5 Decades of San Francisco Giants - The Sixties

I'm going through every San Francisco Giants club ever.  By WARP/WAR (B-Ref version) here's the first decade of Giants baseball (including the 2 years from the 50s).  I guess the idea would be to see who had the best positional seasons ever and select the all time Giants by position.  I made a run at this a couple of years ago.

Edit - it's 2012, time for an update.  I'm going to use the Davenport WARP numbers. 

1958 (Pythag Wins Normalized for 162 game season: 84)
C Schmidt WARP 1.5/WAR 1.4
1B Cepeda 3.8/2.7
2B O'Connell 1.5/.9
SS Spencer 4.7/3
3B Davenport .7/1.1
LF Sauer 0/.5
CF Mays 9.1/10(8 wins is an MVPQuality season)
RF Kirkland .2/.4
OF Wagner 1.3/1.8
OF F Alou .7/1.1
P Antonelli 5.4/3.7(4.6 win season)
   Gomez 2/1.1
   McCormick .7/-.3
   Miller 4.7/4.8(4.6 win season)
   Worthington 2.1/1.2
Cl Grissom .3/-.3

-Modest though it is, that initial campaign by Spencer will remain the Giants best season from a shortstop throughout the rest of this look at the 60s.  This Mays season is the 4th best overall by a Giant in the 60s (guess who has the top three?)



1959 (91)
C Landrith 2.3/1.3
1B Cepeda 5.6/3.4(4.5 wins)
2B Spencer 3.1/2
SS Bressoud 1/2.6
3B Davenport -.5/1.5
LF Brandt 2/1.2
CF Mays 6.5/7.4(7 wins)
RF Kirkland 2/2.9
1B McCovey 4.1/3
SS Rodgers .9/1.1
LF Wagner .8/.5
RF F Alou .6/1
P Antonelli 6.1/4.5(5.3 win season)
   Jones 6.9/4.9(5.9 wins, our best pitched season to that date)
   McCormick 1/.2
   Sanford 4.2/2.9
Cl Miller 2.8/2

-Sam Jones and Antonelli are a solid 1-2 in McCovey's rookie year - and it'll be a decade before someone has a better second base season than Spencer.  Hell of a pythag - 20 games over .500

1960 (85)
C Schmidt 1.1/.4
1B McCovey 1.6/1.6
2B Blasingame .9/1.2
SS Bressoud .9/1.5
3B Davenport .7/.9
LF Cepeda 3.9/3.9
CF Mays 7.6/9.2(Mays's second MVPQ season in SFG)
RF Kirkland 1.7/2.9
2B Amalfitano 1.2/1.6
LF F Alou .1/1.2
P McCormick 7.4/5(6.2 wins)
   Jones 2.8/1.1
   Sanford 1.8/.6
   O'Dell 4.2/3
   Marichal 2/1.7
Cl Antonelli 1.8/.7

-Until '63, this McCormick season was the best pitched year in SFG history. 

1961 (93)
C Bailey 1.2/1.5
1B McCovey 2.2/2.4
2B Amalfitano .5/.2
SS Pagan -.5/.8
3B Davenport 3.1/2.6
LF Kuenn .6/.5
CF Mays 8.1/8.4(Third MVPQ season)
RF F Alou 2.3/2.6
LF Cepeda 6.6/5.4(6 win season)
P  McCormick 5.6/4.1(4.9 wins)
    Sanford 2.2/1.3
    Marichal 2.2/1.1
    Loes .6/-.3
 Cl Miller 4.4/3.2

-Cepeda split his time between left and first in that "how can we have a team with both he and McCovey - just too many bats!" conundrum the Giants were in.  But for these purposes we'll call him a left fielder and say this was the best LF season of the Giants in the 60s. 

1962 (100-65)
C Haller 4/3.4
1B Cepeda 5.8/2.9
2B Hiller 2.6/2.5
SS Pagan .8/2.2
3B Davenport 3.4/4.6
LF Kuenn 2.5/2.2
CF Mays 10.7/10.2
RF F. Alou 4/5
C Bailey 2/1.8
LF McCovey 2.9/1.8
RF M Alou .4/.9
P O'Dell 3.5/2.6
   Sanford 4.5/2.9
   Marichal 4.5/4
   Pierce 3.2/2.5
   McCormick -.7/-1
   Perry -.4/-.5
Cl Miller .2/-.3

Through the first 5 years in San Francisco - here's the all time team.
C Haller ('62)
1B Cepeda ('59)
2B Hiller ('62)
SS Spencer ('58)
3B Davenport ('62)
LF Cepeda ('61)
CF Mays ('62)
RF Alou ('62)
P McCormick ('60)

-Mays' 5th best season of the decade led the pace for the best Giants team of the time period; a hundred pythag wins and the first of only three pennants we've won to the date of this writing. 

1963 (90-62)
C Bailey 3.2/3.2
1B Cepeda 7/5.2(new best 1B season)
2B Hiller -.4/-.9
SS Pagan -.4/.5
3B Davenport -.4/.5
LF McCovey 6.1/6(new best LF season)
CF Mays 11.3/10.2(new best CF season)
RF F Alou 4.6/4.8(new best RF season)
C Haller 2.7/2.6
P Marichal 9.1/7.8(new best pitching season)
   Sanford 3.7/2.5
   O'Dell 3.8/2.9
   Larsen 1.5/1
   Duffalo 1.4/1
Cl Pierce 0/0

-The 3rd best overall season of the 60s, it's Mays in '63 - this is a real stars/scrubs team, look at all the production from Cepeda/McCovey/Marichal and then look at the rest of the infield - Hiller is sub replacement level and Pagan/Davenport aren't any better.  Not hard to see where upgrades could have been made in '63.  This is all time frustrating "why didn't they fill those holes" team.

1964 (89-73)
C Haller 3.2/2.8
1B Cepeda 4.1/4.2
2B Lanier 2.7/.7
SS Pagan -1.4/-1.3
3B Hart 5.1/4.9(new best 3B season)
LF McCovey .5/-.3
CF Mays 11.2/10.7(new best CF season)
RF J Alou -.3/0
LF Kuenn -1/-.4
CF Snider -.6/-.7
RF M Alou -.1/.5
P Marichal 7/5.8
   Bolin 2.7/2.4
   Hendley 2.2/1.5
   Herbel 2.2/1.5
   Sanford 1.8/1.5
   Perry 5.6/4.8
   Duffalo 1.6/1.3
   Pierce 1.4/1.6
Cl Shaw .5/.2

-Best season of the decade for Mays; the best third base season until Hart passes it himself in '66; the best pitching season as of this point was Marichal's the year before - this was second.  Pagan and Jesus Alou both below replacement. 

1965 (91-71)
C Haller 2.9/2.3
1B McCovey 5.4/5.5
2B Lanier -.4/-1.1
SS Schofield -.4/-.5
3B Hart 3/3.2
LF Gabrielson 1.5/1.3
CF Mays 10.9/10.9
RF J. Alou 1.2/2
RF M Alou -.9/-1.1
P Marichal 11.4/10.1(new best pitched season)
   Shaw 5/4.7
   Perry .5/-.2
   Sanford .1/-.4
   Spahn .7/.5
   Bolin 5.1/4.3
   Herbel 1.1/.7
   Murakami 1.1/1
Cl Linzy 4.6/3.9

-19 bleeping 65.  91 pythag wins is really good - but look what happened here, the second best season overall in the decade (Mays) the best pitching season of the decade (Marichal) - add in the best season for a closer in the decade (Linzy) and you'd like to play in the postseason.  But Schofield's sub replacement, Lanier is at the line, the two Alou's continue to most pointless of all sports dynasties.  But Cepeda got hurt and there's Gabrielson/Peterson giving us nothing in left (while the Alou's give us less than that in right).  Hard not to look in hindsight at '65 as one that got away.

1966 (86-75)
C Haller 2.4/3.2
1B McCovey 8.4/5.7(new best 1B season)
2B Lanier .3/-.7
SS Fuentes 1.3/.6
3B Hart 4.9/6.4(best 3b season)
LF Gabrielson -1.9/-.1.1
CF Mays 8/8.8
RF Brown -2/-.9
3B Davenport .8/1.1
RF J Alou -2.9/-2
P Marichal 10.6/9.5
   Perry 6.1/4.7
   Bolin 4.8/4.3
   Herbel -.1/-.8
   Sadecki -1.4/-1.6
   McDaniel 2.3/1.4
Cl Linzy 2.2/1.2

-You cant really look at this Mays season and see slippage, but this is just an ordinary great player year as opposed to an all-time season - and '66 becomes the first year that Mays wasn't the best player on the club (Marichal). It's the second best pitching season of the era - and the best third base season, as Hart continued his solid play - it was also, to that date, the best first base year, as McCovey starts to gear up now - and so does Perry as the number two starter.  But look at the corner OF - they're sub replacement and so are their backups.  Add the replacement level middle infielders and you can really see the picture of mid 60s Giants baseball forming - MVP seasons in Mays/Marichal - really solid supporting work led by McCovey - and then some terrible baseball by most of the rest of the lineup.

1967 (93-69)
C Haller 4.3/3.7(best catching season)
1B McCovey 6.3/4.9
2B Fuentes 1.8/1.2
SS Lanier 2.4/1.7
3B Hart 4.8/5.6
LF J Alou -1.3/0.2
CF Mays 3.8/4.2
RF Brown -.3/1.5
C Dietz 1/.5
    Hiatt 1.4/1.5
3B Davenport 3.1/3.4
LF Cline .2/1.1
CF Henderson -.1/-1.1
P Perry 6.4/5.1
   McCormick 5.9/3.9
   Marichal 3.2/2
   Sadecki 4/3.1
Cl Linzy 4.5/3.2

10 years Down.  Here's the All Time SFG Team:
C Haller '67
1B McCovey '66
2B Hiller '62
SS Spencer '58
3B Hart '66
LF McCovey '63
CF Mays '64
RF Alou '63
P Marichal '65
Cl Linzy '65

-Catching has never been a SFG strong suit, but Haller had some good enough years; this was the best - the best catching season in the 60s.  More importantly - even though he finished 3rd in the MVP vote, we see the Mays decline; the best Giant in '67 was Gaylord, Jim Ray Hart was second, McCovey third and then Mays - they all had similar good, solid, but unspectacular seasons - '67 is the year Mays became just another good guy, on what was the second best Giants team of the decade.

1968  (90-72)
C Dietz 1.2/1
1B McCovey 6.9/6.9
2B Hunt 5.7/4.6(best second base season)
SS Lanier 1.3/-.2
3B Hart 2.9/2.7
LF Cline -1.6/-.1
CF Mays 6.4/6.1
RF J Alou -1.4/-.9
C Hiatt 2.1/1.7
3B Davenport -.3/.1
RF Bo. Bonds 1.9/2.8
P Marichal 7.3/5.4
   Perry 6.3/4.7
   Sadecki 3.2/2.2
   McCormick -.3/-.4
   Bolin 5.3/4.5
Cl Linzy 2.5/1.8

-Hunt joins the club - and look, a middle infielder who can actually play - this is the best second base season of the decade.  Mays rebounds a bit, but it's McCovey, who, by a narrow margin beats him out for best player - and, of course,we have sub replacement value corner outfielders in Alou and Cline - but Bobby Bonds, in part time, gives us a glimpse.

1969 (89-73)
C Dietz 2.5/1.9
1B McCovey 8.2/7.9(best 1B season)
2B Hunt 4.4/4.1
SS Lanier 1.6/.6
3B Davenport -.1/-.4
LF Marshall -1.1/-.6
CF Mays 1.9/3
RF Bonds 5.6/6.3(best RF season)
C Hiatt 2.3/1.6
SS Fuentes 1/1.4
P Perry 7.6/6.2
   Marichal 9.3/7.5
   McCormick 3.3/2.4
   Bolin -.1/-.2
   Sadecki .6/0
Cl Linzy .6/.7

-There's no doubt as the decade closes - McCovey's the best player, this is the best first base season of the decade - Mays is behind Marichal (the third best pitching season of the decade, all by him), Perry (his best season of the decade), Bonds (with the best RF season of the decade), and even Hunt.  Davenport gets back his starting job 5 years after turning it over to Hart - and he and the LF Marshall are sub replacement.

Here's the SFG 25 Man Roster for the 50s/60s.
C Haller '67
    Haller '62
1B McCovey '69
     McCovey '66
2B Hunt '68
     Hunt '69
SS Spencer '58
      Lanier '67
3B Hart '66
      Hart '67
LF McCovey '63
     Cepeda '61
CF Mays '64
      Mays '65
RF Bonds '69 
    F.Alou '63
P Marichal '65
   Marichal '66
   Marichal '63
   Marichal '69
   Marichal '64
   Perry '69
   Marichal '68
Cl Linzy '65
    Linzy '67
   
         

2010 MLB All Star Rosters + Midyear Thoughts

Close enough to 81 games in - this is the third and final look at my 2010 MLB All-Star rosters.

I'll select an actual DH for the AL team, as that's how it's listed on the ballot.  21 position players for each league, 13 pitchers, every team represented.  My picks are solely based on the first half of the 2010 season; there are other approaches one could take. 

AL Starters
C J.Mauer (Min)
1B J.Morneau (Min)
2B R. Cano (NY) - MVP
SS A.Gonzalez (Tor)
3B E.Longoria (TB)
LF C.Crawford (TB)
CF F.Gutierrez (Sea)
RF J.Hamilton (Tex)
DH V.Guerrero (Tex)
P R.Romero (Tor) - Cy

Reserves
C. J.Jaso (TB) J. Molina (Tor)
1B K.Youkilis (Bos) M. Cabrera (Det)
2B D. Pedroia (Bos -Inj) (Injury Replacement - B. Zobrist TB)
SS E. Andrus (Tex) C. Pennington (Oak)
3B A.Beltre (Bos) A. Rodriguez (NY)
OF B. Boesch (Det) D.Dejesus (KC) A. Rios (Chi)

-Wells gets screwed here, given the need to get Rios on the squad. 

P C. Buchholz (Bos)
    J. Lester (Bos)
    C. Pavano (Min)
    D. Price (TB)
    S. Marcum (Tor)
    J. Verlander (Det)
    J.Weaver (LA)
    C. Lewis (Tex)
    F. Carmona (Cle)
    J. Guthrie (Balt)

RP    J. Valverde (Det)
         M. Rivera (NY)

NL Starters
C M.Olivo (Col)
1B A.Gonzalez (SD)
2B M.Prado (Atl)
SS T.Tulowitzki (Col - Inj)
3B D.Wright (NY) - MVP
LF M.Holliday (StL)
CF A.McCutcheon (Pit)
RF J.Willingham (Was)
DH A.Pujols (StL)
P U.Jimenez (Col) -Cy

Reserves
C. B.McCann (Atl) I.Rodriguez (Was)
1B A.Huff (SF) J.Votto (Cin)
2B C.Utley (Phi-injured) R.Weeks (Mil) J.Uribe (SF - Injury Replacement)
SS R.Furcal (LA - Replacement Starter) H. Ramirez (FL - Injury Replacement)
3B S.Rolen (Cin) R.Zimmerman (Was)
OF A.Pagan (NY) A.Torres (SF) M.Byrd (Chi)

-Werth and Braun are both having representative years; in fact each has jumped Byrd since I put this together two days ago, and obviously both are better players.  So, I'll take Braun now for that last spot.

P J.Johnson (FL)
   Y.Gallardo (Mil)
   T.Hudson (Atl)
   A.Wainwright (StL)
   R.Halladay (Phi)
   M. Pelfrey (NY)
   L.Hernandez (Was)
   R.Oswalt (Hou)
   R.Dempster (Chi)

RP B.Wagner (Atl)
      T.Clippard (Was)

-Garcia has jumped Oswalt and Dempster, but those are the only reps for the Astros and Cubs (now that I replaced Byrd). 

My spring training picks are here.  I had the Phils winning the NL East with the Braves taking the WC - at the halfway point Atlanta looks to be the side in the East and while the Phils still have the horses to come from the outside and take the WC - were I to pick right now it would be the Reds (about whom I wrote "they aren't a wild card contender").  Picking the Reds to win the WC means that I think St Louis wins the Central, as did I in the spring.  I liked the Rox to win my West in the spring - but now I am foresquarely in the camp of the Padres, for whom you can still get a really good price if you are interested in investing. 

In the spring I thought the 3 best teams in baseball were in the AL East (and still do) I said, largely just because you had to pick someone, that it would be the Yanks who missed the playoffs.  But now they look like the strongest team to come out - the Boston injuries have been overwhelming, and I'll say the Pedroia/Martinez combo means they stay home in October, with the Rays getting the WC (but it's still close).

I picked the Twins to edge out the Tigers in the spring - and it's a coin flip but I'll still say they will.  And I liked Texas to win the West and it's basically a lock. 

I'm currently in second place in two of my fantasy leagues, and in first in my NL only league.  I was in last in the AL league for the first month, so I'm sort of pleased with how I've played.  I'm a distant second in the mixed league, the guy in first has had a chokehold on it all season.

1st and Ten: The Weekly Tendown. June 20-26 2010, NBA Draftdown

Dear Internet:

Are you like me, Internet?

If you're like me, at 11:00 Thursday night you were watching the DVR'd 2010 NBA Draft, taking notes in order to write some version of a humorous draft blog such as I did  with the '82-91 drafts. And when the sixth pick arrived for your lifelong favorite NBA franchise, the Golden St. Warriors, you shouted from your brand new couch at your brand new television:

Take Greg Monroe.  Do not take Udoh.  Do not take Udoh.  Do not take Udoh.  Monroe is a sweet passing big man; he's Andrew Bogut; when we mistakenly sell low on Biedrins at least we'll have Monroe to fall back on.  Udoh is a 23 year old junior.  Do not take Udoh.

The Warriors are about to be sold, for those of you unaware; and it feels sort of like a foreclosure, like Cohan and Nellie are stripping the place of the copper wiring before the bank takes possession. 

If you're like me, that's the joke you wrote at 11:00 Thursday night.

Right after we took Udoh.

Let's get to Tendown 32.  NBA Draftdown!

First:  No One Enjoys Being Booed as Much as David Stern
The New York fans opened the draft by booing David Stern like he was leaving the oil soaked Gulf Coast to go check out some yacht races.  He clearly digs it; Simmons used the Vince McMahon reference in his draft blog, so I'll scratch it from my notes, but I did expect him to follow up his introduction about the draftees coming to the NBA to "compete against the best basketball players" with the coda "and also the Knicks."

Vince got sued this week, incidentally - Owen's widow apparently hasn't been getting residuals for the 30 some odd DVDs in which he's appeared since his death.  Which I'm thinking is it's less oversight than Vince saying something to the effect of - "we're never writing that woman a single check."  'Cause, instead of, you know, coming on RAW the night after WWF negligence killed her husband to shoot a Melanie Pillman angle, she took 18 million from their insurance company in an out of court wrongful death settlement.

Don't vote for Linda, Connecticut.  You'll regret it. 

I don't know what Vince's or Stern's favorability ratings would be - but they'd be higher than BP's.  This week's NBC/Wall St. Journal poll has BP being viewed favorably by 6% of Americans (Joe Barton presumably has apologized for the poll as well) .  The only lower scores in poll history were Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro, and Yasser Arafat (Udoh has yet be similarly scrutinized). 

Meanwhile, a Republican congressman took the House floor to claim that Obama's securing a 20 billion dollar escrow account from the fourth most unpopular entity in the history of the NBC News poll was just like, wait for it, wait for it...Hitler. 

You know who else is just like Hitler?  Don Nelson.  Don Nelson and Chris Cohan and Larry Riley and the entire Golden St. franchise.  Just like Hitler.  No difference.  Exactly the same.  I'm gonna tea party that GSW ass.

After the jump, the rest of the Tendown.

TBOR Athlete of the Month - June 2010 (plus 1995 recap)

John Isner.  Runners-up Garrett Wittels, Rafael Nadal, Kobe Bryant.

Isner joins the other 5 nominees in our race for Athlete of the Year. I had Kobe penciled in for the month, but an 11 hour tennis match is an undeniable feat. 

The year's half over; I guess I'd lean Brees as the current leader.  I took notes on the lottery last night and will put up a draft blog time permitting. 

Here's 1995:

1995 Athlete of the Year: Hakeem Olajuwon (AP picked Ripken)
January - Steve Young (Tommie Frazier, Natrone Means, Eric Davis)
February - Rebecca Lobo (Shaquille O'Neal, Jaromir Jagr, Sterling Marlin)
March - Tyus Edney (Randolph Childress, Corliss Williamson, Ed O'Bannon)
April - Ben Crenshaw (David Robinson, Eric Lindros, Michael Jordan)
May - Hakeem Olajuwon (Reggie Miller, Penny Hardaway, Martin Brodeur)
June - Martin Brodeur (Steffi Graf, Hakeem Olajuwon, Hideo Nomo)
July - Steffi Graf (Ramon Martinez, John Daly, Michael Schumacher)
August - Michael Johnson (Mo Vaughn, Monica Seles, Leland McElroy)
September - Cal Ripken (Danny Wuerffel, Emmitt Smith, Albert Belle)
October - Tom Glavine (Randy Johnson, Chipper Jones, Orel Hershiser)
November - Brett Favre (Eddie George, Danny Wuerffel, Mario Lemieux)
December - Jerry Rice (Glyn Milburn, Herman Moore, Byron Hanspard)

612

What kinda day is it when the greatest defensive football player who ever lived gets indicted for statutory rape and it's not even the second biggest sports story of the day?

I'm in between houses, he says euphemistically; my stuff is split between old and new home; I'm sleeping in a bed so small my queen size memory foam is doubled in half in order to fit, and one of the handful of personal items not currently boxed up somewhere, a public speaking trophy I won the summer between high school and undergrad, punctured my thumb - coincidentally enough, the same thumb (the back of my right) which still bears a blackened discoloration from a pencil stabbing incident in 1983.

But I do have a new TV.  And couch.  And cable.

And this morning, I was able to sit to watch my first sporting events in the new digs.

Landon Donovan.  And then the longest tennis match ever played (and that was just the fifth set).

A set so long I had an end of the quarter faculty meeting that began while it was underway and ended before the match was called for darkness.

You know how on Survivor they'll do those endurance challenges, and every few seasons there will be some ridiculous battle where two women hang by their thumbs on bamboo sticks for eleven hours?

This was that.  Except instead if being for a million dollars, it's the first round.  You can read a Guardian live blog from the match.  It's the best thing you'll read all week.  Can a live blog win a Pulitzer?

On Court 18 a match is not won and lost; it is just played out infinitely, deeper and deeper into a fifth and final set as the numbers rack up and the terrain turns uncharted. Under the feet of John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, the grass is growing. Before long they will be playing in a jungle and when they sit down at the change of ends, a crocodile will come to menace them.

In order to stay upright and keep their strength, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut have now started eating members of the audience. They trudge back to the baseline, gnawing on thigh-bones and sucking intestines. They have decided that they will stay on Court 18 until every spectator is eaten. Only then, they say, will they consider ending their contest.


What's going on here? Once, long ago, I think that this was a tennis match. I believe it was part of a wider tennis tournament, somewhere in south-west London, and the winner of this match would then go on to face the winner of another match and, if he won that, the winner of another match. And so on until he reached the final and, fingers crossed, he won the title.



That, at least, is what this spectacle on Court 18 used to be; what it started out as. It's not that anymore and hasn't been for a few hours now. I'm not quite sure what it is, but it is long and it's horrifying and it's very long to boot. Is it death? I think it might be death.

What happens if we steal their rackets? If we steal their rackets, the zombies can no longer hit their aces and thump their backhands and keep us all prisoner on Court 18. I'm shocked that this is only occurring to me now. Will nobody run onto the court and steal their rackets? Are they all too scared of the zombies' clutching claws and gore-stained teeth? Steal their rackets and we can all go home. Who's with me? Steal their rackets and then run for the tube.


The longest match in Wimbledon history was 112 games.  This fifth set is longer.  The longest grand slam championship ever was last year's Wimbledon final, 77 games.  This fifth set is longer.  By 40 games. 

They've both broken the record - by about 20 - for most aces in a match.  The fifth set has had 612 points.

It's the most remarkable thing we'll see all year.  And on a day when the US made it to the round of 16 in the World Cup (and into a game that could be described as winnable against Ghana) with an extra time goal by Landon Donovan.

Throw in the Marlins firing their manager for his outrageous comments in Rolling Stone and CP3 saying he'd be open to a trade to Golden St for Charlie Bell and Dan Gadzuric, and it was quite the sports day.

I may be confused there.

On the draft - I want Cousins, but assuming he's gone at #6, I'm willing to take Monroe.  I don't see any other positive outcome for GSW if neither of those things happened come Friday morning (Udoh's a mistake; I don't think Wes Johnson falls but he looks like a bust to me and I don't want anything to do with him).  I'm glad, incidentally, my cable/internet are working - I've seen every NBA Draft, either live or through some type of taping mechanism, since 1992, when I took a date to a drive in movie showing of Basic Instinct (hard to communicate, in the pre-Internet, pre-Britney Spears getting out of limos, pre-giant TVs on which you can watch the World Cup era how startling that leg crossing police interrogation scene was to see at a drive in movie theater) and I'll be able to watch this year's.  Bit of a jump ball about who had a better night in June of '92, me, Michael Douglas, or the Wizard Walt Williams.  That's my new answer to the question, "if you could have dinner with any 2 people, living or dead, who would they be?"  Michael Douglas and Walt Williams. 

I don't have any tables.  Or food.  But there's a giant TV and probably that tennis match will still be on.