He may have turned the Cubs around this year, getting them to the NLCS after losing 95 games last year (though I credit most of that to the players, not the manager), but he really sucks in the postseason. Leaving Mark Prior in there in the 8th inning was just the next in a long string of bad postseason decisions by Dusty Baker. Sure, the fan in the outfield stands, and Alex Gonzalez deserve some of the blame, but most of it belongs on the shoulders of the manager here. The bullpen should have been busy when Prior went out there for the start of the 8th. As soon as anyone got on base, he should have been pulled. As simple as that.
Other recent postseason blunders by Baker, off the top of my head:
1. Starting Livan Hernandez instead of Reuter in game 7 of the World Series last year. Incidently, I was there, to see the Giants lose.
2. Leaving Mark Gardner in to bat for himself in the top of the 5th inning of the 2000 NLDS, against the Mets. With the bases loaded, two down, and the Giants having only gotten one hit off Bobby Jones all game, the pitcher bats for himself, and pops up. He would come out of the game in the bottom of the inning, anyway. Bobby Jones went on to throw a one-hit shutout. Oddly enough, I was at that game at Shea, too.
The major difference this time, I guess, is that I was rooting for Dusty’s team, not against it.
PS: I hate the Yankees. Boston better win two in a row in New York.
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You have to give them your phone number and they have an automated system that calls you back with a pin number, to verify the signup and keep the number of free accounts limited. It’s quick and painless, and well worth signing up.
It looks like T-Mobile has delayed their official launch of the Treo 600 until November 24th, which sucks. Handspring, though, should be releasing unlocked GSM 600s next week. If they do, and T-Mobile really has delayed their launch, I’ll be buying that instead. T-Mobile apparently delayed it because Handspring didn’t deliver all the software functionality that they wanted. I’m sure I can deal without it.
I don’t know how we managed to pull it off, but the Green Hills softball team is now 2-0. That’s right, we won our first two games of the season. Just six games to go. We had control for most of the game, and were winning going into the 7th inning. Just to make it interesting, we let the other team score six runs and take a four run lead in the top of the 7th. We then scored five runs in the bottom of the 7th, the last three (I think) with two outs, to win, 18-17. I think it’s the first time we’ve ever won a game that way, at least since I’ve been playing.
We’ve lost that way so many times, it’s good to know what it feels like to win that way. We also had twice as many fans this week (4) as we did last week (2).
I want my Treo 600 already. And, according to this, it’ll only cost me $399 (or less, if I can combine it with a T-Mobile discount on top of the Handspring discount…)
The Detroit Tigers won five out of their last six games, coming back from an 8-0 defecit in one of them, to not set the mark for the most games lost in a season. That record still belongs to the 1962 Mets who lost 120 games in their first year in existence. This year’s Tigers lost 119 games.
This year’s Mets weren’t all that much better. Maybe next year. Or 2007.
Well, I got my Thumbillow a few days ago, and finally got to the bowling alley with it today. I had Tom in the pro shop open up the thumb hole for me, so both the insert and my thumb could fit.
I then bowled five games, without putting any skin protector on. I could have kept going. My thumb wasn’t at all sore when I was done. My scores weren’t any better than normal, but not any worse either. My release did seem better, but it’ll take some time to really figure out if it’ll help my scores. Also, they don’t seem to prepare the lanes very well on the weekends, and they keep the place hot as hell, so that definitely had some impact on today’s games. The most important thing, though, is that my thumb isn’t sore and blistered. Monday night, I’ll see how I do in a real league situation with it.
Anyway, after first use, it seems like a well spent $20.
I only seem to write about stuff I’ve done and things that happen. I very rarely write about anything really personal. I’m not sure why, and I think I’d like to change that, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea. I can’t really think of a reason it would be a bad idea either, though. There are a lot of things I’d like to get out, but just can’t seem to do it here, or anywhere, for that matter. This would seem like an obvious place to do it, but something prevents me from actually posting anything like that. I’ve actually written some of it, several times, and not saved it. I have no idea why I do this.
Right. Well, I guess that’s it. I better stop before I change my mind and decide to not even post this.
Softball season started last week, but we had a bye. Last night was our first game, and we kicked ass. Well, we won, 15-11, anyway. We had one bad defensive inning, and one good offensive inning. We’re 1-0 to start the season, and we were even short a player. We only had three outfielders. I was pretty bad at the plate (a hit and reached on a few errors), but didn’t really screw anything up in the field. It was a good way to start.
At bowling tonight (yes, I’m bowling twice a week now) we won all three games, and total wood, taking all four points. I had a good 548 series (201-172-175). We’re now no longer in last place. Hopefully, I’ll get my Thumbillow soon, no longer need to use skin protector, and have a consistent release. That’s the plan, anyway.
My arm feels like it’s going to fall off, though. This bowling-softball-bowling on consecutive nights is going to be tough.
I went to the last Dodgers home game of the season Sunday, as planned. Got there at 10am only to be told the parking lot doesn’t open until 11. We (me and Sitzman) ended up meeting Roughy and his wife at a Jack in the Box down the street from the stadium at about 10:30, and finally headed back there at around 11. Then we got to wait in line until about a quarter to 12 until the gates opened up. There was no batting practice, unfortunately, probably because it was a day game after a night game. Then they announce the lineups, and Barry Bonds isn’t playing. We were sitting right in Bonds homer territory, too.
Anyway, even with all that, it was a lot of fun. Everyone else had to leave early, but I ended up staying the whole game, and I’m glad I did. I got to see the Dodgers hit back to back to back solo shots (two by former Mets, of course) to tie up the game, and then go on to win.
I left my seat at 4:05, was at my car at 4:12, got to Ikea at 4:30, and was back at my car, after having bought what I went there to get, at 4:45. Not bad.
The drive home was uneventful. After I got home, I did some laundry. Fun, huh?
Today, I had the second week of my scratch bowling league, and I did a whole lot better than last week. I actually took some points, this time. I won the first game 198-195, needing 8 pins on my last shot to take it, and throwing a strike. The second game, I needed a strike on the last shot to tie, and got it. We both threw a 218 that game. Third game, I threw an awful 157, and lost. The last game I went into the tenth frame needing three strikes to tie. I threw XX9, and lost, 213-212. Overall, I’m pretty pleased with how I did, and my team took 18.5 out of 24 points, I think. Not bad.
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