Wow, ursus I just missed crossing paths with you. I live in Baltimore. I just went back to San Francisco. Who do I get to see play the Giants? The Nationals. Argh.

Whichever Molina is SF's catcher hit two out on Tuesday, and Fred Lewis hit the very first Nats pitch of the night almost into the Cove. It hit the railing on the back fence of the arcade and caromed back onto the field. Barry Zito still can't pitch for crap, but even he couldn't give that game away.

And we've apparently gone for the home run cycle in the Bronx tonight. I wish they could have saved this until Wednesday afternoon, when I will actually be there. Sigh.

Boy, the things you don't know about your own parents. The other day, my Dad referred to Chicago as his Cubbies. He's only ever really been an Astros fan since I can remember. It almost felt like he had been having an affair.

Jefe, we saw Prince Fielder hit one into the Cove (on the bounce). Strangely (at least to us), it didn't count as a "splash hit", those apparently being reserved only for Giants (which is why there have only been three since we there last year).

FF, perhaps your dad's trying to compensate for Ms. Clinton's conversion to the Yankees . . .

Strangely enough, I was listening to the WGN radio broadcast on the way to the airport and Hughes and Santo (who make even a diehard like me cringe) gave a shout out to some guy whose love for the Baby Bears was second only to that for the LSU Tigers. Perhaps it's contagious . . .

Dave Trembley is a cock. That is all.

UA - Maybe it was my Dad.

So, nothing to say about the Angels beating the Sox, FF? That's six in a row over Boston. If the Angels can come out over .500 in this trip to Boston and NY, a lot of people are going to be talking about them being World Series favorites.

To be honest, I don't even spend any time thinking about teams other than the Red Sox, the Yankees and the Rays.

It's doubtful (in my mind, at least) that Boston will make the postseason this year, so all I hope for is that NYY and TBR don't make it either.

If the Angels make it, good for them.

The Rays intruded on ursus minor's consciousness for the first time this summer (he having been raised with his parents' National League bias). His first question was how they managed to play in a large body of water.

I was under the impression that the Angels already were the consensus favorites to win the whole thing. They certainly have been the most consistently impressive team to date.

QUOTE:
It's doubtful (in my mind, at least) that Boston will make the postseason this year, so all I hope for is that NYY and TBR don't make it either.

You do know, FF, that at least one, and maybe two, of those three teams will make the post-season. It's inevitable. Somebody is going to win the AL East and I don't think it's going to be the Blue Jays or the Orioles.

Baseball season is over for me as it always is once the Reds fall from contention. Roll on the NHL.

Maybe next year. I just haven't been able to care this year. Like most baseball fans in the DC area, I haven't actually been to a Nats game this year and I don't watch them on TV. (Don't worry, Hissing Fauna, you're shirt is enroute). They suck and all of their promising young players have been injured so there's really nothing to see and I'm so sick of this heat that I don't want to go to a game.

Even my favorite minor league team, the State College Spikes have really sucked. They've got like the fifth worst record in all of professional baseball. What's worse, two of their best players were draft picks from West Point and the Army recently decided to reneg on its promise to let Cadets play pro sports if they get drafted by MLB or the NFL, so now they're off to war.


With luck, next year my local team will be the Twins. That's a team I could enjoy watching. They're already my favorite American League team (my brief attempt at Red Sox fanhood didn't stick) and have Brendan Harris, a W&M graduate.

The Twins will be a completely admirable club once they get a real ballpark.

Everything you say about the Nats is true. Any team that can get swept by the Giants shouldn't really be in the big leagues.

ursus arctos wrote:

QUOTE:
I was under the impression that the Angels already were the consensus favorites to win the whole thing. They certainly have been the most consistently impressive team to date.

Two problems with that that might be resolved:
1) hitting. The Angels hadn't been scoring a lot before the All-Star break (something that makes K-Rod's likely shattering of the single-season save record even more impressive is that something like 30 of his saves have come in games in which the Angels won by only 1 or 2 runs)
2) the Red Sox. The last few years have seen the Angels lose to Boston in the post-season. True, I think it was only for two years, but they were just dominated by the Red Sox. Their current win-streak has been impressive, and if they can win one more in Boston, showing that they can beat them in Fenway, that will erase a lot of doubts.

Jeebus, I seem like a giant Angels fan, but I'm not really.

Reed of the Valley People wrote:

QUOTE:
You do know, FF, that at least one, and maybe two, of those three teams will make the post-season. It's inevitable. Somebody is going to win the AL East and I don't think it's going to be the Blue Jays or the Orioles.

Yeah, I know. I really meant that they wouldn't make the later part of the postseason. Obviously one of those three will win the division, and possibly the league (although that's not a foregone conclusion). I just don't think we'll be seeing them in the WS. I hope the BoSox prove me wrong, but I'd rather expect disappointment and be pleasantly surprised than the other way around.

Inca wrote:

QUOTE:
ursus arctos wrote:

QUOTE:
I was under the impression that the Angels already were the consensus favorites to win the whole thing. They certainly have been the most consistently impressive team to date.

Two problems with that that might be resolved:
1) hitting. The Angels hadn't been scoring a lot before the All-Star break (something that makes K-Rod's likely shattering of the single-season save record even more impressive is that something like 30 of his saves have come in games in which the Angels won by only 1 or 2 runs)

Consider it resolved. Mark Teixeira from Atlanta for Casey Kotchman and a AA LHP.

QUOTE:
The Twins will be a completely admirable club once they get a real ballpark.

The new park will be nice, but there's something to be said for watching a game where everyone in the crowd is there just to watch baseball and spend time with their kids - not to be seen, or because of the cache of getting tickets, or because it's "the thing to do," or because of the club bar or the flume ride or whatever the fuck it is these new parks are installing to improve the "experience."

The Metrodome is completely charmless except for the team itself which have been a great franchise since Bud decided not to contract them.


The Nationals will do OK if they can ever get a competitive team on the field. Just as it was with the MCI Center, it's going to take a while for people to get comfortable with a routine of parking and taking the Metro there.

As I wrote a few years ago, the Metrodome was so horrible that it's not even worth seeing a game there. It's actually a bad memory for me from how ugly, drab, and horrible that place was. It was my Guantanamo, my Tower of London. What a dungeon.

Bring on the hot tubs in right field, hotelrooms overlooking left field with live sex acts of people who think it's a one-way tinted glass, the live MC with the promotional giveaways between innings, mascot racing, commericals on the scoreboard for Disney Channel with the latest High School Musical! ON ICE hit song blasting on the PA, and lawyers and business owners who just want to be seen.