January 10 - The Thursday List: Seriously – What Day Do Pitchers and Catchers Report?

“There are only two seasons -- winter and Baseball.” – Bill Veeck

Scanning the landscape for baseball worth talking about this week finds it as dark and barren as a cold January night in Northwestern Ohio – Lucas County to be exact.

The Baseball Hall of Fame – Most of the reading I’ve done the last few days is on the Baseball Hall of Fame. The debate goes on – there’s plenty of it on internet forums and most notably on Postcards From Elysian Fields.  The discussion continues on who belongs and who doesn’t. Just my opinion, but lately it sometimes seems the BBWAA is rewarding longevity rather than true transcendent accomplishments – if that’s the case Julio Franco is a shoe-in for the HOF.  Writers still agonize about their ballots, fans still criticize the outcome – it’s heartening to know that everyone still cares.    Drew Davison, a very nice young man I met at Spring Training last year,  wrote an interesting piece in the Startlegram on the selection process for each of the major sports' hall of fame.

Speaking of Lucas – How do you like that for a bumpy segue?  - I’ve been meaning to send some not so valuable Hooch PR the way of Scott Lucas who writes the daily minor league wrap-ups for the Newberg Report. He is a  gentleman and a scholar – as well as an entertaining baseball writer.  His website Ranger Rundown is a must read, and I know I’m bit late pointing out his December 2nd entry on the Rangers 2008 Calendar featuring the likes of Mark Teixeira, Kenny Lofton and Sammy Sosa (scroll down to the December 2nd entry).

And…well…ahhhhh…um….that’s about all the baseball I can find to ruminate on today. 

Off Season Distractions:

There’s not much to watch on TV, and if you don’t care about football (like me) even less.  Let me suggest you add these to your Netflix queue to watch on a winter’s afternoon: 

Marla’s Hooch’s List Of The Five Best Movies I Bet You Haven’t Seen:

The Secret of Roan Inish (1994) – I love all of John Sayles movies.  Baseball fans will know him for “Eight Men Out”.  However, he's also made wonderful films like : “Brother From Another Planet”, “Lone Star” ,"Passion Fish" and "City of Hope". He is one of the most underrated filmmakers of my generation.  "The Secret of Roan Inish" is his best.  A beautiful story of a family and a myth that  could only be set in Ireland.  By the way – did you know John Sayles re-wrote the script for Ron Howard’s excellent “Apollo 13” ?

Local Hero (1983)  - A Houston oil company presided over by Burt Lancaster sends  Peter Reigert to a small town in Scotland to buy up the land for a refinery.  It’s a gentle, off beat comedy with great music by Dire Strait’s Mark Knopfler.  An article I read said the town’s eccentric nature  was the inspiration for the 1990’s TV series “Northern Exposure”  Did you know that "Local Hero" was a joint venture between the Texas and Scottish film commissions?

Jet Lag (2002) also known as Décalage Horaire – yes it’s a French movie, yes it has subtitles – don’t let that keep you from watching the luminous Juliette Binoche and the always hot Jean Reno in this romantic comedy. Did you know that Jean Reno is the only reason to watch the awful “Da Vinci Code” movie (also directed by Ron Howard)?

Kinky Boots (2005) – A  young Englishman takes over his family’s struggling shoe factory and saves it by changing their line of footwear to flashy boots worn by – ahem – cross dressing entertainers.  Trust me, it’s funny.  If you’ve already seen the movie you’ll know this line: “Honey, not in these shoes.” Did you know this is based on true story?

Nobody’s Fool (1994) – A small town slice of life inhabited by  Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Jessica Tandy and a brief but always memorable role by Phillip Seymour Hoffman. At the center of it all Paul Newman carrying the story effortlessly – I know I’d like Newman’s character Sully Sullivan as my neighbor. Did you know this was Jessica Tandy’s last film?

Pitchers and Catchers:  is it still a very long 35 days from today (1/10)? –- Marla Hooch