Established in 2014, Tampa Bay Rants and Raves is a weekly airing of local and national news, sports and memories from a politically incorrect viewpoint.

First thing on our mind:

This Saturday (August 10) is Vinyl Record Day. We plan to celebrate by visiting what is left of the rather large collection we reluctantly sold to Bananas in St. Pete a few years back.

Leading off: Insanity defined

The great Albert Einstein’s nugget “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” has been quoted and quoted over the years, but not enough to St. Pete and Pinellas County officials who signed off on a project that will cost taxpayers at least $650 million. Ironically, the Ray’s portion is about right around $700 million – the size of Shohei Ohtani’s contract with the Dodgers. For that and a lot more in infrastructure costs, the Rays get a pretty new stadium in the same hard to reach location that has drawn slightly more than half the major league average in all but one year of their existence. We conclude with another thought from the Princeton University genius, “We can’t solve today’s problems with the mentality that created it.”

Tampa Bay, politics and notes:

Good luck with those Supreme Court ploys Joe. If someone as charismatic and powerful as FDR couldn’t pull it off, what are your chances?

And, on yeah, there’s that pesky United States Constitution.

We had a dear friend and co-worker who, every four years during the election cycle, would reread War and Peace. He was, in so many ways, wise beyond his years. We think one reading of War and Peace during a lifetime is enough, but channeling our late friend, we plan to bury ourselves this summer in books and a DVD or two.

Oh, with thanks to God, there is also baseball.

We’re trying to think of a vice-president in our nation’s history who served under a failed president and then was elected to the oval office. There are none.

The federal government which has time for things like updating DEI requirements has, after 47 years, eliminated obsolete jobs like pneumatic tube operator, microfilm processor and teletype operator as a basis for denying benefits to truly jobless citizens.

Warehouse stores are not quite the value they once were. Costco is hiking its membership fees while Sam’s Club is tightening up its free shipping parameters for its premium customers.

Weather observation during this, the rainiest month of the year; shouldn’t weather forecasters occasionally look out the window?

Words of wisdom from the editorial office of the 5:05 Newsletter: The fact that Keith Richards has outlived Richard Simmons really makes me question this eating healthy and exercise thing.

And yes, we get the irony of the following historical note.

29 years ago this month, Morton Plant Hospital opened its first Wellness Center. Since then, additional centers have been added at Carillon (2004) and Bloomingdale (2019).

Sports, media and other notes:

Hearing whiners, particularly those in the media, inconvenienced by the recent airline software failure brings to mind a truism from broadcast great Bruce Williams, “Time to spare, go by air.”

Borrowed from a great nephew and fellow baseball fan: “Dear Dog Whisperer, How do I teach my pup not to ask to go outside when Aaron Judge is up with two men on against the Red Sox?”

Noles picked number one in the ACC football poll.

Idle questions: Why do people wear sunglasses at night? Conversely, why do people wear baseball caps with the sun visor in the back? And why do people who never spent a day of their life in the military walk around in camouflaged clothing?

One last thing: MLB at the four-month mark

Let’s do it this way, leaking oil – Dodgers, Phillies, and Rangers; on the upswing, Braves, Cleveland, D-Backs, Padres, Mets, Royals and Yanks; treading water, just about everybody else; under the waves - White Sox.

With the trade deadline passed, the Rays continued in their usual pattern of trading household names for talented no-names. Former GM and veteran MLB analyst Jim Bowden gives the Rays a solid A for their deadline moves.

Potential best pickups at the deadline – Yanks getting Jazz Chisholm, the O’s netting Zack Eflin and the Dodgers’ acquisition of righty Jack Flaherty. Of course, there will be one or two “under the radar” pickups that pay dividends.

In the MVP race at the four-month mark, it’s still Aaron Judge over his teammate, Juan Soto. In the NL, William Contreras and Bryce Harper have both slipped and the league’s two leading hitters are DH only (Ohtani and Ozuna) leaving the door open for the Mets’ Francisco Lindor and the Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte. Cy Young – a pair of lefties are holding serve – Chris Sale and Detroit’s Tarik Skubal. Next update: Sept. 29.

NEXT WEEK: The Champs; GTB Dining; It’s the issues, stupid!

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