Kicking the Tires

It won't be long now.

It’s a well-known fact that a man can’t clean golf carts forever. The hands get dish-panny. The sneakers get soaked. The tips aren’t great. The best thing about summer jobs for kids — and make no mistake, playing Cart Barn Boy is a kid’s summer gig — is that they show you what you don’t want to do for the rest of your life. I was lucky that what I loved to do was also something I could make a living doing.

“The writer must write what he has to say, not speak it,’’ said the original Hemingway, not the folks I recruited to do TML in its first life.

And so here we are. Again.

It’s not going to change much. I don’t like change. More, what we did here the first time worked well. Seventeen years and 10,000 unique page views a day speak to that. Plus, youse seemed to like it.

That said, I’m open to improvements. I’ll keep the Friday Hemingways. I’m thinking of adding more local celebs. The Famer would have written a lovely tribute to Vin Scully. Dennis Janson is welcome to sing Elder’s praises the Friday AM before the St. X holy war. And so on. The more, the merrier.

Imbiber Dave will be back, informing your drinking habits, Hey, Michelle! has agreed to keep us smart about local things to do that somehow don’t involve cigars and Keystone.

I’m pondering a regular podcast. Let’s just say it’ll involve the irrepressible Bengal Boy, the appealing and chatty Pogo and me with a bullwhip. monitoring conversation.

This is new to me, writing as an independent contractor. I don’t have the support of a major corporation anymore. All I’ve got is you. I’d ask that you spread the word about the New TML. Share posts, retweet etc. I said when I signed off last time that TML was you. Your thoughts, your personalities, your vibe. The world’s first virtual sports bar is turning its lights back on, yeah? It’ll be as good as we all make it.

A few off-the-top takes:

Jessie Bates learned that The Family knows how to pitch high and tight. It behooves him to let the money/ego/pride stuff go and play his aspirations off this fall. He’s a good player in a good situation. He’s also, as PB once said of his players, an “interchangeable drill bit.’’ Nothing personal. If Bates is a Pro Bowler, he’ll have more leverage than he has now. No one values leverage more than Mike Brown.

Preseason games at regular season prices get more ridiculous every year. On 9-11 v. the Stillers, Joe Burrow will make it apparent, again, how important game reps are in August.

If the Reds had a bullpen, David Bell would get MOY votes this year. Since 3-22, they’re 45-51. They’re 22-24 since July 1, 14-16 in the 2nd half of the season. . . while running a 4-A team out there, with a ‘pen that deserves to be relegated. I mean, Mike Moustakas at cleanup? Kyle Farmer is a very nice, everyday piece. If he’s your MVP, you have issues.

As it stands, The Club will go to Goodyear next spring telling you how great the kid pitching will be. That might actually be true.

Where’s the hitting? Why couldn’t they have kept Brandon Drury?

Joey Votto’s making $25 mil next year. That alone likely will keep the Reds from acquiring any bats bigger than Tommy Pham’s. What to do with Joey will be a large story this offseason. Answer? Nothing, most likely. He’s on the books for $25 mil in ‘23. The club holds a $7 mil buyout option in ‘24, which is why a prominent team official told me recently the winning starts in ‘25. Next year is more bricks in the wall.

BECAUSE TV IS MY LIFE, I’m scufflin’ through a meager summer season. Surface (Apple TV) has been a savior. How memorable was Season 5 of Better Call Saul? We watched four episodes before realizing we’d seen them already. Please, dear God, bring me back my Succession. As always, your recommendations are welcome.

TUNE O’ THE DAY. . . I searched the brain for something meaningful to mark the quasi-return of The Morning Line. Since this is just a dry run, I wasn’t inspired enough to find one. I just hope all the buttons work. So. . . this one knocked around my brain this AM. Sweet tune. Reminds me of high school.

See youse for keeps in a few weeks.