With half the Reds' pitching staff either on the Disabled List, banged up, sore and/or nursing assorted boo-boos, as well as a few critical position players having been hobbled (Devin "the Groundhog" Mesoraco, "Jungle Jack" Hanahan to name two), and a rookie manager (Dat Manger BP) and a mostly new coaching staff (thanks be to Saint Harry Wright for protecting first base coach Billy Hatcher from the pogrom!), the 2014 season is projecting to be a roller coaster ride the likes of which may have never been seen before!
My hope is that the Mighty Redlegs don't fall 50 games out by June.
My expectation is for a furious late-summer, early-autumn rally from the depths of the NL Central standings to capture on the last day of the regular season - Game 162 - a 2nd place finish in the Division and the final NL Wild Card spot.
George "Sparky" Anderson had his Big Red Machine of the 1970s. "Trader Jack" McKeon had his Little Red Wagon of rookies and youngsters in 1999. Johnnie B. "Dusty" Baker had his Big Road Machine in 2012 when the Reds went 47-34 away from the Great American Tilt Yard. If my last-to-playoff prophecy for 2014 comes true, Bryan "Dat Manager BP" Price may turn out to be the conductor of a Big Red Caboose... just a caboose that thinks it can, it thinks it can.... all the way to playoff bonus money for our beloved Reds of River City! All aboard!
The Reds are in the midst of an historic epoch. Only twice in the long and glorious history of the Rhinelanders ballclub have they made the postseason in - at least - three of four seasons. The BRM of the made the playoffs five of seven seasons from 1970-1976 (and if you extend the latter parameter to 1979, six of ten seasons) and the current iteration has played October baseball in three of the past four seasons (2010, 2012-13). While we faithful in Reds Country are still stinging over the missed recent opportunities - especially 2012, when the championship was ripe for the Redlegs taking - consider this; From 1970 through the 1974 season The Big Red Machine made the postseason three of five times and failed to win the World Series in any of those years. If the Big Red Machine may be forgiven for coming up short in their first three cracks at a World Championship, then so can also Messrs Votto, Bruce, Phillips, Cueto, Bailey, Latos, Leake et al. After coming up short of glory in their initial run of three of four postseasons, the BRM failed to even make the playoffs in the fifth year of their historic run (1974). This is the equivalent of where we find our current Redlegs, today. The 2014 Reds could misfire. Yet the 1975-76 Reds roared back to capture consecutive World Championships. While I would not now assert the same fate for the 2015-16 Reds, it does portend great things that may be just over the horizon for the Mighty Reds. This precedent has been set in Cincinnati.
There are an assortment of new features and special promotional dates that loyal subscribers to Heavy Artillery will want to be made aware of. First, the addition of a mile-long bar and two different Moerlein Lager House concession stands that will serve up, it total, something like 8 million varieties of brew. You can read all about it here. I put down my frothy mug years ago, but Moerlein Zeppelin Pale Ale? My arm could be twisted into trying one of those [Yes, I know it isn't named for the Jimmy Page-led band. Get it? Jimmy Page-LED?! Led Zeppelin?! I kill myself!]. Let's just hope the good folks at Christian Moerlein don't next come out with a Hudepohl Keith Moon Hotel Wrecker lager. One sip and you're grooving to surf music. Two sips and you're closing down Hollywood bars with Ringo Starr and Larry Hagman. Three sips and you're driving a luxury car into a hotel swimming pool. Second, for the Star Wars fans out there (Big Randy), a Star Wars t-shirt giveaway - not on May the 4th, which sounds an awful lot like "May the Force...", but rather - on Saturday May the 3rd. The t-shirt looks fantastic. Sadly, I will not be able to snag my own as Saturday May the 3rd is, as you might have guessed, the First Saturday in May. The B Team will be otherwise occupied on that day. Thirdly, southwest Ohio's Riverdancing version of the Von Trapp Family, the Pattons, would like you to know that Friday, September 5th is Irish Heritage Night. As an added bonus, being that it's a Friday night game, it will also be a fireworks night. If you haven't been to GABP for a fireworks show, you really are missing out.
On behalf of Robert (he let's me call him "Bob") Castellini and the Reds season ticket sales battalion, allow me to make an impassioned pitch. Cincinnati will host the 2015 All-Star Game. Season ticket holders will have All-Star Game weekend ticket-buying opportunities that will not be available to the general public. I recommend getting your season tix this year, when you will have a better selection of seats, before everybody in Reds Country jumps on the bandwagon next season and you're stuck sitting under the scoreboard throughout the 2015 season. Boss, let Bob know that I will accept my commission for ticket sales in the form of Big Red Smokeys.
For so long as our luck runs, today marks the beginning of a baseball-themed series of "Roll the credits!" that I have been looking forward to for a long time. I'm loathe to spoil today's surprise, but I feel a brief (?) explanation is in order. For years I have been disappointed to find that there were practically zero episodes of This Week In Baseball on YouTube. A few clips of segments, but that has been about the sum of it. Until recently, that is. My life-long affinity for TWIB has been well-documented over these internet years. In an era before cable television, the world wide web, etc one's access to information was limited. And as a 6-, 7-, 8-year old in the 1970s there were newspapers, radio reports and the local evening news... but c'mon. When you're 6? Who has time for that? I had Legos. At all stages of my development I benefited from the wise and reasoned influence of my big brother Lou. He watched TWIB, ergo I watched TWIB. Lou played baseball in the backyard with Dad, ergo I played baseball in the backyard with Dad. That is just how little brothers are, since time immemorial. I've reminisced here before about watching TWIB on a summer day, windows open, doors open (The Ranch wasn't air conditioned in those halcyon days of yesteryear), sunlight streaming in, birds chirping..... and Mel Allen telling me all about the spectacular events from the wondrous world of Major League Baseball. Then, the closing theme song (different from the opening theme) would play - O! That glorious music! - and that signaled the time had come to go outside and play baseball with Lou, Dad, Andy, whomever was in the neighborhood. Even to this day, when I hear the opening stains of that song I can feel the warm sunlight, smell the fresh air and feel deep within my being a stirring to get outside of the house.
TWIB first aired in April of 1977, following closely upon - and in an effort to capitalize upon - the revival of Major League Baseball that began as a result of the unrivaled 1975 World Series.
I will endeavor to end each successive posting with chronologically-ordered episodes of TWIB, beginning with the earliest episode currently uploaded to YouTube - that from June 14, 1977. This episode, linked in "Roll the credits!," below, has it all! The extended version into, Mel Allen's (of course) unparalleled delivery, a truckload of Big Red Machine highlights during the opening montage, hilarious 1970s-era background music throughout the program, and - naturally - the greatest closing in all of televisiondom. Added bonus (at least for this week), no commercial interruptions! This is 21:45 of pure heaven.
Over the upcoming weeks I shall force myself to keep my ancillary YouTube links to a minimum so that whatever precious minutes you may have to spare, you may spend every cherished moment with TWIB.
No peaking, now, and if you do don't spoil it for the rest of us, but next week's TWIB is one of landmark proportions - both in Cincinnati and elsewhere. You won't believe all the memorable things that happened next week in This Week In Baseball!
Roll the credits!
March 31, 2014
March 28, 2014
Seeing The Sights, Radioactive Version
While logging many hours/miles in the pursuit of administrative duties this past Monday morning in the TDS MINI Cooper Mobile Tactical Unit, Lou and I found our blitzkrieg momentarily less blitz-like when our roll was slowed by this sight (below) in a remote sector in a classified county north of the one named in honor of General Richard Butler:
Luckily for everyone involved, it soon turned and der blitzenkriegen was again on!
I suppose 12-wheel tractors are commonplace in the Kansas, Nebraska and/or Dakota Territories, but we don't see such contraptions in these here parts!
Less than 24 hours later I rolled my slow into MHMH for an early morning diagnostic:
I didn't get a cool t-shirt, but on my fastbreak for the exit they handed me this card:
It will no doubt come as a shock to many of you to discover that I was radioactive for only three days [cool!]. And here you thought that was a permanent state of my being. One question; When did all of the nurses become kids?
I celebrated that evening by attending a viewing of the latest Muppet caper, Muppets Most Wanted. Regrettably, I do not think it measured up to their previous effort. I should have been tipped off when, one minute to trailers, this was the scene inside the theater:
The next day I received an update of the McDonald's Double Cheeseburger Inflation Barometer:
This marks a 50% increase over the unit price of two years' past when the McD double chee was an integral element of Ronnie Mac's "One Dollar Menu." The good news is that in 2016 President Paul Ryan (Miami University, class of 1992) will ram through a Republican-controlled Congress his signature piece of legislation, RyanCare, which will provide subsidies to cover the spiraling cost of double cheeseburgers. Double cheeseburgers which, it must be mentioned, you will be required to purchase or incur a "tax penalty."
This week I engaged in a bit of spring cleaning and found in the back of one bedroom closet a pair of Levi's jeans that I hadn't worn since the Joe College days. I know they haven't been worn since the mid-1990s for two reasons; 1) The microscopic 32-inch waist size [don't ask], and 2) The crisp $20 bill folded and neatly tucked into the watch pocket, a tactic I used as a measure to not blow my bottom dollar on buckets full of Vulcan Mind Probes at The Saloon. In the hall closet I had four Levi's denim jackets, the smallest of which I outgrew shortly after frosh year at THS. Before that jacket went into the pile for Goodwill, I discovered a treasure trove of mid-1980s artifacts in its various pockets. First, a veritable stack of event tickets. Here, below, is but a small sample:
Some of the tickets belonged to Lou (The Firm, for example), I carried those for street cred. The rest were all mine, baby.
In another pocket I found a handwritten note - a relic of my never-to-be-published memoir Stellar Moments From An Otherwise Suspect Academic Record - from a fair-haired maiden written in the spring of 1987 that, evidently, I cherished:
Her identity hidden from your prying eyes, this class of 1989 Cassandra was responding in a coy way to my impertinent entreaty:
Her "Maybe" turned out to be a "Yes" as she, like so many innumerable other debutantes in the 1980s, found my dashing charm an irresistible force. Pride is but one of the Seven Deadly Sins which I practice regularly, along with gluttony [see; waist size, above], and so I carried this note as my own Red Badge of Courage. In keeping with our radioactive theme, I think it only took me three or four weeks to blow up that relationship. Prophesies of doom, indeed. Poor girl deserved much better [see; Am I a Man or Am I a Muppet?, above]. Didn't they all?
It should be noted, here, that my most famous Levi's denim jacket of the 1988-1992 "live era" is on permanent loan to the J.A. Killy Museum of Rare and Seriously Cool Antiquities and Assorted Chicago Cubs Useless Junk where it is on display as a central attraction of the "Heavy Artillery Through The Years" exhibit. Someday, The Incomparable Joe Wilhelm and I hope to be invited to see it. Or at least maybe have lunch with the curator.
Spied this week on the former yard of local pharmaceutical industrialist of bygone days, John Minnis, a rarity in the botanical world; the Northern Hemisphere Railroad Crossing Gate Tree.
I zoomed my R2 Android in for a closer inspection:
If you look closely, you will observe that there are two sections of railroad crossing gates in that tree. And should repeated thematic references be in short supply, these two photos were taken from just about the exact place where I'd park for school back in the 1980s.
Roll the credits!
Luckily for everyone involved, it soon turned and der blitzenkriegen was again on!
I suppose 12-wheel tractors are commonplace in the Kansas, Nebraska and/or Dakota Territories, but we don't see such contraptions in these here parts!
Less than 24 hours later I rolled my slow into MHMH for an early morning diagnostic:
I didn't get a cool t-shirt, but on my fastbreak for the exit they handed me this card:
It will no doubt come as a shock to many of you to discover that I was radioactive for only three days [cool!]. And here you thought that was a permanent state of my being. One question; When did all of the nurses become kids?
I celebrated that evening by attending a viewing of the latest Muppet caper, Muppets Most Wanted. Regrettably, I do not think it measured up to their previous effort. I should have been tipped off when, one minute to trailers, this was the scene inside the theater:
The next day I received an update of the McDonald's Double Cheeseburger Inflation Barometer:
This marks a 50% increase over the unit price of two years' past when the McD double chee was an integral element of Ronnie Mac's "One Dollar Menu." The good news is that in 2016 President Paul Ryan (Miami University, class of 1992) will ram through a Republican-controlled Congress his signature piece of legislation, RyanCare, which will provide subsidies to cover the spiraling cost of double cheeseburgers. Double cheeseburgers which, it must be mentioned, you will be required to purchase or incur a "tax penalty."
This week I engaged in a bit of spring cleaning and found in the back of one bedroom closet a pair of Levi's jeans that I hadn't worn since the Joe College days. I know they haven't been worn since the mid-1990s for two reasons; 1) The microscopic 32-inch waist size [don't ask], and 2) The crisp $20 bill folded and neatly tucked into the watch pocket, a tactic I used as a measure to not blow my bottom dollar on buckets full of Vulcan Mind Probes at The Saloon. In the hall closet I had four Levi's denim jackets, the smallest of which I outgrew shortly after frosh year at THS. Before that jacket went into the pile for Goodwill, I discovered a treasure trove of mid-1980s artifacts in its various pockets. First, a veritable stack of event tickets. Here, below, is but a small sample:
Some of the tickets belonged to Lou (The Firm, for example), I carried those for street cred. The rest were all mine, baby.
In another pocket I found a handwritten note - a relic of my never-to-be-published memoir Stellar Moments From An Otherwise Suspect Academic Record - from a fair-haired maiden written in the spring of 1987 that, evidently, I cherished:
Her identity hidden from your prying eyes, this class of 1989 Cassandra was responding in a coy way to my impertinent entreaty:
Her "Maybe" turned out to be a "Yes" as she, like so many innumerable other debutantes in the 1980s, found my dashing charm an irresistible force. Pride is but one of the Seven Deadly Sins which I practice regularly, along with gluttony [see; waist size, above], and so I carried this note as my own Red Badge of Courage. In keeping with our radioactive theme, I think it only took me three or four weeks to blow up that relationship. Prophesies of doom, indeed. Poor girl deserved much better [see; Am I a Man or Am I a Muppet?, above]. Didn't they all?
It should be noted, here, that my most famous Levi's denim jacket of the 1988-1992 "live era" is on permanent loan to the J.A. Killy Museum of Rare and Seriously Cool Antiquities and Assorted Chicago Cubs Useless Junk where it is on display as a central attraction of the "Heavy Artillery Through The Years" exhibit. Someday, The Incomparable Joe Wilhelm and I hope to be invited to see it. Or at least maybe have lunch with the curator.
Spied this week on the former yard of local pharmaceutical industrialist of bygone days, John Minnis, a rarity in the botanical world; the Northern Hemisphere Railroad Crossing Gate Tree.
I zoomed my R2 Android in for a closer inspection:
If you look closely, you will observe that there are two sections of railroad crossing gates in that tree. And should repeated thematic references be in short supply, these two photos were taken from just about the exact place where I'd park for school back in the 1980s.
Roll the credits!
March 20, 2014
The Consistency King
Two days ago, I received an urgent text from the mountaintop retreat of the foremost paleontologist of the western Carolinas, asking for information regarding the number of career hits as a left-handed batter attained by the switch-hitting Hit King Peter Edward Rose. Andy was wondering where Pete might rank among the all-time hit leaders when counting only the hits he totaled when batting from his off-hand side (Pete being a natural right-handed player). Understanding, of course, that there are vastly more right-handed pitchers in Major League Baseball than there are left-handed pitchers, The Hit King would have had many more at-bats as a left-handed batter than he did right-handed and, therefore, the majority of his lifetime hits would have been from the left-handed batters' box.
Immediately what came to mind were, rather unhelpfully, the lifetime home/away splits for St Louis Cardinal and Hall of Famer Stan "the Man" Musial; 1815 hits at home, 1815 on the road.
I stayed up until midnight that night - after a long day at the office - compiling all sorts of Peter Edward "splits," as we stat fanatics refer to them, and proceeded to blow up Andy's smartphone with a Witching Hour barrage of texts that revealed all manner of interesting data.
Then, it was brought to my attention that yesterday marked the anniversary of the day in 1985 when MLB Commissioner Peter Ueberroth re-instated from the so-called Permanently Ineligible List both Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays. The Say Hey Kid and The Commerce Comet had been hired as PR types for different Atlantic City casinos in or around 1983, their services mostly described as being greeters, signing autographs for casino patrons, and making appearances at various casino-sponsored functions (such as at golf outings, etc). For these associations with known gamblers, and in the best interests of baseball, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn banned Mantle and Mays from baseball. Two years afterward, Commissioner Ueberroth's action rendered MLB's Permanently Ineligible List as something significantly less than permanent. Always remember this commutation - among so many others (Ty Cobb & Tris Speaker most notably) - when one argues that Pete cannot be re-instated simply because of his being placed on the Permanently Ineligible List. Or for associating with known gambles [see; Mays & Mantle]. Or for betting on (and in the example of Cobb & Speaker, also fixing) games.
With all this Hit King activity, I took it as a sign of divinity from Saint Peter Edward himself to share with you, here, some of the findings I turned up via Baseball-Reference.com for Andy.
As a left-handed batter, Pete recorded 3083 hits (and had a .307 batting average). If you remove Pete and his 4256 from the #1 spot on the all-time hits leader board and replace Ty Cobb as #1 all-time, Pete's LH hit total still earns him 20th all-time, ahead of such luminaries of the ballpark as; Rod Carew, Wade Boggs, Roberto Clemente, Frank Robinson, Wee Willie Keeler, Rogers Hornsby, Babe Ruth, Ichiro, and Lou Gehrig (to name but a notable few).
From the right side, Pete had 1171 hits (and a .293 AVG).
The eagle-eyed among you will observe that 3083 + 1171 equals 4254, not 4256. As to this apparent 2-hits discrepancy with Rose's cumulative total, beats me. I'm probably missing something obvious. I'm certain B-R.com wouldn't be wrong. I wouldn't put it past Commissioner A. Bartlett "Bug" [sic] Selig trying to do everything he can to erase Pete from the record books, even 1 or 2 hits at a time.
At home, Pete had 2123 hits (.310 AVG), away 2133 hits (.296 AVG).
Over the first half of a season, .298 AVG. Second half, .309 AVG.
Batting average by months -
March/April: .301
Batting average by position (excluding pinch hitting) -
1B: .284 (1009 hits)
2B: .297 (745 hits)
3B: .312 (803 hits)
LF: .307 (825 hits)
CF: .295 (82 hits)
RF: .326 (769 hits)
Pete batted:
.299 when he was the 1st batter in a game (629 hits), .301 when leading off an inning (1471 hits).
.305 with 0 out (1820 hits), .301 with 1 out (1267 hits), and .301 again with 2 outs (1167 hits). [Again, 4254 hits... I'm missing some small sample of stats. Maybe Pete had 2 hits with 3 outs, such as when a preceding batter reaches base to extend an inning after striking out on ball dropped by a catcher?]
.311 with RISP.
.318 with men on base.
.327 with runner on first base.
.283 with runner on second base.
.369 with a runner on third base.
Runners on first & second, .303
Runners on first & third, .368
Runners on second & third, .319
Bases loaded, .342
Two outs and RISP, .308
Late & close, .299
Tie game, .293
.315 when his team was ahead.
.301 when his team was behind.
By inning -
.287 in the 1st inning.
.336 in the 2nd.
.305 in the 3rd.
.323 in the 4th.
.305 in the 5th.
.295 in the 6th.
.310 in the 7th.
.314 in the 8th.
.292 in the 9th.
.293 in extra innings.
.285 when facing a starting pitcher for the first time in a game.
.306 the second time.
.310 the third time.
.292 when facing a starting pitcher for the fourth+ time.
.321 when facing a relief pitcher for the first time in a game.
.303 in night game (2792 hits).
.302 in day games (1464 hits). [4256 hits]
.303 in open air stadium (4051 hits).
.301 in a dome (205 hits). [4256 hits]
.304 on grass surface (2218 hits).
.302 on artificial surface (2038 hits). [4256 hits]
.317 at Crosley Field (715 hits).
.313 at Riverfront Stadium (1019 hits).
The foregoing illustrates that Pete was consistently great. No matter the inning, the month, the position, the arena, the playing surface, left-handed, right-handed, day, night or the particular game conditions (RISP, # of outs, etc), Peter Edward Rose produced at an unyielding level of excellence.
As for Stan Musial's own standard of consistency, in addition to his 1815 home/away hits, he batted:
.325 in March/April.
At home Musial batted .336, and .326 on the road.
First halves of seasons Stan Musial hit .325 with 247 HR and 1001 RBI, in second halves Musial hit .337 with 228 HR and 951 RBI.
Roll the credits!
Immediately what came to mind were, rather unhelpfully, the lifetime home/away splits for St Louis Cardinal and Hall of Famer Stan "the Man" Musial; 1815 hits at home, 1815 on the road.
I stayed up until midnight that night - after a long day at the office - compiling all sorts of Peter Edward "splits," as we stat fanatics refer to them, and proceeded to blow up Andy's smartphone with a Witching Hour barrage of texts that revealed all manner of interesting data.
Then, it was brought to my attention that yesterday marked the anniversary of the day in 1985 when MLB Commissioner Peter Ueberroth re-instated from the so-called Permanently Ineligible List both Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays. The Say Hey Kid and The Commerce Comet had been hired as PR types for different Atlantic City casinos in or around 1983, their services mostly described as being greeters, signing autographs for casino patrons, and making appearances at various casino-sponsored functions (such as at golf outings, etc). For these associations with known gamblers, and in the best interests of baseball, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn banned Mantle and Mays from baseball. Two years afterward, Commissioner Ueberroth's action rendered MLB's Permanently Ineligible List as something significantly less than permanent. Always remember this commutation - among so many others (Ty Cobb & Tris Speaker most notably) - when one argues that Pete cannot be re-instated simply because of his being placed on the Permanently Ineligible List. Or for associating with known gambles [see; Mays & Mantle]. Or for betting on (and in the example of Cobb & Speaker, also fixing) games.
With all this Hit King activity, I took it as a sign of divinity from Saint Peter Edward himself to share with you, here, some of the findings I turned up via Baseball-Reference.com for Andy.
As a left-handed batter, Pete recorded 3083 hits (and had a .307 batting average). If you remove Pete and his 4256 from the #1 spot on the all-time hits leader board and replace Ty Cobb as #1 all-time, Pete's LH hit total still earns him 20th all-time, ahead of such luminaries of the ballpark as; Rod Carew, Wade Boggs, Roberto Clemente, Frank Robinson, Wee Willie Keeler, Rogers Hornsby, Babe Ruth, Ichiro, and Lou Gehrig (to name but a notable few).
From the right side, Pete had 1171 hits (and a .293 AVG).
The eagle-eyed among you will observe that 3083 + 1171 equals 4254, not 4256. As to this apparent 2-hits discrepancy with Rose's cumulative total, beats me. I'm probably missing something obvious. I'm certain B-R.com wouldn't be wrong. I wouldn't put it past Commissioner A. Bartlett "Bug" [sic] Selig trying to do everything he can to erase Pete from the record books, even 1 or 2 hits at a time.
At home, Pete had 2123 hits (.310 AVG), away 2133 hits (.296 AVG).
Over the first half of a season, .298 AVG. Second half, .309 AVG.
Batting average by months -
March/April: .301
May: .283 with 689 hits.
June: .303 with 739 hits.
July: .316 with 775 hits.
August: .309 with 800 hits.
Sept/Oct: .304 with 756 hits.
Batting average by position (excluding pinch hitting) -
1B: .284 (1009 hits)
2B: .297 (745 hits)
3B: .312 (803 hits)
LF: .307 (825 hits)
CF: .295 (82 hits)
RF: .326 (769 hits)
Pete batted:
.299 when he was the 1st batter in a game (629 hits), .301 when leading off an inning (1471 hits).
.305 with 0 out (1820 hits), .301 with 1 out (1267 hits), and .301 again with 2 outs (1167 hits). [Again, 4254 hits... I'm missing some small sample of stats. Maybe Pete had 2 hits with 3 outs, such as when a preceding batter reaches base to extend an inning after striking out on ball dropped by a catcher?]
.311 with RISP.
.318 with men on base.
.327 with runner on first base.
.283 with runner on second base.
.369 with a runner on third base.
Runners on first & second, .303
Runners on first & third, .368
Runners on second & third, .319
Bases loaded, .342
Two outs and RISP, .308
Late & close, .299
Tie game, .293
.315 when his team was ahead.
.301 when his team was behind.
By inning -
.287 in the 1st inning.
.336 in the 2nd.
.305 in the 3rd.
.323 in the 4th.
.305 in the 5th.
.295 in the 6th.
.310 in the 7th.
.314 in the 8th.
.292 in the 9th.
.293 in extra innings.
.285 when facing a starting pitcher for the first time in a game.
.306 the second time.
.310 the third time.
.292 when facing a starting pitcher for the fourth+ time.
.321 when facing a relief pitcher for the first time in a game.
.303 in night game (2792 hits).
.302 in day games (1464 hits). [4256 hits]
.303 in open air stadium (4051 hits).
.301 in a dome (205 hits). [4256 hits]
.304 on grass surface (2218 hits).
.302 on artificial surface (2038 hits). [4256 hits]
.317 at Crosley Field (715 hits).
.313 at Riverfront Stadium (1019 hits).
The foregoing illustrates that Pete was consistently great. No matter the inning, the month, the position, the arena, the playing surface, left-handed, right-handed, day, night or the particular game conditions (RISP, # of outs, etc), Peter Edward Rose produced at an unyielding level of excellence.
As for Stan Musial's own standard of consistency, in addition to his 1815 home/away hits, he batted:
.325 in March/April.
.323 in May, with 86 HR and 374 RBI.
.334 in June, with 93 HR and 353 RBI.
.328 in July, with 83 HR and 361 RBI.
.328 in August, with 92 HR and 372 RBI.
.346 in Sept/Oct.
At home Musial batted .336, and .326 on the road.
First halves of seasons Stan Musial hit .325 with 247 HR and 1001 RBI, in second halves Musial hit .337 with 228 HR and 951 RBI.
Roll the credits!
March 14, 2014
Non-linear Non-subjective
You shouldn't assume that this post is a strict progression of cause to effect but is, actually, from a non-linear non-subjective viewpoint. That is to say; what follows is a bunch of stuff, presented in a rather random order, that I've been collecting for use here but haven't found the time (or space) to upload.
Until now!
The foremost paleontologist from the western Carolinas descended his mountaintop retreat for a spring break visit back home amidst the rolling foothills of Reily Township. We grabbed a pizza from Bruno's this past Monday night and when we were run out of there at "closing time," approximately 10 pm, we ambled over to Mac-n-Joe's whereupon we were nearly run out of there, at 10:15 pm, because they wanted to "close up" the lower level. Since when did my hometown roll up the sidewalks at sunset? Well, during the academic year, I mean. And since when did Mac-n-Joe's play the most deity-awful, pop-starlet music one has ever been subjected to? It wasn't until nearly 1 am that we were treated to one Appetite For Destruction-era GNR song. My, how times have changed. For those of you teetotalers out there, I nursed one-half a Labatt Blue from 10:30pm to 1 am. At any rate, I spied the Doctor Who themed license plate above on a car parked illegally in the alley between CJ's and Mac-n-Joe's. I'd have notified the local authorities of this scofflaw but she was cute and she had a nice smile when I complimented her for sophistication.
Peculiar closing times notwithstanding, the food and beverage was good. And yet, odd things have been occurring all across my food spectrum lately. Take the mid-meal, inflation-adjusted downsizing that happened to me recently at a Bob Evan's:
I asked for a re-fill of my Coca-Cola and promptly was presented with a glass noticeably smaller. I'd peg the difference at 8%. If anyone was concerned with where all the polar ice has [not] disappeared to, look no further than my glass. Methinks my re-fill was about 77% less than the first round. Of course, there are those communists in Washington who claim that, despite printing more greenbacks since 2008 than there are stars in the universe, there's no inflation. The unassailable inflation barometer that Lou and I have used is the McDonald's double cheeseburger. Possibly the yummiest variant of its genus, it formerly was also the best deal going; $1. At least, that is where it was priced as recently as two years ago. Today it can be had, locally, for a penny under $1.40. My Reily math tells me that's approximately 40% inflation. Lou and I infrequently patronize McDonald's rival Burger King, seeing as there aren't any conveniently located. As it happens, I infrequent BK less (or should that be more?) than does Lou. The Home of the Whopper once offered a $1 double cheeseburger to compete with Ronnie Mac's. Recently Big Brother Lou hit up the BK drive-thru in a distant jurisdiction and was shocked at the bill:
My Reily math can't calculate how much inflation this represents.
The Good, out of all this Bad and Ugly, was finding this sweet treat (below) on the grocery store shelf:
A new offering from the humanitarian folks at Hershey, this caramel-and-vanilla candy receives my highest praise. Of course, as an homage to my good friend Mad Mahler aka The Svengali of Zwingli, I pronounce the name of this candy as (LANK-astir) and not the more common (LAN-caster), to the infuriation of all who are unfamiliar with Fairfield County, Ohio and its unique dialect. Of course, I also pronounce the type of candy itself as (KAR-muhl) and not (CARE-uh-mel), so make of that what you will. Perhaps best of all, the recommended serving size of Lancaster is seven - I said seven - pieces.
This past weekend I missed a golden, skillet-fried culinary opportunity:
"U-Judge-It Bacon Cook Off." [The ubiquitous Hog Heaven pun has been omitted] I'm not familiar with the advertised musical acts for Baconfest but I can imagine what it may have sounded/looked like. Such is my dedication to work, I forwent indulging in mountains of bacon in favor of earning a paycheck. I was rewarded with this discovery:
Thanks to my extensive travels throughout the region lo these many decades, long ago I became enamored of the old one-room schoolhouses which dot the Miami Valley. My introduction to these noble artifacts of bygone centuries came via the Reily schoolhouse which formerly stood at the intersection of Sample and Dunwoody Roads before such elemental forces as fire, wind and barbarian vandal spelled its doom a few years ago. I snatched one of its hand-formed bricks one summer evening during the final demolition. The Oxford Township schoolhouse you see pictured above was constructed in 1877 and today rests undisturbed on a private farm, near the end of a three-quarter mile long gravel-and-dirt driveway, behind a gate and beyond a few dozen No Trespassing Under Penalty of Immediate and Painful Death signs. Therefore, I will not share with you its exact coordinates. However, I will share with you more photos of this dignified relic:
In an effort to place this schoolhouse it its broader geographical context, I snapped the photo below with my R2 Android Unit but the image was somehow corrupted by a software glitch:
You can see, just barely, the schoolhouse in the lower left section of the image above, in the distance and at the right side of the driveway. Fortunately, the image below turned out better and offers a more clear view of the serene setting in which the old schoolhouse passes its days in undisturbed repose:
Later that same afternoon, while waiting patiently at a traffic signal I spied a vehicle cruising the mean streets of Ox City which I could not readily identify. This is a rare situation to find myself in as both a result of my profession and also as a long-time subscriber to Car and Driver magazine. Further, the small red hatchback appeared to have a license plate of (initially) undetermined origin. This mystery I had to solve! Luckily, and without violating any established speed limits, I caught up to the mystery car at the next red light. On approach, I first discerned a "Chevy" script logo in an unfamiliar - one might go so far as to say "foreign" - font style (at right, below, near taillight). Finally, I approached a range close enough to read the rear license plate:
Mexico!
Dios mio!
This was, evidently, a Mexican-market model of car based upon the (Chevrolet) Geo Metro. The coachwork is somewhat different, and the absence of a factory-installed rear wiper seemed strangely missing, but the overall proportions and style said "Metro."
After the third-snowiest winter on record in these here parts, Spring hath finally sprung with the arrival of not Swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano nor co-ed hemlines raising to driver distraction-inducing heights but rather with Reds Opening Day tickets appearing, yesterday, in my mailbox.
Cue Handel!
With news of two niche restaurant's on the brink of bankruptcy at The Banks - Toby Keith's Dude, I Love This Bar (country and western; I wouldn't be caught dead in there!) and Mahogany's (soul food; I've had chicken and waffles there!) - I think it's time that All-Century and Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench goes back into the restaurant business.
Roll the credits!
Until now!
The foremost paleontologist from the western Carolinas descended his mountaintop retreat for a spring break visit back home amidst the rolling foothills of Reily Township. We grabbed a pizza from Bruno's this past Monday night and when we were run out of there at "closing time," approximately 10 pm, we ambled over to Mac-n-Joe's whereupon we were nearly run out of there, at 10:15 pm, because they wanted to "close up" the lower level. Since when did my hometown roll up the sidewalks at sunset? Well, during the academic year, I mean. And since when did Mac-n-Joe's play the most deity-awful, pop-starlet music one has ever been subjected to? It wasn't until nearly 1 am that we were treated to one Appetite For Destruction-era GNR song. My, how times have changed. For those of you teetotalers out there, I nursed one-half a Labatt Blue from 10:30pm to 1 am. At any rate, I spied the Doctor Who themed license plate above on a car parked illegally in the alley between CJ's and Mac-n-Joe's. I'd have notified the local authorities of this scofflaw but she was cute and she had a nice smile when I complimented her for sophistication.
Peculiar closing times notwithstanding, the food and beverage was good. And yet, odd things have been occurring all across my food spectrum lately. Take the mid-meal, inflation-adjusted downsizing that happened to me recently at a Bob Evan's:
I asked for a re-fill of my Coca-Cola and promptly was presented with a glass noticeably smaller. I'd peg the difference at 8%. If anyone was concerned with where all the polar ice has [not] disappeared to, look no further than my glass. Methinks my re-fill was about 77% less than the first round. Of course, there are those communists in Washington who claim that, despite printing more greenbacks since 2008 than there are stars in the universe, there's no inflation. The unassailable inflation barometer that Lou and I have used is the McDonald's double cheeseburger. Possibly the yummiest variant of its genus, it formerly was also the best deal going; $1. At least, that is where it was priced as recently as two years ago. Today it can be had, locally, for a penny under $1.40. My Reily math tells me that's approximately 40% inflation. Lou and I infrequently patronize McDonald's rival Burger King, seeing as there aren't any conveniently located. As it happens, I infrequent BK less (or should that be more?) than does Lou. The Home of the Whopper once offered a $1 double cheeseburger to compete with Ronnie Mac's. Recently Big Brother Lou hit up the BK drive-thru in a distant jurisdiction and was shocked at the bill:
My Reily math can't calculate how much inflation this represents.
The Good, out of all this Bad and Ugly, was finding this sweet treat (below) on the grocery store shelf:
A new offering from the humanitarian folks at Hershey, this caramel-and-vanilla candy receives my highest praise. Of course, as an homage to my good friend Mad Mahler aka The Svengali of Zwingli, I pronounce the name of this candy as (LANK-astir) and not the more common (LAN-caster), to the infuriation of all who are unfamiliar with Fairfield County, Ohio and its unique dialect. Of course, I also pronounce the type of candy itself as (KAR-muhl) and not (CARE-uh-mel), so make of that what you will. Perhaps best of all, the recommended serving size of Lancaster is seven - I said seven - pieces.
This past weekend I missed a golden, skillet-fried culinary opportunity:
"U-Judge-It Bacon Cook Off." [The ubiquitous Hog Heaven pun has been omitted] I'm not familiar with the advertised musical acts for Baconfest but I can imagine what it may have sounded/looked like. Such is my dedication to work, I forwent indulging in mountains of bacon in favor of earning a paycheck. I was rewarded with this discovery:
Thanks to my extensive travels throughout the region lo these many decades, long ago I became enamored of the old one-room schoolhouses which dot the Miami Valley. My introduction to these noble artifacts of bygone centuries came via the Reily schoolhouse which formerly stood at the intersection of Sample and Dunwoody Roads before such elemental forces as fire, wind and barbarian vandal spelled its doom a few years ago. I snatched one of its hand-formed bricks one summer evening during the final demolition. The Oxford Township schoolhouse you see pictured above was constructed in 1877 and today rests undisturbed on a private farm, near the end of a three-quarter mile long gravel-and-dirt driveway, behind a gate and beyond a few dozen No Trespassing Under Penalty of Immediate and Painful Death signs. Therefore, I will not share with you its exact coordinates. However, I will share with you more photos of this dignified relic:
In an effort to place this schoolhouse it its broader geographical context, I snapped the photo below with my R2 Android Unit but the image was somehow corrupted by a software glitch:
You can see, just barely, the schoolhouse in the lower left section of the image above, in the distance and at the right side of the driveway. Fortunately, the image below turned out better and offers a more clear view of the serene setting in which the old schoolhouse passes its days in undisturbed repose:
Later that same afternoon, while waiting patiently at a traffic signal I spied a vehicle cruising the mean streets of Ox City which I could not readily identify. This is a rare situation to find myself in as both a result of my profession and also as a long-time subscriber to Car and Driver magazine. Further, the small red hatchback appeared to have a license plate of (initially) undetermined origin. This mystery I had to solve! Luckily, and without violating any established speed limits, I caught up to the mystery car at the next red light. On approach, I first discerned a "Chevy" script logo in an unfamiliar - one might go so far as to say "foreign" - font style (at right, below, near taillight). Finally, I approached a range close enough to read the rear license plate:
Mexico!
Dios mio!
This was, evidently, a Mexican-market model of car based upon the (Chevrolet) Geo Metro. The coachwork is somewhat different, and the absence of a factory-installed rear wiper seemed strangely missing, but the overall proportions and style said "Metro."
After the third-snowiest winter on record in these here parts, Spring hath finally sprung with the arrival of not Swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano nor co-ed hemlines raising to driver distraction-inducing heights but rather with Reds Opening Day tickets appearing, yesterday, in my mailbox.
Cue Handel!
With news of two niche restaurant's on the brink of bankruptcy at The Banks - Toby Keith's Dude, I Love This Bar (country and western; I wouldn't be caught dead in there!) and Mahogany's (soul food; I've had chicken and waffles there!) - I think it's time that All-Century and Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench goes back into the restaurant business.
Roll the credits!
March 2, 2014
Big Three Pick Six
From the "Stop me if you've heard this before....." file:
This is another B Team Syndicate 4-of-6 Pick Six blog posting.
If you feel as if you've seen this movie before and you want to jump ship at this point, have at it (traitors). There's more to this story, however, and so if you stick around the movie follows a different script even if it ends up - essentially - the same way. Think of this as yet one more sequel from your favorite film franchise. Only in this series, the Dark Side of the Force always seems to keep winning.
This timeless, heart warming, tear-jerking, epic tale of a boy and his Father, but not his big brother (somebody has to work!), set in the newest racino in the Buckeye State began two months ago, in January. Perusing the online version of America's Turf Authority Since 1894 - the Daily Racing Form - I noted that, for the first time ever, Churchill Downs was offering its own Kentucky Derby Future Wager pool(s). Derby future pools have long been the exclusive domain of Las Vegas and Atlantic City casino sportsbooks. More surprising to me was that the first of four Churchill Downs Derby future pools had opened and closed in November of 2013. This, I missed. A horse that I wagered on as a component of various exotic wagers (exacta, trifecta) in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a colt named Mexikoma, son of a Belmont Stakes winner (2004, Birdstone) and grandson of a Kentucky Derby winner (1996, Grindstone), great-grandson of a Derby & Breeders' Cup Classic winner (1990 both times, Unbridled)... trust me, I could go on. In reading the DRF report further, I was informed that when Pool #1 of the Churchill Downs Derby future pool closed in November, Mexikoma was at odds of 40-1. Pool #2 (each Churchill future pool is open for 3 days) was to be offered during the first week of February. Seizing what I thought was my opportunity, I arranged an outing with The Old Master of the Turf to the newly opened Miami Valley Gaming, better understood as the new racino in scenic Monroe, Ohio, just a turned-double play from Joe Morgan Honda. By this time, The Old Master had been frequenting MVG with some regularity and found himself to be very impressed with the physical plant, but I had yet to pay a visit myself. Two days before Pool #2 opened, Churchill announced the 23 individual wagering choices (with a 24th being "Field," or all of the remaining nominations. This year, there were 413 total nominations for the Kentucky Derby. You can see why they try to limit each pool to a more manageable number of betting choices. Each successive pool introduces some previously unavailable choices).
Mexikoma was not offered among the individual betting choices in Pool #2.
Hoping to have the opportunity to place a Derby future bet on Mexikoma when Pool #3 opened, I phoned The Old Master and we rearranged our planned visit to MVG for Thursday, February 27th, the opening day for Pool #3.
Bear in mind, this is all happening during a period when very few of the 2014 Derby hopefuls are actually racing (and certainly none of the top contenders). They're wintering in sunny climes. Of course, all but some 395 of the Derby-nominated horses will make it all the way to the First Saturday in May. Most will not qualify under the new Derby Points requirements, a few will be sidelined by injury. But what's gambling if you don't take an occasional shot in the dark. The key is to not put too much money into it, unless you have exceptionally deep pockets.
February 25th rolled around and Churchill Downs announced the offerings for Pool #3. No Mexikoma. Again.
However, a different opportunity arose. Call it "A New Hope." A happenstance glance at the Equibase.com "Carryover Corner" revealed that on Thursday, February 27th, there were to be three - count 'em, three - sizable Pick Six-style carryovers at three of the major North American racetracks currently holding a live racing meet; Santa Anita, Gulfstream Park, and Fair Grounds.
My internal handicapping radar beeped, beeped again more loudly and then exploded. I may not have the opportunity to place a future bet on Mexikoma, but sure as shootin' I was going to marshal the considerable forces of The B Team Syndicate and take a whack at three concurrent, massive-carryover Pick Sixes!
I rendezvoused with The Old Master at 10-hundred hours on Thursday the 27th, picking him up in the Jeep Main Battle Tank and we immediately made tracks for... Performance Honda. Mr B wanted to make an appointment for service. They have phones for that sort of thing, but, well, you know. After an interminable length of time idling at the dealership, Mr B resumed his seat riding shotgun and we immediately made tracks for... Bob Evans. Over a stack of hotcakes we disagreed over MLB's efforts to eliminate home plate collisions, cheerfully discussed the well-deserved Hall of Fame honor recently bestowed upon Heavy Artillery lodestar Mel Edwards, and noted the retirement of Miami/Michigan equipment manager legend Jon Falk. Bill paid, we immediately made tracks for... OK, skipping ahead, we eventually arrived - circuitously - at Miami Valley Gaming. My first impression; Very nice. We entered via the casino portion of the facility and it is just as nicely appointed as the regional Indiana casinos, if perhaps a cut below the local standard-bearer Horseshoe Casino in downtown Cincinnati. We meandered amid the slot machines on our way to the simulcast room which is situated between the casino and the racetrack grandstand. Along the way, I sighted the various food/refreshment offerings; The 1803 Bar, a buffet, a coffee/desert shop and the Trifecta Grill. Nearing the race book, The Old Master directed me to find a table for the two of us, as well as an undetermined assortment of his cosa nostra of old-school horse player pals, while he would purchase our Daily Racing Forms. The MVG simulcast room is small, drab, harshly lit and aside from the multitude of flat screen monitors and betting machines, utterly nondescript. Think 1950s Soviet-era politburo design sensibilities and you've got it. Below, I took a surreptitious photo:
The Old Master of the Turf highlighted by the red box (above).
Afterward, as a measure of our experience in the MVG race book, we decided to make our triumphant return to venerable old Turfway Park for the Kentucky Derby. There's no place like home!
When The Old Master appeared with our forms, I spied an oversight, a potential hitch in my giddy up:
In the left hand column of the "AM" edition of the Form, the included tracks listed two of the three tracks for which I was interested in; Gulfstream Park and Fair Grounds but not Santa Anita (presumably included in the "PM" edition of the DRF). Of the three Pick Six carryovers, Santa Anita happened to be the one I was most interested in as it had, significantly, the smallest fields. Curiously, the "AM" edition featured a cover story (above) on the SA Pick Six, but nothing else.
Mildly discouraged, I began handicapping the Gulfstream Pick Six.
On most days at the track, there might be 9, 10 or 11 live races. Long ago I stopped playing Race 1, and I rarely wager on any race (or races) which follow the day's feature race and, thus, end the race card. Typically, I wager on - at most - 7, maybe 8 races on any given day at the races. On the two days of the year for which The B Team Syndicate takes a stab at a Pick Six - Derby Day and Breeders' Cup Saturday - we have all spring to decide upon which horse(s) we include in the final leg of our Derby Day Pick Six and we have all week - thanks to the DRF Breeders' Cup advance edition - to develop our BC Pick Six strategy. On this day, with Lou out earning an honest dollar and The Old Master handicapping the Daily Doubles at multiple tracks, it devolved upon Mr Heavy Artillery to handicap all three Pick Sixes; 18 races, and I had less than two hours to figure it all out. For this reason, and since it was a late-winter, mid-week day of racing [read: a lot of Maidens and "non-winners other than Maiden"], I made the command decision to not throw a truckload of cash at these Pick Sixes. My initial plan, therefore, was to bet the minimum on the Gulfstream Park and Fair Grounds carryovers and maybe use two horses on each leg of the Santa Anita Pick Six. But of course, I didn't have any past performances for Santa Anita.
Midway through my Gulfstream Park handicapping, singling one horse for each race, The Old Master informed me that MVG has a machine that allows you to print, for $2 a piece, race cards (and, ergo, past performances) for individual race tracks. Which, obviously, would necessarily include Santa Anita. I bolted for this "machine." A massive black monolith with a small touchscreen monitor bordering on 8-Bit quality display (again, think Soviet-era politburo design insensibilities), I inserted my two Treasury-inflated greenbacks into "Leonid" - as I dubbed this technological anachronism - and one-half a minute later, I had a piping hot stack Santa Anita race card pages. "Leonid" might be my favorite Sport of Kings innovation this decade.
Having waded hip-deep into the Gulfstream Park Pick Six by this point, I finished handicapping the GP Pick Six before moving onto the SA Pick Six. An hour later, I'd made my way through two-thirds of Pick Six handicapping paradise and, with the clock ticking, I hurriedly scanned the Fair Grounds Pick Six.
At this point, I must make a clarification:
The Fair Grounds Pick Six was not, in fact, a Pick Six. It was a Pick Five. As such, my task was not to handicap 18 races, but 17. An immaterial difference. Also, whereas the Santa Anita Pick Six was a traditional Pick Six, the Gulfstream "Rainbow" Pick Six and Fair Grounds "Black Gold" Pick Five were of the "Jackpot" variety, a recent innovation in the world of Pick Six wagers. Invented, I believe, at Gulfstream Park, the "Jackpot" only pays out 100% of the pool when there is but one, single winning ticket. In the event of multiple winning tickets, something like 30% of the pool is split among the winners and the remaining pool carries over into the next day of live racing. My assumption is that this "Jackpot" variant is to dissuade the big, deep-pocketed syndicates from stealing all the fun (and profit) from the small-time, independent players. After all, where is the financial sense in putting together a 5- or 6-digit syndicate bet on a payout that might only pay $500 or $1000?
I did not have time to handicap the FG "Black Gold" Pick Five, so instead I quickly scanned for horses sired by some of my favorites.
With just a few minutes to spare, I headed for a betting machine. I was relieved to see that MVG employs the same type of betting machines that Turfway uses (the racino in scenic Shelbyville, Indiana has, as of my most recent visit in 2012, betting machines straight from the Spanish Inquisition. The Indiana Downs machines have - or had, as of 2012 - black-and-white Zero-Bit displays and do not - or did not - accept any bills larger than a $20. When making a Pick Six wager, it is most desirable to feed $50s and/or $100s into the machine). I rapidly completed my wagers for Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park, but discovered a slew of scratches at Fair Grounds made a mess of my hastily cobbled-together "Black Gold" Pick Five. One positive was that I also learned via the betting machine the minimum wager on the "Black Gold" was $0.50, as opposed to the usual $2 minimum. I sprinted (OK, sauntered) back to my seat, took another look at the "Black Gold" Pick Five, and took a wild (but inexpensive) shot in the dark. Thus, The B Team Syndicate had - for the first time ever - three concurrent Pick Six-ish wagers on the board:
This is another B Team Syndicate 4-of-6 Pick Six blog posting.
If you feel as if you've seen this movie before and you want to jump ship at this point, have at it (traitors). There's more to this story, however, and so if you stick around the movie follows a different script even if it ends up - essentially - the same way. Think of this as yet one more sequel from your favorite film franchise. Only in this series, the Dark Side of the Force always seems to keep winning.
This timeless, heart warming, tear-jerking, epic tale of a boy and his Father, but not his big brother (somebody has to work!), set in the newest racino in the Buckeye State began two months ago, in January. Perusing the online version of America's Turf Authority Since 1894 - the Daily Racing Form - I noted that, for the first time ever, Churchill Downs was offering its own Kentucky Derby Future Wager pool(s). Derby future pools have long been the exclusive domain of Las Vegas and Atlantic City casino sportsbooks. More surprising to me was that the first of four Churchill Downs Derby future pools had opened and closed in November of 2013. This, I missed. A horse that I wagered on as a component of various exotic wagers (exacta, trifecta) in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a colt named Mexikoma, son of a Belmont Stakes winner (2004, Birdstone) and grandson of a Kentucky Derby winner (1996, Grindstone), great-grandson of a Derby & Breeders' Cup Classic winner (1990 both times, Unbridled)... trust me, I could go on. In reading the DRF report further, I was informed that when Pool #1 of the Churchill Downs Derby future pool closed in November, Mexikoma was at odds of 40-1. Pool #2 (each Churchill future pool is open for 3 days) was to be offered during the first week of February. Seizing what I thought was my opportunity, I arranged an outing with The Old Master of the Turf to the newly opened Miami Valley Gaming, better understood as the new racino in scenic Monroe, Ohio, just a turned-double play from Joe Morgan Honda. By this time, The Old Master had been frequenting MVG with some regularity and found himself to be very impressed with the physical plant, but I had yet to pay a visit myself. Two days before Pool #2 opened, Churchill announced the 23 individual wagering choices (with a 24th being "Field," or all of the remaining nominations. This year, there were 413 total nominations for the Kentucky Derby. You can see why they try to limit each pool to a more manageable number of betting choices. Each successive pool introduces some previously unavailable choices).
Mexikoma was not offered among the individual betting choices in Pool #2.
Hoping to have the opportunity to place a Derby future bet on Mexikoma when Pool #3 opened, I phoned The Old Master and we rearranged our planned visit to MVG for Thursday, February 27th, the opening day for Pool #3.
Bear in mind, this is all happening during a period when very few of the 2014 Derby hopefuls are actually racing (and certainly none of the top contenders). They're wintering in sunny climes. Of course, all but some 395 of the Derby-nominated horses will make it all the way to the First Saturday in May. Most will not qualify under the new Derby Points requirements, a few will be sidelined by injury. But what's gambling if you don't take an occasional shot in the dark. The key is to not put too much money into it, unless you have exceptionally deep pockets.
February 25th rolled around and Churchill Downs announced the offerings for Pool #3. No Mexikoma. Again.
However, a different opportunity arose. Call it "A New Hope." A happenstance glance at the Equibase.com "Carryover Corner" revealed that on Thursday, February 27th, there were to be three - count 'em, three - sizable Pick Six-style carryovers at three of the major North American racetracks currently holding a live racing meet; Santa Anita, Gulfstream Park, and Fair Grounds.
My internal handicapping radar beeped, beeped again more loudly and then exploded. I may not have the opportunity to place a future bet on Mexikoma, but sure as shootin' I was going to marshal the considerable forces of The B Team Syndicate and take a whack at three concurrent, massive-carryover Pick Sixes!
I rendezvoused with The Old Master at 10-hundred hours on Thursday the 27th, picking him up in the Jeep Main Battle Tank and we immediately made tracks for... Performance Honda. Mr B wanted to make an appointment for service. They have phones for that sort of thing, but, well, you know. After an interminable length of time idling at the dealership, Mr B resumed his seat riding shotgun and we immediately made tracks for... Bob Evans. Over a stack of hotcakes we disagreed over MLB's efforts to eliminate home plate collisions, cheerfully discussed the well-deserved Hall of Fame honor recently bestowed upon Heavy Artillery lodestar Mel Edwards, and noted the retirement of Miami/Michigan equipment manager legend Jon Falk. Bill paid, we immediately made tracks for... OK, skipping ahead, we eventually arrived - circuitously - at Miami Valley Gaming. My first impression; Very nice. We entered via the casino portion of the facility and it is just as nicely appointed as the regional Indiana casinos, if perhaps a cut below the local standard-bearer Horseshoe Casino in downtown Cincinnati. We meandered amid the slot machines on our way to the simulcast room which is situated between the casino and the racetrack grandstand. Along the way, I sighted the various food/refreshment offerings; The 1803 Bar, a buffet, a coffee/desert shop and the Trifecta Grill. Nearing the race book, The Old Master directed me to find a table for the two of us, as well as an undetermined assortment of his cosa nostra of old-school horse player pals, while he would purchase our Daily Racing Forms. The MVG simulcast room is small, drab, harshly lit and aside from the multitude of flat screen monitors and betting machines, utterly nondescript. Think 1950s Soviet-era politburo design sensibilities and you've got it. Below, I took a surreptitious photo:
The Old Master of the Turf highlighted by the red box (above).
Afterward, as a measure of our experience in the MVG race book, we decided to make our triumphant return to venerable old Turfway Park for the Kentucky Derby. There's no place like home!
When The Old Master appeared with our forms, I spied an oversight, a potential hitch in my giddy up:
In the left hand column of the "AM" edition of the Form, the included tracks listed two of the three tracks for which I was interested in; Gulfstream Park and Fair Grounds but not Santa Anita (presumably included in the "PM" edition of the DRF). Of the three Pick Six carryovers, Santa Anita happened to be the one I was most interested in as it had, significantly, the smallest fields. Curiously, the "AM" edition featured a cover story (above) on the SA Pick Six, but nothing else.
Mildly discouraged, I began handicapping the Gulfstream Pick Six.
On most days at the track, there might be 9, 10 or 11 live races. Long ago I stopped playing Race 1, and I rarely wager on any race (or races) which follow the day's feature race and, thus, end the race card. Typically, I wager on - at most - 7, maybe 8 races on any given day at the races. On the two days of the year for which The B Team Syndicate takes a stab at a Pick Six - Derby Day and Breeders' Cup Saturday - we have all spring to decide upon which horse(s) we include in the final leg of our Derby Day Pick Six and we have all week - thanks to the DRF Breeders' Cup advance edition - to develop our BC Pick Six strategy. On this day, with Lou out earning an honest dollar and The Old Master handicapping the Daily Doubles at multiple tracks, it devolved upon Mr Heavy Artillery to handicap all three Pick Sixes; 18 races, and I had less than two hours to figure it all out. For this reason, and since it was a late-winter, mid-week day of racing [read: a lot of Maidens and "non-winners other than Maiden"], I made the command decision to not throw a truckload of cash at these Pick Sixes. My initial plan, therefore, was to bet the minimum on the Gulfstream Park and Fair Grounds carryovers and maybe use two horses on each leg of the Santa Anita Pick Six. But of course, I didn't have any past performances for Santa Anita.
Midway through my Gulfstream Park handicapping, singling one horse for each race, The Old Master informed me that MVG has a machine that allows you to print, for $2 a piece, race cards (and, ergo, past performances) for individual race tracks. Which, obviously, would necessarily include Santa Anita. I bolted for this "machine." A massive black monolith with a small touchscreen monitor bordering on 8-Bit quality display (again, think Soviet-era politburo design insensibilities), I inserted my two Treasury-inflated greenbacks into "Leonid" - as I dubbed this technological anachronism - and one-half a minute later, I had a piping hot stack Santa Anita race card pages. "Leonid" might be my favorite Sport of Kings innovation this decade.
Having waded hip-deep into the Gulfstream Park Pick Six by this point, I finished handicapping the GP Pick Six before moving onto the SA Pick Six. An hour later, I'd made my way through two-thirds of Pick Six handicapping paradise and, with the clock ticking, I hurriedly scanned the Fair Grounds Pick Six.
At this point, I must make a clarification:
The Fair Grounds Pick Six was not, in fact, a Pick Six. It was a Pick Five. As such, my task was not to handicap 18 races, but 17. An immaterial difference. Also, whereas the Santa Anita Pick Six was a traditional Pick Six, the Gulfstream "Rainbow" Pick Six and Fair Grounds "Black Gold" Pick Five were of the "Jackpot" variety, a recent innovation in the world of Pick Six wagers. Invented, I believe, at Gulfstream Park, the "Jackpot" only pays out 100% of the pool when there is but one, single winning ticket. In the event of multiple winning tickets, something like 30% of the pool is split among the winners and the remaining pool carries over into the next day of live racing. My assumption is that this "Jackpot" variant is to dissuade the big, deep-pocketed syndicates from stealing all the fun (and profit) from the small-time, independent players. After all, where is the financial sense in putting together a 5- or 6-digit syndicate bet on a payout that might only pay $500 or $1000?
I did not have time to handicap the FG "Black Gold" Pick Five, so instead I quickly scanned for horses sired by some of my favorites.
With just a few minutes to spare, I headed for a betting machine. I was relieved to see that MVG employs the same type of betting machines that Turfway uses (the racino in scenic Shelbyville, Indiana has, as of my most recent visit in 2012, betting machines straight from the Spanish Inquisition. The Indiana Downs machines have - or had, as of 2012 - black-and-white Zero-Bit displays and do not - or did not - accept any bills larger than a $20. When making a Pick Six wager, it is most desirable to feed $50s and/or $100s into the machine). I rapidly completed my wagers for Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park, but discovered a slew of scratches at Fair Grounds made a mess of my hastily cobbled-together "Black Gold" Pick Five. One positive was that I also learned via the betting machine the minimum wager on the "Black Gold" was $0.50, as opposed to the usual $2 minimum. I sprinted (OK, sauntered) back to my seat, took another look at the "Black Gold" Pick Five, and took a wild (but inexpensive) shot in the dark. Thus, The B Team Syndicate had - for the first time ever - three concurrent Pick Six-ish wagers on the board:
Thanks to the $0.50 minimum on the FG "Black Gold" Pick Five and the rash of scratches, I tossed in more than my originally-planned one horse per leg, even hitting the "ALL" button for the final leg.
By the time the GP "Rainbow" went off, the pool had climbed from that morning's $199,000 to $2.1 million.
The GP "Rainbow" Pick Six was the first to get underway. As most of my handicapping efforts were focused on Gulfstream, I backed up our syndicate GP Pick Six with straight WIN wagers on the horses I singled. My New Year's resolution this year is to lay off the exotics (excluding the Pick Sixes, naturally) and just play straight WIN or WIN/PLACE bets as a means to increase my quantity of cashed tickets.
From left to right (above), you see my shorthand notation for our B Team Syndicate Pick Six. At right, my $10 straight WIN bet on the #6 which hit. This got our Pick Six off to a successful start and paid me $24. How satisfying it is to key on a single horse at the start of a Pick Six and be correct.
What isn't satisfying is when a jockey forgets how to ride a horse.
For the second leg of the "Rainbow" Pick Six, the jockey for our #6 Mucho Mas Macho gently nudged his mount out of the starting gate, strolled into the first turn, dawdled around the clubhouse turn, fell back into a different time zone down the back stretch - all into an agonizingly slow pace, the kind of pace that distant horses are unlikely to rally victoriously from - and then turned on to full power the jets, making a furious rally that came up just a few lengths short. It has to be seen to be believed. If instead of our horse being 15 lengths back, if he's only 10 lengths back, we win this. Crummy jockey. Also blew up my WIN wager on Mucho Mas Macho.
Race 7 we bounced back with a correct pick on the #7.
My $10 WIN returned to me $31.
Likewise on Race 8 with the #1 horse, the Irish-bred Eternal Ruler:
And $16 on my straight WIN bet.
At this point we were 3-of-4 on our "Rainbow" Pick Six, alive at best for a consolation 5-of-6 payout, and The Old Master and I exited the race book for a bite to eat at the Trifecta Grill. He opted for the Italian sausage and fries, I dove headlong into the double cheeseburger with fries. Good, but not quite as good as the burgers/fries at Turfway. We returned from feeding eating to find that in Race 9, our #5 horse won.
From a wagering standpoint, we've been here before; Having lost one leg of the Pick Six, but still alive for a consolation payout going into the last race. What was different is that we've never been in this position with such an inexpensive ticket, in this case just $4 (a total of only two betting combinations).
Race 10, we singled the #5 Dissension - the third betting choice at post time (at final odds of 5-1). Midway down the homestretch, I thought we had it. I did cash the back half of the only WIN/PLACE wager I made all afternoon:
In the end, there were multiple winning tickets (6-of-6) on the "Rainbow" Pick Six and so it paid $685 with $1.7 million carrying over into the next day of racing. From what I can determine, with my scant experience in wagering on these newfangled "Jackpots," there doesn't appear to have been any form of consolation payout so I think The Old Master and me were dead in the water after Race 6. We just didn't know we were dead. Funny how you can be dead and not know it.
Our effort on the SA Pick Six fared marginally worse, having correctly picked three winners, but also having three second-place finishers (one led down the homestretch before yielding late, another finished second by a nose). The SA Pick Six pool swelled to $928,000 at post time, winning tickets were paid approximately $20,000 and those with consolation payouts got back $250.
Let the record show that of the combined 12 legs of the Gulfstream and Santa Anita Pick Sixes, and using only a scant 19 horses, I handicapped 7 winners and 4 runners-up. All in just 2 hours' time.
My shot-in-the-dark Fair Grounds "Black Gold" Pick Five was more disastrous, successfully hitting just 2 of the 5 races (including the "ALL" final leg). Winning tickets paid $450, the "Jackpot" carryover being $425,000.
The day's worth of Pick Six/Five pools totaled $3.5 million.
On our way out the door, I stopped by the hospitality desk and applied for my MVG players card:
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