I am now syndicated at http://www.section331.com, like it's 2009! Or something.

*poof!* I am done here.
I'm going to be allowing my paid account to expire, but the posts will still be here, obviously.

I can now be located and read at
http://www.section331.com

I've already got a post up about the recent controversy surrounding the placement of a strip club near SafeCo Field.
Once again, congratulations to the Phillies and Moyer, and let's go 2009 Mariners!

Waiting two days for 3 innings of baseball to prove what I already knew was going to happen. Hopefully, Philly fans can show a bit more class and sportsmanship in person than what I've witnessed online over the past few days.

Jamie Moyer has worked hard for this opportunity, and he deserves it.

Congratulations to Tampa, who still has a hell of a lot to be proud of. You made it to the World Series, and you beat one of the hardest teams ever to get there.

I have to say that tonight's game is also momentous because one of my favorite pitchers gave up the winning run. I still love him, but man, Bradford: first Manny, now this? I still hope that someone manages to sneak you into the Mariners' bullpen, though I know that is probably too much to ask.

Now, I'm going to sit back and watch the last inning of baseball for 2009...

At this rate, I may not see the end of the World Series; I have errands to run this week that I keep putting off, and they need to get run *before* Friday's festivities. This whole delay thing has kind of taken the wind out of my sails, but if at all possible, I will finish the WS.
Fortunately, things are picking up in Mariners-related news, so http://www.section331.com will at least get kind of a running start...

Well, game 5 of the World Series has just been put on hold - in the middle of the game - because the Phillies need to get a retractable roof. It has been raining for several innings now, and with Upton's near-suicide slide into home before the end of top 6th (I say this both because he was running against a throw from the outfield, and because it looked like it was messy and hurt), they have pulled a tarp over the diamond, and most of the fans seem to have retreated for drier parts of the stadium. And now, the Simpsons is on.

So I guess I sit here and wait; this is much more dramatic than I was expecting it to be.

Joe Maddon, wishing he was back in Florida:

I'm just going to call this right now and congratulate Philadelphia on a series well-played. With 2 runs in the first inning and Kazmir allowing hits with damn near every pitch, I can't imagine this will end well for the Rays.

Bright spot = remember, tomorrow is free taco day at Taco Bell because Jason Bartlett stole a base!

I'm going to finish this game because it will be the last baseball I see this year, but I'm not going to be excessively happy about it. Jamie Moyer and Matt Stairs get their rings, so that is a positive. At least maybe this means that I'll get some Mariners news soon.

I informed Tom last night that today could be the day he’s been waiting for, for months now; the End of Baseball. Until March, at least. I harbor no illusions that the Rays will come back and win this. I don’t think they can. Last night’s game featured so many fielding errors and so little contact with the ball, it was like watching a different team. Longoria was visibly upset for the entire game. I don’t know if it was simply too much pressure to put on a bunch of young guys, or if it was the rain delay the other night that caused them to psyche out, or the taunts of the Philadelphia fans, or what; but the Rays that have been playing in the World Series are not the Rays that beat Boston to make it here.
I should be used to not getting what I want in terms of baseball, which may be why this doesn’t bother me now as much as I thought it would. Either that, or I have become enough of a realist to know that some things just don’t happen because they’re not supposed to. Watching the Phillies and the Dodgers, it was very clearly obvious that the Dodgers were outpitched and outbatted, end of story. But the Sox/Rays duel did not have the same sort of feel to it, and now that things are clearer because they are in the rearview, I’m thinking that maybe the Rays just got lucky in game 7. Admittedly, there were two games in there where they ran rampant over the Red Sox corpses, and the Rays really did fight for their opportunity at the WS. But based on what I’ve seen since they got there, it seems now like a hollow victory.

Now I have to wonder, if the Red Sox won, could THEY have beat the Phillies? Cole Hamels has just about ripped the throat out of both the Dodgers and the Rays, I have to wonder what he would have been like against the Sox (with his 1.55 ERA. Yikes!). Moyer’s NLCS game was not good, but by all accounts his game on Saturday night was stellar. We’ll never know, but it raises something interesting to think about while I’m bored at work.

The real entertainment in all of this for me has been watching the two message boards at mlb.com just explode. Rays fans are upset, of course, and the end result is calling Phillies fans names and talking about what a “cesspool” Philadelphia is –even though I’m willing to hazard a bet that few, if any, of them have ever been to the city. Speaking as someone who has, I wouldn’t want to live there. Spending your evening trying to have a barbecue out in the backyard while police helicopters sweep the yard and surrounding neighborhood for some runaway NBA star and the weird kid next door kept yelling at us out of his window made for good entertainment for a few hours, but it’s not really how I want to spend my spare time. And Tampa was where we had the words “WE SUCK” written by someone’s drunken finger in the dust on the back of our van window. Also, it’s like living in someone’s armpit; you never stop sweating. But I have friends there, too. Every city has its downside; that’s just the price you pay for living in a small area with a bunch of other people.
So Phillies fans, congratulations. If they don’t win tonight, I’ll be shocked. And Rays fans, you have a lot to love about your team, and lest you think you don’t, just remember these numbers: 61-101. Good luck to everyone tonight, and may the better team win.

Another entry from Justin Thomas' adventures in Venezuela:
http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081024&content_id=3642845&vkey=news_sea&fext=.jsp&c_id=sea
These are written for the Mariners site, so there really isn't a blog site that you can go to or bookmark, unfortunately.

I started game 4 with high hopes. Andy Sonnanstine is a great pitcher, and the As must have gotten rid of Joe Blanton for a reason. The Rays seem to be at a disadvantage playing NL style. I briefly saw Garza up to bat once last night before having to leave, and it wasn't pretty. They are also at a disadvantage with the announcers, who obviously favor Philadelphia. I can't seem to get away from that in the post-season. If they do not win this game and have to face Hamels again tomorrow, in Philly territory, that will be the end of it. I would like to see this stretched out to 7 games like the Boston battle;

In the bottom of the first inning, Longoria tagged Howard in a back-and-forth at third, but the ump called Howard safe. I thought Longo's head was going to explode. It was an obvious tag, and you would not have needed slow-mo to see that. Sonnanstine was already struggling, which smothered a little bit of hope, and when Sonnanstine walked Burrell and forced a walk home, I decided to bring the high hoping down a notch or two. I then vowed to just sit and watch the game, and not panic too much.

In the top of the 4th, Carl Crawford hit a home run, narrowing the gap in score, but Sonnanstine continued to load bases. Ryan Howard hit a home run with two men on, pushing the score to 5-1 in Phillies' favor. I debated giving up altogether. If the Rays lose this game, that means they have to win the next 3, which I don't know if they can do. There was another home run for the Rays and another home run for the Phillies (by Joe Blanton, of all people) and at the top 6th, the score was 6-2. Longoria has had a ridiculously difficult night tonight, there just doesn't seem to be anything he can do. Bottom 6th, the Rays decided to remove Sonnanstine from the game. I still haven't seen Bradford in the WS proper. Werth hit a double off of relief pitcher Edwin Jackson, and I have the feeling things are going to just get worse from here on out, so I'm going to mercy kill this blog post.

And randomly, regarding the Mariners; I was up until now unaware that Miguel Cairo was the third Rays player drafted when the Rays were created. He took his son to game 1 of the World Series down at Tropicana. I think that's great. Also, if all is lost for the Rays at this point, I can at least rest in the knowledge that former Mariner Jamie Moyer will come out of this with a World Series ring. I forgive him for not coming out to fix my window. And he apparently pitched his game last night with some nasty stomach virus. Hardcore.

I missed most of game 3 last night because I went out with friends. Sitting in my friend Nicole's living room watching VH1 Classic, I requested that the channel be turned to 13 for a moment; with the score 4-1 in the Phillies favor around 10pm, I figured the Rays would just have to suck it up and take the loss, and I was right. I've kind of gotten over the World Series as far as really caring who wins - either way, it's fine with me. But there is still part of me that wants to see the Rays truly go from worst to absolute first, just on principle.

There is a show being run on A&E about Jose Conseco. I'm not sure if it's an effort to garner pity for himself or what the deal might be, but I can't stand to watch more than a few moments of it. His whining about being caught is just annoying. It's been broadcast a few times now, and when I turned past it the first time, he was talking about how "angry" he was at MLB when he got found out. Y'know what, Jose? Too damn bad. Seriously. I yelled some profanity at the television before changing the channel. This victim mentality from steroids users is about as idiotic as it gets - and it doesn't help his case any that he recently got caught trying to sneak HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) across the Mexican border: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2008/10/10/2008-10-10_jose_canseco_detained_at_mexican_border_.html

How much alteration of your body's chemical makeup is enough? HCG is used to help men start to produce testosterone on their own, and I can appreciate wanting to try and restore the balance. I can even understand the desire to rat out your fellow players when you get caught doing something wrong. But Canseco is only putting further blemish on his own name, just like Barry Bonds' continual denial of substance usage will only further serve to end his career. I don't think Bonds will ever play ball again, and I am one of probably a handful of people who don't think he ever should. Bonds can be a hot topic of discussion in online message boards; people never tire of beating a dead horse, apparently, and Bonds' horse is about as dead as it gets. There are even Mariners fans who believe that we would be better off with him on our team; I strongly disagree. I don't want the drama on our team, and Bonds is scheduled to go to court this next year anyway. Whatever Bonds accomplished in his career, he did it under the influence of chemistry-altering substances, and it's simply not fair to the players who work hard to hone their athletic skills. To me, there is no other argument, end of story.

I'm going to spend the rest of the day not doing much. It's nice out but cold, and game 4 is on at 5pm PST. Only a very few more games of baseball left...

AAAUGH!

I was hoping it would be cancelled, but no.
Well, this will certainly be interesting. I don't know if I can finish the game, but if the MLB says we gotta play, we gotta play.

Now, don't waste too much time on the stupid pre-game business. First pitch at 7pm PST.

JUST CANCEL IT ALREADY!!!


Just send everyone home, and give me my Garza/Moyer matchup tomorrow. I'll live. The teams will live. The fans will live. And we'll all be a lot drier.
They keep cutting to the game in between showings of Til Death, and it is obvious that the game isn't going to happen. Bet you wish you'd stayed in Tampa now, huh, guys? I don't really care for Til Death, but I don't have much of a choice at the moment...

There is a massive rain delay in Philadelphia right now. This is the game I most wanted to see. I am also committed to going out later this evening with friends, and had hoped that the whole game thing would not interfere with that.

THIS is why you need a retractable roof.
What have we learned?

One of the websites I frequent outside of sports sites is fark.com. Every week or so, they link to a week's worth of mugshots from thesmokinggun.com. This was in this week's batch.
Note the t-shirts of the respective offenders.



Thank God I'm a Mariners fan.


Also, note to self; Thomas is in Venezuela. Woerman is in Arizona. I know I'll forget that, but just for posterity, I *do* know the difference between the two locations. I graduated before the public school system fell apart, so my grasp on geography and maps is pretty good. "Maps. Such as"....(sorry, it's funny).

So RRS has a new blog post up:
http://www.prolebrity.com/profile/ryanrowlandsmith/

I had a write-up done today, but I was so scattered at work that I left it on my computer desktop. I knew that would come back to bite me eventually. Anyway, short version here:

An article on mariners.com this morning said Riggleman wants to stay in Seattle, but hours later it was announced that he had accepted a job with the Nats, so now the Ms are manager-free.
Mike Morse is getting better, and I just checked, and sure enough, I still love him.
Probably something about Joe Woerman's updated blog (with special guest-star Rob Johnson!): http://aflmariners.mlblogs.com/

That was about it. The original version was way better.

And because why not, a picture of JJ and Morse enjoying a Sonics game earlier this year:

In other news, I got an apology* from Baseball!
FINALLY!
More on that tomorrow, too.









*That was all I ever wanted, really; just for 2008 to be acknowledged roundly. I DID bring enthusiasm to the ballpark this year, dammit!

I'm just giving this one to the Rays, barring anything crazy in the next 2.5 innings. I went to visit Jess in the hospital today, and paying attention to a ball game when one of your best friends is laying in bed hooked up to tubes with plaster casts all over the place is just not going to happen. Get better soon, girl; I loved that you had it on already and didn't even know I was going to be there. You'll be up and ready to go before you know it.

This is good, because it enables the Rays to go to Philadelphia 1-1. I'd imagine that people in Philly who are going to a World Series event on a Saturday night are probably ready to mess something up; I understand that setting fires and going car-tipping are not out of the question after a loss OR victory in the City of Brotherly Love (yeah, right). A friend of mine who lives there apparently spent most of last night yelling at his neighbors to shut up (he's not a baseball fan) well into the night. Hope he's got ear plugs for the weekend, I have the feeling it's not going to be pretty for him, regardless of what the outcome is.
Anyway, I had part of a write-up ready from work, and neglected to forward it because I was too busy; this is ok, it can wait; for now, I'm going to sack out on the couch and watch the rest of this game...

And just because I feel like it, a super-sweet picture of Cole Hamels:

Which one is scarier?
OR

Personally, I'm going to go with Hamels. That stance is so unnatural, and it always makes pitchers look like they're going to grow a set of bat wings and start shooting lasers from their eyes. Also, Hamels becomes much more of a badass when you consider that in regular NL games, he not only has to pitch but also has to get up to bat.

Today's news about the new Ms GM and the fact that either team could win this series and I'd be ok with it has kind of taken the wind out of my sails as far as actually getting in to whom I want to win. I have to say, I think Hamels is a better pitcher than Kazmir. But part of me wishes the Rays at least one win on their home turf, because Philadelphia fans are going to rip them apart. You know, it just occurred to me that the Rays beat both pairs of Sox to get here? Pun intended. You're welcome.

The FOX announcers just said that one of the pitching matchups for this series was Jamie Moyer and Matt Garza. Holy crap! I think I just got interested in this series again...

Tonight's game has been so-so, with the exception of an awesome out at home plate, with BJ Upton literally launching the ball to Navarro for the out. It's been difficult for me to pay attention - I slept on my shoulder wrong a few nights ago, and so am on the couch with one of those IcyHot sports pads glued to my back, and my evening has been laced with a few phone calls to and about a friend who was in an auto accident earlier this week, so my mind is not really and truly with baseball this evening (it's not you, it's me).
A few days back, USSM had posted a theoretical trade plan that involved trading (among others) JJ Putz for (others and) a shortstop from the Brewers named JJ Hardy. You can't just trade a JJ for a JJ, it doesn't work that way. Or DOES it?


Mr Hardy is fun to look at. Aside from that advantage, I'm pretty sure we need a shortstop, unless something nutty happens and Yuni suddenly gets better. I don't want our JJ to go, however, not ever. I know that's not the way things work, though. I'm torn about Yuni leaving; some of his plays to first were amazing this year. But until he learns to move to his right, he might not be an integral part of a rebuild. I often wonder what the players' attitudes toward everything here is. They were so much Seattle, so much ours, I just wonder if they know that there are still some of them that are well-loved by fans. Do guys even want to play in Seattle? Fans keep going to the games, we have a nice park, we're reasonably well-funded...maybe for some of them it's not a matter of desire, but I really do wonder if the players that we have enjoy playing for the Mariners, or if they'd rather take off to other better-known teams with more winning reps....
And as I was writing that, Iwamura hit an RBI single, putting the game at 3-2 Phills in the bottom of the 5th. The Rays have been struggling against Hamels. I clapped on auto-pilot, kind of surprising myself. I think I just like to see and hear the fans go nuts whenever something good happens. I'm actually looking forward to the Citizens Bank games because of the fans specifically!

Fun facts for the evening; the president of Taco Bell is an Australian; which would explain why it tastes nothing like actual Mexican food. And because there was a stolen base tonight, on 10/28/08, Taco Bell is giving away free tacos again, like they did last year. Also, if you're paying attention, the bats being used for these games are specially-made black Louisville Sluggers, and each one is engraved with the name of the player using it. Pretty!


Bradford started warming up top 6th. Every game now, I know it might be the last time I see him this year. JP Howell was the one who actually came in top 7th, however, and Grant Balfour (and unfortunate name for a pitcher) started warming up while FOX played some discussion between Maddon and the home plate ump regarding a possible balk by Hamels. Chase Utley spent most of his time stealing or attempting to steal, and was able to make it to third on a wild pitch from Howell to Howard. Howell walked Howard with Victorino up, and was pulled in favor of Mr Balfour, who succeeded in striking Victorino out swinging. I once again subconsciously waved my hands around.
Bottom 7th (7th inning was a long one), and Hamels was still in the game. Because he is awesome. He mowed through Rays batters like a thresher, and then more VW Routan commercials - another thing I will not miss is the collection of commercials that they play during these games. The Super Bowl gets awesome commercials, we get lame DirecTV and '24' commercials. Over and over and over again.
Hamels' night was over, but Balfour's was not quite yet. Phillies DH Chris Coste shattered his bat with a small hit and was easily outed at first. Balfour had his way with Ruiz, sending two strikes at him, until Ruiz popped out to right field and was caught out.
Ryan Madsen came in bottom 8th for the Phills to set up for Brad Lidge, took all the Rays in stride, and then Balfour had to face the top of the Phills' order top 9th. Balfour decided to walk Chase Utley, which in general I thought was a bad idea, with Ryan Howard on deck; he paid for it, and was taken out of the game. Trever Miller was brought in; Miller sort of looks like a fuzzier Robert Englund. Howard didn't stand a chance, however, and Miller walked off in exchange for Wheeler, at which point I'm guessing all is lost for the Rays tonight. But it's all good. I'm going to finish this game and watch some South Park, and try and prop myself in bed in a position that doesn't hurt my neck so I can get some rest tonight.

And because I didn't say it earlier, Happy Birthday, Ichiro!

So we finally have a new dad. His name is Jack Zduriencik (rhymes with “forensic”), and he comes to us from who we used to be, the Milwaukie Brewers. By all accounts I’ve read online today, not a magical hiring, but certainly better than what we’ve had. If he can hire us a good manager and some coaches to go with it – along with additions/subtractions to our roster – we can start all over again and just forget that big bad 2008 ever hurt us. Now to see if there will be a trimming of the roster, or a full-on slash n’ burn.

I’m working on my own form of therapy today by finally putting down my deposit on my 2009 16-game plan. The good news is, the deposit is probably the larger of the balances I will owe. The bad news is, my credit card is now screaming for mercy. But I’m helping the economy, so it’s ok, right? I checked the option for moving my seats – otherwise, I guess I will be staying put in my old section. I’d prefer lower on that deck, but we’ll see what can be done. I’d like a different view of the field next year, and I’d also like to get a different angle. Sitting in 331 is great for a view, but not so stellar a way to tell the angle of flies or home runs. Oftentimes last year, I was either cheering for the wrong thing, or not cheering enough for the right one. (I don’t even know how many times I bolted out of my seat and waved my arms up in the air when the ball didn’t leave the park, or when it DID, but for the wrong team – oops. I know I wasn’t alone, but it was still embarrassing.)
I have to figure out how to obtain my personalized Red Wings jersey – money is tight lately, and some things are far too shiny for me to resist. Window shopping is fun, but that does not put the jersey in my closet. It’s kind of a bummer that games are not readily on TV. I can’t really afford to go sit at WingMasters for all the games, and I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t dig me being in there without getting anything to eat or drink. Looks like there might be a few games on VS and maybe NBC or CBC that I might be able to catch, but I need to pay more attention to their schedule after the World Series to see what kind of games I can squish in.
In other news, juciy, juicy Curt Schilling vs. Manny drama. Schilling, he of injured arm and Red Sox roster membership (DL ), has been lambasting Manny Ramirez ever since Manny took off for the Dodgers. Schilling put some stuff up on his website that he hastily then took down, probably worrying about his trade-ability if teams knew he was so willing to publicly smacktalk. But a gentleman named Evan Brunell gets it on RSS (not RRS) feeder, and posted the “fun” parts to his own site. All spelling or grammar errors are delightfully Schilling’s, as this is copied and pasted from Mr Brunell’s blog (and by extension, Schilling’s website):

“No, by saying PLAY I mean exactly that. The issue got to the point where everyone finally took him at his word, there was no choice. A guy refusing to get on a team plane, having to be literally coaxed on, by people with pride and people that love the game, because meeting the obligations of a 20 million dollar contract were not even close to enough to get him going???? If he did not get traded he was going to need "time off" to rest his injured knee, and it got to the point where he made it clear time off could mean the rest of the season……………So it's not 'what could have been', we knew what was to be, and what was to be was that if he did not get a contract extension he was going to take a seat, and in taking that seat he didn't give a rats ass what anyone thought, including the 24 guys that wore the same uniform. So the 'what could have been' in the post season is not the question. The question is would there have been a post season if he had stayed, and that's a question, and a gamble, that I think everyone felt they knew the answer too and in the end a gamble no one was willing to take, and rightly so………….It is demeaning and disrespectful to the guys that did respect their teammates, the game and the fans by busting their asses through broken down hips, sore arms, strained abs and whatever, to grind it out for each other and the fans, their love of the game and anything else you can think of, the organization, to hear people question the hows and whys of this whole thing. That was why I said 'he flipped you all off' because if you heard ANYTHING he said after he left, he did…………But the thing that killed me in the end was this; he never gave a rats ass about any of us that suited up with him, not one iota. He was, and he said repeatedly, about going to the highest bidder and getting as much money as he possibly could, period. If that meant pissing on us in the interim, so be it.”

While it only further cements my opinion (as if that needed any more mortar), I can’t decide whether I think that Schilling is brave, or just a jerk. I’m willing to bet that Manny makes more money than Schilling, maybe this sort of thing is spurred by salary jealousy, or maybe skill jealousy. I mean, there were also reports of Manny leaving uncashed checks in his locker, appearing to not really care about the money aspect of the game. I guess you can do that if you get 20 million dollars over a few years – seriously, what are a few paychecks at that point?- but some of his teammates also said that he lived in a tiny apartment for a while, too, much longer than he needed to when he had “arrived”. In any event, I find it absolutely fascinating. This saga has not seemed to really make headlines, so either a lot of people know that Schilling is full of it, or people just don’t care. Whatever the case, it’s 10 times more fascinating to me than any scenester drama I’ve heard or been involved in.
And just as a random note, I finally got to see Sports Soup on VS last night. It is ok; not as funny about sports I don’t understand, but it does have it’s moments. One of the two shows I saw last night featured a video clip of something that looked like either an interview or a reality show with some hockey player. I wish I could remember his name, because he was going on and on about how much he liked purses and women’s clothing. His voice-over gave the impression that he would maybe like to be a fashion designer, if he wasn’t a hockey player. Drag hockey would be much more interesting than the real thing, so perhaps someday, he will make it happen.

I stumbled upon an article on salon.com this morning before work that I was forced to skim because of time. The author was answering a question that appeared to be sent in by a reader, who wanted to know why we should care about the World Series. The article then responded to the question by pointing out that the world (series) does not revolve around the Red Sox, Yankees, or Cubs. I write this stuff here knowing full well that my friend Eric, a devoted Red Sox fan, occasionally reads it. I try and be nice, and I rarely go all-out insults when talking about Boston, because I’m just not that kind of person. But if you are a fan of any of the teams mentioned above, you HAVE to know that this fandom comes with a stigma and some degree of resentment from the rest of us, whose teams do not have the history, the money, the recognition, the players, or even the success or notoriety that these teams have. So yeah – there are a lot of us who are glad that the David won here, and the Goliath got his comeuppance – but mostly because WE are Davids, ourselves, and every once in a while, taking the monster down causes us much joy and dancing in the streets. Or the living room, with a Budweiser and my cat…but I digress…

One of the things I find most alarming about the Red Sox loss is the fact that when they arrived home, there were no fans to greet them at the airport. The article made it sound as if this is a regular occurrence (I certainly wouldn’t know where to meet the Mariners at the airport, and frankly, God help JJ if I ever find out), and that part of the article that made me a little sad. After all the Red Sox have done for Boston, their fans left them for dead because they didn’t go all the way – and that’s really depressing to me. If the Ms made it that far on foreign soil, I’d be TRYING to find out where they were, because making it to the playoffs, after 162 games, can NOT be an easy feat. And if you’re a fan, you support the team no matter what, right? Right, Boston? I guess to some people, sports are an all-or-nothing situation, but I prefer to give props where props is due. I’d even get time off work.

The salon.com article also mentioned something that I’ve been thinking a bit about lately…
I’d be glad to see the Series regardless of who was playing, because it means that the sport of baseball is still being broadcast on TV. As much as I try and try, I cannot bring myself to be excited by football, and hockey seems hard to come by, if only because I haven’t familiarized myself with the Red Wings’ schedule just yet (give me time, I’ll have it worked out eventually). There has been no GM picked so far by the Mariners, and therefore no trades or moves for the future have been in the news – so the World Series and the playoffs have been my only link to a sport that I love, my last glimpse back into 2008, and my last reason for living….I kid, but I actually may be a little mopey for a few days after the World Series is over. I have some books on baseball to tide me over for a bit, but it’s just not the same. I will be separated from baseball by the state, and I did not ask for the divorce.

I’ve been paying small attention to the world of trades for other teams, but it is kind of disheartening to see what moves other teams are doing, and not hear anything about my own aside from vague rumblings about who is in or out of the GM talks. As much as I want to involve myself in that, I am not necessarily that interested in who our next GM might be, as long as they do a good job – and we all know how well projections worked for the Mariners last year; so I wait, until the person is hired. After that happens, I will attempt to familiarize myself with them just for knowledge’s sake, and wait some more to see what they do. Some people may call me naïve for not paying attention at the moment, but as far as I’m concerned, the GM doesn’t play baseball, and I am more interested in what our team is going to look like next year than who is going to shape them. I can only hope to recover some of the faces from this last season, and dream about Opening Day 2009 while it pours down rain outside.
My book is almost done. I’ve been working on it a little bit today, trying to get all my tickets and the articles taped into it (yep, like a 4th grader put it together, I’m super-classy!), and when it is done, I think I may go over it for a little nostalgia. This year was a crazy one for the Mariners. I still get a little giddy when I think of Richie’s fight, or Felix’s home run, or even Clement tearing his fingernail on the backstop netting (ow, and gross!). I can hardly wait until next year, it’s going to be a tough five months…

In random news, I just wandered over to mlbtraderumors.com and discovered that I may have to follow the Red Sox for a short time at least if they decide to sign Mark Teixeira. If they go ahead with Gerald Laird, and release Varitek however, I can continue disliking them. While I feel that having Teixeira and Papelbon on the same team may cause some sort of wormhole infarction somewhere in the universe, it would certainly keep the Sox on the table for another World Series bid next year. Not like Goliath needs help, Theo Epstein seems quite capable of taking care of HIS babies.

Anyway, the World Series starts tomorrow. Do the Rays go all the way, or do they get ditched by their fans at the airport? Only the next few days will tell…

So since my work has decided to block me from being able to use my own email during times they’re not paying me (ie; the time at which I normally write), I now have to send a Word document back and forth to myself. Spiffy. At some point – possibly before next season – I hope to maybe have my own laptop, and then, THEN imagine my awesome blogging power…or not, it’s up to you.
Anyway, I was thinking today that for as much as I have been Evil-Scientist laughing about last night’s Rays victory, we are now in a position with the World Series where either team winning would be fine with me. I don’t really feel like the Rays have to dominate everything, and I am aware that there has to be a loser here – I am inclined to root for the Rays just because I have been, but frankly it’s not going to break my heart if the Phillies take the WS. I got what I wanted originally, and neither team is the Mariners, so I have a very live-and-let-live attitude towards the last few games of the 2008 season. Moyer made it, Bradford made it, Eric got to see a winning game at Fenway, and all is right and balanced with the universe.

I saw a blog last night on wordpress.com, wherein the author stated (and I’m paraphrasing here) that they felt that the Rays won because they had removed the word “Devil” from their name……yeah, try and wrap your noggin around that for a bit – wait, don’t, it may actually make you dumb. It is eye-rollingly ridiculous.

Reading the Red Sox board, you’d think that the Rays murdered every Boston fan’s parents and then broke up with their sister. Such gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair I haven’t seen since reading Dante’s Inferno when I was in high school. People blaming everyone from Tim Wakefield to the umpires for the loss, complaining about Garza’s spitting (because no baseball player EVER spat before Matt Garza came along)…I’m slowly starting to see where the divide is between Red Sox FANS, and Red Sox NATION. RSN seems to have forgotten that this is a kids’ game played by overpaid adult men. The amount of angst currently being broadcast over the interwebz is worse than a goth kid’s MySpace page – I almost have to wonder if RSN isn’t cutting the Boston logo into their forearms with a razor blade or a hat pin, before lighting some candles, dyeing their hair black and settling down for a nice night of drinking fake "absinthe". The Red Sox mlb.com site features and article depicting the players as some poor group of suckers who have never seen a championship win, quoting Jon Lester as saying that they’re not used to losing, and mentioning that Jason Varitek was on the verge of tears after the game last night.

That said, I realize that this is their job – and it would be awful if you were just demoted in such a public manner in front of millions – and the article on the site is accurate, too – there were chances that were missed by the Sox to win last night’s game – and frankly, I am shocked. I expected the Rays to lose, and I expected them to lose in grand fashion, on their home turf, in front of their own fans. They should not have won the game - Wheeler was doing horribly in his relief stint, and the fact that Maddon brought in a guy who was basically an unproven rookie to close (!!!!!) the game was either very brave or very stupid - they should have crashed and burned fantastically. The fact that they didn’t is both surprising and wonderful, and I sincerely hope that this gives baseball what seems to be a much-needed kick in the pants down in Tampa. I saw a lot of Tampa fans there, but I also saw a lot of Boston fans, and I get the impression that baseball might not be Tampa’s sport. Whether that has to do with the fact that the Rays used to be classified as nobodies, or if Florida is just more a football state, I don’t know – all I know is what I read online from a distance. Whatever the case, I hope this season opens the eyes of more front offices *cough!*Mariners*cough!* and helps baseball make it to the big time in our southernmost state.

I'm sure that somehow, this post is hypocritical, but those are just some of my many thoughts on last night's game. I can't be truly happy because it's not my team, but it was a magnificent sight to see.

Had a nice afternoon at Goofy's for the Packers game (won, thankyouverymuch!) and a bleu cheese burger with far too much bleu cheese. I didn't think there was such a thing, but apparently I've found my threshold.


Now let's do this.

I sat on the couch watching tonight's game, just hoping it would all be over. If tonight is nerve-wracking, I have no idea what I will do tomorrow. I'm just tired of the announcers most of all; this belittling of the Rays is really bothering me. I'm a stern believer that announcers should be non-partisan. Nobody wants your yappy opinion, just give us stats and talk about the game, and stop favoring one team over the other; it's not necessary (and yes, I would feel this way regardless of what side the bias rests). These games have been making me miss Bill Kreuger and Brad Adam something crazy.
They finally brought JP Howell in tonight, top 6th with a run's difference in the game, instead of waiting until Boston had done irreversible damage to replace James Shields...it didn't seem to matter much, though. Grant Balfour came in to try and stop the small surge that Boston was mounting, but was unsuccessful and Bradford was called in, top 8th.
FINALLY.
If it's one thing that has bothered me over the past few days, it is not being able to see m'boy. Pedroia batted into Bradford's leg, and Bradford submarined over to first, just barely in time to get Pedroia out. Bradford decided to walk Ortiz to take his chances with Youk, and even with walk throws, he still pitches under. They were trying for a double play on right-handed Youk, but with the way they were fielding tonight, there is a definite air of panic, and I don't like it. Turned out my fears were unfounded, but the Rays needed hits at this point, and it wasn't happening. I think that pitching Kazmir the other day may have been a mistake; the rebound that the Sox pulled off must surely have gotten into the Rays' heads. I hope I am wrong, but it just seems that the Rays are sleepy now, sort of on a crooked auto-pilot. Bradford was released from the mound top 9th, and I know that this is most likely the last time I will see him until next year. I will now proceed to pray every night before bedtime that he gets picked up by the Mariners. I know that is an impossibility, but it would make me happier than a fat kid with a blank checkbook in a candy store, and it is always fun to dream...
Tomorrow, however, Sir Spits-a-Lot is on the mound for the Rays against Lester, so we'll see.

There is very little news from the Mariners camp lately, outside of the maintainers of mariners.com keeping track of pitcher Justin Thomas' games and goings-on in Venezuela. I always find the players talking about their day-to-day routine to be fascinating - it is just nice to see someone working hard to reach a goal and talking about it so matter-of-factly, and it's an interesting peek into a side of the sport that isn't really talked about much because it's not the normal season.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to meet some friends at the Mercury, and try not to think about tonight. Or tomorrow.

And yes, James Shields is yelling "fuck!" in this picture. Can't say that I blame him.

For the first time this year, I don't WANT there to be a game on tomorrow...*crosses fingers*

Ok, so as Eric kindly pointed out to me, there is no game tonight, it's actually tomorrow, so there is a day today for everyone to regroup, and we'll be back "in country" tomorrow, around 5pm PST.
This sucks in two ways: one, that I just want this over so I can relax, and two, that I was sort of in the mood to try and find a decent sports bar that had maybe some more upscale food and drinks to watch the game at, instead of yelling at the TV on my own. Denied, I must wait.

In other news, I uncovered a horrible secret about myself today, something that I had been in denial of for quite some time, but that I don't think I can hide anymore.

I might be a bandwagon fan.

All year I have been telling myself that bandwaggoners are only for teams like Boston or New York or even the Angels - teams that do well all year 'round, every year in recent memory. I can't possibly be a bandwaggoner, because after this is all said and done, I will go back to being a Mariners fan, and stop hoping this other team will win. I can't possibly be a bandwaggoner, because I don't own any of the Rays' gear, I don't get into arguments with people online about why I feel they should win, I haven't made any brash decisions to follow the Rays just because of how well they're doing this year, and I'm not upset about last night's loss that much....not really....right?
Right?

But I find myself disappointed in last night's loss, angry at the announcers on TV for belittling the Rays, angry at Red Sox Nation for being Red Sox Nation, irked even at an editorial on espn.com that I skimmed today during my morning break, written by a Red Sox fan. I find that I am STILL irritated that last night's game didn't go as smoothly as I originally thought, irked at Maddon for waiting so long to bring JP Howell in, instead allowing Wheeler to ass up the game FAR more than he should have, and cursing the sky because I just KNOW that if they had brought in Bradford, that last night never would have happened...
And I sit here hoping tomorrow will come in the Rays' favor...and I debate buying this:


Y'know, just for the HUMOR value, nothing more. Right? I mean, I'm a Mariners fan! I love my babies here in Seattle; there is no way I could be a Rays bandwagon fan, that's just ridiculous....right?....

I could say it's because of Bradford, and that is indeed how it started. But since mid-season, it has gradually become a little more. I see the Rays doing what all the journalists said Seattle was going to do before the 2008 season (y'know, back before I learned to not trust any of those people and their filthy, filthy stats). The minute we got Bedard and Silva, there was this collective "Ooooooooo!" from the sports pundits and fans alike, and a hush fell over Seattle. You could barely hear it over the roar of traffic on the Tukwila on-ramp (which was where I was when I found out about the Bedard trade finally being nailed down), but it was there, and it instilled a sense of purpose. On Opening Day , Tom and I walked into a ridiculously over-crowded Pyramid beer garden, and I just KNEW this would be the Best. Season. EVER. Well, we all know how that ended, but the Rays ARE having the best season ever. They Man of La Mancha'd their way to the post-season, clawed their way to the top against all odds. I mean, when the season started for the Rays, Evan Longoria was sent back to the minors, and now he's the best thing since, well, BJ Upton. Watching Longoria play at third this post-season has been a treat, and the concept that Upton got chastised for not running fast enough earlier in the season blows my mind. JP Howell is an awesome pitcher, as is Matt Garza, despite all that spitting; the Rays FO put together an awesome team, one that Tampa fans should be proud to call their own.
I think what it boils down to is that I look at the Rays, and I see the Mariners. Then I look at the Red Sox, and I see...the Red Sox. And the Yankees. And the Angels. And every other team who put their boot on the Ms faces when we were trying to climb out of our hole this year. I see Felix getting spiked at the plate by Carlos Beltran. I see JJ laying face-down on the ground after he lost his footing while trying to throw to first. I see Willie in his possibly final run in an Ms uniform, collapsing along the first baseline after pulling his hamstring. I see every mistake Raul ever made.
And I want the Rays to go to the World Series.

So, yeah: I'll be sitting over here on this bandwagon, if you need me.

I don't mind that the Rays lost at Fenway; in fact, if anything, I'm happy that Eric got to see a win on his hallowed ground. But tomorrow night is another day, and on Tampa's turf, Shields vs. Beckett.
What I DO mind is the banter by the broadcasters. I know that ESPN are big proponents of (north) east coast sports, but their open and public animosity toward the Rays is just lame. I'm going to be glad to go back to FOX for the WS, where the sportscasters just talk about sports in a professional, unbiased manner, instead of sounding like they would rather be making out with the Red Sox than talking about the game. It's like listening to Bill O'Reilly talk about Democrats; it just doesn't work in the context of a sane and rational mind.

Anyway, more tomorrow. I'm tired, and SNL is on, so I'm just gonna chill, shake off the bad vibes, and hope that the Rays get their business together for tomorrow night. Cowbells, ahoy.

SWEEP THE LEG, JOHNNY!

Today was See-If-Ryan-Howard-Is-Lying Day.

I don't know if the commercial is widespread, but during the playoffs broadcast, Ryan Howard, first baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies, is involved in an advertising campaign for Subway's Philly Cheesesteak sandwich, in which he recites an "ode" to the sandwich, singing it's praises as the real thing. Having had the real thing from Jim's on South Street, I decided to call Howard out. I like Subway (I actually prefer it to Quizno's calorie-packed saturated fat whallops, thanks), so it was not a stretch for me, but I decided to go as authentic as possible with the ingredients I had available (confusing a young employee, who couldn't understand why I didn't want a bunch of other stuff on it), and I am pleased to announce....

It's not half bad.

Here was what was on mine:
White bread ("Italian" in the Subway lingo)
Both yellow and white American cheese
The meat (which they are not stingy with, thankfully, and is warm enough to melt the cheese)
Red onions
Pepperoncinis
A tiny bit of sweet onion sauce
Some oil

That's it. I would be tempted to leave the sweet onion sauce OFF next time, because it does lend a flavor that is too sweet to mimick the real deal, but I would probably replace it with either just a smidge of mayo or maybe a chipotle sauce to lend it the sort of greasy-oily-sauce flavor that happens when the meat is loaded onto the bread straight from a grill. I might also opt for some salt and pepper next time, which I did not bother with today. It does not taste NEAR as good as the mouth-party that is an actual Philly cheesesteak from actual cheesesteak places (IN Philadelphia), but it is a passable (and possibly healthier) stand-in, and I am quite pleased. I will allow Mr Howard (who isn't even FROM Philadelphia) to live this time. Also, he's huge and could crush me like a bug - but he advertises a fine sandwich, if you have them build it properly. Bon apetit!
Also, this just goes to show that I will eat what baseball players tell me to; I have officially descended into sports fan loserdom.

I tuned into the Tampa Bay game late, after eating dinner and watching a bit of Keith Olberman. Back to TBS, back to their annoying sonic fuzz.
Tim Wakefield's knucklers look odd; it doesn't look like he puts much effort into them - in fact, I'm willing to bet that chances are high that he puts less effort into them than does RA Dickey. Behold:



Dickey always looks like he's trying to yell the ball to the mound. But his knuckler is about 10mph faster than Wakefield's, so I love him anyway.

Wakefield was removed from the mound after Willie Aybar smacked a two-runner over the Green Monster, pulling the score up to 5-0 in the top of the 3rd and some guy with high socks Justin Masterson was brought in. My thoughts on the subject that every team should feature last names on uniforms is that they should. I'm better with names than faces or numbers, and Masterson I would know if his name were on his jersey; I had to wait for the TBS broadcast to mess up the screen with a giant .

Kevin Cash got a home run in the bottom of the 3rd, putting the Sox on the board. Sonnanstine is pitching well tonight, and the Rays fielding is very good so far.
Masterson got a little saucy top 5th, and threw a pitch behind Evan Longoria. Not sure if this was an accident or a warning, but if it was a warning, I call poor form. Longo did not get hit, but he did continue to chop at Masterson's pitches like an Iron Chef, until he struck out. Craford smacked one onto the left field scoreboard, and got himself a nice double, gliding onto the bag standing up. Willie Aybar hit a single up the middle, allowing Crawford to sprint into home, outrunning a Youkilis throw from third, but Aybar wound up out at first after the fact.

A few more outs later, I debated having a leftover Budweiser from our party on Saturday, but promptly decided against it in favor of water. I am still concerned I might be coming down with something, so cheap beer is probably not the best thing for me right now.
Manny Delcarmen came in to pitch for the Sox top 6th, and things did not get much better. Upton RBI'd Bartlett, pushing the score up 7-1 with men on first and second. Delcarmen then decided to load the bases, and walk Longo, score 8-1. A very upset Terry Francona walked to the mound, and cut to commercial.

Javier Lopez came in to try and stop the bleeding, giving me something to look at (ooo! Sidearmer!) He gave up an RBI single to Crawford, score 9-1. Top of the 6th. 9-1 in the Rays' favor, at the top of the 6th inning. I'd type it again, but I'm too busy twitching in disbelief. Another run batted in put the score up to 10-1, and Tom said "Someone should stop this, out of pity" to which I immediately responded "I disagree!"
Lopez threw a few suspicious pitches at Navarro, who kept chopping off fouls and looking bored. Meanwhile, in the Sox' dugout, Francona looked like he was eating his weight in gum. Navarro drove Longoria home with a sacrifice hit to third, score 11-1.

The TBS announcers can't seem to give Tampa much credit, instead trying to find an excuse for why Boston has not done well in their own park the past few games. Every once in a while they will compliment a player on his accomplishments this year, but by and large, it's a giant Boston love-fest in the TBS booth, and to hear them talk, it's like someone just kicked their puppy. Meanwhile, the Fenway Faithful began to leave in droves.

Sonnanstine was still in bottom 7th, and it was during this time that Boston got another run. I'd like to relax about this, but I'm not a fool - the Red Sox are like a sleeping cobra; they must be treated with respect and held at a distance, and with runners on base, I figured Sonnanstine was about to get bit. He wasn't. A few more tosses to strike out Cash and end the inning.

Mark Timlin in top 8th, fighting some control issues to walk Pena. A bit more back and forth, a missed catch by JD Drew off the bat of Carl Crawford, and another run for the Rays, score 12-2. Aybar up to bat, single RBI, score 13-2.
Sonnanstine was removed from the mound after allowing another RBI score 13-3, and was cheered well by the handful of Rays fans sitting above the visitor's dugout. Trever Miller was brought in to face Ortiz. I don't know Miller from a hole in the ground, but two of him would make on Ortiz. Size means nothing however, and Miller struck Ortiz out. Youkilis came up with an RBI double, and Miller was quickly dispatched by manager Maddon. Edwin Jackson replaced him, and faced Jason Bay, who he struck out in relatively short order to go to the top of the 9th inning. Rays side of 9th inning passed without much incident. Edwin Jackson walked Coco Crisp to face Ellsbury, who he threw repeated grounders at until Ellsbury walked. Jackson spent his time between pitches talking to himself, obviously nervous, and then struck out Lowrie after a brief mound conference. He then struck out JD Drew to end the game, amidst a bit of silence in Fenway. Final score, 13-4, Rays.

Assuming that the NLCS would be on right after the ALCS game, I just sat around watching the commentators on TBS like a goon, until randomly dialing up LookoutLanding and seeing that the NL game was on FOX. Yay for HD! I'm just looking forward to taking the game back to Philadelphia if possible, because those people are CRAZY, and a lot of fun to watch.
For the whole game, there was a Dodgers fan sitting right down front who looks like Tim Meadows with a Rick James hairdo; has to be seen to be believed. I thought they made that hairstyle illegal in 1984, but I guess not.

Tomorrow is game 4 of the ALCS, and therefore I have already convinced Tom that we should sit here with the lights out; apparently, Sharp is doing some sort of promotional thing requesting that people turn all their lights off to save energy or something. Not that we use a lot of lights anyway, but I like to participate. Tom said he'd get some firewood, and if the weather currently happening outside is any indication of how the rest of the week will be, that will be nice.

I told Tom that I had been debating eating the last cookie in the kitchen if the Phillies won. I've been trying to eat a lot healthier, having just survived a summer of hot dogs and beer. It's a lemon cookie, that soft sugar cookie kind with the colored frosting on the top - I don't eat them often, but they are my favorite, and I had some left over from bringing a box into work on Friday.

Most of the first half of the game was the Dodgers making good hits, and fielding and pitching well, and the Phillies not so much. I was beginning to wonder if the Phills really deserved to go to the World Series, until Shane Victorino tied up the game at the top of the 8th with a two-run homer. Matt Stairs then launched another two-runner into the center field stands, and I can say I don't think I've seen a ball travel that high and still make it out of the field - and not just out of the field, but nearly out of the stadium! I had to look it up, apparently Stairs was DFA'd by the Jays at the end of August. I wonder if they are regretting that decision? Because I'll bet Stairs is not.

The Phillies' pitchers spent most of the game walking Manny every time he came up. But not Brad Lidge. He allowed Manny to hit a double, but he didn't seem to be too worried about Ramirez making it on base. A breaking ball, a slider, and a wild pitch to Russell Martin later, runners were at the corners, and Lidge was given a talking-to. Next up was Loney, who wound up popping up to right after a small battle.

I have to put a theory to test now; Ryan Howard is currently featured in an ad for a Philly steak sandwich at Subway. Being generally a fan of Subway and also a fan of Actual Philly Cheesesteaks, I will gladly go and find out whether or not Howard should be kicked off his team and out of Philadelphia for this. I myself make a damn fine Philly cheesesteak (with 'Whiz, thank you very much!), and it is very similar to what one might find at Jim's on South St. Tom will verify this. So I know my way around a cheesesteak. I think that needs to be put to test this week sometime.

Top of the 9th was fairly uneventful, aside from a thoughtfully-put-together-by-FOX review of Shane Victorino's success in the series so far (yes, that was marginally sarcastic - they do a lot of stuff to fill up dead air during baseball games). Brad Lidge came back to the mound to ptich, and Nomar (NOMAR!) Garciaparra was up to bat, smacking one to center for Victorino to catch. Casey Blake struck out, disputing a call in the process (a lot of Dodgers fans will probably chalk this game up to the home plate ump's calls, which is hilarious, because they spent the first half of the game winning it). Kent lined out to the Phills third baseman, ending the game.