The High Heat

Listening to the Chicago game, Kerry Wood faced one batter in the eighth and struck him out. He was then lifted to a tremendous standing ovation. Enjoy the sunset, Kerry!

I put most of the blame on him being a pitcher, they rise and fall, come and go, generally faster than any kind of athlete. Despite his injury history, Kerry Wood still had a pretty good career. I am aware, however, that most of his legend is of what could have been.

I don't have Firefox, therefore I am denied beauty. Believe me, I need it!

Oh-for-2! Sometimes nothing works!

I cannot see your photo on Windows or Safari.

I'm going to read that article later, but I remember Kevin Hickey as a player with the ChiSox and Orioles and coach of the Rays. I was a card collector in the '80's, and it blew my mind when he resurfaced as a member of the Orioles in 1989, six years after his last big league appearance. It was situations like that which made me (retrospectively) wish the Internet had existed earlier. Everyone loves a comeback story.

Scotland Week! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b-ki5aEx0I&nomobile=1

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120510&content_id=30914070&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb MLB to reconsider the legality of the third and first pick-off attempt. Perhaps they can name it the Sutcliffe Rule.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304070304577396511420792008.html?mod=djemalertNEWS#articleTabs%3Darticle The carnage continues. I'm so fortunate my employer switched my pension plan to J.P. Morgan just a few months ago. Oh well, it's not like I was ever, ever going to be able to retire anyway.

I'm a Phils fan, but I still don't get the point of Hamels hitting Harper. And it's certainly not "old school" to rat yourself out, assuring a suspension.

http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/BREAKING__26_Pounds_Of_Meth_Seized_In_Pitt_Lenoir_Counties_150956185.html Big meth bust in my county this week. Mind you I live halfway between Raleigh and the Atlantic, and most of these people are coming all the way from Mexico and Arizona to distribute these drugs.

Tell me this a joke! *NSFW* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUjhejJ_cL0&feature=related

Jayson Werth broke his left wrist again last night. He had broken it before in '05 as a member of the Dodgers, missed all of '06, and had to eventually go to the Mayo Clinic on his own dime as a last-chance effort to salvage his career. Werth will miss 3 months, probably more. I know he has a ridiculous contract, but he is a good player and person, so I hope he can return as a productive player again.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2012_05_06_balmlb_bosmlb_1&mode=recap_away&c_id=bal The Orioles are winning and the Red Sox are losing. What kind of bizzaro baseball is going on?

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120506&content_id=30557590&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb Albert gets his wings! I love how his teammates were nowhere to be found afterwards.

I heard about it, then forgot about it. Thanks for the reminder!

Jon, as a Wilco fan, I'm huge on ham.

Jon Wilco, a fan of huge ham. Wilco hams Jon, the huge fan. Jon Fan, a huge Wilco ham. A huge ham fans Wilco Jon. Wilco fans a huge ham on the Jon. Ham is a huge Wilco fan, Jon. Jon, huge with ham, fanned by Wilco. Huge Jon Wilcos fan's ham. Wilcoing Jon's huge fanny ham. A huge Jon, fans of ham. Wilco! Huge fans of Wilco hamming the Jon. Jon hams Wilco's huge fan.

I think some of those stats are influenced by how aggressive some states/localities are in addressing the meth issue. I read somewhere that NC shot up the charts because of the concerted efforts to get the meth production in check before we end up like our western neighbors.

From the DEA: Missouri is the elite in meth production, while Indiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky are holding their own. Considering what's happening in their surrounding states, Georgia and West Virginia seem to have oddly low numbers.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/23/methamphetamine-burns_n_1222925.html Uninsured meth users contributing to closures of hospital burn units.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/05/mariano-rivera-suffers-torn-acl-could-end-career.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook Mo Rivera could be done?!?! Torn ACL.

This.

Sure...if you pay for it!

Meth production may well be NC's fastest growing industry, so much so the state has taken to cover meth lab cleanup costs for cities and counties because those costs (between $3K to $10K per) rapidly drain local budgets. Establishing state-run regional response teams is in the works. I live in NC's 10th largest town, which also is home to NC's 3rd largest university. The college is known more for having fun than for academics, so I'm sure this town is facing a big problem; although meth use is more likely being used more by non-students. I can't personally say I've seen that many people with t