Ben Sheets On the Comeback Trail; Wins First Start Since 2010
Today, Ben Sheets won his first start since 2010 — his first start since returning from the most extensive arm surgery in the history of major league baseball in mid-2010 — as he led the Atlanta Braves to a 6-1 win over the New York Mets. Sheets pitched six scoreless innings, threw 88 pitches (57 for strikes), gave up two hits, walked one, and struck out five.
As Atlanta SB Nation.com put it, “Ben Sheets probably couldn’t have imagined a better debut.”
Carroll Rodgers, writing for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, said this about Sheets’s debut start:
Sheets threw a 91 mph strike to Ruben Tejada to start his day, setting up his first strikeout, and finished it with a 91 mph fastball to strike out David Wright for his fifth. Sheets allowed only two hits in between, while walking one, and threw 57 of his 88 pitches for strikes. He outdueled Johan Santana to win his first game since July 10, 2010 with Oakland against the Angels.
Rodgers also mentioned this toward the end of his blog post:
Sheets, who hadn’t pitched since July 19, 2010 for the Athletics, showed what the Braves have been raving about in his work on the side and in the minors. His fastball velocity was back to 90-92 mph, and he reached back and found 93 mph a few times, which he used to retire Wright. He also mixed in a sharp curveball that he was known for on those days like the one when he struck out 18 Braves in 2004.
Rodgers also had quotes from Sheets in this article, also from the AJC:
“It was pretty incredible,” Sheets said afterward. “Honestly in my mind, two years ago I was done, which was fine. I gave myself ‘coach of the year’ award in youth ball. Somebody asked me ‘Who gives that?’ I said ‘I give it to myself.’”
(Note that Sheets has never been known for his humility, which is why this quote made me laugh out loud.)
Another quote from Sheets, also from Rodgers’s second article at the AJC:
“I feel like myself,” said Sheets, who out-dueled Johan Santana for his first win since July 10, 2010 with the Athletics. “That’s one thing I can say I never felt like in Oakland.”
And here’s a quote from long-time Braves star (and likely Hall of Famer) Chipper Jones:
“We are ecstatic,” Jones said. “We get contributions like that from him, I see us winning a lot of games here in the second half.”
See, the Braves see Sheets as what he is: an ace. Sheets also is the type of guy who would not have come back unless he felt he could pitch extremely well — it’s either all or nothing with Sheets, and it’s always been that way. So the Braves, who apparently kept a close eye on Sheets once Sheets’s agent Casey Close started putting out feelers earlier this year regarding a potential comeback, has shown itself to be extremely prescient in signing Sheets.
As far as the Milwaukee Brewers go (Sheets’ old team), they won today, too. Yovani Gallardo had 14 strikeouts in a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Gallardo is one of two aces on the Brewers current staff; his record raised to 8-6.
But the day belonged to Sheets, all the way along . . . and this Brewers fan couldn’t be happier. Way to go, Ben!
Just Reviewed Osborn’s First Two “Displaced Detective” Novels at SBR
Tonight’s new review at Shiny Book Review is for Stephanie Osborn’s first two books in her Displaced Detective series about Sherlock Holmes as brought into the modern day via modern physics. These are fun reads, but more to the point, they’re faithful to the spirit of Holmes in milieu and mythos. Osborn came up with a great way to start her series by using modern-day physics along with the “World as Myth” concept as delineated by Robert A. Heinlein; the two together explain how Holmes could be a real person, and then how it came to be that Osborn’s hyperspatial physicist, Skye Chadwick, was able to rescue Holmes before he ended up dead at Reichenbach Falls.
These are really fun reads that make good sense in context. The mysteries Holmes solves are appropriately complex (yes, I said that at SBR, too, but it’s a phrase I don’t get to use much, thus the repetition), Holmes’s abilities seem realistic (for him), and the halting romance that grows between Holmes and Chadwick is worth the price of admission all by itself.
But do expect there to be a romance, especially in the second book, and do expect it to be PG-13. This makes sense in context, and it’s something I applauded in my review — but some Holmes-o-philes may not wish to see their hero in love. (If so, the more fool, they. Osborn does a great job showing how these two extremely brilliant people could and did fall in love, and it works, plot-wise. To great effect.)
Seriously. Go read my review of these two fine books, THE CASE OF THE DISPLACED DETECTIVE: THE ARRIVAL and THE CASE OF THE DISPLACED DETECTIVE: AT SPEED. Then go buy the books already.
July 2012 Odds and Ends
I’ve had a number of comments recently about various things, but none of them have reached the level of a full blog post. So here goes with the latest edition of Odds and Ends.
First, I’m taking the summer off from watching television. This is the main reason I haven’t written about the fourth season of “Drop Dead Diva,” despite all the hits I’ve had on my review of the season three finale. I do know that Fred the angel is off the show and there’s a new angel there instead — an impossibly gorgeous male who, sight unseen, bothers me. But that’s the only thing I’ve really gathered, aside from the fact that Kim Kardashian seems to have a recurring role this season.
Second, the Wisconsin GOP has, quite predictably, slammed the District 21 state Senate election, all because Democrat John Lehman won over R Van Wanggaard. Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester) has led a number of prominent Rs in proclaiming that the Racine elections had “numerous errors” and that supposedly, Racine County must get its act together before the November elections — all because we had the temerity to throw out our one-year Senator when the rest of the state held the course.
I have no problem with former Senator Wanggaard saying “I shall return!” as if he’s a modern-day incarnation of General Douglas MacArthur, because he’s a politician and that’s what politicians of either party tend to say. (Maybe not quite so stridently as Wanggaard. But then again, as the only R to go down on June 5, 2012, I suppose he must feel terrible.) Nor am I upset with Wanggaard for asking for a recount, pointing out various issues he and his staff have been alerted to, etc. — he’s a politician, so he has to say those things. And considering he lost by less than 2% of the vote, I suppose that’s his right.
My problem remains with the Wisconsin GOP as a whole; they didn’t slam Waukesha County in 2011 when there were massive problems there — problems that make the City and County of Racine’s issues look extremely small in comparison — because those problems benefitted them.
So, if an election goes the Rs way, even if there are terrible and systemic problems with a County Clerk like Waukesha’s Kathy Nickolaus, the Rs are OK with it. But if the election goes the way of the Ds, the Rs aren’t standing for it, even though whatever problems Racine had were due to an overwhelmingly high turnout (the highest on record for any election, including Presidential elections), nothing more. That’s why the WI GOP’s stance regarding Racine County’s recall election smacks of sour grapes as well as political expediency; I remain unimpressed.
Third, what on Earth does the United States House of Representatives, led by Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner, think they’re doing taking vote after vote to repeal Obama’s national health care plan? (Especially as they know, just as the rest of us do, that the US Senate will never go along with them.) Here we are in a jobless recovery; the economy, overall, is terrible. We need jobs, we need more economic development, and we need it right now. Yet they’d rather waste our time, and our taxpayer dollars, by taking these unnecessary votes. This is political grandstanding and it should not be tolerated. Period!
Fourth, are the Milwaukee Brewers going to get any better this year? And will Zack Greinke stay a part of the team? Stay tuned.
Fifth, and finally, the summer is a bad time for me. It’s not just my asthma, or other associated summertime health woes, which have been exacerbated as we’re having one of the hottest, driest summers on record in SE Wisconsin. It’s that I have a number of important dates on the calendar that I observe — my wedding anniversary. My late husband’s birthday (even though he didn’t observe it). Etc. — and the fact that I must observe them alone, always alone, is a trial.
Look. I despise the fact that I’m a widow. (Very few people will come right out and say this, but I will.) If I had the power, my husband would be alive right now and I’d not be typing out these words. But I’m human, mortal, fallible, all that, and I don’t have that power.
What I do every day is to try to find some meaning, some purpose, in whatever remains of my life. I continue to write (as you see). I continue to edit. I play my instruments. I compose music when I have the time, energy, and ideas. I talk with my friends, as I’m able . . . all the things I have to do in order to continue to stay alive in any sense.
But of course it’s difficult to be without the love of my life. I’d be lying if I said anything else.
And that difficulty is made much worse because the person who understood me best since that time is also dead — my good friend Jeff, whom I’ve discussed many times on this blog. That I haven’t been able, as of yet, to go to Colorado and make any peace whatsoever with his passing has assuredly not helped.
I know it doesn’t matter — would never matter — to Jeff where I mourn. But it would help me to go there and visit the places he told me about. Which is why at some point I will go there; it’s just a matter of when. Let us hope that down the line, I will find enough work at a good rate of remuneration, so I can finally take that trip.
Just Reviewed Alethea Kontis’s “Enchanted” at SBR
Folks, my newest review for Alethea Kontis’s ENCHANTED is up at Shiny Book Review right now, so you might want to go take a look at it.
(I’ll pause while you have your chance to click on the SBR link.)
Now, as for what I thought of it? It’s a good book, a well-told fairy tale that mixes a number of traditional fairy tales with elements of both Patricia C. Wrede’s and Orson Scott Card’s work; while not particularly original, per se, it is charming, and I enjoyed the romance between Prince Rumbold and Sunday Woodcutter no end.
Overall, if you’re looking for a fun fairy tale that won’t demand too much from you, Alethea Kontis’s ENCHANTED will be right up your alley. (And I’ll admit it; sometimes that’s all I want in a book, a fun read that will transport me away from the cares of the world for a few, short hours.) I enjoyed it, and look forward to whatever Ms. Kontis writes next.
Just Reviewed Gideon Lewis-Kraus’s “A Sense of Direction” for SBR
Folks, if you haven’t read any of Gideon Lewis-Kraus’s essays before, you may be bemused by his new non-fictional epic, A SENSE OF DIRECTION: Pilgrimage for the Restless and the Hopeful, which I just reviewed over at Shiny Book Review. This is a book that’s partly a coming of age treatise for Lewis-Kraus himself due to his difficult relationship with his openly gay rabbi father, but mostly a reflection on the need for modern-day pilgrimages — both internal ones, and external ones.
Of course, the three pilgrimages Lewis-Kraus does are all external — the first one he does is the Camino de Santiago (colloquially called “the Camino”), the second to the 88 Temples of Shikoku, a circular pilgrimage, and finally he goes to Uman with his father and brother, Micah, to take part in the Orthodox Jewish celebration of Rosh Hashanah despite the fact that the Orthodox Jews don’t approve of gay men (or women) and that Lewis-Kraus isn’t particularly religious, though he is spiritual. This latter pilgrimage has the most to do with Lewis-Kraus’s coming of age narrative, but lest you think that’s all Lewis-Kraus has in store for you, think again . . . there are meditations on the greedy people of Uman (who live for a full year off the proceeds of these Orthodox Jewish men’s celebration of Rosh Hashanah), how the Orthodox men have only this one safety valve all year to look forward to, and how Lewis-Kraus’s father the gay rabbi seems to have the most compassion for them, all while wondering how anyone can put up with the cynical people of Uman.
A SENSE OF DIRECTION is a moving work of non-fiction that feels palpably real and makes clear the need for pilgrimages even in the modern era. It’s also bitingly funny, trenchant, honest to a fault, and shows the troubles even an extremely intelligent man can have in attempting to claim his adult self.
Simply put: go read my review, then go read the book, soonest. (You’ll be glad you did.)
Just Reviewed Kowal’s Alternate Regencies; Fun Stuff
Folks, as it’s July 5, 2012, and I’d promised the Shiny Book Review faithful a new review or two, I just reviewed both of Mary Robinette Kowal’s alternate Regencies, SHADES OF MILK AND HONEY and GLAMOUR IN GLASS. Check out my review of both books here.
Now, what is it about the Regency period that makes for such great fantasy material? In addition to Kowal’s two novels, I’ve seen several other really fine writers do some interesting things with either the Austen canon (not merely PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES, which I viewed as kitsch, but Sarah A. Hoyt and Sofie Skapski’s excellent A TOUCH OF NIGHT, which incorporates Weres — shapechanging into animals — into PRIDE AND PREJUDICE without a hitch) or with the milieu itself (the two books by André Norton and Rosemary Edghill that comprise CAROLUS REX, THE SHADOW OF ALBION and LEOPARD IN EXILE, are both excellent).
I think the main reason novelists in and out of the romance genre have returned to this milieu is because of how unusual it seems to us in modern-day society. The Regency era was much more formal in its speech than present-day English-speaking society, at least when it comes to middle class people and above. The fashions people wore were much different. The way people thought then has diverged just enough from today that it makes for fascinating reading . . . yet it’s not so far in the past that we have no referents whatsoever.
So my guess is, there’s a mixture of familiarity in what we see in the Regency period — comfort, if you will — and unfamiliarity, and that’s what these excellent novelists see in it. Because if you’re writing fantasy, and you can come up with a great way to incorporate a fantasy element into this interesting, turbulent time, why not do it?
At any rate, if you love Jane Austen, love Austen pastiches, love Austen-inspired works, or simply love the Regency Era with fantasy idea as a whole, you’ll get a kick out of Kowal’s two alternate Regencies as they’re fun, fast, faithful reads that don’t cheat the reader. But do yourself a favor, please: read these other great books I’ve referenced, too, even if you have to go to the library to read the Norton-Edghill collaborations. (You’ll be glad you did.)
Ben Sheets Signed by Atlanta Braves to Minor League Deal
Folks, Ben Sheets’ comeback is official, as he’s been signed by the Atlanta Braves to a minor league deal as of last evening (Sunday, July 1, 2012). Here’s a quote from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution article, which is here:
“We’re getting a guy who is a four-time All-Star and there is nothing wrong with his arm,” Wren said. “You have a quality major league pitcher prior to the deadline without having to give up any talent. It really is the best of all worlds.”
Sheets is scheduled to make at least two starts in Double-A Mississippi, largely because it’s only 90 minutes from his home in Louisiana. He’ll go five innings or 75 pitches on Wednesday, then six innings or 90 pitches in a start after that. If all goes well, the Braves think he could be ready shortly after the All-Star break.
This all bodes well for Sheets, as the Braves’ team philosophy is one Sheets can get behind. Plus, the Braves obviously haven’t forgotten the fact that Sheets once struck out eighteen of them on May 17, 2004 and seem to want Sheets on their side if he can indeed make a comeback a la former Milwaukee Brewers teammate (and pitcher) Chris Capuano.
Best of luck, Ben, with your comeback efforts.
WI State Senate District 21 Recount Over: Lehman is Senator-Elect
The recount for Wisconsin state Senate District 21’s 6/5/2012 election is over. Former Senator John Lehman (D-Racine) has won and is officially Senator-elect. According to the Racine Journal-Times (under a “breaking news” header), Lehman’s margin of victory is 819 votes as opposed to the 834 votes he had after the official canvass; this means Senator Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) is now, officially, former Senator Wanggaard until and unless he files an appeal in District Court.
The Mount Pleasant Patch has a longer and better article, available here, that shows the final vote totals as Lehman 36,358, Wanggaard 35,539, and has a statement from Senator-elect Lehman:
“It shows that we won the election and all of these allegations of voter irregularities are false and are really much ado about nothing,” Lehman said. “The results from election night have been proven correct through tape and tallly totals.”
But, as I expected, Wanggaard is still crying fraud (from his statement):
“Anyone who argues that this recount was a waste of time, or that we do not need voter, ID, either wants to conceal these potential fraudulent activities or hasn’t been paying attention,” Wanggaard said in statement released this afternoon. “The list of problems now includes missing pages in poll books, missing signatures, wrong voter numbers, wrong and unverified addresses and most shocking of all, unsealed and sealed and reopened ballot bags – all without explanation. None of these issues would have been discovered if not for the recount.”
Of course, as I said all along, I was for the recount — for the same reasons I believed Joanne Kloppenburg deserved to know the truth regarding her race against David Prosser for the state Supreme Court last year. She, too, ran into some real problems — much bigger ones, in fact, than Wanggaard — with regards to opened/unsealed ballot bags, ripped and torn ballots, tape totals that didn’t match, tape dates that didn’t match, and many other inconsistencies and outright errors — yet the Government Accountability Board still certified that election. She went for a state-sponsored recount (as that race was within 1/2 of a percent and thus eligible for state assistance); many Republicans cried foul at the time, saying that the result was unlikely to change anything and because of that, Kloppenburg shouldn’t put the state through the recount. Even with the problems in Waukesha County, which were legion.
And, of course, the recount didn’t change very much; the tallies tightened, but Prosser still won. The only thing to come out of that recount was this: seventy-one of our seventy-two counties in Wisconsin do a good job conducting elections, while Waukesha County is a horror show.
In this recount, what came out is this: there were some inconsistencies. Wanggaard picked up, roughly, twenty votes overall. Some bags were open and/or torn, but not anywhere near to the point things were at in Waukesha County; the tape totals and tape dates were, for the most part, accurate — in short, this was a cleanly-conducted election that proves that Wendy Christensen, Racine County Clerk, does an excellent job even in high-turnout, record-setting elections like this one.
So now that the recount is over, whither Wanggaard? My guess is that he’s going to attempt to tie this up another round and file a lawsuit in court alleging election fraud. But doing so is unlikely to get him anywhere, mostly because the allegations of wrongdoing by Republican operatives are so much smoke and mirrors, meant to obscure the valid point that the voters have spoken and Wanggaard has lost. (The fact that Democrats have also alleged problems with these same Republican operatives, including voter intimidation and “electioneering,” something that is illegal under Wisconsin law, just hasn’t seemed to get much traction, though the Mount Pleasant Patch mentioned it a week or so ago even though I can’t find the link right now.)
For whatever it’s worth, here’s my advice with regards to Sen. Wanggaard: The recount was worthy, but it’s over. The voters have been heard; the original results stand. Now, Sen. Wanggaard, it’s time to do the right thing, what the voters expected of you when they voted you out, and admit that John Lehman has won. Then, go and enjoy the rest of your life.
However, Sen. Wanggaard, if you instead attempt a futile and time-consuming lawsuit a la former United States Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN), you’ll only prolong both your own agony and the agony of your Senate district, with almost no likelihood of winning in court. This will spend time, effort, and money to little purpose. In this dismal economy, there’s absolutely no excuse for that.
That’s why I urge you, Sen. Wanggaard, to bow to the will of the voters of your district. You’ve been voted out. Now do the right thing, concede this election, and go live your life. Because assuredly you have far, far better things to do than to file frivolous lawsuits in court.**
And we, the voters of District 21, have far better things to do than worry about when our new Senator, John Lehman, can be sworn in. Because in case you haven’t noticed it, Racine needs serious economic development, soonest. So the sooner you, Sen. Wanggaard, do the right thing and bow out, the sooner he, Sen. Lehman, can get on with helping out the citizens of Racine (city and county alike). Because we desperately need the help that only our duly-elected state Senator can provide.
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** Unlike state Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester), I do know what the word frivolous means and am using it precisely.
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