Brethren,

Presented for your approval today is a short blast from the staff of From the Bullpen, in part to wish you a healthy and happy February 9, but also to seek support for my idea that we start a prayer chain for some of that global warming.  Sheeesh.  Enough of the sub-zero temperatures already.  Can’t someone find us a shortcut to warmer weather and spring training? 

THE DRAFT

It chaps my rear end to have to retrench and report that our annual HSL Draft will take place here in Omaha (grrrr!) on Saturday, March 26, 2011, starting at 1:00 p.m.  Too bad that a couple of bad apples spoiled the barrel for the rest of us, but I agree that the most important thing is that we have everyone in one place together for the funnest day of the year.  I will bite my tongue, turn the other cheek, and keep my chin up, metaphorically speaking. 

As we prepare for the Draft, let me share with you now the point totals for the top 25 hitters and top 25 pitchers from the 2010 campaign.  If you’re like me, this is the only Draft preparation that you will need on March 26.  It’s all luck, anyway –– that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. 

2010 TOP 25 PITCHERS

2010 TOP 25 HITTERS

That’s it for baseball talk. 

BOOK RECOMMENDATION:

Last Lion:  The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy

Before I close out this short issue of From the Bullpen, let me just put in a short plug for a terrific book that I just finished reading, Last Lion:  The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy, authored by a team of reporters at The Boston Globe, and edited by Peter Canellos.  I can sense that seven or eight of the rock-ribbed Republicans in this group are already turning their noses up at the idea of reading anything about Ted Kennedy –– you know who you are –– and so I’m going to suggest to those of that ilk that it is especially important that each of you read this book, if you can possibly do it with an open mind.  Haa!  Maybe when pigs can beam through space.  But if you can, I think that you will come away from reading this book with an entirely different perception of Ted Kennedy than you have right now.  For at least the last ten or fifteen years of his life, Kennedy actually did a whole heck of a lot of good, whether you agree with his political philosophy or not, and my whole perception of him has changed after reading this extremely well-written book. 

For the proletariat members of the league, Last Lion will be a rallying cry for justice and equality for all. 

So, bottom line, whatever your party affiliation, whether you are on the leftist fringe, a committed right-winger, or a sensible centrist like myself, this book is a good and worthy read. 

* * * * * *

Only a few more days before we hear those magical words:  Pitchers and catchers report.  Can’t wait!

                                                                   Skipper