Roger O Green

Billy Wagner for Baseball Hall of Fame

Ichiro

If I could vote, I’d pick Billy Wagner for Baseball Hall of Fame induction. This is his 10th and final year on the ballot and last time, he was on a tantalizing 73.8% of the ballots, with 75% required to make it into the Hall. He was a steady relief pitcher. Here’s the case.

I’d also want Andruw Jones (8th year, 61.6% last year), a fabulous defensive centerfielder. Though his offense dropped off precipitously, I’d still pick him. Here’s the case.

In the case of Carlos Beltrán (3rd year, 57.1%), he “established himself as one of the best power-hitting center fielders ever. He ranks fifth all-time in home runs (435) among center fielders (at least 1,000 games played in center). He trails only Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., Mickey Mantle, and Andre Dawson, all of whom are in the Hall of Fame.

“Using the same criteria, Beltrán also ranks fifth in runs batted in, fourth in doubles, 13th in slugging percentage, 17th in OPS, and 13th in isolated power… “

In the narrative, Jimmy Rollins (4th year, 14.8%) “was a four-time Gold Glove Award winner, an MVP, and a member of two pennant-winning teams. In addition, he had 2,455 hits, the 10th most for players who logged 60% of their starts at short; he’s behind Omar Vizquel, 19th-century star Bill Dahlen, and seven Hall of Fame inductees.

As a player who combined extra-base power with speed, he’s the only shortstop in the history of baseball to hit 200 home runs, leg out 100 triples, hit over 500 doubles, and steal at least 400 bases.”

I’ve been pushing Andy Pettitte (7th year, 13.5%) for years. His case is “fairly simple. He won 256 games. There are only five pitchers since 1901 with more than 250 wins who are not in the Hall of Fame.”

I’m on the fence regarding Bobby Abreu and Chase Utley

New on the ballot

I’d also select outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, pitcher CC Sabathia, and infielder Dustin Pedroia, all of whom are described here.

I would not vote for Álex Rodríguez (A-Rod) or Manny Ramírez over performance-enhancing drugs. Next year is Manny’s 10th and last year; maybe then. I’ve declined Francisco Rodríguez (K-Rod) and Omar Vizquel for non-baseball reasons having to do with abuse.

Here are all of the stats for Bobby Abreu, Carlos Beltrán, Mark Buehrle, Carlos González, Curtis Granderson, Félix Hernández, Torii Hunter, Adam Jones, Andruw Jones, Ian Kinsler, Russell Martin, Brian McCann, Dustin Pedroia, Andy Pettitte, Hanley Ramírez, Manny Ramírez, Fernando Rodney, Álex Rodríguez, Francisco Rodríguez, Jimmy Rollins, CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki, Troy Tulowitzki, Chase Utley, Omar Vizquel, Billy Wagner, David Wright, and Ben Zobrist.

eeggnorrre

Popeye

Someone named Stephanie wrote on Facebook: “Sort your name in Alphabetical order, then Google that result.”

I mistyped mine for Roger Green as Eeggnorrre. The spellcheck does not love it. But the first Google result is to Eegore | Radioactive Uber Wiki – Fandom

“Eegore is a former member of the Radioactive Uber Clan and a member of the Indigo Syndicate. He is Popeye Jr.’s caretaker for when Popeye the Sailor. isn’t around to take care of his son as well as a supreme sorcerer. He was born as a half-fishman/half-human family. He was kidnapped by evil Demons and sold around as a circus show before the RUC eventually saved him. He gained Popeye’s trust and eventually was chosen to be a caretaker for Popeye Jr. given Popeye’s work making him busy.”

This absolutely tracks. I started eating spinach as a result of watching Popeye cartoons on my local TV station, WNBF TV channel 12 in Binghamton, even though I didn’t like any other vegetable. Well, peas were okay,

Then there is a reference to the half-fisherman, half-human,” which reminds me very much of Namor, the Sub-Mariner, one of my favorite comic books in the 1970s, particularly when Bill Everett came back to draw it. It was also a favorite of my then-girlfriend, the Okie.

The other search items are eegor. “Richard Blacker aka EEGOR has held a passion for music since he was just 6 years old.” Here is his SoundCloud page. Another eegor is the Instagram page for “a Black pug turning white pug” from Virginia, who died this year at the age of 16.

I also tried this exercise for Roger Owen Green. The word eeeggnnorrrw means beginner, eggnog, or ignore, which is not nearly so interesting.

More Billboard Christmas Charts

Cheech & Chong

Here are more Billboard Christmas Charts, the songs that did very well in the limited seasonal charts. They were calculated from 1963 through 1972 and 1983 through 1985.

The majority of these songs I do not know; I’ll note the ones that I do.

Here are the songs that reached #2

Merry Christmas, Baby – Charles Brown (1968). I know the song, but it is not from that time period.

Little Drummer Boy – Lou Rawls (1967). Another song I first heard much later.

Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy– Buck Owens (1965). Co-written by Owens.

If Every Day Was Like Christmas – Elvis Presley (1966). If every day WAS like Christmas, would it really be a wonderful world? (Asking for my id.)

Do You Hear What I See – Bing Crosby (1963). I have a whole album of Bing, plus some songs on an Andrews Sisters collection.

Little Becky’s Christmas Wish – Becky Lamb (1967). “Probably the most well-known (and most commercially successful) of the 60s child spoken-word records, the song (Warner Bros. Records # 7154) by the 6-year-old girl took the form of a letter to Santa Claus asking him to bring her big brother Tommy home for Christmas. However, he died in Vietnam.” I never even heard of this. Oh, my.

Who Took The Merry Out Of Christmas – The Staple Singers (1973). This shows in a STAX/Volt box set. Besides the vocals, it’s a bit melancholy, which is why I like it.

We’re #3

These songs reached #3 on the Xmas charts

Santa Claus and His Old Lady – Cheech & Chong (1972). Stoned talk.

The Man With All The Toys – The Beach Boys (1964). This I have.

Silver Bells – Earl Grant (1969). This needs more airplay.

Little Saint Nick – The Beach Boys (1963). I also have this

You’re All I Want For Christmas – Brook Benton (1963)

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer – The Temptations (1971). Several Motown artists released Christmas albums: Supremes, Stevie Wonder, the Jackson Five, and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, as well as the Tempts. They appeared on a couple of compilations, one of which I own on vinyl.

Happy Xmas (War Is Over) – John Lennon (1971). Of COURSE, I have this song.

Woman in a wheelchair

uneven sidewalks

After my audiologist appointment on a Tuesday morning – I will need hearing aids one of these days – I trekked to downtown Albany. Near the corner of Washington and Lark, trying to figure out what I wanted to eat for lunch, a woman in a wheelchair approached me. She said, “Excuse me, could you…” I almost didn’t let her ask her question.

I had gone to a workshop a few days earlier about dealing with people looking for money. But that wasn’t what she was going to ask me. “Excuse me, could you push my wheelchair…” to a specific, unfamiliar place? I asked where it was, two or three blocks away. I had a window of time, so I said okay. She asked my name, and I asked hers. I’m going to call her Elizabeth.

Right away, Elizabeth was pleased that I waited for the light when we were trying to traverse Central Avenue. A few pedestrians had begun to cross, but I knew that sequence very well. Sure enough, they were in the middle of the street when traffic threatened them. She noted that her ex-boyfriend had helped her cross the street, and she ended up getting hit by a car.

Elizabeth had offered to hold my briefcase, where I was carrying my laptop. Initially, I said no, but as my right hand began cramping, I took her up on her offer. She said it made her feel like a professional. I told her when I needed to stop to put on my sunglasses and knit hat because I recognized she couldn’t see what I would do.

Why the wheelchair?

Elizabeth had lost a few toes due to an infection in March 2024; a lawsuit is in the works. She seems to know a few people who are on the street. When we crossed Henry Johnson Boulevard, she knew how difficult it was to get back on the sidewalk, so she asked me to walk in the street on Central Avenue. This was slightly terrifying, but I had my orange hat on, so no harm befell us. About halfway up the block, there was a cutout so we could get back onto the sidewalk.

You never really notice how uneven sidewalks can be unless you’re pushing a wheelchair, using a cart, or some other unusual circumstance. Half a block before we got to her destination, she asked if she could have some money. At this point, I felt like I had developed a relationship with this person. I was disinclined to direct her to some agency she could visit, so I gave her $20, which startled her. “Are you sure?” Yes.

We got to the corner near her destination. She crossed the street on her own. I stood waiting to make sure she got across. She had to go up the cutout backward because that was the only way she could maneuver it.

I can’t explain this exactly, but it felt like an honor to be able to do this for Elizabeth. Other people were around Washington and Lark, but she asked me to push her wheelchair a few blocks. I learned a lot from her in that 15 minutes or so.

Before we departed, Elizabeth said, “You’re a very nice man.” I said, “Yes, I am.” She laughed and said, “Boy, aren’t you full of yourself?” I replied, “Well, you brought it up.”

Joe pardoned Hunter and I don’t care

Kash Patel at the FBI?

Joe pardoned Hunter, and I don’t care.

Gavin Newsom: “With everything the president and his family have been through, I completely understand the instinct to protect Hunter. But I took the president at his word. So, by definition, I’m disappointed and can’t support the decision.”

A Republican senator said that he understood why Joe executed the pardon and admitted that he would likely pardon his own child in similar circumstances but that the problem is that Joe lied.

The editorial in my local newspaper, the Albany Times Union, suggested that the pardon has ” provided a measure of bipartisan cover for [djt] to use his pardon power to exonerate anyone in his immediate sphere – family, friends, political donors, alleged co-conspirators – on the stated basis that their investigation or prosecution was ‘political persecution’ or the more current ‘lawfare,'” as though they hadn’t 45 hadn’t already done that. This is disingenuous.

On his way out of office in 2021, djt “displayed both nepotism and vengeance. Amid dozens of dubious (and worse) acts of clemency in those final days, he pardoned his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s father, Charles Kushner, who had been convicted of 18 counts of illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering. (Last week, Mr. Trump announced he plans to nominate Mr. Kushner as ambassador to France.)”

The other guy

Joe’s predecessor and successor posted on social media that the pardon was “Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!” He mentioned the rioters from Jan. 6, 2021, some of whom he has suggested could be pardoned when he takes office. This is what he had said long before Joe’s pardon of Hunter.

Cory Doctorow wrote, in a different context: “Remember the 2016 debate where [Hillary] Clinton accused Trump of cheating on his taxes, and he admitted to it, saying, ‘That makes me smart’? Trumpism is the movement of ‘that makes me smart’ life, where if you get scammed, that’s your own damned fault. Sorry, loser, you lost.”

The comparison between Joe’s “sin” and the wealth of distortions told by 45 is not even in the same ballpark. According to the Washington Post, during 45’s four-year term, his false or misleading claims totaled 30,573.

This time around, his insistence that he knew nothing about Project 2025 and then appointed people who wrote the document is classic. He… what is the word I’m looking for? Oh, yeah… lied. (And polling suggests that 1) his voters know he’s lying, but 2) they either don’t mind or actively appreciate it, which hurts my head.)

Retribution

But sometimes, he does tell the truth. His nominee to head the FBI, Kash Patel, is being very open about how he’ll persecute MAGA’s enemies. A shrewd observer of autocracy explains how far he’ll be able to get—and why there’s cause for serious worry.

From ABC News This Week for 1 Dec 2024:

KASH PATEL, DONALD TRUMP’S NOMINEE FOR FBI DIRECTOR: I am going to go on a government gangster’s manhunt in Washington, D.C., for our great president. Who’s coming with me?

JONATHAN KARL, ABC NEWS: The president-elect names Kash Patel to serve as FBI director. A loyalist who said Trump’s political opponents should be very afraid. And may be the toughest confirmation battle yet.

If there was any doubt that President-elect Donald Trump intends to follow through with his promises of radical change and retribution, both here at home and abroad, those doubts have been erased…

Unqualified

“Patel is so controversial that when President Trump talked about making him the deputy FBI director in 2020, then-Attorney General Bill Barr said it would happen, quote, ‘over my dead body,’ according to his memoir, adding, quote, ‘Patel had virtually no experience that would qualify him to serve at the highest level of the world’s preeminent law enforcement agency. The very idea of moving Patel into a role like this showed a shocking detachment from reality.’”

[h/t Paul Rapp] “Ron Filipkowski of MeidasTouch notes that Biden’s pardon came after [djt’s announcement of Patel]… Filipkowski studies right-wing media and points out that Patel’s many appearances there suggest he is obsessed with Hunter Biden, especially the story of his laptop, which Patel insists shows that Hunter and Joe Biden engaged in crimes with Ukraine and China.

“As legal commentator Asha Rangappa noted: ‘People criticizing the Hunter Biden pardon need to recognize: For the 1st time, the FBI and Justice Department could literally fabricate evidence, or collaborate with a foreign government to ‘find’ evidence of a ‘crime,’ with zero accountability. That’s why the pardon goes back to 2014.'”

Context

Having watched Joe Biden for half a century, I don’t think he intended to lie at all. When he made his initial comment that he wouldn’t pardon Hunter, it was with the thought that he would be President and wouldn’t take action to subvert his own Justice Department. Similarly, when Kamala Harris took over as the Democratic nominee, he didn’t worry about retribution from the Department of Justice.

But with Kash Patel potentially heading the FBI, all bets were off. Moreover, I think that Jill Biden had an outsized hand in this. When asked about how she felt about the pardon at a Christmas event, she said, “Of course, I wanted a pardon for my son.”

More pardons!

I’m sure there’ll be many more pardons in the coming weeks. One group he should pardon is most, if not all, of the folks on this list of Patel “enemies,” including Lloyd Austin, Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Stephanie Grisham, Kamala Harris, Gina Haspel, Fiona Hill, Eric Holder, Cassidy Hutchinson, Lisa Monaco, Robert Mueller, Jake Sullivan, Alexander Vindman, Christopher Wray, and Sally Yates.

Do you know who else is on the list? Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. Can Joe Biden pardon himself? This is an interesting question. The former /next guy has indicated that he might pardon himself, so why the heck not?

Satirist Andy Borowitz notes that JRB would give “his dog Commander a sweeping pardon in exchange for biting South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.”