(in the dark) the shine of small things

Mike Mussina with his pinpoint control and his softly wicked smile, standing on the mound like some sort of strange young king. . . . - [Bad username or site: candle_beck / @ livejournal.com]

Michael Cole "Moose" Mussina announced his retirement from major league baseball today. He was my first "boy" in MLB fandom. I think there's a good chance I never dip my toes into baseball if he doesn't catch my attention first, pitching really, really well, and losing close game after close game because of our spotty offense, and handling it all with a wry smile and a ready quip almost every time. With his ridiculous little bunny hop, and snakebitten ways, and odd habit of occasionally telling the media what he actually thought instead of just spewing cliches.

He was the first player I ever slashed. He was the first player I ever cried over (when he signed with the Yanks as a free agent)(again, when he lost his perfecto in 2001). He was the only player whose actual fanclub I ever joined. For years I carried one of his baseball cards in my wallet. Even for a while after he was with the Yanks, a card from his last year as an Oriole remained in my wallet. I got used to the sight of him in pinstripes pretty quickly, but he never looked as good in the NYY's home whites as he did in ours (I swear his eyes were not that puffy, nor his teeth so terrible, in orange and black). And it took a while, but eventually, hearing Yankee fans doing our MOOOOOOOOOOOSE call warmed my heart instead of raised hairs on my neck. He's the only player besides Cal Ripken and Eddie Murray that my mom can name.

I was pretty sure he'd retire after the '07 season, and I'm so, so glad he didn't. I'm glad he won his 20, finally. I'm glad I got a chance to see him pitch this past season. I've never paid so much for such crap seats ($20! to sit in the outfield! at Camden Yards?), but I'm glad now. He says he knew all along this would be his last year, and while I don't know if I believe him, I love that he's going out the way he wants to go out (twenty wins and a gold glove) and when he wants to go out. And even though he never won a ring or the Cy, he accomplished a lot in his career, and I love reading pieces like this, which are everywhere, delightfully, to remind everyone.

He was lovely, and amazing, so very funny, and a lot of fun to be a fan of. Cheers, Moose. I know you've said for years that when you retire, you just want to spend time with your kids and coach at Montoursville High, but please come back now and then and be a not-sucky guest commentator for the MLB Network. Otherwise, I'm really gonna miss you. You were my favorite for a long, long time.

Congratulations to the Detroit Tigers! You guys throw one hell of a celebration, lol. Congratulations to [Bad username or site: offspeed / @ livejournal.com] especially, who believed from the beginning, despite my best efforts to temper her enthusiasm early on. (What can I say? I thought I was being a good friend.)

It's gonna be a hell of an LCS! I know the network heads are crying in their bitters, but fuck 'em - for fans, what a great matchup this is. **laughs** One of these teams is gonna have to out-scrap the other. It'll be a heartbreaker when the dust settles, but it's gonna be a great series, I can tell.

(And I'm sorry, but I can't stop cracking up at the thought that six years after he left us, he still doesn't have his ring. I was never one of those people who passionately didn't want him to win with the Yanks, but I am definitely one of those people who derive some amusement from the fact it hasn't worked out like he planned. He'd still leave us, given the choice, a hundred times over and I don't blame him. But he went to New York, specifically, for a reason and six years later, he doesn't have a ring. And that amuses me.

Pay attention, Barry. This is important.)

[Bad username or site: angisageek / @ livejournal.com], the text of the Grady article is here. Apologies for the quality - the ESPN pages are overlarge and I couldn't figure out how to fit to page on the scanner. Seriously, don't even ask me why my parents have spent so much money on my education when I can't even figure out the buttons on an all-in-one.

Apparently Zito and Chavvy were on BDSSP last night? Why does no one tell me these things? **resents you all** Happily, there was a clip on their website. Download (here). It's about 8minutes, and while it doesn't seem to be the whole appearance, it looks to be a good chunk of it. Highlights: "the chavvy run," mentions of Huddy and Mulder (your question partly answered, Bri), and something that should amuse Jen - jokes on the contents of Z's locker ^_~

Chavvy's not too comfortable talking/joking about Z leaving, is he?

OOH. I totally recorded it! (Ah, the rewards of being too lazy to correct the vcr setting when you overprogram the O's game. Happy day.) Yeah, the clip isn't the whole appearance, the guys go on to play 'Know Your Teammate.' They fail at it, miserably, and hug. Hee.

MLB must have put a foot in people's asses, because both David and Haren finally had updates posted yesterday. Or maybe I have Jen-like powers and sometimes people do what I say. WHO KNOWS. Dan talks about the game on Sunday, and muses about Lost some more, and for serious, I would have a Haren icon, if it wouldn't jinx the hell out of him. I'm getting ready to head out to Richmond but I just had to point out:

Barry Zito and I sat next to each other on the plane back from our road trip and watched last week’s episode of Lost.

♥ Also, he talks some more about Barry and the example Barry sets and if you're not gonna re-sign him then at least plzdon'ttradehimbilly :(

Um.

**coughs** I may have inferred that last part. But seriously, I have so much love for this idea of Sensei!Zito, I can't even tell you. So the renewed trade whispers can please to be stopping now.

( + player blogs )

+ MLB opens urban youth camp in Compton. About. Freakin'. Time. Now open about a dozen more, please. After DC (which hopefully won't take another six years), how about New York, Chicago, Atlanta. . . The other ten places in this country where black people live. As per Chris Rock, you can skip Minnesota. I did a paper in undergrad on the shrinking number of black players in baseball, and it's only gotten worse since. I think it's great that we're finally starting to see Asian position players as well as pitchers, and I have no problem with Latinos becoming the face of the game. But there's long been a sense that MLB has given up on African American youth, as much as African American youth have given up on baseball. Kids will play this game if you give them somewhere to play it, and the equipment to do so. Not every kid is gonna be a Jimmy Rollins, playing in the small courtyard of his apartment complex, making up rules about how high a hit off the apartment building constitutes a double. But it's substantially cheaper for MLB teams to open camps and scout young hispanic kids in Latin America and the Caribbean, so that's where they've gone and with no instruction and no fields, black athletic youth turn to basketball and football instead. I think this is great, and I really hope MLB remains committed. I think the education component of this thing is also very, very cool. And at the end of the day, I'm all in favor of anything that gets my father to eventually shut the hell up about the non-presence of blacks on the Orioles.

+ Things that are random: Leiter's side also A-Rod's. Highlights:

"It's just wrong," Leiter said yesterday of any perception that A-Rod is disingenuous. "He's a good guy. Anybody who thinks that doesn't know him. If you sit with him, hang out, go to lunch with him, you can't think that. He's really fun to be around." ... "[B]ecause he is who he is, people want to know what he does, how he looks, what brand of sweat pants he's wearing. He's learned to be careful, but at his core he's this jovial guy with an almost-childlike sense of fun who likes to be a little goofy and likes to have a good time, so he tries to be protective of saying the wrong thing, and as a result, it may seem like he's insincere but it's more not saying just the right thing." ... "He's not a pity-party guy," Leiter said of A-Rod. "I think in trying to express himself, it may come off that way sometimes. But again, he enjoys what he's doing, and who he is. Maybe he'd be better off like some other (stars) who say as little as possible, and leave it at that. But he can't help it sometimes. He has a lot to say." ... "Alex is too acutely aware of his surroundings sometimes."

Heh. No shit. It's funny that it would be Leiter who would be the guy to step forward and say this stuff. I've never read similar comments from Jeter in defense of Alex, you know? I think it's kinda sweet he wants to stick up for his friend, since few others (besides Shef, heh. He's been pretty quiet about A-Rod, is the love affair over?) are inclined to, BUT come on, Al. Isn't being so concerned with not saying the wrong thing in a way inherently insincere/disingenuous? When you're sitting next to him this season, try putting a bug in his ear about not trying so damn hard.

( And...a bunch of linkage to other neat stories I read over breakfast )

ETA: Boy, does that coloring need to go, Manny.

I WAS SO CLOSE. With about 30 minutes to go in my drive home, I finished the last of the cd mixes I had put together for the road. Against my better judgment, I started scanning the radio. And the DJ Clue Desert Storm remix of We Belong Together came on. And despite myself, I WAS GETTING INTO IT. But the raps on it are lame, and ruin what could have otherwise been a respectable remix. Ah well. It's all for the best. I hate having to remind myself that I don't like Mariah anymore. It's too late for her to win me back, damn it.

[Poll #636135]

Anyway, I survived to get home late yesterday and there was a little pile of packages and cards by the foot of my bed. Yay :-P

lisabird: Your card was so cute. I'm sure Derek loved his too ^_~

phantom_hpuff: The scan of the pic was cute enough on screen, but the original drawing looks even better tucked against my dresser mirror ^_^ It's lovely - thank you! Your card was also quite darling.

wickedgoddess_: That was completely unexpected! You're too kind ^_^

rickenbacker: **laughs** So, I'm pretty much locked into liking the Cardinals by the time I'm done with this thing, or it's over between us? I'll try not to disappoint you :-P I was really touched that you'd send me your personal copy. Your little note warning me about specific pages was great XD (Also, I still own about 100 sheets of Sirius stationary from Hot Topic so...yay us :-P)

I also had a holiday card from a BPALer I'd swapped with months ago. It was such a nice surprise. Sometimes, people are awesome.

Also waiting for me when I got home was the Sox 2004 postseason set. I bought the set for the last four games of the ALCS, but I watched Game 1 yesterday, because I was in the mood for Moose. Nineteen straight batters and as early as the fourth Al Leiter's like, "I guarantee you he's thinking no hitter..." and then BELLHORN of all people breaking up the perfecto in the 7th. That's kind of amusing to me, actually - I had remembered it being Damon. And then, as is his form as of late, he proceeds to fall apart and gets pulled. But still, great performance from him (the knucklecurve was dancing, and everything was where he wanted it - I love when he's got his control) and the energy of the crowd was amazing. I had no memory of the crowd being so into each call, but the audio on the DVDs is great and their anticipation with each pitch...you can just feel it. One day, man, I swear. One day, I'm seeing a postseason ballgame in person.

I took a bazillion screencaps that may or may not eventually become icons, because I'm still debating if we all need to be that up close and personal with his salt-and-pepper (!) five o'clock shadow.

So, Nomar signed with the Dodgers, huh? I was kinda hoping it would be Houston if he was staying in the NL. Ah well. I'll now pay him even less attention than I was when he was playing in the NL Central. Have a nice life, Nomar.

ETA: Free account users got their pics bumped up to 6? Aww, that's nice of you, Eljay. I see paid accounts have more storage space. Too bad I don't use it for anything?

[Bad username or site: rickenbacker / @ livejournal.com] was going on about December 8th and the anniversary of Lennon's death, and I kept thinking December 8, December 8, why does that mean something to me? It took me ages, but it came to me - it's Moose's birthday. At 37, FINALLY entering the last year of his contract with the Yankees. I may make a batch of icons after Evidence to celebrate.

Speaking of icons, I keep saving pictures of random National Leaguers. Somebody stop me. I saw a picture of a shirtless Berkman yesterday, and really...there are no words. I blame [Bad username or site: rickenbacker / @ livejournal.com]. And [Bad username or site: phantom_hpuff / @ livejournal.com]. And [Bad username or site: cack_handed / @ livejournal.com]. BECAUSE I CAN.

Thanks again, [Bad username or site: soupypictures / @ livejournal.com]! Between the handful of Thierry I found yesterday and Carla Bruni, I'm so set for today ^_^

I have no comment on ANYTHING ELSE.

+ So some of you know about my roommate situation earlier in the semester? (Long story short: she moved into the room that was assigned to me, and I was just like whatever, and I made arrangements with ResLife to have us switched in the system) So, we had fire safety checks last week and I go to check my mail today and there's this uber serious letter from the Dean of Students about how, as I should know from the letter I received from ResLife, I have violated my housing contract and I was cited for having something in my room in violation of the state fire code and now I have to go to a meeting and learn all about how this makes me a bad person.

And I'm like "whaaaa?" Because I got no such letter from ResLife and if I had fire code violating stuff, it was in a drawer, under my shawls, and they're not supposed to check our drawers, so again, wtf?

So I go over to ResLife and I'm like yeah...I got this letter from the Dean? And like I never got anything from you guys? And what the hell are they talking about? And they're like oh, yeah, the violation was in the other room (I'm in A and the violation was in B) but apparently, somehow, the list that was given to the inspectors had the old information on it, and so they had me listed in B and ANYWAY, whatever, they said they will take care of it, which is good, because I don't like getting scary letters from the Dean of Students about violations of contract, thanks.

+ BUT onto more interesting things. I was poking around the MLB.com website in Legal Skills yesterday, and came across this Q&A with Moose.

He was asked his most painful baseball memory, to which he responded: Oh, losing four games in a row 2004 to Boston Red Sox [looks down, smiles and lightly taps and shakes his forehead].

Which is BULLSHIT. I'm sorry. The choke last year was bad, but that was at least a shared failure. No way that tops blowing a perfect game AS A YANKEE, IN FENWAY PARK, when you had 2 outs in the ninth and 2 strikes on the guy at the plate. I'm just gonna assume he's repressed the hell out of September 2, 2001. Not that I blame him.

I also thought it was hilarious that his favorite breakfast cereal is Lucky Charms, considering Moose is the most snakebitten pitcher in the game.

And just for [Bad username or site: johnnybvo / @ livejournal.com], note his favorite food. "Pasta. (Anything on it?) Usually just red sauce." God, could he be any more whitebread? :-P

+ BoSox are down 0-2 going back to Fenway. It's gonna be nuts. And it's a 4pm game. Man, that's prime time television stuff!

+ That A-Rod error late yesterday was gold. "The normally sure-handed A-Rod" MY EYE. Way to be 0-8 AND open the gates for your team to get screwed out of going up 2-0. All that MVP talk, it's nice of you to remind everyone about that not being a big game player business.

ETA: Helllllooooo, Sidney Crosby. I have the feeling he's gonna spawn his own offshoot of hockey slash fandom ^_~ [Bad username or site: kmousie / @ livejournal.com], quick, explain this sport to me! :-P

+ Just back from seeing The Cave with [Bad username or site: johnnybvo / @ livejournal.com]. I can usually think of at least one nice thing to say about a movie but that flick had no redeemable qualities whatsoever. I only went for the Cole, and my boy was largely ACCENTLESS. Wtf is the point of putting Cole Hauser in your movie and toning down his accent, people? [Bad username or site: johnnybvo / @ livejournal.com] and I laughed a lot, and not in that this movie is so bad it's fun way. In the dear god, why did we spend money on this? way. So yeah, if you're looking for your annual Cole Hauser hit, pull Pitch Black off the shelf. You get the same basic scary, flying killing things after a small group in the dark plotline, sans all the...you know, shitty movie.

+ Killing time before the game, my bro and I watched Lost and Invasion. Eddie Cibrian and I are not getting on this weekend. I thought Invasion was mindnumbling boring. And I think Lost and I might be over, because seriously, wtf. (I'm strangely comfortable with that though. I really loved the first 80% of the first season. It was fun while it had me.) Hell, the hour-long drama and I might be done until Deadwood comes back next year. Nothing's grabbing me right now. I feel oddly fandomless. I mean, there's BSG and to a lesser extent SG-1, but they're not fandoms for me like I'm used to doing fandom.

+ Watching baseball this weekend from home has been weird -- my brother and my dad, still virulently anti-Mussina and anti-any NYY success, are both actively rooting for a Sox sweep this weekend. So yet more wtf. During yesterday's game, they showed footage from earlier in the day of B-Rob in civvies catching up with Ortizzle behind the batting cage. No great big bear hug this time, sadly for me, though I'm sure Brian and his sling appreciated that. It amuses me to think that Ortizzle has sort of adopted B-Rob since he comes attached to Miggy ^_~

+ So, so, so glad I decided to come home this weekend. Williamsburg gets so claustrophobic. I always find it funny when I come home and my mother makes happy note of how I've lost weight and reminds me that this is the age to keep it off, meanwhile my dad always feels the need to remark that I look sickly and need to eat.

+ Read in the paper this morning that Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman begin filming in Baltimore for 45 days starting Monday (A project formerly titled Invasion, now going by The Visiting). Yay team us! This makes me feel all tingly. I don't know why, since usually Baltimore is standing in for somewhere else. But the piece said this time we get to stay Baltimore, so that's cool. I'm of half a mind to try and stalk Mr. Craig on Monday; I'd love to have him autograph my copy of Enduring Love. And I'd like to see just what shade of blue his eyes are IRL. I won't with the stalking though, because stalking is bad, kids. And I don't have the patience for it.

+ I caught up with my flist while I had access to a comp and did another friends cut, even though it's only been 20 days since my last cut. Still trying to find that optimum balance given how hellish this semester has been.

+ (Justice League is on right now. Glad they moved it back to 10pm. Glad they're back to showing 2 eps back to back. Still annoyed that they're sticking with the Unlimited business.)

So [Bad username or site: sensefille / @ livejournal.com] links me to this.

And all she says to me is "Brace yourself."

Dude. Can I just.

I mean.

**head-desks**

Leave it to guys like Bronson, Moose. At least there weren't carebears involved. Or tongue.

CHRISSY, WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF WARNING IS 'BRACE YOURSELF'?

ETA: [Bad username or site: cruzalicious / @ livejournal.com], I think this might just do it. Don't cheer too loud, dude. It's like the baseball gods gave you a birthday present.

Edit 2:
Ayrdaomei: ew
Johnnybvo: ew at the girls? or your boys cheap ass value city shirt?

**laughs** Don't mock my pain, dude.

My dad is dancing around the kitchen where I have the Yankees game on and Moose just blew his four run lead. (Once again, with the exception of that homerun, totally the outfield's fault. Wtff, Sheffield? Did Bernie recruit you into the conspiracy?) My dad HATES Moose. He's having a lot of fun right now. He's performing a little ditty he likes to call HAHA! MUSSINA IS A LOSER!

I'm surprised Moose even made it that far, because that homeplate umpire was seriously pissing him off. I think he was thisclose to hulking out in the first. It was kinda funny. Because yeah, Moose, telegraphing your frustration is SO gonna get you the close calls.

Random observation: I'm pretty sure the guy that started for the Royals tonight (Snyder) was B-Rob's roommate in college. I seem to recall seeing him quoted in some article or another back in May.

Not really watching now that my boy's been pulled. Working on some L Word iconage. I haven't done a batch of icons in ages. I'm kinda rusty.

ETA: Coco Crisp is using Mike Jones' Back Then as his at-bat music. No, Coco. Just...no.