Friday Videos and Links

It's been a while since I shared some of the great things I've read and watched, but today is a day to change this! Let's start with some music. This is "Fall" by Temple Brothers, who are amazingly talented and still can't legally buy alcohol! In full disclosure, I knew their mother in high school, and I previously included their father in my annual "Best Of" posts for his incredible nonfiction books. There's some fantastic genes in this family!

One of the benefits of writing this blog is that I've become friends with numerous people that I never would have interacted with otherwise. Aaron Brame fits this description. He is a gifted writer and shared his first blog post in a long time recently about being an accordion-playing busker. I really missed seeing his writing! [Aaron Brame]

In Josh's most-recent blog post, he shared that he's scaling back his writing. I really relate to this post since there are a lot of similarities to what I've been thinking about regarding my writing. [Josh's World]

Sue Kerr threw out the first pitch at Pride Night at PNC Park. So cool! [Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents]

Fellow Ithaca College graduate Veronica Hernandez became the first Latina general manager in minor league baseball history. Go Bombers! [MLB.com]

Fellow Woodland Hills graduate Sarah James recently released her first book, The Woman with Two Shadows: A Novel of WWII. This is her interview with Joshua Axelrod in the Post-Gazette. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

Let's close with one more song. Gallo Locknez was recently featured on the YaJagoff podcast. I like this song with Buddhakai. Definitely gets you pumped up! [YaJagoff]

Stressed Out

I’m stressed. I don’t get stressed very often, but it’s happening right now. I tend to get stressed when I’m concerned about money and home projects/repairs, and those two are often related. We had a leak in our kitchen a few years ago any time there was a heavy rain and thought it was fixed. As you can see, it was not.

While the leak is now fixed and we confirmed that there is no mold, we now need to remove part of the ceiling, put up drywall, and repaint the ceiling. And by we, I mean someone that we pay to do this.

We also had a separate leak coming from our dishwasher. It turned out that the gasket needed replaced. We got it repaired a week or two ago, but the guy didn’t seem to do a good job attaching the new gasket. We opened the dishwasher yesterday to this.

The guy came back today and fixed it, but I have little confidence in him.

What else?

* The washing machine seems to be off balance thanks to an apparent broken leg.

* The Moose just left for 3 weeks to an overnight summer camp, and while I think he’s going to have a fantastic time, he doesn’t know anyone, and this is a brand-new experience for him. I worry a little about him.

* I’m starting a new project at work and constantly questioning myself about if I’m doing everything correctly.

* I received my retirement statement in the mail. Although I’m not going to retire for many years, my account lost a lot of money over the last six months. Like A LOT, A LOT.

* I haven’t watched this season’s Better Call Saul yet this season, but I saved the episodes on my DVR. I finally sat down to watch the first episode, and it was gone. Episodes 2 and 3 aren’t there either. It turns out that my DVR was set to keep only 10 Better Call Saul episodes. I guess I figured that I would always watch them immediately, though that clearly didn’t happen this season. I have episodes 4-10, but the first three episodes were replaced with some 2-minute “Stories from Set” specials and a Talking Saul show. Now, it seems like the only way to see the first three episodes is to buy them on Google Play, YouTube, or Amazon Prime. We have Prime but still must pay for them. Why pay for Prime if we can’t get these episodes?

* We just got a new kitchen faucet and had to get that installed.

* The lease on our minivan is up in several months, and I don’t want to deal with car shopping again.

* I received our county car tax bill in the mail. Ugh!

While some of these things are first world problems, many are not. I have no skills whatsoever in doing home repairs, so any project costs much more money than it probably should since we’re paying for labor in addition to the equipment and materials. Now would be the perfect time to make some money from this blog! Meanwhile, can I just go away to a summer camp for a few weeks and not have any responsibilities? (This might be the theme of Grown Ups, but I never saw the movie.)

2022 Pittsburgh Pirates Draft Recap

Welcome to my annual-ish Pittsburgh Pirates draft recap. As always, this is for entertainment purposes only. While I have not analyzed anyone’s pitching mechanics or bat speed, I found some interesting facts that you won’t read or see anywhere else. Please note that I’m not including every draft pick, and the players mentioned below are in no particular order.

Want to feel old? The 2022 Major League Baseball draft may be the last one to feature players born in the 20^th century. 16 of the 21 Pirates’ draft picks were born in 2000 or later. The remaining 5 were born in 1999.

12^th Round: K.C. Hunt – Pitcher, Mississippi State University

There are a lot of upset people in Pittsburgh right now. The home of the Pittsburgh Steelers recently changed its name from Heinz Field to something like "Are You Sure" Stadium. Some people blame the Steelers for selling its name to the highest bidder including one with no apparent Pittsburgh connection. Some feel like Heinz should have continued its partnership with the team. In any event, people don’t like the new name. Enter K.C. Hunt. Hunt’s ketchup is likely the second largest in the United States and clearly inferior to Heinz. However, if K.C. Hunt becomes a star, think of the sponsorship opportunities and possibilities for him if that other ketchup company wants to make larger inroads in Pittsburgh and beyond!

(By the way, KC stands for Kyle Clemente as in the legendary Roberto Clemente. That’s very cool.)

7^th Round: J.P. Massey – Pitcher, University of Minnesota

While I wish that JP stands for John Parker (as in Dave Parker) or James Pena (as in Tony Pena), based on his 6.70 career ERA in college with 106 walks in 123.2 innings, I think his name might stand for John Polcovich!

18^th Round: Elijah Birdsong, Pitcher- University of the Pacific

If I asked you where the University of the Pacific is located, you would probably guess somewhere extremely close to the Pacific Ocean. You would probably think it’s like Pepperdine University in Malibu overlooking the ocean. Nope. The University of the Pacific is in Stockton, California, about 90 miles from the ocean. It’s not as ridiculous of a name as the University of South Florida in Tampa, but it’s close.

Competitive Balance-A (between the 1^st and 2^nd rounds): Thomas Harrington, Pitcher - Campbell University

Given the connection with one of the greatest Pittsburghers, I’m amazed that Harrington is the first player from Campbell ever drafted by the Pirates.

1^st Round: Termarr Johnson, SS - Mays High School (Georgia)

Sure, Johnson has been called the best hitter in the draft and a combination of Wade Boggs and Vladimir Guerrero Sr. but look at the first name. Termarr has the perfect number of “R”s in his name to be a Pirate! (Credit to @thesteelersnat for this joke.)

Fun fact: Johnson is the only player drafted by the Pirates under 6 feet tall.

8^th Round: Cy Nielson, Pitcher - Brigham Young University

With the name Cy, he just had to be a pitcher. Even if he turns into the greatest pitcher of all time, I think it’s safe to write that he’s going to have significantly less wins than Cy Young’s 511. When people talk about records that will never get broken, no one is getting more wins than Cy Young. Or more than Young’s 315 losses. Or more than Young’s 749 complete games. Or his 7356 innings pitched. Seriously, you can spend hours looking at Cy Young’s Baseball Reference page.

10^th Round: Tanner Tredaway, OF - University of Oklahoma

Big Enya fan.

11^th Round: Dominic Perachi, Pitcher - Salve Regina University

I love this pick. First, I always root for Division 3 athletes to do well. (Go Tim Locastro!) Perachi was the D3 pitcher of the year. While his competition doesn’t compare to a pitcher from the SEC, I’m glad the Pirates are giving him a shot. I’m rooting for him.

Plus, remember several draft picks ago when I wrote about the University of the Pacific? C’mon, that was like 2 minutes ago! It’s right up there! Anyway, Salve Regina could be named University of the Atlantic. It’s in Newport, Rhode Island, and the baseball field is about a 5-minute walk from The Breakers mansion built by Cornelius Vanderbilt II, the grandfather of Gloria Vanderbilt and great-grandfather of the guy who does New Year’s Eve shows on CNN.

3^rd Round: Jack Brannigan, P/3B - University of Notre Dame

Yeah, yeah, two-way player. Ohtani. Maybe like Bubba Chandler who the Pirates drafted last year. Now that we got that out of the way, Brannigan’s last name reminded me of the late Bennigan’s restaurant chain. I miss Bennigan’s. Turns out that there are still 11 restaurants in the United States. Many are in Iowa, but the closest to Pittsburgh is in Steubenville, Ohio. I think Brannigan should do an appearance there. Amazingly, there are also more than a dozen restaurants internationally. I’m definitely going next time I’m in Bahrain or Cyprus.

Sure, I could have gone with a Jack Brannigan /Laura Branigan joke that I think he has Gloria’s number, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share this song and commercial.

Good luck to all of the players drafted by the Pirates. I hope that they have successful and productive baseball careers. 

Please click here to see more of my Pirates, Steelers, and Penguins draft recaps.

Better Future: Pirates or Nationals?

I was born and raised in Pittsburgh and have lived in Northern Virginia for about two decades. So while the Pittsburgh Pirates have always been my favorite baseball team, I follow the Nationals closely too. Yes, following these two teams in 2022 has been challenging. At the all-star break, the teams are a combined 70-117 with the two worst run differentials in all of baseball. For weeks, I’ve considered writing a blog post about which team has the brighter future or even if either team has a bright future. Today is the day I finally did it.

Here’s a quick, quick summary of both teams:

Pittsburgh Pirates

* Signed Ke’Bryan Hayes, arguably the top defensive 3B in baseball, to an 8-year contract

* OF Bryan Reynolds was an all-star and MVP candidate in 2021.

* 5 minor leaguers (Henry Davis, Oneil Cruz, Nick Gonzales, Quinn Priester, and Liover Peguero) in the preseason Top 50 of the Top 100 prospects. “Unusually tall” for a SS Oneil Cruz and his incredible arm is now starting for the Pirates.

* Possibility that Roansy Contreras and/or Mitch Keller could become quality, top-end starting pitchers.

* Rookie OF Jack Suwinski had 13 home runs in May and June. Of course, he just got sent down to the minors after going 4 for 37 (.108) in July.

* One of the lowest payrolls in baseball and have traded away any decent player over the last few years.

 

Washington Nationals

*Juan Soto is only 23 and put up numbers in his first four seasons comparable to Mike Trout, Frank Robinson, and Ted Williams. In 2022, he’s having a “down” season batting only .250 though he still has 20 home runs and a .405 on-base percentage. More on him soon.

* Keibert Ruiz is already one of the best defensive catchers in baseball.

* 22 year-old SS Luis Garcia is starting nearly every day.

* 24 year-old Josiah Gray could become a top-tier starting pitcher.

* Only two top players (Cade Cavalli and Brady House) in the preseason minor league top 100 prospects. Cavalli started the season terribly but has pitched significantly better in AAA over the last few months.

* Traded away or failed to re-sign many top players over the last few years. Josh Bell will probably be gone soon too. The two big signings haven’t worked out well either. The team owes Patrick Corbin about $60 million for 2024 and 2025. Corbin is 4-12 with a 5.87 ERA and 1.70 WHIP in 100 innings this season. Meanwhile, Stephen Strasburg has pitched 30.1 innings since winning the World Series MVP in 2019. His base salary is $140 million for 2023-2026 with a full no trade clause though there’s $80 million of deferred money for 2027-2029 in there somewhere.

* Team is for sale.

 

Even with the ownership uncertainty, the Nationals larger payroll and having a generational talent in Juan Soto gives the DC team a slight edge in my opinion. However, this changed after this past weekend. Earlier this season, Soto declined a 13-year, $350 million contract offer. While this is an incredible amount of money, everyone who follows baseball understood that Soto deserved more. The Nationals responded by offering Soto a 15-year, $440 million deal. Although the $29.3 million annual salary would rank 15^th among players based on their 2022 salaries, this would have been the largest contract in MLB history. Soto declined this offer too. Apparently, he feels like he could get more and/or he doesn’t want to play in DC. I don’t think the team will go higher, so with Soto set to be a free agent in 2024, it is being reported that the Nationals are open to trade offers. If Soto leaves, this would continue a trend of the Nationals letting free agents sign elsewhere (Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon) or trading away All-Stars (Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber). The Nationals would essentially turn into the Pirates but with a worse farm system though you’d think they would get a ransom for Soto. Without Soto, I'd take the Pirates.

 

What do you think?

Photo from the Colorado Rockies scoreboard by Brian of RTJR.

An Email From 2000

In January 2001, I was a full-time graduate student at The Ohio State University while also working multiple jobs. I was in the beginning of a long-distance relationship with my now wife, and I attended most of the home football games that fall. The team ended the season with an 8-4 record after a 6-6 record the season before, which was (and still is) unacceptable in Columbus. As a result, the school fired coach John Cooper. For no apparent reason, I was also sent the following email from Steve Snapp at the university’s Department of Athletics about the new coaching search:

FYI --  While the search for a new football coach is underway, I will be the primary contact for any of you who have questions. As you can imagine, both Andy Geiger and Archie Griffin are immersed in the search process and simply do not have time to respond to all the requests for interviews that they are receiving. I will make information available to you as it becomes available to me. All of us here understand that all of you have a job to do, but we are trying to get the best person available for the job and do not want to do anything that compromises the search process. Thanks for your understanding.

Spoiler: Ohio State hired Jim Tressel. The now late Snapp sent this email to dozens of radio, print, and television media members across the state of Ohio including Kirk Herbstreit, Dan Wetzel, Jim Lachey, and Tim Benz. Contacts at every major Ohio newspaper and television station received this email. I know this because every name and email address were listed in the “To” line. I didn’t receive any subsequent emails, but I saved this message apparently in case I wanted to contact Herbstreit to ask him about his thoughts on college football (and because I save everything).

Last week, I found this email and decided to send my own email to everyone on Snapp’s list. I was curious if any of the emails still worked 21 years later and if anyone would reply. I sent the message and then watched as undeliverable message after undeliverable message filled my inbox. The next day, I received a response from an individual who was the sports director at the OSU student radio. He shared his experiences and cool stories about his time at the radio station and mentioned that he later worked as a sportswriter for more than a decade. I’m amazed that I received a response and that someone (else) still has an email account from 20+ years ago.
 
Now, I’m curious if anyone else who worked in Ohio media in January 2001 still works in media and wants to reply. They can share their thoughts about the upcoming Ohio State football season, covering the Buckeyes in 2000-2001, the state of the Big Ten conference with the pending additions of USC and UCLA, or anything else.

Photo by Kirk Irwin

Update: Since Amy asked, here is the text that I sent to about 65 people:

My name is Sean [redacted], and I am a 2001 Ohio State graduate from the College of Education and Human Ecology. Over 20 years ago, the now late Steve Snapp of The Ohio State University's Department of Athletics accidentally copied me on an email to Ohio media members regarding the open football coach search. Spoiler: Ohio State hired Jim Tressel. That seemed to work out pretty well. 
 
For no apparent reason, I saved this email and now there might actually be a reason. I write a blog called Sean's Ramblings and thought I would try to make a post about Steve Snapp's email. Specifically, I'm curious to see how many of these email addresses still work. If you receive my email, thanks for making it this far. If you don't mind, please reply and let me know who this is and if you still work in media. Please feel free to share any thoughts about the upcoming Ohio State football season, the state of the Big Ten conference with the pending additions of USC and UCLA, or anything else.
 
Thank you for your time and consideration.

Update

You might have noticed that I haven’t written many blog posts lately. Or maybe you haven’t noticed. This is definitely going to sound like a first-world problem, but I went on two vacations in last three weeks. Between preparing for being away, being away, and then trying to catch up on things after being away, I haven’t had much time to write lately.
 
I just wanted to share that I’m fine and still here. In the next few weeks, I plan on writing about parts of the vacation, an email from over 20 years ago, and my annual Pittsburgh Pirates draft recap. Maybe I’ll even get around to writing about my kids’ baseball seasons which have been over for more than a month now or share my thoughts about things I’m watching and reading. Maybe there will be a surprise or two too.

In the meantime, enjoy a picture of Ziggy making sure that we can’t leave for vacation again!

Enough Already

Over the last few months, I receive at least 1-2 comments every day on a post I wrote over 11 years ago. And it's not even a good post. For several years in the late 00s and early teens, Jim Shearer, the former MTV and VH1 VJ, created a series of videos called Yinz Luv Da Stillers and Yinz Luv Da Guins during the Pittsburgh Steelers and Penguins playoff runs. Most of these videos are now private, so my January 2011 post now simply shows an unavailable video. This still doesn't stop presumably bots from commenting on this "well written," "marvelous," "awesome," and "amazing" post daily. I mean, most of my posts have these attributes, but I delete many of the comments if they're in Russian and/or include links I'm scared to click or share. Some comments (that I translate) ask if I'm interested in knowing what a three-circuit steel door means or they are for a company offering comprehensive services for legal support in obtaining temporary registration in Moscow. I'm going to pass.

I really don't want to delete any of my old posts since there's a reason why I wrote them when I did. Still, it's getting annoying receiving constant comments that I just have to delete or ignore.