cookie-lady's Blog

True, we are only a couple of days into the 2008 Major League Baseball season, but there are some familiar names absent from any roster.

Who can blame Roger Clemens for retiring after all that gossip columnist Jose Canseco, [self-proclaimed narc of baseball] has put him and his family through?  Who can blame the Yankees for not trying to sign him for another season? 

Who would have ever thought that there would be a bigger scandal in baseball than that of the 1919 "Black Sox" and the 8 men who threw the Series with Cincinnati.  "Shoeless Joe Jackson, Lefty Williams, Chick Gandil, Freddie McMullin, Buck Weaver, Swede Risberg, Happy Felsch and Eddie Cicotte look like angels compared to Canseco.  What the Sox did was very wrong, but what Canseco is doing is ruining lives and careers forever.

But, the big question:  Where is Mike Piazza?  Injured at the start of the season 2007, Piazza returned from the DL to play out the season with the Oakland Athletics, but has not resurfaced since, and not picked up by the A's in 2008.

Rumor had it that Piazza, who owns homes in the Miami area, might be signed to a contract with the Florida Marlins as a DH in 2008.  The Marlins could have used the help in the opener against the NY Mets.  The game was a close one NY 5, FLA 4.  Piazza might have been able to zing one out of the park.  After all, it was at Shea, Piazza's old stomping grounds and  the Mets, some of his old team mates.  Piazza played with the Marlins for a short stint in the 90s before moving on to his very successful career with the Mets.


The earliest MLB teams may re-sign players that were released is May 15, 2008 and after that teams may wheel and deal with other teams to create the perfect storm. 

With the misery and havoc created by Canseco and his delusional claims, baseball needs a hero.  Baseball needs a Mr Clean, a Boy Scout, a stand up citizen.  Baseball needs Piazza.

Will the Marlins have a shot at making it out of the familiar slot of last in the league?  They might, but the organization needs all the help it can get and Piazza is a hitter, one destined to the Hall of Fame, and right now, a hitter without a team.

Is it just me or is baseball fever about ready to take hold?

It's a little more that 3 months now that NCAA Football ended its season, now with hoops drawing to a close, is there any hope for us who love the competition of sport?

YES!  Major league baseball opened for business officially March 31st for the 2008 season. 

While we do not have our own MLB team in Orlando, our fine city has played host to many of MLB's finest during the Atlanta Braves Spring Training camp, with games at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. 

Tickets are fairly priced, a little pricey compared to what you'd pay going to see the Minor League Jacksonville Suns play, but think of the savings in gas.  If you missed the season at Disney for the Braves this year, don't miss it next year.  It's great family fun.

If you are up to the commute, the Tampa Bay [Devil] Rays put on a good show and the stadium is nice, but lacks the beauty of being outdoors enjoying a game.  On the other hand, mid-July and August, there's probably not one fan or player that isn't quite thankful for the covered venue at Tropicana Field.

While most players have been signed to lucrative contracts already, there are a few that have not, notably the great Mike Piazza, former catcher turned DH [designated hitter] most recently with the Oakland Athletics, but for now, a hitter without a team.  Piazza was injured shortly into the season last year, but returned to knock several out of the park for the A's, but not enough to help their season in 2007.

The NY Mets are looking good in 2008, but we've seen that before, too.  Who will ever be able to forget, though Met Fans would like to, the 27 game lead the team had in 2007, only to not make the playoffs.  It is was it is, or was what is was, and that was a debacle of a season and championship that should have belonged completely to the Mets.  The "Bad Guys" of the 1986 Mets could have lent a little good Karma to the team in 2007. 

Yankee fans will still mourn the loss of Joe Torre, who signed on to help lead the Dodgers to a more victorious year, but Yank fans will still have a hand full of aces with Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon and Alex Rodriguez [A-Rod], if that miserable Jose Canseco will leave them out of his ridiculous gossip novel and accusations long enough so they can focus and play the game.

Ah, yes!  The Florida Marlins, finishing near last place, save 2003 [only 10 games out of first place in the division].  Will 2008 be the year of the Marlin?  South Floridians can only hope, and hope, and hope.  Maybe prayer would help.

Take me out to the ballgame!  Buy me some juice and a healthy snack, I'll be glad that I never get fat.  And it's Root, root, root for the home team, if they don't win it's a sham, cause it's ten, fifteen, twenty mill and more paid to play the ole ballgame.

Maybe I chose the wrong career.  "Batting fourth....Cookie..." oh, wait, it's still the "Boys of Summer,"  isn't it.  That just may change one day. 

Hey, Marlins, if you need a DH....I am still available.  Couldn't hurt.

What kind of man has to discredit others to make himself feel better and sell books?  Well, if you are a Yankee fan, you already know the answer...Jose Canseco.

In his latest tyrant, Canseco claims that he introduced Alex Rodriguez [3b-NYY] to a steroid distributer.  While Canseco does not come right down to accusing A-Rod of juicing, he plants a bad seed in the mind of the reader in an effort to bring A-Rod down, just as he has attempted to bring down Roger Clemens and others.

Well, this time, it ain't gonna work!

All of us have been to parties or events where people are introduced to others.  Big deal!  It doesn't mean anything.  It's not like A-Rod sought out this person.  It wasn't  a party arranged to match up potential buyers like a Tupperware party!  For goodness sake!  It was a gathering during the holidays, that's it, nothing more.

Canseco should be ashamed of himself!  What is he doing to America's favorite pastime?  Answer: he is doing all he can to make money, and in doing so, he is making a mockery of the game to a degree, and ruining the lives of many good players.

This time Canseco is way off base.  A-Rod does not appear to be a juicer; he's thin and fit and he still has a neck!  If you look at athletes and others that have admitted to steroid use, they are abnormally bulky in the legs and the real telling feature to me, they have no neck.  Case in point Lyle Alzado, who admitted to juicing and eventually paid the price for using by ruining his health which led to his death at age 43.  Look at pictures of Alzado and you will see it, no neck.

Personally, I am sick of Canseco and his tattle-tale behavior.  He's not the cop of MLB!  Just who does he think he is!?  Why is he doing this?  Is it because his own career stunk so bad that his MLB career was over in 2001?  Is it because he can't seem to get enough votes to get him on the ballot for the Hall of Fame?  Maybe it's because the only way he could get back into baseball was in the minor-minor league organization Golden Baseball League, and specifically, in 2006, with a team called the San Diego Dawgs.

Canseco has become a bitter [sort of old] man, jealous and vindictive.  Someone's got to stop him and get him to shut his trap. 

If there is a baseball God in heaven, he will bring Canseco to task, and get him out of baseball once and for all. 

Canseco's behavior is an atrocity, an abomination, a disgrace. Maybe he's PMS-ing!  He's worse than a third rate movie critic reviewing a b-movie.  Truly a loser.

JOSE, if you are out there, for the love of the game, shut up already and for goodness sake, GET SOME HELP!  There are plenty of medications out there that can help you!  A little Prozac may get you over the rough times that have brought you to this dark place in your life.  That and maybe some good friends.  Oh, wait....you have no friends...you strung them all up in front of America and Congress.

Wow!  This looks like it could be fun! 

Aren't the Gators coming off a national championship on the court?  Didn't they win both the football and basketball titles in 2006-7?

Is it a contest or will it be a rout?

Can someone explain why sometimes a bucket counts for 2 points and other times not?

I just don't understand the game.

It may sound crazy, but I am pulling for Ohio State in this contest.

LSU, while an SEC team, is really no match for the Buckeyes.  Maybe it's the snow and the cold, I don't know....but there is something that gives Ohio State fight.  There is also something that gives them finesse that LSU will never possess. 

The Tigers are a rough and tumble group...hard living, hard playing...actually, just a nasty bunch.  The Buckeyes, on the other hand, are tough, formidable, but the biggest difference is that they have class.

Will Ohio State bring a win?  Maybe, maybe not...but one way or another, they will have the CLASS to handle either.  LSU, not so much.  I saw it first-hand, when they lost the SEC championship to UGA a couple years back, what a bunch of sore-losers!  Drunk and just plain nasty.  When the Tigers win, they are ugly and when they lose, even uglier. 


Go Buckeyes!