I noticed both papers today - the Sun-Times and the Trib - reported today that the White Sox have invited Barack Obama to throw out the first pitch this year.
And it struck me that I've read it before - several times, and a long time ago.
It started in November.
And then my buddies Kevin Allen and Kyle Koster wrote it in their splendid Sports Pros(e) blog on Tuesday.
That must be why it was just a note at the end of our notebook today while the Trib did an entire story.
So to recap: The White Sox have invited Barack Obama to throw out the first pitch this season.
And how could he refuse? It's going to be pretty cool.
One of the MANY cool things that is going to happen on the Southside without my presence!!! DOH!
Now let the Cubs top that! My fault, they have the (expletive) Govenor.
I'd love to be there to see that! Opening day can't come soon enough!
Call me crazy but I think Kenny should make a run at Manny...here's why:
- assumes they can trade Dye for a real CF (move Quentin to RF and Manny to LF)
- year 2, Thome comes off the books and Manny spends 1/2 or more as DH
- year 3 Konerko is gone (I think) and payroll over these 3 years probably would be what it would have been without Manny. Even better they trade Konerko now for ANYTHING.
3 years, $50M I think would get him...Williams does crazy stuff when it gets quiet.
No matter what the 2009 White Sox do - I will always say with pride that the President of the United States is a die-hard Sox Fan...Never thought that would happen...
They should sign him...he looks like he has a better arm than most of their lineup!
Tommy, I just want Kenny to do something. We are going to need some canes for all these old guys!
Roman, if on April 6 there is some nuclear crisis in Uzbekistan or North Korea then I'm sure that will take precedent over baseball. Even though I'll be there on opening day, I won't be optimistic that the president will be there. My worst fear is that he'll send Biden (vice president of hair plugs and eye lifts)in his place.
Tommy,
I think your ideas surrounding the possible acquisition of Manny Ramirez are very interesting and they make a lot of sense. I admit that I'd be hard-pressed not to be at least somewhat excited in seeing that happen.
However, I would have reservations about having Manny in my outfield when we're trying to get back to basics. In my book, Manny should be a DH for this team period.
Even so, I would still have a little concern about team chemistry just having him on the team. You can't treat Manny differently than the rest of the team like the Red Sox did. That can spell disaster for the team as a whole. I don't think Ozzie would put up with it either. True, one could argue that the Red Sox still won a couple of titles with him, but I would maintain that those teams were so overloaded that there was at least a certain measure of winning despite Manny.
So, who is actually throwing out the first pitch??