Two Parts Awful, One Part Awesome

That pretty much describes the entirety of what you can find at Everything Is Terrible. They specialize in mash ups of embarrassing instructional videos, repetitive promotional videos, obnoxious videos attempting to tell you how to be funny, anti-drug videos so unrealistic that they border on propaganda, ridiculous religious videos, awful 80's movies, and apparently even do really strange live shows.

Well I bring them up because they recently found a baseball video that takes the most annoying components of Scooter the talking fastball and the cheesiest parts of Tom Emanski's videos and compressed it down into two and a half very terrible minutes.

And to make up for how painful that was to watch, here is my favorite EIT creation, which isolates the part in every infomercial where the narrator essentially asks "Are you tired of...?":

Being A-Rod

TMZ's hook for this video is that A-Rod got out of a parking ticket in NYC - which in my experience is not possible after a cop starts writing you a ticket, those dirty liars - but it's also an interesting glimpse into what it's like to be a A-Rod in New York nowadays.

This is just a little snapshot into A-Rod's life, and I'm sure there aren't always weirdos with cameras recording his every move, but you've gotta believe he causes a fair commotion where ever he goes, especially as of late. That kind of attention has be tough for anyone to handle.

He's doesn't appear to be stingy about giving out autographs, which I've heard in the past. It looks like a waiter brought him a ball to sign (which are suddenly becoming a whole lot more valuable) and he obliged. Outside, he scribbled his John Hancock one of the school kids' $20 bills.

You can bet that this time last year, people weren't telling him that he was terrific. They certainly weren't wishing him good luck like the old woman at the end of the clip did. Nothing like a meaningful October in The City.

Sidenote: There are a few of Serafinas in Manhattan, and by the looks of it, I'd guess that's the one Madison Ave (I've been to the one on 55th and Broadway a couple of times). Nice Northern Italian fare at pretty reasonable prices. I'd recommend it.

Joba's Workouts

Not the first name that comes to mind when you think of ESPN The Magazine's "Body Issue" but they have a quick video of Mr. Chamberlain doing some running around the Oakland Coliseum as part of his training regiment. There's also a picture and a quick blurb of you go here and click on number 4.

I'm with Joba on this one. When I go running, I always try to mix up the terrain and scenery to keep it interesting. When I lived on the Upper West Side I would hit up The Ramble in Central Park while everyone else ran the prescribed loops that encircled it. Likewise, why run laps in the outfield when the stands in every park are unique? It gives you the freedom to alter the route as you go, the downside is that pretty much impossible to keep track of how far you've ran. But I think we can agree that any amount of running is an improvement over this Joba.

A Mystery Fit For A Sultan

Over at the New York Times, they have a story about a short bit of footage of Babe Ruth that recently was discovered by an elderly man some among home videos in New Hampshire and donated the Major League Baseball Film and Video Archive (where our buddy Schiff is currently working):

The latest Babe Ruth film, unseen publicly until now, is part of a 90-second clip shot from the first-base stands at Yankee Stadium. There is no sound. But there are sweeping views of the park. And there is Ruth, obvious by his shape and waddle.

He is shown in right field, hands on his knees, glove on his right hand. To a casual fan, it appears unremarkable. But it represents the archive’s only game action of Ruth playing in the outfield — where he spent more than 2,200 games — other than a between-innings game of catch.

According to the article, there is no known film of Ruth pitching for Boston or doing anything more than warming up to pitch for the Yankees, either. Only a very small amount of footage of Ruth is know to exist (about an hour's worth), and given his immense popularity and the scarcity of it, when a new piece turns up, it's a pretty big deal.

Even though the film comes with no date and no sound, they've been able to deduce a decent amount of clues from it, based on the flag pole in centerfield, dimensions of and advertisements the outfield walls, lack of numbers on the jerseys, time of day, size of the crowd, positioning of the Yankees' dugout, batter on deck and the fact that Ruth struck out looking.

There's some interesting discussion starting over here on the Bats blog (and as always over here) as to what the footage can tell us, but the archivists think that it might be from one of the first two games of the 1928 World Series against the Cardinals. You can watch just the original film at the Bats Blog or a report about the MLB Archive with the main article. Check it out.

YOUK GETS FACKIN' LAID THE FACK OUT!!!1!1!!

[I had to take a bunch of screen grabs and turn them into a movie file, so I apologize for the choppy quality.]

Quick thoughts in no particular order:

• For a guy that has been hit by 52 pitches in his career and hangs over the plate like he's drunk at a urinal, Youk sure takes getting hit pretty personally.
  
  
• You have to appreciate any baseball fight where the two combatants actually make contact with each other.
  
  
• I appreciate this one even more for obvious reasons.
  
  
• Youk really threw his helmet at Porcello? I mean, it's better than keeping your catcher's mask on like a certain pussy on the Red Sox I'm thinking of, but that's pretty weak.
  
  
• Porcello has his arms up and backs away like he wants nothing to do with the fight, but ends up tossing Youk anyway. Well done, sir. Nominee for the Fack Youk Hall of Fame? We shall see...

Enjoy your suspensions, gentlemen!