Mo's Marketplace | July 2007

What Is Vintage?

The little man has his bedroom done up in vintage baseball gear. There is a 1915 picture of Harry Hooper, a 1912 reproduction of a World Series pennant, the 1966 Ted Williams HOF Placard, a montage shot of Carlton Fisk's Game 6 Home Run, an imagined world series poster, just a bunch of stuff like that. Now the only one of which that is in color is the Ted Williams placard, but it's in that Brady Bunch sort of "IN COLOR" color...not real colorful, but colored. A pretty cool set up...

Notes from along the way

It starts young, believe you me. My little man - he's just 2 this past month - is learning how to express himself in words. He's saying everyone's name, all this stuff. My wife and sister-in-law were asking him to repeat everyone's name: auntie, sissy, cousins, mom, dad, Pokey (our dog) and Jeter (the Yankee-in-law's dog). There he was, dutifully replying with everyone's name until he got to "Jeter." To that one he answered, "Poop." That was a big hit with everyone, but the...

Sox Talk

Daisuke goes seven Throws shutout ball, 98 pitches Sox win with one run It's always nice to be able to write a positive haiku when Daisuke pitches. Although he's now got 12 wins, he has seemed hit or miss on occasion. Lanz always has a great Sox wrap, between the game by game and of course the weekly wraps, if you miss anything you should check his blog out. Me, I just like commenting on the various happenings, not necessarily the specifics of the game, but perhaps an aspect or two....

Increase in Home Run Productivity at the Major League Level

One hundred years ago - 1907 - the percentage of home runs per 100 at bats was 0.305, according to baseball-almanac. In 2005 - the last year posted there - it was 3.016. Essentially what that means is that in the major leagues, in 1907 it would take 1000 at bats to equal the home run production of 100 at bats in 2005. If you wish to compare the nice round 100 years figure, the home run production in 1905 was 0.413 per 100 at bats, making my 1000 at bat figure a little less. A ten fold increase...

Soccer & Baseball: A Suggestion and a Rant...

...all in one post! One stop shopping today folks. Before I get to the All Star Game, I'd like to discuss something related to the game. The day before and the day after the All Star Game are the only two days on the calendar in which there are no professional sports played. I'm curious as to why. Cue Suggestion on 3...2...1... Given the increase in professional sports in the US - from a whole host of women's professional sports, to Major League Lacrosse, to Major League Soccer - it's...

Movie Favorites: Comedy

I’m not much for the outrageous, over the top antics of Jim Carrey or Chris Farley, and far more prefer outlandish comedy. Sometimes subtle is the key, sometimes not, but I’m here to present three of my all time personal favorite movies of all time. Murder By Death. The setting of this 1976 masterpiece is relatively simple – a dinner party where the five invitees are caricatures of literary masters who are asked to solve a murder mystery. The cast...

Wasting Time Online

I spend a reasonable amount of time online, checking out various pockets of interest on the internet. Some which only professionals in my field would find of interest, others are sports related where I can find the scoop on what’s going on in my own insular little world. Every now and again, I’ll come across a little gem tucked away in the recesses of the internet’s collective basement. Here are a few of them: Where’s George Ever wonder where the money...

Loser's Anonymous: Thou, lewed laudate, litel witte has

So, I'm home on Saturday night. Sounds like a good time to convene another meeting of Losers Anonymous... title courtesy of "Mum and the Sothsegger." (Basically means, so far as I can tell something about a an "un-learned priest" with little sense. Let us begin. "Hello, my name is Mo and I'm a loser." I shall now read from the Book of Mo Yea, unto Mo the truths of loserdom have become known and yea, it was he who brought the light upon those...

Sports Mash, with a side of rant

Red Sox win. Yankees lose. A wonderful July 4. Hideki Okajima is narrowly in the lead in internet balloting for the last roster spot on the All Star team. click here to vote for Oki. I spent the day with my Yankee in law - thankfully the 3x5' "NY" flag had been replaced by bunting before our arrival - roaming the beach and scarfing soft serve ice cream. Far from a Joey Chestnut performance, my own gluttony consisted of a center cut pork chop, a chicken leg, and a pile of Kell's Kreme...

eBay Welcomes Kijiji to the neighborhood

Kijiji.com went live Friday in the United States, but was only reported on yesterday in the Wall Street Journal. eBay sees it as direct competition with Craigslist. The launch is notable for the lack of any sort of public launching. It is one of eBay’s least known sites, largely because of the lack of presence in the US. eBay also owns 25% of Craigslist as well, which could also account for the lack of US presence for Kijiji. The company purchased their share...

July 4th Sports Mash

It's July 4! The neighbors to the north have had their day, now it's ours. Time to stoke up the BBQ and chill the Duffs. And speaking of Duffs, did anyone hear about the 7-11 promotion they're doing? Seems they're redoing several stores across the country to look like a "Kwik-E-Mart" and selling all this Simpsons related stuff to promote the Simpsons movie. It's brilliant. I'm waiting on a phone call from the movie folks to help them promote the movie here... Will Kobayashi or won't...

A Little Color Between the Lines

A company being charged with an unfair labor practice under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) does not necessarily mean that the company has actually done anything wrong. For instance, Starbucks Coffee was recently charged with an unfair labor practice at Region 2 of the National Labor Relations Board in New York by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or “Wobblies”) for interfering with workers right to organize under the NLRA. The IWW is one...

EEOC Sues Toys 'R' Us

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed suit last Tuesday against Toys R Us, Inc. for racial discrimination in the case of a Hispanic sales associate the agency alleges was victimized by bypassing in favor of less qualified others for management positions, racist remarks, and retaliatory termination The suit alleges Gregorio Martinez was subject to repeated slurs and derogatory references to his Mexican heritage. Further, it alleges that when he reported the treatment...