All Things Bubba: A Really, Really, Really Big Turkey

Sunday, November 25, 2007

You think you got leftovers? This guy roasted a 72-pound turkey.

Apparently, Rich Portnoy and his sister Andra have a contest every year, over who can serve the biggest turkey. Last year, he was heartbroken when his sister found a 47-pounder, outdoing him by 10 pounds. His family says he was so upset he pouted in the basement.

Not to be outdone this year, he found a retiring breeder courtesy of his local turkey association. It was 85 pounds live, 72 pounds after he had it processed. He had to call the Butterball Hotline to ask how long to cook it. (15 hours.)

And what's the baseball connection (aside from the spirit of competition)? They named the turkey "Barry Bonds." Very appropriate, in more ways than one!

Meanwhile, the Yankees and A-Rod have agreed to a deal, though it's not official yet. (I'm wondering if they'll wait until after the Rule 5 draft to make anything official, just so they don't have make any more roster moves.) The deal includes incentives for setting personal home run records. Bad idea, IMO. Everyone already thinks A-Rod is playing only to pad his own stats. This doesn't help.

The grapevine is still buzzing with Santana rumors. Some are saying the Twins want Cano, not pitching. Others say the Twins have a second baseman of the future, and are more interested in outfielders. Namely, Melky Cabrera and Jose Tabata. The latest is that they're demanding Phil Hughes, Melky Cabrera, and hot prospect Austin Jackson.

I'm not sure what I think about this. Santana is a great player, and the Yankees need him (especially if it keeps him away from the Sox). He has a full no-trade, but he's made it pretty clear that he would love to come to NY. OTOH, he's going to cost a lot. And I hate trading with the Twins. Somehow, they always come out on top. They pride themselves on their scouting, and even when it seems like they're getting the short end of the stick, it works out in their favor. (OTOH, that might mean they'd be willing to take prospects that others don't see much in.)

Gonna be an interesting off-season...

posted by BubbaFan, 7:02 PM

2 Comments:

I've been pouting over having to deal with A-Rod for 10 more years.

From Peter King's "Monday Morning Quarterback" column:

Let me get this straight about the Alex Rodriguez deal. He was making $25 million a year with three years left that he could opt out of. The Yankees told him if he opted out, they would have no interest in talking to him. He opted out. They held firm -- for about 10 minutes. He called the Yankees. They re-signed him ... FOR A RAISE. Now he'll make $27.5 million a year, and if he breaks the home run record, which appears quite likely, they'll pay him $30 million more in bonuses. Assuming he breaks the record, the Yankees will be paying $30.5 million a year over the life of the contract. Boy, those Yankees sure do hold a hard line.