The Hazies - Baseball

Hey Peeps and anyone else checking in. A special "Hey" goes out to Hazel Mae.

For those of you who haven't been here before, Monday night entries take a look back at the week or so that was in the world of sports, highlighting some of the more notable performances. To those who have risen above the rest, we award them with an honourary "Hazie" - the lucky few have the title of "Hazel's Hero" bestowed upon them. While Hazel hasn't officially approved this week's winners, we'd like to think she would give her trademark smile and thumbs up.

Tonight we'll have Hazel handing out the hardware to the winners from Major League Baseball - this week's awards definitely have a Hazel connection.

HAZEL'S HEROES

David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox hit his 53rd HR of the season over the weekend against the Toronto Blue Jays. The significance of the HR was that he tied the legendary Babe Ruth for most HRs on the road in a single season with his 32nd. I had the chance to watch the man take batting practice on Saturday - if there is a player in the Majors who is larger than life, it has to be Big Papi. I'm sure Hazel would be down with giving Big Papi another Hazie - that has to be 10+ by now.

Trevor Hoffman of the San Diego Padres moved into first place on the all-time saves list with his 479th career save. I won't hold it against him that he is a member of the first-place Padres - he is on one of my Roto League teams - Hazel Mae's Hackers.

Nomar Garciaparra of the Los Angeles Dodgers (aka Red Sox West) hit a walk-off Grand Slam yesterday against the Arizona Diamondbacks - making it two walk off shots in less than a week (think Nomar has been talking to Big Papi?). In case you were wondering, Nomar is on Hazel Mae's Hackers in the Hazelspeeps Fantasy Baseball Pool in the yahoo group.

Matt Holliday of the Colorado Rockies (and Hazel Mae's Hackers) was named co-winner of the National League Player of the Week. Holliday hit .400 with 4 HRs and 12 RBI for the week - with a slugging percentage of 1.080 and an on-base percentage of .545.

Andruw Jones of the Atlanta Braves was also honoured by the National League. Jones hit .409 with 5 HRs and 12 RBI - with a slugging percentage of 1.182 and an on-base percentage of .533. In case you were wondering - yes Jones killed two Pro-Line tickets for me this week.

Torii Hunter of the Minnesota Twins (and Hazel Mae's Hackers) was named co-winner of the American League Player of the Week. Hunter hit .423 with 3 HRs and 9 RBI - Hazel likely saw Hunter beat up on the Red Sox last week.

Raul Ibanez of the Seattle Mariners shared the American League award with Hunter. Ibanez finished the week hitting .423 with 3 HRs, 7 RBI and a slugging percentage of .758.

Told you this week's winners had a Hazel connection. Honourable mention this week goes to my man Jae. A few weeks back I told him I wanted to see the Sox and Jays - he got the tickets off of EBay, booked the hotel and joined me for what was a pretty damn good adventure (with some disappointments along the way) - I didn't have to ask twice, he just did it. Jae - I don't know if Hazel would OK this one, but buddy - I'm giving you a Hazie...thank you man, I owe you.


NOT SO HEROIC

It has been a while since we have done the "Not So Heroic" here on Thoughts of Hazel Mae - but I have two nominees this week - they aren't in the Majors, but they are major league jackasses.

Cell Phone Dude in Toronto. To the jerk who found my phone and didn't return it - thanks for nothing. Any normal person would have checked the home number on the phone, looked at the pictures stored in the phone and realized that the phone was important to someone. You didn't call any of the numbers to try and find the owner (who you had to have known was from out of town) to return the damn phone - you decided to keep it and download a few applications with it (which I'll get on my next bill) - even with the services cancelled on the phone, you have not returned it, that makes you the king/queen of all a-holes.

I know you'll probably never see this - but as I like to think there is Hazel Karma, in your case I hope there is bad Hazel Karma...and I hope it roasts your dumb ass; some how, some way.

Mystery Caller in Boston. I like to read Gordon Edes of the Globe in Boston. Today, Mr. Edes published a mailbag in response to an article he wrote on why he thinks it is time for Boston to trade Manny Ramirez. He is easily one of the more accessible journalists around - answering questions on his mailbag, making his email address accessible and participating in real-time chats with fans in Boston. With all of these opportunities to contact him to voice his displeasure with the column - some jerk decided to call Mr. Edes residence (knowing full well that Edes was in Toronto covering the Sox series). Dude, you are running neck and neck with cell phone dude in Toronto for jackass of the year - with the latter will likely never see this, I hope that you do. I hope bad Hazel Karma roasts your ass too.

Ok, as MLB heads into the last week of the season its time to declare the winner in the Hazelspeeps Fantasy Baseball Pool on yahoo. It was a good season, but our man Sparky's Bronx Zoo has been in first place since May and I am conceeding victory on what was a fun and eventful season in the pool. Things haven't changed much this week - Renee and I are fighting for second place.

88.5 - The Bronx Zoo - owned by Sparky. Who got his shout out on the Hazelspeeps home page on yahoo - along with a picture of our trophy.

75.5 - Hazel Mae's Hackers - owned by El Presidente (me) who is recovering from a weekend in Toronto.

70.0 - Naughty Girls - owned by Renee, who hasn't been seen or heard from in a while - maybe working the NHL waiver wire for the Hockey Pool.

60.0 - Shuggysux - owned by Pogue (the other Pogue).

57.0 - GB Steam Boys - owned by George who is still studying hard.

51.0 - Tina's Team - owned by Tina who is doing ok in the Hazelspeeps Fantasy Football Pool.

41.0 - Tom Sawyer - owned by Hubie who didn't show up this past weekend.

38.5 - Fighting Bobcats - owned by Commish Drisc who is 3-0 in the Football pool and kicked Hazel Mae's Cowboys around this week.

38.0 - Banana Peels - owned by the Golden Banana.

30.5 - Leprachauns - owned by Irish who cracked the 30 point barrier this week.

There you have it...that's it for tonight - Ron Mexico and the Falcons have ensure my worst week ever picking NFL pools. Have a great one peeps.

Hazel, I hope things are groovy in your world.

Song of the Night on Hazelspeeps - on a cool, dark, rainy night

Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol

Peesth Out...Buh Bye!