I haven't done anything like this in many years, and the fact that I am doing it now is a tribute to my obsession with this particular woman, and my isolation. I am old, alone, and sometimes lonely. Due to some recent setbacks, I have chosen to minimize my social contacts, to the degree that 90% of the people I interact with are grocery store clerks and the people who work at my favorite liquor store. 

I saw this woman when I was buying Penthouse in the 70's. She was Pet of the Month in October 1974, and had an arresting look. Long, black, curly hair all the way down her back, a beautiful face, and of course, an alluring body. She was lovely but not a favorite at the time. Her name is Laura Doone.

She next appeared in Penthouse as the Pet of the Year in 1976, with her appearance somewhat changed. Most of her hair was gone. She now wore her hair in a cloud of curls surrounding her face, and only going down to her shoulders. The rest was the same. Beautiful face, arresting eyes, and a sexy, curvy body.

Again, I found her warm, beautiful and desirable. But it has only been in the last few years I find myself constantly drawn to her pictures. Just pictures, sine Penthouse did not start shooting videos of their models for several years later. See what you think.

 

Pitching

It's how every play starts, and the game can't begin  until the pitcher delivers the ball. There has been much talk in the last 25 years or so about pitch counts, innings limits, and Tommy John operations. I pitched in Little League, Babe Ruth League, and high school. 20 years later, when adult amateur leagues began forming around the country, I started playing again, and pitched for 17 more seasons. Over the course of those years I learned a lot, about pitching, about myself as a person and a competitor, and about the game. I learned that most hitters give themselves away, in terms of where they want the ball, and what they can and can't handle, simply by where they stand in the batter's box, where they position their feet, and where they hold the bat, high or low. For instance, a right-handed batter, standing off the plate, in a closed stance, hands at his waist, is looking to drive a belt-high or higher pitch, on the outside half, to right or right-center. Conversely, a hitter who crowds the plate, open stance, hands high, is looking to turn on an inside pitch at the thighs or below.
I had the immense pleasure of being able to go to a fantasy camp for three years, 1999, 2000, and 2001. During those years I was able to talk about pitching with men like Dick Radatz, Gary Bell, Bill Lee, Dave Boswell, Jim McAndrew, Mike Caldwell, Bert Blyleven, and others. One of the things I learned from them is that much of pitching, even at the Major League level, is trial and error. You may have read the story about Mariano Rivera "discovering" his cutter in a bullpen session. According to the pitchers I talked to, there is nothing unusual about this. When they have throwing sessions in the bullpen during spring training, or between games, they try different pitches, different grips, different finger pressures, and sometimes discover a career-changing pitch.
Everyone knows a curve is supposed to spin, but how that spin is applied is unique to each pitcher. Talking to Blyleven, Bell, Lee, Radatz, etc., there was nothing close to a consensus about what grip to use or how to release anything other than a fastball, because everyone has different size hands, fingers, etc. Many great pitchers have some kind of physical anomaly that helps them to succeed, from Walter Johnson's long arms, that allowed him to throw his fastball like cracking a whip, or Pedro Martinez's long fingers and large hands, allowing him to impart extra spin on his curves and sliders. For me, my wrists are oversized, which allowed me to get more spin on my curve, which was my best pitch.
Something else I talked about with the pitchers at camp was pitching mechanics. I was taught from a young age to throw everything straight overhand, be able to stop at any point in my motion and be balanced, and finish facing the hitter, ready to field my position. All of that seems to have been cast aside now, as most pitchers fall off toward first or third, and often wind up with their asses facing the hitter, unable to field even the weakest of balls hit back up the middle.
Why no one chooses to emulate Greg Maddux, who embodied every principle about being balanced, finishing facing the hitter, and who won 354 games without a 95 mph fastball, eludes me. No pitcher with less obvious physical gifts has achieved this level of success.
Let's talk about pitch counts and innings limits for a few minutes. Every pitcher scouted and signed in the last 30 years or so has been subject to such limitations, in a misguided attempt to limit injuries, which affect pitchers more than at any time in the game's history. Trying to find a pitcher on any major league staff who has not had a Tommy John operation is like finding a needle in a haystack.
Whatever is your particular primary skill, did you get better at it by doing it less? Taking less BP, taking fewer grounders, shagging fewer fly balls? But somehow pitchers are supposed to improve, even though they are removed arbitrarily all through their minor league "development" at some pitch limit, regardless of the game situation. They don't learn to pitch out of their own jams in the minors, so how could anyone expect them to be able to do so when they get to the majors?
When I was a young man, and I'd get to watch pitchers like Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, and others less skilled, they clearly started each game with the intent to finish it, and with a game plan to get each hitter out 3 or 4 times if necessary. Jim Palmer, still doing Orioles games, used to talk about the "variable chance fastball." Meaning that you don't throw every fastball at maximum velocity, you vary speed, adding on, taking off. If your maximum velocity is 95, over the course of a game you'll throw a certain percentage at 95, some at 92, some at 90, some 88, some 85. Pitching is all about disrupting the hitter's timing. Just ask Bartolo Colon.
There is occasional talk about baseball's unbreakable records, and many cite DiMaggio's hitting streak, presumably because he was a self-promoting blowhard, and a Yankee.   The real unapproachable records are all pitching records; Cy Young's 511 wins and 749 complete games; and Walter Johnson's 110 shutouts.

Ready for the playoffs?

The Nationals clinched their 4th NL East division title in the last 6 years last week. That was expected as they were the only team in the division actually trying to win this season. This season has seen numerous injuries and the returns to form of Gio Gonzalez and Ryan Zimmerman.
The bullpen was a disaster the first half of the season, but that has been remedied with the trades made in late July that brought Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle from the A's, and Brandon Kintzler from the Twins. The offense has been mostly solid all year, but one thing that troubles me is their at bats late in games when they are behind. Too many AB's are quick and desultory, often taking less than three pitches. This needs to change.

Are the Nats the Braves' bitches?

Yes, it's just the 4th game of the season, but tomorrow's and Sunday's games against the Braves are, believe it or not, must-win games for the Nats. They should have won today's game, but the umpires took one run away, the Nats' third base coach cost them another, and they ran themselves out of at least one more.
The Nationals failed to make the playoffs last year for a number of reasons, primary among them their failure to play well against Atlanta, winning only 3 of 19 games. The Nats and Braves are the only two good teams in the NL East, and the Nats need to show in these early games, that they have the Braves number, and take control of the division race early, like they did in 2012.
Bryce Harper looks terrible at the plate, taking pitches he should crush, and flailing at pitches out of the zone. He is also swinging flatfooted, failing to roll his hips through his swing, which is where the power develops.
Ryan Zimmerman still has the yips at third base, making a throw in the Mets series that was 20 feet off the bag. It's not affecting his hitting, as his stroke looks as good as ever. Denard Span looks like the man on fire from the end of last season, and Jayson Werth looks good at the plate as well, but there were no clutch hits forthcoming in today's game, regardless of the pitcher/batter matchup.
Tyler Clippard was the final goat, surrendering the winning run with a leadoff walk in the Braves' 8th.
The Nats need, must win Saturday and Sunday, or they will be chasing the Braves, probably futilely, for the rest of the season.