RealityChuck

"The bullpen sucks." "The team is batting X with runners in scoring position." (X being a ridiculously low percentage) "It's time to fire ."

1. 1979 Pirates (for Clemente alone) 2. 1966 Orioles 3. 1968 Tigers 4. 1962 Yankees (Before I discovered the Mets). I don't usually watch the world series, and the teams I remember most fondly (1967 and 75 Red Sox) were not champions.

Al Jackson (though he did play for the 69 Mets, he was gone before the series).

Not one of Powell's best. If it were for John Dillinger, it would have been long forgotten.

Not all that impressive; everyone involved has done better.

My sentimental choice is Shaun Fitzmaurice.

Too long and rambling. If they cut it down, it would have been a much better film.

I just saw Alan Ayckbourn's play Woman in Mind, where there's a bit of that question as to what is real and what is not, and where the real and the fantasy intertwine. In fiction, Robert Heinlein's "Them" fits the definition.

The media searches for stories, and if there's no story, they speculate. Santana gets a little pissed (maybe), but he's a adult. He may get pissed, but he is mature enough not to carry a grudge about it. The media assume all ballplayers are two-year-olds. Look at the articles on Wheeler being sent down: everyone who knew anything about the situation knew that was inevitable. Yet the coverage made it seem like Wheeler was massively disappointed and upset that he didn't get the chance to prove himself. The reporters concentrated on one or two colorful quotes and probably didn't reflect Wheeler's true feelings and made it look like he was pissed at the team for doing this. So the Santana "story" is more of the same: taking out of context the issues that make it a more interesting story.

Lola doesn't want you to have her number, so you won't get it.

I think Valdespin is lying. Not even Verlander has the control to hit a target that small.

Edgy MD wrote: Those shares hardly seem worth the time it took to vote them, much less the paper they were printed on.Adjusted for inflation, they were $700. And players made far less in the pre-free-agent days. Jack Heidemann, for instance, only made about $12,000 ($64,000 today). And extra few hundred was certainly appreciated.

G-Fafif wrote: The World Series share question is usually answered with everybody gets something, even if it's not a lot. In days of yore, the "first division" clubs each got something to divide. Not sure if they still do or, with five teams in the playoffs, they're the only ones. The Sporting News used to print the divvying up of shares, and you'd see $8.29 awarded to some September callup on a team that finished third.Not necessarily. In the early 60s, the MFYs were criticized for being stingy about their World Series money, only giving full shares to people who were on the playoff roster (IIRC). The '69 Mets, OTOH, were generous, giving shares to anyone who played for them (though not necessarily full shares).

Bob Miller, purchased by the Mets from the Tigers on September 23, 1973. Appeared in one game and pitched a perfect inning. Not sure if he got a World Series share, but it made him one of three 1962 NY Mets who played on pennant winning teams for the Mets.

Doctor Who did it in "Kinda," probably its worst episode ever. The concept was often used in The Prisoner, most notably in "Schizoid Man," where they convinced the Number 6 that he was a spy impersonating the real Number 6. Solaris (all versions, including the George Clooney one) deals with the concept. The nature of what is reality in very ambiguous.

Decent, but not great.

Welcome Home, Johnny Bristol, where Martin Landau (as the title character) discovers a vast conspiracy that conflicts with reality. The final scene makes it fit the criteria. Eerie, Indiana had an episode called "Reality Takes a Holiday" (written by the creator of Mr. Bill on SNL, Vance Degeneris, Ellen's brother) where Marshall is transported to a world where he's the actor in a TV show called "Eerie, Indiana." You can watch it on Hulu. The Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisie plays with this a lot, as do others of Luis Bunuel's films. In Belle de Jour, for instance, it's ambiguous as to whether Belle is actually a prostitute or if it's a woman's sexual fantasy. It's also one possible interpretation of Simon of the Desert.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Loved it. That bus ride Joe Buck takes from the midwest, through the rust belt, the bible belt and into New York City is a classic. A friend of mine was one of the passengers on the bus.

Far too heavyhanded and obvious plot- and character-wise. Hoffman is great; Voight less so, but there's not much there.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/judge-rules-yankees-baseball-only-evil-empire-223119832--mlb.html Judge rules that Yankees are baseball�s only �Evil Empire� By Mark Townsend | Big League Stew � 17 hours ago (USA Today) It's only February, but I think we already have a pretty strong candidate for strangest baseball story of the year. According to the Wall Street Journal, a company registered under the name of Evil Enterprises Inc. has been seeking exclusive trademark rights to the phrase �Baseballs Evil Empire� since June of 2008. Their intention? Release a clothing line � t-shirts, hats, jackets, and who knows what else � with the phrase "Baseball's Evil Empire" attached to them. Good plan, I suppose, but there's one big problem with that. The "Evil Empire" phrase has long been associated with the New York Yankees. In fact, it was Boston Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino who coined it back in 2002 after New York signed Jose Contreras out from underneath them. It wasn't meant to be flattering, but it stuck, and in recent seasons we've even witnessed the Yankees beginning to embrace it by playing the Imperial March during home games. That's why Major League Baseball immediately stepped in on their behalf to block Evil Enterprises' attempt to land the trademark. Eventually the Yankees themselves joined the fight, and apparently that's led to a long, drawn out battle that was finally settled before a panel of trademark judges in Washington D.C. earlier this month. Here's what the judges had to say: The panel of judges sided with the Yankees, ruling that the Yankees are strongly associated with the phrase. Allowing anyone else to use the phrase exclusively would likely cause confusion, ruled the judges. "In short, the record shows that there is only one Evil Empire in baseball and it is the New York Yankees," wrote the judges. "Accordingly, we find that [the Yankees] have a protectable trademark right in the term . . . as used in connection with baseball." That makes it officially official. Anytime you hear or see the phrase "Baseball's Evil Empire" it's a direct reference to the Yankees and no one else. That cool, Evil Enterprises? Gerard Dunne, a lawyer for Evil Enterprises, said he and his client had yet to figure out whether to appeal. "But we disagree with the opinion, because we don't think "Evil Empire" exclusively refers to the Yankees anymore," he said. "You've seen it used with the Phillies, the Rangers, and other teams." I wouldn't bother with that, Gerard. We've all heard it used in reference to other teams, sure, but the original is the original. It just doesn't pack the same punch unless you're talking about the New York Yankees, and to argue baseball fans would think anything else when looking at your apparel is fairly absurd. We're sure you could do better anyway, so give up the battle and wow us with something original and creative.

It was probably caused when his heart grew three sizes in one day.

The Golden Globes is given out by too small a group to be representative of anything. There are probably no more than 50 people who vote on them, and they all lean toward Hollywood blockbusters. In any case, Black Moon is probably the most analogous film to this one, though there is also a lot of influence from Days of Heaven (Linda Manz's role as narrator is similar to Hushpuppy's, though Manz is more observer than protagonist). European films (or, more accurately, non-Hollywood-influenced films) lean toward character and incident, and are not driven by plot.

Liked the film a lot. Quvenzhan� Wallis was just an amazing performer and I like seeing this sort of film from time to time -- a series of emotionally strong incidents that don't need a lot of plot to be fascinating (It reminded me in many ways of Louis Malle's brilliant Black Moon). Very European in sensibility, actually, instead of the typical America plot-driven story.

The two highest paid outfielders for the Mets at this point are Jason Bay and Bobby Bonilla.

I really liked the fact that they didn't overeplain. Their method of tracking down runners, for instance, is shown without explanation and they trust the audience to understand what's going on.