Saturday, April 25, 2009

Way to Go Troncoso

What an effort. How many times have you seen a guy come into relief to pitch 4 innings of dominating one-hit ball to get the save. James McDonald should buy him an expensive dinner for helping him get his first career win.

Box Score

Legendary Auctions: Pins

Legendary Auctions, the birth child of the recently closed down Mastro Auctions, is nearing the end of their first auction. Below are a couple of items I thought I would share.

Professional Baseball in LA has long history. The pin below is a testament to that. This Pacific Coast League LA team pin dates to pre-1910 (possibly 1902) and is in great shape. It measures 1 3/4" and was produced by Los Angeles Badge & Novelty Company. The individual players are unknown.

Here is a great lot of vintage Jackie Robinson pins. All of them are rarities I love to have in my collection. If not for my recently self imposed buying vacation I would be all over this one. The scarcest of the group is the "Team For Rockerfeller" pin. My favorite, though, is the "I'm Rooting For Jackie Robinson" pin.

I Hate Rental Man

I don't know if you've ever seen this guy, but he, unfortunately, can be found at just about every sporting event in LA. Rental man, as he is known, is an annoying distraction during a perfectly enjoyable day.

I first gazed upon this schmuck at numerous Kings games at the Staples Center. He would sit in the lower bowl and dance away during every break in play. His arms wave in a psycho-like frenetic style as he dons Mickey Mouse gloves and a Nemo hat. He even will show up in a cape and a shield bearing the marks of his corporate sponsor. Bailey, the LA Kings mascot, would routinely dump popcorn on his head and make him the butt of his jokes.

As of yet I had never seen him at a Dodger game, hoping he could not possibly stain Dodger Stadium with his presence. Well, my hopes and dreams have been shattered. He does show up at Chavez Ravine and Malingering has the proof.

Rental Man has the look of a man deranged.


Am I alone here? I can't possibly be the only person who finds him as annoying as beach balls at the ballpark. Heck, that's an insult to beach balls. At least I can hit a beach ball until it pops.

UPDATE: There are a ton of videos of this guy on YouTube.

UPDATE II: Here is a great story told by a Staples Center "red Coat" retelling the day Rental Man got knocked out.
As the Laker game against the New Orleans Hornets had came to about..1 minute left, the Lakers were losing by like 9 and the game was pretty much over. So Rental Man decided to get up and rap and dance like crazy as usual. The guy behind him said loudly "Hey! I paid $185 to see the WHOLE game, I dont care if they're losing. SIT DOWN!"

Rental Man didn't listen, so the guy says again: "I'm serious SIT down!" Rental man DIDN'T listen. So the game ends and everyone is walking up the stairs and the guy shoves Rental Man and says "Whats your problem, Idiot?!" Rental Man, crazy as ever, waves his arms around like a lunatic and raps the following "Yo! We both have white skin, we gotta stay till the END!" Without warning, the guy cocks his fist back, and lands a haymaker of a right hook, dead on, in between Rental Man's eyes. Knocks him OUT. Completely...unconcious.

Security rushes and grabs the dude. I'll never forget it as long as I live, LOL. You know that guy that's always with Rental Man?..Thats his ATTORNEY! All this time he had been on hand in case such a thing happened and it never did, till Tuesday, lol. He kept yelling to the police "We want to press charges! We ARE pressing charges, you got that!?"
Hat Tip: Life in Hockeywood:

Troy Still Can't Sing

Troy, you always seem to put a big smile on my face.

YouTube Link: troyfromwestvirginia:
Hat Tip: Diamond Notes: