All these trades are starting to make my head spin. Every time I stop channel surfing to briefly check out a random NL game, or even see previews for a matchup on ESPN, another player is on a new team. Like Derek Lowe, who is now a Brave. Adam Laroche is Gone in 60 Seconds (a day or two after MLB.com runs a fluffy story about how well he was adapting in Boston), Kotsay is suddenly a member of the Sox who benefit from bleach and most importantly, we landed Martinez in a promising last minute trade everyone was hoping for. And oh yeah, we held on to Bucholz in the process.
Yesterday, I was reminded of Alyssa Milano’s baseball blog, which I checked out ages ago, during the off-season. When she released her book about baseball, I received a mailing from my neighborhood bookstore about signings she had in Brooklyn and Downtown Manhattan. I can’t say I love the blog, but I can see why she keeps scoring all those ballplayers! She’s got just the right combination smoking hot yet girl-next-door-esque looks, combined with genuine enthusiasm for the game. She’s not a bottomless well of baseball knowledge, or an exceedingly strong writer (she could afford to speckle in a little humor), but I give her kudos for carving out another persona. Of course, she has to say flattering things about the guys, unless, like Manny, they are caught doping, whereas I, a still-nobody, feel more free to run my mouth on players. I can’t help wondering who her audience is. Fellow female baseball enthusiasts like myself? Men who would never read the blog if she weren’t eight times hotter than the hottest girl they’ve ever banged? Die-hard Charmed fans? I’m under no illusions that my baseball knowledge is only superior by female standards. I won’t pretend that the strength of my blog lies in staying on top of the minutiae and giving you hot tips on who you should trade in your fantasy league. I appeal to the human interest side, as one might expect from a broad. I’m a casual fan who doesn’t feel the need to analyze every little detail. But I’m gonna quickly toot my own horn. I think my blog’s a wee bit better than Milano’s. Rebuttals apprehensively welcomed.
One more thing, while I’m in this confident self-aggrandizing mood. As a follow up to my Fantasy entry the other day, where I expressed my realization that men’s obsession over fantasy teams has way more to do with pride than the financial wins and losses, a male friend explicitly admitted the pride is why he exerts so much time and energy on his team. We’re talking hours a day, and the best case scenario for him is walking with about $170 come season’s end. Break that down hourly, and it’s a hell of a lot below minimum wage. You could even call it slavery or indentured servitude. Or if my friend doesn’t place in the league, he’s out $25, meaning that he payed money to work a bunch of free hours. I definitely don’t see this as sufficient incentive to root for individual players over your team just cause they’re in your league.
