Gestapo Practices Part 9 - by Moses

      In North America today the authorities goal (stemming from high end Government Officials) seems to be in favour of selling out people in the name of safety and policing.  Who does what, when, where, how, and why, when in actual fact people are just living out their days with there being no real threats to society.  The trend seems to be in place to rat people out on grey areas of the law.  How many 5-G buildings are there in Metropolitans across Canada and the U.S.A?  These practices involve high end surveillance to promote peoples' paranoia to keep them in a state of disillusionment.  By doing so, any free thinker is condemned for questioning authoritative practices, when in actual fact is a common place train of thought.  This essentially leads people into a state of mistrust and harbours peoples' resentment of one another and towards peoples' ability to communicate with their neighbours (and thought process for that matter).  

  How many times do we see a person in a courthouse for a simple possession of a controlled substance (now that weed is commonly accepted by law in America the current trend is to flood courthouses with cases of opioids such as percocets and percodons).  How many Doctors are going to be cracked down upon for treating pain issues?  This trend is systematic of a police state where anything 'grey' comes under attack.  We're not talking about cocaine and heroine injections here, rather taking a pharmaceutical product designed for specific treatments.  What do you do about someone who suffers from pain in a palative care centre, deny them pain medication?

  The problem with enforcing laws on grey areas, is that simply demanding compliance to what the authorities would like, is paramount to denying people what is right for the common good.  Obviously there will be cases to be taken to court on narcotics, however, how straight-laced do we want our children to grow to become?  What do you do in special needs cases where a patient has a couple of wisdom teeth taken out and the dentist knows the patient will be in pain for a week?  Deny that person a pain medication based on principle, when in actual fact they would administer a pain medication for themselves?  This hypocrite oath makes for a society of mistrust and deny's a person their innate freedoms.  By doing so people are left with more headaches than they had before levels of tolerance were in place.

  This systematic authoritative body is dictating our neighbourhoods today.  What was wrong with the 1970's (a much more liberal society than today) when people used to leave their doors unlocked in neighbourhoods across Canada and the U.S.A.  Please don't blame this on ethnicity and immigration practices and let's be honest about it, pain treatments do not deserve to be condemned in the name of fighting a war on drugs.  Lets have some trust in our neighbourhoods.

          

Tony Fernandez - by Moses

      Former Baseball great Tony Fernandez has passed on at the age of 57 due to kidney failure.  Starting out in the sandlots in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, Fernandez (like many other Dominican kids of the early eighties) literally swung themselves off the island and into the Major Leagues.  Alongside Alfredo Griffin, Julio Franco, Rafael Ramirez, Manuel Lee, and Mariano Duncan, Fernandez led an influx of shortstops that were born in San Pedro de Macoris into the Majors.  In fact most would suffice that they led the way alongside American superstar equivalents Ozzie Smith, Cal Ripken Jr. Alan Trammell, Robin Yount, Barry Larkin, and, at the very least Tony Fernandez and Julio Franco were on par.          

  Tony Fernandez entered the Major Leagues in 1983 as a promising shortstop in the Toronto Blue Jays chain.  The Jays had fellow Dominican defensive guru Alfredo Griffin in place but had no choice but to trade him to accommodate Fernandez' immense talent.  In the off-season leading into 1985, Pat Gillick (the Jays General Manager) dealt Griffin alongside Dave Collins for closer Dave Caudill.  Tony became one of our team leaders in his first full year in the 'bigs, leading our Jays into the playoffs for the first time in team history.  For what many called the centerpiece of the equation, in my estimation it was Fernandez that was the glue of a near dynasty.  It was Alfredo Griffin who was given the Gold Glove Award in that year of 1985, however, many baseball insiders considered Fernandez to be the best defensive shortstop in the American League that year.  A purest mentality of rewarding a talent like that of Griffin (although the torch had been passed).  Fernandez was the best defensive shortstop in baseball from 1985-1989, winning the Gold Glove Award four years in a row from 1986-1989.  In fact he was the best shortstop in baseball over those years even with Ozzie Smith, Alan Trammell, and Cal Ripken Jr. in the equation.  Fernandez was simply dominant defensively, culminated by his campaign of 1989 in which he established the record of .992 Fielding % committing only six errors through the year.  Although Cal Ripken Jr, set the record the following year with a mark of .996, he simply didn't have Fernandez range.  In baseball in the eighties, only Ozzie Smith could rival Fernandez defensively when it came to range.  In fact Fernandez had a better arm than Ozzie and was also a better bat over his career.  Offensively in the eighties and nineties, only Cal Ripken Jr. could provide a higher OPS.  At that, Fernandez was a better basestealer (as evidenced by his 246 lifetime stolen bases) and he struck out less than Ripken (20 times less a year on average)  

  In that year of 1985, alongside Damaso Garcia, George Bell, Jesse Barfield, Lloyd Moseby, Rance Mulliniks, Ernie Whitt, Willie Upshaw, Al Oliver, Dave Stieb, Jimmy Key, Doyle Alexander, Tom Henke, and the rest of a dominating pitching staff, the Jays set their team record for wins in a season with 99.  It was Tony Fernandez' defence that had scouts drooling, and he could hit (evidenced by his 1985 numbers of .289 Batting Average and .730 OPS).  He proved clutch and aside from the heroics of George Brett our Jays would have made the World Series that year.  In 1986 Tony had a whopping 213 base-hits to set the single season record for hits by a shortstop (a mark that stood until 1999, when one Derek Jeter bettered the mark with 219 hits). When Fernandez went down in 1987 alongside Ernie Whitt, the Jays lost their last seven games of the year to lose out to the surging Detroit Tigers.  In 1989 the Jays won the American League East for the second time in their history.  Fernandez was a standout in the Post Season in both the ALCS Series of 1985 and 1989 batting .333 in 1985 and .350 in the 1989 post-seasons.  In fact Tony Fernandez and Fred McGriff were somewhat scapegoated by Pat Gillick and traded to the San Diego Padres for Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter in the 1990-1991 off-season.  With the addition of Devon White the Jays went over the top capturing their first World Series Title in 1992 against the Atlanta Braves with a new nucleus.  The following year of 1993 saw the acquisition of Fernandez and he had his best season of his career neigh 1987, batting .306 in T-Dot that year with an OPS of .803 and a .985 Fielding % again at the shortstop position.  To repeat the Jays entered the post-season as A.L East Champs and met up with the ChiSox.  We won in six with Tony doing his part batting .318 in that series.  In the World Series against Philly Fernandez had success again batting .333 with a gaudy nine RBI's (to set the record for shortstops in a World Series).

  Tony moved to Cincy in 1994 and played a year at third with the Reds.  He made an incredibly low two errors all season at the hot corner posting a record .991 Fielding % over 93 Games (87 games started).  The following year the Yanks came calling and Fernandez moved back to shortstop and helped guide them to the post-season (his post-season batting average of .238 being an anomaly of his usual post-season prowess).  He moved to the Cleveland Indians in 1997 (after sitting out the 1996 season due to injury), and moved to second base having another standout season batting .286 with a .746 OPS (which is almost precisely what Fernandez' career numbers show offensively).  Defensively Fernandez performed admirably at second, posting a fielding % of .980, and in the playoffs that year with the Indians he shone during the ALCS and World Series batting .357 and .471 respectively.  When we look at Tony's post-season numbers we see, with awe, the level at which he competed when he played; posting a .327 batting average with a .787 OPS over eight playoff series.  

  Although Tony Fernandez didn't have an opportunity to play again in the post-season he did have much more success in the 'bigs and returned to T-Dot for a third time in 1998, this time returning to third base and playing some second.  He defied logic and raised his OPS to .846 batting .321 along the way.  The following year of 1999 Fernandez upped both marks to an average of .328 and an OPS of .877 steadying himself at third base.  In fact, Fernandez had a fourth tenure in Toronto in 2001, and after missing the 2000 season he came back to the game with the Milwaukee Brewers.  T-Dot took him back just before the trade deadline to close out a Hall of Fame career in Toronto.  Finishing his career with a lifetime batting average of .288 along with 2276 base-hits, a lifetime OPS of .746, with a World Series Ring, Fernandez deserves to be included in Cooperstown.  Fourteen seasons at shortstop with a Fielding % of .980, two full seasons at third-base with a mark of .962, and one and a half years at second-base with a mark of .979 makes Fernandez the most versatile ballplayer of all-time, neigh one Jackie Robinson (and Babe Ruth if he were to have gotten the start on the hill).  

  When I went to New York City in 1985 my Cousin Brian Kaufman took my family to Yankee Stadium to see the Jays play the Yanks for games two through four of a four game set.  Fernandez was at shortstop and Don Baylor was up for the Yanks, Fernandez went deep in the hole to range behind third base and threw out Baylor (a former 50 basestealer) by half a step.  I maintain to this day that no other shortstop in the history of the game could make that play but Tony Fernandez.  

  It is a sad day in baseball with the loss of Tony.  He was a great spokesman for the game of baseball, hearts saddened in Toronto.  I still remember him signing my autograph book in Spring Training in Dunedin, Florida and his friendly manner.  He was truly a class act.

Rest in peace Antonio Octavio Fernandez

Our 2019/20 Toronto Raptors - by Moses

      This year's Toronto Raptors are arguably the best team in the NBA right now.  Reeling off a 15 game winning streak (losing last night in Brooklyn) our Raptors showed immense depth in their run.  Primary scoring was shared by four men and secondary and tertiary options proved valuable.  Norman Powell has emerged as the best 6 man in the NBA, Kyle Lowry is a money player, and alongside Spicy P, Serge Ibaka, and Fred VanVleet, provide the Raps with scoring punch.  Powell, Anunoby, Hollis-Jefferson, Terrence Davis, and Marc Gasol make our team nine deep.  

  In the first two rounds of the playoffs we should be able to win based on our primary and secondary scoring.  Against the Bucks we'll have to rely on our 7,8,9 men to provide relief for our big play-makers.  Siakam could be silenced by Giannis Antetokounmpo, and what will be interesting is to see how Terrence Davis, OG Anunoby, and Hollis Jefferson respond in clutch situations towards a Semi-Finals confrontation against the Bucks.  I believe Ibaka, Gasol, Hollis-Jefferson, and Pascal Siakam are big enough to contain the boards should there be a match-up of Toronto/Milwaukee in the Semi-Finals.   

  What is truly impressive in how our Raptors won games during the run with guys on the injured list.  Siakam was injured for a good body of the run and when he was down Powell picked up the team by playing his best game (until going down a few games ago) scoring 23-27 points a game for a good stretch.  Ibaka and Gasol both sustained injuries as well, but healthy were also standout.  Alongside Hollis-Jefferson and Anunoby our big men were dominant in the paint winning the battle of the boards almost every game during our winning streak.  I was pleasantly surprised by Anunoby and Davis, as both had the appearance of emerging superstars of the game during our most recent run.  In fact we could see a dynasty as a result of our depth as a team led by current NBA guru Nick Nurse.  Nurse has this team looking on the cusp of greatness for years' to come.  It does however lead me to feel for guys like Dwayne Casey, Butch Carter, Sam Mitchell, and Lenny Wilkens as each had influence on growth of the franchise in bringing a winning mentality into the mix here in Canada. 
       

Kobe and Gianna Bryant - by Moses

 
      In a tragic chain of events a helicopter flying Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna alongside the Altobelli family (John and Keri, and daughter Alyssa), Christina Mauser, Sarah Chester and her daughter Payton, and pilot Ara Zobayan crashed over Calabasas, California leaving the aforementioned dead. 

  One has to wonder the impact on America today as a result.  Many of us take our lives for granted so it's hurtful that so many successful people had to die in this catastrophe.  The Basketball Community across America is still in mourning losing a living legend in Kobe Bryant at the age of 41 and his 13 year old daughter Gianna.  So many dreams to be left unfulfilled with the deaths of three children 10-13 years of age.  So many accomplishments still left in Kobe Bryant and John Altobelli that we'll never be able to enjoy in the public eye.  The fact that both men lost their own daughters in this sad affair is truly tragic.  How will America look at these chains' of events with the Super-Bowl being in the limelight today?  Should America look at Kobe Bryant and John Altobelli as martyrs to a higher order?  Personally, the loss of my own life would pale in comparison to the deaths' of my own children.  

  Some will try to pass by this occurrence as a short lived tragedy, I put it forth this way;  Will we ever forget what we were doing when we found out that Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash?