So I went on my usual early morning jog this morning when I was joined by an eerie apparition wearing a too cute modal/cotton blend jogging set and an i-pod.
"Mind if I join you?" she asked.
"Sure," I said, "My name's Rox Girl"
"I'm the Ghost of Black Friday Present," she said.
"Oh. Aren't you early this year? I thought Thanksgiving wasn't for another three weeks," I said.
"Please, you know as well as I do that you need to be in shape for these things,"
"True. So what brings you out here this morning,"
"I want to talk about the Rockies second base situation with you," she said.
"What?"
"Second base, you know, Kaz and Carroll and all that."
"Uhm, why would you want to talk about that? I mean, I know why I would, but it seems a little out of your line of expertise," I said, noting my companion looked way too much like a supermodel for my self-esteem. I pulled up my hoodie.
"I know. Believe me, I don't want to go there, but as a figment of your imagination, I pretty much have to talk about whatever's on your strangely baseball crazed mind," she said.
"Oh. Okay, that explains it, so what about them? We've got Carroll, and he's fantastic with the glove and showed a pretty decent bat, well, outside Dodger Stadium he showed the bat at least, but I think Kaz might be a-goners, and I'm worried we're going to bring in somebody like Craig Counsell..."
"Not so fast on the Kaz going bye bye thing, when you get home you'll see a Denver Post article saying that the chase isn't over yet, but what I want to know is why you're so high on him in the first place," she said.
"Because I don't know if I should believe in Jamey Carroll, I mean, offensively," I said.
"But why should you believe in Kaz, weren't his stats as likely a mirage as Jamey's? After all, there was only a little over a month that he hit like that. You know waht he did with the Mets," she said.
"I don't know. Kaz's felt more real, look how he hit equally well at Coors Field as he did on the road in that month," I said.
"Okay, but what about all that time he spent with the Mets, shouldn't that count for something? And not for anything good, I might add,"
"Believe me it does, I said, but what about his performance in Japan? I'm saying he got into some bad habits with New York that he seems to have corrected. All these people that write him off just seem to be buying into the East Coast BS line on him. Look, it's not like when he came up from AAA he was some sort of nooB, pitchers still had the same book on him that they did before and they would use the same approach at the mound that he couldn't handle before, but this time around he controlled his at bats whereas before it seemed like the pitchers were controlling him. I'm telling you, this isn't the same Kaz," I said.
"But how do you know that the old Kaz isn't coming back?" She asked.
"I don't, so that's why we have to keep Jamey, because I don't trust Kaz," I said. "And I certainly don't trust Craig Counsell."
"You are a peculiar mess," she said.
"I know. Hey, about Black Friday, is there any way I can get you to save me one of those tops I saw in Express the other day? You know the one..,"
"Yeah, yeah I know, but on you? Oh honey, don't kid yourself,"
"Uhm, I think you need to go now," I said and the apparition smirked and went on her merry little model thin way.
Stupid Ringolsby, I'm blaming the brownie sundae I had last night to console myself over the thought of Erstad's foot falling off at the ankle while chasing down a pop fly in Coors for this particular visitation. Argh. I need to call my shrink, after I visit the mall, I have this curious urge to go shopping right now...
"Sure," I said, "My name's Rox Girl"
"I'm the Ghost of Black Friday Present," she said.
"Oh. Aren't you early this year? I thought Thanksgiving wasn't for another three weeks," I said.
"Please, you know as well as I do that you need to be in shape for these things,"
"True. So what brings you out here this morning,"
"I want to talk about the Rockies second base situation with you," she said.
"What?"
"Second base, you know, Kaz and Carroll and all that."
"Uhm, why would you want to talk about that? I mean, I know why I would, but it seems a little out of your line of expertise," I said, noting my companion looked way too much like a supermodel for my self-esteem. I pulled up my hoodie.
"I know. Believe me, I don't want to go there, but as a figment of your imagination, I pretty much have to talk about whatever's on your strangely baseball crazed mind," she said.
"Oh. Okay, that explains it, so what about them? We've got Carroll, and he's fantastic with the glove and showed a pretty decent bat, well, outside Dodger Stadium he showed the bat at least, but I think Kaz might be a-goners, and I'm worried we're going to bring in somebody like Craig Counsell..."
"Not so fast on the Kaz going bye bye thing, when you get home you'll see a Denver Post article saying that the chase isn't over yet, but what I want to know is why you're so high on him in the first place," she said.
"Because I don't know if I should believe in Jamey Carroll, I mean, offensively," I said.
"But why should you believe in Kaz, weren't his stats as likely a mirage as Jamey's? After all, there was only a little over a month that he hit like that. You know waht he did with the Mets," she said.
"I don't know. Kaz's felt more real, look how he hit equally well at Coors Field as he did on the road in that month," I said.
"Okay, but what about all that time he spent with the Mets, shouldn't that count for something? And not for anything good, I might add,"
"Believe me it does, I said, but what about his performance in Japan? I'm saying he got into some bad habits with New York that he seems to have corrected. All these people that write him off just seem to be buying into the East Coast BS line on him. Look, it's not like when he came up from AAA he was some sort of nooB, pitchers still had the same book on him that they did before and they would use the same approach at the mound that he couldn't handle before, but this time around he controlled his at bats whereas before it seemed like the pitchers were controlling him. I'm telling you, this isn't the same Kaz," I said.
"But how do you know that the old Kaz isn't coming back?" She asked.
"I don't, so that's why we have to keep Jamey, because I don't trust Kaz," I said. "And I certainly don't trust Craig Counsell."
"You are a peculiar mess," she said.
"I know. Hey, about Black Friday, is there any way I can get you to save me one of those tops I saw in Express the other day? You know the one..,"
"Yeah, yeah I know, but on you? Oh honey, don't kid yourself,"
"Uhm, I think you need to go now," I said and the apparition smirked and went on her merry little model thin way.
One more link, I figure it's only a matter of days now, possibly hours before we hear Brian Meadows' name in the mix for our bullpen next season, now that the Devil Rays have declined his option. He seems to be an annual part of our rumor mill.