pop

3 days until the u2 rock and roll extravaganza.  4 albums left.  u2 released 'pop' in march of 1997.  i don't recall if it was the album's release or the announcement of the subsequent tour that prompted the press conference that was held in a kmart.  i did not buy this album, nor have i since purchased it.  there are a few songs on it that i have grown to like, such as 'if god will send his angels' and 'please'.  i did purchase the 'please' single and the 'if god will send his angels' single because of the b-sides - the version of 'sunday bloody sunday' (performed in sarajevo) from the 'angels' single is fantastic.

as for the dodgers in 1997, it was mike piazza providing the pop.  and i don't mean what folks in the midwest mistakenly call soda.

piazza had a monster season in 1997.  he scored 104 runs, had 201 hits, 40 home runs, 124 rbi, a .362 batting average, and an ops of 1.024.  unfortunately for piazza, he finished 2nd in the mvp voting for the second year in a row.  that's because larry walker bested him in all of the offensive categories i mentioned above.  still, it was the most impressive offensive display by a dodger since pedro guerrero's 1985 season, and was certainly better than that from a pure numbers standpoint.  however, guerrero's team in 1985 made the postseason - piazza's 1997 team did not.  his pop was not enough.