Catch Up!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately--real life has a way of intruding with my hobbies.

Over the last couple of days, while the Detroit Tigers were visiting the Yankees in the Bronx, I myself was visiting Detroit, albeit for less happy reasons. I was there to say good-bye to La Chiquita's father, who passed away over the weekend.

He'd been sick for most of 2005, fighting a series of ravages of old age. The last time I saw him, at the end of last month, his faculties were about him, but he was wheelchair-bound and in great pain. Over the last month, his lucidity came and went, but the pain became much, much, worse. So while I mourn his passing, I am happy that he is beyond suffering, now.

La Chiquita's dad's name was Menelaus, and her mom's name is Helen. If I have to explain to you what's strange about that combination, there's someone out there who tried to teach you the classics, who is probably openly weeping right now.

Let's talk some baseball:

While I was away, Derek Jeter was busy re-stitching the "S" on his superman cape. We've yet to see if the catch he made over the back of Robinson Cano will have the persistence of the July 1st headfirst dive into the stands last year. That play against the Red Sox probably netted Jeter a gold glove, all by itself.

From the scarred mind of Darren Viola, a/k/a Repoz, this trippy take on a Tigers/Yanks double header in '72 is simply priceless. Not only is it a must-read for anyone with an interest in the Yankees or New York in the 70's, it should also be reproduced as the required warning label on every bottle of Southern Comfort sold or marketed in the United States.

Rickey's the Man. Alan Schwarz's quick ditty on Rickey Henderson at ESPN.com is not only a good piece of writing, but I particularly love the picture, which shows Rickey in his new San Diego Surf Dawgs uni. The look on his face is something out of the cover of a Jimi Hendrix album. Also, Schwarz provides me the great comfort of pointing out that Nadia Comenice, Nastassja Kinski, and Sheena Easton (each a crush from a different period of my adolescence) are all younger than Rickey Henderson.