Sunday, Random Sunday: Strange Things are Afoot at the Circle K

Bill King. I have typed that name in various places (email, facebook, newballpark.org and here) with regularity lately. It gets old for everyone I am sharing his name with, I am sure. But today's reminder... Vote for Bill King on the National Baseball Hall of Fame facebook profile page. Voting is winding down and if my informal tracking method is correct, Bill, along with Jaques Doucet and Tom Cheek, will be on the ballot that other Ford C. Frick award winners, and a select committee, will use to select the next winner.

But does it matter? This will be the third consecutive season that Cheek and Doucet will finish in the top 3 and they have yet to win the award. Bill King has been the top vote getter before and still no Frick Award.

I have been encouraged that the A's have been campaigning on Bill's behalf. It is something I thought they should have been doing for a while. Let's hope that they have a list of people who will be voting and that they have prepared a highlight reel of Bill's best calls to send to each of those voters. Bill belongs in Cooperstown.

/endsoapbox

Now for some randomness:

• Watching Chris Carter struggle has been hard, but I am not all that worried. I keep watching his futility at the plate and thinking of Brad Ziegler. We all love Ziggy, and he is a solid Major League reliever, but his record breaking scoreless streak to start a career is sort of the equal and opposite reaction to Carter's whiff-o-matic start. I don't think is a stretch to say that when all is said and done, Carter will have had the better career. Besides, he is going yard today.
• Bud, it's been 18 months. Come on, already.
• Watching the scoreboard on my Yahoo! Sportacular iPhone App this week has me thinking back to 2000. The Braves, Phillies, Giants, Padres and Rockies are reminding me of the A's, Mariners, Indians, Red Sox and Yankees. I wonder if this years NL race will come down to the final day of the season and if so, which teams will still have a shot? Whoever it eventually is, they won't have Olemdo Saenz to hit a big home run and send the crowd into a frenzy waiting for Jason Isringhausen to send the A's back to the promised land with a called third strike. Oh how bright the future seemed back then.

See you at game time...