Who Had a Better Year?

Let's see.


This guy delivered the game-winning hit in the championship game of the WBC. Then he broke an MLB record by collecting at least 200 hits for the ninth consecutive season.


And this guy came back from an injury-shortened season in 2008 to hit 28 homeruns this year. On Wednesday night, he helped the Yankees win their 27th championship by driving in six runs.
Yup, that's a record for a World Series game. So of course he became the World Series MVP.

The Drinking Life

One thing baseball fans like to do is imitate their favorite hitters, or favorite hitting stances. Do any come to mind just now?

I know which one I think of immediately -- the distinctive homeplate ritual used by Ichiro Suzuki, the singles-hitting machine. You've seen it before:


Like other famous people in Japan, Ichiro shills for a number of companies, including the alcohol of choice at frat houses everywhere. I see this one at train stations everywhere:


Yeah. Looks familiar, doesn't it. Maybe he's toasting the pitcher at a wedding ceremony.

On the subject of beer, a student of mine was surprised when I told him that beer commercials in the U.S. don't actually show people drinking beer. Huh? If nobody drinks beer in the commercials, then what do these commercials show? Someone pouring beer, dominoes, Q and Pharrell Williams and Dr. Dre, a douchebag of a skinnydipper, and "All we need is one pin, Rodney."

Where is the pleasure of drinking? It's on this side of the Pacific.


On second thought, Ichiro gets edited in mid gulp, like a Jackie Chan fight scene filmed by bullshit American directors. Let's give Indy Jones a go: