Tampa Bay Rants and Raves is a weekly airing of national and local politics, sports, lifestyles and nostalgia items from a very politically incorrect viewpoint. As always, beware - some of what is printed here should not be taken literally.

Leading off: A vote of thanks to Frank Hibbard

The timing was lousy. The city of Clearwater will be scrambling around for a replacement for Mayor Frank Hibbard, who suddenly resigned last week. We wished he could have stuck around until next March, but he had been telling confidants for over a year, this term was it. So let’s call the abrupt resignation a slight blemish on an otherwise stellar resume. Clearwater has been blessed with good mayors for the last three decades – people with differing styles, but, for the most part, good. Hibbard, in our eyes, tops the list. He brought some deep Clearwater roots along with a business-like manner to the center chair. Clearwater faces a serious challenge in replacing him. The guy loves his city and it showed.

Tampa Bay, politics and stuff:

Council member David Allbritton had it right – Frank Hibbard’s replacement should not be a newbie. If we may add, it should also not be someone who will seek the post in next year’s election. We’ll see how it plays out.

St. Pete’s City Council is learning the hard way that pushing a far left agenda (publicly aiding abortions) is risky when a great deal of your funding comes from a conservative state legislature.

Joe Biden’s response to concerns about his age and a possible second term, “Watch me.” Sadly, we have.

From the best news outlet in the bay area, the 5:05 Newsletter: Former President Donald Trump said that he expects to be arrested any day now. If he is arrested, he could be the first man in history to go to jail and get a better haircut.

Number of the week: 50 percent. That’s the office occupancy rate in the top 10 metro areas in the county as more and more employees continue to work remotely. In 2020, occupancy rate was just shy of 100 percent.

Honest, this was noted on a For Sale sign in front of a home in Pinellas County: “Two dozen eggs with purchase.”

March lunch date: Opening Day and three baseball guys we’d like to hang out with – SF Giants broadcaster Jon Miller who seems to know a lot about everything and has those classic “Safe!” and “Adios pelota!” calls. Mark Lemke, the overachieving Atlanta Brave of the 90s – the best second baseman to never win a Gold Glove and Oakland A’s first baseman Jesus Aguilar who just plays the game with such joy.

50 years ago this week (3/29): former FSU star and Boston Celtic center, Dave Cowens is selected as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player. 

Sports, media and other stuff:

The gritty play of Willis Reed in the 1970 Knicks-Lakers playoff was legendary. The basketball great died last week at age 80.

Sports Item: transgender athletes are banned from international track and field events. In a related note, the Tampa Bay Times blames the move on Governor DeSantis.

The crushing season-long loss of bullpen ace Edwin Diaz will make MLB teams think much harder about allowing their stars to play in the World Baseball Classic next time around.

You’ve lived in Clearwater (or anywhere else) a long time if you remember Clifford Irving’s fake biography of Howard Hughes which unraveled 50 years ago. Irving would spend 17 months in jail charged with fraud. 

…and another thing: our MLB predictions

Opening Day is at hand and our TBR&R prediction squad has some sure fire (?) insights into the upcoming season. Our predictions follow: Starting with the AL East, can anything more happen to the Yankees? Despite all the injuries, we still like them by a sliver over the Blue Jays. The main reason? We think they will find a way to put the Pirates’ Brian Reynolds in their outfield before the season is over. The AL Central is a tough call. Cleveland led a charmed life last year and failed to significantly upgrade their weak catching. The Twins, who had everything go wrong last year, get the nod here. The West should be much more competitive this year, and we anticipate a letdown in Houston and give the call to Seattle. The National League East is a killing ground with arguably three of the best five teams in baseball. The Mets aged rotation along with bullpen issues and the doubt surrounding the Phils’Bryce Harper should spell good things for the Braves and a sixth straight division championship, despite their frankly odd solution to replacing shortstop Dansby Swanson. In the NL Central, it’s 2-1-2. Two who can win (Brewers and Cards); one who has an outside shot (Cubs) and two with no chance (Reds and Pirates). We’ll pick the Brewers. Out west, the Dodgers have not seemed so vulnerable in many years, and we think this is San Diego’s year. Wild card invitations to the dance for the Jays, Rays and Astros, while the big two in the NL East (Mets and Phils) along with LA get to the playoffs. As always, we’ll update as the season goes along.

UP NEXT: The City Hall Blues; The Golden Bear; MLB flying more

Oh, check back mid-week for a “special edition”

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