Eric Thames - by Moses

Eric Thames played in MLB in 2011 and 2012.  He started strongly with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2011  (evidenced by his .312 average .389 OBP and .506 Slg % and .895 OPS in his Triple A Career) and powered 12 Homeruns in just 362 at-bats in 2011.  After the 2013 baseball calender Thames moved to the far east to play in the Korean Professional League.  In 2014 this is how Thames looked in print;

443 AB 95 R 37 HR 121 RBI 11 SB 58 BB .343 BA .422 OBP .688 Slg%

This is how his 2015 campaign looks to this point of the year;

329 AB 99 R 35 HR 101 RBI 28 SB 72 BB .374 BA .489 OBP .802 Slg%

Would you construct a deal with the Korean League and Thames' current team, for permission to add him by trade or buyout by a MLB Team by the end of August?

Consider that with Thames as a player for the Toronto Blue Jays that it would be Dalton Pompey and Thames battling for playing time alongside Ben Revere in the Outfield.  I could also pencil in Thames as either my 1st Baseman or DH on top of the Outfield if he's hitting the shit out of the ball.

As a result of this addition here is what my team would look like against an overpowering RHP starting pitcher at that (like a Felix Hernandez or Sonny Gray);

1.     Troy Tulowitzki (R - SS)
2.     Eric Thames (L - DH)
3.     Jose Bautista (R - RF)
4.     Josh Donaldson (R - 3B)
5.     Dioner Navarro (B - C)
6.     Justin Smoak (B - 1B)
7.     Dalton Pompey (B - LF)
8.     Kevin Pillar (R - CF)
9.     Ryan Goins (L - 2B)

10.   Edwin Encarnacion (R - 1B/DH)
11.   Russell Martin (R - C)
12.   Devon Travis (R - 2B)

13.   Ben Revere (L - OF)

The Super Bowl Fix - by Moses

      After careful review the verdict is in;  the real winners of the 2015 Super-Bowl were the Seattle Seahawks.  The announcement will be made shortly.  As follows;  New England's equipment manager and Tom Brady were responsible for the AFC Championship fix as they adjusted the air pressure and air density of each and every ball that was used for that game against Indianapolis.  As a result they will be taken off the actual Super-Bowl, replaced by the Seattle Seahawks, who will be announced only as the NFC Champions..  Did anyone notice that Andrew Luck was having a hard day at the office?

Film Directors - by Moses a.k.a Stacey Marc Goldman

1.   Stanley Kubrick – Dr. Strangelove, 2001, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket
2.   Steven Spielberg – Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s   List,  Jurassic Park
3.   Martin Scorcese – Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, After Hours
4.   Francis Ford Coppola – The Godfather 1 and 11, Apocalypse Now
5.   John Singleton – Boyz in the Hood
6.   Barry Levinson – The Natural, Diner, Good Morning Vietnam, Tootsie
7.   John Landis – Animal House, The Blues Brothers
8.   George Lucas – American Graffiti, Star Wars 1, 11, 111, 1V, V, V1
9.   Quentin Tarantino - Resevoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jango Unchained
10. Ron Howard – Nightshift, Apollo, De Vinci Code
11. Peter Jackson – Lord of the Rings
12. Norman Jewison – Fiddler on the Roof
13. James Cameron – The Titanic
14. Oliver Stone – Platoon, Wall Street
15. Tim Burton – Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Beetlegeuse
16. Alfred Hitchcock – The Birds, Rear Window, Psycho
17. Rob Reiner – The Princess Bride, Sleepless in Seattle
18. David Fincher – The Fight Club, Zodiac
19. Richard Attenborough – Gandhi, Greystroke–The Legend of Tarzan
20. Spike Lee – Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X
21. Tommy Chong – Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie
22. Phil Alden Robinson (writer/director) - Field of Dreams
23. Alan Parker – The Wall, Midnight Express
24. Walter Hill – 48 Hours
25. John Huston – Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon
26. Robert Redford – A River Runs Through it
27. David Lynch – Blue Velvet, Sleep
28. George Roy Hill - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting
29. Brian De Palma - Scarface
30. Damon and Affleck (writers and lead actors) – Good Will Hunting
31. The Wolchowski Brothers  (writers) – The Matrix
32. Harold Ramis – Stripes, Ghostbusters
33. Peter Weir - Dead Poet Society
34. Richard Cronenberg - The Fly
35. Robert DeNiro (actor/director) - Bronx Tale, Taxi Driver, The Godfather 2, Good Fellas
36. Lawrence Kazdan - wrote screenplay for 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' Trilogy            
37. Denzel Washington (actor/director) - Malcolm X, Philadelphia
38. Jonathon Demme - Innerspace, Batteries Not Included
39. Cecile B. DeMille – The Ten Commandments
40. Ridley Scott - Alien, Alien 2

Roberto Clemente - by Moses

A pre-season treat for the upcoming 2015 Major League Baseball season; 

      Joining in on the first wave of ‘black’ ballplayers in essence de-segregating Major League Baseball, Clemente was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954 and left unprotected following that year by Brooklyn and signed as a free-agent by the Pittsburgh Pirates before the 1955 season.  The fact that he could have created a more liberal Free-Agent structure in MLB at the time is overlooked by many Baseball fans and brass within most Major League Organizations.  Ironically, the player most Brooklyn ‘fans thought wouldn’t matter anyway (as Brooklyn won the World Series in 1955), actually backfired within a few years, as Clemente quickly established himself  as one of the young great superstars of the game alongside Willie Mays and Henry Aaron.  There was no doubting Clemente’s talent.  He had a rifle for an arm, had good speed and he practically swung his way out of poverty as a youngster growing up in Puerto Rico.
  When Roberto started his career in 1955 with Pittsburgh, he struggled in his inaugural season batting a modest .255.  The following year he proved himself as a force to be reckoned with batting .311.  He really came into his own in 1960, when he posted a .314 batting average, hitting 16 Homeruns (the first time in his career belting 10+ Homeruns) with 94 RBI’s.
  It was in 1960 that Clemente became a household name, as his Pirates won the World Series on Bill Mazerowski’s walk-off Home-run.  He received due recognition for his fielding prowess in 1961 winning the first of twelve consecutive Gold Glove Awards.  To go along with his Gold Glove defense that year he batted .351, leading all Major Leaguers.
  In fact from 1960-1967, Clemente’s lowest yearly average was .312.  In an off-year, 1968, he batted only .291.  This may be attributed to the change in making the pitching mound higher.  His .291 average was still .40 points higher than the league average of .251.
  If you thought that this off-year (by Clemente’s standards) was the sign of him slowing down you’re sadly mistaken.
  The following year of 1969, Clemente hit .345, and in 1970 he bettered that mark with a .352 average.  In 1971 Clemente batted .341.  It seemed that Roberto could feasibly make a run at the long fabled hit-record of 4192, set by the late Ty Cobb.  The 1971 campaign also saw the Pirates win their second World Series under Clemente’s tutelage.    
  Indeed, Clemente reached the milestone of 3000 Hits (on his last at-bat of the ’72 campaign), while batting .312.  No-one realized this was to be Clemente’s last hit ever.  On New Year’s Eve (Dec 31/72), Clemente was traveling by plane to his native homeland of Puerto Rico with thousands of dollars worth of medical supplies, when the plane went down.
  Roberto Clemente was dead at the age of 38.
  In looking at Clemente’s accomplishments not only was he successful when it came to his career and family relations, there was also a sense of duty to provide to the poor, where he himself had once resided.
  In looking at Clemente’s accomplishments we can see that he was the consummate ballplayer.  He had 200+hits in a year four times.  He batted .339+ six times and keep in mind that this was in a pitcher’s era.  His lifetime batting average of .317 was .55 points higher than the league average and he led the National League in batting average four times.  Clemente won the NL MVP in 1966, and finished in the top ten in MVP voting eight times.
  Roberto Clemente was coming off a .312 average and his 12th consecutive Gold Glove season after the ’72 campaign.  He not only produced in the regular season but in the playoffs as well as evidenced by their two World Series wins in ’60, and in ’71 in which Roberto won WS MVP batting .414 with a .759 Slg % that series.
  He will always be revered as a class act, not only for his professional accomplishments, but in giving back to the Pittsburgh community and to his Native Homeland of Puerto Rico.