Yankee4Life

Total Classics 1941 continued. Here's Fritz Ostermuller six years before he started throwing at Jackie Robinson. (Go and see 42 to see what I mean.) Marius Russo's second bunt attempt did not go so well as the first one as he popped out in foul territory here. This elusive slide by Joe Grace allowed him to reach third base safely with a triple. Yes, Joe Dimaggio did get a hit in this game. Far be it from me to break up this guy's hit streak. For me, the second most impressive stat about his 1941 season besides hitting in the 56 straight games was that for the entire year he only struck out thirteen times. The Yankee hitting star of the day was left fielder Charlie Keller who went 4 for 5 with 3 RBI and one run scored.

Total Classics 1941 continued. Bill Dickey has just hit a double to drive home two runs off off Elden Auker. Phil Rizzuto is caught trying to get back to first base after a steal attempt gone wrong. George McQuinn puts the Browns on the board with this home run off of Russo. Here's one of Russo's six strikeouts in the game. Red Rolfe starts another Yankee rally by hitting a single over the head of George McQuinn at first base that sent Johnny Sturm to third.

The next Total Conversion mod to be discussed in this thread is the 1941 season mod that the combined talents of Jim825 and Dennis James put together. Without even going any further here you know that mods released by these two in the past are top-of-the-line and now that these two have come together to create this mod you can be sure of one thing right away and that it's going to be great. Well, I'm here to tell you that it is. Jim created the installer for this mod just as he does for any season mod that he is a part of. The schedule was made by none other than Dylan Bradbury, someone who can make a schedule and have it work right when he's asleep. You know if he made it then it's accurate. You'll see that I am given credit for providing some photos and music for the mod but the proper credit must go to Dennis here. They know the photos that they wanted. I just gave options. Same with the music. The only credit I get here is that I was one of the first ones to download this and I gave it five stars. The 1941 season was one of the greatest seasons in the history of the game. As Jim stated in his description of the mod the pennant race was overshadowed by what Joe Dimaggio did with his 56 game hitting streak and Ted Williams' season long quest to hit .400, which he achieved by going 6 for 8 in a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics on the last day of the season. So, there was no pennant race; at least not in the American League. The National League was an entirely different story. The Brooklyn Dodgers won their first pennant in twenty-one years as they fought the St. Louis Cardinals all year long before finally winning by 2 1/2 games. It was a ticker-tape parade for the new N.L. Champions but there was a saying that went like this: It can only happen in Brooklyn. And for the Dodgers that proved to be true at the worst possible time in the World Series against the Yankees just as they were about to tie the series at two games apiece. A swing and a miss, a passed ball, a Yankee rally to win the game and they won the next game and just like that the series was over and done with in five games. This was a wonderful season. It's seventy-two years behind us now and most of the people who played in that year are no longer with us but thanks to these two modders it is now here for you to download (right here.) and enjoy. When you first get into this mod you'll see a color photo of Dimaggio and Williams. The music chosen for this mod fits wonderfully - especially the tunes chosen for the walk-up music and between innings. Remember there are only sixteen teams in the league at this time so you'll have a lot of open spots when you look for a team to pick. You'll notice that there are only two uniforms for each team to choose from, their home and away ones. That's because that's how it was back then. Remember this was fifty years before the White Sox invented the popular turn-back-the-clock promotion. The stadiums are wonderful. I've played in them all and it is hard to pick a favorite because back then they were all built completely different from the others except for St. Louis of course because the Cardinals and Browns played in the same ballpark. I like the simpleness of this mod and that's in no way a back handed slap at it. For example the overlay in the game. It's not flashy, it doesn't have any unnecessary stuff in it like pitch counts. It tells you what you need to know. Remember, this mod is based in an era where there were no exploding scoreboards, no swimming pools in the outfield and no electronic scoreboards enticing people to get up and "make noise." When those fans got up to make noise to cheer their team on they didn't have to be told how to do it or how loud either. There is a bit of artistic license in this mod that was thrown in but it fits in so well that you almost can not tell it is there. When you play a game with the Yankees listen closely when Joe Dimaggio comes up to bat. You'll hear very softly Bob Sheppard announce his name. He also does the same for Phil Rizzuto. The reason why I say this is artistic license is because Sheppard did not start doing the Yankee public address announcing until 1951. Sheppard's professional voice fits in anywhere; even ten years before he started work. If you are fans of other season mods you won't regret downloading this one. VIDEO: Joe Dimaggio singles in the 9th against the Browns. Screenshots: Total Classics 1941! Phil Rizzuto hits a single to right field off of Elden Auker of the Browns. Yankee pitcher Marius Russo lays down a perfect sacrifice bunt. So perfect in fact that Browns third baseman Harlond Clift throws the ball away. Here's the second Browns error of the day. On a potential double play, shortstop Johnny Berardino throws the ball into right field.

Updated to 4-21 ...A Maine man who lived in seclusion for twenty-seven years alone in the woods was finally arrested by authorities last week because he stole provisions from other people to survive. After his arrest his bail was set at $5,000 but it had to be increased to $250,000 by the police to "prevent the exploitation" of him from others. They may have a point. Since the time his original bail was set he has had offers from a stranger to pay his bail. Another person wanted more information about him to write a song about him. One person wanted to provide housing for him when he made bail and a publishing company has hired an author to write a book about him. Only in America. But the strangest thing that came out of all this was a woman who expressed interest in marrying him. Isn't that nice? That just proves the old saying that says there is someone for everyone but who knows? Maybe marriage was the reason this guy headed for the hills in the first place. ...The last time I watched this much CNN was just a few months back when the shootings at Sandy Hill took place. The only thing that I previously knew about the Boston Marathon is that it's the oldest one in the world and that runners must be qualified to run the race. That leaves me out. The only race I run is the occasional one to a certain room in my house when I drink too much coffee. But like in Connecticut in December I was glued to my set for all of last week and the way the city of Boston came together and looked out for each other during this time was impressive. I just hope that the nineteen year old kid they have in custody does not die because I'd like to hear his reasons for doing this. Why do this to a country that let you in to live and go to school? Why target these runners and the crowd who cheered them on? How does it feel to be responsible for the death of an eight-year-old boy? Yes, I want you to live. I want to hear what you have to say. ...Classy, classy move by the New York Yankees during Tuesday night's game at the Stadium when they hosted the Diamondbacks. Just one day after the bombings at the Boston Marathon, the Yanks held a moment of silence for the city of Boston and they played the Neil Diamond song Sweet Caroline at the end of the third inning, a song that is a fan favorite at Fenway Park. It wasn't about the game right now or about rivalries. It was about people. And it was about an eight-year-old kid, a young student from China and a twenty-year-old woman who all should be alive today and all the other people who were injured by this. ...I am the first one to point out that I criticize the Red Sox for anything and everything but yesterday with the way they paid respect to everyone affected by these bombings was first class. From that huge flag by the Green Monster, to the crowd singing the National Anthem and Neil Diamond himself coming out in the 8th inning to sing Sweet Caroline. I only had one question and that was why did they let David Ortiz represent the Red Sox and talk to the fans? I would think that Dustin Pedroia would have been a better choice because Pedroia would have had the common sense not to drop the "F" bomb while addressing the crowd. Never mind that there were little kids listening to you today. You got your own set of rules. ...If it wasn't for what happened in Boston I would have said that the worst thing that happened last week was finding out that Derek Jeter had another slight crack in his ankle and will not be coming back until after the All-Star Game but since those bombings did take place it makes it so much easier for me to put this kind of news in perspective. Seeing this guy come back to the Yankees and play every day would be great but in the back of my mind I have to wonder how he's going to do it when they say he'll need another few more months to be ready to play when the six months he had during the off season were not enough? ...Great news for Cubs fans - I think. The Cubs and the city of Chicago have agreed on details of a $500 million dollar makeover for 99-year-old Wrigley Field that will include a new video screen that will be three times as large as the one currently atop the centerfield bleachers and the night games will increase from thirty to forty games a year, which is nearly half of the games played at Wrigley each season. What I am questioning about this is something that Cubs owner Tom Ricketts said about these changes. He said that by doing this it will boost business and he hinted that it would make the team competitive again. How? It would be interesting to see the new changes that Wrigley Field is going to have but all the talk about the team being more competitive because of it is just nonsense. Ask the Miami Marlin fans how that all worked out for them. ...One more thing and this is something that Cub fans in here would know a lot more about than I do. Wrigley's going to be 100 years old next year. Do they really want to sink that much money into a ballpark that may have to be replaced in thirty years or less? And if you are someone that thinks thirty years seems like forever that just means you are too young to know the truth. ...You know how you could tell that the two players who trashed the hotel room in Indianapolis by throwing garbage around the room and desecrating the bathroom were not NFL players yet ? Guns weren't involved. ...Last Monday afternoon I took my wife to see 42. I was really surprised that she enjoyed the movie as much as I did since she's not really into baseball history because as far as she is concerned baseball never began until Derek Jeter started playing. I won't go into detail about the movie since it just came out and maybe a lot of you haven't had the opportunity to see it yet but I think I can say this one thing without taking anything away from the movie. The filmmakers brought to life long gone ballparks such as Ebbets Field, Crosley Field, Forbes Field and Shibe Park like they were still around and hosting baseball games today. Besides the story of Jackie Robinson and what he went through and what it must have been like for him, seeing these ballparks alive again was a treat. I'll be buying this movie once it's released on blu-ray just to see this one a few more times. ...That same day out in Los Angeles Carl Crawford wore a pair of Jackie Robinson shoes that Nike gave him and after the game the league called his agent to let him know that Crawford can not wear either the blue or white special edition Nike shoes any more in a game or else he would be fined for doing so. It makes sense if you think about it. Crawford did this little tribute all by himself and Bud Selig had nothing to do with it. Selig would have approved of it had he had the opportunity to host a press conference and bluster on for ten minutes about it. But since Selig didn't get this chance to get his face in front of the cameras again Crawford's tribute to Robinson never really had a chance. ...The NHL has scheduled six outdoor games next year for their 2013-14 slate, presumably because they know they'll be having a full season of hockey next year. Oddly, the first outdoor game will be held in Los Angeles when the Kings host the Anaheim Ducks at Dodger Stadium. I just want to know two things here. What happens when the day the game is supposed to be played the weather plays a trick on them and it's warmer than they expected? How can they keep the ice in skating condition for the entire game? And finally why did Los Angeles get an outdoor game anyway? That makes about as much sense as holding a golf or tennis tournament out in the snow back east. Why didn't cold-weather hockey towns like Montreal, Toronto, Minnesota or Boston get a chance to have one of these? ...What is it with Florida? Between the Burmese Pythons, the alligators and the sinkholes, now they are being invaded by giant African land snails. These things have shells that have pointy edges that are sharp enough to blow out the tires of cars that happen to run over them so even if you kill one they'll still have the last word. They are about as big as rats and they can multiply as fast as trailer park tenants. The state Agriculture Department Officials believe that some of these snails attached themselves to luggage to get into the country while others were carried into the country as pets and then released. What's good enough for the pythons down there is good enough for the snails. I can't wait to see what Florida is going to do next. ...Amanda Knox is accusing an Italian prison guard of inappropriate behavior during her four year stay behind bars in her new book that is scheduled to be released in the upcoming weeks. The question that comes to mind initially is why did she wait until now to disclose this? This girl has no credibility at all and sad to say this just sounds like a publicity ploy to sell more books since Knox knows there's no way to prove anything she's saying. She's about as trustworthy Casey Anthony. ...If this book sells well as they are expecting it to be there are preliminary plans in place to call her next book How to Get Away with Murder for Dummies. ...Two Chinese tourists visiting Johannesburg, South Africa last week had an encounter with an elephant that they'd rather soon forget. While driving their rented Hyundai early last Monday morning they drove a little bit too close to one who did not want to be bothered and the elephant proceeded to overturn the vehicle, injuring both tourists and crushing the car. Park officials do not know what caused the animal to be this aggressive but there's an outside chance that he may have learned about one of his own being shot last week in America and was just waiting for the first humans he saw to settle scores with. This last part of course is pure speculation on my part but who knows? ...I wonder if Hyundai's 10 year, 100,000 mile warranty covers damage like this? ...Rap star Ray J, who made Kim Kardashian an instant star when he made a sex tape of her a few years back, recorded a song recently called "I Hit It First" in which he described that he was the "first one" to bang Kardashian. Who's this guy kidding? He didn't hit it first. He just videotaped it first. That woman gets more hits than a website. ...Now if he really wanted to be a stickler for detail he would have named the song As far as I know I Hit it First because she was in her mid-twenties when this tape was made. Now had he known her when she was say, ten years old, the title of the song may be correct. ...I dislike interleague play as it is but I hate the way it is being done this year. ...I really don't care if Alex Rodriguez goes down for his part in this Miami Biogenesis mess just as long as Ryan Braun goes with him. ...A girl from Croatia found a message in a bottle last Tuesday that a Canadian man threw into the sea back in 1985. When the message was read they found it was from a man named Jonathan who sent the encapsulated message to a woman named Mary telling her that she was "a really great person" and that he hoped that they could "keep in correspondence." Taking nothing away from Mary because I have no reason to doubt that she is a great person but she must not have been a keeper because if she was this guy would have picked up a phone to keep a correspondence with her instead letting her know how he felt by doing it this way. ...There is a rumor going around that Microsoft is working on a new version of Windows 8 called Windows Blue that will make this latest version of Windows work more like old-fashioned versions of Windows where users can start their PC's in desktop mode. If this is true this alone can help the sales of this much-maligned OS a lot more than a bunch of commercials with people break dancing around a table ever would.

Same here Jim. That's the only time I ever saw it rain in the game and that was in Seattle. I just haven't seen this happen in years.

You're right. It's not really something that should be a part of this game but now I got to thinking if EA had never lost the license and kept making Mvp they may have added this especially with Minnesota having an outside ballpark now. Of course this is just a guess on my part on something that will never happen. :)

No, I have never seen that. And I rarely see it rain too in the game.

I saw this literally a few days ago.it wasn't an April Fools joke.

I read it last week from an article on CNN. This does sound like an awfully high asking price doesn't it? It's my hope that the time people can start buying this for Christmas this year that they'll change their mind and lower it. This is too much.

I have a Saitek P880 gamepad that works perfectly. Never had one problem with it. Also a Logitech gamepad will work well too.

Updated to 4-14 ...It has been less than two months since the announcement of the Playstation 4 and last week Sony finally answered the all-important question that was on everyone's mind and that was how much is this going to set you back for? The answer? Plenty. The price of the base model will be $799 and if you want the premium model you'll have to pay $899. Sony, in all seriousness, called the prices for both models "reasonable." It is doubtful that anyone in the general public would call the asking price for this new system reasonable. Highway robbery would be more like it. ...When Jay-Z and his wife Beyonce went to Cuba last week, two Republican members of Congress asked the Treasury Department if they had permission to go and it was discovered that they did get approval to travel there via a "cultural visit." When you have money like these two have you can pay off the Treasury Department so you can go to Cuba to celebrate your fifth wedding anniversary. What is cultural about a wedding anniversary? ...Wait until Jay-Z finds out those Cuban cigars he picked up won't clear Customs. ...Every time I see a picture of Donald Trump he looks as if someone just stole his last cupcake. ...The nicest thing about watching the Yankees - Indians series last week in Cleveland was seeing Nick Swisher in a Cleveland uniform. ...The best way to stop a winning streak? Send Phil Hughes out on the mound. ...You hear about that college team that scored thirty runs in one game last Wednesday? That's about two weeks worth of work for the Houston Astros. ...The next time that Zach Greinke hits someone with a pitch and they decide to have an unscheduled meeting at the mound to smooth things out he should remember when the other guy is getting ready to knock that smug look off of his face not to lead with his shoulder because if he hadn't done that he may not be missing the next couple of months with a broken collarbone. ...Alex Rodriguez has apparently found something to occupy his time during all the lonely hours he's been putting in rehabilitating his hip as he has begun dating a young twenty-four year old Dominican Republic girl. This is not the same girl that he was tossing baseballs to during the A.L.C.S. last year because that girl kept the baseballs and returned his phone number. The thirteen year age difference between A-Rod and his current significant other apparently does not seem to bother the girl's family at all since it was her father that picked up Rodriguez from the airport in a limousine and drove him to his hotel. This is the kind of service you give to a man who is interested in your daughter and who also happens to make twenty-nine million dollars a year. ...One more thing. If Alex Rodriguez did or did not send someone to buy documents from the anti-aging clinic in Florida for the sole purpose of destroying them it really does not matter. This guy's reputation is so tarnished now that no one would put it past him if he did and no one would believe him if he hadn't. ...When you pay a guy like Jose Reyes ten million dollars a year it would be understood by everyone if you automatically assumed that he knew how to properly slide into second base. ...In another attempt to reverse the "curse" that Cubs fans believe has been held over their team, someone in an unmarked truck dropped off a package containing a severed goat's head at Wrigley Field last week addressed to Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts. If this guy really wanted to help the Cubs he would have kept the goat's head and dropped off a couple of pitchers instead. ...After reading last week that Alice Cooper once rejected Raquel Welch, who to put it mildly wanted to be rather chummy with him, I have decided that Cooper must be one of the strongest or the dumbest men around. ...A circus elephant was shot during a drive-by shooting in Mississippi last week for unknown reasons. It's an elephant for crying out loud. They had to do a drive-by for that? They could have just walked. I mean where's he going? ...Why would anyone want to steal the President's teleprompter? What use would you get out of it because chances are you aren't going to be using to give any speeches. I'm sure by now the thief knows this for himself and if he doesn't he's getting seven years in federal prison to think about it. ...I can not name one song this guy sings and the few times that I have heard him sing on TV it took me less than two seconds to hit the mute button but what Kid Rock is doing for his fans for his upcoming Summer tour is impressive. Each ticket sold will only cost fans twenty dollars apiece and that is for anywhere in the building. Also, prices will be lowered on other items such as beer and t-shirts. Maybe his music isn't for me but that's not important. I'm sure his fans are really going to love this. ...In contrast, the price for a center floor seat right in front of the stage to see Paul McCartney costs $2,500. I don't even want to guess what a T-shirt would cost. ...To the surprise of no one that has purchased a game from them in the past few years, Electronic Arts has been named the worst company in America for the second year in a row. The games that have been churned out in the past few years show a complete lack of imagination because it seems that they are just going through the motions when they're making them since the concern seems to be more about the release date of the game instead of the content of it. And yet despite all of this EA still takes in millions of dollars each year. It just shows how stupid the American consumer is. ...Bad news for fans of Windows XP. In April of 2014 Microsoft is going to officially retire the XP operating system which to date is their most popular version of Windows ever. This means in one year's time they will no longer be issuing security patches and updates for XP and if hackers find new ways to break into this operating system, Microsoft will do nothing to stop them. As if Microsoft has ever stopped anyone from from getting into their system before. Too bad the plug couldn't be pulled on Microsoft instead of XP . ...I'm going to hate this. I have an XP laptop where I can play a lot of games on it that I can't play on Vista or Windows 7 like High Heat 2003 and 2004 plus many other fun games that play better on there then on my other computers. This has nothing to do with not wanting to support XP anymore. They just want you to upgrade to Windows 7 or 8 and I don't believe anyone should be forced to do that. ...Too many deaths last week. Margaret Thatcher, one of the strongest women in world history, died at the age of 87. Like her politics or not she said what she believed and did what she thought was right. This is in direct contrast of most politicians today who say just about anything and do just about nothing. Roger Ebert, who was a well-respected film critic, died of cancer at the age of 70. I really didn't read his reviews (or anyone else's for that matter) before I went to a movie because I liked to form my own opinion of it but after I was finished seeing the film that is when I read Ebert. And last Monday Annette Funicello, one of the original members of the 1950's TV show The Mickey Mouse Club died at the age of 70 from complications due to multiple sclerosis. She had to be a pretty strong woman because she dealt with this disease for the last twenty-five years of her life. Do yourself a favor and check out some early-1960's photos of her. This woman was stunning. R.I.P. all.

I feel the same way. I hope he keeps it up. People like that are needed on a team. Yeah, it's nice to see this team actually give a damn about things and I don't care when the multi-millionaires get back.

It was odd looking at names in a thread that have not been here in years.

You just responded to a post in a thread that has been dormant for eight years.

Yes because they have to leave the game after five innings to go home and do their homework.

I haven't heard anything about this. Are you sure? Hahahahahaha

Updated to 4-7 ...It's been one week now that baseball has returned to our everyday lives and when it returns every year at this time it overshadows everything else that's going on. What did we see last week? The Astros with an impressive win in their first ever American League game. A kid down in Washington hitting home runs in his first two at-bats of the season. Bryce Harper and the Nationals are expected to go far this year. Out in Los Angeles the Dodgers and Giants were scoreless going into the bottom of the eighth when Clayton Kershaw decided it was time to show everyone he could swing the bat. So he did by hitting his first career home run to lead the Dodgers to a 4 - 0 win. All that and more on Opening Day. How can anyone not be a fan of this great game? ...As I said a week ago this weeks random thoughts were going to be late because I would be out of town but I didn't realize how late this would be. The blame must be laid on the beds that are at my in-laws house because they are the cheapest and most uncomfortable beds money can buy and I will swear to that under oath and my back will gladly do the same. As soon as we got home the car got unloaded and the dogs were let out and right now I can not remember how I got up the stairs and into my bed. ...When we were down there we were introduced to a baby pit bull that my wife's nephew gave to his ten-year-old son. It's a beautiful looking dog who's only a few months old and she sleeps a lot and is very playful. I have no idea how this dog will be when she gets older but it will be tough on her because she is owned by that ten-year-old kid, who, to put it as gracefully as I can, is an idiot. I may exaggerate at times but in this instance I am not. ...So Y4L tell us what did you do all day Saturday when you were there? Did you go any place and see anything interesting? Let's see...I went to get the paper Saturday morning and at a red light I saw someone filling their truck up with gas. On my way back I saw two people walking on the sidewalk having a conversation and just before I pulled into the driveway the next door neighbor of my in-laws got in here car and drove off somewhere. After that rash of activity things grounded to a halt rather quickly and the remainder of the day went without incident. ...We went out to breakfast this morning at a local diner and I swear these people that own the place must be related to the town's health inspector because they were more concerned about giving you a greasy meal than a clean fork. ...Maybe that's why I felt so sick driving home, who knows? All I know was nothing was going to stop me from leaving. ...I never paid much attention to team payrolls but when I read that the Yankees set a record for baseball's highest opening-day payroll at $230 million it just made me wonder how the Steinbrenner family really feels about this in their private moments when microphones are not in front of them because if they admit it or not they aren't getting their money's worth. ...Lindsay Lohan said on her Twitter account last Monday that she was pregnant and it made a bit of a stir until she came out the next day to announce that it was nothing but an April Fool's joke. Of course it was. Think about it. Who'd touch her? ...Speaking about April Fools, did you hear about the one that Scope mouthwash pulled? They said that they were coming out with a new bacon-flavored mouthwash which turned out to be nothing but an elaborate prank on their part. My wife fell for it hook, line and sinker. ...A group of children went on an Easter egg hunt at a zoo in Seattle when it turned violent because of a bunch of over zealous mothers. During the hunt one mother pushed a child aside as he was going after some of the eggs because she noticed her own kid was going after the same ones. That's when all hell broke loose and the two mothers started fighting and it got so bad that they had to be separated three or four times. Both of these women must have been hell on their local playgrounds when they were kids and their behavior at the zoo this day showed that they haven't grown up much since then. There was no word on who won the fight but one of the women left the zoo with a bloody nose, a few eggs and one embarrassed kid. Look at the bright side here. This incident did not involve a shooting and no one died. Considering what goes on these days these women showed unbelievable restraint and civility. ...A San Jose,California man just could not wait to get inside his local Wal-Mart last week so he drove his car through the front doors and crashed his vehicle into a beer display, injuring a few dozen innocent cans of beer in the process. He then jumped out of his car and started attacking people before being subdued and arrested by police. The guy must have tried to do a return and it didn't work out so well. ...They could have had a lot more injuries here but they only had three cashiers on staff for the thirty checkout lanes they have. ...In order for the Yankees to get Robinson Cano to sign another contract with them they will have to deal with rap star Jay-Z instead of Scott Boras, who Cano fired last Tuesday. My first reaction when I heard this was that either Boras can't carry a tune to save his life or Cano must be dumber than I thought he was. Probably a combination of the two. I'm in the minority here because I'm in favor of the Yankees dealing this guy to someone for prospects before the trading deadline. Cano doesn't drive in runs when you really need them and he dogs it too many times during the season to ignore. The feeling here is that the contract this guy wants is like what the Yankees gave to Alex Rodriguez and we all know how well that's turning out. For the Yankees to commit 200 million or more dollars towards this guy would be a terrible mistake but anyone who is familiar with the Yankees knows that this is exactly what they'll do. ...Look on the bright side here. Had Jay-Z declined to be his agent Cano's second choice could have been Justin Bieber. ...Samoa Air, the official airline of the Pacific island nation of Samoa is adopting a pay-as-you-weigh pricing plan in order for their customers to fly from now on. Your weight and the weight of your luggage will determine the price of your ticket. Since more than 80% of Samoans age fifteen and older are considered obese this airline is going to be making a fortune. Good idea or not, this policy is never going to make here in the U.S. because the first time someone thinks they were made to feel bad because of their weight they'll sue the airline. ...I have to admit I would be curious to see how much they'd have to charge Honey Boo Boo's family to fly. ...Cheers to the Raiders for cleaning house this off season. There's probably going to be a few more lean years but at least there seems to be a plan in place now. Getting rid of Carson Palmer was another good move because I didn't understand why they traded for him in the first place. ...Let me see if I got this right. You get a bunch of celebrities that apparently have nothing else to do and have them jump in a pool and that's a TV show? How long did it take for someone to think of the idea for Splash, between bites of a sandwich? I actually watched this show because Miss Alabama Katherine Webb was on it and she knows how to accentuate the positive when wearing a bathing suit if you get what I'm saying. ... Last week Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson jokingly told North Korea that if they really feel that they have to bomb something they should bomb Foxboro, Massachusetts, which is where the New England Patriots play. Since he said it on twitter a lot of people took him serious because as we all know everything said there is always well thought out in advance and there is never a hint of irony or humor in anything posted there. You see, that's why I am not on twitter and have no plans to be because I would have told North Korea when they were done blasting Foxboro to go to Fenway Park next and if they didn't know where it was I'd send them directions. ...You see? I post that on twitter there would be an uproar. In here people ignore it. Just as it should be. ...Have a wonderful and safe week.

There is already a thread right here that is all about discussing problems people are having with playing/running the game. Why did you feel the need to start a brand new one?

I'm pulling for you KC. Good luck.

Updated to 3-31 ...Now that the unwanted winter months are out of the way for another year it's time to officially welcome back baseball as the season opens tonight in Houston as the Astros begin their first year in the American League as the former last place champions of the N.L. Central host Texas on Sunday Night Baseball. There are twelve games set for the next day and the final two games (Baltimore at Tampa Bay and Cleveland at Toronto) won't be played until Tuesday the 2nd. It doesn't matter who you root for. Baseball's back. Everything seems so much better all of a sudden. ...Is it too late to start a poll in here to see how many people think a Yankee player will get injured in the player introductions tomorrow at Yankee Stadium? ...How bad is it for the Miami Marlins? They are selling opening day tickets for 52% off the asking price on Groupon, which is a deal-of-the-day website that offers discounted gift certificates. This just goes to show how desperate the Marlins are to get people in the park for their home opener. It might work for one game but not for the whole season. They've got a brand new ballpark down there with a lot of seats that won't be used this season, especially the ones in the outfield where there's a chance more balls will be hit off of them then people sitting in them. They're probably regretting getting rid of Ozzie Guillen about now too. Even if he talks some more about cousin Fidel at least it will give them some kind of press coverage. ...I spent most of last Monday morning at a waiting room in a local hospital because my niece had gall bladder surgery. It's always interesting when you have to pass the time sitting near total strangers. For example, as soon as the hospital lobby workers brought out coffee for everyone it was like a high pitched whistle was blown that only dogs could hear because everyone came running in all directions. ...I was there for about six hours and believe me nothing slows a clock down more than waiting in a hospital. I had to find something to pass the time and since all the magazines around me were Good Housekeeping and Women's Day, reading was out of the question plus there are just so many times you can take a trip to the vending machine to get a soda before you have to burst,if you get my drift. So I started watching what was going on around me. There was a mailbox located outside of the hospital right before you walked in and I had a good view of it. After about a half hour of watching people drop mail in it I began to notice that most of them seemed to have a hard time doing it. I could not understand what the problem was. Pull down the hatch, throw your letter in and walk away. That pretty much covers it. But a surprising number of them when they were putting their letters in acted like they were cautiously trying to feed an animal at the zoo since they looked like they were keeping a safe distance from it. I watched and watched until finally curiosity got the better of me and I went outside to look at the box myself. I opened it and closed it just to see if there was a problem with the latch. Nothing. As I turned around to leave I saw two people watching me, probably wondering why I went to mailbox without putting anything in it. So much for curiosity. ...Probably the best news I heard last week was reading about Tim McCarver announcing that he will retire from FOX after this year. I had no idea that he worked in 28 consecutive post seasons for Major League Baseball. I just knew that once he teamed up with Joe Buck they formed the most boring broadcast team ever. These guys would have you changing the channels during the seventh game of a World Series. McCarver said that he wanted to step down while he knew he can still do the job. Fair enough, but if he really meant it he would have made this announcement twenty years ago. ...With the trade for Vernon Wells from the Angels and the signing of Lyle Overbay after the Red Sox sent him packing, the Yankees are quietly stocking up on ex-Blue Jays players. It's a good thing that Shannon Stewart and Shea Hillenbrand aren't playing anymore or else they'd be Yankees too. ...Oh, and Vernon? That "quietly always been a Yankee fan" comment? You said the same thing when Toronto traded you to the Angels in January of 2011. Now that you're here just hit the ball. If you still can. ...The Detroit Tigers locked up Justin Verlander for the rest of this decade with a five-year contract extension. He'll be making $28 million a year each season from 2015-2019. Look, the guy is good and he has a great arm but this is a hell of a risk that Detroit is taking. As far as I know he's never been on the disabled list but for the Tigers this deal could turn out to be a bad one because of any arm problems Verlander could develop. Just look at the Mets with Johan Santana. He's making $24 million a year and will not even play this year. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, in May of last year a man from Denmark held his breath underwater for twenty-two minutes. That's nothing. The Detroit Tigers will be holding their breath until 2019. ...Two thirteen-year-old little SOB's in a Virginia middle school were caught recently trying to poison their teacher by putting hand sanitizer in her tea. They only succeeded in making her miss work a few days with stomach pains and a low grade fever. Whatever this was, be it a practical joke or a dare, these two kids are now facing a class three felony charge. That is a felony that carries a punishment of not less than five years nor more than 20 years in prison and a fine of not more than $100,000 in that state. Good. I'm hoping that these two little angels get everything that's coming to them. How anyone would want to be a teacher these days is something I'll never understand because it seems that a lot of these kids today are getting braver and braver doing things like this for reasons only they understand. ...The Italian court system wants to extradite Amanda Knox back to Italy to retry her for the murder of her roommate. They were pretty upset that she did not get convicted the first time they had her on trial and now they seem to think they have a better chance of getting a conviction so they want her back. The Italians should be quite ashamed of their legal system because it's making ours look pretty good and that's kind of hard thing to do. ...She didn't ask me and if she did I wouldn't help her anyway but if I were Amanda Knox I'd quietly get the hell out of this country and go to a non extradition nation as soon as possible because you never know if and when the U.S. is going to give her up just so they don't ruffle any diplomatic feathers. ...You know, if the Italians don't get Knox would they settle for Casey Anthony instead? ...What is worse, shooting a thirteen-month old baby or being one of the people who tried to cover up for the killer by lying for him? ...Up until two days ago I have spent my entire life not knowing what a Whizzinator was and now that I do know I can safely say that all knowledge is not power since I could have lived the rest of my days not knowing. But that is past and I'll let you how I came to find out about this. A Missouri man was caught with this in his possession when he was trying to pass a drug test by using one of these false -now how can I put this- strap-ons because this thing actually comes with urine designed to have you pass your test so you can get back to your drug of choice and be left alone. Anyways, this guy is trying to fill the cup so he could get out of there as fast as he can when the probation officer noticed that the man, who happened to be white, was trying to use a black-colored Whizzinator. Give him one point for having the guts to try this. Take away two for stupidity. ...The first thing I thought of after hearing about this was what if he really had to go while he was faking it? What would he do, hold the false one in one hand and the real McCoy in the other? ...I bet this is a story no one is going to bring up during Easter dinner today. ...Obligatory Pennsylvania post, Part 109: The Lehigh Valley IronPigs have installed what they are referring to as a "urinal gaming system" in their ballpark this year for fans to use while they answer the call of nature. It consists of a video display mounted above each urinal and as the fan approaches it senses his presence and turns on and um, while the guy is going he aims left or right to control the play on the screen. Unbelievable. I can just imagine some drunk trying to play the game and misses the urinal completely as he tries to go left and right. By the way, the IronPigs are the top farm team of the Philadelphia Phillies, which when you think about it only makes sense. ...Go ahead, say it. This week's edition of Random Thoughts is a real pisser. ...Final thought: next week's edition in here will be posted much later because I'll be out of town for the weekend at the in-laws and I won't be home to post it online. ...Happy Easter to everyone here at Mvpmods!

I believe this can be done with Mvp Edit but I would wait until the real pros in here like Jim or daflyboys come in here and read this.