Was that ARod or Le Tari?

The guy with the big teeth who played Dudley's father on "Diff'rent Strokes":

"Not a hint of smugness. Not a trace of gloating. Contentment instead of conceit.

Was that A-Rod or the Dalai Lama?"

Tee hee.

"Was that A-Rod or Edmund Hillary?

Sir Hillary, after becoming the first man to scale Mount Everest, devoted his life to building hospitals and schools for the Sherpa people of Nepal."

Chortle.


"This from the former teen prodigy who became a certified cheater, perhaps the most gifted player in baseball history who indisputably became the highest-paid, found serenity by giving in to the greater good.

Was that A-Rod or Frank William Abagnale?"

Whoa. How obscure are these references gonna get?

" 'We both talked about what an amazing feeling it was to be world champs and how badly we want to do that again,' Rodriguez said. 'It becomes an addiction. You want to just keep winning.'

Was that A-Rod or Derek Jeter?"

Waka waka.

Maybe ARod really is a lot like Derek Jeter. Still arrogant and egotistical and smug, but just good at charming the press corps.

Ryan Franklin not against firearms in MLB clubhouses.

Ryan Franklin Must Kill The Queen.

I dare you to not bring up the Yankees.

" 'When I got the three-year deal (before 2008), I thought I'd manage two ...' "

Guy has never seemed to enthusiastic about managing the Los Angeles Dodgers.


" 'I've never been this age before, but at some point you are going to dread going to spring training ... ' "

Anybody else says "I've never been this age before" and I'd dismiss it as an amusing wordplay.

When Joe Torre says it, I truly wonder if he understands the basics of time, place, and biology.


"Torre, wearing his 1996 Yankees World Series ring, has not reached the heights in Los Angeles that he did in New York, where he won four championships.

...

'After being in New York, I never really anticipated going anywhere else, and starting again, but it was a great decision on my part to continue doing this, because it's been a lot of fun,' Torre said."

"Brett Gardner works on tool."

Bunting. I'll believe it when I see it. I've heard it before from other speedy ballplayers.

He moves the merch.

"It seems that the prevailing thought is that neither the Yankees nor Jeter would gain much by parting ways, so a deal is going to get done eventually. Still, as an advanced-aged player who is still highly productive, Jeter is an outlier. And that status creates the potential for negotiations to get complicated."

By now, I think it should be clear that Jeter brings in the fans and sells a zillion tee-shirts.

Last year, it became a big event just because he passed Lou Gehrig in career hits ... as a Yankee. Imagine the draw as he approaches 3,000 hits? Or as he approaches Pete Rose?

The Yankees are going to pay him a ton of money and he's worth every penny. It has little to do with his on-base percentage. Which, by the way, is purty darn good.

I know! I know!

"There were 43 Super Bowls before the other night. Try to remember all the quarterbacks who threw a fat pitch like the one Manning threw to Porter."

Kurt Warner.

Last year.

The guy ran it back 100 yards for a touchdown on the last play of the first half.