Aug 24/25 Happy Bday Cal Ripken And Albert Belle

Happy birthday Cal Ripken. What more can I say about Cal? He’s my all-time favorite athlete in any sport. What more can you say about his stats? He’s a 19 time, yes… 19 time All-Star selection. One of only 8 players to have 300+ HR’s and 3000+ hits. 82 ROY, 2 time MVP and Hall of famer. Simply the greatest shortstop of all-time. In retirement Cal has been very busy. He (along with brother Bill) has started many business ventures under the Ripken Baseball umbrella. Minor league teams, books, memorabilia, public speaker, commercial endorser and more. His vision of growing baseball at the grass roots level has blossomed into hundreds of thousands of children learning to baseball “The Ripken Way.” Happy 49th Mr. Ripken.



Happy birthday Albert (Joey) Belle. Albert signed a 5yr-$65 million contract with the Orioles prior to the 1999 season. I remember him hitting an opposite field home run at Camden Yards in the opening game that season…I turned to Porkboy and said “he’s gonna hit 162 this year!” Ooops. Albert was on the Orioles payroll from 1999-2003, although he only was active in the 99-00 seasons. During his 2 seasons with the O’s Albert hit 60 dongs and drove in 220, so that was a little over $1 million per homerun. Albert developed an arthritic hip that cut his career with the Orioles short. He is one of only 5 MLB players (Ruth, Foxx, Gehrig & Pujols) to hit 30+ HR’s and drive in 100+ in 8 consecutive seasons. In retirement Albert got big as a house and started stalking escorts. Happy 43rd Mr. Belle.

Cheers and Hail

Taking A Rip At Ripken

We all have a professional athlete that’s our favorite, one that’s just on a different level from all the rest. For me, it’s Cal Ripken, hands down. So when I was surfing the web a few years ago and stumbled across Ripken Baseball’s fantasy camp, I knew I had to go.

The highlight of the camp was the all-star game. The All-Star game featured starting pitchers Bill and Cal Ripken. I had one goal when I flew north from Florida to Aberdeen, MD. I wanted to play catch with my baseball hero. Just a simple game of catch. So when the all-star game arrived, I had a choice. Catch(my natural position) Cal, or catch Bill and bat against Cal. Bill made up my mind for me when he told me that I was going to be catching for him.

So that's how it came to be that I dug in to the box to bat against Cal Ripken. He wasn't throwing batting practice puss. No, Cal was mixing it up. Our count ran to 3-2 before I laced my frozen rope down the 3rd base line. Fastballs and curveballs up and down, in and out. And then...boom. Being the competitor that Cal is, my second time up he threw me change up that almost made me throw my back out. The double comes around the 15 sec mark, and check out the stache on my teammate.


And I came back the following year to have that catch with Cal. I guess all he needed was a good battery mate to fix his pitching problems. He pitched a two hit shutout.


Round trip airfare from Tampa to Baltimore...$250

Gambling losses on Ripken Atlantic City trip...$500

2 trips to Ripken fantasy camp...A whole bunch $$$$

playing catch and hitting a double off Cal...PRICELESS!

Cheers and Hail

The Six Degrees Of Fatpickled

Six Degrees of Fatpickled is a weekly rundown of 6 items that I have enjoyed. Make sure you check them out.



How could I write a blog about partying with athletes, and not include this guy? (Deadspin)


Darrius Heyward-Bey is s-t-r-u-g-g-l-i-n-g. (Shutdown Corner)


Comcast sports reporter Lisa Hillary sees a rat at Verizon Center during live broadcast. (DC Sports Bog)


Cal Ripken wins big at the Derby with Mine That Bird. (Baltimore Sun) Also won in 2006 with Barbaro, both horses won from post position 8.


I have a love hate relationship with Peter King, this week (like most)...hate. (SI.com)


The last sports team that made me truly happy, thank you Juan Dixon. (YouTube)


Cheers and Hail

Fantasy Thoughts Of The Week (that don't include Audrina Patridge)

Studs

It's playoff time in Fantasy Football land, and hopefully your team is in the playoffs. I've made the playoffs in all of my leagues, but I'm not feeling too confident. Bad decisions and bad trades have doomed the Fatpickles and the 22 Swinging Dicks.

This is the time of year where you have really great Sundays, or really shitty ones. I mean it really sucks if the team you root for and your fantasy team get knocked out of the playoffs on the same day. I sure hope that doesn't happen, it's a double whammy! And if you are a gambler and have a bad day on top of this, oh man! You'll be in the dumps till Christmas. But I am forever an optimist and I hope everyone reading this is a winner come Sunday!

My Studs this week are all guys that were on my team, but I traded them away. I cannot believe how bad these trades have become (for me). I'm hoping by labeling them Studs they will actually become Duds this weekend!

QB

Aaron Rodgers - I traded Rodgers for Jay Cutler several weeks ago. Cutler has been good, but Rodgers has been better.

Shaun Hill - I traded Shaun Hill for Brady Quinn. I wanted Quinn (a backup at the time) forgetting the fact that Hill was a starter for a Mike Martz's Offense. Quinn is out for the year!

RB

D'Angelo Williams - I traded Williams for Joseph Addai. At the time Williams was in a time share with Stewart, since the trade he is the #1 RB in Fantasy Football! Addai hasn't done much and hurt himself again in practice this week, he's questionable for Sunday!

WR

Marques Colston - I traded Colston for Vincent Jackson. After drafting Colston in the 4th round, he missed 6 weeks with a broken finger. I traded him and he is now playing like a top tier WR. Oh yeah, I didn't start Jackson Thursday Night! 5rec/148yds/59yd TD

Chad Johnson - I traded him for Derek Anderson. Johnson hasn't done much, but Anderson immediately lost his job and when he regained it, he blew out his knee. He is out for the year.

Oh well, if I lose I'll have more time to work on my sales technique!

Cheers and Hail

Look, It's Billy Bob Thornton

I love playing the "look it's someone famous game," as I am constantly pointing out celebrities to Rebecca and friends. Tonight for instance, Norm Macdonald visited my work. Now of course it really wasn't Norm, but he looked similar, and he sounded exactly like him. I normally get feedback from Rebecca ranging from "no I don't see it," to "oh yeah he does." It is the later reply that gives me great satisfaction. The greatest moment of this game was a few years back when Porkboy46 and I were having a beer at a little bar in Manassas. I turned to Porkboy and said "look it's The Stepfather," and I got the "oh yeah." That's when I said "no, it really is the stepfather." And sure enough, Terry O' Quinn plopped down in the bar stool next to me and ordered a beer and chicken wings. The game had come full circle.

Here are a few athletes that look like celebrities in my mind. I'm sure there are many more, let me know which ones I missed in the comments section.

Orlando Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy

Ron Jeremy

Vince Gill/Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach

Wade Phillips

Jerry Reed

Chris Cooley

Harry Dunne

Cal Ripken Jr.

Uncle Fester

Cheers and Hail

My Thirty List

When I was 28 years old I sat down and wrote a list of 30 things I was going to do before I turned the age of 30. I didn't do a very good job of crossing off my list. In fact, I'm now 34, and I still have quite a few things left to do. This list is kind of personal, but I thought by sharing it, some of you may have some ideas on how I can get these things accomplished. I broke down the list into separate categories. There is a twist to this story, please read thru to the bottom.

Hobbies/Goals

1. Study a 2nd Language - uhh, no

2. Study Boxing or a Martial Art - not even close

3. Learn to play the guitar - I don't even own Guitar Hero

4. Save more $$ - ahh hha

5. Get a dog - no, I think I've actually gotten another cat

6. Get married - yes, I'm the luckiest man in the world

7. Get pregnant - yes, my greatest accomplishment (my son, not the act of getting pregnant, although I was pretty good that night)

8. Meet someone famous - yes, I've had beers w/ Cal Ripken and Locke from Lost

9. Build something - no, unless a beer pyramid counts

10. Captain a boat - no, man in the boat overboard

11. Ride a motorcycle - yes, not sure why this was on the list, did it many time before the list

12. Donate time to charity - yes and no, lots of money, not enough time

Sports/Travel

13. Watch a baseball game @ Wrigley or Fenway - No

14. Go deep sea fishing - yes, I didn't know at the time that I was going to live on the Gulf of Mexico

15. Attend 1 of the following: World Series game, Super Bowl, HOF Induction, Final Four game - no, but the Super Bowl and maybe the World Series are here this year, I'm crossing my fingers for tickets

16. Visit NYC - no, how can this be?

Fitness/Health

17. Bench 200 - yes

18. Play in an organized baseball game - yes, it only cost me 4k

19. Shoot Less than 100 in golf - no, but I'm getting closer

20. Catch a citation fish - yes

21. Pass army fitness test - no, I haven't tried to, and I'm not ready to

22. Quit dipping - yes, after 15 years I did

23. Cutout fried foods - no, in fact I'm eating more foods that shouldn't be fried

24. Drink less - no, I forgot I even had a drinking problem 6 years ago

Fears

25. Ride a roller coaster - no, my fear of heights I haven't conquered

26. Go to the Dentist - Yes!

27. Go to the Doctor - no

No wonder I cannot complete my list of 30 things. I am such a procrastinator, that I never even finished the list! And it took me almost 7 years to realize this!

So how about some help from you. I need 3 more things to do, 3 things to add to my list. I'd like to get these things wrapped up by the time I'm 38. That will allow me to put together my 40 list. So post your ideas in the comments section. I look forward to seeing them.

Cheers and Hail