MLB.com Has Hip, Timely Music Connections

Leitch — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 11:10:05 EDT

A few bewildered thoughts after watching Elton John hanging out with the Atlanta Braves on MLB.com.

• Elton John is a huge fan of the Atlanta Braves. Really.

• John Schuerholz doesn't seem to know who Elton John is. And there was no way they were dragging Bobby Cox to this thing.

• Christ, what the hell happened to Mark Lemke?

• MLB.com's video editing capabilities appear to rival those at Six Flags, the ones where you could make your very own music video, complete with "special effects."

• Any baseball player who claims "Bennie And The Jets" is his favorite song probably loses any right to talk about anything else, ever. We'd give good money to see someone use this as their at-bat music, though.

• MLB.com has great ad copywriters: The whole thing is meant to promote Elton's — sorry, Sir Elton's — new DVD, which they call, "the most anticipated Elton John DVD release in recent memory." Well, jeez, if you can't remember any better, shucks, let's get it!

• Other than that, it was great. Totally about baseball, relevant and timely.

Elton John Goes To Bat With The Braves [MLB.com]

It's Important That You Remember That Roger Clemens Is Your Savior

Leitch — Mon, 07 May 2007 11:00:06 EDT

Last week, Curt Schilling was accused of self-aggrandizing ego worship for supposedly painting blood on his sock, or whatever it was. Schilling's impassioned defense of his own heroism was both absolutely correct — the man has a right to defend himself against false claims — and completely fitting, because it allowed Schilling to further do what he does almost as well as he pitches: Promote his own legend.

But Schilling, as skilled at self-inflation as he is, has nothing on Roger Clemens, who somehow conflated a Lou Gehrig moment for himself yesterday, a moment all the more pleasing for him because he didn't have to, you know, actually be dying. Clemens is the master of playing the prettiest girl at the prom, but yesterday might have been the most egregious example yet: Clemens really did fancy himself a god.

And gods do not come cheaply. Darren Rovell at CNBC has calculated Clemens' ridiculous salary, and discovered it makes no financial sense at all for the Yankees, even if they do make the playoffs. Clemens, when you do all the salary math, will make $8,888 a pitch; no amount of playoff ticketing and extra Clemens-ecstatic last-minute sales can make up that amount.

But Roger Clemens gets to feel like the conquering savior, and he gets to do it live. That 45-year-old arm better still have tons of oomph left, because yesterday's masturbatory construction is going to look awfully silly if he doesn't turn the Yankees around. Or, say, if he forgets that baseball's still steroid testing. Let's hope it doesn't turn into his "Mission: Accomplished" moment.

Financially, Clemens Makes No Sense [CNBC]
Welcome Back To The AL, You Fat Egomanic [Babes Love Baseball]
Ignorance Has Its Privileges [38 Pitches]

Deadspin: the bitch is back

MLB.com Has Hip, Timely Music Connections

It's Important That You Remember That Roger Clemens Is Your Savior