Mueller Not in Lineup?    

   We know you've been up all night anxiously awaiting my analysis of Wednesday's "testimony" about Russian collusion/obstruction, but first this important report:

Players Have 'Wait' Problem  (Corrections posted at 1:40 pm) 
   You may be old enough to have seen Abbott and Costello's baseball comedy, 
Who's on First. 

   Wednesday afternoon, real baseball went comical. In the 8th inning of a tight game between two rivals, Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash stopped the game for a switch he had done once before.

   Wanting to keep his left-handed pitcher in the game, while using a right-hander for just one batter, he gave the home-plate umpire his plan. Pitcher A would replace the first baseman, and pitcher B would come in briefly. 

   It worked. The batter flied out. Two outs. A player off the bench took over first base, and pitcher A retired the side. When the Rays came to bat, leading 3-2, who is where in the batting order? The rules say the umpire-in-chief has authority to designate the substitutes' place. Cash did not specify the order. 

   It was Red Sox manager Alex Cora's turn to hold up the game. He thought,  "they made illegal substitutions. I wasn't able to keep up..." The four umpires talked it over, talked with one manager, and then the other. Humored TV announcers ran out of quips to fill time. 

   The umps even called New York for advice. In 31 minutes, only seven pitches had been thrown. The chief umpire prevailed, as did the Rays. Boston filed a protest, even though the umpire's batting order didn't matter in the end. 

We should protest Congress
   About "made for TV" politics in Washington, left with "exculpated" and the meaningless meaning of "collusion" and "exonerated," what's the point? We did learn that aging Bob Mueller must have been a "respected" figurehead only. Discredited Andrew Weismann ran a scandalous, one-sided investigation, and probably wrote the long, unnecessary report. 

   Democrats and the media will continue to aim verbal pitches at the president's head, but Democrat David Axelrod tweeted best: "This is very, very painful." 

      Jimmy