Fresh Encounters

Ran into 'Slick Rick the Ruler' at the Polo store last week....On this rainy afternoon, Rick pulled up in a white Range Rover....I noticed him right away...Who couldn't?

Source: Def Jam

He was decked in a black polyester suit, which provided good sheen to the pieces, and he topped it off with a black fedora and a white eye-patch...The white eye-patch matched his white shirt and kerchief....Nice touch.

As he peeled through the cashmere sweaters, I dapped him up to tell him that I've always respected his fashion sense...The canes, the knuckle rings, chapeaus, berets, and suits...Very tight stuff....The legal troubles and jail-time that he has endured over the past decade must have humbled him quite a bit because he quietly murmured "Thank you sir..." to not only my dap, but also to my patented intro..."If there is anything that I can help you out with, just let me know."

Rick says he just played a show in Chicago with Kanye West, but he couldn't name the place other than "somewhere away from everything"....Damn Rick, Do they all look the same?...Rick also answered my question of "What do you think of these new-school cats?" with the answer "a lot of the new guys don't get style". Nice answer for Rick because he was looking at the beige linen blazers, which I'm particularly a big fan of...

Rick...Thank you sir...

Great article by Jack Curry on Buck Showalter and his rennovation of the Texas Rangers this season in this morning's New York Times. The Rangers have become a contender this year, and they only trail the first-place Oakland A's by two and a half games right now.

In the article, Ranger bullpen coach, Mark Connor, likens Showalter's skills to Rangers team owner Tom Hicks's business acumen. Hicks's investment firm specializes in leveraged acquisitions in which it buys failing companies, resuscitates them and sells them. Showalter is working on his third reclamation project as a manager, and his last two teams the Yankees and the Diamondbacks won titles the year after his dismissal.

I've liked Showalter a lot over the years, and I remember bumping into him on a flight from Phoenix to San Diego in '97, which was the year before the Diamondbacks' official debut. I talked to him for a bit at the baggage claim, and he said he was in town to scout the Padres bullpen against the Dodgers...I went straight over to Jack Murphy Stadium, and sure enough, Showalter was three rows behind home plate with a notepad chatting it up with former Dodgers' President/GM Fred Claire with notes on every pitcher in his notepad...He didn't even have a team yet, and he was scouting the comp in July....That's homework.

Showalter's work schedule is founded upon 14 hour workdays. I have a feeling those workdays will pay off soon....

"Thank you, sir",
BD