Cordero's cap

From a pre-All-Star Game roundup in the Post:

[Nats closer Chad 'Chief'] Cordero also admitted to bending back the brim of his cap to create the perfect level of flatness that has become his trademark. He said it was something his teammates at Cal State Fullerton used to do. Then he told the story of how all his Nationals teammates flattened the bills of their caps one night when he was pitching.

"Esteban Loaiza came up to me and said, 'Dude, we all got headaches wearing them this way.' " Cordero said.

Heh.

This is a more in-depth profile of Cordero from today:

For Nats, What Money Can't Buy: C. Cordero Doesn't Lead Closers in Salary, but He Does in Saves

The [Expos'] finances were limited. They could pay him about what the 20th pick in the draft would normally earn -- a $1.35 million signing bonus -- but not a penny more. The attractions: The Expos' farm system was so bereft of talent that, if Cordero signed quickly, and pitched well in the minors, he could rise to the big leagues much more rapidly than with another franchise...

...money could not buy the opportunity Cordero has, not only tonight, but for the rest of the season, closing games for a first-place team, a kid in the heart of a pennant race. What if he had held out for more money?

"This is where you want to be," Cordero said last week, sitting in the Nationals' clubhouse at RFK Stadium. "I could've held out, maybe signed for $2 million, but I might have been in the minor leagues for a couple years, and then I would've never made it up here."

    0 comment(s)   Add a comment...

 A.J. Roach, Iota Club & Cafe 7/11/2005

Yesterday our schedule got overturned when Lyn got an e-mail from A.J. Roach that he would be appearing in Arlington that evening. We love his Dogwood Winter album, and he rarely makes it to the east coast, so we went for it.

He was opening at the Iota Club & Cafe, which is about a block & a half from the Clarendon Apple Store (a neighborhood we've been to many times...). To make sure we'd be there in plenty of time, we just dined in the Iota Café, which was surprisingly tasty -- we had one of their appetizers (Crab & Brie Quesadilla with Spiced Apple relish - very good) and one entree (Smoked Tomato Risotto; very very good), then waited, and waited...

His 8:30 show started at 9:00; he did a little under an hour. The set list:

• Richmond Town *
• Dimes #
• Thunder Road (Springsteen) **
• Countin' On You **
• James White #
• Our Lady *
• Rosalee *
• Tattoo(?) **
• Granddaddy #
• Cold as Christmas #
• Mighty Jehovah **
• Children Go Where I Send Thee (off mike) **

# = on Dogwood Winter
* = on Live EP, only available at the show (we bought 2)
** = not on an album yet

Some of his songs are available as free MP3s on his site. Highly recommended.

(Lyn wrote up her side of it too.)

    0 comment(s)   Add a comment...