It's been three months since I posted a blog entry, and there's a simple reason for the lull. Somehow, I managed to change the format for my page and couldn't figure out how to add new entries. It took my son Joe about five minutes to fix things this morning. Here's a few things I've been thinking about.
My cousin Bob issued a kind of challenge back in May, urging his friends to read the Christian Bible this summer. He says reading the whole thing will change the reader's life. At about the same time I heard of a new book, The New New Testament, that adds recently discovered early Christian writings to the canon we all have known since childhood. I admit I've been slow to do the reading. I read the Gospel of Thomas, really a compilation of Jesus' sayings rather than a narrative of his life, and the first twelve chapters of Matthew. Honestly, I haven't noticed any change in my beliefs or behavior yet.
I admit that my powers of concentration aren't what they used to be. A few minutes of serious reading are to often followed by time spent on computer games, or pulling weeds, or Facebook nowadays. Still, I promise myself I'll make a special effort to get through the rest of it soon.
A few weeks ago I looked at a right wing webpage. Now I'm getting all kinds of conservative come-ons in the margin of my Facebook page. One of them tells me that Ken Buck, defeated narrowly in his race for the US Senate from Colorado two years ago, will make another try for the same office next year. Buck is pictured flanked by two American flags. Occasionally I find myself wondering if the people who wrap themselves in the flag, as Buck does, wouldn't be the first ones down to the beach to congratulate an invader if one ever showed up.
Baseball. The Red Sox are leading the American League East by four games over the Tampa Bay Rays as I write this. It's too early to say the Sox have the division title in the bag, but right now the outlook is very good. The Sox prove the adage that it's a team sport. Not a single Red Sox player is having an outstanding year. Heck, their number one pitcher has been mediocre, their number two has been unavailable with a neck strain for two months, and the remainder of the staff rank as three four and five on merit. Their bullpen has been good but not outstanding. They're on their third closer.
The catcher strikes out too much and won't match last year's home run totals. The first baseman has gone ice cold at bat, the second baseman is excellent, but having an average year for him, the shortstop has been very good lately, but his batting average for the year is something like .240, third base has been a black hole for power production, though Jose Iglesias, now traded, was a marvel at the plate for the first two months of the season. There is no regular left fielder, though the platoon of Gomes, Nava and Carp (Sounds like a law firm, doesn't it?) has been good. The center fielder leads the league in stolen bases but his power numbers are poor. The right fielder has been good but not great.
Contrast all this to the Colorado Rockies, a team I also follow. The Rockies have two great star players, Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez. They are respectively the best shortstop and left fielder in all of baseball, bar none. Nolan Arenado at third base is an emerging star, DJ LeMahieu has solidified second base, the right fielder, Michael Cuddyer, is having a standout season, and the combination of Jorge de la Rosa and Jhoulys Chacin is a very good top of the pitching rotation. Yet the Rockies are floundering and will be hard pressed to avoid a losing record for the year.
Why? Because the supporting cast is weak. The Rockies lacked the depth to cover for injuries to their stars, and overuse weakened their bullpen. The number four starter has been very inconsistent and the fifth starter position has been a disaster.
And now to happier news. I am becoming a grandfather again, pretty much as I write this. Jennifer and Brian are moving Jeremy Shepherd into their home today and will proceed with adoption as soon as the courts allow. I couldn't be more pleased for them. Congratulations to them all!
That's all for today, I think. Must get back to civilizing the world.
