One Man's Fool

I agree with Buddha.

It was really a pleasure and a privilege to get to know Roger and Robie during our visits to Lakeland. One of my favorite stories they shared was of taking a large group of Flying Tigers out to a Japanese steakhouse one night after a game. The minor leaguers really don't get paid much and Roger and Robie were very happy to take them out for a special meal and would do a lot of other things to make sure they were taken care of. You could always find Roger out by the back fields during Spring Training with his big camera equipment, and it was nothing for the players to come by and greet him by name. When we didn't see them at a Flying Tigers series in June, we asked around and some of the other regulars told us that Roger was going through some health issues. They all said how much they hoped he would be back at Joker Marchant soon. This is such sad news. Prayers to Robie and the extended Tigertown family of people who loved Roger - and that was a lot of people.

What terrible news. I need to pray hard for Gibby. No one has ever seemed more indestructible to me than him.

Indeed. Turns out we're also flying down for the March 14 game against the Phillies. In on Friday night, back on Sunday night, but hey. The more Lakeland, the better!

Arriving Sunday, Feb. 22. Probably will be there every day through Thursday, Feb. 26 at least.

I was there that night. Went with a work colleague at the time who was a Cubs fan.

Thanks so much, everyone! I really appreciate it!

What's ridiculous is this: 1. A supposed "superstar" player has a subpar start and people get upset. 2. People who are ideologically bound to defend "superstar" player find this behavior curious, and as such, cite freaking research to try to understand why baseball fans are upset about a baseball player's subpar performance. That is ridiculous. It is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen. You guys are completely hilarious, and you don't even realize it. People don't like it when a player on their team lets them down!!! Put down the spreadsheets and slowly walk away . . .

No you're not. If you're talking about people on this board, you don't really know most if any of them personally. If you're talking about complaining Tiger fans in general, you know nothing about them. You probably know more about the players on the Tigers than you do about the average fan. Besides, when present and former ballplayers talk about clutch players, clubhouse chemistry, etc., I don't remember you or your fellow travelers saying, "Well, they're close to the ballclub so they must know!"

I am glad we have Cabrera. But I wasn't glad about the way he played most of the first half. The Galarraga comment is ridiculous, but you obviously didn't understand (or chose to ignore) the entire context of the post to which you are responding.

Hey! You haven't been on the political board lately, buddy. For all you know, I've become a liberal.

He wasn't. They were just as disappointing. And if someone had chastised fans who were unhappy with Verlander and Granderson, I would have called that idiotic too. But the only fan behavior that has been flyspecked, taken apart and psychoanalyzed has been that of being disapppointed in the very disappointing Miguel Cabrera.

But people on this board are close enough to Miguel Cabrera critics to know what's happening with them psychologically?

Makes perfect sense to me. You can't have it both ways. If he's really an "elite player" based on his years with the Marlins, then he's clearly played far below what he's capable of this year. Fans should and will criticize that. If the player we've seen this year is the real Cabrera, then we gave up way too much to get him and paid way too much to sign him. Either way, things were not right and people were going to be disappointed. Really not hard to understand.

I was referring to the entire discussion, not just your post. I don't find it distasteful. I find it ridiculous in a hilarious sort of way, so I'm making fun of it.