El Guapo's Ghost Rambles on about the Red Sox

I am wicked tried today. Driving back from Maine yesterday night (Portland is a great town with a nice park) then staying up to watch Tim Hudson shutout the Sox on like 96 pitches. Hopefully, the Sox were just as tried for work as I am today and the reason for their poor performance last night. Here is my lazy performance.

I mentioned before how much I enjoy Jim Caple's work. Below are excerpts of a recent column named, Hidden treasures: All-underrated list, and my 63-cent on da dollar. (A link to the Jim Caple’s archive is on the right).

Underrated dessert: Rice Krispy treats
Better than tiramisu. Cheaper than soufflé.

"So good. So good. So good."

Underrated vehicle: Small cars
You can have your gas-guzzling, ozone-depleting, global-warming SUVs that are ready to handle the off-road driving experience you'll never, ever experience. I'll save time and money by sticking to the small car that handles better on actual roads, zips in and out of rush-hour traffic, slips into the slimmest of street parking slots and only needs refueling once a month.

Public transportation is even better. Just sit back and relax.

Underrated foreign country: Canada
Great cities, spectacular scenery, friendly people, sensible medical coverage, superb hockey, unbeatable exchange rate.

Unbeatable ballet.

Underrated sports babe: Olympic pole vaulter Tatiana Grigorieva
She makes Anna look like Marge Schott.

I have had the privilege to stand a foot away from Anna. She is the most beautiful women I have ever seen. No doubt.

Underrated government service: U.S. Postal Service
Let's see. They come to our doors every day, bringing welcome family letters, magazines and Victoria's Secret catalogues. They pick up whatever mail we leave for them. They drive it to the post office. They sort it. They drive it to the airport. They put it on a plane. They fly it across the country. They take it off the plane. They put it on a truck. They drive it to the address regardless of where he or she may live and deliver it to the door. Within three days. For 37 cents. And we bitch about the cost and efficiency of mail delivery? We shouldn't be complaining, we should be asking how the hell they can do it.
(Runnerup: The library system. You can check out the latest bestseller or a book that's been out of print for 50 years. You check out a video or a CD. You can use their computers to surf the web and exchange email. And it's all free.)

I vote for the library since regular mail will be obsolete soon. We need more libraries and less Borders and Barnes and Nobles.

Underrated statistic: The run
Forget home runs, ERA, saves or OPS. At the end of the game, there is only one statistic that matters in baseball. The run. If you score more of them than your opponent, you win. If you don't, you lose. So why does the run get so little respect? Why is it considered less important than the RBI? Why do box scores give the season totals for home runs, RBIs, double, triples, stolen bases, caught stealing, errors, wins, loss, saves, batting average and ERA but not runs? Why is the triple crown based on the league leader in home runs, batting average and RBIs instead of average, home runs and runs? Why do we all know the record for RBIs in a season (Hack Wilson's 191) yet don't have a clue who holds the record for runs scored (Babe Ruth, 177)?
I wish I knew the answer.

Caple speaks the truth and Rickey is the man.