TOP OF THE WEEK:

As we say goodbye to Spring Training (only 323 days until pitchers and catchers report) we focus on the situation in Dunedin. Keeping the Blue Jays in Dunedin doesn’t just affect that quaint little village but all the communities around it. Cities like Clearwater and Tarpon Springs, not to mention unincorporated areas like Palm Harbor, have a big stake keeping the Jays. It won’t be easy. Dunedin has probably the worst spring training stadium in Florida. An even bigger issue is the distance between training facilities and the stadium. Virtually all spring training complexes are like Clearwater with its Carpenter Complex right next door to Bright House Stadium. The problem in Dunedin is there just isn’t space for such a complex currently. Right now if you were handicapping, it’s probably less than 50 per cent that the Jays stay here beyond their current contract. And if that happens, it will have a major economic impact on all of Pinellas County. The answer may lie in a parcel outside of Dunedin proper. Let’s hope the Jays stay somewhere in Pinellas County.

THIS WEEK’S TEN:

1. Animals and those who love them lost a great friend earlier this month with the passing of Peter Gregory who with wife, Mary, ran Mill Creek Farm - a retirement home for some 125 horses in Alachua, Florida. We could write a novel about what this wonderful couple has done for equines. But simply Google Mill Creek Farm and see for yourself. Or better yet, plan a Saturday outing to visit the farm. It and its residents will capture your heart.

2. With the baseball season underway, it just won’t be the same for Phillies fans without Chris Wheeler behind the mike. The guy has lived and breathed Phillies baseball for well over forty years - bad decision by Comcast.

3. Here’s an idea to help keep the cost of new cars down. Go back to the early fifties when directional signals were an optional item on cars. Heaven knows with texting, cell phoning, eye lining and eating breakfast, the directional signal gets used less than the spare tire these days.

4. The Washington Redskins name is as good as dead. And watch out Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves; you’re next in line.

5. We’re holding our breath that there may actually be a deal for the old Fenway Hotel in Dunedin. In a related note, it like every other hotel in Pinellas built in 1920 or before supposedly hosted Babe Ruth. The North has all those inns where the Father of our Country allegedly slept. We in Pinellas have all the hotels where the Bambino frolicked.

6. Didn’t say everything here would be relevant or insightful. Recent discussions among fellow idiots yielded this – all-time best TV cops? Your HB’s (humble blogger) top three – Telly Savalas’ Kojak; Peter Falk’s Colombo and Robert Stack’s Eliot Ness. And yours?

7. File away these numbers for future reference. The study commissioned by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium says a downtown facility will draw 1.2 million visitors a year (after an initial year of 1.4 million). Further, its annual cash flow will be $6,000,000 - Clearwater’s next cash cow.

8. One of the best kept restaurant secrets in these parts is Sweet Sage on North Redington Beach – a truly unique breakfast and lunch spot. And your favorite such restaurant is?

9. His music was legendary. His personal life was most often a train wreck. The insights into the music industry are superb. “Anyone Who Had a Heart” by Burt Bacharach is well worth a read.

10. Let’s try to understand this. Our region has worked so hard to rid itself of pill mills and the drug peddlers with medical licenses who operate them. But now we want to trust some of those same people to “certify” their patients need medical pot. In the words of a great American, “What could possibly go wrong?”

IN CLOSING:

Had the Braves and Yankees in the World Series until forty percent of the Braves young stud rotation became patients of Dr. James Andrews. The Bravos will still be in the hunt but we like Yanks and flip a coin between the Giants and Cards – and heads, it’s the Cards. Surprises of the year – the Miami Marlins will not finish last in their division - the Phillies could. Surprise player of the year could be Tiger third baseman Nick Castellanos. Look for fall-offs in Boston and the nation’s capital. Biggest individual bust could easily be last year’s media darling – the Dodger’s Yasiel Puig.