49!

49.
It's a big number.
What it really means is that I'm one digit and year away from the "big" 5-0.

Does that bother me?
Not really.
Age never has bothered me and I've never been someone that ran away from it.
It's silly and own what you are-besides what could does fighting it do?
I have my things to bother me-weight (But down 40 pounds since Feb!),anxiety and my colorful use of language at times all are issues in my personal well being,but age has never been one of those..
I'm just happy to click up another number and celebrate one more with the people that care and take care of me...
However,if you would like to donate birthday gifts or even cash (HA HA),you can talk to my financial director at BR-549.

So before I move on to the "Road to 50" Tour-Please allow me to thank those of you that mean so much.
I couldn't get anywhere without the lovely Cherie,who has given me the happiness that I have.
The older that I get,the more amazed I am that I stumbled upon her at 15.
Am I that smart? More along the lines of that lucky...
Both of my wonderful children,whom I am extremely proud of and I'm so pleased that they have turned out so well-Ryan and Rachel could not have turned out better in each of their different fields of work and I'm quite fortunate to have them.-Even if Rachel likes her mom better (who can blame her,I would too!)

I have quite a few great friends in my life.
My graphing buddies are much more visible currently as far as who I hang out with due to the various work shifts that we all endure,but you all are important to me.
Starting with my oldest friend Greg (Ernie) Church,who's the one friend that knew me at so many stages of my life and has dealt with me through good and bad times.
Greg and I have never had a harsh word,unless it's over the Pittsburgh Steelers,that is!!
Don't forget the other "IFL" guys in no particular order-Joe Plum,who hit 40 recently and we've been friends for close to 30 years now,Battlin' Bob-still the funniest guy that I know and Corey Cunningham,who it's hard to believe is a former player of mine.

My graphing friends are the guys that I spend more time with now and the graphing hobby has brought so much fun and good people into my life.
If I miss any of you,I apologize-
Derreck Chupak is the younger brother that I've missed since my relationship with Shane changed over the years (it's all fine,Shane and I are OK right now,at least I think so!),Mike Oravec is maybe my only friend my own age,Fred Landucci is always there to chat and help me pass time when I just need to stay awake and how could I forget Doug Hopkins?
Doug might be away in Israel for a while,but he is still here in spirit.
All four of these gentlemen are always available when I need them-rarely does the day go by when I don't hear from any of them and that includes the offseason!
Don't forget my other friends in graphing either-Mike Landucci,who does so much work on my top 100's pro bono for me,Bill Cover,who might be the nicest living human,Kendall Morris,the world's fastest traveler and two of the blog's biggest fans that I met through graphing-Big Don Cain and Jason Christensen.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention my older "sister" Denise Nicarry,who apparently doesn't always understand how my mind strays at times (Denise wrote me this morning about not waving to her at the Muni last night!),she is yet another person in my life that I didn't realize I missed until she arrived in it.
I also cannot leave without mentioning my cousin in Ohio,Missy Appel.
Missy and I have grown so close over the last few years and our relationship's growth is why I don't have the negative things to say about Facebook that so many do.
Facebook has its positives-you simply have to use it properly.

Finally,there are three people that I have never met in person that have become my friends through the miracle that is the internet.
Those of you might remember Julie Kendall from her written pieces here a few years back and a few appearances on the podcast.
Julie is always stressing the positive side of life and our talks just come through for me,when you consider that I'm not always the most positive thinker.
And then there's Ian McArdle,introduced to me through someone else,there is rarely a day that goes by that Ian and I don't send an IM to each other to talk about Cleveland sports and mainly our other common passion in Ohio State football.
Finally,we have Ramon Malpica,who allows me the outlet to talk boxing on air and off with him.
Fightheads is on a hiatus because Ramon is fighting AT&T like I fought Verizon earlier this year,but I'm grateful to finally have a person that loves the fight game as much as I do,

I would almost bet that I missed someone that should be noted,but in the middle of a work run along with it being the middle of the night,I figure it's going to happen.
49 is middle aged and it's a good thing.
As we age,the bodies break down more,but the memories continue to grow-it's a good life.
The road to 50 starts today and it'll be a fun road to travel...

Boxing Challenge

Big weekend in the boxing challenge as HBO delivers a tripleheader that should feature a ton of action,PBC with three more fights (only two in the challenge) and two more bouts from Europe that include a title bout and what essentially is a qualifier for the World Boxing Series in the Super Middleweight tournament.
I lead the boxing challenge 79-74.

HBO has the best fights of the weekend with two title fights in the 130 pound division as the jockeying begins for who is number two in the division behind Vasyl Lomachenko.
WBC champ Miguel Berchelt defends his title against former champ Takashi Miura in his first defense since ripping apart Francisco Vargas,who dethroned Miura in a terrific bout.
Berchelt looks to be a coming star,but he'll have to prove it against Miura,who will come at Berchelt all night.
This one is going to be a good one.
Meanwhile on the WBA side,Jezreel Corrales defends his title against Robinson Castellanos.
Corrales shocked long time champ Takashi Uchiyama in April 2016 with a second round knockout before winning a split decision in their rematch.
Castellanos makes a living winning fights that he shouldn't despite an ugly (for a world contender) 24-12 record with upset wins over Ronny Rios,Rocky Juarez and most recently a knockout that ended the hopes of Golden Boy to give a big push to Yuriorkis Gamboa.
I hope that there is a way to hook the winners of these two bouts up in their next fight.
The opener on HBO features the light heavyweights with Joe Smith,who essentially ended the careers of veterans Andrezj Fonfara and Bernard Hopkins against Sullivan Barrera,a durable top ten contender.
The light heavyweights have several interesting contenders and this might mean a title fight for the winner.

The backers of PBC are reported to have seen their war chest of dollars dwindle of late and with PBC having a broadcast date on Fox and delivering a less than brilliant card.
The main event has undefeated former WBC lightweight champ Omar Figueroa fighting for the first time in eighteen months against the PBC gatekeeper in faded former champion Robert Guerrero,who is 1-3 in his last four fights and on my card should be 0-4 (I scored Aron Martinez a winner over Guerrero,who won a split decision).
Figueroa was once thought to be a coming star and disappointed despite remaining undefeated.
Guerrero looks like a shot fighter to me,but Figueroa's style will show us just what Guerrero has left.

The other bout in the challenge on this card puts former Olympian Marcus Browne against Seanie Monaghan in what might be a spirited bout.
Browne comes off a knockout of Thomas Williams and a split decision win over Radivoje Kaladzic that was clearly controversial with Browne losing on my card.
Monaghan has neared a title shot with an exciting style and an ability to draw fans in the New York area,despite never beating anyone near a top twenty contender.

Europe has two fights of note with the main one in the super middleweights as Chris Eubank Jr fights Arthur Abraham in what is basically a "play-in" fight for a World Boxing Series slot.
The winner will be seeded third and will fight Avni Yildrim in the first round of the tournament.
Eubank will be fighting his first contender since rising to the 168 pound division,while the two division champion Abraham will be facing his first true test since losing every round and his WBO belt to Gilberto Ramirez in April 2016.

IBF featherweight champ Lee Selby defends his title against Jonathan Barros in a fight delayed twice by athletic commission dealings with the health of Barros.
One never knows if this one will come off either.
Selby is hoping to see if a win can land him a sizable paycheck for a fight in Northern Ireland against Carl Frampton..

WBC Junior Lightweight title.12 rds
Miguel Berchelt vs Takashi Miura
R.L:Berchelt KO 10
TRS; Berchelt KO 9

WBA Junior Lightweight title .12 rds
Jezreel Corrales vs Robinson Castellanos
Both:Corrales Unanimous Decision

Light Heavyweights.12 rds
Joe Smith vs Sullivan Barrera
R.L:Smith Unanimous Decision
TRS:Smith Split Decision

Welterweights.12 rds
Omar Figueroa vs Robert Guerrero
R.L: Guerrero KO 7
TRS:Figueroa Unanimous Decision

Light Heavyweights.10 rds
Marcus Browne vs Seanie Monaghan
R.L: Monaghan Unanimous Decision
TRS:Browne Unanimous Decision

Super Middleweights.12 rds
Arthur Abraham vs Chris Eubank Jr.
Both:Eubank Unanimous Decision

IBF Featherweight title.12 rds
Lee Selby vs Jonathan Barros
Both:Selby Unanimous Decision

Road Trip:Augusta

Yet another TRS road trip recap begins as my friend Mike Oravec and I visited four parks for games and another two to visit without a game.

I'll be recapping those as the week goes along,but we'll be moving along to our first stop and my biggest target of the year-Lake Olmstead Stadium in Augusta,Georgia and the home of the Augusta Greenjackets.

The Greenjackets are moving across the lake next season to a new stadium in North Augusta South Carolina and I wanted to add Lake Olmstead to the stadium map before the team left Georgia.
I wondered why the Jackets were leaving a stadium that isn't quite 30 years old,but my answer came before we even pulled up to the stadium-the neighborhood.
Every building with a business located in it had metal bars in the windows-never a good sign and when I would ask around later at the park,it was told to me that a day or two before,a players car had been broken into and that fans cars have been broken into as well.
If that is the case and I believe it is,I bet that is why the Jackets don't draw well.
I remember a conversation years ago when Augusta visited Hagerstown and then-pitching coach (now with Richmond) Steve Kline told me that when his wife visited Lake Olmstead he refused to have her drive to the park because she would have to drive home at night.

Lake Olmstead isn't a great visual park when you enter,but it's not awful either.
The grandstand is covered as it should be (in most places,but especially the South),but there are some parks that have zero shade available as you will see later on the trip..
The grandstand reminds me of the Muni though-the OLD Muni as when the grandstand had all metal bleachers without backs.
The Muni grandstand has those and makes it a more comfortable seating experience,but Lake Olmstead did have an addition in each section that Hagerstown does not-Fans above the area that are moved by the wind and at least attempts to keep the air flowing around you.
I know the city of Hagerstown doesn't want to put any more money than they have to into the Muni,but this would help keep the air circulating and maybe help a few more people want to pay the extra cost to sit in the grandstand.

Mike went to the third base side to graph the visiting Asheville Tourists,while I did the home Greenjackets.
Asheville came from down the left field line,while the home team had a dugout tunnel to come out of.
I was sitting along with one of the Augusta superfans as I was the only person graphing Augusta (other than a young group of females with baseballs that were graphing in a different manner!).
Susan King was wearing an Augusta Pirates jersey from "back in the day"and it was fitting since it was supposed to be "Augusta Pirates Weekend,where Augusta was supposed to wear throwback jerseys that would be auctioned off at the series end on Sunday.
I asked Susan if she would mind taking a picture for me so I could use it here and she graciously complied.
As it turned out,Susan (and another season ticket holder) would grumble about the Augusta manager,who they claimed refused to allow the team to wear those in favor of a camo version,which the team must wear a lot for home games.
I really didn't like those because the numbers were hard to read and as a result,I missed some players that I might not have,if they had worn the Pirates throwbacks.

Mike did much better than I and was able to add Riley Pint on his top 100 and SAL prospect as the big Rockies addition along with multiple team set cards.
I didn't do as well as Mike,but I did get Kelvin Beltre on his SAL prospect card among a few others.
Was very difficult as the only grapher and those awful uniforms to see guys and get them stopped.
Mike and I hit the team store where the logo shown above rested next and I bought shirts for the ladies and Ryan.
With Augusta being a Giants farm club,I wanted to get those for them,while Ryan has done so much for us of late and I wanted to pick him something up.
I told him to pick the team of his choice of the four teams we would be seeing and he selected Augusta as well,so my shopping was finished on the first stop with the exception of team sets for others at Kannapolis.

We settled into our seats to watch some of the game and began to work on dividing up our cards.
Suddenly,it began to get very dark and very windy in the second inning and we had a feeling that things were about to get bad!
The Greenjackets rolled the tarp on the field in anticipation of the thunderstorm as that happened Mike and I quickly decided to get out of Dodge!
We figured there would be a lengthy delay and between the delay and what was likely to be VERY humid weather following the storm and that's exactly what happened on this 98 degree day!
We ran to the car and went to eat at Xaxby's for dinner.
By the time that we left there,the weather was oppressively humid,so with a two hour drive to suburban Charlotte ahead,I think the decision was the correct one.

After Xaxby's,we made the drive to friends of Mike's,the Parrish family.
The Parrish's were so gracious to allow me to stay with them after never meeting me before and we stayed up for hours talking with Bob,Laurie and their great children Tucker and Will.
Tucker in particular reminded me of myself at the same age with just tons of sports knowledge.
Tucker can hang with me or anyone on what he knows and it made me smile with the memories of my own experiences as a teenager.
Will is just plain funny and he loved hearing Mike and I's stories from the autographing circuit.
I'll write more about the Parrish's on the next day's post,but what a kind and wonderful family.

I stayed up until 4 am quietly in my room,working on the blog,playing Strat-o-Matic and relaxing as everyone slept before getting a few hours of sleep to end a long but fun day.
In the end,I was happy to put Lake Olmsted Stadium on the list.
It was nothing special,but it gave me my first stadium in the state of Georgia and it added a park that won't be around much longer.
Great day!

Back tomorrow with the day in Kannapolis unless there is breaking news...

Cavaliers sign Cedi Osman

The Cleveland Cavaliers continued to attempt to improve the bench for the upcoming season by signing the only player that could bring some youth to the team with the signing of 22 year old Turkish forward Cedi Osman to a three year contract.
The deal will be worth 8.3 million to Osman over the span of the deal.
The Cavaliers will be using some of the their five million salary cap exception to pay the Osman contract and will pay 800,000 dollars to buy out his contract in Turkey.

Osman was a  2015 draft pick of the Cavaliers that was allowed to polish his skills at home in Turkey in effort to prepare him against older players before bringing him to the NBA.
The 6'8 Osman averaged a little over seven points a game and the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports one scout comparing him to Trevor Ariza,which would mean Osman can shoot the three (34 percent in Turkey) and play shooting guard as well as small forward.
Osman is noted as an athletic defender and I would imagine should be a help on defense,but also should be an effective player in transition.

Osman also has been rumored to be a potential piece in any possible trade for Carmelo Anthony with the Knicks as well as any other possible trade.
Osman is just about the only marketable young player (other than the obvious exception of Kyrie Irving) that the Cavaliers have to possibly tempt other teams in trade talks,so there is the value of Osman and I would not rule out the chance that Cedi Osman may never play a game in Cleveland..

My Top Ten Baseball Movies-1-5

My top ten baseball movies conclude today with my top five films.
Keep in mind that these are just what I like and my list may be far different than yours!
Again, please remember that documentaries are not rated.

1) The Natural
You could have taken any of these films and asked on a particular day, which is my favorite and gotten a different answer, but upon careful thought-The Natural wins this.
The film perfectly captures its time (1939) and the surroundings make one think of the parks of the time like the Polo Grounds and Ebbetts Field.
Robert Redford plays like an actual player and swings like Ted Williams and that gives you first place in my rankings!
Darren McGavin is great in an uncredited role as gambler Gus as one of the villains.
Interesting Note: The film was made at Buffalo's War Memorial Stadium, which hosted minor league baseball teams, but is better known as the home of the two time AFL champion Buffalo Bills from 1960-1972.

2) Major League
Major League was going to be a favorite of mine as soon as the film was written to include the Indians and not only was it funny with so many lines that trail baseball fields to this day, but it had so many younger actors that would become stars in both television and film.
Plus it has all of those shots of 1980's Cleveland, even though the film was made in Milwaukee!
Margaret Whitton (who recently passed away) should have been a much bigger star after her tremendous portrayal of the nasty owner of the Tribe-Rachel Phelps.
Interesting Note: The original ending was to have Rachel Phelps tell Lou Brown that her persona' was a charade to motivate the team and she never intended to move the team to Miami.
Screenings preferred Phelps as the villain and the ending was changed.

3) Field of Dreams
This movie features lots of great performances from Kevin Costner, Ray Liotta, James Earl Jones and Amy Madigan among others and every son has to be touched at one time or the other by the 'catch scene" at the end of the movie.
Similar to For the Love of the Game, another Costner vehicle, baseball is what ties all the film together.
It may be overly sentimental, but if you ever played baseball with your dad-it gets you every time.
Interesting Note: Ray Liotta played Shoeless Joe Jackson as a righthanded batter when he actually was a lefty swinger.
The people involved with the film decided to lose a little historical accuracy to gain with Liotta looking like a legitimate player batting his natural righthanded stance.

4) Eight Men Out
The only film that is based on a real team, the Black Sox scandal of 1919.
It tells the story reasonably accurately and the baseball holds up as well.
The young stars of the film (Charlie Sheen, John Cusack, and D.B.Sweeney) all look like real ballplayers.
The only downside is the bad guy gamblers that set the scandal up are pretty much the stereotypical bad guys without any fleshing out.
Interesting Note: D.B.Sweeney actually played pro baseball briefly with the Kenosha Twins.

5) Mr.Baseball
I'm not the biggest Tom Selleck fan in the world, but he was perfect for this role as a former major league star with faded skills that carries his name to the Chunichi Dragons of the NPB in Japan.
The story is based on former Expo Warren Cromartie's Japanese career and it explains many of the differences between Japanese baseball and American.
It's not drop-dead hilarious overall, but if you are a hardcore seamhead, this film is worth a look.
Interesting Note: The love interest of Selleck in the film (Aya Takanashi) is reported to have left show business after this film.

Hope you enjoyed this two-part series.
I might do another one sometime maybe with other sports films.

My Top Ten Baseball Movies:6-10

I'm back with a post that was going to go up while I was gone, but wifi woes on the final night of my trip waxed that board for me.
I'll be dropping road trip posts later this week on Augusta, Kannapolis, Winston-Salem, and Danville along with all the usual stories from the road.
Until then, enjoy this and the final part of the feature that I'll post later today or Wednesday!


Movies, like so many things, are subjective.
We all have things that touch us, things that we know may not be great art, but make us howl with laughter and others that just are entertaining for other reasons.

Considering that, this and a future post with my top five choices for baseball films are subjective.
Documentaries are not included as there may be a future list for sports documentaries.
Your list may not rank with mine and some may make you wonder just what I'm thinking, but lists are usually fun to make, so here go my favorite baseball movies from 6 through 10!

6) Bull Durham
                          This might be lower than many have it rated, but it's still a fun movie.
Kevin Costner hits well as the aging vagabond "hired gun" that those of us on the minor league scene see all the time-especially in AA baseball and Tim Robbins as the young wild fireballer offers inspired work as well, although he does look a little older for the role than I'd like.
I've never been much of a Susan Sarandon fan, so that might have kept this out of the top five.
Interesting note; In some of the game action, you'll see Hagerstown Suns uniforms and players against the Durham Bulls, but they are usually announced as the Peninsula Pilots!

7) A League of Their Own
The story of the short-lived women's baseball league didn't make a lot of mistakes in the surroundings, although I would have preferred that they just used the actual name of P.K.Wrigley instead of the pseudonym "Walter Harvey" for the league founder (and Cubs owner) played by Garry Marshall.
Lots of ladies in this movie went onto major and minor roles in television and films even on the opposing team as Tea' Leoni and Janet Jones (Mrs.Wayne Gretzky) were on the rival Racine team.
Geena Davis was sensational in her role, but Tom Hanks as "Jimmy Dugan" (based on Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx, who actually managed in the league) stole every scene he was in.
Love the little kid dancing around pointing at Dugan and taunting him with "You're gonna lose, you stink" before being drilled by a thrown glove! Got him, indeed!!
Interesting Note: Geena Davis says that the film has baseball, but not baseballs as they used spongy baseballs to not hit the cameramen

8) Major League II
This sequel isn't quite as good as the original mainly for two reasons.
One is the Indians home field moved from decrepit "Cleveland Stadium" (the filming was actually in Milwaukee County Stadium) to the unnamed stadium (This was Baltimore's Camden Yards).
Camden was a much better stadium, but its quality takes away a little from the grit of the original.
The other? The new characters (except one) didn't really make the cut for me, although Omar Epps was good enough replacing Wesley Snipes as Willie Mays Hayes.
I did think Jack Parkman (David Keith) was great as the villain of the film, Randy Quaid was hilarious as the angry fan and it still had several great scenes that I love and recite even now.
Interesting note: The movie never acknowledges the new stadium, even though the Indians had moved to Jacobs Field when this film was released.

9) Bad News Bears-1976
Ahead of its time in dealing with the hypocrisy of little league baseball, this film had so many things that were funny, yet offensive and a word for word remake couldn't be made today, which is why the remake despite having Billy Bob Thornton isn't nearly as good.
It's funny with a few flaws. Kelly Leak is said to be 13 or 14 in the movie (which is too old for little league play) and it's not hard to see Jackie Earle Haley isn't hitting the ball and Tatum O'Neal is clearly a boy pitching in a wig for her scenes.
Still, the kids are a riot and Walter Matthau was the perfect casting as the burned-out manager...
Interesting Note: Yankee pitcher Joey Turner was played by Brandon Cruz, who a few years earlier had been "Eddie" as the child star in the TV series "Courtship of Eddie's Father". 

10) Bad News Bears-Breaking Training
Even though this movie doesn't quite match the original, I can't help myself to watch it almost every time that MLB network shows it and that's a lot.
It's different because it lacks the social commentary, but it has many scenes that you remember to this day-Who hasn't done the "let them play" chant from the big game at least once in everyday life?
Combine that with cheesy current gold shill William Devane coaching in an old army jacket and you have a funny film.
Besides the real star is my beloved Astrodome with shots of the stadium inside and out along with those great 1970's Astros uniforms with the rainbow stripes and Astros of the age!
Name another movie that you get this-"Look, guys, it's Bob Watson and Cesar Cedeno"!!!
Interesting Note: Brett Marx as third baseman "Jimmie Feldman" is the grandson of "Gummo" Marx.

Bonus: Cobb
Tommy Lee Jones is terrific as the older Ty Cobb, but the baseball segments really show his age and take away from the film a bit.
Robert Wuhl has never been a favorite and that might be what kept Cobb out of my top ten.
Still, some great lines and Lou Myers as Willie, who quits as an employee of Cobb's owns his few scenes in the film,
Jones and Myers's scenes together alone are enough to watch this film if you never have watched it previously!

Honorable Mention-No particular order.
61-The Mantle/Maris story is told well and the casting of the pair is excellent. Just missed.

The Sandlot-Some would put this far higher, but it doesn't bring the nostalgia to me that Breaking Training does.

The Rookie-Dennis Quaid is great as Jim Morris, but a little too much time in Texas and not enough in the minors hurt its grade.

For the Love of the Game-More of a love story wrapped around a baseball game, but enough baseball to make it watchable.
Kevin Costner and John C.Reilly are great as aging and grizzled batterymates.

The Scout-Albert Brooks is my pick as the underrated comic genius of my time and he carries Brendan Fraser (who is a little better than normal here) to a pretty decent film with tons of cameos from baseball celebrities.

Cavaliers sign Jeff Green

The Cleveland Cavaliers know that they need bench help.
The Cavaliers also know that it's going to be less than a breeze doing so and that they better get started.

The work began with the signing of veteran Jeff Green to a one year contract for 2.3 million.
The 6'9 veteran spent last season with Orlando and struggled to the worst season of his career in averaging just nine points a game and shooting less than forty percent from the field.
This is a double digit sword for the Cavaliers and Green-Is Green a player in decline or was he just stuck in a rut playing for a non-contender?
If Green is right,he brings a player that adds some skills off the dribble and a athletic player on both ends of the floor.
If he is nearing the end of the road at soon to be 31,he will at least still be a defender that can guard either small forwards or power forwards off the bench-in theory,his floor should be what Iman Shumpert brings and his ceiling adds even more offense.
Cleveland needs to create salary cap space and Shumpert (and Channing Frye maybe) looks to be the most likely casualty,if the Cavaliers can find someone willing to take one of both.

Green signing for the veteran minimum brought to mind the reported Cleveland interest in Jamal Crawford,but apparently the Cavaliers made a decision for now that Jeff Green and possibly the forward from Turkey Cedi Osman are a better fit for the roster instead of Crawford.
Crawford does bring the three point shooting ability,but Green is younger and more athletic as a defender,while Osman is just about the only young asset that the Cavaliers have to bring in with their dearth of draft picks,although Osman is being mentioned as a potential part of any trade with the Knicks for Carmelo Anthony.
I see their point,but Jamal Crawford (who signed with Minnesota) would have been a huge addition offensively.

I think this is low risk and high reward with the addition of Jeff Green and I think if the Cavaliers can sign Cedi Osman,he'll bring even more defense at the two and the three.
I'm not saying that I'm totally convinced that Jeff Green has not emptied the tank,but I do think that he has some left to give on a championship contender.