Top 5

I think most of you know already my love of lists and of choosing favorites. Our little group even had an entire blog dedicated to lists, based mostly on the legwork of Nate. I don't know why this particular list came to mind the other day, maybe the talk of Spring Training vacations or upcoming fantasy baseball, but I put together my list of favorite baseball players of all time. Because of the history necessarily involved in addition to my own relative shallow experience in first-hand baseball knowledge, I'm incredibly curious about everyone else's list. I've only watched baseball for a bit of the 90's and most of the 00's, which swings my list heavily towards recent players. Now, I know most of the big names from other eras, but I can't really put any of them on my list since I haven't gone out of my way to watch old games or research the personalities. I'm confident I could pick out the best players of each generation, but they're mostly flat images made up of statistics and awards. They could never be considered a favorite. So, you out there, feel free to add a top 5 of your own in the comments with the more detailed the explanations the better. Here we go:

1. Ken Griffey Jr.

Without a doubt the easiest choice on the list. The first player I ever really attached to, in my mind, in any sport. The 90s Bulls teams were cherished, naturally, but I feel like Griffey was the first ever choice I made and thankfully it is one that I still respect. I liked the home runs, the crazy highlights in the field, but what stands out most was and is his character: the easy affability and joy in playing baseball. The time he stole a fly ball from his dad, hearing about him as the lead judge of the Mariner's clubhouse kangaroo court. He seemed like the one guy I would absolutely want to hang out with in sports, the guy I would want on my team no matter what. I could watch highlight reels of his catches all day. Oh, and until my Dad finally put a stop to it, I would do the Griffey one-handed follow-through on my swing.

2. Ozzie Smith

The Wizard is a bit tough, being a Cardinal, but I started out baseball as a shortstop and Ozzie Smith was my little league goal for the position. I wasn't a power hitter and we weren't allowed to steal bases yet, so the way to set myself apart was as a fielder, which was not helped by being a lefty who wanted to play shortstop. Through a collection of spins and reloads I would fire across the body to first, until finally forced to give it up for center field.

3. Randy Johnson

My favorite pitcher and one of the most dominant leftys of all time. He was unstoppable in videogames and as long as he wasn't walking people, pretty much unstoppable in real life. I loved that Mariners team.

4. Ichiro Suzuki

Probably common to everyone, but what I look for in a player is the best aspects in how I played (in reality or just imagined). I like baseball players that steal bases, play great defense, and are usually shortstops or center fielders. Ichiro had these, played for the Mariners, and did it year after year.

5. Jeff Bagwell

I liked his crazy batting stance and his stubbornness to not give up the inside corner.

Honorable Mentions

Ernie Banks - If I had seen him play I'm sure he would be top 3, but a great guy.

Jose Reyes

Brandon Phillips

I may have forgotten someone, but I feel like that is the main list. So throw in some new considerations, any stories or rationale for how you found favorites, and we can talk a bit of baseball. I'm surprised at the lack of Cubs, but maybe I shouldn't be. When they were good, they still weren't all that likable. Or they were too tragic. I liked Prior and Wood, but you know. Maybe Randall Simon. I liked the old "I'm going to swing at anything, maybe even a pickoff attempt at first."

Esto es un Mapa

This is a mop. I mean map. Personally, I love maps. They are kind of amazing. From the old ones that were works of art full of sea monsters and dragons

To the strange ones that show different perspectives

To the more politically motivated

Maps are a fascinating portrayal of how one person, country, whatever perceives the world around them, and likewise, can have a profound effect on how other people view the world. Larger scale maps cannot be truly accurate, which is fascinating. How pervasive is the sense that North is up? This has been throwing me lately because I always enter the PSU campus from the north, so my mental map of campus has south at the top of the map. This always makes looking at actual maps of campus really confusing. Did you know that north wasn't always at the top of the map. That convention started when sailors started using the North Star to navigate. Most maps before this placed East at the top. Orientation comes from Orient comes from Oriens, meaning East.

Anyway, about a month ago, I saw some gorgeous maps out in Pioneer Square. I wish I could have gotten some closer pictures, but my camera died. Using about 10 different flowers, a group had mapped out the world to celebrate the Festival of Flowers in June.

The Oregonian posted some pictures with a better vantage point.

Anyway, my classes just ended, so you can expect some more geography/planning nerdery to come. I've been pretty happy to dive back into maps.

Back in Business

Have I used that title yet? Apologies all around for my wildly inconsistent work here. However, school is over for a little bit, and I can get back to throwing pasta at the wall. The good news is that I've had my camera with me lately, so the next few posts will be photo heavy.

It's been a decent summer thus far for seeing some unusual things. Tammy and I have been exploring once more, seeing new neighborhoods, going to new parks and plazas, and wandering around town aimlessly. It's been great. So there will be some items later, but first we have to talk about some Morris dancing.

Morris dancing is something I had only ever heard of before through Terry Pratchett novels. From those, my understanding was always that it was some type of probably not made up English or Scottish folk dancing that involved hitting things with sticks and was generally dangerous to all participants and spectators. For the most part, I was content with this image, though there must be more to it than that.

A few weeks ago, we walked by a pleasant little plaza where you can dip your feet in the water while you read, when we happened across a rather large collection of Morris dancers. Turns out, it was basically a Morris party for some group in Portland that had been around for a while, so groups from all over the west coast came in to celebrate.

So Morris dancing is not all that different from my first impression, though in this setting it is considerably safer, since everyone was sober. It is an actual English folk dance from the 1400s, which can include sticks, bells, swords, and whatever else you can find. The bells are attached to the shins and are used in counterpoint to the accordion or fiddle that is providing the music. When sticks are used, they are for hitting against each other or the ground in rhythm with the song. The dance is usually a mix of steps and wheels with groups anywhere from 2 to, I don't know, say 20 people. School's out, I'm not researching this. Anyway, some pictures:

Notice the bells on the shins.

And the number of different groups in the background.

For this last one, the three would hit sticks together in a way that sort of passed it along to the left, if that makes any sense, and then they would break apart into some skipping and steps.

Here is an example of the dance in action in England:

So there you go, some Morris dancing for you. Oh, and thanks to Terry Pratchett for giving me just enough cultural knowledge to hang myself with. Before this weekend if cornered and asked if I had heard of Morris dancing, I would have responded, "is that the one where you hit stuff with sticks and most people go home bruised?" Now I can confidently say that it's the one where you hit stuff with sticks and hardly anyone goes home bruised, providing they're sober and have practiced recently.

Chronotons and Graviolies

Sorry it's been so long. I keep sitting down, starting posts and then discarding them not even halfway through. I've had things I want to write about, what's happening around here, some urban planning projects in New Orleans, invisible systems, etc...and I do plan on getting back to most of these. But rather than stressing about not finishing things, or feeling like my first post back has to be an award winner, I've decided what matters most is just getting some points up on the board.

I'm in the midst of what I've been calling the Summer of Self-improvement. I'm not entirely comfortable with such an unabashed title, but that's the way it is. I've wanted to do something useful with the extra time on my hands, so I've come up with a few goals. First: I am slowly working my way through the Japanese alphabet and basic phrases. Second: I've been running in the morning. This is stalled as I've failed to get out for about a week now. Third: volunteer as often as possible for all things bike related to put on my grad application. There were other things that have come and gone, but those three are the ones I plan on sticking by all summer. Oh, also my summer class starts on Monday, but I don't think that counts. I do well enough when there is structure provided. The real goal here is to flourish in my current, structureless lifestyle. Let's make it happen.

4square And Brazilian BBQ

Thanks for a great Saturday are in order for Cassio and Ahren. Cass threw a fantastic bbq of Brazilian goodness. Plates were passed around pretty much non-stop of crazy good meats, the best of which was the picanha. There were also some amazing breads and fried rice balls. It was good to be out in a backyard grilling, sitting in the sun. Felt like summer was back.

After this it was up to the NE to Ahren and Megan's for a 4square party. It was rough going at first, but we soon regained our childhood form and laid down some sweet moves. It's really tough to make up rules nowadays. If you don't remember, whoever is in the King Square gets to make up a set of rules to play by until they're knocked out, and I seem to remember it being way easier to invent good rules when I was a kid. Maybe we just had no idea of what good rules were and said whatever came to mind. I don't know. Anyway, we played a bunch of 4square and it was great.

Happy that soccer has led to meeting a great group of people. After a couple false starts with some less fun groups, this has been much better. To finish off the night we came back here for dinner and then watched half of Coraline. Tammy didn't quite make it through before falling asleep, so we had to call intermission.

But way to go world. That was a great Saturday.

A Moral of Note

I had my first scare the other week while playing pop-a-shot at the arcade with Tammy. First off, it's important to note that this was a Sonic the Hedgehog pop-a-shot. Why that's important to note I don't know, but it is. This was all at a decent sized arcade attached to a bowling alley called Big Al's. I guess these side notes are to show how incredibly classy it would sound when I had to tell this tale. I suppose as well, these asides are simply to expand and enhance what is, in all honestly, a momentously foolish and ridiculously brief story. Without further hedging here is the actual story:

I threw my wedding ring while playing pop-a-shot.

See how easily I could have laid it out there. But that seems to be the way I tell stories. I start with roundabout lead ins that delay the story as long as possible. Anyway, my shot missed a bit to the right, but the ring went right through the hoop. Most fortuitously, my ring bounced back to me in much the same manner as the mini basketballs. So naturally I almost put it up for another shot. Ok maybe not, but still. Nearly lost it down the sides of the machine. That Sonic is a greedy one, always trying to collect those rings. What a jerk!

See, it all comes back around. Those asides end up as haphazard references to games from 15 years ago. Look Mom, I'm a writer!

I should probably start planning these posts out in advance.

The moral of the story is thus: The greedy who want more lose all...wait no..um..unless the seed of evil is destroyed it will grow up to destroy us. No that's not it either. Fine, we'll have to use one of my own morals if none of Aesop's will fit.

Don't trust hedgehogs, they're after your valuables. Plus they didn't even count the basket.