All Things Bubba

...appears to be dying down. Trent's clarification helped a lot. Bubba still has fans in NY, and many of them came out of the woodwork to support him, given a little cover.

And the ruckus appears to have been confined to the blogosphere. At least, I didn't see it in any of the dead-tree papers. Maybe they won't boo Bubba at Legends Field after all. We bloggers tend to forget that most of America probably doesn't give a rat's rear about blogs.

On the bright side, being reviled by Yankees fans appears to be a very endearing trait outside New York. I suspect Bubba could have rescued a kitten from a burning building, jumped into the Ohio River to save a drowning baby, and single-handedly foiled a terrorist attack on GABP, and it wouldn't have raised his stock among Reds fans as much as whipping Yankees fans into a frenzy of indignation did (inadvertent as it was).

In other news...the Reds currently have eight former first round draft picks on the roster. One of them being Bubba, of course.

Joe Torre's brother, Frank, needs a kidney transplant. His own kidneys have been damaged by years of medication taken because of the heart transplant he had ten years ago. I don't know if Joe is one of the candidates to donate.

The New York Times explores the Japanese Gyroball Mystery. Darn, I wish the Yanks had gotten Matsuzaka. Whether he throws a gyroball or not, I have a feeling he's going to be very good.

Kenny Rogers talks about "Smudgegate." He kind of admits he was using something, without actually admitting it. He justifies it by saying it's good for the batters, since they won't be HBP as often, and by claiming that changes MLB have made to the balls has made it necessary for pitchers to do something to swing the odds more in their favor. Kind of makes me believe that the rumors are true: all pitchers cheat a little.