Guess What Everyone? I'm Not Crazy...

For the past few years I have been arguing that Terry Francona, the Red Sox manager, looks like actor Shia LaBeouf.  My theory is that 25 years from now, Shia will look like Terry Francona looks at 50.  And the similarities do not stop at looks, both men have similar mannerisms and the same deep voice.  After trying and failing to prove my point, I decided to look up a picture of a young Terry Francona and compare it to one of Shia LaBeouf.  The results?

                                                                                         

As you can see, they could be brothers!  I was able to convince some of my friends that young Terry is Shia's doppelganger, and vice versa, but I still thought I was crazy until my friend Nicole posted the following link on my facebook page today:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0812/athlete.lookalikes.fan.submissions/content.8.html

It is a link to a Sports Illustrated look-a-like post that includes this picture:

The joy I felt in knowing that at least one other person on the planet can look at a 50 year old Terry Francona and see a 24 year old Shia LaBeouf is indescribable, and while the title of this post may be a bit of an exaggeration, at least I am a little less crazy than I was yesterday! 

Now, when a movie about the 2004 Red Sox is inevitably made, I say cast Shia as the Red Sox skipper.  Its the role he was born to play!

And while we're at it, let's pretend that age is not a factor and cast some other celebrities as 2004 Red Sox. 

Red Sox left fielder Manny Ramirez will be played by Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz

                                                                                 

Red Sox center fielder Johnny Damon will be played by Bill and Ted actor Keanu Reeves



 Red Sox first baseman Kevin Millar will be played by Matthew McConaughey, not so much because they look alike, but because if anyone can pull off Millar's crazy cowboy persona, its the man who lives in a trailer.                                                

                                                                                                                                                  

Well, that's all I've got for now.  Any casting suggestions?  Let me know!

Forget New Era, the Best Cap for Baseball is the Salary Cap

First and foremost I want to apologize for the lack of entries since last October.  I was so happy that my wish/prediction for a Rangers vs Giants World Series came true, and so depressed that baseball season was over, that I stopped writing.  But now, Spring Training is in full swing (the pun was completely intended, I’m not gonna lie) and I am ready to spew my thoughts on the 2011 season.  Before I do that, I would like to post a rant about salary caps in Major League Baseball, don’t all jump for joy at once.  I am getting this out of the way before the season officially starts because thinking about it takes some of the joy out of watching the game.  Having said that, it is also something I feel I need to write about, so here we go…

A salary cap for MLB is an idea whose time has come.  A cap would benefit small market teams and their fans by creating a more balanced level of talent and competition.  The Yankees and Red Sox are two of the big market teams that have seemingly unlimited financial resources which make it difficult for less wealthy franchises to compete in the free agent market.  Worse, these smaller clubs often lose their best players to free agency because they cannot compete with the salaries offered by wealthier teams.  MLB’s salary cap should place limits on how much a player can be paid and how high a team’s payroll can be.  Although the Boston fan in me would love to see Albert Pujols playing almost any position in a Red Sox uniform, the baseball fan in me wants to see the Cardinals and other teams keep their top players.

Over the past decade, salaries for Major League Baseball players have increased exponentially, all starting with Alex Rodriguez and the Texas Rangers signing a groundbreaking multi-million dollar deal in 2001.  Now athletes say “hey, player X was given this amount of money and since I am at least as good as him, I deserve to get paid at least as much.”  I am going to risk sounding trite, and quote Jerry Maguire…everyone is saying “SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!”  No one wants to play for small market teams anymore because that is not where the money is.  As a result, fans of teams like the Padres and the Royals are suffering, and getting turned off to baseball, as their players depart for clubs with fatter wallets.

The absence of a salary cap means more than just an upset in the balance of power around the Majors.  In a time where most baseball fans are unemployed, just scraping by financially, or starting to recover from the recession, Major League Baseball players are demanding multi-million dollar contracts.  This is AMERICA’S pastime, and the disconnect between average Americans and ballplayers is upsetting.  Higher salaries equal higher ticket prices, which in turn means that many fans will not be able to afford tickets to games.  If ballplayers really care about what is best for the game of baseball and its fans, they will not demand such high salaries.  Until that happens, I have to say that no matter how much I truly love baseball, I am a little disappointed in its players.  Having said all that, nothing can ruin the wonderful feeling I get every March when I heard those two fantastic words for the first time: Play Ball!