The case against a strong Clearwater Mayor (Pt. 1)

We subtitle this first installment of three “The Elephant in the Room – or the Downtown”. The small core of supporters for a strong mayor form of government say (behind closed doors) that a strong mayor would make a difference on the chokehold Scientology has on the downtown. Yet they don’t say how – because it won’t. That ship sailed with the inaction of city commissions back in the late seventies and early eighties. Scientology is here to stay, like it or not. How the city deals with them is another matter, but that is a matter of timing, personalities and outside influence as in the federal government developing a spine and dealing with this pseudo religion and their abuses. A strong mayor system would have little, if any, influence on the millstone that is Scientology. (Next week – Part II – do we really want to be St. Pete or Tampa?)

Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

1. Liberals are throwing up their hands over the fact that over 20% of the doctors “certified” to distribute medical marijuana have significant blips on their records including several in Hillsborough and Pinellas. This is something the mainstream medical profession and law enforcement officials warned us about prior to last year’s vote.

2. Factoid: One larger U.S. company has quietly put together an HR task force with the goal of significantly reducing the number of millennials in their work force citing the age group’s less than strong work ethics.

3. If you missed out on the annual postman’s food drive last weekend, please drop off a few items at your place of worship or directly to Religious Community Services on Druid Road just west of Myrtle Ave. This time of year is the toughest for this great organization. Thanks!

4. One of the nicest and loveliest “first ladies” of Clearwater, Karen Aungst, passed away last week after a battle with cancer. Our condolences go to former Mayor Brian Aungst and Brian, Jr.

5. Tech news from the 5:05 Newsletter: Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen announced he will invest $125 million in a research lab to teach artificial intelligence machines common sense. I am not sure I like the idea of inanimate objects having common sense. I don't need my refrigerator to be like, “Yeah, maybe you don't need any more ice cream.”

Sports, media and other stuff:

6. All-time Rays’ great Evan Longoria probably didn’t make any friends with his opinion that the Rays should probably leave the bay area, but he’s probably right. The local newspaper editorial bashing him and pointing out the increased attendance of the Giants with a new park overlooks (as usual) an important fact – the Giants have won three World Series in this decade – the park had nothing to do with that. Just like the Marlins with their glitzy new park drew 8200 over the weekend in a match up with the hottest team in the National League.

7. Speaking of the Rays, one of the great feel good stories of 2018 is the return of former Brave ace reliever Jonny Venters as a Ray. After three Tommy John surgeries, he’s getting people out like the old days including a shutdown inning against his former team last week.

8. Ah May - the time of year you fondly remember names like Vukovich, Unser, Ward, Johncock and Foyt.

9. Last week’s analysis of the best Seattle Pilots/Milwaukee Brewers players got us thinking about the players who comprised the one year and done Pilots. Here are a few names you might remember: pitchers Jim Bouton and Mike Marshall along with position players Tommy Davis (a former batting champ), speedy Tommy Harper and slugger Don Mincher – all but Marshall were beyond their prime when they were Pilots.

10. In our continuing series of major league franchises greatest player/pitcher (back story BRR 3/25), we have another storied franchise to look at – the St. Louis Cardinals. Since we limited ourselves to the past 75 years, we eliminate stalwarts such as Dizzy Dean and Frankie Frisch. Only one player in MLB history is known as “The Man” and Stan Musial earned that title. On the pitching side, during his heyday in the 1960s Bob Gibson had no other right-handed peer – an easy pick as the best hurler for the Cards.

What Hall of Famers are we watching play right now?

There are seven players in the major leagues right now that, if their career ended tomorrow, would be in the Hall of Fame. They are Adrian Beltre, Miguel Cabrera, Clayton Kershaw, Albert Pujols, Max Scherzer, Mike Trout and Justin Verlander. Here are seven more that are on their way but need probably another 3-5 seasons at their current level to make it to the Hall – Kris Bryant, Madison Bumgarner, Freddie Freeman, Paul Goldschmidt, Bryce Harper, Giancarlo Stanton and Joey Votto.

UP NEXT: 140 game season? Strong Mayor Part II; Skycrest Market