No, it sounded a lot snappier when Mike Myers said it on SNL.

Nah, it sounded pretty awkward from the get-go. But then I was like, “why should I try again?” and rolled with it.

I’m interested in Tim Kawakami being a tool.

Exactly. Though it needs the same sound effects

I think he ducks too late intentionally – “For the people.”

Yes, I know, entirely different game. But at least the bat + ball concept isn’t completely foreign.

Yes, baseball is still in its infancy in China (even infancy seems too advanced to describe the stage they are at right now…how about pregnancy?), but to me that seems like the best time to get involved. If the Giants helped promote and encourage the growth of baseball in China now our influence would be firmly cemented by the time it started producing quality players. China participated in the Olympics and the WBC, the Dodgers played Spring Training games there last year, it’s only a matter of time until they have professional baseball in China. We should get in now while the competition is minimal.

Obviously we should pay the most attention to Japan and then Korea and Taiwan, but we shouldn’t rule out China or to a lessor degree India. The Pirates signed two Indian pitchers recently, whether that have any success or not is still in the air, but it shows that the potential does exist out there.

Matsuzaka is an ultra-uber celebrity in Japan. The entire country is obsessed with him. I was in Japan last year during the World Series. The Japan Series was also going on at that time, but nobody seemed to care about it. The games that Daisuke pitched were televised nationally and were on in every bar, restaurant, coffee shop, electronics store…anywhere with a TV. There were signs posted everywhere with his picture and some words of encouragement. You could buy Red Sox apparel pretty much anywhere you went. It was insane. By signing him (and paying 50 million for the rights to sign him) the Red Sox cemented a sphere of influence that will be very hard to break. Did you read why Tazawa chose to sign with the Red Sox instead of the Rangers?
 
“The Red Sox signed their third pitcher from Japan on Thursday, adding right-handed amateur Junichi Tazawa to an organization that already included Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima. Tazawa said he spoke to his countrymen before signing the $3.3 million, three-year deal and was impressed with the way the organization had helped them acclimate to the United States.”

Here’s Theo Epstein’s comment on it:

"We certainly hoped and considered the fact that signing Daisuke would allow us to establish a heightened presence in Japan and around the world, and that someday there might be some ancillary benefits."

Obviously it worked. Sabean chose to throw away 120 million on someone who had thrown lots of pitches in the major leagues. How did that turn out?

Sometimes gambles pay off and sometimes seemingly good choices become total busts. Kudos to the Red Sox for taking smart risks, I hope it’s something the Giants can learn to do as well. It’s not going to work in every case (ask the Cubs) but that doesn’t mean we should ignore the market over there.

AND take Jeremy Brown 6th overall

and what’s Scott Hatteburg up to these days? Surely he can be the 09 Klesko.

Sabean’s shit doesn’t work in the playoffs.