This guy likes to hear himself talk as much as Schilling.

This is Hal, not Hank.

c'mon people, we've been over this:

Hal = Michael
Hank = Sonny
Cashman = Tom Hagen

That sounds right.

Steve Swindal = Fredo?
How does Randy Levine fit in?
Joe Girardi = Clemenza?
Suzyn Waldman = Lucy Mancini?
Kei Igawa = Paulie?

I <3 Hal.

Torre = Luca Brazzi

Apropos of nothing, but is anyone else mystified by the recurring employment of Kevin Long as the Yankees' hitting coach? I'll admit I don't know much of anything about the guy, except from what I've seen of him in the dugout and once catching him announce the lineup for the Yankees before one of their games on Fox. I don't get the sense from this guy that he's this crazy serious student of hitting. I get the sense that he's the hanger-on who jokes around with the fellas and loiters in the clubhouse after the game to see if he can get anybody to go to the strip clubs with him, and I'm guessing whenever the players are asked if Long is helping Giambi jumps up with a strong defense.

I dunno. Maybe my image of him is colored by the fact that some just cartoonish slumps by excellent hitters have dragged on frequently and extensively under his watch.

So you're saying: Kevin Long = Fredo?

I realize it's the way of the post-Bill Simmons world, but it continues to creep me out that being compared to Michael Corleone is considered a compliment.

Did anyone actually watch those films?

People killed his brother.
Killed his wife.
Tried to kill his father.

He did what he had to do to protect his family. He tried to get out, but they kept pulling him back in.

Come on, every comedy duo needs a straight guy. Hal is the Brain to Hank's Pinky.

People killed his brother.
Killed his wife.
Tried to kill his father.

He did what he had to do to protect his family. He tried to get out, but they kept pulling him back in.

I get the joke, but I thought the whole point was that this was his rationalization of all the terrible things he did, not the film's justification for the terrible things he did.

The whole point of the Godfather films was how a good man (and it's made clear throughout that Michael was a good man at one point) loses his soul and becomes empty and evil.

How this applies to Hal remains unclear so far. Perhaps he'll be the one to tell Cashman, "You're out, Tom."

Cashman's not a wartime GM. Anyway, if the brothers ever need advice, who better than old George?

I realize it's the way of the post-Bill Simmons world, but it continues to creep me out that being compared to Michael Corleone is considered a compliment.

Relatively (no pun intended) speaking. If you're gonna be compared to one of 'em, better it be Michael than Sonny or Fredo (or so the thinking likely goes). There aren't a lot of nice people in the movie when you get down to it. In the absence of empathy and kind heartedness, 'smart and bad' has more appeal than 'dumb and bad,' at least to many.

I dunno. I suppose we could compare them to characters from Walt Disney's The Jungle Book instead.

Hank = Uday
Hal = Qusay
George = Saddam
Cashman = Tariq Aziz

This made me laugh in a way that I'm not entirely comfortable with.

I suppose we could compare them to characters from Walt Disney's The Jungle Book instead.

Hal=Bagheera
Hank=Kaa
George=Shere Kahn
Phil Hughes=Mowgli
Joba=Baloo
Billy Crystal=Louie

It's been a while...

Hank = Uday
Hal = Qusay
George = Saddam
Cashman = Tariq Aziz

George = Sauron
Hank = Saruman
Hal = The Witch King/Chief Nazgul
Torre = Gollum

Hal=Bagheera
Hank=Kaa
George=Shere Kahn
Phil Hughes=Mowgli
Joba=Baloo
Billy Crystal=Louie

Michael Kay = Nag
Suzyn Waldman = Nagaina

Hank = Arthas
Hal = Illidan
George = Kil'jaeden
Torre = Kael'thas
Suzyn Waldman = Onyxia
Eric Duncan = a random kobold in Elwynn Forest