What’s dishonest or unfair about stealing signs? Nothing, because you’re as free to steal your opponent’s signs as they are free to steal yours. It’s been a part of major league baseball since the National League was founded in 1876. Cameras and TV monitors are merely the 21st-century version of how it’s done. If you’re careless enough to get your signs stolen and not adapt you deserve what you get.
Hut, Hut, Hike: This situation is not unlike the DeflateGate scandal that thrilled the country following the Jan. 2015 AFC Championship Game, where New England defeated Indianapolis and the Patriots were accused of letting air out of their footballs. Good gravy, this was silly, too. People said this and people said that but the bottom line was NFL game officials handled the football before and after every play and they didn’t throw any footballs out and that should have been the end of it. A good high school varsity official knows an illegal game ball the second he touches one and all the commissioner had to say was the game officials had no problems with the footballs and that would have that. –
Today At The Site
Editor’s Note: it’s Read Free Fortnight at The Diary of a Nobody. So go, scoot, click on the link and enjoy the Diary with Sparrow’s compliments.
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow moves no small amount of snow from the driveway. Today’s Diary.
We’ve had no small amount of snow this winter and the snowblower has already been used more than all of last winter combined…In fact, we’ve had so much snow ol’ Sparrow will probably be obliged to move snow off the carport roof before too long.
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On This Date
Great moments in us.
In 1412 – The Medici family of Florence is appointed the official banker of the papacy. The Medici Bank had been founded in 1397 and the family had made their fortune in the textile trade. The bank failed in 1494 but the Medici family is credited with the development of the double-entry accounting method, though they did not invent it as it had been around since Roman times. The family also produced four popes between 1513 and 1605 and their patronage is credited with the invention of both opera and the piano and they funded the construction of St Peter’s Basilica
In 1934 – Ken Doraty of the Toronto Maple Leafs establishes a new NHL record with three overtime goals in a 7-4 victory over the Ottawa Senators. The Maple Leafs twice overcame two-goal deficits in the 3rd period and overtime in that era was ten minutes long and not the five minute sudden death periods they are now. The NHL did away with overtime during World War II before resuming it in 1983 and Doraty’s hat trick remains the only overtime hat trick in NHL history.
In 1988 – Got My Mind Set On You by George Harrison is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for its only week. It was Harrison’s 12th Top 40 hit as a solo act, his fifth Top 10 hit and his third and final #1 song. The song went to #1 in four other countries including Belgium and Ireland, peaked at #2 in Great Britain and was Billboard’s 3rd biggest song of the year. It was the only one of Harrison’s three #1 songs in the US he didn’t write himself and it remains the last #1 song in the US by a member of the Beatles.
Quotebook
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
The beauty of educating oneself is there is no limits to what can be learned.
Louis L’Amour
Education of a Wandering Man
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
It’s not who you know, but what you know.
The NBA record for fewest steals in a game by both teams is one, done on Jan. 16, 2019 when the Portland Trailblazer defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 129-112. The game’s only steal was by Portland’s Nik Stauskas.
Today’s Stumper
Test your knowledge. Now.
How many #1 songs did George Harrison have as a solo act in Great Britain? – Answer next time!
