What's Bill Thinking?

On this rainy, Tuesday afternoon, I'll bet you're wondering what I'm thinking about....

1) Sydney Moss - Randy Moss has a daughter who's quite the basketball player. No surprise there except she's 16 and a junior in high school. He's 33. You do the math. He's agile, mobile and fertile!

2) RIP Freddy Schuman - If you're a Yankee's fan you'll know who I mean. "Freddy Sez" was a fan who attended Yankee games banging spoons against skillets and holding signs that started with "Freddy Sez" on them. He was 88. Love those passionate fans. Rest in peace Freddy Sez.

3) "Say OW" - I'm sure you've all heard by now about Junior Seau and his arrest for domestic abuse and subsequent driving his SUV off a cliff..... His agent claims the two instances are not related and he simply fell asleep at the wheel. What's the deal with athletes and domestic violence? Seems to be a lot of it going around lately doesn't there?

4) Liverpool - My new favorite soccer team. Red Sox owners John Henry and Tom Werner just bought Liverpool and while there's a lot of work to be done, some good pieces in place. "The Reds" have been around since the late 1800's and have won many titles. They've been in a down slide the last couple years and are looking to turn things around. It'll be interesting to follow and see how an influx of cash and good management can turn around a struggling team quickly. Here's their official website: Liverpool Football Club

5) Cliff Lee - Damn he's good..... I think my love affair with left handed pitchers is pretty well documented but Lee takes it to a whole other level. If any of you parents have a young lefty pitcher (nepotism alert! Can I say that??) at home, watch how he pitches. He's not throwing 100 mph people.. The guys a strike throwing machine who changes speeds. In last nights game, I was amazed how many Yankee batters struck out looking at a called third strike on a 93 mph fastball right down the middle of the plate. Why didn't they swing? Because they were expecting an 83 mph change up or cutter on the outside corner. They were completely fooled. He's just amazing on the mound. This postseason he's 3-0, allowed only 2 runs, struck out 34 and walked 1..... In 8 career playoff starts he has a 1.26 era, third lowest all time. Sabithia makes 24 million a year, does Lee top that this off season? Can the Rangers with new ownership and a new tv contract compete with the Yankee's and Red Sox on that sort of salary? It'll be interesting to see how high his salary goes. His wife and agent are excited!

Bill

El Toro / OLu

In a fall league matchup on Wednesday night, El Toro took on Trinity League power Orange Lutheran.

As I've stated, these games are for development, so it's hard to get a read on different players and teams as various pitchers are throwing and some kids are missing. OLu came out on top, but by how many I'm not sure...... 3 maybe 4.

El Toro has been hit with a rash of injuries as Gavin Collins, Mitchell Tolman and Matt Levert were all banged up and missing and another potential starter, Tim Alhanati was out.

Garrett Mundell (recent commit with Fresno State) threw the first inning and looked sharp, not giving up a run. Garrett's 6'5" and has been a work in progress the last few years, but he's finally looking to be coming into his own. He touches 91,92 now and his curveball has good depth on it and provides a good out pitch. His fastball does look to be very straight and seems to get squared up a lot on contact, which leads me to believe he's going with a four seam, instead of a two seam fastball (probably to get the extra velocity). With guys his height and velocity range, he might be better served long run by developing a sinker, staying on top of the ball and getting more downward movement to induce groundballs, ala Derek Lowe. That won't be necessary in high school, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him go that route when he gets to college.

As for the rest of the game, OLu did a good job keeping the Charger batters off balance at the plate. A couple soft tossing lefties (with good movement) were effective and other than a James Meager triple to dead center, limited El Toro to a few singles here and there.

El Toro's next game is Monday at 5:15 against Edison. Edison is stacked with "name" players and if they show (always iffy in fall ball), it'll be neat to come out and watch some talented players. Henry Owens, Christian Lopes, Timmy Lopes and Eric Snyder. Owens and C. Lopes are on the 18U National Team, T. Lopes is on the 16U National Team and Snyder made it to the final cut of the 18U team. Game will be played at Windrow Park in Irvine.

Hope to see you there!

Bill

Christmas Tree's and Wreaths

It's that time again everyone, time to start getting in the Christmas spirit!

The El Toro Chargers baseball team is having their annual christmas tree sale. Having been purchasing tree's there for the last 7 years, I can testify they get great tree's and the prices are very much in line with what you'd pay if you went to your local Christmas Tree lot. All proceeds go towards supporting the Charger Baseball program, so you know it's going towards a good cause!

They also offer great wreaths so those of you that may have an artificial tree, no need to feel left out. The tree's also make a great gift to donate to your favorite charity.

From now till the end of October, all tree's and wreaths paid in full will receive a 10% discount, so don't wait.

Tree pickup will be held at El Toro High School from December 2nd thru the 4th, and we also can arrange to have the boys deliver locally for a minimal fee, if you need to.

Please click on the attachment below to fill out your form. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at bill@billtolman.com or call me at (949) 394-0074. It would be appreciated if you put down Mitchell Tolman under "sold by (player)" as all the boys do have to sell a certain amount.

If you have any friends/neighbors/relatives that might be interested, please forward the attachment along to them.

Thank you for your generous support.

Bill

The Randy Moss Trade

Being a Patriots fan, I've gotten a few questions about my opinion on it and whether it was good or bad.

Basically I'm fine with it. Is New England a better team without Randy Moss? Probably not, but they're a different team.... Time, and the rest of the season will tell if they're better. Lot's of football to be played.

Football is the ultimate team sport and I don't think one player, even one as talented as Moss, can dictate a season (QB being the one possible exception). New England's going to change their offense and go back to being more of the offense they were before Moss arrived. Interestingly enough, during the playoffs with Moss, New England averaged far less points a game with him then they did without him, so it's going to be interesting how it all plays out.

The Patriots had decided to not resign Moss after the season so they figured they'll get something for him now, instead of nothing later..... Not the worst idea.

Bill

Instant Replay in Baseball

We had another controversy last night when in the 4th inning Buster Posey was called safe at second on a steal when replays showed him being out. Posey of course went on to score the only run in the game, leading to a big up roar again of bringing instant replay to baseball.

I go back and forth on whether baseball should adopt instant replay. On one hand, you want the call correct, on the other hand, human error is part of the game. Also if the umpires are leaving the field every inning to huddle up somewhere around a monitor, it'll turn games into 4 and half hour affairs (and Yankee /Red Sox games into 6 hours!).

How about this compromise:

Each manager gets one "replay request" a game to use whenever he wants. If it's a questionable call, he can use his one allotment. Once he uses it, he doesn't have another so he better make sure it's a crucial call effecting the outcome. The home plate umpire has an earpiece that someone up in the booth can relay to him what the correct call should be, so it gets ruled on immediately and not taking 5 minutes with the umpires leaving the field.

Simple, quick and prevents the managers from having every questionable call checked.

What do you think?

Bill

I Have A Secret

I LOVE MY DUCKS!

There, I said it, I love my Oregon Ducks football team. I've tried avoiding it for a while, but I can't help myself. I know very little about Oregon (other than Bend is nice....) and other than spending a lot of time in Portland 10-11 years ago, have never been to the University nor know anyone who has, but I love them none the less. I have come up with 3 reasons for my love:

1) Uniforms - They have great uniforms. Not sure if it's just the football team or all athletics, but Phil Knight, CEO of Nike, is a Duck alumnus and large donor to the school, and one of the things they've placed a big emphasis on is the dress apparel. It's always fun tuning into a game and seeing what new look they're sporting. Makes it interesting.

2) Chip Kelly - The football head coach is from Manchester, New Hampshire (graduate from Central) and a 1990 graduate from UNH, so I have to support a fellow New Hampshirite and Wildcat grad. Upon graduation he worked in a few different programs before taking over as offensive coordinator at UNH in 1999 and over the next 7 years, the Wildcats became the most prolific offense in the country garnering him numerous awards including one of the hottest college football coaches in the country. I assume it wasn't for his looks? Anyway, he moved to Oregon in 07 becoming their offensive coordinator and in 09 took over as head coach. The one thing I don't get is he's 2 years older than me, but graduated from UNH 3 years after me, so some where in there he took some time off......

3) I Love My Ducks video - Finally we get to he reason that brought me over. Admittedly I've been walking around my house lately randomly singing this song. It's catchy, fun and the video these kids made to it is very engaging. They've got a couple video's (I Smell Roses and Return of the Quack) which I suggest you check out. I prefer the "Return of the Quack" as I like the scenes with the cheerleaders following them and dancing and hey, anything with former Oregon Ducks and Detroit Lions QB Joey Harrington in it has to be good!

Return Of The Quack

I Smell Roses

Remember, when it comes to the Oregon Ducks, "it never rains there, it pours touchdowns".

I LOVE MY DUCKS!

Bill