Hot Stove League

Rumors are floating that the Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox are contemplating a trade. The D-Backs would send Eurbiel Durazo, Byung-Hyun Kim, and Tony Womack to Boston for the redoubtable Nomar Garciaparra! What could the BoSox be thinking? The rumor started in Boston and was picked up locally by Channel 12. Think Nomar in the desert. Smart money would have to say it will never happen.

Durazo can hit the ball out of the county, but he's fallen from grace with the D-Backs front office. Durazo declined to play right field during the playoffs telling Manager Brenly he'd rather play first base. The problems with Durazo: he sucks wherever you play him as a fielder; he's got a major league hitting stroke and a Texas League brain. Kim doesn't want to be a closer. He fancies himself as a starter. It's dishonorable for a Korean to be a closer; it is muy macho to be a starter. Problem for Kim: if he's on he may be able to get through the order once, after that it's fire and fall back. Womack is all around good ballplayer who get the most out his talents. Unlike most player he gains strength as the season progresses. Of all the D-Backs in the proposed trade, I would miss Womack the most.

As for the World Series, local pundits want D-Backs fans to must antipathy for the Giants. Frankly, given the world situation--When I was between the ages of 5-9, I had a cousin who would always ask me, "what do you think of the world situation?"--I'll save my animus for the murderous Islamofascist brutes and thugs whose aim is return the world to the 9th century AD. Back to series, as I see it, it's an even match. I've been waiting for the Giants pitching to falter since Labor Day and they've held fast under very difficult circumstances. I like the Angles' bats, but if the Giants continue to pitch as well as they have, they should be the champs.

9/11 Reading

Read a couple of very good articles dealing with the aftermatch of the WTC attack. Atlantic Monthly had a three-part series (July/Aug, Sept, Oct issues), American Ground: The Unbuilding of the World Trade Center (excerpts only), by William Langeweische. Esquire (Sept) September (click on the September link for a portfolio of images) by C.J. Chivers. Each story is excellent and will reward you well for your time.

Perhaps the most distrubring aspect of the WTC scene, and an aspect that has yet to be nauseatingly overcoverd by TV news, was the looting that was done by recovery workers. Its a strange counterpoint to the heroic works of those who entered the doomed buildings. The looting gives you pause to reflect on human nature.