WasWatching.com

This may be highly irrational, but I am extremely high on DeSalvo. I think he is going to help this team a lot, and not just this year.

It's pretty sad that people are amazed a ballplayer would be interested in reading, and shocked -- SHOCKED -- that philosophy intrigues him. It's even more amazing that pseudo-intellectuals like Michael Kay would be stunned by the idea of reading 400 books in a lifetime. People who enjoy reading usually read about 30 to 50 books a year. Someone with the apparent alacrity and free time of Mr. DeSalvo could probably read 100 in a year (if he read those 17 over two months, that's like two books a week).

DeSalvo is 26. How many 26 years old haven't read 200 (or even 400) books? Kay is pushing 50 years old. How many 50 years old -- especially ones like him, who think they're smarter than everyone -- haven't read a thousand or more?

The reaction to this story is sad -- and certainly shows what people think of athletes.

Good story, but what's the reaction to this story that is so sad? Did Kay say something inappropriate or demeaning?

I've read about 200 playboys and maxim magazines from front-to-back, does that put me in the class of Matt Desalvo? I know when I read the issue with Carmen Electra on the cover of playboy, I know what Matt is talking about when he said:
"what’s this mean to me? And I’ll apply it to myself."

I can't believe how much Matt and me have in common. Though we may "apply" what we read in different ways, the end result is the same.

The reaction to this story is sad -- and certainly shows what people think of athletes.
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What's sadder is that this kind of reaction isn't anything new

I didn't think Kay was surprised or impressed so much as he was reading directly out of the NYTimes.

I've read a couple things about Professor DeSalvo, and they all name the same 2 books that he's been reading.

I didn't think Kay was surprised or impressed so much as he was reading directly out of the NYTimes.
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I disagree. Kay mentioned it quite a few times, and the tone of his voice was almost awe. It was the same stunned reaction he had to Miguel Batista writing a book of poetry.

I disagree. Kay mentioned it quite a few times, and the tone of his voice was almost awe. It was the same stunned reaction he had to Miguel Batista writing a book of poetry.
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Not gonna lie, I was surprised about the book of poetry. I'm surprised about the writing, because it's time consuming to write an entire book of anything.

It's probably just me, but it seems like Michael Kay is surprised about anything that he seems to be reading right off of a paper. I was, for some reason, reading the Times article at the same time I was watching the game, and some of the things Kay was saying were directly out of the article. It's possible I just don't pay as much attention as Michael Kay.

In any event--I am surprised about the writing of books and poetry, as it takes a lot of time, and even with all the travel these guys do, I don't see how they'd have time to do it unless it was during days they weren't pitching. I kind of took it, more than anything else, as they needed something to talk about other than the Yankees losing. New guy's hobbies don't seem like a bad idea, so they went with that.