The More Things Change

Kevin Millar has foiled me again. Captain Pantload (that's my new nickname for him; picked that one up from Dale Gribble) hit not one, but two homers last night and single-handedly beat the Devil Rays. This is the same Kevin Millar who went something like 4,000 at bats between home runs before a recent surge that's seen him hit three in a week. As I was watching him round the bases after his second dinger last night (the one that hit about halfway up the Coke bottles in left field) I realized that I've got some issues that are probably best addressed through therapy. I did a quick search on this site and found that I've written about Millar on no less than 53 separate occasions. Fifty-three! I think that qualifies you for stalker status.

What's really funny is going back and reading what I wrote last October. It sounds eerily familiar (probably because I regurgitate the same basic meme every chance I get):

...Speaking of Millar, why is it that the more I bad-mouth him, the better he plays? Since the All-Star break he's gone on a tear, and he's even played better defensively. I guess the next logical step is to start sending him hate mail and just sit back and wait for the induction ceremony in Cooperstown.

Instead of deciding to get hot immediately following the All-Star break this season, Millar instead waited an extra month and a half. Whatever the case, I'm just going to step out of the way and let him wreak his havoc work his magic.

***
I watched the Yankees - Mariners game two nights ago for the express purpose of seeing Bellhorn in his new duds. He just doesn't look right wearing a Yankees uniform. And the fact that New York has that stupid rule requiring all players to shave makes Bellhorn even look half presentable.

God knows I've gone back and forth about Bellhorn, but earlier this season I finally got on the ever-dwindling Bellhorn bandwagon. And things just got worse for the poor guy. He struggled at home, which led to the fans really giving him the business, which inevitably led to more struggles. Then he got hurt, the Red Sox cut him and now he's with the Yankees. And then I read this article in Wednesday's Boston Herald:

"It's unfortunate for me what happened this year in Boston, but there are no hard feelings," Bellhorn said before the game. "I didn't start off too great and I think I started pressing. Maybe I was putting too much pressure on myself."

[...]

Bellhorn acknowledged that he wasn't able to entirely block out the boos.

"I think over a period it got to me a little bit," the 31-year-old said. "I wish they would've given me a little more cushion, but at the same time, you've got to go out and produce."

I mentioned this a couple of times before, but I hope things work out for Bellhorn. No matter how visceral your reaction upon hearing his name, you have to respect the guy for not making excuses and for playing hard. God I'm turning into such a softie.

***
The two "big" papers in Pittsburgh are the Post-Gazette and the Tribune-Review. Every football season I lament that their Steelers coverage is inexplicably worse than the year before. Well this season is no different. And something else that's no different is the fact that I dropped another $29.99 for "Steelers 'Xtra," which, after reading a month's worth of articles, I can only assume is a euphemism for "How to Swindle 30 bucks from Suckers Under the Guise of Behind-the-Scenes Coverage." (And yes, I've complained about stuff like this before, so I really have no one to blame but myself ... but that won't keep me from talking about it here.) But that's a story for another time. For the most recent example of how these papers are looking up at mediocrity, consider this gem from today's Tribune-Review:

...Fourth-round pick Fred Gibson has stuggled and could become casualty. The Steelers will retain up to six receivers, with Hines Ward, Cedrick Wilson and Antwaan Randle El locks. Nate Washington looks to have a spot on the roster, along with veteran Lee Mays and special teams ace Sean Morey.

...Tight end, Matt Kranchick has made big plays in the preseason (three catches for 68 yards), but might not make the team with Jerame Tuman, Heath Miller and Walter Rasby ahead of him. Former second-round bust Alonzo Jackson is another player whi likely will not make the final cut.

Emphasis mine. Before you even get an opportunity to quibble with writer's contentions, you have to get past the fact that apparently the Tribune-Review (a) doesn't have editors, (b) doesn't have dictionaries, (c) bought the boot-legged MS Word that didn't include a spell-check, (d) is just too lazy to worry about misspelled words, or (e) some combination of the above.

Look, when I re-read some of the drivel I've written on this site, I find a lot of misspelled words, and grammatical mistakes that would make most English speakers cringe. But here's the thing: I don't have an editor, and this isn't my day job. Before Joe Bendel (the author of the sure-to-be Pulitzer piece above) concerns himself with whether Fred Gibson's going to make the team, maybe he (or more importantly, his editors) should concentrate on correctly spelling "struggled" and "who." Jeez.