Friday nonsense.

And we have our first malcontent in response to my decision to stop accepting Facebook friend requests from total strangers. Kevin R.’s response to my message asking him to follow the fan page instead:

omg, that is so pretentious…have a lovely day…

After which he promptly blocked me from even responding to him.

Speaking of Facebook, Slate’s Big Money site has an op ed on why Facebook’s current model won’t work. It’s interesting – I’ve said before that I don’t know how Facebook thinks it’s going to make money off of me – but I don’t know that I was convinced of anything. I guess it’s better than this travesty, an article that trashes MBA educations, written by a guy who hasn’t actually been to business school but appears to know all about what’s taught there. (For the record, I’ve said before I’m not sure that business school is a good financial decision for most people, and it certainly wasn’t for me given the career change I made after attending.)

This weekend doesn’t just mark Opening Day in MLB, but in baseball leagues all over the world. Japan’s NPB started up last night; Korea and Germany start tonight; and France and Sweden (yes, Sweden) start along with MLB on Sunday. The Dutch Honkbal Hoofdklasse starts next Saturday.

A simple recipe for lemon squares. Not quite my cup of tea – where’s the chocolate, dude? – but the picture is appealing.

Links over at the Four-Letter: Yesterday’s chat, my Wednesday hit on The Herd (around 6:20), my Thursday hit on First Take (and no, that’s not my photo), and our MLB preview package, with two sentences from me on each team covering one rookie hitter and one rookie pitcher who could make an impact in 2009.

The Mailbag of Malcontent, vol. 11.

From a reader named Dante:

Your wrong about Rice ,he is most Deserved

Well that just settles it.

What I really don’t get is what possesses someone to go through all the effort to find my ESPN mailbag … and then send that message.

The Mailbag of Malcontent returns…

I’ve been digging out from a big pile of reader mail, including some emails from as far back as late July. (I wasn’t able to see new reader mail to my ESPN mailbag for about two months, and then suddenly, there they all were.)

One reader, Scott Moore, wasn’t happy about my on-air criticism of umpire Doug Eddings (I referred to Eddings as “crooked or incompetent”) after Eddings blew a fairly easy obstruction call involving A.J. Pierzynski. His original email:

Your comments on the umpire were way out of line. You had the benefit of Slo-Mo replay. From that guys angle – it appeared the White Sox runner was tripped. Sure he missed the call, but you called him a “crook.” You must have lost money on the game.

My reply:

I said Eddings was either “crooked or incompetent.” Neither one is particularly forgivable – he blew the call, blatantly, and it was the second time he blatantly blew a call in favor of the White Sox and AJ Pierzynski. “Incompetent” is kind.

And no, I didn’t have money on that or any other game this year. Nice try.

Scott (who calls himself “Scooter”):

Crooks are “crooked” are they not? I must have touched a nerve. You’re simply not man enough to admit you overreacted to the missed call. Not to mention the fact that the other player involved didn’t stick to the basics of the “pickle drill” – after you’re out of the play, get to another bag and back up the next guy. Instead he jogged too near the base path.

The other play a year or before that was a mistake by the catcher not to make sure of the out by throwing to first base, he rolled the ball to the mound.

In both cases, AJ made “heads up” baseball plays. You still sound like you lost a bet…
Nice Try – Up Yours!

I like the “blaming the victim” approach he takes, although those are at least sort of baseball arguments.

Me:

I give at least one response to everyone who writes, no matter how childish they are.

Him:

You’re a hack and a pathetic journalist. Dude your days of never being chosen on the playground are over. It’s not my fault, not an umpire’s fault… get over it and try not to be such a prick along the way.

After which I told him to keep the insults coming so I could publish them, to which he responded: “Good luck with that Keith.”

Guess it’s my lucky day. Oh, and Eddings? Still blew both calls, and the fact that they both involved and went in the direction of the same player doesn’t sit well with me at all. Given the umpiring horrorshows we’ve seen the last two nights (the Hamels balk, the Baldelli whiff, the Rollins HBP), I would think fans would be less tolerant than ever of incompetent umpiring.

Unclear on the concept.

I get some pretty funny comments in the moderation queue that I don’t publish, usually things that have nothing to do with the site but are written to look like “normal” comments that slip through the spam filter. This one might be my all-time favorite.

It was posted in response to my writeup of Long Beach restaurants, which started with this passage:

Dessert first: Frozen yogurt is all the rage in southern California, and the most popular chain is Pinkberry, so I felt almost obligated to try it so I could make fun of all of the people who consume the stuff. I was, however, unprepared for how absolutely vile the stuff is.

The user’s comment:

Kieth, if you like frozen yogurt try the Pinkberry in downtown Long Beach off Pine.

Saddest part? The commenter is a lawyer.

The Mailbag of Malcontent, vol. 10.

From today’s chat:

(1421) Stephexander (Chicago)
U totally r bashing on the white sox u don’t even watch baseball u r just liek the rest of the espn writers because u are biased toward the east coast omg i h8 espn and i hate you kieth law. u must be related to vance law

I didn’t know you could participate in an ESPN chat via text message.

The Mailbag of Malcontent, vol. 9.

It’s been a while since we did some ridiculous reader emails, but I figured yesterday’s column on the All-Star rosters would generate a few, since it’s always a controversial topic. Sadly, I haven’t gotten any particularly virulent or poorly-written ones, but I did get two that caught my eye. The first is from Nick, who didn’t provide an email address:

How could you say Jason Varitek doesn’t deserve to be in the all star game? Baseball is played on both sides of the field and regardless of his lack of batting, Varitek might be the best pitch caller in the game today. Don’t forget he was the one who caught Lester’s no hitter and has done this more than once. He was voted in by the players, that should tell you something.

It does tell me something, but not what Nick seems to be hearing.

I’m really stunned/amused by the no-hitters argument for Varitek. Has anyone ever pushed catching no-hitters as a skill, or evidence of a specific skill for the catcher? And is that not evidence that you’re scraping for something if you have to reach like that because the player’s offensive performance has been so bad?

But the surprise email was this one, from “scott,” apparently a student at an Ivy League school, about my Sabathia reaction piece:

Keith, CC won the Cy Young last year, remember that? NO KIDDING that he’s one of the best pitchers, if not the best, in the National League. Your last few columns have shown a complete lack of baseball knowledge.

Aren’t you all bowled over by scott’s baseball knowledge? Wow. I sure am. He knows who won the Cy Young Award last year!

(The ESPN Conversation on the Sabathia article has been a good one, so if you have questions about that deal, please post them there.)

UPDATE: We have a winner! Bob from Kansas City writes:

you my friend are the most uneducated baseball “expert” I have ever seen. Joakim Soria is the “token” Royal on the All Star team? You are an idiot. Do some research and you’ll find that he is pretty much the most automatic closer in baseball today. Ask batters around the American League what they think of Mr. Soria. You and your east coast bias make all of us in the midwest sick. Learn how to do some research before writing this ridiculous garbage.

Awesome. I’m an idiot, even though Bob doesn’t understand the “token” term. Good times!

Draft Day! And a love note.

It’s here! I’m about to go get changed for the draft show – 49 minutes away, on ESPN2 – but I had to pass this along. Someone calling himself “SG” came across my post on Giada’s awful carbonara recipe and decided to have his say:

You’re making fun of the size of her head? Who notices her head? I’m usually checking our her massive cans. And whoever said she was making authentic Italian? Not her. It’s called “Everyday Italian,” numbnuts, meaning that they are easy recipes that are variations on classic Italian dishes or ones that are simply inspired by ingredients and techniques found in Italian cooking. She was born in Italy to Italian parents you know. Many of her recipes are handed down from her mother.

She has received formal training and has worked as a professional chef in notable restaurants. What the hell have you done?

If what this guy says is true … then Giada’s mother was a lousy cook, too.

I couldn’t just approve this priceless comment and let it lay buried on a long-forgotten thread. Enjoy!

The Mailbag of Malcontent, Vol. 8.

Love my readers! This was in the pool of questions for today’s chat:

(1420) Brian-Baltimore
Sorry. Definitely said it about Lincecum. I always knew you were the type that weasles out of his off base projections. You are too smug for your own good. That makes the whole blog you wrote about being true to your readership hollow.

The best part here is that Brian misunderstood what I was saying, and his mistake means that I’m a smug weasel! Excuse me – weasle. Although he was better than the reader who called me a “shitbag” because I didn’t answer his question.

The Mailbag of Malcontent, Vol. 7.

Frank D is back!

(253) Frank D (REDACTED) 2008-02-18 11:17:00.0
Toronto misses you. The floors need sweeping. Eric Bedard is a stud. He’s proven that. Prospects are just that. When you can get a young lefty with his stuff, you move heaven and hell to get him. You wouldn’t know that being a total dumbass. laughing at you every time, Frank D. Btw, please go back to obscurity.

I love the fact that my work drives him up the wall. By the way, he still hasn’t realized that he has my email address – as always, this came through my ESPN mailbag.

The Mailbag of Malcontent, Vol. 6.

Reader Jason Price – who is unusual in that he provided his name and email address – had this to say:

You guys are queers and your “IN” articles suck. Get over yourselves… you’re beat reporters on the internet who couldn’t get a job on TV.

Let’s take this bit by bit, with Jason’s comments in bold and mine labeled as “KL.”

You guys

KL: (looks around) Um, no, just me here, thanks.

are queers

KL: I appreciate Jason identifying himself in this way from the top. And no, I’m not gay.

and your “IN” articles suck

KL: You have to pay to read Insider articles, so Jason is paying for articles he thinks suck.

Get over yourselves… you’re beat reporters on the internet

KL: I’m not sure how “beat reporter” is supposed to be an insult, but more to the point, Jason has no idea what a beat reporter is. A beat reporter works a beat, so he’s assigned a specific team (or player) and follows his target around all season, attending every game that team (or player) plays. Even the most cursory read of my articles would make it clear I don’t work a beat.

who couldn’t get a job on TV.

KL: At last count, I’ve been on TV over 130 times. So it appears that Jason is no better with a remote control than he is with a keyboard.

Of course, through all of that, Jason never bothered to say what article or articles prompted the email, so if his point was to offer some sort of meaningful criticism, he failed at that too. Excellent work, Jason!