Bil Madden didn't like the World Series press pins

The late Edvins Beitikis of the SF. Examiner wrote a fantastic column about 15 or so years ago about when he was a kid, "Cap Day" meant you got a baseball cap that fit you just like the pros on the field. He lamented about these mesh-backed, one-size-fits-all adjustable strap on the back jobs. It was one of those columns that made me want to be a writer. I wish I could find it online, but to give you a taste of Beitikis's work here's a sample: Man I miss reading this guy. Its fun to go back and read his stuff, movie reviews, sports, music, the guy could WRITE the phone book.

The new breed<
Just when you think you've gotten used to blimp-sized
gloves and multicolored gloves and batting gloves and
gloves for sitting around the dugout, just when you think
you've gotten over being jealous about how much faster and
more powerful modern-day players are, they open their
mouths and spoil it all.
Take, for instance, this gem from Cards starter Donovan
Osborne: With St. Louis leading the Reds, 2-1, in the
sixth inning last Sunday, Osborne gave up a leadoff
single, a double, a walk and another single to hand the
Reds a 4-2 lead, which turned out to be the final score.
"I've got a sour taste in my mouth," he said afterward.
"I feel like it's my fault, which to some extent it is."
To some extent?
Or how about St. Louis outfielder J.D. Drew, who stayed
out of baseball a year because the Phillies wouldn't give
him the $11 million contract he wanted. He signed a
four-year, $7 million deal with the Cards and everybody
was ready to play kissy-face with him when he came to St.
Louis at the end of last season and hit .417 with five
homers and 13 RBIs in 14 games. But this year he started
off slow, going 2-for-18 with seven strikeouts, and is
stumbling into the weekend with a .130 batting average.
Even if he comes around at the plate, this guy's a bad
actor. He's hawked a looger on baseball that no batting
average can wash away, and it's a sad statement on the
state of the game that he isn't being put on his keister
every time he comes up to bat. On top of everything else,
Drew is an artist at dispensing the gobbledygook
modern-day players pass off as deep thought. Here he is on
his slump: "It's a situation where you've got to get
at-bats and go out and score runs as a team, and it's a
situation where I'm just kind of in a situation."
On the other hand, you've got players like Jose Lima, who
beat the Giants the other day with a combination of good
pitches, timely strikeouts and strange ways. After
Charlie Hayes got a solo homer, Lima stood on the mound
tapping his head, mouthing the words, "Your mind, your
mind." He walked in circles, talking to himself, and
after he was taken out of the game he stood on the top step
of the dugout with his hat on backward, cheering each
strikeout by relief pitcher Scott Elarton. Every team
needs a player like that - one who talks in tongues, makes
crazed faces and dances the cosmic polka with his
teammates. As long as baseball still has a few of those,
all is not lost.

 

Yeah but did you find any World Series press pins?

 

No, but I had forgotten about our fourth child.

 

YOU ONLY FIND ME WHEN YOU'RE DOWNSTAIRS LOOKING FOR PRESS PINS!

 

Maybe one of these pins would make Madden feel better.

 

Nicely crafted, but you sound just as out of touch as he does.

 

I wonder if Bill has claimed the value of pins that were given to him on his taxes. Many of the better ones are worth over $100 each.

http://www.presspins.com/

By doing chintzy pins Tampa and Philly might have saved Bill a big tax bill.

 

Gaumless. Jones, that's the word of the week.

 

Guy didn't you get the memo - nothing negative directed toward Jones - only platitudes.

 

Hey, I'm proud to be out of touch, the same way I'm proud to be an elitist. At least I don't have to step into another goddamn Wal-Mart again.

 

I had the occasion to visit Walmart last year. The place was as big as an airplane hangar. Seriously, I thought they should have had golf carts available. It was daunting. People were darting all around, filling their carts while I was just standing there like a Third World refugee who had never seen bright lights before. I left without buying anything, and happily went to the much smaller K Mart, where I was able to find what I needed without a map.

For all I know, Walmart has a department where they sell chintzy World Series press pins.

 

Oh my god, the K-Mart crowd makes Wal-Mart look like an honors convocation at Harvard. : :