Some Thoughts From the Mall

As the Fan sat in the Mall during the annual shopping season, the following random thoughts appeared in the upper lobe while the long dead Dinah Shore sings Jingle Bells on the mall speakers:

- Considering the last post concerning the WBC: If Johnny Damon hurts his arm, would anyone notice the difference? Perhaps the ball would take 43 hops to get to the cutoff man instead of 41?

- Was Fukodome the biggest Japanese flop since Steinbrenner's "Toad"? At least a Japanese flop hit someone else besides the Yankees, who have had two of them.

- The Fan can't help hoping that Giambi hits 40 homers someplace in 2009.

- The Fan also can't help hoping that Josh Hamilton and Rick Ankiel continue growing in their career. Rick Ankiel would look good in centerfield for the Yankees.

- Why would anyone sign Farnsworth for $9 million over two years?

- Why can't the Fan figure out if he loves or hates Rob Neyer's blog? It is a good thing that the Baseball Writers have finally undone the stupidity of last year and let him into their little club.

- Will Posada make it back behind the plate for the Yankees this year? And if he does and struggles early, will they stick with him?

- Dean Martin still sounds drunk even when singing Christmas songs.

- The Fan wishes Texiera would sign somewhere already. The suspense is killing him.

- What are the odds that teammates call Rafael Furcal, "Furball" or "Furby"?

- Since Furcal started his free agency, the offers for his services have gone down by $9 million. Ouch. I guess the late bird doesn't get the worms after all.

- Is Randy Johnson the most misunderstood tall man since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar? At least Kareem was better looking.

- The Fan wonders if David Ortiz will continue to diminish or if he'll come back to his former formidable self.

- Does anyone in baseball swing harder than Dustin Pedroia? One of these days, he will spin himself into the ground like Bugs Bunny.

- The reports that Barry Bonds has still not retired show a man not faced with reality. Umm...Barry...take a seat next to Sammy Sosa over there and remember when you had artificial fun.

- There was a time when throwing Rickey Henderson out while stealing second was one of the most exciting plays in baseball. Any writer who does not vote for Henderson for the Hall of Fame is just plain stupid.

- Why is Davey Johnson managing the WBC and not a major league team? Seems all the guy ever did was win.

- Is anyone aware that Cito Gaston is one of the best managers in the modern era?

- The Mall bookstore had a copy of Bill James grandiose book. The Fan looked at it and it's one million pages and really would love to be that well informed to speak intelligently with the stat heads, but golly, that just seems like too much work. Does one really have to read it to know that Adam Dunn is worth his money even though he strikes out twice a game?

Guess the brain has run dry...now where is that mall bench?