Book Review: Inferno

It's a Dan Brown novel -- what is there to review? If you've read a couple of his books then you know the gist. Harvard University's Professor of Art History & Symbology, Robert Langdon,* is called in to a different part of the world to help solve a crime. Amazingly, the criminal has left clues for how to stop his/her plan but in the form of a historical puzzle which Langdon must then solve. The plot usually unfolds in a 24 hour time period with many twists and turns along the way.

Still, Brown makes it exciting every time. A lot of people like Brown's books for how descriptive he is. Since Langdon is a SME on all things art history, setting his stories in France or Italy allows Brown to describe the grand architecture, paintings, sculptures, etc. in painstakingly accurate detail. For some people, the descriptors just jump off the page, but for me, these are the most annoying passages. I'm a visual guy... I need to see something to fully comprehend it. Reading about something doesn't inspire a picture in my head, it just slows down my pace.

However, I liked Inferno. I've read all of Dan Brown's work** and I'd probably rank this as his third best. It has all the elements you like plus a very different beginning and a crazy ending that has huge implications. Borrow it from your local library today.



*Langdon is as much of a professor as Indiana Jones. So... not really at all.

**Digital Fortress, Angels & Demons, Deception Point, The DaVinci Code, The Lost Symbol, Inferno

Hall of Fame

I kept a cool head last year when no players were elected to Cooperstown, but as my post so nicely explained, there were multiple candidates worthy of enshrinement. And I define worthy as in even while they were still playing, people referred to them as future Hall of Famers. There's no debate here.

Except that in the world of PEDs, apparently that's the only thing taken into consideration. Nevermind that only five players (Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, Sosa and Palmeiro) out of everyone on the ballot this year, had ever been connected to steroids, HGH, the cream, the clear, Balco, Biogenesis or any of the B.S. that we hear about seemingly all the time. The BBWAA's stance seems to be, "if you were playing anytime between the mid-90s to mid-00s you are guilty by association."

Yes, three worthy players were elected this year: Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas. But they were all new to the ballot. So, once again, every player I listed last year has to be carried over again to next year. It's not that they aren't Hall of Fame material, it's that the voting is a mess. You may have heard that Craig Biggio missed the cut by two votes. Two! The main culprit (other than the occasional idiot voter) is the incomprehensible rule that voters can only select 10 players on any given ballot. Well, because no one was elected last year, we now have a bottleneck of layovers plus the annual new additions, meaning there are more than 10 worthy players. This leaves some guys like Biggio to jussstttttt get squeezed out.

If you think next year will give the voters a chance to catch up, you're wrong. Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, Gary Sheffield, Carlos Delgado and Nomar Garciaparra will all be added to the ballot. The first 3 are more-or-less definite which puts us in a similar place as this year. Will Biggio be pushed over the hump, now that everyone is aware of his proximity? All I know is, judging by the last 2 years of selections, there will likely be a lot of negative critics.

The New Year

MLB Hot Stove

I was reflecting on the recent free agent contracts doled out to Jacoby Ellsbury (7/153m) and Robinson Cano (10/240m) and couldn't help but think of all the long-term deals that never paid off for the winning bidder. Part of the issue is age. Most players are right around 30 when they get their first taste of free agency. They've already peaked as players and teams are paying for those prime years that are now in the rearview.

More recently, however, teams have started locking up their own star players earlier so they never even reach free agency. Just look at the long-term contract extensions signed by Elvis Andrus (24 when signed), Buster Posey (26) and Joey Votto (28) in the past 2 years.

I tried to put together a list of the absolute best, no dispute, greatest long-term (7+ years) contracts of all time:

A-Rod, 2001 (10/252m)
Derek Jeter, 2001 (10/189m)
Manny Ramirez, 2001 (8/160m)
Miguel Cabrera, 2008 (8/152m)
Albert Pujols, 2004 (7/100m)

Huh, only 5? At least 2001 was a pretty good year for long-term deals. How about the rest of the bunch?

A-Rod, 2008 (10/275m)
Albert Pujols, 2012 (10/240m)
Joey Votto, 2012 (10/225m)
Prince Fielder, 2012 (9/214m)
Joe Mauer, 2010 (8/184m)
Mark Teixeira, 2009 (8/180m)
Justin Verlander, 2013 (7/180m)
Felix Hernandez, 2013 (7/175m)
Buster Posey, 2013 (8/167m) 
CC Sabathia, 2009 (7/161m)
Matt Kemp, 2012 (8/160m)
Adrian Gonzalez, 2011 (7/154m)
Carl Crawford, 2011 (7/142m)
Todd Helton, 2003 (9/141m)
David Wright, 2013 (8/138m)
Alfonso Soriano, 2007 (8/136m)
Vernon Wells, 2008 (7/126m)
Barry Zito, 2007 (7/126m)
Jayson Werth, 2011 (7/126m)
Mike Hampton, 2001 (8/121m)
Elvis Andrus, 2013 (8/120m)
Jason Giambi, 2002 (7/120m)
Matt Holliday, 2010 (7/120m)
Carlos Beltran, 2005 (7/119m)
Ken Griffey, Jr., 2000 (9/116m)
Dustin Pedroia, 2013 (8/110m)
Kevin Brown, 1999 (7/105m)
Scott Rolen, 2003 (8/90m)
Chase Utley, 2007 (7/85m)
Ryan Braun, 2008 (8/45m)

Wow, 30 vs 5. Of course, it's not fair to comment on some of the recently signed deals, but just look at the number of the stinkers on that list. Crawford, Wells, Zito, Hampton and Brown are all infamous for their albatross contracts. And some of the others (Griffey, Rolen, Werth, A-Rod #2) just never had a chance.

So I guess what I'm saying is, good luck to Seattle for Cano to work out and to the Yankees, as always, go fuck yourselves.

FIFA 2014 World Cup Draw

Well, it's over. The US has already lost next year's World Cup. Welcome to the Group of Death:

Germany
Portugal
Ghana

I may be overreacting, but only a little. Germany is ranked #2 in the world behind only Spain. Portugal is ranked #5 and have one of the best players in the world in Cristiano Ronaldo (as well as my influence from being half Portuguese). Ghana is ranked #24 but has knocked the US out of the last two World Cups (both times by a score of 2-1). So, that's fun.

But wait... there's more. Due to where they were drawn, the US also has the FURTHEST TRAVEL DISTANCE OF ALL TEAMS with 8,866 miles between their three game sites in Brazil. Just wow.

I am a homer patriot though so I've already worked out a way they could get out of the group and advance to the knockout round. The USMNT will want to avenge 2010's (and 2006's) knockout by Ghana so they'll be in top form and get the W. Portgual isn't a strong "team" so much as they are 1 star and some scrubs (not really, but I'm simplifying) so that could be a draw. Then, since we play Germany third, they may have already punched their ticket to the next round and would therefore have nothing to play for. See, we can sneak into Round 2! It's that easy!

If nothing else, it gives us something to talk about for the next 6 months. You never know how injuries will play into the situation or other distractions that may arise. Remember how surprisingly poor Italy, France and England were in 2010? Let's hope that's Germany, Portugal and Ghana in 2014!