Four and out

So long to the baseball season.

I knew the Tigers were finished when Game 1 and Pablo Sandoval's three home runs went in the books.

I didn't even bother sticking around to see if they could pull out Game 3.

In 2006, the Tigers couldn't play defense.

This year, they couldn't hit.

And that's it.

(Updated 10.29.2012) Good reads ...
a Called Third Strike Is a Rare Way to End World Series
a Good chemistry part of the science behind Giants' World Series title
a Now Enjoying Continual Success, the Giants Will Honor Their Roots
a Buster Posey, the Champions’ Champion

The Giants win the pennant

The San Francisco Giants are one of my least favorite teams in all of baseball. But my dislike for the Cardinals runs deeper.

I was so disinterested in the National League Championship Series, initially, that I didn’t even bother watching the first three games. I half-heartedly watched Game 4 and Game 5. But the Giants heart and excellent play in Game 6 moved me, and I was fully on their side for the clincher.

So it was a sweet sight to behold tonight as the Giants crushed the Cardinals, coming back from three games to one and winning Game 7.

When the monsoon arrived over the bay area for the ninth inning I was shouting at the TV, to the pitchers, “Just throw strikes! End this thing and let’s go home!” (Check out this guy's blog for some good photos and commentary of the scene)

The umpires weren’t stopping that game for nothing. And the slowed images of the falling rain drenching the Giants players as they amped up for the post-game celebration were pure art.

Finally, Matt Holliday – of all people – popped the ball to your NLCS MVP Marco Scutero -- of all people – putting an interesting end to the series after the two were involved in arguably the signature play of the series.

After the game, I also spotted this on Twitter, acknowledging another interesting twist considering how the Cardinals beat the Braves and made it as far as they did …

That rules. RT @mlbbowman: Cardinals end their season with an infield fly.

Meanwhile, my beloved Prince Fielder, Jason Verlander, Miguel Cabrera, Jim Leyland and the rest of my beloved Detroit Tigers are back in the World Series after sweeping the Yankees. ... There's no doubt that series was over the moment Derek Jeter fell hurt. While I hated to see that, I loved every other minute of watching the Yankees' collapse, especially the at-bats involving Alex Rodriguez.

I just hope in this World Series that the Tigers pitchers remember how to throw to first base.

Despite the Yankees' collapse, bravo to Joe Girardi who argued -- very well -- that the timing for increased instant replay is better than ever. ...

"In this day and age when we have instant replay available to us, it has to change. These (umpires) are under tremendous amounts of pressure. It is a tough call for him because the tag is underneath and it's hard for him to see. And it takes more time to argue and get upset than (to) get the call right."

"There is too much at stake, and the technology is available. That's what our country has done. We have evolved technology to make things better."

The Yankees were on the wrong side of a couple bad calls in the ALCS, and I can't help but wonder if the Braves season wouldhave ended differently if that infamous infield fly was reviewed immediately.

Good reads ...
a Giants Rebuilt Nearly From Scratch
a On a National Stage After Years in the Wilderness
a Tigers Have Ace, but Giants Are Resilient
a Led by pitchers like Scherzer, eyes of Tigers on World Series title
a For Yankees, Thrilling Rally Ends Badly
a Yankees’ Old Ways Catch Up to Them
a No Tony. No Albert. No problem.
a What Business Leaders Can Learn from the St. Louis Cardinals
a Andre Dawson emerges from the ivy and into the spotlight ... I do enjoy this commercial.

Prince and stuff

I've read 85 pages in "The Shaping of American Higher Education" -- it kept me up until 1:30 a.m. this morning, thank you very much -- and I've finished the written reflection for my graduate assignment this week -- one of these weeks I'm going to work "peachy keen" into a paper as a tribute to Kates. Now I can write about more pressing issues.

Like -- holy crap -- Prince Fielder signing with the Tigers.

Now, let the record show that I thought when the offseason began, if Prince didn't resign with the Brewers, the Tigers would be the next best fit.

Fairly quickly, the Tigers seemed to be out of the picture, thanks to a notion that Prince refused to play there because of a riff with his father. Whatever. (... Hey, Prince, accept the olive branch already.)

There was little doubt in my mind that he'd sign with an American League team because of the advantages he could give a team in a DH role. I never saw the Yankees or the Red Sox as contenders for his services because they didn't need him. Baltimore seemed like a decent fit. So did Anaheim until they swiped Albert Pujols from the Cardinals. I never took the talk of Seattle seriously.

But Detroit. He would stay in the midwest. Detroit is built on hard-working, blue collar fans -- just like Milwaukee. He could rotate playing first base and DH and be part of a fearful one-two punch with Miguel Cabrera. Prince could help Detroit finally reclaim a world series title and get a deserving Jim Leyland one more before he has to hit the road.

I should also say I did love the ideas floated of Prince signing with the Cubs because of his connection to Dale Sveum, but Theo Epstein never let those rumors persist.

As the process drew on, and the Rangers and Nationals seemed to be the only teams hanging around, I was rooting for Prince to accept a Rangers uniform. The Rangers are now a legitimate contender and I see a lot of the same characteristics in their team make-up that the Brewers possess. ... Not for a minute did I see Prince landing with the Nationals and being happy in D.C. In some ways I felt sorry for him, that the process had drawn on so long, that maybe his big-time agent was calling the shots, and that maybe if he could do it over again he would stay put in Milwaukee.

Then, bam. Tuesday afternoon arrives and the reports come that Prince signed with the Detroit Tigers.

I'm already giddy about the idea of catching some Tigers games in Kansas City.

Meanwhile in Milwaukee ... The Division Champion pennant was hung, and there may still be hope for Ryan Braun. (Watch his acceptance of the NL MVP Award)

(Updated: 01.26.2012) Some good reads ...
a Tigers introduce Prince Fielder
a Were it not for V-Mart's injury, Fielder might have been a Dodger ... As I stated above, I felt the Tigers could have made a play for Prince at any time, but the Victor Martinez injury certainly made things more interesting.
a Determined to win, Tigers make Prince fit
a With echoes of A-Rod, Fielder deal gives Tigers a powerful punch
a Still a 'sad day,' Melvin says
a Prince provided Milwaukee many memories ... These are great. So many good memories. Especially the video associated with No. 3 on the list.
a Start your engines: Prince arrives in Motown

* * *

In other news, Ingrid Michaelson announced a new tour today. That literally circles the United States and never comes close to Kansas City, located quite conveniently in the middle of the country. And she's haunting me with ads for her new album appearing on nearly every web page I visit.

Seriously. Kansas City. Music black hole.

A short time later, those feelings were replaced with pure elation brought on with a Facebook posting by Ben Folds that read:

It's happening fo sho - Day 1 in studio with Robert and Darren through March. #NewBenFoldsFiveRecord

The post was accompanied with a photo of Ben and original Ben Folds Five members Robert Sledge and Darren Jessee rehearsing in the studio.

I nearly cried.

For the uninitiated, Ben Folds Five broke up in 2000. Ben Folds has put out some pretty good records on his own, but it's not the same. ... I was fortunate to see them in concert four times, including one incredible night in Omaha, Neb., during the Reinhold Messner period -- for more reasons than the BF5 performance, but that's worthy of a whole different post. Here's hoping the trio can recapture the magic.

(In the midst of my elation, my friend Laura also reminded me The Shins have a new album due out in March ... This is shaping up to be a great year for music.)

When I got into my car to drive home from work tonight, I cranked this.

Saturday and so on

I'm catching up on my newspaper reading this morning. The iPod is cranked.

No church for us this morning. Kates hasn't been feeling well this weekend. ... Which means I'm doing the laundry. I've done some of the house cleaning. I've taken care of all the meals. I've done the dishes and cleaned the kitchen twice.

Phoebe was upstairs "teaching her class." That's her new thing. Yesterday, she told me she wanted to have class in her bedroom, so I lined up all of her stuffed animals in front of her. She proceeded to pull books from her book shelf and read to them. This morning her class had "sharing time," her preschool class's version of show-and-tell. ... Now in the last few moments, she's come down by me, and she's whirling around to the music on the ipod.

* * *

A contrast from some of the last several weekends, this one has been a good, relaxing, productive, refreshing and quiet one.

* * *

Yesteday, we slept until almost 9 a.m. Oh, so good.

* * *

Phoebe was supposed to be at a dance rehearsal at 10:30 a.m. yesterday. But she erupted in a mega tantrum at about 10:05, and didn't calm down until about 10:45. There was no dance class for Phoebe yesterday.

* * *

We decided earlier in the week to skip out on the 'Cats football game. It marked the first time since my first game in 1997 that I missed a 'Cats home football game -- regular season or post season -- for a reason other than living two states away. ... The game was a fairly meaningless one in the grand scheme of our season. I listened to it on the radio as I worked around the house, and the 'Cats won 65-20.

* * *

Last night was the first night of The 'Ville's annual Halloween overload -- the annual trick-or-treat night at the lake and campground on the outskirts of town. Seriously, kids in this town could find a trick-or-treating event every other night past Halloween if they looked hard enough.

This is the first year we can say Phoebe is truly grasping the concept; she asked repeatedly from the time she awoke yesterday if it was time to go trick-or-treating. This year, Phoebe wanted to be a dancer. She put on her leotard and tutu -- at noon. Then Kates dolled up Phoebe with a little makeup, and Pheebs and I joined a co-worker's family to head to the lake.

It was the only trick-or-treating event in which we participated last year, and it is a unique one. For campers, they say it's one of the campground's most popular weekend. Some of the campers go all out with elaborate decorations and mini haunted houses set up in dining flies.

Phoebe took it all in stride and was hardly daunted by any of it. She cruised from camp site to camp site, intent on filling her bucket ... I'd say she did pretty good -- except for the fact that she kept bypassing the 3 Musketeers, M&Ms, Reese's and Whoppers for the more acidic stuff like the suckers, taffy and Starburst. Mommy and Daddy want the chocolate, Pheebs! 

* * *

So the Texas Rangers won the American League Championship last night.

And that makes the World Series half as interesting as it would have been had I been granted my ultimate matchup. Now it's Brewers all the way or bust.

It was fun while it lasted, Tigers.

Some good reads from the last few days of the postseason ... 
a Stoic Tigers Can Only Watch the Scene
a Late, Sudden, Unsurprising, the Emergence of Nelson Cruz ... To think what might have been had the Brewers kept him.
a Verlander cements elite status with postseason game for the ages
a Brewers’ Hairston Haunts La Russa, His Father’s Favorite Manager
a Fielder and Weeks: Friends for Ages, Brewers for Now

Another week

This will be known as the week Amanda Knox was freed. Steve Jobs died. And postseason baseball kept getting in the way of other responsibilities that I didn’t find nearly as exciting.

There are dozens of tweets from this week I wish I could re-post. But time’s not on my side.

Like a lot of people, I sat breathless at my desk awaiting the Knox verdict, although I can't be sure why. The case was a compelling one for sure, but it never gripped me as much as it did today. I'm glad for her's and her family's sake their nightmare is over.

Then, I was working in my office Tuesday night, hunkering down for another night of graduate paper writing when I saw the first tweet from a Chicago television station reporting Jobs' death. "Whoah," I said aloud. In another moment it became one of those stories that exploded on the Twitterverse, and tweets were flashing as fast as lightning. ... It was amazing to me how hard some were taking the death of a guy who built computers. And then it wasn't so hard to understand the outpouring when you think of the direct and indirect influence his gadgets have had on our lifestyles.

"Given Jobs’s storied record, the quasi-religious hosannas were predictable. As Walt Mossberg, the Wall Street Journal’s technology columnist, wrote, Jobs rivaled Henry Ford as an industrialist and Thomas Edison as an innovator. In just over a dozen years, he transformed a foundering computer company into a giant of commerce and culture, with a broad influence on movies, music, advertising and retailing." ~ Paul Farhi, The Washington Post

More good reads ...
a Steve Jobs: Thank Him For...
a Steven P. Jobs: His Life, His Companies, His Products ... Cool interactive feature. And it's pretty fascinating to read some of the original reviews of these Apple products, too.
a A Tough Balancing Act Remains Ahead for Apple
a Apple Innovations Include Start of Big-Budget Super Bowl Ads
a Up From Ugliness
a Steve Jobs’ millennial fan club is devoted to Apple, but why?
a Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?
a Political cartooons

* * *

Meanwhile, the baseball playoffs were screaming for my attention.

My friend Matt predicted all sweeps. But for as talented and streaky as all of this year’s playoff teams were coming in, I expected all the Division Series’ to be close. For as hot as they were coming out of the regular season, I had the Rays -- especially the way they clobbered the Rangers in game 1 of the ALDS -- and Cardinals pinned as the teams every other team should be weary of.

And for the record, I'm rooting for a Brewers-Tigers World Series. I don't deny my love for either team, buut there's added interest this year because my boss is a Detroit native and die-hard Tigers fan, and our respect is mutual for each other's teams.

Dare I say, I'm quite impressed and pleased with TBS's postseason coverage this year -- something I never thought I'd be saying after the way they stumbled out of the gate in 2007. I'm lovin' the banter before and after games of Dennis Eckersley, David Wells and Cal Ripken.

Then, there's the commercials. Joe Posnanski had a great read yesterday about the most-played ads. ... I for one can’t get David Bowie‘s “Changes” (Thanks to commercial of product I can't remember) or the New Pornograhers’ “Moves” (Thanks to T-Mobile) out of my head. I also enjoy the Chevy Cruze commercial featuring a pregnant couple who is looking for a new apartment, passes on the first one and eventually comes back to it after a frustrating run of lesser apartments.

My favorite commercial, though, has to be the postseason commercial for the Brewers run. Oh, to see those images of the '82 Brewers mixed with this year's characters ... so ... cool.



Then, there's the matter of that Rally Squirrel. ... Thanks to late nights in my office and my attention devoted to the Brewers-Diamondbacks series, almost everything I know about the state of the Phillies-Cardinals series has come via the internet, which almost makes this whole thing even more entertaining for me.

This squirrel made an appearance at Tuesday night's Cardinals game, and my friend Erica wrote about it yesterday afternoon, noting the bold squirrel had its very own Twitter account: @BuschSquirrel. Of course, I started following Mr. Squirrel that afternoon -- when he only had a few hundred followers.

Fast forward to last night when I was working late again and I saw a tweet from Erica referencing another squirrel appearance. Then, I clicked on Mr. Squirrel's account to see, simply "SURPRISE!!" I burst out laughing and could only imagine what I'd just missed.

There's the head-shaking photos. And this video made me laugh more. ... Today, the Post-Dispatch conducted a revealing interview with the squirrel. ... Could it be the Phillies' black cat?



Some good baseball reads ...
a Long-shot Cardinals earning respect
a Where there's smoke, there's the Tigers on fire
a Strong Second Half Lands Tigers at Yankees’ Door
a Bob Gibson endorses Verlander for MVP as well as Cy Young awards
a In Baseball’s Bronze Age, Statues Are Becoming Bigger Part of Landscape
a Milestones to Lose Signature Touch
a A Career Sustained by Unwavering Faith
a A Lou Gehrig Treasure Trove

Justin Verlander Doesn’t Bother Telling Parents Difference Between No-Hitter And Perfect Game

A good one from The Onion ...

Several times throughout the conversation, an exasperated Verlander attempted to explain that just because a ball is hit to the second baseman doesn’t mean an actual hit is recorded — an explanation his father rejected out of hand, insisting that it “sure looked like a hit to [him].” In addition, Verlander’s mother asked her son if the one walk he allowed was indicative of a larger problem he wasn’t telling his parents about.

Near perfect

Among the things I missed during my disconnect to the world this week were the events in Detroit on Wednesday night …

Because I had no cable, I was utterly oblivious to any of it until I booted up my computer at work Thursday morning and started skimming through my e-mail, Facebook updates and my news alerts for the morning …

Then, there was the headline …

Umpire Jim Joyce's blown call costs Armando Galarraga perfect game

I hadn’t seen the game. I hadn’t seen any highlights, and I hadn’t taken the time to find the play on YouTube.

… Until now. After writing that last sentence, I logged on and spent the last hour reviewing clips from the game.

Clearly, the runner was out.

(There’s some good amateur video of the play, too. And, of course, it wouldn’t be a big moment in sports or pop culture if there wasn’t someone reimagining the cinematic Hitler scene in good fun … See: Northern Iowa beats KU and Michael Jackson’s death.)

On a side note ... Holy Cow! A THIRD perfect game in the span of a month!? A second in the span of a week!?! Are you kidding  me!? It will be remembered as a perfect game, after all ...

The debate about overturning the call started immediately. And Jim Joyce’s candid admission after the game was an awesome turn of events …

Based on that, initially, I would have said overturn the call -- for the reasons Michael Wilbon cited in his column.

But later Thursday afternoon, I saw the headline that Bud Selig had declined to reverse the call and I could immediately understand his hesitation.

By reversing the call, he sets a precedent, and then what? He opens up a gargantuan can of worms that represents more than a century of questionable calls …

...The Bartman play?

...The entire 2005 ALCS?

...The Jeffery Maier play?

...Don Don Denkinger’s first base call in the 1985 World Series?

...Barry Bonds and the home run records?

Selig would get pummeled by the historians and traditionalists if he reversed the call.

In the end, it is what it is. It happened, within the rules of the game. Baseball will go on, just like it always has. It's a game played by humans, umpired by humans, as it should be.

And all of us will debate it for years to come.

Here's some of the good reads -- and mentions -- on the situation ...
a Perfect Game Thwarted by Faulty Call
a Third perfect game? Joyce’s botched call in ninth denies Tigers’ Galarraga
a Bernie Bytes: Jim Edmonds, Bud Selig, Lakers and “Dexter”
a Kristen Stewart leads the Week of Apologies
a Morning Jolt ... Scroll down to see the Photo of the Day
a Replay Gets Another Look After a Gaffe Seen by All
a Worst Call Ever? Sure. Kill the Umpires? Never.
a One day after botched call, Motor City takes higher road
a Ump impressed with support
a Nearly Perfect in Detroit ... An excellent op-ed piece by Paul Clemens

Crazier yet, the entire episode overshadowed the abrupt retirement of Ken Griffey Jr.

He was a great one.

Here's a classic about the enduring popularity (and ubiquity) of the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. card ... Oh, how I know the card.

Update 06.07.10:

Selig doubts replay use will expand ... After all that's happened, I'm a little dissappointed by this.

An excellent read about Jim Joyce: How Jim Joyce went from Toledo to the bigs to national scrutiny

On Baseball: Done and gone

In the words of the late, great Harry Caray -- Holy cow! I’ve watched a lot of Cubs games lately.

To my utter delight, nearly every game the Cubs have played in the last week has aired on WGN. I haven’t checked the numbers, but that seems like a big change from all the games that have been showing on Chicago’s Comcast Sports Network the last couple years … Now, if only the Brewers had a national cable network. I’ve started to drop hints to Kates that we need to think seriously about subscribing to the MLB Network.

Too bad the Cubs are stinking it up this year, to put it lightly ... Aramis Ramirez forgot how to use a bat. Carlos Zambrano isn't resembling his former self. And Alfonso Soriano only seems to excel against the bad teams.

For one night at least, we got to bask in the glorious debut of much-hyped Starlin Castro … But any longtime Cubs fan knows that may not continue. (Read this gem from Rick Morrissey.)

In today’s game, no sooner had Bob Brenly finished sharing his disapproval of Lou Piniella’s decision to leave Ryan Dempster on the mound with two runners on, two outs and the Cubs up 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh when, Joey Votto popped one into the outfield stands to give the Reds a two-run lead and the win.

I know, the Cubs have had slow starts before. But this one seems more dismal.

Really, though, what kind of baseball season would it be if the Cubs weren’t driving us fans mad? … Over in Boston, those once lovable losers of the American League haven’t started so hot either.

Still, what I would give to get to Wrigley for just one afternoon this summer.

Here's some good reads ...
aThe Throwback
aWhat to do about Wrigley Field? (By the way, one of my favorite museum exhibits ever was a photography exhibit I attended years ago -- which I'm sure included the photo in this post -- at the Truman Library that illustrated the gutting of the White House.)
aExcerpt From Are We Winning? A Prayer For Steve Bartman
aA culture change at Wrigley? New owner Tom Ricketts thinks it's a numbers game

And finally, if you've experienced the atmosphere that envelopes Wrigley on a game day, you can appreciate this video ... Make sure you watch it to the end.

* * *

Like a great many baseball fans, my heart sank a little last week when I heard the news of Ernie Harwell’s death.

Though I grew up in the upper Midwest, I was the kid who grew up falling asleep to Harry Caray doing radio broadcasts for the Cubs. So I can’t say I developed an appreciation for Harwell and his unmistakable radio voice, calling Detroit Tigers games, until I hit my late teens in the age of “Sportscenter” and “Baseball Tonight” montages.

They don’t come like Harwell anymore, and he will be dearly missed.

Here's three tributes worth reading: The Washington Post, Mitch Albom and Joe Posnanski.

On a side note, during yesterday’s game of the week on Fox between the Red Sox and Yankees, Joe Buck and Tim McCarver offered a wonderful tribute to Harwell by going silent for some five minutes in the third inning. In that time, all of the sounds of the ballpark were amplified. The umpire calling balls and strikes, the game announcer, the chatter of the crowd. It felt as though I was right there, spending a Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park … It was truly a remarkable thing, and it made me wish more games were broadcast in that way, sans non-stop-talking analysts.

* * *

Two more good reads before I go ...

Are the Yankees Truly the Most-Despised Ballclub? ... It turns out they're not.

Minneapolis paints its new ballpark green ... Can hardly wait to get there some day.

The Hot Stove

… So I opened my e-mail alerts this morning and saw this news about a three-way deal that would send Roy Halladay to the Phillies and Cliff Lee – CLIFF LEE! – to the Mariners.

Say what!? How in the world could the Phillies part with Cliff Lee, I thought. But the Post story does put it into perspective.

Some more quick thoughts on other recent baseball moves …

I was soooooo hoping the Cubs would land Curtis Granderson … but that dream was wiped out in a hurry. Damn Yankees.

I really like the idea of John Lackey wearing a Red Sox jersey … Though I’ll miss seeing him pitch for the Angels.

I was sorry to see the Brewers let Jason Kendall go … Then he signed with the Royals, and it turns out I won’t miss too much of him since the Royals will become my home team again in January.

I'm cautiously optimistic about the Brewers signing Randy Wolf … See: Jeff Suppan.

I’ll bet few signings this offseason please me as much as the announcement yesterday that the Brewers are keeping Craig Counsell. … Beginning with his earlier days in Florida and Arizona, I love the way Craig Counsell plays the game and the steady veteran presence he has in the Brewers lineup.

On the other hand, I let out a long groan when I heard the Brewers had signed LaTroy Hawkins ... Dating back to his failed stint with the Cubs, I can't remember anything good coming out of the times I've seen him pitch.

And Hideki Matsui in Anaheim and not New York? … That would just be weird.

Just nine weeks until pitchers and catchers report.

Feeling Minnesota

I was sprawled out on the floor and once again on the verge of a heart attack last night.

Thanks, Detroit Tigers.

Although, after what I've officially dubbed "The Lost Season," it's nice to finally have some gut-wrenching baseball to watch ... All summer long, I've whined about my early mornings and early bedtimes, which kept me from watching a lot of baseball the way I used to. And of what I did read and watch, the Brewers were dissappointing and the Cubs just plain stunk. Beyond that, I couldn't find a single compelling story, and there certainly weren't any compelling pennant races ...

Well, except for the Tigers and the Twins -- which led us to last night's wild one-game playoff.

That 4:05 first pitch at the Metrodome couldn't come fast enough for me. (I will say this, our visit to the Metrodome last summer and having seen the quirky stadium firsthand has made it a lot more interesting to watch Twins games on TV.)

I, of course, was pumping my fists with every run the Tigers scored. And burying my head with every run the Twins scored.

In the bottom or the 10th inning when Ryan Raburn dove and missed that fly ball, giving up the no-out triple to Michael Cuddyer, I ended up with a dish towel over my head. Then there was the one-out double-play ball that slipped under Placido Polanco's glove, allowed Cuddyer to score the tying run and sent me collapsing on the floor in agony. And my whooping and hollering when Raburn gunned down the potential winning run to end the bottom of the 10th was enough to get Phoebe -- who should have been asleep -- shouting "Daddy!"

The drama continued for two more innings. The Tigers had their chances to win ...

But they broke fans' hearts again. The Twins won it on a walk-off single in the bottom of the 12th, almost five hours after the game started.

Sigh.

A month ago, the Tigers had the A.L. Central in the bag. They were going to be my top team this fall ... Then, the Sports Illustrated cover jinx struck again.

At least now I don’t have to worry about them getting trounced by the Yankees in the playoffs.

In my dreamworld, I'd love a Dodgers-Angels World Series ... In my real world, I predict Phillies-Yankees. Blah.

Here's some good baseball-related reads ...
a A Cloudy Crystal Ball
a A Pitcher Comes In, and a City Holds Its Breath
a Angels thinking forwardly
a Best time to play memory games
a Baseball’s Postseason Field Is Rich With Recent Playoff Experience

* * *

Monday night's Packers-Vikings game was almost as compelling as the Tigers-Twins game -- for the first half, at least.

Then, in the second half, Brett Favre started playing like Brett Favre, and the Packers offensive line couldn't protect Aaron Rodgers ... As much as I hate to admit it, it was fun to watch Brett up his legendary status some more. Maybe he's going to get the Vikings to a Super Bowl after all -- maybe.

Here’s a good read about Brett. And here's a good read about the game's (huge) impact on TV ratings.

Dodgers acquire Thome and Garland

... And down the stretch they come!

Here comes news this morning that the Dodgers have acquired Jim Thome -- one of my long-time favorites in the game -- and Jon Garland.

Thome's aging, but I'll take it.

With hope waning for my hometowns -- the Brewers and Cubs -- my attention is turning more and more to my feel-goods -- the Dodgers and the Tigers.

Sad day in baseball

I was as excited as anyone to come home from work yesterday afternoon and watch the Cubs opener at Wrigley Field ...

But all of that underscored the sadness of Harry Kalas's passing. And then the shock of Mark Fidrych's death a little later.

Phil Rogers has a good take on the day here. The New York Times' Joe LaPointe also has a good take on Fidrych here.

Who's No. 1?!

Last night’s games are all you need to look at for evidence how stellar this weekend is going be …

Three races are going down the wire, and all the games that mattered last night were won in the final at-bats …

The Twins beat the White Sox in 10 to take over first place in the AL Central ... The Mets scored the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Cubs. And Ryan Braun hit a grand slam for the Brewers to beat the Pirates in the bottom of the 10th inning at Miller Park.

That’s one fantastic night in baseball.

And now, with the Dodgers in, already some of the most exciting and storied franchises are shaping up for an October for the ages -- The Dodgers, the Cubs, the Angels, the Red Sox and yep, even the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Get the Brewers in there and all my dreams come true.

Well, 80 percent of my dreams. The Tigers sure aren’t getting in.

Oh yeah, and I did catch the end of that Oregon State upset of USC. I’m surprised we’re not seeing any reports of trampling deaths with the strength of that orange-clad crowd pouring onto the field last night …

Sunday reading

... I know. I've been slacking.

Here's some of the good reads I've come across the last several weeks.

Baseball & Sports ...
a 104-year-old Cubs fan wants to throw out first pitch during playoffs at Wrigley
a Edmonds winning over Wrigley fans ... I told you it would happen.
a Fukudome tops Cubs' list of problem areas
a Columnist Mike Nadel takes heat for Erin Andrews column ... I personally really enjoy Erin Andrew's commentary. Though I don't disagree with Trenni Kusnierek comments.
a Leyland shocked Sheffield is unhappy with his role ... I should've known Gary Sheffield wasn't going to retire happily with the Tigers.
a A Shutout at Cooperstown
a Why the Rays have what it takes to stay in the AL East race ... This one may not read as well now that Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria are out -- but it's still interesting considering the Rays' pitching.
a There's Something in the Air, Other Than Another Ball Headed for the Fence
a Fans cheer Favre during penalty lap

Music ...
a After 10 years, New Pornographers still search for their true identity
a Katy Perry never ‘Kissed a Girl’ ... Turns out more people do remember Jill Sobule's version other than me.
a Randy Newman, back in the saddle
a Dave Matthews tries to dispel fans' uncertainty
a Concert Era Draws To A Close As Rock Legends Age
a Still fabulous at 50: Pop icons Prince, Madonna and Michael Jackson

TV ...
a The Office takes over the world
a Campaign underway to save Mister Rogers
a Characters may perish by ‘ER' end
a That 'Office' spin-off may be a little slow in coming
a NBC's plan for late night spurs question: What's Leno's future?

Movies & theater ...
a Rainn Wilson Is Ready to Rock
a Broadway-bound '13' explores teenage angst

The Internet & media ...
a Constructed Criticism: Just Hit 'Send' on Those Helpful Insults
a News Under Our Noses ... a good take on the media's reporting of the John Edwards affair.
a CNN, 'SNL' and TV Critics' Primary Concerns ... Ah, that was a great episode.

Life & other stuff ...
a Revelation About Singer Leaves That Syncing Feeling
a Children see man decapitate fellow passenger on Greyhound bus in Canada ... this, compliments of my corhort Nick, is plain awful.
a More hotels are evicting phone books from rooms
a Price Of Gas Rises To Four Expletives Per Gallon ... from The Onion.
a Johnson & Johnson Introduces 'Nothing But Tears' Shampoo To Toughen Up Newborns ... also from The Onion.
a Waterfalls make Oregon state park a photographer's paradise
a The Extreme Reality Makeover Show

Swirling

... One of my all-time favorite scenes in Friends has been playing repeatedly in my head today ...

"Ok, ok I give up! Ross, here... Phoebs wanna fly a plane? Better make it a spaceship so you can get back to your home planet! Ross, phone call for you today, Tom Jones ... He wants his pants back! And Hornswaggle!? What, are you dating a character from Fraggle Rock?!...Aaaah!"

... The way Chandler screams at the end of his rant, sticks his fingers to his head and flops down on the Central Perk couch in utter relief? Yeah, that's kind of the way I've been feeling. Waaaaaaay too many thoughts swirling in my head ...

To cap my afternoon -- in the Are you kidding me!? file -- the news comes across that the Tigers have traded Ivan Rodriguez to the Yankees for Kyle Farnsworth.

Granted Rodriguez's numbers are down this year, and he's going to be a free agent at the end of the season ... But for Farnsworth!? Seriously!?

... So much for the good old days when the Tigers were finally serious about winning again.

Then I got to come home and watch Phoebe play and discover her hands and feet for 15 minutes. That's the kind of stuff I live for these days.

Soaking up opening day!

... We've been buried in a dreary, pouring rain for much of the day ... But there was nothing better this morning than waking up to the sound of a steady rain beating our porch and the rolling thunder. I'll take it! ... Good-bye snow ...

And today was Major League Baseball's opening day ...

Still catching my breath from last night's KU game, we changed channels and tuned in to our first "Baseball Tonight" of the season ... and then the magnificent opener at the Nationals new Stadium -- George Bush throwing out the first pitch, Ryan Zimmerman walk-off homerun and all... What a game!

... Today over my lunch I caught a couple innings of the Tigers-Royals opener ...

And then got home in time tonight to see the ninth inning of the Cubs-Brewers opener ... The game was tied 0-0 and Kerry Wood had just nailed Rickie Weeks square in the back. A couple minutes later, Ryan Braun was knocking him in and Corey Hart had a two-run double to put the Brewers up 3-0 ...

Then! Eric Gagne couldn't finish it for the Brewers. He puts a couple runners on and the Japanese sensation Kosuke Fukudome launches a three-run homer into the center field bleachers! We were tied up again! Are you kidding me!?!

The Brewers eventually did win it in the 10th on a Tony Gwynn, Jr., sac fly ... but whoah.

This is too much ...

Baseball fever. I've caught it.

Sunday reading

The good reads that caught my eyes over the last couple weeks ...

Baseball ...
a Cubs' selection Sunday fast approaching
a Piniella settles on batting order
a Wrigley Field sale to state looking like latest Cubs loser
a Lasorda and the Dodgers say goodbye to Vero Beach
a Emotional day at Dodgertown for Lasorda
a Do-it-all Bill Hall returns to infield for Brewers' new defensive look
a Brewers slugger Prince Fielder now eating a Field of Greens
a Q & A with Brewers' owner Mark Attanasio
a Brewers owner: Yost dynamic leader who gives stability to club
a Japan Trip on for Red Sox, Athletics ... an extraordinary move indeed.
a Keeping up with Jones: Aside from closer, Tigers' bullpen is a big concern ... Not good.
a Why it's so Grand to be Tigers' Granderson
a Nobody's calling for Barry Bonds, and the phone won't start ringing soon
a Suspicion lingers in wake of Report
a Nats' Food Will Tag More Home Bases

Other sports ...
a Knight's ESPN gig could provide a bleeping good time ... From what I've seen, it has been.
a Rodgers ready to play for Packers

TV ...
a TV series alter time

Music ...
a Apple Said to Weigh Unlimited Music Deal
a Nine Inch Nails scares up sales with 'Ghosts'
a Judge Portrays McCartney's Ex As 'Out of Control'
a Judge says Heather Mills 'her own worst enemy'

Politics ...
a '3 a.m. call' Clinton-ad actress gets rude awakening
a What we don't know about Obama hurts him

Media & the Internet ...
a Wikipedia starts to look a bit less wiki
a In a newspaper war, we must mind our p's and q's ... an update from the Trib's big contest win.

Travel ...
a Mount St. Helens' booming history
a Restoring the Mall From 'Disgrace' to Showcase

Life & other stuff ...
a Hey, It's Your Funeral
a Dump the penny
a Starbucks tips ruling is made to order for baristas
a Neighbor 'ghosts' haunt drama on deadly summer ... I remember that summer -- and the heat -- well. It was the first time I'd ever been to Chicago, and every night on the news there were reports of more deaths ...

Songs in the key of life ... and sports

Nothing like starting the day before dawn. With shoveling ... And ending it long after dusk. With shoveling.

I hate winter. My back hates it too. And my knees.

I've never wanted a snow blower so badly.

... We got a solid couple inches of snow on Saturday, you may recall. And last night we got blasted with the second part of the storm. 10 inches. ... Kates woke me up at 6 this morning to go out and shovel; by then several inches had fallen and it was still coming. It took me about an hour to complete the job (we have a good sized two-car driveway and sidewalks on two sides of our house), before I went in to warm up and get myself ready for work -- only to see everything I cleared completely re-covered with snow by the time I came back out to leave for work. Grrrr!

And it proceeded to snow long and hard all morning ...

So when Kates and I finally arrived home about 7:30 tonight, I knew I had my work cutout for me again.

It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the dang plows, either. This year, it seems, they're plowing even closer to the curb -- which means less snow left on the roadway and more of it blocking the edge of our driveway. Beginning with the weekend storm, it's taken me almost as much time to remove the gargantuan chunks of snow left by the plows as it's taken me to shovel the rest of the driveway ... and when we came home tonight, it was obvious the plows had come through again because there at the end of our driveway was another blockade of snow ...

No problem. My little Neon punched through it like a tank.

Good thing it's powdery snow.

* * *

I've been wanting to say something about that Patriots-Ravens game the other night ... I only caught the fourth quarter, but ...

Holy cow! The Patriots survived -- or the Ravens botched -- four fourth downs during that final New England drive. Geez, the Ravens had Tom Brady stopped! Stuffed! on a fourth-and-one, only to have whistles blown in the Ravens defense's faces because one of their coaches had called a timeout ... Then the Ravens had the Pats stopped again on a run, only to have a Pats lineman called for a false start and Brady got another chance, which they converted. And a fourth fourth down play resulted in a holding call, before the Pats finally found the end zone for the 27-24 win ...

It was an incredible thing to watch ... And I'm not gonna lie -- I want to see the Patriots go 16-0. They're a classy team to watch, and I want to be able to say I remember when ...

* * *

... I opened our mailbox tonight, and there it was -- the issue I'd been waiting for -- Brett Favre in all his green and gold, as Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year.

The cover is an instant classic.

I can hardly wait to read it ...

I was talking with a friend about the Packers over supper tonight, and he nailed it when he said it was hard for him to remember a more enjoyable Packers season. Sure the great seasons during the mid-to-late '90s were fun, but those were kind of expected. This year has been made even more spectacular by the fact that almost nobody forecasted Farve's and the Packers' success ... It's been a heckuva ride.

Speaking of nailing it, this read, sent to me this week by my friend Raechel, is a classic too ... If only there were more like Brett. Then again, perhaps it's a good thing there's not. We'd probably take Brett for granted too ...

* * *

Saving my favorite for last ...

The winter baseball meetings. While everyone else was obsessing over Johan Santana (Over-rated ...) The Tigers quietly were going after the guy I was looking at this offseason as the best player available or on the block -- and then they not only swiped Miguel Cabrera, they got Dontrelle Willis too!! (Read it from the Tigers here.)

Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge.

Lordy, lordy. I'm still trying to catch my breath.

And I'd almost forgotten the wonderful Edgar Renteria deal ... I can smell a Tigers World Championship right now ... It could be sweet.

In the mean time ...

I like this Cubs deal ...

Playing catchup...

So the Red Sox won the World Series Sunday night ...

What can you say? Sure I was rooting for the Rockies -- they were the sentimental favorite. But, don't get me wrong, I've been a Red Sox fan for awhile now, too. They're darn good (as the analysts said afterward, get ready world, this is going to be the team to beat for years to come. No more curses in Boston...), and they pretty much knocked the purple mountain majesty out of the Rockies ...

* * *

Thank you Jacoby Ellsbury. For my free taco, that is ... In case you missed it, and I know many of you did, Ellsbury, the lovable Red Sox rookie stole second base in Game 2. Even if you were paying moderate attention to that game, it was easy to miss. It wasn't at all a significant point in the game, and Ellsbury swiped it without even drawing a throw ... But, hey, it was enough for Taco Bell to offer everyone in the country a free taco between the hours of 2 and 5 p.m. on Tuesday ...

So, on Tuesday, at about 2:15, I took a jaunt to a local Taco Bell for my free taco ... Going in, I wasn't sure what to expect. Would the parking lot be packed!? Would the drive-thru be a dozen cars deep? Would I have to fear being trampled?

Turns out, my car was one of two in the parking lot. I went inside the store and waited as another couple placed their order; clearly they had no knowledge of the free taco. Then, the cashier asked them, "Would you like your free taco?" The man looked at his companion, shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head. The woman -- she declined the free taco.

My turn. I stepped to the register. Ordered a taco supreme for my cohort Laura, soft taco for myself and a Mountain Dew to go with it. And then I added "And yes, I want my free taco."

The cheery cashier replied, "Ok, I was waiting to see how you were going to order and then I was going to ask."

"Yep. I'm a big baseball fan, so I know all about it."

The cheery cashier then went on to tell me all about her and her boyfriend cheering and getting excited about Monday night's Packers game. Sure, it was a great game, but how she thought that had anything to do with the Worlds Series, a stolen base and free tacos, I'm not so sure ...

I took my free taco back to work and noted it was the best free taco I'd ever tasted ...

I should have gone for more. It didn't occur to me until afterward, when I got this e-mail from my friend Matt, that I could have hit up every Taco Bell in the city for a free taco and no one would have known ...

I outsmarted Taco Bell. I just pulled up to the drive-thru and said “I’d like my free taco.” And she said, “Would you like something to drink with that?” Me again: “Nope, just the free taco.” And then I peeled out of there! Woo Hoo!

Actually, I don’t think I really outsmarted Taco Bell. But I did enjoy my tasty free taco. And I really wanted to drive back through again.

Dang. I could have done my run at 2, and again on my way home just before 5. Next year.

* * *

So Joe Torre's going to manage the Dodgers!? Nice ... I'm happy, thrilled really. But it's a well-known fact Torre didn't exactly have a stellar managerial record before arriving at Yankee Stadium. Now we'll get to see what he's really made of ...

And the Tigers got Edgar Renteria!? Also nice. Now they just need Craig Counsell, Moises Alou and Jeff Conine and they'll really be the '97 Marlins reincarnated. They've already got Dombrowski, Leyland and Sheffield ... Too bad Livan Hernandez and Kevin Brown are washed up.

And Alex Rodriguez is opting out of his contract. I still can't blame him ... Even then, I'm still debating in my head whether I'd want him on my team ... It's always interesting with A-Rod.

More good reads ...
a Schilling: 'Realistic chance' I won't be back ... That sucks. I'll be really sorry to see Schilling leave Boston ... But what's this!? He's interested in coming to Milwaukee!? Oh, tell me more!!
a Papelbon a hit on Letterman ... I watched this last night. Good stuff. Is it just me, or does anyone else think Papelbon's just a little bit nuts?
a 2007: 'A great year for baseball' ... I second that. My highlights: Verlander's no-hitter. The Red Sox four straight home runs. Sammy Sosa's 600th. Barry Bonds 756th -- sigh. And of course the Brewers and the pennant races, not to mention my two games in one day. Oh, and the whole 'winter ball' experience ...

* * *

How about that Packers game on Monday night!?!

It was a snoozefest until the final minutes of the fourth quarter. For the better part of the contest, the game was only background noise as I worked on other things; I paid more attention to Deanna Favre's interview with Kornheiser and the gang in the broadcast booth then I did during other play in the first three quarters ...

Then Kates joined me and we took a seat to see the Broncos scramble and kick the tying field goal in the final five seconds. How amazing -- and comical -- was that replay of the players running on/off the field and hastily getting in position for that kick!?

Seeing the end of regulation, Kates announced she had to go to bed and went upstairs, while I remained in front of the TV, determined to stay it out ... No sooner had Kates gotten up the stairs, Brett Favre was airing it up to Greg Jennings, who pulled it in and ran it in for the winning score ... I bolted up the stairs and was running down our hallway, hands in the air -- like Favre running down field to meet his teammates -- shouting the details to Kates as I turned on our bedroom TV so we could catch the replays together ...

Ah, Brett Favre.

I don't know what Mike McCarthy told him before the season, but the guy is throwing better this season than he has in years. I take back everything I said a couple years ago about Favre and retirement ...


* * *

I spent Monday in Chicago. (Woo hoo!) Saw the new "Maps" exhibit at the Field Museum ...

Kinda fascinating.

When my cohort Liz pitched the idea of me tagging along with her and one of my editors to review the exhibit, I wasn't that excited. I mean, c'mon, how exciting can maps really be?

The exhibit is comprised of more than 100 significant and rare maps, spanning hundreds of years from those carved on stone tablets to today's computerized images ... (The Trib has a great online interactive...)

The highlights in my eyes included a map from the 1930s of London's underground rail system, a significant map because the rail system's simple, rectangular design became the template for other large city systems ...

Another gem was a colorful heart-shaped globe, that was more a beautiful piece of art than a usable map. Still, it was made more captivating in that the shapes, sizes and proximity of the continents remained exact even with the distortion of the globe ...

We saw a road map of the United States in the 1930s. What made this one so fascinating was that the map had been used during one family's series of vacations. With no interstate highways, the map was colored with red and blue lines tracing routes they took to various destinations, including the year of the vacation route ...

There was a map used to draw the boundaries of the new United States after the Revolutionary War, a map on which the negotiators had outlined the U.S. boundaries in red and gave it to England's King George III ...

There was Charles Lindbergh's flight map. Maps drawn by Abraham Lincoln and Leonardo da Vinci ...

But the one that had us all talking during our train ride back: An Inuit's pencil sketch, done in the 1800s, of a series of islands he'd drawn based on what he observed while kayaking. And next to that pencil drawing, a recent satellite image of the same islands; the pencil drawing was astonishingly accurate ...

* * *

Some of the radio stations started playing Christmas music yesterday. On Nov. 1.

Fa la la la blah!