The Details of My Resignation

Leaving work last Friday was an interesting experience.



Here is a short film that somewhat describes what went down. Except, instead of being gassed at my home and taken to a far-away place, I went to New York and New Jersey for the weekend on my own free will. I suppose you could say I got "gassed," but that's what The Golden Monkey (9.5%!) is for.

And although Chicago does have a beach, I don't believe there is a suffocating bubble in Lake Michigan that is out to get me.

Or is there?

Be seeing you.

Must acquire 1 half pack of cigarettes.

I'm going to have the rare opportunity to bust out this quote sometime around 10 PM on Friday night:

It's 818 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses.

The context is that I will be just picking up my friend at the Albany airport on my way out to Chicago. He will have just arrived there from a nearby Bob Dylan concert (at a mythical place called "Wappingers Falls." I hope this is not a Brigadoon-type place, as such mysticism would put a severe damper on my quest to get out to the Midwest), and I will have come out there from Boston, moving truck and towed car in hand, or at least in tow.

We're going to be driving through the night, hoping to arrive in Chicago before the 3PM closing of the management office that holds the keys to my new apartment. Luckily, time is literally on our side, as the one hour Central time difference is in effect.

Hit it!

Who Cries for the Children?

Ronnie James Dio, of course.



If you can't enjoy that video on any of the many levels on which it's enjoyable, you have no pulse.

A Clarification of the MLB trade "deadline"

Although it's rarely discussed, there are actually two trade deadlines in baseball:

July 31st, the non-waiver trading deadline, which is usually called the "trade deadline"
& August 31st, the waiver trading deadline

I knew little about waiver trades, other than they often seemed to be little more than salary dumps (e.g. Abreu to the Yankees)

Here's a great explanation I saw online of how waiver trades work. I don't know where it came from, but apparently it's written by former Mets GM, Steve Phillips:

Just because the trade deadline has passed doesn't mean that teams still can't improve. It's just a bit more complicated now. After the deadline, players must go through the often-confusing waiver process to be moved.

During the waiver period, there are controls on player movement. The waiver process was put in place so teams at the top of the division cannot unilaterally load their clubs for the stretch run. It is a system which favors the teams behind in the standings. Teams with lesser records have the first opportunity to improve themselves and can also block better teams from making deals.

What complicates these trades is the timing necessary to move multiple players through waivers and between teams. It can be done. My first trade as general manager of the Mets was a six-player waiver deal which sent Lance Johnson, Mark Clark and Manny Alexander to the Cubs for Mel Rojas, Turk Wendell and Brian McRae.

What are waivers?
The way to best understand waivers is to look at it as this: Teams trying to earn the right to trade their players.

Things to know about waivers during this period
These type of waivers are called Major League Waivers. It is different from "outright waivers" and "unconditional release waivers." I will explain both of those another day.

Players are often not informed they are on Major League Waivers.

Players remain on waivers for a period of 47 business hours. (The waiver period starts at 2 p.m. ET on the given business day and ends at 1 p.m. ET two business days later.)

A waiver claim can be submitted anytime during the 47-hour period a player is on waivers. There is no advantage to submitting the claim in the first hour or the 47th hour.

Major League Waivers are revocable, meaning that if a player gets claimed, his club can pull him back and keep him if they do not reach a deal with the claiming club. If a player is pulled back off of this type of waivers, he cannot be placed on them again for 30 days.

If a player is claimed on waivers, the team which claims the player has 48½ hours (from 1 p.m. ET on the day he was scheduled to clear waivers to 1:30 p.m. ET two business days later) to make a deal with the player's club or he is automatically pulled back off of waivers.

If a player has a no-trade clause, he can be placed on Major League Waivers, but can only be traded or dumped to a team not on his no-trade list or to a team that he gives written approval to waive his no-trade rights.

Also, a player to be named later cannot be an active major league player.

Players can change teams one of three ways during this time of year
1. A player is claimed on waivers and the team awarded the claim makes a trade with the other club. Remember, all 40-man roster players must go through waivers in order to change teams even if they are in the minor leagues. So timing is critical when teams are moving players back and forth.

2. A player is claimed on waivers and the player's team just decides to dump the claimed player on the claiming team. This is what happens sometimes when a team tries to block a deal that their competition might make. The Padres got burned a few years back because they claimed Randy Myers from the Blue Jays. There were rumors that the Braves wanted to make a deal for Myers so the Padres claimed Myers to block the deal. Unfortunately for the Padres, they blocked the deal but the Blue Jays dumped Myers and his hefty contract on them. Myers went on to suffer a significant injury after that.

3. A player clears waivers, meaning that no team claimed him during the 47-hour period, and is later traded to an interested party.

Here's how it works
Starting Aug. 1, each team can have up to seven players per business day scheduled to clear waivers. (The commissioner's office is closed on weekends and holidays.)

Each business day, teams receive a computer-generated document which identifies those payers who have been placed on waivers.

Imagine the waiver wire as a fashion show where up to seven players per day per team are walking down a runway in front of the general managers. The GMs are looking at them, evaluating them and trying to decide whether they want them for their team or whether their competition may want to acquire them. During the 47-hour period in which players are on waivers, general managers are busy talking to scouts and strategizing about players.

General managers decide to claim a player for the following reasons
1. If they really want to trade for a player.

2. If they want to block an opponent's possible deal.

Once the 47-hour period is over, the commissioner's office informs the player's team if he has been claimed by any major league team(s). Only the player's club knows who put in a claim on the player and who was awarded the claim. The claiming teams are just told whether they were awarded the claim or not.

What happens if more than one team claims a player?
Only one team ultimately gets awarded a waiver claim, no matter how many submit claims. Claims are awarded based upon the following criteria:

1. National League teams get first rights over National League players and American League teams get the first shot at American League players.

2. For teams in the same league, the club with the worst record is awarded the claim.

Once a claim is awarded, the two teams' general managers have a discussion and sort through the grounds for the claim: Was it a claim to make a deal or to block a deal? The GMs may have already spoken about the potential for a trade before the player cleared waivers and quite possibly even before he was placed on waivers.

After these discussions, a deal may be consummated, the player may be dumped to the claiming team or the player could be pulled back off waivers.

Dennis Leary on Mel Gibson

Dear Lord is this funny!

Sweet Home Chicago

As part of my whirlwind South Florida vacation, last Sunday I got pretty good and drunk, lost some money playing poker, and found myself at Denny's at 7 AM eating country fried steak, eggs, and hashbrowns that I certainly didn't need. I don't even remember how the eggs were cooked, or if I even requested that they be cooked a certain way. I can't tell you what the three guys I was with ordered either. I've since asked how many Dagwoods were ordered, only to be told that the Dagwood is no longer on the menu at Denny's. Let's all bow our heads in rememberance of that fine sandwich.

I managed to get home and in bed by 8 AM. I think I had the presence of mind to drink some water before I hit the sack. This and sleep would be my only defenses against a night of beers, too much Yellow Tail merlot, Stoli Blueberry and Red Bulls, and Denny's coffee. At that point the money lost at poker and squandered at Denny's was what I like to call a "sunk cost."

Fast forward three hours and forty-five minutes later as my cell phone blares out the Halloween theme awakening me, but not doing so in time for me to actually answer the phone. A familiar beep signified to me that the caller had left a message, checking my phone told me that I didn't know who had called. Assuming that this was the guy whom I had told, "The apartment looks great, I'll take it. What do I need to do?" to which he responded, "Lemme get back to you," I hit send to call him back, and cleared my throat.

Then I heard the following:

Hey bub, it's Rose Martinelli from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

At this point I thought to myself, "Holy shit...is this the call that I think it is? Is this the call that I waited for when round 2 decisions came out then when round 3 decisions went out, then in the weeks following the decision date for those accepted in round three? Was the long wait finally over?" I pressed "1" (rewind):

Hey bub, it's Rose Martinelli from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. I hope you're well. I wanted to find a couple minutes to chat with you to see if you're still interested in coming to join us.

She's just calling to chat! This is driving me crazy.

I know it's getting a little bit late here in the season,

That's what we call an understatement

but I have an opening if you're interested, so give me a call, thanks.

Now I thought I heard that last line, but I was too busy pondering if this was the real deal, or just some chat aboutwanting to stay on the waitlist. It's weird when you're asked to stay on the waitlist, because nobody wants to. You freak out, and start thinking, "What will they think if I say 'I want to be on your waitlist!'" The point of a waitlist is to get off the waitlist, so asking somebody if they want to remain on the waitlist is an intellectually cruel question.

I listened to the whole message again. After all, I was tired and dehydrated.

Hey bub, it's Rose Martinelli from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. I hope you're well. I wanted to find a couple minutes to chat with you to see if you're still interested in coming to join us. I know it's getting a little bit late here in the season, but I have an opening if you're interested, so give me a call, thanks.

Then I stepped out of my room, saw my mother in the kitchen and said, "I think I just got into the University of Chicago," and went back in my room and closed the door.

I then returned Rose Martinelli's call and found out that, yes, in fact, I had gotten into the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. I don't remember much else about the call except for her saying (paraphrased) "We're sorry to have made you wait so long, but I suppose they say 'better late than never,'" and my responding "I was thinking the more appropriate phrase started 'That which doesn't kill me...'"

I then proceeded to call everyone I knew (almost...if I didn't call you, don't take it personally, you just weren't on the important list).

Then I spent the rest of the day learning what the body feels like the day after hitting the holy trinity of beer, wine, and booze, throwing down some coffee, getting little sleep, and then injecting a sheer adrenaline rush.

What a day.