Lack of posting

Sorry. Busy weekend. Probably more of the same tomorrow. I may have a review of the Intonation Festival tomorrow night. Saw AC Newman and Broken Social Scene today. The Hold Steady, the Wrens, and maybe the Decemberists tomorrow.

Angels 3; Twins 2

Another close one with the Twins. Nice effort from Washburn, who survived a rough fourth, but got picked up nicely by his offense in the fifth.

I'm a little disturbed by the numbe of opportunities the Angels squandered, but tonight they put enough runs across for Wash and the bullpen to get the job done. Shields picked right up where he left off, and Frankie looked very sharp. He needed the rest, although I'm sure Twins fans will be complaining about some borderline calls again. I probably would be if I were them.

Finley looked like he stroked it pretty well on a big double, and Izturis showed why none of us seem to be too excited about the return of Orlando Cabrera. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, though. Maybe the offense was struggling (more than normal) because of the injury. Let's hope that's the case. In the meantime, Ztu is getting it done.

Probably no game report tomorrow, as I'll be at a birthday barbeque for a friend. Saturday I'll be at the Intonation Festival, but Broken Social Scene should be over by 6:00, so I might be back in time to watch that game. We'll have to wait and see. Could be a big weekend, as I expect to be threatened with termination when I tell one of my senior managers that I will under no circumstances be in the office on Saturday. I'm past the point of caring.

Drinking

Yup. That's what you do on a night with no major league baseball. Normal junk to resume tomorrow. I will have processed much of the beer I consumed tonight by that point.

All Star Break

Honestly, I only watched the game until it got to be about 5-0, then I started watching Le Tour, then I played PlayStation. Once Colon had pitched, and Vlad had failed to hit, and Anderson had failed to hit, I kind of lost interest. Buy yay American League. Home field advantage if the Angels miraculously reach the world series (let alone the post-season).

So I'm gonna take this time to ask a couple of movie questions that have been bugging me:

1) I was watching Top Gun the other night, which is seemingly always on a cable station somewhere, and there's a part that I've never understood. In their first dogfight at the school, they refer to a hard-deck of 10,000 feet, under which engagement is not allowed (presumably for safety reasons). But first, they seem to be doing a hell of a lot of fighting below 10,000 feet. That's the ocean, folks. And they seemed to be darn near it, or at least near all of those mountains, which are nowhere close to 10,000 feet high. Second, when he does the "put on the breaks" thing, Jester heads straight for the hard-deck, below which they nail him. Isn't heading for the hard-deck cheating by Jester? That dude was a total liar. Tom Skerrit's character says "commander Heatherly lost sight of you and called no joy" (I looked this up). That's bullshit. He knew where he was the whole time. This isn't a game of tag where there's a 'safe' zone. What a dick.

2) I was watching "The Girl Next Door" last night, because, ya know, porn stars, and I had a few issues with the burglary scene. First, while the guy's (James Remar's character) house was nice, it wasn't what I'd expect of someone who was at the top of the porn industry food chain. Second, where did these people live? Obviously somewhere in SoCal, because, ya know, porn industry, but it sure didn't look like the Valley. Third, what kind of major porn king pin is going to be sleeping at home by himself, as in, not surrounded by chicks trying to break into the porn industry? Otherwise, what't the point (besides the money, I mean). And finally, this has nothing to do with the burglary, but are there that many SoCal kids that are that gung ho about going to Georgetown? Not saying it's impossible. Just saying it's unlikely. Maybe during the Patrick Ewing days, when everyone and their brother was wearing Georgetown gear, but whatever.

Anyway, baseball tomorrow.

Weaver wins again

5-4. 3 runs, all earned, on 3 hits, one a home run, in 5 and two thirds. Eight strikeouts to one walk. Brandon Wood is likely still enjoying the all-star experience, but Howie Kendrick had two hits.

Bill Buckner took the loss. All of the runs were earned, so reports of the winning hit going between his legs appear to be erroneous.

Recap.

Hey, it's a day off for me, too

Honestly, it's been a busy weekend and it's carried over into today, so I'm kind of digging a day with no baseball, minus the home run derby.

Caught some of the home run derby. They're better in person. I've been to two, and it's just not as fun on TV. It's also not that fun when none of the Angels are participating. It was pretty cool when GA won in Chicago a couple of years ago. At the actual game itself that year there was a guy in an Expos Guerrero jersey who kept badmouthing Troy Glaus, and you could tell he was doing it a little louder because I was seated so close to him. Granted, Troy was having a down year, but at the time, I kept wanting to ask "how many World Series MVPs does Vlad have." A year later, Vlad was in Anaheim. Expensive weekend for the all-star package, but a lot of fun.

Scary story for David Eckstein this weekend. Apparently he was on the phone with his dad when his dad started experiencing kidney failure, which looks like it runs in his family. Long story short, they got emergency assistance soon after and looks like he'll be back to normal, although he is awaiting a transplant (as he was before this incident).

To the extent that the Angels still have any shot at the playoffs, I'd really like them to play the Cardinals. Mostly, I just want to see the ovation that Eckstein would get from the fans in Anaheim. I think it would be a nice juxtaposition to what I hope would be a loud show of disdain for Jim Edmonds.

No comment

Didn't see one pitch. Played golf instead. Right now, I'd rather do just about anything other than watch this trainwreck of a team.

Fuck this fucking team

Seriously, it's one thing to go into a slump, but they're getting absolutely destroyed by a really crappy team.

I hope I'm wrong, but I'll say it right now. The Angels will not make the playoffs this season.

Your Questions Answered

Anonymous asks:

I need to know exactly what the bean bag tournament is and I was kind of hoping for a recap of how you got to the quarterfinals. Maybe over the all star break since you wont have a game to write about. Oh, and have you listened to British Sea Power at all?

I'm not sure if it's simply a Chicago thing like 16 inch softball and Italian Beef sandwiches, or if it's more of Midwestern thing in general, but I never played bean bag until I got to Chicago. It's basically a variation on horseshoes, or jarts (which was a totally awesome game as long as you didn't get impaled by a jart). You usually play with four people, two teams of two each. Partners stand on opposite ends of the court, or field, or whatever the hell you want to call it. You have four bean bags. You throw them onto an inclined board that's about three feet long and two feet wide with a hole about five inches in diameter near the top/back of the board.

If the bag lands on the board and stays, you get one point. If it goes in the hole, you get three points. There are probably other ways you can score it, but in our tournaments, the teams cancel each other out. In other words, if I get one on and one in, and my opponent gets two in, he/she gets two points (six minus four). You generally play to 11 or 15. At the block party I go to, we try to have guy/girl teams, but there are always more guys than girls, so there ends up being a couple of guy/guy teams. They have to play each other in the early rounds, so you can't get two guy/guy teams in the finals. Last year I was on a guy/guy team, and we had an epic choke in the semi-finals. We were playing to 11, and we had a 10-0 lead. We proceeded to lose 11-10.

This year it was pretty uneventful. A lot of people were out of town, and the weather sucked, so attendance was poorer than usual. My partner and I won our first round game pretty handily. The next round was the quarter-finals, and we got smoked. I think we lost 15-0. We lost to the team that eventually lost the championship to my former law school roommate/current co-employee, and the sister of the guy that invites us (she had home field advantage, as she lives at the house where we were set up for block party). I was disappointed in my performance, but I'm going to blame that on the wet weather. Also, I was drinking more heavily than usual in the early part of the day, so I was buzzing pretty good. And the bags were much heavier than normal. And the boards sucked, too. Given enough time, I can come up with more excuses.

The winners generally are required to spend their winning ($1 per person entry fee) on pitchers at the bar where everyone ends up at the end of the night. I can't comment on this year's winners, as one is underage, and the other bailed before being forced to pony up for beer. I'll try to give him a chance to defend himself.

With regard to BSP, I've listened to the new album maybe once, but it didn't grab me right away. I'll try again. They're a band that I know is in my sort of 'genre' I guess, but for whatever reason, I've just never got around to listening to them. I don't think the first album is available on Rhapsody, so if that's the one I should be listening to, I may be out of luck.

As for the All-Star break, I have something special planned (note to self: plan something special for the all-star break).

Mariners 10; Angels 2

Well, there's not much to say, really. Sometimes you get a game like this. You give up a ton of runs, and you get shut down by what is essentially a pretty crappy team. Baseball's weird that way.

Colon was not good. He got the first two batters of the game, gave up a couple of singles, and then turned back into Nibbler. He was afraid to pitch to Beltre, walked him, and Jeremy Reed made him pay. As it turns out, maybe he was right to be afraid of Beltre, as he would drill a three run double just an inning later, putting the game out of reach for all intents and purposes.

On the bright side, they got a great start on a night where they didn't need it. And Colon didn't waste a great offensive effort. If you're gonna lose, lose big.

Tomorrow night it's a kind of soft throwing lefty against a REALLY soft throwing lefty. Moyer always seems to pitch well against the Angels, but he's been pretty bad this year. If good Washburn shows up, then the Angels should win. Of course, they should have won tonight based on matchups, so who knows. I probably won't have much to say about tomorrow night's game, as it's looking like a date night. Sorry, but you're forewarned. I'll try to make it up to you somehow.

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Angels 7; Twins 6

What a great game. Too bad I was at work for the whole thing, but I snuck peaks here and there.........and there.......and here, and there, and here again. Santana is making me look very foolish for keeping him on the Guzzlers this year, and he's making me look foolish for not accepting the recent trade offer which could have landed me Clement and Carlos Silva. He is making me look smart for not starting him this week, though (we won't get into how Beckett and Dave Williams are making me look stupid this week).

I'll reiterate what I said last night. Kennedy has got to be the gold glove winner at second base. Is anyone else even close? Bengie continues to hit, Vlad continues to be Vlad, and GA.......what can you say about GA? The guy is awesome. For some kid watching the Angels, he's gotta be the Brian Downing of this team. Quiet, goes about his business, and gets the job done. Some great defense in the 9th made what could have been a rough inning a 1-2-3 routine frame.

Lots of things going on today. The Angels were screwed on the play at third where Morneau came off the bag. I missed it and only saw the replay, but Morneau was clearly out, and that cost the Angels two runs. Santana falling apart used to be a rare sight, but as his fantasy owners can tell you, it's becoming more and more common. He refuses to throw his killer change up with men on base. Paul Byrd reverted to his early season form, where he follows up any offense he gets by giving it right back, as he did after the Angels score three runs in the fifth to tie the game. Not to be outdone, Santana responded by giving up singles to Figgins and Vlad before Anderson smoked one to right field, almost the same place where Kennedy hit his home run off of Santana in the 2002 ALCS. Rivera followed with a solo shot of Jesse Crain that supplied the winning margin.

As if that wasn't enough, Anderson made a very good throw, and was helped by a nice play by Jose Molina, to cut down the tying run at the plate in the top of the 8th on the rare 7-2 double play. Turnabout is fair play. The Angels lost game one of this series when Kennedy was thrown out from center trying to score from second on an Erstad frozen rope of a single.

This is a nice win for the Angels. You can't really ever 'expect' to beat Santana, even in a rough stretch like he's currently going through. They start the trip with a series win and have a struggling Seattle coming in for four straight before the break. Win three of those, and the Angels could find themselves with a very healthy lead at the break.

Speaking of healthy, is anybody else dreading the return of Finley and Cabrera? Someone should tell them that the stadium moved, or give them a "revised" schedule with all games starting at 10:00. Let's roll with Maicer at short and Figgins in center. Who's with me?

Angels 2; Twins 1

This is the second time that Santana has struggled early, escaped, and gone on to pitch a pretty decent game. Maybe he's taking instructions from Washburn. One thing it tells me is that the kid has pretty good poise. That's a hell of a lot more than you could ever say for Ramon Ortiz. You have to admire the way he battled.

If Kennedy isn't the favorite to win the gold glove, especially with bat flip among the ranks of the released, there's something wrong. He's even got the offense to go with it this season, or at least a gaudy batting average. Boy, what a play he made in what I think was the fourth. Can't remember. But it was a great play.

It's easy to laugh about these things now, but Bengie Molina, despite the home run, and Maicer Izturis have a lot of explaining to do. Maicer I'll let slide this time, since he's been playing excellent defense, but geez, what an awful drop in the ninth. Bengie, on the other hand, just really sucks behind the plate. I've touched on this before, but he's just gotten lazy. I realize that he took a few foul balls tonight, so I'm not going to harp on it, but seriously. Block the ball, Bengie. You don't need to pick every ball cleanly.

More great work from Shields, although I was sure that Gregg was going to blow it. Nice to see him recover and pitch well. I think Lecroy should have been booted after striking out and arguing vociferously on what was admittedly a pretty bad call. The fact that it was a crappy call didn't keep Kennedy from getting run last night. Of course, running Lecroy would have been just as meaningless as ejecting Kennedy was last night.

Back up by 7.5 after Texas' loss tonight. I would be very comfortable with this lead at the all-star break. I'd be more comfortable if it was bigger. I don't think I'll ever be completely comfortable until all is decided, though.

Twins 7; Angels 5

Missed the first three innings while attending a block party in Oak Park. Lost in the quarter-finals of the bean bag tournament, and lost the egg toss when my partner screwed up on a pretty nice toss, but whaddya gonna do. If the egg doesn't break on me, I consider myself a winner.

Chipping away at your opponent's lead doesn't really work if you constantly let them repair the chips. Tonight, the Angel offense played well enough to win (although they could have been better), but the pitching was not up to par. Lackey turned into bad Lackey in the fourth inning, giving up three runs and blowing a 2-0 lead. Then, after almost getting himself out of a jam in the sixth, he gave up a two run single to lowly Juan Castro, hitting a paltry .241. The Angels were never able to get closer than one run again.

Dallas crushed a ball in the 5th that would have been a home run in most parks, but it hit off the top of the wall and he had to settle for a double. He would later score on an infield single by Kennedy. Adam was later erased trying to score on a single by Erstad. I don't blame Roenicke in this situation. There were two outs, and Kennedy runs well. The problem was that Erstad hammered the pitch. It really got into center in a hurry, and Hunter was able to pick it up while moving toward the plate in a pretty good position to throw. Tough break.

Kennedy was kicked out arguing balls and strikes after striking out for the second out in the bottom of the ninth. He had a case. Hallion had called a high fastball a ball, and on the next pitch, called a fastball just as high and slightly more outside a strike, clearly irking Kennedy. When Kennedy swung and missed the next pitch, he turned and let Hallion know that he (Hallion) sucks. Hallion disagreed and ran Kennedy. Players understand that umpires all have different strike zones, but what really pisses them off is inconsistency. Hallion had two different strike zones on two consecutive pitches at a crucial moment in the game. I don't think for a second, however, that Kennedy would have argued in, say, the third inning, or sixth, or any inning but the ninth, and in anything other than a game that they were losing. For what it's worth, Hallion tightened his strike zone and Figgins walked in the next at bat.

Tune in tomorrow to find out which Santana shows up. Hopefully it's not the same as the Lackey that showed up tonight.

Angels 5; Royals 0

Shortened by rain. They picked a great game to not put on TV. It gave me a chance to watch the Western Open, which I had recorded.

Tiger, although he didn't win, is incredible. You can't believe some of the shots he hits until you play the same course. Or rather, a course at the same location, because he and I aren't playing the same course. The tenth hole is maybe a driver/wedge for me. For Tiger, he just drives it to within 10 yards. 11, on a good day, is driver/five iron/wedge. For Tiger, it's driver/nine iron. That's freaking amazing.

38 out - 36 in = 74

Played Prairie Landing today in West Chicago. 6,950 yards, with a rating of 73.2 from the tips and a slope of 136. Good test of golf, although not as tough as Cog #4 or Pine Meadow from the back tees. Tough greens, no trees (which means tons of wind), and wide fairways, but a lot of junk if you miss the fairway.

Hit all but one fairway, and hit 11 greens. Putted a little better, but still not great. Missed good birdie opportunities on 1, 7, 8, 12, and 15, but carded birdies on 3, 4, 10, and 11. The key, again, was no big numbers. No double bogeys.

I'm guessing as of the next revision, my handicap is going to be somewhere around 5, which is OK for now. I'd like to get it a little lower, but no complaints. That's two great rounds in my last three, and even the one that wasn't great was pretty good.

Angels 5; Royals 3

Nice job by Colon until the 8th. Still, that's a fair amount of rest for the pen after the last two games before this series, which they needed.

Honestly, I missed this one. The girl wanted to go to Taste of Chicago to see Carlos Santana and some band called Los Lonely Boys. Or rather, wanted to hear them, as we really couldn't see them. Nice day, though. Great weather, and fun was had by all.

Angels 5; Royals 0

What a great effort from Paul Byrd. After the leadoff single that wasn't, he really settled down, and gave the bullpen a much needed rest after the last few games. Another complete game, his second in his last three starts, on 105 pitches. I'll be honest, the power guys are fun to watch, but I love pitchers that don't walk anyone. I gotta think the fielders love it too. You know that almost every batter is going to put it in play, and you know that you aren't going to have to sit there as he walks the bases loaded. I once played on a softball team where our pitcher walked 6 straight batters on 18 straight balls (you start with a 1-1 count). It just deflated everyone. Man, that sucked.

More two out magic, as the first three runs all scored with two outs. The first run (which, quite frankly, I missed) came home on a Bengie single after some nice baserunning by D-Mac. It hasn't gotten a lot of pub, but he can run a little bit. That's three steals this season, and he had surprising stolen base numbers for a power guy in the minors. That might be something that the Angels find very valuable this season.

Nice way to start this series after the last two games. The Royals really suck, and the Angels just beat their best pitcher, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the Angels sweep this series.

Snuck in 18 at Pine Meadow today, my choice for the best publicly accessible course in the Chicagoland area. The course, as usual, was in great shape, but there some dry spots, probably due to the recent drought.* That, and I'm guessing the Jemseks, who also manage Cog Hill, have used all of their water budget on Dubs, home of this week's Cialis Western Open. The result is that the fairways play a little dryer, and the rough becomes thinner and much more playable. On the other hand, it was windier than it's ever been when I've played there, so that was a factor as well.

I was knocking it all over the yard on the front nine. Only hit two greens (2 and 7) but escaped with a 41. Started to put it together on the back, hitting seven greens (10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, and 18). Still couldn't get any putts to drop though, and three putts on 10 and 17 sunk me. I also blew some good birdie opportunities on 11, 13, 16, and 18. Came in with a 39 for a finishing 80 (from the gold tees - roughly 6,900 yards with a course rating of 73.4). And I did par what is, for my money, one of the toughest holes in the city, number 3.



I still think I'm not that far away. A little more consistency, and some better putting, and I can drop two or three strokes per round. Next year is the year I start playing in some events (Illinois amateur, USGA Publinx, etc.)

*For my West Coast readership, when we go about two weeks without rain in the summer, it's a drought. I know, it's crazy. I come from a place where we start thinking about droughts when we hit roughly the tenth year of no rain, but hey, it is what it is.

The Plan

Looks like all we need is a cardboard box.

Rangers a lot; Angels not so much

Ouch.

I really don't think there's much else to say except, thank God I was at work and didn't have to witness too much of it.

And Maicer got robbed.