Much like Don Flamenco in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!, Rich "El Guapo" Garces has returned. He was not kidnapped. He went to the beach. For ten days. I hope he packed a picnic basket. Actually, I'm quite sure he packed several. According to this story (in Spanish), which my dad translated for me, the family just thought he was kidnapped since he often spoke of his fear of being kidnapped.

Good to hear that El Guapo is okay, and all the good-natured fat jokes can continue as normal.

About Rich Gedman: Dirtdog recently spoke of Stanley and Gedman's "coming undone" in Game 6 of the '86 Series. This, as you can read elsewhere on his site, is because he's very pro-Buckner, and is always looking for other people to blame for Game 6. I'm like him in that way, meaning I'm totally pro-Buckner, and I've always been a little hard on McNamara on this one, but to just blame any player is stupid, as all of them helped to get the team to where they were. To blame Geddy, specifically, is ridiculous. He was key in Game 5 of the ALCS, going 4 for 4 with a home run. And after a grueling year of catching, including calling Clemens' 20 K game, I can't fault him for missing that horrible pitch by Stanley. Gedman seems to be getting the full brunt of it from the "We're smart enough to know it wasn't Buckner's fault" crowd. He's like the scapegoat for people who aren't satisfied with the scapegoat.

My letter to the New Haven Advocate in response to the idiot yankee fan who was sure the Red Sox have only won 2 championships WAS published this week, so I heard from my cousin, who saw the paper. But their website isn't loading right now, so I'll post a link to it when I can find it.