19 posts tagged “baseball”
Having stayed up until 2am last night this morning to watch the entirety of the 2008 MLB All-Star Game, I better make it worth my while and share some insight from my bleary mind. For those of you wise enough to get a good night's sleep, the game lasted 15 innings before the tie was broken, giving the American League a 4-3 victory that awards home field advantage to whichever AL team reaches the World Series.
Yes, you read that right - an exhibition game that impacts the results of baseball's crowning event. Why would the MLB do something so silly? To avoid something even sillier - an All-Star game that nobody cares about.
Tell a professional athlete that winning doesn't matter and the athlete won't show up, chosing instead to rest his worn out body for the remaining half of a season that does matter. Tell a fan that the players don't care, and the fan won't pay money to watch the event. So what to do?
After the 2002 All-Star game embarrassment (that ended in a tie after just 11 innings when both teams ran out of pitchers) the MLB decided to put the World Series home field advantage at stake in hopes that the players (those whose teams still had a shot at the post-season, at least) would care enough to show up and play hard, despite the slight risk of injury that any sport entails. That the managers would save enough pitchers in reserve to go the distance, no matter how long the game lasted.
It just doesn't work that way. Pitching takes such a toll on the arm that many All-Star hurlers will adjust their usage before and/or after the game to accomodate the extra stress. Regular season games are played just two days before and two days after the All-Star game, giving pitchers little time to recover.
Most starting pitchers are limited to around 100 pitches per start - more than that can risk injury. Consider that the Milwaukee Brewers were so desperate for quality pitching that they traded their top prospect for a stud starter, CC Sabathia, just a week ago. Yet their staff ace, Ben Sheets, tossed 42 pitches yesterday. Should the Brewers be forced to sacrifice half a game of ace pitching while in the thick of a playoff race?
Milwaukee's division rival, the Chicago Cubs, saw three of their best pitchers throw 57 pitches combined. That almost seems fair until you realize that the St. Louis Cardinals - in the playoff race with the Brewers and Cubs - saw its hurlers throw zero pitches because none of them were good enough to be All-Stars.
In truth, the All-Star game will never be fair - after all, due to the whimsical nature of fan voting many of MLB's best players don't even get invited. Fundamentally the All-Star game is still an exhibition, so I wish baseball would stop pretending that "This One Counts" (the pleadingly sappy official motto of the 2003 contest) and instead come up with a solution along the lines of "We Care" because that's all that matters for an exhibition.
My proposal is to run the All-Star game as a charity contest:
-- Each player voted into the game selects a charity to represent.
-- MLB lines up corporate sponsors to ante up a significant pot of cash.
-- Players on the winning team split the cash as donations made in their name to their chosen charity.
-- Further, bonuses could be handed out, such as:
---- An "MVP sponsor" gives a extra bonus to the charity of the player who wins the MVP
---- Additional sponsors could hand out bonuses for players hitting home runs or pitchers getting strikeouts
---- The home run derby could have "jackpot" bullseye targets in the bleachers that could earn extra donations if struck.
And so on. If a player wants to back out of the game to go fishing instead, he'll have to endure the boos of fans for turning his back on a charity. Rather than being a physical burden, it would be an emotional honor for a player to compete.
Since the game has zero impact on regular season or post-season games, there's no need to drag it on for extra innings because something affecting the players' professional future is at stake. Instead a tiebreaker can be used - remember, it's just an exhibition put on for the fans. Some have suggested that a home-run derby can break a tie, but that's rather anti-climatic.
An exciting tiebreaker would be if the game is tied after nine innings then each subsequent inning starts with the bases loaded. The highlight of last night was when the AL loaded the bases in the bottom of the 10th inning with nobody out (albeit due to two errors and a walk) but failed to score a run as Aaron Cook induced three straight ground ball outs, getting two force outs at home plate.
If the current version of the All-Star game is so ho-hum, why did I watch? Because I'm a die hard baseball fan without cable TV, so I watch any televised game I can. Amanda is a baseball fan, too, but she decided to count sheep instead of innings. Fans don't care about World Series home field advantage in July. Fans do care about seeing their favorite players together on one field as they exhibition the skills that make them such beloved athletes.
What can I say... It's been eons since I last posted here and this will only be a "here's what I've been doing" update, but I figured it's better than remaining off the radar.
I'm still setting up my "new" blog. With Amanda and I moving our old Why Dogs? blog to 2 Feet 4 Paws, I was left with just Why Run? and Vox. One problem with Vox is that it's more of a "social" service than a "publishing" one, and Facebook works better as the former. Vox is still cool as a personal blog for stuff like I'm doing right here, so I'm going to re-start my original havybeaks blog on Blogger as a platform for my "articles" on various topics like running, flying, etc. Problem is, I'm having trouble finding time to write good articles...
Last week I went on a business trip to Cincinnati on short notice and I still don't have a company laptop yet so during my three days in Cincy I had no email access. Ten years ago that would be no big deal but next time I'm sent somewhere, I better be connected with more than a pad of paper! Not only did it limit my contributions during the meetings, it also prevented me from keeping pace with my outside-of-work life...
Mach League, the fantasy baseball league that I run, is way behind schedule. Three weeks ago was our monthly stat update that happens every four weeks, so I'm close to getting lapped by my own procrastination. Unfortunately, my title of "League President" is by definition a *fantasy* job, which means that my real jobs of "engineer" and "pet store owner" take precedence...
2 Feet 4 Paws is still chugging along thanks to Amanda and we're *still* trying to re-arrange the store layout to fit more products. Finding a means to display items that a) is attractive, b) is cheap, and c) can use the odd-shaped and small space that we have has been a challenge. I think we know what to do now, though...
However, I don't know what to do about running, specifically my long-time goal of running the 100K in early August. Believe it or not my right hamstring is STILL not 100% and I'm having doubts that a) I can put in enough training to do more than hike 100K, or b) my hamstring can last for 100K. It's not that I can't run on it, in fact I can maintain a 9:00 pace without problems, but going under 8:00 per mile is too fast for the hammy. Running on back-to-back days is not feasible yet so my training consists of a weekend long run plus one mid-week short run; that's it. Plus, the long runs tend to wear out the hamstring so I've replaced a couple long runs with long bike rides...
Cycling is a lot more fun with a bike computer - simply having a way to track distance and time is such a luxury! It's better than using mapmyrun every time, especially when my two long rides were 37 and 40 miles each. Ever since middle school I've wanted a pair of inline skates and I may have convinced Amanda to finally let me buy some. Now I'm going to hear more of her begging for a new digital SLR but I've still got that kayak up my sleeve that I've been pining for so I can match her beg-for-beg. :) Right now I'm leaning towards the K2 Moto 90...
My hope is that they'll be an effective cross-training tool. Cycling is great but it's hard to get my HR above 150 without burning out the quads in short order. One odd thing about the hamstring is that heavy impact makes it sore, e.g. stomping on a shovel to dig dirt. Running downhill also stresses the hammy, perhaps due to impact, perhaps due to higher turnover? I don't get it, but hopefully skating falls aerobically between cycling and running...
Viruses can affect aerobic performance; after my bad case of the flu in February I somehow caught a fever in April - rarely have I ever been sick twice a year. Both times my resting HR went up to around 64 from it's usual 54; in fact it had only gone back to 58 by the time I got sick a second time. Right now I'm at 59...
Viruses also afflict computers and I spent countless hours the past two nights fixing Amanda's computer. Some kind of spyware got on board and fooled SBC/Yahoo/AT&T/insert-dot-com-merger-name-here (they provide our DSL service which includes anti-spy and anti-virus). The anti-spy found most of the evil files but not all (yes, the definitions were up to date) and one would remain hidden and re-install the malware just minutes after deleting it. I finally killed it by downloading Microsoft's "malicious software tool" which found just one file, but it was that pesky installer that the others couldn't nab. So far so good...
I didn't want to end on a sickly note so I saved the best for last. While in Cincinnati I got to visit our friends Kim and Tony who live just minutes from the hotel where I stayed. They treated me to a home-grilled dinner and even some fancy ice cream (it's a famous Cincinnati brand but I forgot the name). I got to meet their new daughter Kate for the first time, who only likes wearing winter boots inside the house during summer. :) After Kate went to bed we shared some great conversation about baseball, airplanes, and of course dogs...
I also met for the first time their two golden retrievers, Zeke and Nellie, who are apparently cut from the same nutty cloth as Haven and Beacon. Nellie is the boss and likes to play-fight with Zeke by literally sitting on his head! I brought a couple toys for them from our store and Nellie promptly stole Zeke's toy but once he got it back he didn't set it down again, not for one second! By the time I left a few hours later he was falling asleep with the plush salamander still safely in his mouth.
A quick update of what I've been up to, set to a "wishful" theme...
1) The simulation baseball league that I run had its annual draft last Friday evening via telecon. Each of the eight members lives in a different state/province (except for two of us in Michigan) - MI, OH, IN, MA, NC, AZ, and ONT. How did we all meet? Well, not all of us have met, except by phone and email! I wish that someday we could all get together in person for the draft like we did in 1993.
2) The next morning I ran my first running event of the year, the Irish Jig 5K. While I wish my hamstring were healed enough that I could've actually raced instead of doing a "training run", I still had a lot of fun by carrying a camera and taking photos during the race.
3) I wish my hamstring would heal more quickly. Nevertheless, it's getting better; in fact it was feeling surprisingly good after the Irish Jig. I ran 5.6 miles Tuesday and 3.2 yesterday and so far, so good.
4) During PT for my hamstring while the trainer was away waiting for the heat pack to warm up my leg, I would alleviate my boredom by grabbing his copy of Netter's Orthopaedic Atlas and flipping through the pages. I was hooked! I'd make great use of a book like that to help understand anatomy, or better yet, I wish I had the newer Thieme Atlas.
5) As long as I'm window shopping, I wish my feet could have a pair of Simple Shoes.
Baseball fan or not, you may have heard the furor surrounding the release of the Mitchell Report commissioned by Major League Baseball. This report was the conclusion of almost two years of investigation and despite over 400 pages of material, the focus has been on the list of names discussed in the report. However, was this report good for baseball?
In my opinion, yes. First let's discuss the reasons why many folks feel that the MLB took a big step backwards thanks to the Mitchell Report. Here's the gist of what I've been reading and hearing in the news:
1) It reeks of McCarthyism. What's the point of naming names when there won't even be a trial or suspensions?
2) Let's not dwell on the past - let's look to the future.
3) Why antagonize the player's union when MLB will need their cooperation to improve drug testing?
4) Steroids doesn't have a huge effect on the game; the construction of
a baseball, the size of the ballparks, and other such factors can have
a bigger impact.
And so on. Those are all good points, but my view is that those issues are merely collateral damage of a necessary action. What could be so necessary that all of the above drawbacks are tolerable?
The pursuit of those who cheat.
Police officers do not let criminals go free just because a couple years have passed. Why should baseball conveniently forget that drugs were ever a problem? The analogy isn't perfect because MLB was just as complicit in the "Steroid Era" as the players were; in fact, the baseball media was also to blame for ignoring an issue that they were aware of. Were they named as well?
Here's where the Mitchell Report shows its many flaws. Senator Mitchell is a friend of MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, and Mitchell also has an interest in the Boston Red Sox. No matter how impartially Mitchell conducted his investigation, the obvious potential for bias hurts the report's credibility. The drug problem was endemic in all aspects of the sport - the players, the trainers, the agents, the reporters, the owners, the union, and the commissioner. Yet the report focused on identifying players.
Another problem with the report was its rather pathetic investigation. MLB paid Mitchell's law firm $20 million to conduct a thorough introspective into this issue and yet the bulk of the report's information comes from published news reports. The rest comes from partnering with a few federal investigations. In other words, this report uncovered nothing new that someone else hadn't already discovered. They could've paid a journalism student $200K to get 90% of the same information.
Still, there is some value in this report. Players have to know that they should never get away with cheating forever. Let me now address those counterpoints I listed above:
1) If names never come out, then baseball reeks of a secretive cartel and the speculation of who did what would never end.
2) We learn from the past; ignoring it would throw away valuable lessons about what went wrong in the first place.
3) The player's union has stonewalled drug testing for so long that MLB
shouldn't have to fear if they continue to protect the cheaters.
4) It doesn't matter how effective steroids are; what's important is that using them is cheating.
One interesting nugget to come out of the report is that ~80% of players have been in favor of more stringent testing. Why didn't the union do its job and represent those players? Who were they trying to protect?
Another enlightenment can be inferred thanks to how weak the investigation was. Despite relying on just a few key sources, dozens of names were squeezed out into the open. The three trainers forced into confession were just that - three. Certainly there were other suppliers of drugs in the clubhouses but none of them have been caught yet. It's too bad that the Mitchell Report couldn't dig up any other such folks, but it also means that the players named were far from the final tally.
What can baseball do? One change is all that's necessary: a TRULY INDEPENDENT commissioner. Not the former owner Bud Selig who considers most of the owners in this league his friends - it was Selig who led the way in ousting MLB's last independent commissioner, Fay Vincent.
It's no wonder the player's union has been so antagonistic: fighting MLB means fighting the owners - there's no way to separate the two as long as Selig is at the helm. This is important, too, because as long as Selig is protecting the interests of the owners, then a problem like this can happen again. During the Steroid Era, baseball was raking in a lot of money - why mess with a good thing?
Because it was a bad thing for baseball; it was only a good thing for the owners and players. Baseball is more than just making money and even the Supreme Court agrees that baseball is a quasi public service. An establishment like this needs INDEPENDENT leadership; an independent commissioner would've had far less trouble forcing the steroids issue years earlier and preventing it from festering into the cancer it has become. Now it's going to take chemotherapy to cure the sport, and many innocent cells will die during the treatment.
The Mitchell Report was a baby step of progress, gained by taking ten
steps forward and nine steps backward. Not efficient, but it's
something. When you are at the brink of disaster, the only thing you
can do is just keep moving. How much further is an ownership-owned
commissioner willing to go with a stubborn union butting against him at
every opportunity? If Congress really wants to get involved, they
should simply mandate an independent commissioner for Major League
Baseball.
Even though I haven't posted much lately, I'm still out there running. Ten days ago my yearly odometer passed 900 miles. I'm only doing about 20+ miles per week but doing it by running 5-6 times each week. The frequency is kinda fun as long as I don't go too far on my long run - it allows me to do more speedwork and still recover from it.
The highlight has been that I'm running with my dogs by tying their leash to a belt around my waist - it's so much easier to run this way! I have better leverage against their pulling, plus their efforts help speed me along. Last week I hitched myself to both Haven and Beacon and we ran a 3.5 out-and-back at a 6:30 pace! I can't even run a 5K that fast, but they did most of the work. We bought them harnesses so that they're not pulling me from around their neck but rather around their shoulders so it's more comfortable for them. I'll have to post some photos of their snazzy threads sometime.
I've also been writing for Itchmo. So far so good, but it hasn't been very long yet. I'd hoped to see more comments on some of my articles but hopefully that will come with more time. You can see all six of the articles I've written if you're curious about pets, especially dogs and horses.
Baseball has been pretty exciting! It's quite a bummer that the Tigers collapsed a bit after the All-Star break and missed the playoffs, but they had their flaws for all of their talent. Detroit isn't a deep team which mean injuries can take a toll, and that's what happened this season. They've already made it clear that Carlos Guillen will play 1B next year - that only makes sense if they can find an above-average shortstop for 2008. Not much else is out there, so it makes me wonder if Alex Rodriguez is on the Tigers' radar for 2008? After all, he was a better shortstop than Derek Jeter when he joined the Yankees.
Speaking of baseball predictions, newmanmlb wrote about his sleeper picks back before Opening Day. He choose the Rangers and Rockies to make the World Series, while I commented that I liked the Orioles and Diamondbacks. We really bombed those American League choices, but we look pretty good with our National League picks! (FYI, right now the Rockies are playing their one-game playoff against the Padres.) However, I'm rooting for the Indians although the Red Sox appear to be the favorites - they have no apparent weaknesses while every other playoff team has at least one.
...that I went for another long run! Focusing on 5Ks this year has allowed me to neglect the weekend long run a bit too much. Since I'm signed up for a trail marathon in two weeks, I decided I better find out today if I'm still in shape.
Before that, I had a very busy schedule this weekend. Friday afternoon I left work early to drive two hours to my middle brother Eric's bachelor party where his buddies had rented a cottage on a lake. We fished for bluegill and smallmouth off the dock, tried out the canoe, enjoyed the sunset from a pontoon boat, and I learned to play poker.
I got home a little after midnight and six hours later I was awake and driving to the Critter Cottage with Amanda to open shop early for the expected crowds of the Ada Criterium cycling race. Unfortunately the crowds weren't nearly what we'd hoped due to a course change, but it was still fun to hang out with Vicky and watch some of the racing.
However we had to leave early to drive over to the West Michigan Whitecaps ballpark where my company co-ed softball team got to play an exhibition game on the professional playing field! My company bought 3,300 tickets plus BBQ passes at the 10,000-seat stadium and the Whitecaps rolled out the red carpet to ensure we come back next year. First at-bat I hit a 3-run HR over the outfielder's head! Rounding 3rd I saw that the cutoff man didn't have the ball yet and I was going to score easily, so I made the most of my opportunity to dirty my "uniform" with a head-first slide into home plate! Woo hoo!!! We won the game 6-1.
After our exhibition was the real baseball game, where we watched the Whitecaps lose to "Mantis Boy" quite badly. Amanda and I called the opposing starter "Mantis Boy" because during pre-game warm-ups he spent about 15 minutes repeating an exercise where he squatted, arched his hands like Mr. Burns and then walked sideways for about 30-40 feet. Being tall and lanky made it look even funnier, but apparently it worked. After the game we watched the fireworks before heading home, barely making it to bed before midnight.
Up at 7am this morning and two hours later Amanda and I were out the door for our long workouts. Amanda walked 7 miles in two hours while I ran 16.6 miles in 3 hours. It was my first double-digit run since a 10-mile trail run with Haven and Beacon six weeks ago, and my second since running 16 miles in the countryside back in April! Luckily it appears that I still have my endurance since I felt good the entire run; well, as good as "good" can feel while running for three hours but I was really enjoying the cool, misty weather. Hopefully this means I'm fit enough to survive a spontaneous marathon!
Finally after our workouts and some shopping errands Amanda and I were finally "free", so we plopped on the couch to watch Indiana Jones on DVD while I played my weekly baseball games for my fantasy simulation league. I also finally wrote a new article on Why Run about two runners of the Badwater Ultramarathon, so hopefully those of you who read that blog weren't getting too bored!
Last night I stayed up a couple hours past my usual bedtime to watch the 2007 MLB All-Star Game! It's always been fun to watch and I have lots of great memories, even if they've all come via the TV. However, Major League Baseball has made the game incrementally more unbearable the past few years and I wonder how long it can survive without a major overhaul, repairs that go beyond simply claiming "This time it counts".
The 2002 game dead-panned into a tie game when both teams ran out of pitchers in extra innings, a scenario that MLB clearly was unprepared for. Tradition at the time was for both teams to get every player into the game; after all, the All-Star game is an exhibition, not a competition.
Yet commissioner Bud Selig and MLB decided to save face by fixing the wrong problem. The All-Star game needed a plan, not a new slogan. What we now have is a "This time it counts" catchphrase with the winning league getting home-field advantage in the World Series. Did it solve anything?
No. They're still not playing to win; otherwise Bonds gets more than two trips to the plate, Santana pitches more than just middle relief, and Pujols actually gets into the game. All but a few players saw action in the game, so neither team was prepared for extra innings if it had happened. What then? Force the last pitchers standing to throw several innings? Postpone the game? Declare a -gasp- tie?
The point is that MLB still has no plan, no clue what to do with their midsummer classic. They slighted the American League by holding this year's game in a National League park for the second straight season, presumably so that Barry Bonds could sing a swan song in his home park. Fair enough... except that Bonds skipped out on the home run derby and then played just three innings of the game itself. That makes no sense for either an exhibition event or a competitive game.
What should be done? In my opinion the All-Star game is an exhibition of talent. Let the players play for pride, and give them incentive if necessary. Perhaps a pledge of money to the players' charities if they're on the winning team, or a small emblem they get to wear on their uniforms to boast of their victory until the next season's game. Being an exhibition, everybody should play. If the game goes beyond nine innings then all players out of the game are eligible to come back in; or, a tie could be decided by a home run derby similar to a hockey or soccer shoot-out.
I'm sure there are many other good ideas out there. At this point almost anything is better than this tentative notion of a "competitive exhibition".
T'was a busy weekend. Awake by 0600 on Saturday for the Reeds Lake Run, then get ready for my little brother Ryan's bachelor party! I had about two hours at home between the race and getting back in the car to drive to Midland for his celebration which included grilling out on a softball field, playing frisbee golf, taking in a minor league baseball game, then hitting the cursory bar for a few drinks. Poor Ryan had to wear a plastic ball and chain around his ankle all day (amazingly he was still good at frisbee golf while wearing it!), a giant sombrero, and a t-shirt with a picture of a pinata and the caption "I'd Hit It". I wish I'd remembered to take a photo! I didn't get home until after 0300!
Sunday Amanda and I took Eddie to meet his future "parents" and otherwise tried to take it easy. However, Haven and Beacon started giving me those soulful looks of "let's go do something!" so I decided to take them to the river. After all, the weather was perfect - upper 60's, sunny, and a light breeze. My legs were a bit tired from Saturday's two races but good enough that we bypassed the river access near the parking area and jogged half a mile on the trail up and over a large hill to the prime river access point.
Rather than throw sticks for fetching, this time I took the dogs for a walk, or rather a "wade", up the river! The recent dry spell had lowered the water level enough that I could walk the 50 yards across the river without getting deeper than my knees. Even the dogs were mostly walking or bunny-hopping in the shallow water. We waded about a 1/4 mile upstream to a section of small rapids where there were a couple "nozzle" points that had rather strong flow. It was strong enough that I had trouble standing and the dogs had to swim as hard as they could just to stand still. We had fun playing in the rapids - I walked up the "nozzle" then back through while the dogs went for a theme-park-like ride through the chute!
Finally we jogged back to the parking area, a dirt cul-de-sac next to an old boy scout cabin. Haven loves to eat weeds (I have no idea why!) and there were some nice, long, un-mowed weeds in back of the cabin. As she bent down to grab a bite I was about to scold her when suddenly a fawn sprung out of the weeds! Haven was startled for just a split second before she gave chase, and Beacon soon joined her as they pursued the poor little deer around the building.
The fawn was a bit taller than my dogs, but clearly much scrawnier and probably only weighed 50 lbs to my dogs 65-70 lbs each. As the trio rounded the corner I heard the fawn start bleating like a goat, crying "Mmmaaah! Mmmaaah!" over and over - I feared that my dogs were going to kill it! I sprinted around the opposite side of the cabin, hoping to head them off and get between the predators and the prey to prevent serious harm.
To my surprise, when I rounded the cabin the fawn was nowhere to be seen! My dogs love to scarf their food, but no way did they eat that fawn! :) Beacon was in the parking lot scanning every which way trying to spot the deer. Haven, however, was one step ahead - she was sniffing underneath a wooden staircase. I walked over to grab Haven when the fawn clambered out from under the stairs right past Haven, who merely sniffed it as it started to run away again.
Seeing it run excited my dogs enough to give chase. While faster than me, the fawn wasn't nearly strong enough to outclass adult canine speed and my dogs closed in quickly as the fawn raced down the road. Knowing I couldn't accomplish anything by chasing, I ran back to the car and opened the back door, hoping to signal my dogs that it's "time to go" - usually they'll jump right in. Then it occurred to me... What if mommy deer hears the bleating and comes after my dogs? Luckily I was the only "adult" around!
When I turned back to the action, I saw one of the most improbable sights of my life - the fawn was standing frozen with Haven and Beacon motionless on either side of it!!! I so wish I'd had a camera right then. The fawn must've tired out or realized it couldn't outrun the dogs. Haven and Beacon started to sniff the fawn when Bambi decided to go on the offensive - it reared back and head-butted Beacon just like a goat would do! Beacon was startled and jumped back. Bambi lunged again and Beacon got down in a dog's "play stance" with his front paws down and butt in the air!
Beacon put a couple juke moves on the fawn, feinting left and right and when Bambi went for another "attack" Beacon ran away back to me for safety! I was really cracking up at this point. A little fawn put the smack down on big bad Beaks! Confirming my idea to open the car door, Beacon jumped right up onto the seat and I quickly closed the door to finally contain one dog.
Looking back to Haven, she was trying to sniff the fawn just like she would greet a new foster dog. She was trying to make friends! But the fawn was understandably less trusting and kept trying to head-butt Haven, moves that Haven was easily able to dodge. Finally I think Haven got tired of this belligerent potential pal and she came running back to me to see what happened to Beacon. I got her in the car just as Bambi turned to lope out of sight down the road.
Amanda couldn't believe me when I told her the story and she really wishes she could've seen it. I'm still amazed that the dogs didn't injure the fawn, but even more incredible is that they wanted to play with it! That image of Haven and Beacon standing either side of the fawn is permanently etched in my memory... Classic. I'll probably never see something like that again, but still I hope that someday the dogs will encounter another fawn and try to play with it. My dogs never cease to amaze!
What websites do you visit every day?
Submitted by Chez Michelle.
Yahoo! - my primary source of general news, plus baseball boxscores
Google - for web-based email, maps, calendar, and their dozens of other useful features
GoodSearch - my primary search engine, which raises money for Vicky's Pet Connection
Aero News Network - the best aviation news service, anywhere
National Weather Service and Weather Underground - two top-notch weather sites
Minor League Ball - a blog by John Sickles, a brilliant guy who evaluates baseball talent
A Trail Runner's Blog - a blog by Scott Dunlap about distance running, mostly ultras
Why Run? and Why Dogs? - because I write them
Vox - of course :)
For my birthday last month Amanda planned an outing to a Tigers game. Last weekend it finally came to pass as Amanda and I were joined by eight family members to enjoy a perfectly sunny day at the ballpark. I still call it Tiger Stadium even though technically it's Comerica Park; not so much out of protest as much as out of habit. Speaking of which, I miss the old ballpark - I was lucky enough to attend the 4th to last game ever played there. On our way to the new park we drove past the old one:
It's sad how the city of Detroit and the Tigers franchise are allowing this historic stadium to rot away when there are so many folks willing to do what it takes to preserve it as a museum and/or exhibition ballfield. At least Comerica Park is a beautiful place to attend a ballgame and in my opinion underrated among the MLB ballparks.
We arrived early to watch batting practice, however the Tigers were already done by the time we arrived (despite arriving right after the gates opened). It always amazes me how normal ballplayers look - we stood about ten feet away from Joe Mauer as he warmed up and he doesn't seem any more fit than I am. Then you see him (and every other player) throw effortlessly and watch the ball rifle 150 feet and pop into a teammate's glove without them having to move an inch. Wow.
Before taking our seats we wandered around the park, ending up among the statues of Tiger greats. We watched a few players warming up before taking our seats.
Our seats were great - upper deck front row along the LF line near the foul pole. It was a great view of not only the field but also the Detroit skyline. Amanda took a couple photos of the first batters before putting away the camera to enjoy the game.
And what a game! Johan Santana has been the best pitcher in all of baseball over the last three years but Mike Maroth matched him. Bottom of the 9th inning Brandon Inge hits a solo HR into the bullpen right in front of us and both the crowd and the Tigers dugout erupted in cheer! ROAR!
Some baseball observations:
- Joe Mauer is amazing with the bat - in BP he would hit the ball on a line in every direction seemingly at will.
- Justin Morneau has wicked bat speed, clearly a step above any other Twins hitter.
- Magglio Ordonez was born to hit - he looks so comfortable at the plate, he makes it look easy. Fielding... no. He was born to DH - he never seemed to read fly balls well and on one play Curtis Granderson had to run all the way from CF to attempt a catch that was ten feet from Ordonez the statue; Granderson missed and Ordonez didn't back him up, forcing Granderson to run after the ball that became a triple.
- Gary Sheffield is over his slump - aside from one pop-up, he hit every ball hard - he had a single that two-hopped to the RF and I swear the ball was never more than five feet off the ground.
- Carlos Guillen is barely a passable SS - not only did he make a few bad throws, but his footwork looked stiff like the 50-year-old guys on my softball team
- Mike Maroth doesn't throw hard - 88 mph was his max - which made it cruel on the Twins when Joel Zumaya relieved him and started throwing 100 mph.
- Pat Neshek has one of the most unique deliveries you'll ever see - it's not your typical sidearm. Even better, Neshek has his own blog that he started when in the minors.
- Jesse Crain... he gave up that HR to Inge, but I'm surprised that Crain isn't a more dominant pitcher. He had a 94 mph fastball to go with a 74 mph off-speed pitch, a combination that normally is quite deadly.
