Reading Assignment #9

Recently I read another Chapter in the book The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly by Steve Aschburner. This chapter was about the 1991 World Series. This world series was memorable in a number of ways because they played seven games, and because it was intense it was a battle between both teams. The Braves and the Twins kept fighting there were five games decided by a single run, three that went into exta innings and to or more that were tied into or through the eighth. The Twins won every home game again and were faced with difficulties on the road once again. It was all worth it in the end when Kirby Puckett lead the Twins in Game 6 going 2-3 including robbing a home-run in the 9th and hitting the game winning home run in the bottom of the 9th. The Twins won it the next day in 11 innings with Jack Morris pitching all 11 innings and winning the World Series MVP. The Twins won 1-0.

Reading assignment #8

Recently I read anoter part in the book The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly by Steve Aschburner. This chapter was called 1987 World Champions for when the Twins won the 1987 World Series. The chapter was mainly about how miraculous the Twins were because they finished as just an average team, finishing 85-77 but somehow won the world series. The Twins beat the heavily favored Tigers in 5 games to go to the world series and play the Cardinals. The Twins team was an average hitting team they never hit for power in fact a combination of 4 hitters only hit 125 home runs. And their pitching wasn't phenominal either as Aschburner put it the Twins starters were a 2 1/2 hurler rotation. Blyleven won 15 while Viola won 17 and the rest of the starters never won over 8 games. But somehow the Twins pulled off an amazing triumph of a world series, winning the series in 7 games all at the Dome. The Twins did terrible the whole post-season on the road and it really showed in St. Louis. But the Twins always won when it mattered in game 7 they put it all together and made it a memorable moment for all of Minnesota.

Reading Assignment #7: Kirby Puckett

Recently I re-read Chapter 1 part 1 of 4 of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly by Steve Aschburner. This chapter was entirely about Kirby Puckett and what he has done for the Twins and how much he meant to the organization. Kirby Puckett was a better than average baseball player he won 6 gold gloves, was selected to 10 all-star games and he hit .318 lifetime as a hitter. There were only two other people to do this at the time Kirby played in and they were Tony Gwyn and Wade Boggs both hall of famer's. But the thing that the author thought was most unique about Kirby was the way he played the game. Kirby never won an MVP, never hit 500 homeruns and never hit over .400, but what made him stand out was the passion he had for the game and the way he played it. Some people would argue that Kirby should not be in the hall of fame but everyone in Minnesota thinks otherwise, because if it were'nt for being hit in the eye no one will ever know what he could've accomplished. Kirby is the Twins biggest icon and that will never change, even though he has been caught up in scandals after baseball he will always be remembered as a true Twins hero.

Reading Assignment #6

Recently I read an article in the school newspaper Zephyrus. This article was called Where Does God Fit In? by Anna Waldo. This article talks about people's religons and how it can influence their vote in not only this election but any election. For example white evangelicals favor McCain with 70% to Obama's 19%. It also mentions that religion does have a big factor in a peron's voting decision, like 95% of voters would vote for a Roman Catholic President, 72% would vote for a Mormon and only 45% for an atheist I don't think this will affect much because both McCain and Obama are both Christan. But I think that religion will matter very little because there are so many other issues going on in America. Overall this article was very interesting in learning about religion and how much it may affect a presidential election.

Baseball Heroes

Baseball Heroes



Modern superstar Alex Rodriguez

Babe Ruth






Baseball Heroes can come in many different shapes forms and sizes. In baseball you can be a hero in many different ways, one way is that you could lead your team to a championship and be the leagues MVP. Like such superstars as Babe Ruth, who were baseballs heros in the early 1900's. And now there are heros that are taking shape in the modern era like Alex Rodriguez, Joe Mauer, Albert Pujols, Chase Utley, Derek Jeter, Matt Holiday, Manny Ramierez, Vladamir Guerrero, David Ortiz, Johan Santana, Josh Beckett, Cliff Lee, Joe Nathan and many many more.


SONG


Babe Ruth's Curse I

The Trade & The Curse
Author: Joe Pickering, Jr.Recorded: 1990Publisher: King of the Road Music

OUR RED SOX NOW LEAD BY A COUNTRY MILESTILL FEAR GRIPS OUR HEARTS THE CROWD WEARS NO SMILEBABE'S CURSE IS WITH US ALL CLOUDS GROW DARKIT'S WORLD SERIES TIME AT OLD FENWAY PARK
THAT'S NOT DISTANT THUNDER I HEAR FROM THE SKYBUT MISTER BABE RUTH STEPPING DOWN FROM ON HIGHBABE'S COMING TO PLAY WITH HIS BAT AND HIS BALLTO MAKE SURE WE DON'T WIN THE SERIES THIS FALL
CHORUS
HEY MISTER BABE PLEASE GIVE US A BREAKHOW MUCH MORE CAN THE RED SOX FANS TAKEIN THE ANNALS OF BASEBALL NONE CAN BE WORSETHAN THE TERRIBLE TALE OF BABE RUTH'S CURSE
IN THE SERIES OF '18 BASE STRODE TO THE MOUNDAND PROCEEDED TO MOW THE CHICAGO CUBS DOWNBUT THAT'S THE LAST SERIES THE SOX EVER WONSOON BABE RUTH WAS TRADED, THE DIRTY DEED DONE
THE BABE GRABBED THE TRAIN AND LEFT SAD OLD BEANTOWNTO BUILD UP THE YANKEES AND TEAR THE SOX DOWNALL THE FANS AGREE, THE TRADE WAS A SINBUT IT WASN'T OUR FAULT BABE SO PLEASE LET US WIN!!

REPEAT CHORUS TWICE

Kirk Gibsons Historical Walk-off Home-Run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series








Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan



2008 AL Batting Champion Joe Mauer









Pete Rose
Hall of Famer Ted Williams






Great Quotes From Baseball Players




“Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical.”-Yogi Berra







"Baseball gives every American boy a chance to excel, not just to be as good as someone else but to be better than someone else. This is the nature of man and the name of the game. to excel, not just to be as good as someone else but to be better than someone else. This is the nature of man and the name of the game.”-Ted Williams






"Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you."-Satchel Paige

"Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is." -Bob Feller

"I'm never satisfied. I can't stand satisifaction. To me, greatness comes from that quest for perfection."- Mike Schmidt

Lou Gehrig's Farewell Speech-July 4th 1939 in Yankee Stadium

"Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and I have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans. Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn't consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? Sure I'm lucky. Who wouldn't have considered it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball's greatest empire, Ed Barrows? To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Sure, I'm lucky. When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat and vice versa, sends you a gift, that's something. When everybody down to the groundskeeper and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies, that's something. When you have a father and mother work all their lives so that you can have an education and build your body, it's a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed, that's the finest I know. I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth. And I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for." - July 4, 1939 at Yankee Stadium on Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day

Kirby Puckett: A Tribute To a Minnesota Hero

What I learned about heroes is that heroes can come in any type, and even that heroes dont have to be remembered as anything it can just be someone ordinary.

Conclusion:

While studying Baseball Heroes, I learned that there are three main categories of heroes in baseball: baseball players who lead a team to championships and are just phenominal baseball players and athletes, and players who can get a clutch hit in an important game and now the more modern baseball heroes that we watch today. In baseball if you lead your team to a championship you will always be remembered as a hero and you if youre good enough you can be an MVP or even a hall of famer. Such players under that category are Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Nolan Ryan, Kirby Puckett, Lou Gehrig, Mike Schmidt, Bob Feller and much more. Another way to become a baseball hero is to win the game in a clutch situation like hitting a walkoff homerun. The most memorable walkoff homerun is from Game 1 of the 1988 World Series when Kirk Gibson hit a homerun and won the game for the Dodgers. The Last category of heroes are the modern day heroes that make the game what it is today. The game is filled with future hall of famers and superstars that will always make the game great and there are still many more to come.

Reading Assignment #5

I Read an article about Matt Stairs and the Phillies. This article was mainly about Matt Stairs and his pinch hit clutch homerun against the Phillies in game 4. He was called off the bench in the 8th inning to hit against hard-throwing Jonathan Broxton and he broke a 5-5 tie for his 15th pinch hit homerun of his carrer. A Day after the homerun Stairs acted like nothing had happened, he did the regular workouts and everthing like he normally would. To me this teaches a good lesson because he says you cannot live in the past even if the past was only a day ago. This article also goes on to talk about Stairs and how he has been doing his his whole major league carrer, all 12 seasons. Joe Torre the manager of the Dogders and former manager of Stairs said that he was a great player and never got down on himself, Torre said that he would except anyrole given to him which made him great. Stairs says that he loves being here and talking about baseball, he likes to share his insight of the game to other players, he always has a smile on his face and never lets anything bother him. This article can be found at http://www.comcast.net/articles/sports-mlb/20081015/Phillies-Stairs/.

Reading Assignment #4

Recently I have read an article in the startribune about John McCain and Barack Obama. This article is mainly about McCain and how he says that he is going to kick Obamas "You know what" in the televised debate on Wednesday. McCain said this after he made new proposals to help the nations current financial crisis. This article also goes into McCain and how he want's to help out the economy and what his plans are to do so. For example McCain wants to propose a 300 billion dollar plan to help the federal government buy distressed mortgages and renegotiate them at a lower price. John McCain and Barack Obama also have similar stances on issues like they both voted for the 700 billion dollar bailout plan that congress passed and President Bush signed this month. This article is called John McCain Vows To Whip Barack Obama's "You Know What" As He Considers New Economic Plans and it can be found at http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/president/30865964.html?page=2&c=y.

Reading Assignment #3

The most recent thing I have read is a three page article in the Startribune called Hollywood Manny Hits Like Beantown Manny, Only With More Smiles And Less Controversy. This article talks about Manny Ramirez and how much he has helped the Dodgers reach the postseason. Manny has turned the baseball team around by hitting .396 with 17 homeruns and 53 RBI's in 53 games as a Dodger. Manny also has been hitting well in the postseason, against the Cubs he went 5-10 with two homers and three RBI's in the Dodgers sweep over the Cubs. In the upcoming series against the Phillies Manny will face Cole Hamels and Brett Myers who he has not had much luck against, he will face Jamie Moyer in game three and Joe Blanton in game four who Manny put up good numbers against them. Overall Manny is needed in order for the Dodgers to beat the Phillies and make it to the World Series. This article can be found at http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/30642329.html?page=2&c=y.

Reading Assignment #2

Recently I have read about AC/DC in Rolling Stone and their upcoming tour and video game package for Rock Band. AC/DC has expanded their tour into this next year 2009. AC/DC will have two shows in Minneapolis, one in November and the newly added one in January part of their expanded tour. This tour is called "Black Ice" for their newly upcoming album Black Ice. AC/DC has also agreed to lend 18 songs to Rock Band: AC/DC live, such songs will include Thunderstruck, Shoot to Thrill, Back in Black and T.N.T. This article can be found online at http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/09/30/acdc-expand-tour-announce-rock-band-package/

Reading Assignment #1

The most recent reading that I have read is an article in the Startribune about the Minnesota Twins and how the off-season is going to go for them. The article can be found at http://http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/30068739.html?page=3&c=y This article was mainly about how much the Twins have accomplished this year and how much is still yet to come. The article referred to the current payrolls of the players and how much they are spending to keep them on the team. The Twins did much better than expected even with such a young team which makes the Twins so unique. The Twins are going into the off-season looking much better than last year before losing Torii Hunter and Johan Santana, so overall next season should be a very successful one.

A Civil Action

Finding self is a main theme in the movie A Civil Action becuase the main character Jan Schlichtmann starts off the movie as a stubborn lawyer but progressess to be a more passionate person about the case. A Civil Action talks about finding self which according to the movie is opening up to feel others pain and sorrow. Schlichtmann feels the pain of the families that have lost their children and he is willing to risk all of his money and his clients money to repay the families losses. In conclusion this movie shows how someone can change their opinons on life due to others pain and suffering.