The story behind Nick "Chili" Buss

-- by @Josh_Suchon

The Dodgers call him Nick Buss.

The Isotopes call him Chili Buss.

They're both right.

The name on the birth certificate is Nicholas Chili Buss. His dad always wanted unique middle names for his kids. The first three kids had normal middle names. Nick was the last chance for something different. His dad once played in a charity golf tournament with former major leaguer Chili Davis and always liked the name Chili.

So that's how he got the middle name.

Nick Buss always went by Nick, until his junior year of college at USC. He ordered an internet connection for his apartment, when his roommates discovered his middle name was Chili. They loved the name and started calling him Chili.

The rest of the time on the baseball field at USC, teammates and coaches called him Chili.

When he got to professional baseball, the nickname remained among Dodgers staff and teammates in the minor leagues.

Last year at Double-A Chattanooga, hitting coach Franklin Stubbs called him Chili all year, not knowing that was simply his middle name. Everybody just assumed it was a nickname.

This year -- before the Isotopes game on Tuesday, April 23 against Oklahoma City -- Isotopes general manager John Traub asked Buss if he wanted to be referred as Chili over the public address system, in game notes, and on the radio broadcast.

How to win your Survivor Pool, the 2013 edition

-- by @Josh_Suchon

This is my second annual post on how to win your Survivor Pool, aka an Eliminator Pool, or World's Simplest Pool, or Last Man Standing Pool.

The basic rules of the Pool: you pick one NFL game each week, point spreads don’t matter. If you win, you advance to the next week. If you lose, you’re done. In most of these pools, once you pick a team once, you can’t pick them again. I’m in a pool where you can pick the same team three times. I don’t like that rule, but I’m not the Commissioner. But in most pools, you can only pick a team once.

Follow my advice and you've got a good shot at winning your Survivor Pool.

40 Before 40 -- what I did instead

-- by @Josh_Suchon

My original "40 before 40" list turned into a colossal failure. I only accomplished eight of the 40 items. 

The failure can mostly be contributed to putting a bunch of ridiculous items on the list, taking a new job that cancelled a trip to Hawaii that was going to check off numerous items, and moving to another state where a lot of the items were no longer feasible.

Instead of being depressed at what I didn't complete, here's my list of 40 things that I accomplished instead.

The lesson is that while making goals and planning is helpful, life is best when you're spontaneous and just experience what's around you ... or when you just go through your iPhone, just start picking random photos, and declare that it's something you accomplished. 

1. Got stranded on the side of the road, during a wine trip to Santa Barbara, when our bus broke down. Fortunately, my friends don't blink an eye. We just crack open beers on the side of the road, and watch the girls get cars to honk as they ask for a ride. The bus cooled off, the driver got us to the next winery, we got a new bus, we kept wine tasting. You haven't lived until you've rode home on a wine bus, music blasting, all the girls dancing in the aisles, and a view o the sunset on the Pacific Ocean out the side of the window.

2. Discovered where the "Melrose Place" apartment was located. Turns out, it was less than a mile from my old apartment in LA.

40 before 40, the checklist

-- by @Josh_Suchon

One year later, it's time to re-visit the "40 before 40" list that I created last year. The sad truth is I didn't come close to completing all 40 items. In fact, I only did eight of them. That's a .200 batting average, and you'll get released for that kind of production in baseball. 

Most of it can be blamed on a massive life change, moving to Albuquerque, NM for a new job. That forced me to cancel a trip to Hawaii that was supposed to check off numerous items on the list. However, the new job provided an opportunity to see a lot of things that I'd have never otherwise experienced.

Since I'm neurotically addicted to lists, and categories for lists, here's a list of what I wanted to do, what I accomplished, what I neglected, and why.

How PCL realignment affects the Isotopes/Dodgers

--by @Josh_Suchon

The move of the Tucson Padres to the city of El Paso prompted the Pacific Coast League to realign its four divisions for the 2014 season. The divisions will now look like this:

Pacific Northern: Fresno, Reno, Sacramento, Tacoma.

Pacific Southern: Albuquerque, El Paso, Las Vegas, Salt Lake.

American Northern: Colorado Springs, Iowa, Oklahoma City, Omaha.

American Southern: Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans, Round Rock.

The biggest impact involves the Albuquerque Isotopes and Colorado Springs switching sides of the league. The Topes moved from the "American" side to the "Pacific" side of the 16-team league. 

For those not familiar with the league's format, teams play the seven teams in its conference 16 times (eight home, eight away). The eight teams on the other side of the league are played just four times (going to their city every other year).

Here's a breakdown of how the change impacts the Isotopes.

* Overall easier travel with a geographic rival in El Paso

Travel in the PCL can be brutal. It's definitely the most difficult league for traveling. Teams don't fly charter. They fly commercial, almost always the first flight in the morning, and it's rare to get a direct flight because the cities have small airports.

It's roughly 265 miles, or a three hour and 45-minute bus ride, from Isotopes Park to the new ballpark in El Paso. This affords the Topes an opportunity for a bus trip to an opponent's ballpark.  Previously, the Topes would fly to all cities to begin a road trip. (Once on a trip, there were a few bus trips between cities, such as Iowa and Omaha, or Memphis and Nashville.)

While the full schedule hasn't been released, it's likely that opponents will usually take an eight-game road trip to Albuquerque and El Paso. The ability to bus between cities is dramatically cheaper, easier and greatly preferred by players/staff. This will help out everyone. 

For the Topes, there will be a few more direct flights -- such as Vegas. Even for the connecting flights, the total distance will be shorter and more manageable. 

My all-time favorite baseball starting lineup

-- by @Josh_Suchon

The blog "Baseball Trash Talkin" asked me to join them on their Podcast to talk about how I ended up in Albuquerque, Yasiel Puig, Dee Gordon and my book (duh). 

They posed a fascinating question at the end: who is your all-time favorite lineup at each position? It's not meant to be the best player at each position. It's personal. Your favorite player at each position. It's a great question. It made me think quite a bit, and I love lists, so here goes my dream lineup:

Catcher -- Benito Santiago

My relationship with Benny started when I was 15 years old and the batboy for a spring training game. Benito hit two home runs that day and I high-fived him at home plate after each one. Then I covered him as a newspaper writer. It was actually embarrassing the way he always called me "my favorite reporter" and once refused speaking to others, so I could have the scoop.

The greatest prank of my life involved a story that exaggerated just how close we were. That's a story that should be told over drinks, lots of drinks, but I shared it earlier. 

Upcoming "Miracle Men" signings

Monday, July 15 -- Barney's Beanery in Santa Monica

13513rd Street Promenade

Santa Monica, CA 90401
5-8 pm
www.barneysbeanery.com/#!santa-monica/c2ia

Come watch Major League Baseball's annual Home Run Derby, grab a bite to eat and a cold beverage, and get an autographed copy of "Miracle Men."

This will be an informal gathering of friends, work colleagues, Dodgers fans, and other baseball enthusiasts. You need not purchase a book to attend the event. Enjoy the Home Run derby with some food and drinks and good people. Or stop by briefly to get a book signed, and enjoy shopping along the Santa Monica Promenade. 

Tim Leary, a starting pitcher on the 1988 Dodgers, is expected to attend the event as well.

Tuesday, July 16 -- Brent's Deli in Northridge

19655 Partenia Street
Northridge, CA 91324
11 am - 1 pm
www.brentsdeli.com

The famous deli in the San Fernando Valley is owned by long-time Dodgers fans and has always been a meeting place for Dodgers enthusiasts as well.

Author Josh Suchon will visit Brent's Deli for an afternoon signing. Grab a sandwich, utilize the free Wi-fi, stay for dessert, and get your copy of "Miracle Men" signed.

Wednesday, July 17 -- Barnes & Noble in Huntington Beach

Bella Terra
7881 Edinger Ave, #110
Huntington Beach, CA 92647
7-8 pm
http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/event/79933

Dodgers fans in the Southland are not left out either. On the day after the All-Star Game, author Josh Suchon will do a question-and-answer session, followed by a signing at the Barnes & Noble in Huntington Beach.

Q&A With "Miracle Men" Author, Josh Suchon

By Matt Hurst

@ThrowbackAttack

It's rare that partners interview each other since they work closely together and have a good idea about what the answers are going to be.

After all, Crockett didn't interview Tubbs, Woodward didn't interview Bernstein, Batman didn't interview Robin, Mike doesn't interview Mike.

Abbott and Costello did get into a Q&A, back-and-forth, but that was only so they could truly find out who was on first.

However, as a Dodgers fan growing up and falling in love with baseball because of this miracle 1988 Dodgers team, I wanted to know more. I had helped Josh edit his book, Miracle Men, and was thrilled to be able to read his writing before nearly anyone else had.

We had talked a lot about the book — from when he first thought of the subject, to his pitch to the publishers, throughout his interviews and during the editing process — but I felt that there needed to be more known about the craft of tackling a subject 25 years in the making.

Why now? Why this team? Why you, a Bay Area native?

Find out ... then go buy Miracle Men.

Question: What first drew you to write about subject?

Answer: During the 2009 playoffs, I read Joe Posnanski’s excellent book on the 1975 Cincinnati Reds called, “The Machine.” Most of my reading came while flying back and forth to St. Louis, and then Philadelphia, on the Dodgers' charter. The book taught me so many things about the 1975 Reds that I never knew. I’d been thinking about writing another book for quite a few years, but hadn’t found the right topic. Reading that book inspired me to find another team that won a World Series and try to do the same justice that Posnanski did to the ’75 Reds.

Since I was on the Dodgers flight, and I was the co-host of Dodger Talk at the time, I naturally thought of a Dodgers championship. I originally thought of 1981. I thought the strike and finally beating the Yankees would make it compelling. I remember mentioning the idea to Josh Rawitch, who was the Vice President of Public Relations for the Dodgers at the time, as we ate lunch at Gobi on Sunset Drive one day. Rawitch told me that, incredibly, there wasn’t a definitive book on the 1988 team yet.

I knew that doing a book on the 1988 Dodgers would be interesting, and also excruciating for me, because I was such a massive A’s fan at the time. But I decided that my perspective would make it unique.

Q: This was one of LA's most beloved teams - in any sport - so were you surprised that nobody else had dug into this topic or this team?

FAQ about life in Albuquerque so far

--by @Josh_Suchon

Are you settled? Getting closer. Movers finally arrived yesterday morning. I did some furious unpacking last night, but there are still boxes everywhere. Nothing is on the walls. The cable/internet will get hooked up today. Last night was the first time in 10 days that I slept in my own bed.

This is the view from my office/broadcasting booth.

What do you think of Albuquerque so far? I haven’t seen much, except the ballpark, my formerly empty apartment, my cousin’s house, my aunt’s house, a couple sports bar, and a nearby café that provides free wireless. It’s not in LA, but what is? It seems like a good place and the people have made me feel right at home. Whenever I wear an Isotopes polo shirt, which is almost every day, I get a lot of "Go Topes" reactions. Oh yeah, the food options seem to be pretty spectacular.

When does the season start? This Thursday.

Can I listen online? Yes. The audio of every game is free online at http://www.milb.com/index.jsp. You can also pay to watch streaming video of every game. It’s $9.99/month or $39.99/year at MiLB.tv, although you will always hear the home radio feed. You can still hear the audio of me (for free) on road games, but you can only watch-and-hear me for home games.

How do the Isotopes look? We should have a good team. It’s a good mix of players with major-league experience and young kids in Triple-A for the first time. A humidor was added to the ballpark, which should cut down on some of the offense. More importantly, the Dodgers are now sending their best pitching prospects here, instead of avoiding this level and having them jump from Double-A to the majors. The big talk of spring training, outfielder Yasiel Puig from Cuba, is starting the season at Double-A, but we’re optimistic that we’ll get him here in Albuquerque soon. I have a bet with the Sports Editor of the Albuquerque Journal that we'll see Puig for at least seven days.

Inside the Humidor at Isotopes Park.

Uhh, what does a humidor have to do with baseball? It’s over 6,000 feet here and that elevation makes baseballs travel further. It’s also really dry here. When baseballs sit around in boxes for weeks and months in this dry climate, they get harder. Then when they are used in games, those baseballs fly even further. It’s like the baseballs become golf balls. Especially in the summer, baseball games turn into pinball games there’s so much scoring. This makes it very difficult for the Dodgers to evaluate players. Are the hitters really that good or are the pitchers that terrible? The major league Rockies were the first team to use a humidor, circa 2003. There’s a large enough sample size to definitively say that keeping the baseballs in a controlled environment gives the pitchers a better chance to succeed. The Rockies’ affiliate at Colorado Springs added a humidor last year. The Isotopes are using one this year for the first time.

What’s the story with the Isotopes nickname again? For the longest time, the team’s nickname was the Dukes because this city is known as the Duke City. That franchise left Albuquerque and was moved to Portland after the 2000 season. My former Dodger Talk co-host Ken Levine wrote a Simpson’s episode called “Dancin’ Homer” that first aired on Nov. 8, 1990. A nickname was needed for the fictional Springfield team. Ken chose Isotopes because: a) it was fitting for a town with a nuclear power plant; and b) it was a ridiculous name. (You can download the script here.)

Statue of Homer inside Topes Field.

In 2001, “Hungry, Hungry, Homer” was a Simpson’s episode in which Homer staged a hunger strike when he learned the Springfield Isotopes owner was scheming to move the team to Albuquerque. (This is also the episode that popularized the expression “meh.”) After the 2002 season, the Triple-A team in Calgary moved to Albuquerque. The fans voted on what should be the team’s nickname. Overwhelmingly, the fans chose Isotopes. As a result of this nickname, and a spectacular logo, the Isotopes are routinely in the Top 10 in merchandise sales in the minors. Inside the ballpark are statues of Homer, Bart and other Simpson’s characters. We’ll gladly accept your money if you want to visit the online team store and buysome cool Isotopes schwag.

If you’re a fan of Breaking Bad, the main character sometimes wears an Isotopes hat. He’s a big baseball fan and the show is filmed in Albuquerque. This summer, we’re hoping that Ken comes to town and throws out the first pitch. He better throw a strike, or else we’re booing the hell out of him.

What’s the relationship between the Dodgers and the Isotopes? The Dodgers provide the players, coaching staff and medical staff. The Dodgers pay a (high) percentage of the travel cost, plus the cost of balls and other baseball-related expenses. The Isotopes run the business side – the stadium, merchandise, clubhouses, tickets, advertising and promotions. I’m an employee of the Isotopes, not the Dodgers. When baseball returned to Albuquerque in 2001, they were a Florida Marlins affiliate. They’ve been a Dodgers affiliate since 2009 and are signed through the 2014 season.

The closest major-league team to Albuquerque is the Colorado Rockies, a 450-mile drive. There’s some Rockies fans here, there’s always Yankees and Red Sox fans in every city, and the couple sitting next to me as I type this from a nearby café are clearly Giants fans. But overwhelmingly, this is Dodgers country.

You fly everywhere? Almost everywhere. We fly commercial. That means a lot of 4 am wakeup calls to catch 6 am flights. I think there’s only one direct flight all year, so it’s a lot of layovers in Denver, Dallas and Houston. We’ll bus between Nashville and Memphis, Des Moines and Omaha, and a few other places. Yes, I get to keep the frequent flier miles.

When is your book on the 1988 Dodgers coming out? Wish I could give you an exact date. I thought it would be in stores by now. It could be any day. I received my author copies almost two weeks ago. I keep saying a couple more weeks. You can pre-order a copy now from the publisher’s website. If you want an autographed copy, send me a direct message and I can sell you one of mine. It’s $24.95 plus whatever the cost of shipping would be. You can mail me a check or PayPal me.

When are you coming back to LA? I’ll be doing book signings and other promotional appearances during the All-Star break, July 15-16-17. Also back in September for a friend’s wedding.

What’s the closest city to Los Angeles that you’ll play? Las Vegas on May 11-14, or Fresno from Aug. 3-6.

What’s the closest city to San Francisco that you’ll play? Sacramento on July 30-Aug. 2.

When’s the next time you’re coming back to the Bay Area? Maybe in October for another A’s-Dodgers World Series? Honestly, no clue. No plans anytime in 2013.

What are you doing when the season ends? I’m staying in Albuquerque. I’m a year-around employee. I’ll be doing sales for the team in the offseason.

Are you going to write another book? Of course. Need to get settled and focus on my new job first. Then I’ll pitch my idea to the publisher.

Did you really run Steve Alford out of town in less than three days? Absolutely. This town wasn’t big enough for both of us. He had no chance. Aztecs4life, baby.

"40 Before 40" checklist -- No. 17 -- see my Mom's house

Most people's "40 things to do before turning 40" lists don't include seeing their mom's house. That's usually a given. Not so in my case.

My mom moved to Sparks, Nev. a couple years ago. It's not an easy drive from Los Angeles. I've been busy. Whatever. I hadn't been there.

That changed at Christmas. I was hoping for a white Christmas. I got it. There's not much left to say. I'm just going to post photos and write captions.

This is my mom's dog Red guarding the house. 

This is me looking into the sky and trying to make it snow. It worked.

After the Credits -- Hoosiers

After the Credits is an ongoing feature where we take the best sports movies ever made and give our opinion on what happened to our favorite fictional characters after the movie ended. Previous entries include The Natural, Bull Durham and Jerry Maguire.

-- by @Josh_Suchon

The movie ends with tiny Hickory High upsetting a taller and more athletic team from South Bend in the 1952 Indiana state championship game. Star player Jimmy Chitwood hits the game-winning shot. Head coach Norman Dale is vindicated. The fans rush the court in celebration. We then see cornfields, a sunset, a kid shooting hoops, and we hear a voiceover of the coach saying, "I love this team."

So what happened after the credits?

Head coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman): This was clearly a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately town, so even winning a state championship did not lead to job security for Dale. Remember, he lost his previous job after hitting a student and he had a famous temper. He was actually fired a few games into the season, but only kept his job when star player Jimmy Chitwood decided that he would only start playing if the coach remained. The next season, without Chitwood, the Hoosiers crashed back to earth and didn’t make the playoffs. Midway through the following season, the town had enough of Dale and fired him. Dale was resilient, bouncing from job to job, at high schools, small colleges, and as an assistant in bigger colleges. He kept making great speeches and turned around some struggling teams, but always wore out his welcome. His modern-day equivalent would be Kevin O’Neill.

The case for extreme penalties for PED users

-- by @Josh_Suchon

What’s the best way to get rid of performance-enhancing drugs in sports? One strike and you’re out. Forever banned. Think about how that would change an athlete’s willingness to press his luck on using PEDs.

Of course, that’s not realistic. False positive tests happen. Not all illegal drugs are the same. Sometimes there are legitimate mitigating circumstances that occur. Even if they’re blatantly guilty, people deserve second chances.

The next-best strategy -- and perhaps the only hope for those of us who do want to believe what we are seeing is real in sports – is two strikes and you’re done. If I were the Commissioner of sports, this would be my penalty system.

First offense: 365-day suspension with no pay. Not 50 games in baseball. Not four games in football. One year total. During that year, you can’t negotiate a new contract, even if you’ve become a free agent. You can’t practice with your teammates or workout at your team’s minor league complex. You can’t participate in minor league games as part of a “rehab” assignment. You don’t get service time during this year, your arbitration clock doesn’t run, you don’t appear on MLB-licensed baseball cards or video games.  You’re completely on your own for 365 days, with no pay, left on your own to stay in shape. After the 365 days is up, you can return your team (or sign with a new team), head to the minors or whatever is necessary to return.

The Case for Steroids In Sports

By Matt Hurst

@ThrowbackAttack

At what point does the public stop caring about headlines?

Look at almost any news cycle – be it in sports, or news or entertainment. There is the immediate interest, the follow-up reporting to keep you hooked, a resolution and then we’re on to the next one.

Whether it is constant wars and militant uprisings in the Middle East or parts of Africa, school shootings in the U.S., the latest with Britney Spears or a fake dead girlfriend, at some point we stop caring about the splashy headlines because there’s going to be something else to attract our attention.

That’s where we are with performance-enhancing drugs.

On Tuesday there were not one, but two PED-related stories that came out within hours of each other and momentarily drew some attention on Twitter and online. Yet seeing another set of athletes involved in a steroid scandal is no longer interesting or revolting. It’s become far too common and at this point it’s too easy to believe everything (deer antler spray barely registered a blip, right?), shrug your shoulders and assume that the majority of professional athletes in any sport are juiced.

And why wouldn’t they be?

The penalties are far too light – even baseball’s – for the athletes not to take risks and why would they give a damn if they get caught? They still get paid. The juice is definitely worth the squeeze.

Then it’s always a three-part process:

A free agent fan picks his first favorite hockey team, part I

-- by @Josh_Suchon

The hockey lockout is over. That means it’s time for me to get serious about selecting my favorite hockey team. I’ve never had a favorite hockey team. I’ve never followed the sport much. But it’s one of the items on my list of “40 things to do before turning 40 years old” and it’s time to do it.

Picking a favorite team from scratch isn’t easy. I want to do it for the right reason. I don’t want to take the easy way out. I don’t want to dis-own my team after a couple seasons. I want this decision to be for life. I want to have a unique connection to my new favorite hockey team.

I started the process by eliminating teams for various principles. Here is that list:

Which college football bowl games to eliminate

How many college football bowl games are too many? Well, we know for sure that the current 35 bowl games is a ridiculous number.

On the latest Out of Ink podcast, Josh Suchon and Matt Hurst discuss how we got to 35, what's the ideal number, which bowls should be eliminated, and what the criteria should be to get eligible for a bowl game.