My Baseball Fantasy: Joey Votto

Private League: lost, 4-6 (24-35-1 overall, 8th place out of 10 teams)
Public League: won, 6-2-2 (30-27-3, 6th out of 12)
My Player of the Week: Joey Votto (First Baseman, Reds) with 3 home runs, 8 RBI, 7 runs, 1 stolen base and a .429 batting average

It was an interesting week.  In the private league, I lost but moved up the standings.  In the public league, I've moved into playoff position - very happy about that.

Photo via Midwest Sports Fan
 
The Canadian Votto was my top draft pick in both leagues.  He's finally living up to promise.  He comes from culinary stock (forgive the pun): Dad was a chef, Mom a sommelier and restaurant manager.  He won the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's athlete of the year in 2010.

Family Adventures: Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

As has been our tradition over the past few years, we went to a nursery for Mother's Day.  My Wife is the gardener in the family.  It's nice to start the season with some brand new stuff.  This year, we went to Gardener's Supply in Burlington.  I busied myself in the book section while she and Our Girl went treasure hunting.  It's really best that I stay out of the way in such ventures.  She did ask if there were anything I especially liked, though.  I've always liked snapdragons and if there's one thing I miss about summertime in the South, it's honeysuckle.  I figured the first would be easy but had my doubts about the second.  She managed to find both!

We did Mexican for lunch.  The Farm House has recently opened El Cortijo right down the street.  They have a brunch menu.  I love Mexican food in the morning - reminds me of a place in Roppongi (Tokyo) where we used to go after a night out at the clubs.  I ordered from the lunch menu but still greatly approve of the possibility of a Mexican brunch.  Their menu is right on the placemat - love that.  I went with the pollo and carne tacos.  Both were excellent, as were the optional sauces.  I probably should have ordered three but I figured I'd get to finish Our Girl's pancakes - a safe assumption, as it turned out.

Phoenix Books has opened its new branch in Burlington at 191 Bank Street.  The entire lower level is devoted to children's literature.  If you're in town, check it out!

Family Adventures: The Perfect Club Sandwich

As noted in previous posts, the club sandwich is my standard order at diner-type restaurants, especially when trying a new place.  My feeling is that if a diner can get a club sandwich right, it's pretty safe to order anything off of the menu in future visits.  On Friday night, we had dinner at Bridge Street Cafe, one of our regular spots.  They have a wonderful club, and while enjoying it, I pondered my quality requirements.

Photo via What's Cooking America

The beauty of the club, I think, is its elegant balance of both flavors and textures.  As with any dish, quality begins with the ingredients.  The bread of a sandwich is crucial.  Bridge Street has their own homemade white and wheat - both excellent. 

I once spent a summer (pre-parenthood, of course) trying to build the perfect sandwich myself and came to the conclusion that managing moisture is the key.  The toasted bread should be dry, but not too crunchy.  The tomato and the condiments bring the moisture but, again, too much is not desirable.  My lettuce requirements are minimal.  A little is nice to add color and a slightly drier leaf is good for offsetting the juicy tomato.  But for me, too much lettuce kills a sandwich.

The key, for me, is the turkey.  The crucial variables are saltiness, moisture and volume.  The turkey need not be too salty - that's the bacon's job.  Too much turkey can overwhelm the rest of the sandwich.  But the most common flaw in a club is the turkey being too dry.  With bread, bacon and lettuce on the dry side, you've gotta have tomato, turkey and mayo firmly on the wet side.  If the turkey is too dry, the sandwich is too dry.

A thin mayo layer is sufficient.  You don't need a whole lot of flavor from the mayo.   The meat elements and the tomato will bring enough to the party but the mayo is nice for tying everything together.  I once had a club sandwich at a Denny's in Yokohama.  They used horseradish - not a good choice, in my opinion.  It's all you taste, ruining the flavor balance entirely.

Sides are not to be discounted.  A sandwich ain't a sandwich without a pickle - dill, please.  Bridge Street serves theirs with chips.  Fries can be nice, too, though potentially too heavy.

Obviously, Bridge Street passed my club sandwich test a long time ago.  I never was able to perfect my own.  Maybe that can be a future daddy-daughter summer project.

Maurice Sendak, 1928-2012

and it was still hot.

My Baseball Fantasy: González Again

Private League: lost 4-6 (20-29-1 overall, 9th place out of 10 teams)
Public League: tied 5-5 (24-25-1, 8th of 12)
My Player of the Week: Carlos González (Left Fielder/Center Fielder, Rockies) with 3 home runs, 9 RBI, 6 runs, 1 stolen base and a .391 batting average

Photo via Denver Sports Talk

González is my best player for the second week in a row.  In fact, he was the top rated player in fantasy baseball for the week.  Is a pattern emerging?

A to Z 2012: Reflections

I love the A to Z Challenge.  This was my second year and I find it a wonderful opportunity to meet other bloggers and connect with people with a wide range of interests.  I got a lot more traffic this time around - for a couple of reasons, I think.  First, I had a better link on the list.  Secondly, I managed to get on the list earlier and thus got more visits from those who started exploring from the beginning of the list.

I also love exploring baseball history and having the opportunity to share what I've learned. I'm delighted, of course, to connect with other blogger baseball fans. A lot of people commented on the photos I found and that may have been the most fun for me, too - especially finding the old black-and-whites of the early 20th century players.  I think Johnny Evers was my favorite:

Photo via Baseball Fever

I'll definitely be doing the challenge again next year - theme yet to be determined.  A big thank you to all who visited The Armchair Squid during the challenge and especially to the challenge co-hosts.  It is a beautiful thing you do.  Keep in touch!

Orioles 2012: Top of the 2nd

Photo via Bleacher Report

The fact that the Orioles are winning is really crazy enough.  After today's 8-2 throttling - yes, I said "throttling" - of the Red Sox, the team has an 18-9 record.  The fact that they are winning with pitching is absolutely nuts.  To say that pitching has been a weakness for the franchise is a bit like saying gullibility was a weakness for the Trojans.  Over the past nine games, Baltimore's starting pitchers have been outstanding, turning in quality starts in seven of those games. 

A quality start is one in which the pitcher goes for at least six innings and allows three earned runs or fewer.  Traditionalists don't like the quality start stat because it amounts to a 4.50 ERA - not very good.  But sabermetricians don't like ERA as a stat anyway.  I like the quality starts stat because it asks a simple question: did the starting pitcher do his part to help his team win the game?  He has no control over what his offense does, what the fielders behind him do or what the relievers do - all factors which determine whether he might be credited with a win or loss.  But did he do his job?

The most effective starter to this point for the Orioles has been Jason Hammel.  Out of his six starts, he has turned in a quality start five times: 83% of the time.  To give you an idea of how good that is, Tim Lincecum has the highest percentage of quality starts in a career at 72.7%.  There's no telling whether Hammel can keep this up over the course of a long season but it's a very clear indication of how well he's pitched.  He's doing very well with the traditional stats, too: 4-1 record with an eye-popping 2.09 ERA.  Where did this come from?  Prior to this year, his best season ERA was 4.33 in 2009.  It's a long season and it's still very early but he and the club have to be thrilled by his performance thus far.

Since I panned him last time, I must point out that Brian Matusz seems to have found his groove as well.  Both of his past two starts have been quality starts.  His ERA is now down to 4.67.