As is our custom this year, we open with a dining suggestion (see back story in Jan. 1 RANTS). Spring training is upon us and no spring at Bright House Field is complete without a delicious Delco Philly Cheesesteak. Not a baseball fan? They have a restaurant on Main Street in Dunedin - heads up – no credit cards.

Entering year four - with thanks to you

We guess it had something to do with being semi-retired and having too much time on our hands. Or some carpetbagger who decided she would move over from Hillsborough County and save little Pinellas from itself. Or getting frustrated with attempts to write a couple novels – both still unfinished. Anyway on March 9, 2014, the first edition of this drivel hit the internet. Now 156 issues and some 125,000 words later, we launch into our fourth year. Our thanks to the some 1200 plus folks who have read that first edition and an estimated 4000 who have stopped by since. Plus the four or five people who have input into what is said here weekly – none of whom would want to admit it. It is truly a joy to produce this thing and as we’ve said many times before, it pretty much writes itself. Again we thank you and ask a favor. If you somewhat enjoy what you read here, tell a friend. Thanks!

The bay area, politics and stuff:

1. Congratulations to the left wing wackadoos who have forced Senator Marco Rubio to close his Tampa office due to their distracting, not to mention pointless, demonstrations. Now the average citizen who wishes an audience with Rubio staffers has no venue in the bay area. Now there’s democracy in action – nice work!

2. Breaking news: Politifact rates claim that President Trump was responsible for Pearl Harbor attack as “Mostly False”.

3. Attorney Alan Gassman, whose witty signs on his Court Street marquee are occasionally featured here, is a workaholic who even files his Thursday Report while on vacation. We just wish he wouldn’t rub in it that the report is being filed from St. Maarten.

4. As spring training continues, Las Vegas odds rate it as even - which will come first: the World Series or the completion of the construction work on East Druid Road.

5. Bad things often happen in threes. Over the past couple weeks our community has lost three outstanding women. Barbara Bissonette, Jean Hamilton and Peg Mallory all made their mark in their own very unique ways. They will be dearly missed.

The diamond, the media and other stuff:

6. You’ve never heard Donald Trump call the 5:05 Newsletter “fake news”. Frankly, we don’t know why. Here’s a tidbit from a recent edition: Nancy Pelosi again said that the Democratic Party does not need to change course and that she would give herself an “A” for her leadership. They just lost the House, Senate and presidency? Talk about grading on the curve.

7. Three words for last week’s “Great American Auto Race” at Daytona - gimmicky, gimmicky and gimmicky. We know tastes are changing but splitting the race into three heat races isn’t the answer – shortening the race would be better. And it didn’t help that five of the first eight out of the race were Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Matt Kenseth and the queen of crashes – Danica Patrick.

8. Better than last year, both the Phils and the Blue Jays will at least host one night game a piece this spring – against each other on back to back days – Monday and Tuesday March 27 and 28. Night games seem to work for the Yanks in Tampa who host five this spring. Don’t understand why the Pinellas teams couldn’t schedule more.

9. Quote of the week: “America has never more urgently needed the insistence that real success must be honorably achieved”. Columnist George Will’s comment on the Baseball Hall of Fame’s refusal thus far to admit PED users into the sanctum that contains names like Ruth and Gehrig and Feller.

10. You’ve lived in the bay area a long time if you remember the horrific “no name storm” that hit the gulf coast 24 years ago this month. The storm was responsible for 47 deaths in Florida.

MLB Baseball rules – what needs to change?

We will spend only one sentence on baseball’s worst rule – the DH. It needs to go but won’t. Even this baseball reactionary finds little to argue about the automatic intentional walk rule. Sure, once or twice a season maybe an intentional ball gets thrown away allowing a runner to advance so the rule represents little downside. The upside is the automatic BB will often keep a pitcher in the game and avoids a trip to the mound. The proposed rule that never will be adopted is starting extra innings with a runner on second base. There are too many reasons why this is sacrilege but the players union opposing it is reason enough. And you probably knew there would be more than one sentence about the hated DH rule. Just a fact to ponder, since the inception of the DH in 1973, the length of games has increased just less than one half hour. We rest our case.

SNEAK PEEK AT NEXT WEEK: TED AND JOE AND BERNIE AND JOHN – WHAT IF?