LOVES Billy Wagner.

Clemens, not so much. ARod, not so much. Joba, not so much.

"You don't have to like Billy Wagner, or the way he blows sky high sometimes, or everything he says, whether he is standing in front of his locker or talking on the radio.

And if you are a Mets fan, you can already be wondering about whether Frankie Rodriguez or somebody else could be the closer here before long.

But you still have to say that Wagner is one of the most interesting people to ever hold down the job of closer in New York."

Even more interesting than John Franco? Even more interesting than Steve Farr? I find it hard to believe that anybody could be more interesting than Steve Farr.

I wouldn't even know how to make that assessment.

"Interesting" is the least descriptive adjective one can use. It's lazy and meaningless.

Why on Earth is Billy Wagner interesting in any way?

Unbeknownst to me, is he, like, a baseball pitcher/Renaissance man? Does he play avant garde jazz in his spare time? Did he donate his entire salary to a noble cause and is therefore forced to live out of the back of his car? Is he working on a Unified Field Theory in his spare time?

These kinds of behavior may qualify as "interesting."

I can name a sports figure who's "interesting." Joe Juneau built his own airplane and moved his family to a remote location in Alaska to pursue his altruistic endeavors.

Did Billy Wagner build his own airplane? Model airplane? Does he like Dungeons and Dragons? Is he an expert on ancient Persian warfare?

Billy Wagner merely pitches baseballs once every few days for the Mets, and he does so rather predictably, I might add.


Define interesting. Think of some precise ways to define this term. Compare this list to Billy Wagner. I guarantee Billy Wagner is the opposite of interesting.

Only one person thinks Billy Wagner is interesting and that person happens to write sports opinions for the New York Daily News.


"The Yankee broadcasters kept saying that it made no 'sense' for Joba to put a fastball up in Kevin Youkilis' eyes the other night, and I'm wondering what sort of 'sense' it made when Joba put two over Youkilis' head last season."

Hey, did you notice the seven shutout innings in Fenway?

Joba's not doing too shabby, especially since Joba is one of the crackerjack Yankee prospects over-hyped by the lunatics in Tampa.