Angels 7; Devil Rays 3; Lead is 4, Magic # is 5

The good news is that Steve Finley homered and doubled, driving in three runs and leading the Angels to victory. The bad news is that Steve Finely homered and doubled, which means that Scioscia is likely to put him in the lineup next week, except maybe against Zito. But I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade. It was a big win, especially because Oakland won today. The Angels need to show the A's that they're not putting pressure on anyone. The Angels fate is in their own hands. Win five games and the division championship stays in Anaheim. Win four of 8, at least one against Oakland, same result.

After some trouble in the first inning, J-dub settled down and looked terrific. Great job getting the win in what may have been his final start in Anaheim as a member of the Angels. I have mixed opinions about possibly re-siging him, but we can deal with that later. Vlad led off the scoring with #32, and after a couple of knocks, Finely erased the early deficit with a three run shot. The Angels would single runs in three later inning, with only Estaban Yan allowing a meaningless run in the ninth providing the final margin.

Shields has looked very good for a few consecutive outings now. That's huge. What would be even better would be to win tomorrow, and take the first two against Oakland. Wrapping things up early would give them a chance to rest that bullpen. It's vitally important, with this erratic offense, to have the relievers rested and healthy for the possible playoffs. Final home game of the season tomorrow. Bart gets the start, oddly enough. I thought they'd save him for the Oakland series. But starting him tomorrow means he's in line for another start against Texas, if needed, a team who he has dominated. And if that final start is not needed, he's set up to start a possible game one with extra rest. Still, waiting until Monday to start him wouldn't have changed any of that, so I'm not quite sure why they're doing this, but that's why I don't get paid the big bucks.

80 at Cog Hill today. Two bogeys, one birdie, 11 pars, and four freaking doubles. I'm almost there, but I need to get rid of the big numbers. Ironically, two doubles came when I took either 3-wood or 2-iron off the tee to play is safe. So much for dialing it back a bit. Birdied #13, though, which is the toughest hole on the course in my opinion. And naturally, I'm starting to make my best contact right as the season is ending. Oh well.

Unwarranted Criticism

Matt says:

It's funny how you no longer update after each game, like you used to back when you had a chance to win that bet....

This is simply wrong for a number of reasons. First, it's not true that I no longer update after every game. In fact, I updated pretty quickly after most games over the last two weeks. When I don't update right after a game, there's usually a good reason. I might be going to bed. See, Matt, we have these things called time zones, and mine is two hours earlier than yours. Also, some of us have jobs where we actually need to show up and stuff. I can't just write articles from the comfort of my apartment. This is also the good concert season in Chicago, and twice in the last two weeks I've been at shows while the Angels were playing. Sometimes, like last night, I might be at a White Sox game, and I might be drunk from tailgaiting before the game. Plus, last night's game wasn't on extra innings, and I hate sitting and watching games over the computer.

Anyway, all of that is neither here nor there. The point is, I feel like I've been accused of rooting for the Angels to lose. Trust me, I've said before, and I'll say again, I'd gladly pay $50 right now to have the season be over with the Angels in first place. I think a lot of would. I hope to lose that $50. Nothing would make me happier.

Anyway, as we all know by know, Angels win, A's lose, magic number is 6. Great comeback last night, and some really clutch hitting in the 7th and 8th. Paul Byrd apparently didn't have it, and he was gone by the time I got home from the Cell. Great work by Kevin Gregg to keep them in the game. Once the Angels tied the score on the error at first base, I had a pretty good feeling about this one. Shields was terrific, as was Frankie. It seems like that must have been the first time since June that both of them pitched 1-2-3 innings. If they can win one more game in this series and go to Oakland no worse than up by three, that would be fantastic.

Anyway, I knew early in this blog's life span that I was spoiling some of you, and that when the inspiration didn't strike for some reason, I'd be called on it. There's just no pleasing some people. Remember, Matt, you're getting what you've paid for. And while I'm on the subject, I think it's pretty darn convenient that your wife just happens to be French, which means you'll just happen to be out of town when I'm in LA, thereby precluding you from buying me dinner with my money.

For the curious

I try not to get too political on this blog, because there are other people who do that a lot better than me. If you haven't already figured it out from my sidebar, here's where some quize says I stand:

You are a Social Liberal (73% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (30% permissive) You are best described as a: Democrat Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid

Do with that what you will. And speaking of the sidebar, I've added 3 Bulls to the list. Them dudes are funny, and they like good music. Also, they added me to theirs, so it's like reciprocation, eh.

Oh, I got this from John Cole.

Angels 7; Rangers 4; Lead is 3 games; Magic # is 8

Six straight wins. Three big ones over Texas, which has to be a bit of a psychological boost in the event that those three games to close the season are meaningful, and I think we all expect them to be. The kid was good again, at least, good enough to win. Another quality start, he kept the team in the game long enough for the Angels to break it open in the sixth with three runs on four hits and a walk, all with two outs. The walk was to Steve Finley. I'm pretty sure every one of us in the halosphere was expecting a pop-up there. I know I was. Bengie added a home run, and Escobar, who had pitched a great 7th and 8th got touched for a run in the ninth. It was meaningless.

Two tests lie ahead. Obviously the series with Oakland is huge, and there's no way to overstate its importance. But the upcoming set with the Devil Rays is almost as important. The Angels enter the series in position to go into Oakland no worse than tied with a week to go. Honestly, I don't expect Oakland to lose to Texas, so it's important for the Angels to take at least two games out of three. This is the same D-Ray team that swept the Angels in Tampa, and has bitchslapped the first place Yankees all over the field this season. Wash is ready to go. Byrd will need to be the rock that he's been lately. The Angels still need a starter for Sunday. With Bart's bad back, and the series with Oakland looming, the Angels will probably move Bart to Monday, which will give him two starts in the last week.

The Angels magic number, now 8, is one better than that of the White Sox, who fell apart in extra innings tonight. Why they couldn't do that while Johan Santana was in teh game is anybody's guess, but it means I didn't get the win in my fantasy league. With three days left in the semi-finals, I trail my opponent by two points, which means nothing to you if you don't know how we do the scoring, and I'm not going to take the time to explain it now. Just know that it's a virtual tie. Of course, the Sox loss also means no donuts tomorrow. I'll be at the Cell tomorrow night, so I'll try to document the atrocities.

Angels 6; Rangers 5; Lead 2.5

Quick one tonight since I have to get up to go to work tomorrow. This one was sort of unexpected. Once they got down, I expected them to lose, because they were due for one, and the Angels have a tendency to be shut down by pitchers who have no business shutting them down. But as much as we've ripped on Scioscia recently, he played most of the right cards in this one. He went back to Ztu, despite my prediction that he wouldn't, and it didn't end up hurting the team. He got the big hits from pinch hitters Quinlan and Molina (and a hit from Finley, but it wasn't big, since it didn't lead to any runs). He got burned a little by Donnelly, but Christiansen got the lefty, Shields looked terrific in the eighth, and Frankie was great in the ninth, save for a lousy call on what should have been strike three to the lead off hitter, Rod Barajas.

Lackey didn't look particularly sharp, scattering a number of baserunners, although he did have two perfect innings. The last two games have brought returns of the Lackey inning, which may survive the regular season, but could be big trouble in the post-season.

Three game lead in the loss column, and thanks to the Twins, the magic number is nine, same as the White Sox. A executive assistant at work brought in donuts this morning because she was in a good mood after the Sox win last night. I think we're all getting all expense paid trips if they win the World Series.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club with Mark Gardener at the Metro, 9/20/05

Mark Gardener led off the evening, but honestly I missed most of his set. I showed up for his final five songs. However, I was there for the good parts. For those unaware, Mark Gardener was one of the creative minds behind the influential shoegazer band Ride, of whom I'm a big fan. He played Vapour Trail, an indie classic, and In a Different Place near the end of his set. He's supposed to back in December with a full electric setup (tonight was just him and two other people, no percussion, all acoustic), so it will be interesting to see if he does more Ride stuff.

BRMC came out next, or rather, Peter Hayes came out next. A little background, BRMC's first two albums were fairly straightforward rockers. The self titled first album was critically a mixed bag. Hailed by some as a return to rock and roll, it was criticized somewhat for being a rip-off of any number of bands, including the aforementioned Ride, as well as early Verve (circa A Storm in Heaven), maybe some My Bloody Valentine, and most obviously, the Jesus and Mary Chain. Didn't bother me. I really like all of those bands, so I thought it was a pretty good listen, and it made for a good live set (I saw them for the first time in 2001 when they opened for the Charlatans at the Double Door, so that makes this the fourth time I've seen them). The second album, Take Them On, On Your Own, was more of the same, and got even worse reviews than the first, but again, made for some really great live tracks.

While writing the latest album, Howl, Robert Levon Been (formerly Robert Turner) and Peter Hayes had a falling out with drummer Nick Jago. The result was a number of songs with percussion as an afterthought. The album is slower and quieter, drawing more from Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson than William and Jim Reid. Somewhere along the line, fences were mended, and Jago is back with the band, but there's not much for him to do on a number of songs. Critically, this was a step in the right direction, and honestly, it's growing on me, although initially I didn't care for it as much as the first two, start to finish.

So anyway, Peter Hayes came out solo and did the first couple songs by himself before being joined by Levon Been and Jago for the rest of the set. The set was panned by a few people on the way out. This is probably a weird situation for the band, as the first two albums are clearly more crowd friendly at a rock concert, but I'm sure the band wants to play a lot of the new stuff. Tonight, the band won. In this blog's tradition, the following is a setlist, which should be pretty complete, since the show just ended a few hours ago. The first few songs are in order, then it's a free for all:

• Devil's Waitin'
• Fault Line
• Restless Sinner
• Weight of the World
• Shuffle Your Feet
• Ain't No Easy Way
• Howl
• Still Suspicion Holds You Tight
• Love Burns
• Whatever Happened to My Rock and Roll (Punk Song)
• White Palms
• As Sure as the Sun
• Spread Your Love
• U.S. Government (a weird version of this, with only the words remotely similar to the veriosn that appears on Take Them On....)
• Stop
• Sympathetic Noose (Very different than the version on the album as well, but the same basic melody, just louder)
• Promise
• Gospel Song
• The Line
• Open Invitation

I think that's it. They played pretty much all of the new album, except for Complicated Situation. Levon Been broke a bass string on one song, which I've never seen before, but it looked cool. Also, his voice clearly wasn't as strong as Hayes'. At first I thought it was the microphones, but you could tell when at one point, the two switched sides. Hayes was terrific all night on vocals, guitar, harmonica (I love it when bands bust out the harmonica live for some reason), and even trombone on Promise near the end.

Personally, the set didn't bother me. While I would have loved to hear more than the just the two songs they played from Take Them On..., and I would have been ecstatic if they'd played Awake, I pretty much figured they'd play a lot from the new album, so I wasn't shocked or disappointed when that's what we got. Definitely worth my $16. And since it was an early show, I was home in time to see the last few innings of the baseball game. Definitely a change for the better from their last show. Two years ago, the show was supposed to start at 10:00. Because an early show ran late, and the band still wanted their full sound check, the doors didn't open until 11:30, and the show didn't start until almost midnight. This meant BRMC opened, and the Stratford Four had to go on second, at about 1:30 am, by which time most of the crowd had cleared out. That's gotta suck.

Angels 2; Rangers 1; lead is 1.5

Steve Finley has finally found a buddy for the bench. The old man ought to clear a space for MaicEEEr Izturis, becuase I don't think MaicEEEr is going to be doing a whole lot of starting from here on in, and he may have just cost himself a spot on the post-season roster.

When MaicEEEr wasn't booting balls at third, Bart was working on his 20th win, the first 20 game winner for the Angels since Nolan Ryan in 1974, which means he's the first since I've been old enough to actually pick up a baseball, right around the time I started walking and talking. Congrats, Bart. Escobar pitched a solid 8th, working around a one out walk to the Junior Sarge. Frankie did his Frankie thing again, putting runners on, striking batters out, and generally giving everyone a heart attack. Rivera continued to make his case for being in the everyday lineup with a solo homer, which gave the Angels a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

And the White Sox finally won, which ought to allow their fans, who are gripping seriously hard, a chance to back away from the ledge a bit. Crede homered in the tenth right as I pulled into my parking space as I returned from what you may have just read about in the post above.

We do it again tomorrow night.

Brian Jonestown Massacre at the Metro (9/14/05)

This was the first time I've seen BJM. You might have seen the movie Dig, or you might have read my half assed review of it, or neither. If you've listened to late '60s Rolling Stones, you know what Brian Jonestown sounds like. Some background, the music is great, the lead singer, Anton Newcombe, is psycho. That's about it.

The show lasted over two hours, and they played 10 songs. Seriously, ten songs in over two hours. There were two reasons for this. Some songs were seemingly endless. For example, they closed with "Swallowtail" and it lasted probably close to a half hour. No joke. The songs that didn't take twenty minutes to play were usually followed by 15 to 20 minutes of ranting from Anton. This isn't really a surprise for anyone who has seen the movie. Anton comes off as someone who is pretty sure that he's the most brilliant fucking person on the planet, and I'm sure there are enough people surrounding him who feel similar that it just feeds his ego. Anyway, the rants are funny at first, but start getting old if you're my age and back starts to hurt after standing in roughly the same place for 3 hours. What's not clear, at least to me, is if Anton has always been this way, or if the band's newfound popularity since the opening the of the movie has convinced him that he needs to play to type. I never saw them before the movie, and it was filmed over seven or eight years, so you never know whether what shows up on film is the real deal, or if he's been edited to seem like even more of an asshole than he normally is. Also, keep in mind that the lineup that you see in the movie is completely different. BJM at this point is essentially Anton and whoever he can get to tour with him. No Matt Hollywood, no Joel Gion, no Miranda Lee Richards, no Peter Hayes, etc. Although, Peter Hayes will be in the same venue on Tuesday fronting Black Rebel Motorcycle Club as they play tunes from their new album Howl, which I didn't like all that much at first, but is growing on me. I hope to be there.

The setlist, such as it was, stuck pretty closely to Tepid Peppermint Wonderland, which is the 38 song retrospective that was released shortly after the movie, and a good use of thirteen bucks (see, all of you iTunes freaks, buying actual CDs can still be a good value). The played one song off of Strung Out in Heaven, called Jennifer, that doesn't appear on TPW. The rest, from memory (and remember, it's like 5 days later now):

• When Jokers Attack
• Servo
• If Love is the Drug (this one lasted forever, too)
• Vaccuum boots (I think, but don't hold me to this one)
• Nailing Honey to the Bee
• Nevertheless
• Let Me Land Next To Your Flower
• Hide and Seek (again, they may or may not have played this one, but I think they did)

That's all I can remember/recognize, or think I can remember They did not play Who, Mary Please, or Anenome, which all would have totally rocked! Oh well.

The guys that opened for them, the High Dials, were actuallly really good for the two songs that I heard. I'll be checking out their album on Rhapsody.

Angels take two over the weekend

Didn't see much of last night's game for a couple of reasons. First, it wasn't on Extra Innings. Must have been on local TV in LA, and the Tigers weren't broadcasting. It was on MLBTV, but I didn't really want to sit in front of the computer all night, so I turned it on, turned the sound up, and laid down on the couch. There weren't too many reasons to get up and watch until the 8th inning, and by that time I was waking up from a long nap, so I was too tired to watch. I did listen, however, and watched Frankie shut down the ninth.

I have today's game recorded, and I'll skim through it later, but it was bright, sunny, and 80 degrees here, so I hit the links again, this time at Cinder Ridge. Kind of a rinky dink front nine, better back nine, but it could be in better shape. 41-36-77. Not bad for the first time I've seen it, and I started to put it together a bit on the back nine. Anyway, my dad gave me the play by play of the ninth inning on the drive home. The bullpen continues to be shaky, but Paul Byrd continues to show that the Angels are better off bringing him back next year over J-Dub.

Went to a local sports warehouse bar (seriously, the place is enormous) so that I could watch the Bruins beat up on a mediocre Oklahoma team. I'll take it. It's been a while since there's been a Bruins team that could beat up on any team, including the mediocre ones. Drew Olson looked terrific, and the defense created some turnover, and took advantage of some sloppy play. I could have ordered it on PPV, but I figured the money was better spent on beer and food, plus I could watch my dad's Spartans take on my friends' Irish at the same time. They play an awful Washington team next week before they face their first real test at home versus Cal, who beat up on the Illini this week (at least in the second half). We'll give the Illini a few years to blossom under Ron Zook.

Angels 7; Tigers 6

It was a little too late for a recap last night, and by now, you probably know what happened. I'm not sure I really have any more to add to what Matt has said. Besides, I've already said it a million times. Finley sucks hard, and Erstad has no business batting fifth. However, there were faint glimmers of hope last night, as Scioscia finally removed Finley in a pressure at bat with another left hander. Sure, Kotchman struck out on a pitch that was nowhere near the strike zone, but it was a step in the right direction.

The Angels reclaimed sole posession of first after an extra inning loss by the A's, so let's hope the same happens again today.

Bruins v. Sooners today in what's really a make or break game for Dorrell. Oklahoma is wounded and vulnerable, while the Bruins' offense is clicking. The stars are going to determine the outcome of this one. Olson, Drew and Marcedes Lewis against the Sooners defense, and on the other side, it will come down to Justin London and Spencer Havner against student of the year Adrian Peterson. I think the Bruins are going to win, but it will be struggle, as I think they still need to gain confidence. I'm not sure they believe they can play with an Oklahoma team, even one that's poor by Oklahoma standards. If it's tied at half time, or the Bruins lead, they win the game. If they trail at the half, it will go to Oklahoma.

The post where I give up

Seriously, is there any reason to watch these sacks of crap anymore?

Can hockey season start now, please?

Fuck 'em all

I've never seen a team score nine runs in a game where I could say "they really deserved to lose." If you score nine runs, you usually deserve to win. But not this team. This team is made up of probably the dumbest group of players I've ever seen, all led by their dunce-in-chief in the dugout. Fuck'em.

Mariners 2; Angels 1

Mike Scioscia deserves 100% of the blame for any game in which Steve Finley plays. That goes double for any game in which Erstad bats fifth. It's that simple. On top of that, he refused to pinch hit for Darin Erstad in an obvious pinch hit situation. The logical choice would have been to call up Quinlan in that situation. Erstad was unlucky, as he hit the ball hard, but right at Beltre. Doesn't matter. It was a predictable situation, as it's a lot tougher to control the bat against a lefty with a good curve ball.

For the second night in a row, the Angels face a guy who should be selling life insurance, and they make him into an award winner. This offense is absolutely putrid. Thank God for the schedule, or at least the A's drawing the tough teams part. The easy schedule for the Angels looks like it will prove to be anything but.

Under .500 since the all star break. This, folks, is not a good baseball team. Winning three straight over another incredibly overrated team over the weekend doesn't change that.

Assuming I come to my senses tomorrow, there probably won't be a game recap. It depends on how badly I want to go see the Brian Jonestown Massacre. The Angels just gave me one more reason to NOT stay home.

Mariners 4; Angels 1

It's only the sixth inning, but this one is over. Joel Piniero has an ERA over 6 against the rest of the league, but against the Angels, they make him look like the second coming of Cy Young. And I don't mean to imply that he turns it on against them. I mean exactly what I said. This offense absolutely sucks against Piniero. At one point he threw Darin Erstad five pitches out of the strike zone and struck him out. He's thrown 49 freaking pitches through five innings. They had an entire inning that lasted as long as Barry Bonds' first at bat. Seriously. He's faced 7 teams more than once. His lowest ERA against any of those teams besides the Angels is 3.77 against the A's. Everyone else that has faced him two or more times has killed him. But the Angels treat him like they're facing his fading promise, as opposed to his true ability.

Whatever strides this offense took over the weekend, they've politely stepped right back to where they were before heading to Chicago. It doesn't help that Scioscia wants to believe so badly that he continues to punt a lineup spot by playing Steve Finley, not to mention weakening the defense at the same time.

Santana has not been sharp lately, and tonight was no exception. I'll admit, I thought his solid July and August were going to be good enough to send Escobar to the pen, but I've changed my mind. He was behind to almost every hitter. He had no control over his fastball. He's keeping his poise, but he just isn't getting guys out, and with this offense, they can't afford to have a starter give up four or five runs a game. If they don't move Escobar back into the rotation, I think they're in huge trouble. If they just throw him out there and pray, they're going to lose the division. It doesn't help when their 'gold glove' second baseman can't make a simple throw to the plate on a double steal.

Let's put this one in the books as an overmatched pitcher against a tired offense, and let's be thankful that we don't have to face Piniero again. On the bright side, maybe Finley will be returned to the bench for good. It's nice to forget about this team's problems every once in a while, but they have a great way of reminding us just how flawed they are.

Angels 6; White Sox 1

Watched the good parts of this one on the DVR after I got home from another mediocre round of golf. Not much to say, really, other than it's really awesome to listen to Hawk call a game where the White Sox just get hammered.

It's gonna take more than two decent games to get me to stop hating Finley, but he had a couple more hits to today. Garret is starting to get a bit of a power stroke back, which is going to be very important down the stretch. Going down the list, of the guys who have been regulars all season, only three are showing the power at either the level of expectation or better. Vlad, Figgins, and Molina. But what's happened to this point is water under the bridge. What matters now is what happens down the stretch. And if they can play a little long ball for the next three weeks, they'll be tough to catch.

Lackey was excellent again, as he continues to grow into an ace. It may be that growth, even more than the emergence of Santana, that makes Washburn expendable after the season. They would have three front of the rotation starters, and really Wash would be number four in next year's rotation (maybe #5 if Santana improves over the off-season). What he will command on the market is a lot to pay for a fourth or fifth starter, but it's less a reflection on him, and more a indication of the strength of this pitching staff. I realize that those roles are strictly definitional, and nothing says you can't have five number one starters. But at this point, I'll take Byrd for another year over Wash at a big number for four or five more.

Three more up the coast before the team returns home. Honestly, they've already won one more game on this trip than I expected. Hopefully they'll get three more.

Angels 10; White Sox 5

Only caught bits and pieces of this one during commercials in the Notre Dame - Michigan game. I was with a bunch of Domers, so I didn't complain. They're everywhere in this town. The parts I saw, Bart looked shaky, which seems to jibe with throwing 111 pitches in six innings. But apparenty, he's healthy, which is incredibly important. The old man and the really old man both hit homers, which is pretty amazing. Considering this team could barely score in five straight games, scoring in five straight innings is something I never would have expected. Yan was apparently crappy, but hey, he got the job done last night when it counted. I don't care if he's crappy in games in which the Angels have big leads. Incidentally, that's the second time the Angels have put up 10 against the White Sox.

They've already won as many games as I expected them to on this trip, and they cling to their lead over the A's, so if they can win two more, I'd imagine they'd head home no worse than tied for the division lead.

Great game - Angels 6, White Sox 5 (12)

I gave up on this game at least six times. But we stayed through the final pitch, and in the end, I was the only guy in our section cheering. The Angels almost always lose when I go to Commiskey, but tonight they found a way to get it done.

Crazy first inning. I've never seen a guy face seven batters in one inning, give up four hits and two runs, all while using only 16 pitches. Some really nice glove work by Zach Sorensen to go along with a couple of knocks. The bullpen was heart-attack inducing (non Kelvim edition), but effective. Bobby Jenks got some measure of revenge. I wish the kid well, and ultimately that was kind of a perfect way for him to face the Angels. He was on top of his game, but it wasn't enough to win. I'm fine with that.

Vlad, well, I don't really know what to say about Vlad. We were all watching the ball in left center, expecting it to go out. When it hit the wall, we looked down and say Vlad walking to first, and I screamed, which is something I rarely do. He looked out at second from where we were sitting, but there wasn't much of an argument. He also looked out at home, but again no argument. However, more than out, he looked really, really, incredibly stupid. It's impossible to express how lucky the Angels were to get that result on that play. Quite frankly, after what happened earlier in the season, I can't believe he didn't get hurt.

Shout outs to Robb Quinlan who played a very fine third base, and cranked one to the opposite field. And I can't forget Juan Rivera, who really threw a beauty to the plate to nail Rowand. It didn't look like it was hit hard enough to get him, and Rowand is fast. But the throw, the catch, and the tag were perfect.

Terrific night at the ballpark.

Fafnir for head of FEMA!!

Imagine the number of people in New Orleans who would have been saved if only we'd had the right people in charge.

Angels 3; Red Sox 0

Well, it wasn't easy, although for 7 innings, Paul Byrd made it look pretty easy. He was fantastic until losing it a bit in the 8th, giving up a double and a rare walk. Shields came on, causing yours truly to cringe a bit. But Shields responded by striking out ManRam, Renteria, and nemesis David Ortiz, the last two with the bases loaded. Frankie was shaky in the ninth, but he found a way to throw the breaking ball for strikes at just the right time, striking out the side, although he loaded the bases in the process.

For the second straight night, Larry Young embarrassed himself, making his case for being the most pathetic excuse for an umpire in Major League Baseball. This time, he botched a completely routine tag up by Cabrera who moved from second to third on a foul fly out to right. Trot Nixon jumped into the stands, caught the ball, exchanged some high fives, ran up for a beer and a helmet sundae, made a few phone calls, and was in the process of hitting on some ZooMass co-eds in the fifth row when Cabrera decided to leave for third, which he reached easily. The Sox appealed to second, claiming that Cabrera left early, and inexplicably, Young agreed. Two ejections later, the Sox were out of the inning.

But that wasn't the strangest moment of the night. That came in the top of the seventh when Bengie Molina actually beat a throw to first base. Sure, it was only after Renteria went into the hole and made a great stop, then went to second to try to get the lead runner, but he legged it out all the same, and it became an RBI fielder's choice.

The good news is that Escobar was up and throwing in the 8th, which may be a sign that Bart will be ready to go on Saturday, a game which I may be at, but probably not. Sunday I may skip out to play golf, but I do have tickets for tomorrow night's game. Washburn goes against Buerhle, so the game should be over in about 37 minutes.

WOW!

I just walked in the door and saw the replay, but that is THE WORST CALL I HAVE EVER SEEN!! That was Don Denkinger in the 1985 World Series bad. I mean, it's not like Cabrera even gains an advantage from leaving early. He would have been safe by a mile anyway.

If Larry Young is anywhere near an Angels post-season game, I swear, I may bring a gun and shoot him. What a fucking dick of an umpire.