I went to school with a kid named Patrick Whelan. He was a good student, a good athlete and generally was an all around good guy. In his younger years he had a little bit of a quirk. Whenever he got a little excited he would start to have some breathing problems. We found out that it was called hyper ventilation and a simple solution was for him to breathe into a paper bag, get a little extra carbon dioxide into his system and he would soon be ok. So for a year or two he had a paper bag with him at all times.
I am carrying a paper bag with me these days because now that Opening Day is approaching I can't help but begin to hyper ventilate over the Red Sox chances. The mere thought of this line up and pitching staff makes my heart race and my breathing get heavy.
The off season has been one of frenzied activity by Theo and the boys in the front office. One thing that they cannot be accused of is standing pat. They have four major free agent signings which shore up positions in the field, the batting order and the pitching staff, both starting and relieving.
Daisuke Matsuzaka is the biggest catch, coming over from Japan after the Sox paid the highest rights fees in history. In retrospect, the stunning 50 plus million dollar bid for just the right to negotiate with him may have been the throwing down of the gauntlet in a bid to end the 9 year dominance of the Evil Empire atop the Eastern Division of the American League.
One pitcher however will not do the job alone and Theo's thinking became apparent when the Sox bolstered the offense at shortstop with the acquisition of Julio Lugo and the offense and defense in right field with the signing of J.D. Drew. The money spent on Drew has been questioned in some quarters, however career stats don't lie. Drew has an excellent on base percentage, is a good citizen, can hit with power and near .290 for batting average. The one knock on him has been his inability to stay on the field for a full season. Drew has the opportunity of a lifetime hitting behind Ortiz and Ramirez. If I was him I would be sleeping at Fenway so as to make sure I didn't miss one at bat with this crew.
The bull pen with the exception of Papelbon was a major disappointment last year and the brass has taken a number of steps to bolster the staff. Joel Piniero was acquired with the idea of switching him from a starter to a reliever but his failure to impress in spring training has resulted in the abandonment of the Papelbon change to a starter.
The pen will have the rather unusual presence of three left handers with the addition of J.C. Romero and Hideki Okajima to go with last year's acquisition of Javier Lopez. Mike Timlin will start the year of the disabled list. He is getting a bit long in the tooth but he has been a mainstay and will be a key to setting up for Papelbon. For the time being Brendan Donnelly and Piniero will be filling that role. I look for Donnelly to become a fan favorite.
The depth of the starting and relieving pitching is much improved with the likes of Manny Delcarmen, Craig Hansen and Devern Hansack starting the year down on the farm waiting for an opportunity if there is an injury or someone falters. Jon Lester who is in extended spring training after last year's bout with cancer may also be a factor as depth for the starting rotation.
The only major question mark in the entire line up is at second base with the addition of Dustin Pedroia. He became the heir apparent after the Sox refused to re-sign Mark Loretta. In a spring call up last year it was apparent that Pedoia couldn't get his bat on anything smaller than a beach ball. He has taken this opportunity seriously however by dropping 15 pounds and coming into camp in the best shape of his life. Francona will give the kid some time but if he can't make regular contact he will be quickly yanked in favor of steady Alex Cora.
The infield offense may have improved with the addition of Lugo however it is unlikely he will make everyone forget the artistry of Alex Gonzalez. It was some what surprising to see both Loretta and Gonzalez let go by the Sox. These two helped make the Sox the best fielding team in baseball. It is doubtful the team will repeat that performance.
Any run for a championship requires both skill and luck. The team as currently constituted has awesome potential if everything goes right. Even if they get nicked in a few places they still have enough to win it all. But if all the potential trouble spots manifest themselves it will be difficult to over come. Some of the potential trouble spots are as follows. Schilling and Wakefield are both in their forties. The Sox opted not to extend Schilling for another year at 13 million primarily for this reason. Can they both produce every fifth day?
Will Manny come to play every day or will some phantom knee injury put him on the pine during a critical period? Can Drew keep himself on the field for 130 games or will he continue his injury plagued history? Is Papelbon fully recovered from last year's shoulder subluxation? Is Varitek washed up at the plate? In life, three things can age very quickly, dogs, running backs and catchers. The Sox have two very experienced but old catchers.
Lastly and most importantly is Daisuke Matsuzaka the real thing? he is coming to the American League East directly from the Seibu Lions of the Japanese leagues. No other Japanese pitcher has made the move with expectations this high. His spring training performances have indicated he is worthy of such a build up, but what will happen the second time through the schedule?
I have no idea but I am breathing into a paper bag just thinking about it. My bet is they win the whole thing.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Edwards establishes a new low
Records and rules are made to be broken some say. I guess it is my wish that the records broken are ones of high human achievement and the rules that are broken are ones foolishly conceived and recklessly applied. Records can be set on the negative side as well and today marked a new low in the political realm.
John Edwards took the opportunity to assemble the news media to announce publicly that his wife was terminally ill and that "The campaign goes on. The campaign goes on strongly." This was wrong on so many levels that I don't know where to begin.
This was not major news conference type information to begin with. Had he announced his intention to withdraw that might have merited a cattle call for newsman. Otherwise this was a simple press release. Instead Edwards duped the throng and they became part of the show.
It is more than just a cheap publicity stunt in that it shows the depth of John Edwards. Is the man's ambition so strong that he could not derail his presidential ambitions to devote himself to whatever time his wife might have remaining even if she is lucky and it is years? If there is not a wit of consideration for his wife how about his two youngest children? How on earth can a man fulfill a grueling presidential schedule while his children are dealing everyday with the sickness of their mother?
The event also borders on hubris. Has Edwards convinced himself that he is so important to the national political scene that he can put everything on the back burner including the welfare of his wife and children for the benefit of all Americans? John, get a hold of yourself, you are a former senator, trailing badly in the polls and your chances are slim that you will ever be on a national ticket again. However, if you want to improve your chances or more importantly if you want to be admired instead of loathed, give up this foolishness and take care of your personal business in a caring and loving manner.
John Edwards took the opportunity to assemble the news media to announce publicly that his wife was terminally ill and that "The campaign goes on. The campaign goes on strongly." This was wrong on so many levels that I don't know where to begin.
This was not major news conference type information to begin with. Had he announced his intention to withdraw that might have merited a cattle call for newsman. Otherwise this was a simple press release. Instead Edwards duped the throng and they became part of the show.
It is more than just a cheap publicity stunt in that it shows the depth of John Edwards. Is the man's ambition so strong that he could not derail his presidential ambitions to devote himself to whatever time his wife might have remaining even if she is lucky and it is years? If there is not a wit of consideration for his wife how about his two youngest children? How on earth can a man fulfill a grueling presidential schedule while his children are dealing everyday with the sickness of their mother?
The event also borders on hubris. Has Edwards convinced himself that he is so important to the national political scene that he can put everything on the back burner including the welfare of his wife and children for the benefit of all Americans? John, get a hold of yourself, you are a former senator, trailing badly in the polls and your chances are slim that you will ever be on a national ticket again. However, if you want to improve your chances or more importantly if you want to be admired instead of loathed, give up this foolishness and take care of your personal business in a caring and loving manner.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
The DPW barn revisited
Several weeks ago I wrote a piece on the DPW barn, http://philgallagher.blogspot.com/2006/12/dpw-barn.html
and vowed to do some further digging on the subject to determine some of the facts surrounding the ownership of the property. I was able to acquire a copy of the deed that conveyed the property to the town, unfortunately this piece of paper actually creates additional confusion.
The simplest of the facts is that on June 26, 1959, Federated Department Stores conveyed to the town a four acre parcel of and subject to the following restriction:
"For the benefit of other land of the grantor in said Burlington situated Southerly of said Great Meadow Road , Easterly of Middlesex Turnpike, Northerly of the Northern Circumferential Highway (Route 128) and westerly of Blanchard Road, which shall remain in effect until July 15th 2059, that said premises shall be used only for a public works building or other public purposes."
Up to this point it has been commonly thought at town hall that the town had a 100 year ground lease on this property. The deed says no such thing. In fact the deed states that "consideration for the deed being less than $100, no revenue stamps are affixed hereto." What that would seem to indicate is that the land has been fully conveyed to the town and that the restriction is simply that it can only be used for a public works building or other public purpose.
If this is the case then it would seem that even though 2059 is indeed far away it never the less alleviates the ultimate need for the town to find another location as a result of being evicted from the property at the maturity date. In addition it would seem on the surface that if the town does find another more environmentally sound location for the barn (which is directly adjacent to the town's major well field) it would be under the town's purview to grass this property over and make a park out of it without fear of it reverting back to its previous ownership for development.
So further digging and clarification is necessary. The central question is does the conveyance to the town end after 100 years or does only the designation of the public purpose? An added twist to the whole story is that Federated was not the original owner of the property. On the same day Federated deeded the property to the town, a company called Realty Development Co. had conveyed it to Federated. Apparently Realty Development was a large holder of land in Burlington at that time. "The benefit of other land of the grantor" appears to be all the major landowners in the Mall Road area.
and vowed to do some further digging on the subject to determine some of the facts surrounding the ownership of the property. I was able to acquire a copy of the deed that conveyed the property to the town, unfortunately this piece of paper actually creates additional confusion.
The simplest of the facts is that on June 26, 1959, Federated Department Stores conveyed to the town a four acre parcel of and subject to the following restriction:
"For the benefit of other land of the grantor in said Burlington situated Southerly of said Great Meadow Road , Easterly of Middlesex Turnpike, Northerly of the Northern Circumferential Highway (Route 128) and westerly of Blanchard Road, which shall remain in effect until July 15th 2059, that said premises shall be used only for a public works building or other public purposes."
Up to this point it has been commonly thought at town hall that the town had a 100 year ground lease on this property. The deed says no such thing. In fact the deed states that "consideration for the deed being less than $100, no revenue stamps are affixed hereto." What that would seem to indicate is that the land has been fully conveyed to the town and that the restriction is simply that it can only be used for a public works building or other public purpose.
If this is the case then it would seem that even though 2059 is indeed far away it never the less alleviates the ultimate need for the town to find another location as a result of being evicted from the property at the maturity date. In addition it would seem on the surface that if the town does find another more environmentally sound location for the barn (which is directly adjacent to the town's major well field) it would be under the town's purview to grass this property over and make a park out of it without fear of it reverting back to its previous ownership for development.
So further digging and clarification is necessary. The central question is does the conveyance to the town end after 100 years or does only the designation of the public purpose? An added twist to the whole story is that Federated was not the original owner of the property. On the same day Federated deeded the property to the town, a company called Realty Development Co. had conveyed it to Federated. Apparently Realty Development was a large holder of land in Burlington at that time. "The benefit of other land of the grantor" appears to be all the major landowners in the Mall Road area.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Careful, slow or incompetent?
On or about August 1st of 2005 Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) was filmed except $100,000 in cash from a man wearing an FBI wire. Two days later, the FBI raided Rep. Jefferson's home and found most of the money tightly wrapped in aluminum foil in his freezer. This the high point in a 14 month investigation involving allegations of influence peddling, bribe taking and other nefarious activities.
Almost a year later and after numerous attempts by the FBI to have Jefferson cooperate in the investigation, the FBI used an 83 page affidavit in obtaining a warrant to search Jefferson's office in the Rayburn Building. Let me ask this question, you get caught $90,000 in bribe money and the FBI expects to find more incriminating evidence in your office? The search itself set of a storm of indignation on Capitol Hill. Not because Jefferson is an alleged thief who has sullied the reputation of lawmakers, but because the sanctity of the equal branch of government has been violated by the search.
In the meantime Jefferson stands for re-election and guess what? Dollar Bill gets returned to the scene of the crime. Now comes some even more bizarre goings on. With the changing of the majority guard in the house, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now faced with the prospect of Jefferson sitting on the Ways and Means Committee. After repeated refusals of requests for him to resign from the committee and despite the efforts of the House Black Caucus to retain him, house Democrats voted 99-58 to strip him of his membership. It is rather a chilling result when you consider that 58 members of his party felt he was deserving of his seat after it became public that he was accepting cash.
Here we are a year and six months since Rep. Jefferson's film debut and the news today is not about him being indicted or going on trial. The news today is that the "most ethical congress in history"http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=257732727252001 will allow "Dollar Bill" to be appointed to the Homeland Security Committee.
Although the decisions by Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats to allow Jefferson to have any kind of a role while this cloud hangs over him and they are deserving of the ridicule that should rightly be heaped upon them it is the Justice Department that is to blame.
In an age in which a semi competent prosecutor could get an inanimate object indicted before a grand jury nothing has happened in the Jefferson case? The reasoning behind such a slow pace is explained in a piece from the New Orleans City Journal by Jeff Crouere "One staffer in the U.S. Attorney's office in the Eastern District of New Orleans confidentially predicts quick action in the Jefferson investigation after the election is over Dec. 9. Jefferson reportedly will be indicted right after the election regardless of whether he wins or loses. Usually, the federal government shies away from indicting a public official during the midst of a campaign because of the political implications". My how considerate of the government. I wonder just how much consideration you or I would get if we had accepted $100,000 from an informant wearing an FBI wire? I think being cuffed and carted off in a cruiser in front of friends, family or co-workers is the standard treatment for non-congressional alleged felons.
Well the election is long over and we have the specter of a suspected major security risk sitting on one of the most sensitive congressional committees and still no action by the Justice Department. What can be the reason? Are they being careful, are they just slow or are they simply incompetent?
Almost a year later and after numerous attempts by the FBI to have Jefferson cooperate in the investigation, the FBI used an 83 page affidavit in obtaining a warrant to search Jefferson's office in the Rayburn Building. Let me ask this question, you get caught $90,000 in bribe money and the FBI expects to find more incriminating evidence in your office? The search itself set of a storm of indignation on Capitol Hill. Not because Jefferson is an alleged thief who has sullied the reputation of lawmakers, but because the sanctity of the equal branch of government has been violated by the search.
In the meantime Jefferson stands for re-election and guess what? Dollar Bill gets returned to the scene of the crime. Now comes some even more bizarre goings on. With the changing of the majority guard in the house, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now faced with the prospect of Jefferson sitting on the Ways and Means Committee. After repeated refusals of requests for him to resign from the committee and despite the efforts of the House Black Caucus to retain him, house Democrats voted 99-58 to strip him of his membership. It is rather a chilling result when you consider that 58 members of his party felt he was deserving of his seat after it became public that he was accepting cash.
Here we are a year and six months since Rep. Jefferson's film debut and the news today is not about him being indicted or going on trial. The news today is that the "most ethical congress in history"http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=257732727252001 will allow "Dollar Bill" to be appointed to the Homeland Security Committee.
Although the decisions by Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats to allow Jefferson to have any kind of a role while this cloud hangs over him and they are deserving of the ridicule that should rightly be heaped upon them it is the Justice Department that is to blame.
In an age in which a semi competent prosecutor could get an inanimate object indicted before a grand jury nothing has happened in the Jefferson case? The reasoning behind such a slow pace is explained in a piece from the New Orleans City Journal by Jeff Crouere "One staffer in the U.S. Attorney's office in the Eastern District of New Orleans confidentially predicts quick action in the Jefferson investigation after the election is over Dec. 9. Jefferson reportedly will be indicted right after the election regardless of whether he wins or loses. Usually, the federal government shies away from indicting a public official during the midst of a campaign because of the political implications". My how considerate of the government. I wonder just how much consideration you or I would get if we had accepted $100,000 from an informant wearing an FBI wire? I think being cuffed and carted off in a cruiser in front of friends, family or co-workers is the standard treatment for non-congressional alleged felons.
Well the election is long over and we have the specter of a suspected major security risk sitting on one of the most sensitive congressional committees and still no action by the Justice Department. What can be the reason? Are they being careful, are they just slow or are they simply incompetent?
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