museum mind

extreme weather is great
minus the flying objects that whack people in the head
and minus windshield factors that freeze people to death,
but if those two unfortunate realites can be avoided,
a good downpour can wash away all the used condoms and trash
or a legit snow storm covers it all up
and my mind forgets james shields being part of the royals new pitching staff
and remembers some older things that disappeared only for a while like
ellis valentine's throwing arm,
von joshua's name,
cecil cooper's crouch,
marc clear's jacked up stirrups,
chris bosio's temper,
or ryan raun's pinch hit homer from june of 2011
against florida.

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and as snow continues to dump on the northeast,
i still hear that sound of braun's "big fly."
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=15501147&topic_id=&c_id=mlb&tcid=vpp_copy_15501147&v=3

gorzelanny

panning through salvation army piles is an ode.
i see kids around the flag pole,
playing east west war.

one kid braves the mobile assault and
dares his tongue against the metal.
none of them care about the polyester symbol waving free up above and neither do i.

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the brewers signed tom gorzelanny yesterday to a two-year contract.
The news didn't make it to mlb.com's top 7 stories
which is rare because news in the winter is usually sparse,
but apparently aj pyrzinski signing with texas is bigger news,
but anyway who cares!

it is the biggest signing for the Brewer's this off season in terms of money and filling a need.
The Brewer's bullpen was bad last season and the starting rotation
after gallardo and probably fiers and estrada is still very much up for grabs.
 gorzellany is a rare 30 year old lefty not because he's 30 or lefty
but because he can start and relieve and be pretty good at both.

melvin didn't buy into the hype and panic and pay double digit millions for old pitchers.
he refused to sign them to 3 year contracts. been there, done that with suppan and wolfe.
so there are no christmas candies for hungry brewer's fans this year.
the team is going with what it's got and i like it.

how to walk in snow

i take each step through the snow as if it's my last.

it's a himalaya monk walk,
a meditation.
i don't need a gym membership.
i'm a mohawk packing up furs into a canoe
voyaging montreal to green bay.

there must be a reason why the quebec town kahnawake
is so close in spelling and pronunciation
to milwaukee.

the great distances people traveled
probably didn't seem like great distances.
they were just doing what had to be done.

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when i think back on the longest game in major league baseball history,
i remember harold baines hitting a home run off chuck porter
in the 25th inning at old comiskey park in 1984.
the brewers only used 6 pitchers the entire game.

i like shared starts.
i like the idea of john axford pitching the first two innings of a game,
followed by marco estrada and mark rogers and tom gorzelanny
and whoever in the ninth to close it out.

gallardo is the only horse in the rotation.
he'll get his five days rest and
all the other relievers/starters can rotate,
pitch one game, sit out one game.
that would make for 80 appearances per pitcher
and if it worked effectively,
the billy beane paparazzies would be all over brew city.