4/20/07
…and the blogger stumbles home from the bars with Kaz and Gil a couple days later, just in time for opening day! (you know you have a problem when a drunk like Marty moon beats ya to the game…)
So I’m not sure what I think of the fact that Neil Rubin has tried to “cleverly” sneak in the names of the entire starting lineup over the past couple of days…though I imagine Frank McLaughlin can’t be a big fan. That just means more potential characters he might have to draw. I’m just glad he doesn’t try to do the same thing with the football team, as that would drag out over several weeks.
Google research o’ the day:
Elmer Vargas (Elmer?!?): Could be based on anybody…too many hits to figure this one out.
Mike Bouchard: Losing Michigan Senate candidate in 2006.
Chase High Trojans: From Forest City, North Carolina…A long way from Michigan or Connecticut or wherever the hell this damn team is supposed to be from…
Background nonsense o’ the day:
Fans of the game include George Kennedy’s grandson and pimp-tastic coat guy, now decked out in his comfy summer wear!
Questions of the day:
Is Mark Jeske the only pitcher on the team? How come Neil didn’t want to find a way to work the name of the relief pitchers into the strip? Can we look forward to a single Ken Burger appearance this season where he yells something at someone then completely disappears again? Why does John do everything wisely? For once can’t he act wreckless and stupid in honor of Tyler Jay? And for God’s sake, why isn’t Stormy Hicks on the team??
4/21/07
“Coach Thorp…here’s the old guy who taught me how to play baseball, while you were busy doing absolutely nothing! Hey, weird kid! Get the hell out of the shot, you’re ruining our lazy shadow panel here.”
So how will this plotline play out?
Likeliest: Coach Thorp, as apathatic and lazy as always, lets the old man do all the coaching for free then takes credit for any success. The team has a clambake at the end of the season for some reason…
Less Likely: Gil, feeling his position as Alpha-Male coach being threatened, challenges Pop to a wrestling match. Gil cheats by having buffed-out Kaz in disguise wrestle in his place. Everyone then watches the Elvis movie Clambake for some reason…
Least Likely: Pops joins the coaching staff, meets fellow local oppressed coach Peggy Wyche, they fall madly in love and spawn an unholy bald skinny white negro love child with six-foot arms. This child grows up with so much guilt over the magnificent sporting opportunities she has as compared to her parents, she clubs her head repeatedly then saws off her own leg with a chainsaw. Everyone then locks their head on the hole, gets set, and swings. And keeps doing it for some reason…
The ball that Bozich hit must have been juiced, noting the halos of spit flying off the ball as it caroms off the field and wall. Unlikely scenario: Mark Jeske gets thrown out of a game and suspended for doctoring the ball? Or maybe the ball is rigged to set explosive mini-charges wherever it hits, making it too hot to handle for any player who tries to catch it. Stay tuned for more fireworks.
Comment by JanB — April 22, 2007 @ 6:14 am
4/20, panel 1: In honor of 4/20, Marty Moon has obviously gotten baked for the season opener. Oh wait, he always looks like that? Never mind, then. And here’s what’s running through the guy on the left’s head:
“Hur. Elmer Vargas shore is a funny name. Hur.”
4/21: Not sure what’s wrong with Marty Moon here. He looks genuinely pleased that the boys’ team won. Maybe he knows about Clambake and he’s preparing a story on how the team’s success has nothing to do with Gil. And in the third panel, we have the winner of the “You could appear in Gil Thorp” contest! Too bad it’s just a cameo as some nimrod trying to get in the panel.
Comment by Cash — April 22, 2007 @ 7:08 am
Thanks, always good posts on your blog!
Comment by Desktopjunk — April 22, 2007 @ 10:49 am
The guy in the forefront of the last panel should be holding a cellphone and waving. It’s a 21st-century baseball tradition.
Monday: “Dammit, Coach Thorp, there ARE no “misters” in baseball! Except for Bernie Mac in “Mr. 3000,” now available on DVD. Call me Clambake, you moron!”
Since we skipped right over Clambake’s backstory, allow me to supply it. Clambake was one-third of a legendary Negro League double-play trio, along with Dontrell “Chitlin” Washington and Atticus “Cornpone” Jefferson… immortalized in the legendary poem “Clambake to Chitlin to Cornpone.” Satchel Paige once said of them: “Never seen anyone better on the double play… but damn, I got so hungry whenever anyone mentioned their names!”
Clambake was supposed to have a tryout with the St. Louis Browns, but the team moved to Baltimore and nobody ever told him. He showed up at an empty Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, while Orioles management waited in vain for him to show up in Balmer. So he never got the chance to play in the big leagues.
Comment by johnw — April 22, 2007 @ 12:00 pm
A George Kennedy reference. Gotta love it.
Comment by Ennui Willie Keeler — April 23, 2007 @ 4:24 am
In all seriousness, has anyone ever lived anywhere that high school baseball was broadcast? We already have an omniscient third person narrator, so unless Marty Moon’s going to be causing some trouble I don’t want to see him.
Also, +10 for Dontrell “Chitlin” Washington. You win, johnw.
Comment by Monkey Time — April 23, 2007 @ 9:10 am
I’m really late in posting this, I haven’t visited in a few days. I just wanted to say that I actually graduated from Chase High school! I’m a Trojan! Strange that they picked my school to include in Gil Thorp. Possibly because the local paper only has about 10 comics, but its been running Gil Thorp for as long as I can remember. East Rutherford is also in the county that Chase is in, they are rival schools. East Rutherford is actually really good though, they won the state title a few years ago. Lets see if RS Central is in there next, that will cover all 3 high schools in the county!
Comment by Kevin — April 25, 2007 @ 8:17 pm
[...] of nitwits to stand behind him. Unfortunately today we didn’t get anyone as exciting as George Kennedy’s grandson. Apparently he only goes to the openers. The most interesting thing about the first panel, however, [...]
Pingback by Partial Eclipse of the Moon « This Week in Milford — May 11, 2007 @ 9:01 am
[...] entire starting line-up is announced? Nah, me neither. At least last year it was split up into two parts. Though there’s no mention of the catcher (Please be Cully, please be Cully!), or whiny Jim [...]
Pingback by Ladies and Gentlemen, Your 2008 Mudlarkzzzzz « This Week in Milford — April 22, 2008 @ 1:12 pm
Looking back, this strip was the worst thing to happen to Gil Thorp in years. Why? It introduced Elmer Vargas, scourge of the 2008 plot lines. Oh, how I hate that guy.
Comment by Lomion — September 18, 2008 @ 6:44 pm