Important Shane Victorino Update

Not so long ago I wrote a post where I compared Shane Victorino to Joffrey Baratheon, First of His Name King of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, which allowed me to present to the world the most perfect marriage of gifs:   

Now, it's my pleasure and privilege to continue this corollary of spoiled jerks by giving you this little bit of perfection, courtesy of Mr. Koji Uehera:

That will show our little king to get off his throne every once in awhile!  

Baseball Feelings Update: Fewer Baseball Feelings than Anticipated

R. A. Dickey, seen here knuckling one in

The streaking Toronto Blue Jays have won three straight (three!) to claw their way back to the .400 mark and now sit a mere nine-and-a-half games behind the American League East-leading New York Yankees -- isn't that the greatest? It reflects poorly on my past self to admit to you that there are times in my life where I could totally have said something like that entirely in earnest; such is the embarrassing level of hope and optimism and earnestness I am, at times, able to summon as regards the fate of this, the baseball team of my fondest feelings. But I do not say so with sincerity at this time, and not because of any real scorn I have for this particular incarnation of the Blue Jays, or anything. I am not all that miffed about big deals not looking so hot right now, nor at poor production from players we thought might well rake/throw smoke, nor yet from injury woes. The thing for me so far this season, with regards to my feelings concerning baseball, is that they have been barely existent. 

What factors have led to this seemingly stunning reversal? Certainly the disastrous start to the Blue Jays' season cannot be overlooked entirely, as I would no doubt be attending to matters more closely should these Jays have found themselves at (or even near) the top of the division standings. But mostly, I think, it is simply that other things have commanded my interest of late, more than any deliberate turn away from baseball, exactly. The reading of books proves to be, in many respects, a more pleasurable use of my evenings right now, even if sometimes those books turn out to be kind of scary books and I end up getting freaked out a little and then having nightmares. Also, I have been ripping a number of sick solos, and each sick solo clocks in at around ten minutes, so it doesn't take long to eat an hour that way. I have been enjoying riding my skateboard (in the mode of skateboard thrashing) in the evenings whilst attending to small errands. And finally, the hockey playoffs have proven a fine ambient sporting background against which I have been pursuing several of the aforementioned activities. Sure, I have had games on the radio as I return home from the gym, say, but when I do so it is mostly Jack Morris not being as good as Alan Ashby talking about about baseball. 

All of this is to say, I have yet to truly take up this baseball season properly, and, in the end, may not. This happens every few seasons, so I am not alarmed or anything. Perhaps when the weather turns consistently warmer, and the Stanley Cup has been awarded, and the grass is totally in need of reel mowing (more so), I will get totally into things as the Blue Jays rise to the .500ish mark that a team of this calibre has to eventually get to, and then linger on the periphery of the playoff race just long enough to make the season not feel like a complete write-off. Or something. 

KS