Joe Derive in Florida

Hi,  I'm Joe Derive and I'm in Florida and the weather is just gorgeous and the food is great.  Actually sitting down against the warm sun is the favorite thing for me to do...but I did do my job, in between sun bathing.

Johnny Damon.
Johnny Damon can't figure out why the Yankees haven't called him despite the perfect match.  Here is what I think:

Johnny Damon, if the Yankees haven't called you don't take it personally.  You're 38 and while a great player and a good hitter you have an ego the size of Mt. Rushmore and your comment didn't help your cause -- just a thought but sounding stupid doesn't earn you brownie points.

Carl Crawford:
Carl Crawford doesn't like what John Henry said about him but he was OK with what Valentine said since that's TV (referring to his stance.)  Now I have nothing against Carl, he's a great player but it was a bad deal for the Sox and everyone knows it.  Here are my thoughts:

Carl, this isn't ABOUT YOU.  I know that's hard to believe but it was about Theo Epstein and his bad move to get you into the organization when you were not a fit.  That's what it's about.  Then you get injured and cost the team more time and money solidifying John Henry's case NOT going against it.  
Your batting stance:  Carl, when you're paid several million dollars and don't perform, don't expect warm fuzzies.  If you're paid $10 dollars an hour, then whine...really its OK but you're not -- you're being paid more than most American citizens will make in 100 lifetimes so stop whining and start playing. 

Tim Wakefield
Jerry Remy said it was hard to give up the game well Tim Wakefield proved it and frankly I was moved to tears and I haven't cried that hard since I saw The Champ (that's our little secret guys OK!)   Anyway, we'll miss ya Tim and all you gave.  You did the right thing and did a class act.  I'm proud.  It wasn't easy to do but necessary and I'm sure it wasn't easy.  We'll miss ya Tim!

Manny Ramirez
There is no question that Manny will be a great asset to the Oakland A's.  He'll annoy everyone in the clubhouse, do steroids, commit criminal acts and still get a paycheck...wait Oakland -- what we're you thinking!!!

Julio Lugo
Lugo was all set to sign with the Cleveland Indians but the contract was not signed. Yet you'll all be glad to know that Julio has a web site.  I'll post the link but first I have to reboot my browser since it crashed it..which is actually appropriate because it was crashing reality when I read it.  Talk about spin!!! 

http://www.mergepoint.com/juliolugo/bio.html.

Anyway, we wish you well Julio.  Really...OK on to other topics.

Food Combinations
For all you guys out there, three beers, two large bottles of red wine, fifteen hot dogs, a slurpee, two bowls of ice cream, four ding-dongs and three apple pies are not conducive to a good night's sleep...not that it has anything to do with me of course. I might also add that three pizza's and an entire box of Oreo's with whole milk...not good but it was so good at the time.

I'm Joe Derive.