In 2008: How Many Words will you write or type?

Seems like a silly topic, and it is, but exactly how many words will you put together during a year? How many has humanity wrote (not published in Gutenberg form) in the course of its existence?

Right now, we got about 6.5 Billion bodies on the Earth. Figure 75% are (or will be) literate. And that is very optimistic total. So, 4.875 Billion. Figure human existence has offered another 13-20 Billion souls up. But Literacy rate was way, way down. Say 10% at best, probably more like 2-3%. But to get to a round number, let's say another 2.125 Billion on the overly safe side. That gets us to 7 Billion people who wrote or typed out some form of language.

Figure life at 70 years across all ages. Again, optimistic. 60 years of consistent writing. 333 days a year, to get to 20,000 days of writing our little minds out. How many words per day? 250 is considered 1 page of text by most. And that sounds about average for people of a wide array of human communication. For a grand total of 5,000,000 words in a lifetime.

Multiply by 7,000,000,000 souls and you get 35,000,000,000,000,000 words written in human existence or 35 American quadrillion times a blurb has come out as a word. (Meanwhile, Erin Andrews has graced us with her illustrative presence throughout. Showing a picture can be worth a quadrillion words.)

I may be off in my numbers, or just a crazy sot that added to the garbage pile of useless words in writing a post about essentially nothing.

Just words...that's all they really were.

Final Rough Draft: It's alive, alive!!!

Like a crazy (and sometime angry) scientist, I got those files up at Wordpress. I should have done that first. Easier. Let the blog site take the blame for the screw ups.

So, my little sister of a blog site, that is actually quite the looker once you get past the generic layout and sparse postings, has the goodies I promised to like 20+ emails on Christmas Eve.

Deepcenterfield.wordpress.com has all 3 files of Bringin' Gas and Dialin' 9: 100 Years of Professional Baseball Development (1908-2007).

I hate to be such a book whore. I mean, books should be discovered at Amazon or Barnes and Nobles since that is their natural habitat...Yeah, right!

To get past that, I think it will be very difficult to ever publish what I wrote.

For one, editing!!! I suck at it. And I need to do a ton of it.

Two: Finding that "special editor" that is on crack, smokes dope on the regular and has flushed his career down the toilet, and therefore, has nothing to lose by promoting a novelty act that is my 3-ringed, hell-on-wheels circus act. Good Luck on that.

Three: Would anyone but a baseball freak want to read it? You can always pick up ESPN's Baseball Encyclopedia or Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract to fill you need for all things concerning baseball. And they have the staff to properly analyze things I've only begun to look at.

Plus, they get Stats, Inc. to do the difficult work of compiling just how many times a mediocre pitcher pitched in below 50 degree weather on a Tuesday while his wife was engaged in a trist with the garbage man. (I'm saying 4 times out of 17...)

Four: Lastly, who pray tell am I to espouse dangerous theories such as Steroids were not the sole reason for the power explosions in the 1990's? What are my credentials? I am the FNG on the block, and people don't like the FNG. Putting my stamp and two cents on the topic, so that's like 43 cents???, is risky and publishers don't like risky. Bankable as in DO-RE-ME or Benjamins is more their modus operandi. (Amazon posted a big holiday of book selling.)

For me, I am not out for the money but the pleasure of seeing my work published.

I could go to a Vanity Press - yikes! - and that would assuage my desires of publication at a price. Not really the point of doing the work.

But the prospect of someone picking up my work and saying, "Yeah, this guy did some work on this. And he's not like every ESPN talking head. He did not tear down baseball players. He loves the sport..." That would be, pardon me, Fucking Cool.

Later on!!

NO New Years' Haitus: So I've been off the internet farm for a while

For those that try to make it a point to stop by Hooverville, that place where I live with the tin cans, cardboard and porn mags for insulation, I duly wish you a pleasant New Year. 2007: Glad to have known you, but not too glad.

To those that I haven't been going to their blogs, again, my deepest regrets. I have been "guy, interrupted" by the holidays. I had to figure out a way to print on my Lexmark X75 that does not cost a fortune. (Burns through cartridges like Lindsay Lohan goes through GPS ankle bracelets.)

The Lexmark X75: As Homer Simpson says, "Stupid printer!"

Aside from that, the files are too big to send to anyone via email. The server times out. Or the size exceeds the attachment limit, etc. I zipped them. Split them in two. Now it looks like I'll send out 4 or 5 emails just to get it to some people that won't want to resemble them back together again. (Sorta defeats the purpose.)

So, unless I get it published, no one will ever see it. (Which is fine, I suppose. The tree in the forest analogy works for my life.)

But that's enough bitching and moaning for one post.

I wish all of you a pleasant, hangover-free, New Year. I hope you wind up in the arms of someone you care for deeply. Make Love. Not War. Tune in. But Don't Drop Out...(Yet.) Stay focused on your dreams and don't let the realities piss you off. Keep an eye on your day to day tasks, but don't them rule you into doing the same old bump and grind. Have some laughter at George Bush's expense. Try something new - but do things you have always done well for your best sanity.

That's all for now. Keep it FRESH TO DEATH!!!

New Baseball Songs: Hey they fit, don't they?

In keeping with the spirit of the holidays, you know, songs of the season, I am adding these to the mix of Baseball Songs. They seem to me fitting to play when thinking about The Steroid Era (1990-2005 or 06 or 07...)

Snow -Informer. Goes to those who cooperated: Kirk Radomski, a former Mets clubhouse attendant, and Brian McNamee, a former trainer for Mr. Roger Clemens. I'd think they fall under the category of informer, a.k.a. snitching bitch.


Disturbed - Down With the Sickness. After the report, one probably wonders if MLB is "down with a sickness."


Lemonheads - It's a shame about Ray. It's a shame about Roger "The Rocket" Clemens.



Red Hot Chili Peppers -Californication. Because the industry really fucked itself for money.



Dada - Dizz nee land. Quote:"I just flipped off President George, I'm going to Disneyland."
">

Let the Games Begin: The George Mitchell Report

Having just watched the backend of the press conference and ESPN talking heads take on the matter, the George Mitchell Report may or may not be a final version. An early release included many other names not included in the final report accoridng to WSCR, The Score (670AM) in Chicago. But here are the "complete names" in the report:

Information Learned During this Investigation Concerning BALCO and Major League Baseball (8 players/ 3 active in MLB in 2007)From the report: "I requested interviews of all the major league players who had been publicly implicated in the BALCO case."

Marvin Benard, Barry Bonds, Bobby Estalella, Jason Giambi, Jeremy Giambi
Benito Santiago, Gary Sheffield, Randy Velarde

Information Regarding Purchases or Use of Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball (53 players/ 18 active in MLB in 2007)From the report: "The following discussion is organized in roughly chronological order. Records do not exist to document every transaction described by witnesses. [Kirk] Radomski stated that, with one exception noted below, the payments he received from professional baseball players were for performance enhancing substances, as opposed to personal training or other services, and this assertion was confirmed by those players who agreed to speak with us about their dealings with him."

Lenny Dykstra, David Segui, Larry Bigbie, Brian Roberts, Jack Cust,Tim Laker
Josias Manzanillo, Todd Hundley, Mark Carreon, Hal Morris, Matt Franco
Rondell White, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Chuck Knoblauch
Jason Grimsley, Gregg Zaun, David Justice, F.P. Santangelo
Glenallen Hill, Mo Vaughn, Denny Neagle, Ron Villone, Ryan Franklin
Chris Donnels, Todd Williams, Phil Hiatt, Kevin Young, Mike Lansing
Cody McKay, Kent Mercker, Adam Piatt, Miguel Tejada
Jason Christiansen, Mike Stanton, Stephen Randolph, Jerry Hairston, Jr.
Paul Lo Duca, Adam Riggs, Bart Miadich, Fernando Vina, Kevin Brown
Eric Gagné, Mike Bell, Matt Herges, Gary Bennett, Jr., Jim Parque
Brendan Donnelly, Chad Allen, Jeff Williams, Howie Clark
Exavier "Nook" Logan

Alleged Internet Purchases of Performance Enhancing Substances By Players in Major League Baseball (16 players, 8 active in MLB in 2007)From the report: "Since the initial news reports of the raid by New York and Florida law enforcement officials on Signature Pharmacy and several rejuvenation centers, the names of several current and former major league players have appeared in the media as alleged purchasers of performance enhancing substances through these operations. These include:

Rick Ankiel, Paul Byrd, Jay Gibbons, Troy Glaus, Jose Guillen
Jerry Hairston Jr., Gary Matthews, Jr., Scott Schoeneweis
David Bell, Jose Canseco, Jason Grimsley, Darren Holmes
John Rocker, Ismael Valdez, Matt Williams
Steve Woodard

Assuming this is it, I am not really impressed. Because from my cursory assessment (only cursory) the tying of Steroids to increases in Power (Slugging % rise, home runs hit) is invalidated since it does not include many, many more hitters of note. Steroids allowed many to stay in the game longer, recover from injuries quicker and stave of age-related performance woes, but DID not have the direct causation on the power outbursts.

To get to the real reason for this investigation, one has to go to the Collusion Era (1985-1987) where the players were shortchanged by owners on contracts and free agency. As a result, management parted ways with $280 million. This investigation is a guised retaliation for the players winning in a court battle. Because owners knew players were "juicing" since the early 1990's. However, financial considerations and the battles between management and players (1994) left the owners to bide their time, allow the game to recover (1998-2000), and then, strike the zone of most vulnerability: a player's character and integrity (2002-Present.)

Did the players listed do things unethically? Depends.

We let our own personal quirks about our appearance (which makes us appealing to the public--and could influence our career prospects) bother us, and attempt to modify them to fit our expected performace, and as a result, we improve ourselves and our prospects. Isn't that a form of cheating???

But was the real reason for this report to improve the game, protect our kids from negative role models and enhance the public awareness on the effects of steroids? No.

It was about money and financial concerns. Once the cat was out of the bag, about steroids, and fans voted with their purse not to care, and actually showed up in droves, the game was made. The owners knew it would not wreck their bottom lines. Instead, it only wrecked the players.

Revenge is incredibly sweet....