Daily Dirt: ‘BE A BETH’ crowned champ in Great Plate Debate

Daily Dirt for Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023

But the final choice was not easy, thanks to a late plate that showed up over the weekend … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 820 of The Daily Dirt.

1. It’s official. BE A BETH won the Daily Dirt’s 2023 Great Plate Debate for the best vanity license plate spotted in West-Central Illinois and Northeast Missouri. But it wasn’t an easy decision for our Great Plate Debate board of directors.

An 11th-hour entry just before this year’s Christmas Eve cutoff nearly turned the final rankings upside down. YESMAAM was spotted over the weekend in the parking lot at Sam’s Club — and the debate was on. In the end, however, BE A BETH still drew the most admiration and the most chuckles from board members.

Here are the final medal listings for 2023:

Gold medal: BE A BETH. This plate ends an incredible 26-week reign in the gold-medal position.

Silver medal: YESMAAM. A worthy challenger, just not worth enough.

Bronze medal: APPEAL

Honorable mentions: BASIC, FUSEBOX

2022 champ: IMDUMB

2. A lot of stress at this time of the year? Does that week between Christmas and New Year’s always seem like a mine-filled trap you are trying to tip-toe through?

If so, sit back and relax. Here are calming words that should help:

• “In times like these, it helps to recall there have always been times like these.” — Paul Harvey.
• “I promise there will be a tomorrow … in fact, it’s already tomorrow in Australia.” — Charles Schulz.
• “We forget that life isn’t as bad as we’re making it out to be. We also forget that when we’re blowing things out of proportion, we are the ones doing the blowing.” — Richard Carlson.
• “Serenity now!” — Frank Costanza on “Seinfeld.”

3. Here’s a look at MLB baseball free-agent spending so far in the offseason, according to ESPN baseball writer Jeff Passan and USA Today. Plenty more is to come. Numerous “major” free agents have to sign, including outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger and pitcher Blake Snell.

• 1. Dodgers: $1.16B (that’s BILLION)
• 2. Phillies: $172M 
• 3. Diamondbacks: $122M 
• 4. Giants: $113M 
• 5. Royals: $105M 
• 6. Cardinals: $99M 
• 7. Reds: $87M 
• 8. Tigers: $42.75M 
• 9. Braves: $30M 
• 10. Padres: $28M

Others

• Rangers: $26.5M 
• Mets: $18M 
• White Sox: $16.75M 
• Orioles: $13M 
• Astros: $12M 
• Brewers: $10.25M 
• Angels: $6.8M 
• Guardians: $4.75M 
• Nationals: $4.25M 
• Pirates: $3.2M 
• A’s: $1.5M 
• Rays: $1.1M 
• Red Sox: $1M 
• Blue Jays: $0 
• Cubs: $0 
• Mariners: $0 
• Marlins: $0 
• Rockies: $0 
• Twins: $0 
• Yankees: $0

Steve Thought O’ The Day
That’s correct, the Yankees have yet to spend a dime.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Just curious: If Steve had spotted a license plate that read NOMAAM — the name of Al Bundy’s exclusive club in “Married With Children” — would it have won?