sad day/deal

the cubs trade mark derosa for 3 scrub pitchers. i didnt want to believe it when i read the story, but there is no denying. what a down note to start a new year with.

im pretty sad. derosa was one of my favorites. mildly comforting is the fact that a lot of fan reaction to this trade has been negative. most fans know that derosa wouldn't have been re-signed for 2010. his amazing 2008 play priced him out of the cubs range -- they are too busy blowing millions on players who drop balls and hit next to nothing in the post season. but we were looking forward to seeing derosa in 2009 at wrigley. hes one of the few guys on the team who showed up every day wanting to play and win.

its too early to say what this trade means for the 2009 season. i think the 3 minor league pitchers are part of a bigger plan to get jake peavy, but who knows? san diego isn't talking about making attempts to trade peavy right now. im sure the cubs won't be keeping these 3, as the pitching well seems to run pretty deep these days.

what i do know is that derosa was a reason im still recovering from the failed 2008 campaign. he played hard every day and always seems to have a great attitude on and off the field. he deserved more than playing for a team that was swept in 3 games in the NLDS by manny the dbag. i'll miss his blog posts, and how he always seemed like a nice, normal guy who never took for granted how lucky he was to play for a living.

seriously, who can resist that smile?


i guess im going to have to start watching cleveland games this season. another team for the playlist. its going to be a busy season.

then again, i may only be watching toronto and cleveland on mlb.tv and the giants and As in person. im already preparing emotionally for the fact that the 2009 cubs may be another huge letdown. gods, please let me be wrong.

no deal

jake peavy is not coming to the cubs. derosa is still on the team. whew. for now.

i cant say im unhappy. i dont think it would have been a good idea to give up derosa and vitters, the #1 prospect. peavy is good at all, but the rotation is already good, and we need hitting more than we need pitching. i like having the 5th spot open for marshall, or maybe even samardzija. or rich hill (please please please baseball gods!!!!) i would have shed no tears for marquis or pie had they departed, but not even the padres are stupid enough to give up a cy young winning pitcher for a AAA superstar who cant hit in the majors and an overpaid pitcher who is amazing one day and then fucking awful in this next 3 starts.

here's the part that baffled me. the padres need to unload peavy due to payroll concerns. as good as he is, peavy was injured last year and he ain't cheap. the cubs would be doing the padres a huge favor taking him off san diego's hands. but they were too demanding, when they really were not in a position to be. did the padres GM study the cubs' current starting rotation? zambrano, dempster, lilly, and harden? its pretty dominating. peavy would make them even better, but it's not like we were hurting for a 5th starter. we're not the yankees (burn!)

how about concentrating on raul ibanez? just a thought...

the best friends... EVER!

despite a couple of gaffes, i had NO CLUE and was duly surprised and amazed on friday night by the best friends ever.

cuz had had sent an e-mail earlier in the week, asking if we wanted to climb in the city on friday night and then have some drinks. i had no other plans, and hey you wanted to make transportation arrangements right away, so the plan was quickly formed.

it was a long stressful week at work, so by the time friday afternoon rolled around, i was seriously considering bailing and just going to bed and putting the week behind me. but hey you would have none of it. we went to her brother's house and played with her 1 year old niece, possibly one of the sweetest kids i have ever met. rejuvenated (who isn't in a good mood after hanging out a happy baby?) we headed for the bart.

after some climbing at mission cliffs with cuz, hey you, bbq, mopey boy, and larry hagman, i was surprised to hear in the locker room that cuz had managed to secure a table for 6 at blowfish sushi. its a happening place, and tables for groups more than 2 usually require advance planning (as in, not the same day). but hey, who am i to question cuz's mad reservation skillz?

upon arrival, i was surprised to see b there. what a happy coincidence! as i hugged her, i figured she and baseball buddy were simply on a date to a nice fun place to eat. we simply happened to pick the same place on the same night.

nope. so wrong. behind b were 7 other friends, 4 of whom had made the long drive up from silicon valley. apparently they had been planning and plotting for weeks to surprise me with dinner and drinks to celebrate my 2 year anniversary of living in california. it had been a done deal by the time we went to joshua tree for thanksgiving. talk about pre-planning.

i was flabbergasted. and "feelings are for babies" ma was moved to tears when they presented me with a scrapbook cuz and hey you had made of all my california escapades.

its been a great 2 years for me since i moved out here. i have done things i would have never tried and challenged myself. i've learned a lot about myself. most importantly of all, i have made some amazing friends.

i never thought i would have better friends that my u of i girls. we've known each other for going on 12 years now, and, despite the fact that we all live in different states, still act as a unit on the few occasions we get together.

my new "california friends", most of whom i've known for only 2 years have proved me wrong. i've found an awesome place to live with awesome people to hang out with. i look forward to every party, every climbing trip, even every visit to the gym.

in all, there were 16 people at dinner to celebrate this milestone with me. how cool is that? here's the group shot the hostess took.

i look like i'm starting to stick my tongue out, but i'm acually laughing.
apparently i can only smile properly in 1 picture per night.

the rest of b's pictures are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bshone/sets/72157610824231612/

i'm took some pics of the scrapbook as well, they are posted on flickr here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharynkaryn/sets/72157610841871291/

i'm still in shock. my friends are great. i'm so lucky to have them.

going out on top

i wasn't expecting it, but wasnt fully surprised when news broke today that greg maddux is going to announce his retirement on monday at the winter meetings.

i'll be honest. i was never a big fan of the mad dog. in hindsight, im going attribute that stupidity to superficiality (cos he always looks awful in his roster pic) and general lack of understanding of the nuances of the game.

it was years before i realized that maddux was a true artist, that he didn't always get the strike out when a ground ball was more valuable. hitters got the hit when he let them. he rarely lost his cool (unless it was with a cooler in the marlins dugout in 2004 when the cubs were playing absolutely horrifically). and he was never a prima donna, despite the fact he's played with some grade-A douchebags. apparently if asinine behavoir was catching, maddux was immune. (are you listening chipper jones?)

this is a great espn article on all the reasons why maddux is irreplacable to the game. and no doubt will be a 1st ballot hall of famer in 5 short years. i wonder if the cubs will retire number 31 before that happens. they should. they knew before 2006 they were going to retire the number, otherwise they would have let lilly wear 31.

thanks mad dog. for everything.

i don't get it

no way no day will i cheer for edgar renteria. he's a thug. and im still pissed at him for attemping to break mike fontenot's nose in 2007. although, to be fair, some blame does go to sori-overpaid's hot dogging.

renteria isn't fit to clean omar's cleats. he plays dirty. with all the shortstops on the free agent market, why sign him? there are so many better, sometimes cheaper options -- david eckstein, rafael furcal, or even ozzie nemesis orlando cabrerra. and wasnt khalil greene available to be traded from the padres?

i don't get it.

no more bobby d

bobby howry is officially gone from the the cubbies, he signed a 1 year deal with the SF giants today. he returns to the team that gave him up in the storied white flag trade of 1997.

bobby d didnt always get it done for the cubs, but i am still sad to see him go. he stepped up and filled the closer's shoes when wood was out with his pesky blister before and after the all star break. too bad the rest of the season was downhill from there.

im glad that the baseball buddy and i will get to see him on a regular basis at at&t park next season. he's not that great of a pitcher anymore, and probably on the down side of his career, but having a former cub nearby is somewhat comforting. and im sure the giants fans won't be nearly as brutal on him as cubs fans were. and he's got to be better than now-departed tyler walker, right? just keep him away from barbeques.

but i don't even like the phillies that much

so yes, i am rooting for the phillies in the WS. i want to see former cubs draft pick jamie moyer get a WS ring before he retires. but i dont like them that much. im just glad there is some baseball available during this time in my life where it is still Too Painful To Watch Archived Cubs Games.

but honestly, do i like the phillies enough to sit in a bar FULL OF OHIO STATE ALUMNI during the 2 hour rain delay of game 3 of the ws? one would think not. but hey you and i did it. we showed up at pete's tavern in soma promptly at 5 pm PST yesterday, not realizing weather on the east was going to delay the game for so long.

just like for game 3 of the NLDS, the place was crawling with ohio state alumns. wtf? i thought it was a giants bar. but apparently not.

ive always hated the ohio state univeristy, and it was pretty gratifying to see Penn State pull out a last minute win. it made the torture of sitting through the game with a bunch of drunk idiots almost bearable.

even hey you realized the hostile territory we were in. there was one woman (sober, no less) who was obviously an alum, who cheered and booed every play, loudly. and in this phony way, that seemed like she was just trying to get attention. she was also trying to start conversations with strangers who wanted nothing to do with her.

hey you summarized the experience with a single sentence "i never knew how annoying i was until today (when i had to sit in a bar full of ohio state alums)"

so true.

Q: how do you get an ohio state grad off your porch?
A: pay them for the pizza

phillies 5, rays 4

an in-depth look at game 1 of the world series

COLE HAMELS IS A BEAST.



phillies 3, rays 2

good chat

i FINALLY got to talk to amiga today. and her sister. it was so good to hear their voices.

its been months. when i first moved out here, amiga was on my regular phone buddy list. when she changed jobs, that changed, and she fell off the radar.

turns out, she fell off for good reason. i found via e-mail after her birthday (JUNE 7TH!) how bad things had been for her. but we weren't able to have a good discussion about it until today.

its such a relief. her life seems to be back on track, and she sound happy and enjoying life. the best part of talking to her -- she hasn't changed. same girl. still sweet, still funny. she hasn't let the struggles of the past few months make her bitter or jaded. that's my little amiga.

im proud of her and the decisions that she has made to take control of her own life. its a hard thing to to, that pesky growing up thing. but we all have to do it sometime. and she seems to be coming throught with flying colors.

now, i just need to see her when i'm home in december. preferably at IBERRICO!!!!

S-M-R-T

today on the phone with gc, he asked what i thought the debate tonight was going to be about.

my answer: politics

sometimes i am just fucking brilliant.

too soon

cubs magical ride ends too soon. way to state the obvious.

the article has a link to video highlights from the season. but the link for reed johnson's amazing catch vs the nationals (the infamous flipped bill one) wasnt working, which meant i had to search for it on mlb.com.

so i found it, and a whole bunch of others of him, mostly highlight-reel catches and getting timely RBIs. i watched a couple, and then had to turn it off.

its too soon. im not ready to watch amazing games from the season while the wound of the sweep is still open and festering.

fuck. this sucks.

empty

its not about the cubs. really its not.

they lost. im getting over it. they play like chumps when crunch time comes. ive come to accept it. i really dont care that much. even though i discovered it later in life, i love baseball, and always will. i love the cubs too, but ive always been realistic about them, and their inability to close the deal.

the emptiness i feel is more about the season in general.

i felt at peace skipping from game to game. checking in on old favorite players, keeping tabs on the pennant races in every division.

and in postseason, with no one to root for, i can barely be bothered to turn on mlb gameday, much less make plans to mooch off someone else's cable tv to catch nationally televised games. as much as i hate to admit it, with the playing field narrowed, the only team i only even marginally want to win is the dodgers, so that maddux can maybe end his career with another ring. too bad that would come with another ring for manny the douchebag as well.

watching baseball, all 162 games per team per year is what i really enjoy. no, i dont watch every team's every game. there arent enough hours in the day for that. but its comforting to know all the games were out there, just waiting for me to turn them on.

and through this season, there's even more more to love. im not talking about individual players accomplishments, like thome's 500th HR or el loco toro's no hitter.

im talking about the consistency in baseball. every day for the months of april, may, june, july, august, and september there is baseball played, and every game is important. every game is special. every game is beautiful or ugly in its own way.

a starting pitcher who gets worked over in one game will come back will find his stuff and be unhittable in his next. hitters streak hot and cold, with no apparent reason. a team slumps, then comes back and makes their fans remember why they still watch.

i have my favorites, of course. ive never rooted for any of his teams, but to watch kyle loshe get bounced around from team to team, and finally settle in with st louis, BEFORE the post season is over for 4 years is a reason i love this game. big frank thomas, who left a bad situation in chicago to go to oakland and then into an even worse situation with toronto before coming back to the As and their fans, who love him is another example. and even though he couldnt find the strike zone with a GPS in game one of the NLDS, ryan dempster's transition from a closer who could only pitch an inning at a time, to a starter who never seemed to need extra rest was awesome.

there's going to be a lot of drama this off season. not just with the cubs, who have disappointed their fan base, again, and will need to fight to win back their loyalty. not just with the white sox who seemed to fall apart close to the end of the season but still made a great run to get to the playoffs and won an infinitely highter number of games than the cubs in the post season. however, they start the off season with a lot of open postitions to fill and decisions to make.

i'm excited to see what will happen when players file for free agency, who stays and who goes, and where they go. the playing field is leveled back to zero when the world series is over.

but there isn't trade/signing news every day. and definitely not the same volume as when games are being played during the season.

cuz once asked me when i get over my post-basball season funk. the answer is easy -- february.

the void that the off season brings can only be filled by one thing -- the start of spring training in february. and it seems so far away right now.

the season's not even over, but i miss it already.

pain, continued

i have a hangover. my head hurts. a nice physical manifestation of the pain of the cubs getting swept.

i feel stupid for having been optimistic this whole season.

winning the division looked like barely a struggle for the team. scoring a run was beyond difficult once oct 1 hit.

i dont get it. was it the pressure, the expectation of 100 years? it didnt seem to bother the guys all year. i spent enough time this week yelling at the team for playing poorly. there is no point in reaming them after the fact.

there is not going to be a logical explanation for their collapse. larry hagman asked me this morning, "why don't you just find a new team?"

if only it was that easy.

who gives a shit

mlb.com ran this story today, about how torn some yankee fans are over pinella vs torre in the NLDS. both have ties to the team, while the dodgers have more former players from the yankees' nemesis, the boston red sox.

here's my question: who gives a shit what yankee fans think?

someone really should have thought about that question before running this lame-ass excuse for a story.

the best part of the MLB playoffs this year is not having to listen to baby steinbrenners whine about how unfair the game is to the yanks when they invariably lose (as they have the last several years).

thank you, i'll be here all week. try the veal.

heartbreak and hope

for the 2nd year in a row, the new york mets miss out on the post season with a loss to the florida marlins on the last day of the regular season. pretty stinging. shea stadium goes out with a wimper, rather than with the roar of a post season game.

im sure the team is disappointed, but probably not as much as their fans. its hard to let go of the season, and to lose when you expect to play another day is shocking.

im watching the closing ceremonies at shea. the crowd is pretty subdued. not surprising. it hard to applaud for old people you dont know when you team has just broken your heart, for the 2nd year in a row.

in other news, both the twins and white sox won, so the season goes into extra innings. the white sox will face rock's brother, freddy garcia, at the cell tomorrow in a make up game with the tigers. garcia, who won a world series with the white sox in 2005 and recently asserted that he had no friends on the team, that he was a tiger now.

should be a good game. the white sox are fighting to stay a contender for the AL central, and im sure detroit is annoyed about having to play a game after the season is over.

heres how all 4 games i watched today ended up

cubs 1, brewers 3
marlins 4, mets 2
indians 1, white sox 5
royals 0, twins 5

thats a lot of baseball. but i wouldnt have it any other way.

last day of the regular season

its incredible. 162 games in the regular season, and there are 4 teams still battling for playoff spots on the last day of the regular season.

thanks to mlb mosiac, im watching 4 games at the same time, white sox vs indians, marlins vs mets, cubs vs brewers, and twins vs royals.

mets and brewers are tied for the NL Wild card, a win by one and a loss for the other determines the winner. should both teams win or lose, they have to play a tiebreaker tomorrow.

the white sox are 1/2 game back of the twins. their situation is more complicated. a twins win and white sox loss eliminates ozzie's crew. if both teams win, the white sox have to play a make-up game against detroit on monday, if they win that, sox and twins play a tiebreaker on tuesday. so the sox have to win 3 in a row to take the AL central.

today is a big day. pennants are up for grabs. a timely hit, or a misplayed ball can mean the season for a team. pretty exciting, and im sure nerve wracking for all the fans involved.

im glad i can sit back and relax. the game against the brewers is more or less a scrimmage. the cubs already own the best record in the NL, and are just trying to keep their winning rhythm in place for the start of the playoffs.

but i have have to recognize how important a day today is, even if its not for my team.

162 games in a season. and it all comes down to today. amazing.

short rest

the white sox, mets, and brewers this week are throwing their star pitchers out on 3 days rest, last ditch attempts to clinch a spot in the post season. the only team who isn't doing it are the twins, who have no real "stars" in their rotation.

maybe this is naive of me to think, but i don't understand this tactic. i know that the post season schedule allows more rest for pitchers, and therefore teams won't need a full 5-man rotation. but what good is it to wear out your best pitchers before post season even starts? tired arms dont win games.

santana pitched the shit out of the ball yesterday, a complete game on short rest. an amazing performance and fitting for possibly one of the final games at shea stadium. but the rotation is in flux. as good as he is, santata cannot win 11 post season games on his own. same for sabathia.

what good is it to make to the post-season, only to be humiliated by teams with full rotations? i don't get it.

update

the cubs have already clinched the division and home field advantage for the 1st 2 rounds of the playoffs. the games this week is just to run up some individual numbers, and maybe rest the guys who have grinded all season.

i left for the gym with the game tied in the 8th. they didnt need to pull it out, not nearly as much as the mets did.

low and behold, even when they don't have to, the cubbies came through to win the game in the 10th. sweet.

and rosenblog said it the best in today's column

When did Howry become Carlos Marmol?

i love this game. i love this team.

cubs 9, mets 6

influence

game's not over, but this post can't wait.

7th inning, 2 on, no outs. daniel murphy hits a bullet right at d-lee who is attempting to hold speedy jose reyes on 1st. lee steps on the base and doubles up reyes, and no runs manage to score in the inning.

a pretty cool play, no doubt. but the best part came 5 seconds after.

my phone rings, its a text message from hey you "That was an amazing catch by the first baseman. I would have ducted."

um, what? hey you was watching the game? and paying attention? and realized what happened?!

is it possible? have i beat her down into becoming a semi-fan? have the lovable losers won her over with their charmed ways and good looks? is she actually now worthy of the fukodome shirt i got her in august?

im pretty proud of myself right now. much more proud than i am of jeff samardzija who just coughed up the lead in the 8th.

you are only making yourself look bad

so i've always known that flipping kidding's sister and i were not the same type of people, and definitely not friends. but we have always been cordial. there are a lot of things i dont agree with her on, especially her politics and her love of guns.

but whatever, i am not without social graces, so ive always been polite and civil to her.

effective immediately, that's out the window. i refuse to be polite to people i don't respect. there's no use in trying to hide it.

flipping kidding got married this weekend. i made the trek to chi town cos it was an event i didn't want to miss. although, i did let her know that gc and i would not be going to church. you never want a heathen like me in church. BURN!

i will admit this upfront. its hard to go to chicago and not try to do to much. i thought that in the course of 55 hours, i would be able to see my parents, eat a meal with mei mei and tsiny, go to the wedding, and still have time to show cuz and cass around town.

i thought i had my bases covered when i told flipping kidding that i would miss the ceremony. not so.

her sister came right up to me when i arrived, and within 5 minutes told me how disappointed flipping kidding was that gc and i had missed the ceremony. i shrugged her off, as it was clear she was already pretty fairly lit from drinking. and its not like i have ever cared about her opinion of me.

a few hours and drinks later, she said the same thing to me again, and it infuriated me, for the following reasons:

1) she already told me. i heard her the first time. im not a drunken idiot who needs things repeated (which is more than i can say for her)

2) flipping kidding is not a child, its not her sister's job to run interference for her. if flipping kidding has a problem with me, we can work it out like civilized adults

3) is it worse for me to have skipped out on the ceremony, or for her to run around wasted, unable to hold her liquor, running her mouth about shit she has no clue about, creepily grope men who are not her husband on the dance floor, and make herself look like an idiot?

4) does it improve her night when she attempts to make me feel bad about something? that's pretty pathetic.

5) finally, its none of her FUCKING BUSINESS what i do or where i go.

being sober, the whole episode left a taste in my mouth worse than after i listened to the completely un-funny and un-clever matron of honor speech she gave.

not wanting to make a scene, i did the appropriate thing. i avoided her for the rest of the night, and told all my friends at the reception what i thought of her. none disagreed with me. two in particular had a few choice things to add.

despite drunk bitch and her uncontrollable mouth, i still managed to have a good time. it was good to see all my hewitt peeps all dressed up and having fun. we've decided we should have a party at flippin kidding's house in december when i am home, and this time i will stay longer than 8.5 seconds.

here's a cutey picture of gc, flippin kidding and myself.




oh, and congratulations to the happy couple!

2003 cubs memories

i wish that one day, i will see a picture of mark prior or see someone wearing his jersey and not feel like bursting into tears.

stupid recap story on cubs.com that reminded me how amazing it was to be witness to the 2003 season. even now i remember the tingles i had and the somersaulting stomach every time a game would start.

years later, this picture still gives me chills.


i miss 2003.

convert

whoo hoo! e-love started a blog. im so excited. its not just me and hey you anymore. his blog will probably be mostly about the white sox, but i guess they are ok. although how ok i am with them next year after they have gotten rid of crede only time will will.

here's the link to his blog. happy reading!

idiot

with the recent 2-game series at "neutral" miller park, some bonehead reporter thought it would be a good idea to ask the players what they thought of a new field, given the poshness of miller park and the straight up oldness of wrigley.

the result is this story.

conclusion: jason marquis after so many years in the big leagues, still has NO CLUE what it means to be a cubs. tear it down and rebuilt it a modern version to look like the old park? wtf.

but the best part was so-ree-over-paid. could he attempt to sound less like a moron when he talks? when asked about a new ballpark, his response was

"But I can't think, 'Oh, I want to have something like this,' because then I'll be upset. And I don't want to be upset. I want to be happy."

maybe he should attempt to learn how to navigate left field without a gps at wrigley before he talks about the cubs building another park where he will drop routine fly balls, for christ's sake.

i'm not alone

monday, a slow baseball day. cubs are off, white sox vs jays was postponed due to rain, so i ended up watching reds/brewers and padres/dodgers.

reds upset the brewers in the 9th, just like they did to cubs yesterday. amazing the importance of spoiler teams at this stage of the season. the jays are also flexing their spoiler power in the last month of the season. who sweeps the rays? wow.

padres vs dodgers, always good to watch the mad dog deal, although he's not dealing great tonight. the most exciting part of the game is the padre fan reaction when manny 'dbag' ramirez comes to the plate. in the course of one at bat, i heard individual fans over the announcers as they taunted manny. and if i could here them, im sure manny can hear them, right? some key phrases that were being called out included:

manny you're a BUM!
manny who?
various boos
a standing ovation when he struck out

the best one though, was a woman who yelled i love jason bay! awesome that a padre fan would bring up the guy in the other league on the other side of the country to taunt manny with.

im not alone. im not the only one who think manny sucks. i've got a community!

reds 5, brewers 4
padres 4, dodgers 0 (as of the end of the 7th)

inconsistent

game 2 of the giants vs cubs was a disappointment. not only did my need to not spend too much on tickets to see jason marquis cause me to buy unintentional tickets (that i sold at a loss), the baseball buddy and i sat behind possibly the most annoying people on the planet, the bleachers were cold, and the cubs never managed to score a run against matt cain when they had scored 9 the night before. the loss kinda sucked too, but that was probably my fault as i insisted on wearing my no-maa jersey, which i'm pretty sure has a losing record.

this game cemented the fact that i am too old to sit in the CF bleachers. the parade of marina girls sitting in front of us had no interest in the game and had to be asked to sit down several time. there were a bunch of drunk cub fans who kept yelling shit at jim edmonds. they need to get over it. those same fans got into a fight with some drunk giant fans who didnt understand they were booing a player on their own team. those same drunk giants fans chanted "1908" as the game drew to a close. who knew giants fans knew so much about baseball?!


at least we got a good pic out of it.




cubs 1, giants 2

reverting to form

after the demoralizing sweep and losses on the south side, the cubs rebounded last night with a victory over the giants.

it was an awesome game. im so glad i shelled out the extra bucks to sit closer, in the 100 level. lilly looked awesome, giving up 2 runs in 8 innings.

i'm AWESOME at predicting baseball. in the 8th with the cubs up 5-0, bases loaded, and de-ro up, i turned to hey you and said "you know, i think the cubs need about 4 insurance runs right about now". BAM, derosa slams a grand slam to the bleachers.

and then, in the 9th, after lilly gave up a baserunner, with his pitch count just over 100, i turned to mopey boy and said "if lilly gives up another baserunner, or reaches 110, he's getting pulled". sure enough, john bowker reaches on pitch 110, and out trots lou to replace him with kerry wood.

watching the game later, its sad to see that some of the best parts didn't make it to the broadcast. when lilly, who had a shutout going into the 9th, came out to bat in the top of that inning, he got a standing ovation from all the cubs fans who stayed to watch a game we couldn't possibly lose after plating 9 runs.

also, when lilly finally got pulled after allowing 2 hits in the 9th, even the remaining giants fans were on their feet, recognizing that his stuff was just on that night.

this SF chronicle article does a great job at capturing the feel:

By the time Chicago starter Ted Lilly came to bat in the ninth,
most of the Giants fans among the announced crowd of
35,311 had left, and the remaining army of Cubs fans gave
Lilly an ovation so loud you looked up to make sure there was
no ivy on the outfield walls.

like i have at some many ballparks i have seen the cubs play at, the legions that come out to support the cubbies was out in full force. its one of the greatest parts of being a cubs fan, our fellow fans are everywhere. so cool.

here's the baseball buddy with me and hey you



and here's some true fans flying the W flag (albein a little early, as the game wasn't over yet). i was shocked that the baseball buddy and the woman sitting next to him didnt know what it was, nor do the giants have anything similar.



cubs 9, giants 2

no soul

like i knew was going to happen, leonard bernstein was not able to make it out here this weekend. of course not. work. thats always the reason. im pretty much used to it.

cuz was nice enough to go with me to the OAR show at the fillmore. i thought the show and the music were good, but cuz had to be a sport about going. she doesn't know OAR, and she really doesnt like being at a show full of marina kids. understandable.

nights like this though, made me wonder if i have a soul. leonard bernstein texted me during the show, and, in his own cynical way, made it clear he was pissed about not being there and missing me.

we've never discussed the band before. but he was immediately receptive to seeing them, his only concern being that we would be the oldest people in the audience. this is where our realtionship confounds me. without a discussion, we understand how much the other loves music like this, without even asking.

OAR, despite their marina/lincoln park audience, has some really good things to say. they mean alot to me. and ive missed several opportunites to see them.

seeing them for the first time, and knowing that leonard bernstein had really intended to see me before he left, and was pissed he wasn't there, is a rage of emotions that would normally cause your average woman to at least shed a tear, if not out and out cry.

but not me. apparently i have no soul. i couldnt even conjure up a tear out of guilt.

i care, i really do. i just can't seem to cry. should i be concerned?

cee--eh--n--eh-dee-eh

the cubbies played a 3-game series in toronto this weekend. as it was my "mimimize human contact/scrapbook/recover from this stupid cold" weekend, i caught every game.

it was a great series. the team proved the following

1) they can hit AL pitching
2) they can win on turf
3) they can win a road series
4) they dont need so-ri-over-paid to win

im sure lilly's game today will go down as one of his best performances of the season. and i'm sure i will be re-watching it during my post-season withdrawal this winter.

i may try to watch more blue jays games. the broadcasters are canadian, or at least talk like it. and it never gets old, hearing them say "uut" and "abuut". and in baseball, there's a lot of uuts to be made.

and just for the record, i think aj burnett, as scary as he is with his shaved head and constant tobacco spitting, would be a beastly addition to the cubs pitching rotation come july if we try to get him.

in case you didn't figure it out, the title of this post is the answer to this question:

how do you spell "canada" in canadian?

good idea, but don't do it again

WGN thought it would be a good idea for "throwback day" to broadcast today's game in the same way one would have watched (if you had tv) in 1948. the stadium was decorated to look like 1948, the players wore throwback uniforms, even len and bob were dressed up.

and the broadcast was done with old-school camera angles, and the first few innings were broadcast in black and white, with no instant replay or slow-down camera work.

good idea. terrible execution.

i couldnt see SHIT with the camera angles. and with no instant replay, i might as well have been listening to the game on the radio. the black and white was entertaining for about 2 minutes before it got old. and they would only show the stats of the game once every few min, the score, if there were guys on base, the pitch count. and no pitch speeds. all those little things that make baseball appeal to the math nerd in all of us.

i hope they dont do it again. that is, unless it means the difference between a win and a loss for the team. as games go, it was a nail-biter. while i knew that the cubs would pull off another come-from-behind win when they loaded the bases with no outs in the 11th inning, the strategy was brilliant. lets put the player who gets hit a lot into the game, and let him take a pitch for the team to drive in the winning run. he doesnt have to swing. which reed johnson did, with no problems. first pitch, pegged on the ankle. game over. atlanta swept.

im not going to say the words. but with games like that, how else can the season end but with the cubs winning it all?

atlanta braves 2, chicago cubs 3

B's first game @ AT&T park

maybe she was tired of me asking her, but b agreed to go to mets vs giants with me and the baseball buddy. i promised her that no one would spill beer on her, which is what i think happened the last time she was at fenway. not surprising.

we had a really good time. b got a drink, and some good food, and we sat in a sheltered area where the wind wasn't so bad. and the $11 tickets were a bargain! she may even be inclined to go again, under the right conditions. maybe i will make her a fan, after all!

the game itself was noteworthy only due to the fact that it was pedro martinez's first game back since he went on the DL earlier this year. he silenced the giants' bats (what little they have) and claimed his 210the career victory. and he got 2 hits, too. what a beast.

we're so cute! we dont even look that cold



barry zito took the loss. no surprise there.

mets 9, giants 6

still holding a grudge

being able to watch 6 games at 1 time on mlb.tv mosiac is both a blessing and a curse.

im sure that when crunch time comes around the last couple weeks of the season, having 6 games available will help assauge my nerves a little.

however, days like today, it puts me in a bad mood.

just randomly caught a pre-game interview before the reds-phillies game. they were interviewing dusty baker about the tear that chase utley has been on lately.

i didn't hear a word baker said. all i could think about was this week's article about mark prior having season-ending shoulder surgery, again. so ridiculous

i can't forgive baker. maybe someday, when prior can come back and win another 18 games for the cubs, i can make an attempt. hell, i would be satisfied if prior can just pitch in the big leagues again.

i don't think thats asking too much.

get that restraining order ready

so, CJ called me on thursday, and asked if i wanted to go to a baseball game. uh, yeah, thats pretty much a no-brainer.

once i found out that the giants were playing the padres, i took it upon myself to find the seats closest to michael barrett and the visiting dugout. i scored seats in section 106, 12 rows up, 30 feet from 1st base off craig'slist at $45 a pop. not too bad.

it was a great game, and CJ and i had a lot of fun. it was nice to be able to go to the game with a girl who actually knows something about the game. but also someone who can still girl-out with me and check out the players' butts.

i got some great pictures, and posted them on my flickr site. here's one of the best ones, of michael barrett smiling to himself after grounding out.

the giants ended up winning in 10 innings. free baseball! and while he wasnt at his best, and got charged with both a blown save and a loss, it was pretty cool to see trevor hoffman in action.

we did have some fun at his expense though. after the game, as we were headed back to the BART, a firetruck and an ambulance drove past me and CJ. i turned to her and said "someone must have called 911, cos trevor hoffman was choking!"

im so funny.

its nice to be able to see games whenever at such a great park. it doenst come close to living a mile from wrigley, but we cant have it all.

in other news, the cubs won AGAIN today for a perfect homestand. where did these guys come from? the more games they win, the less i have to complain about. its pretty crazy.

padres 3, giants 4
rockies 3, cubs 5

soul selling

the cubs came back from a 8-0 deficit to win the game today 10-9 vs the rockies. who sold their soul for that one? maybe jim edmunds, in an effort to win over the fans who don't appreciate his .175 batting average (before today).

i'm getting used to this, the team always winning. not much to blog about. this season is going to end up really good, or we are headed from a super-sized letdown if things change.

should i be scared? naw, that is so cub and i should know to be on my guard.



rockies 9, cubs 10

sugar high

the key to climbing more hard stuff is vanilla coke. hey you and i discovered this tonight.

we had vanilla coke tonight, and were giddy with sugar rush by the time we made it to the gym. i climbed a 5.8, and then 3 10as in a row, including 1 on the impossible pillar and 2 on the hard pillar. never did that before. not sure i could repeat the feat without the same amount of HFCS surging through my veins.

hey you climbed 2 10a's and then a 10d. super agro.

the crash wasn't nearly as bad as we expected it to be.

but look out -- we know the secret to succeeding at hard climbing now. all it takes is some vanilla coke. now if only that stuff wasn't so difficult to get when you're in yosemite....

the best laid plans

memorial day weekend was supposed to be about gc coming out, driving up to rustling wood, and spending a the weekend climbing.

the weather in the bay area had other plans. it was cold, and rainy, and we even saw some flurries. climbing was out, so we had to find other ways to entertain ourselves.

we did a decent job. gc and i worked a few hours on friday morning. i fed him real coffee (thank you peets!) and he was so hyper by 11 am he wanted to climb things to get to the gym to climb. the gym was good, even if i did break his forearms by making gc climb a 10a on his first time out.

that night, went to see the As school boston and tim wakefield on friday instead of driving up to tahoe. we went on saturday instead, so that the gorgeous views could be fully appreciated. we hiked a short trail around spooner lake on sat, despite the cold and the flurries and played cranium after dinner.

i, of course, employed my life motto when it comes to board games of i don't give a fuck and of course we lost. but who can really win at that game, when hey you practices on a weekly basis and knows all the questions?

sunday we watched the indy 500 befor heading to tourist trap virginia city where the booze, gunfights, and slot machines were plentiful. and i got a great pic of my first album cover, if i ever form a rock band with gc, mopey boy, b, hey you, and andy.



monday was just about driving home and having pizza in the city with bbq. pretty yummy stuff.

so i think we did make some progress, and are that much closer in convincing gc to move out here. he really likes nature and really liked the climbing we did at ironworks on friday, even if he was sore for the rest of his trip.

i tried to tell gc that i changed my mind about giving him a ride to the airport, but he said it was too late cos we were already there. i reluctantly let him get out of the car and board the plane.

next time though, it won't be so easy for him to escape. i need to make better plans for his next trip. and have more rope handy.

awesome tour guide

to celebrate finishing up finals, e-love was able to come out here for a few days. it was not only his first trip to the bay area, it was also the first time he set foot in california.

i have to say, we crammed a lot of stuff into the 4 days here was here. im an awesome tour guide! here's the unabridged list:

• burgers at in and out
• long walk along the bay in emeryville
• climbing at berkeley ironworks
  
• ocean beach
  
• golden gate park
• drive through haight-ashbury (no fucking parking anywhere)
• japanese tea garden
• white sox vs giants (picture below)
  
• climbing at goat rock (near jenner)
• mount davidson cross
• lombard street
  
• fisherman's wharf (where i got super rock star parking)
• ghiradelli square
• golden gate bridge/crissy field area
  
• tampa bay vs oakland game (e-love bought me a rally elephant)
  

it was a great trip and we had a great time. i wish joe crede that fucking played the game at AT&T park we went too, but that fact was almost made up by the fact we witnessed frank thomas' first 2 HRs since returning to oakland. while we had timed the trip around the white sox-giants series, the oakland game ended up being more exciting.

and i learned some things too. the neighborhood of laguna honda is impossible to navigate, the goat rock area looks like ireland, and tony's on highway 1 near point reyes has sucky overpriced food.

glad i learned all this for e-love's next trip out here. hopefully he doesnt wait another 30 years to make it out here.

can't get over it

rick morrissey is just like me. he can't seem to get over mark prior.

his column today rings amazingly poignant. we've all heard the story multiple times. mark prior was 5 outs away from the cubs going to the world series for the first time in my lifetime, plus a few decades. mark prior was 22 on opening day, but the ace of the pitching staff. mark prior's delivery, every time he threw the ball, was awe-inspiring and beautiful.

mark prior is injured, and has been since 2006. he hasn't pitched a real major league start in almost 2 years.

prior has ceased to be a prospect, a player, and even a human. he's the ghost of 2003, haunting fans and sports writers alike. he will remain a ghost until he stops being injured and can come back and throw.

i still can't get over it. maybe i never will.

mad dog's last wrigley appearance?

didn't get to watch the game until it after was over (god i love mlb.tv!), but the cubs are kicked ass again today. demps especially is kicking ass. who knew he would be able to pitch more than 1 inning so effectively? i'm glad i was wrong about him.

other worthy game notes -- jim edmunds made his debut at wrigley in the blue pinstripes. the fans who cant get over the fact he used to be a cardinal need to grow up and stop booing. HE PLAYS FOR YOUR TEAM NOW, YOU MORONS.

it was good to see the fans give greg maddux a standing ovation when he was pulled in the 5th inning. it wasn't a great outing for him as the cubs nailed him for 4 runs, but if he retires at the end of this year, it may have been the mad dog's last career appearance at wrigley. and while his last was a bad inning, he was typical maddux brilliant up until that point.

it may be a portent, as i remember the same thing happening in 2006. it was nearing the july 31 trade deadline, and the cubs were going nowhere in the year of suck. maddux pitched what turned out to be his last start as a cub in late july and got a standing ovation when pulled. speculation had been flying for weeks that it would be his last start as a cub. a couple days later, the trade to the dodgers was announced. the fans all knew even before the news broke, and that they had to let him know how they felt about him when they could. its one of the things i love about this game.

maddux hit 350 wins this week. i think he's had a good time.

padres 0, cubs 4

old foe, new teammate

i havent blogged much about the cubs lately, but there hasn't been much to say. winning a lot can get boring apparently.

just cos everyone else seems to be making a big deal about it, i thought i would put in my 2 cents about the cubs picking up jim edmunds.

my official opinion: i think edmonds is worth the shot. hes making his full salary from the padres, so the cubs got him on the cheap. hes totally worth the 250k plus they are paying for him, if things pan out. if they don't, no big loss, we just don't sign him next year.

despite his slow start (and subsequent release) he had incredible stuff as a CF. if he has any modicum of that skill left, he will be an asset. and he has to be able to hit better than pie.

and i don't give a fuck that he used to play for the cardinals. i'm a realist and i know that today's hated foe could be tomorrow's teammate. thats just how the mlb works these days. its pointless to hate a player just because he is good and plays for a rival team.

on a related note, maybe this is the first year i have really paid attention, but it seems as though a lot of teams are taking the hit to the pocketbook and just releasing players with their full salary when they aren't living up to expectations. its happend to edmunds, jacque jones (HA!!!!), reed johnson, and even big frank thomas. i guess that free roster spot was really worth up to 7 million to these teams. thats fucking crazy.

giants vs phillies

au wanted to show miss E a good time, so we made some last minute plans to head to lovely At&T park to see the giants play. i was hoping we would get to see cole hamels pitch, but no luck. he pitched on friday.

it was still a good game, though. and mopey boy managed to get us really good bleacher seats for only $10 apiece. pretty sweet.

and we of course managed to go to one of the only games this season where the giants were actually hitting. and i was also able to test out the zoom feature on the new purple camera. here's a pic i took of aaron roward (aka bacon pants) from my seat. not too bad!




it was sad to see jamie moyer get rocked by the young kid lincecum. and a little surprising to see the phillies lose by as many runs as they did. but i guess thats just another way how baseball suprises you.

phillies 2, giants 8

fuming

i hate those times when just a thought pisses you off enough to ruin your day. today was one of those fucking days.

leonard bernstein and i have been casually talking about his visit the past few days. i got tickets to OAR and am going to use e-love's upcoming visit to test out some locales in SF i have never been too.

last weekend, i had a flash of brilliance. LB isn't going to be able to take time to see his peeps in chicago this weekend (shocking, his work schedule doesn't allow for it). wouldnt it be a great idea to see if pocket and dunning can come out here the same weekend? if they can find decent flight prices, they could stay here for free and see LB before he leaves. it would be a fairly inexpensive endeavor, as well as giving me the chance to see pocket and dunning as my last few trips to chicago have been too hurried for me to make plans with them.

after a little bit of confusion with phone numbers, i finally got ahold of pocket this morning at brunch. she agreed that it was a great idea and would start looking for flights right away. as long as the airfare was reasonable, she thought things would be a go.

LB called me before brunch was over. i let him know that pocket and dunning were probably able to come. thats when he dropped the fucking bomb -- he had invited his friend jill and her husband tom.

there's few people on this planet that i can't make nice with. fucking jill is one of them. shes an old college friend of LB's who now lives in so cal. she's an engineer and a prime example, rare as they are, of a female engineer who doesn't have any girlfriends and can't communicate with women. she has no girlfriends (at all) and has never attempted to make even civil conversation with me.

i am a firm believer that girlfriends are priceless. my life would be so empty and lonely without all my girls. i'm not going to name them off like its a popularity contest, but im pretty lucky to have a lot of really good girlfriends. and i would like to think that even if we were not related, i would still be friends with cuz, renebow, tsiny, and duh.

even fucking bitchy mean girls have girlfriends. the fact that jill has none is an indication of her lack of social aptitude. and makes her untrustworthy. i hate women who see every other woman as a threat. like she has anything that i want. please.

i don't want to spend any time with her and her attitude and lack of social skills. i don't want to spend whats supposed to be quality time with LB with her. even if you forget the fact that she can't communicate with me because i am a woman, she doesn't even have the social skills to be polite to a friend of a friend. thats fucking lame.

the best part of the story, is that LB sounded surprised when i didn't sound thrilled at his news. im a little bit annoyed that he has never noticed that his friend can't bother be civil to me, when i can get along with most everyone.

im not quite sure of this point, but LB may have also invited them to stay at my house without asking me first. i wanted to avoid a fight, so i hung up quickly, not wanting to be pressed on why i wasn't excited about his news. if pocket and dunning can make it, there isn't space for 2 extra bodies at the loft. period.

i would really like to let this go, but i can't seem to. and i let the thought of her presence bug me all day. i called gc enraged and he kept asking me why i was yelling at him.

with any luck, she will be busy and won't be able to make it. on the other hand, since she probably doesn't have any friends to spend time with, they can probably make it. fuck.

please don't go!

everytime it seems to happen the same way. i have a great time with whomever happens to be visiting, and don't want them to leave. my visitors somehow always seem to be threatened with being tied to the stairwell with climbing rope, and never allowed the leave.

this past weekend was no exception. cousin duh and friends came out for a few days. we saw the sights, drank some wine, walked along the coast (where's the throne?!) and explored the city. i also learned that cousin duh has a much better sense of direction when walking than i do.

and of course on sunday night, before they caught the red-eye back to minny-SO-tah, cuz and i threatened to block the doors and tie them up so they could never leave us. but they out-reasoned us. smart kids!

here's a cute pic of the 2 of us at golden gate park. amazing that my eyes are slighty open!

here's the link to the rest of pics from their visit

this is going to be a hard month as far as visitors are concerned. e-love is coming for 4 days next weekend, and gc is coming for what i hope will be the annual memorial day weekend climbing trip at rustling wood. and leonard bernstein is coming in june, for the OAR show and so i can see him before he ships out to fucking afghanistan.

i should pick up some extra rope at REI this week.

thank the FSM for wine

so i took off from work early yesterday so that au and i could head up to spend a leisurely day drinking wine in sonoma valley with cousin duh and friends who are visiting from minny-SO-ta.

all i can say it, im SO glad i stopped paying for internet on my phone. it would have totally ruined my evening if i had been following the cubs game, where rich hill pitched to 6 batters and only got 2 outs in the first inning before being pulled. the bullpen had to take over the rest of the game.

another mystery of basebal. hill was unfuckingtouchable last year in april, and this year he cant seem to throw a strike to save his life. its no wonder he was demoted down to AAA after the game.

i still have faith. hes too young (and too cute!) to be washed up at age 28. apparently hill was told his spot in the rotation will be waiting for him when he gets back. i'm sure that will be the case, as long as jon lieber doesn't rack up 10 wins in his absence. maybe by the time hill is ready to come back, it will be marquis' turn to be sent down. i hope im wrong about that, but i bet im right.

where is my certificate

here's a pic of the approach we did to the indian springs area this weekend in tahoe. it wasn't too steep, but there wasnt much a trail, just a lot of walking on bark and through branches.

apparently these approaches are getting to easy for me as i did the approach on saturday in my chacos through the snow. and sunday i did the approach with a beer (a coors no less) in my hand

i'll take my dirtbag climber certificate right about now. thanks.

i know i picked a good area to move to...

... cos apparently baseball fans here also hate aj pierzynski and love michael barret.

the chronicle ran this story yesterday. apparently my very own michael barret, who plays for the division-rival padres, is an unoffical folk hero to giants fans who still harbor a grudge about the trade that sent francisco liriano and joe nathan to mn. in return they got aj pierzynski. and boy did he suck when he was with the giants, and boy did the fans hate him for it. no wonder the white sox got him so cheap when he went free agent the following year.

when asked about his local cult-hero status, barrett played it cool and nice. he used the opportunity to compliment the giants on their history, and tried to convince the reporter that the infamous punch was an abberation.

you dont have to pretend with me, barrett! aj may not have deserved the punch for knocking you to the ground and slapping the plate, but we all know he deserved it on a karmatic level for being an all-around dickhead. im glad i was there at the game to be witness.

who says the cubs can't hit?

one for the highlight reel

if games are won by defense alone, reed johnson's amazing diving catch of a felipe lopez fly ball to the farthest part of center field in the bottom of the 5th inning tonight would would clinch it. the game should be over right then and there.

johnson dove headfirst when he was already on the warning track to catch the ball about a foot from the fence. i thought for sure he was going to dislocate a shoulder or knock his head for a concussion. but he was fine, and even tossed the ball from his glove to his hand casually as he walked off the field as the inning was over. his face was in the dirt, so he couldnt see demps mouthing "oh my god" as he watched the play. he could see, however, mark derosa, playing left field and backing him up on the play, stand dumbfounded in awe as johnson trotted past him. de-ro just stood there and stared at the place where johnson had landed in disbelief.

johnson said after the game that he was upset that he hadn't made any impressive plays like that up to this point in the season. boy did he make up for it. and as far i am concerned, he can replace felix pie in center field on a permanent basis. lets trade pie to get a rookie who can maybe need some time in the minors, but will actually will be able to hit major league pitching. just a thought.

cubs 3, nationals 5

white sox were rained out. no game-winning walkoff hits for crede tonight. booo

again?!

yet again, joe crede won the game for the white sox with his mad baseball skillz. this time it was a single in the 9th that allowed carlos quintin to score the winning run in a walkoff. this also prevented the sox from getting swept by the much hated-new york yankees.

crede deserves every bit of adulation he's gotten this season. 2 grand slams in 6 days, a bunch of reel-worthy defensive plays, and now he wins the game for the team. you gotta love it.

there is no way in HELL im going to go to the giants game next month without sporting my new crede jersey. now i just need to get one.

in other news, the cubs lost for the first time in 7 games. they played hard, but eventually you do have to give up some games. its unnatural (especially for los cubs) to win that many in a row. just dont make it a habit.

cubs 2, rockies, 4
yankees 6, white sox 7

real tv! and gangsta style

since i was home this past weekend, i was able to catch the pirates cubs game on a real (hideously oversized) tv at my parents house. pretty crazy stuff. even though mlb.tv has tv-quality streaming this year for live games, games just look so much better on a real tv. however, when i thought about how much money i would have to spend in order to be able to get all the chicago baseball games, i decided the mlb subscription would suffice just fine!

not much to say about the game, it was a blowout and i left to run errands during the 5th when the score was 7-1 cubs. apparently they were only done scoring 53% of their runs at that point. final score that day was pirates 1, cubs 13. guys, can we save some runs for when we really need them? 2 or 3 insurance runs would have been just fine.

in other news, i drove dadoo's new lexus ES 350 this weekend. pretty P-I-M-P. (according to dad, "a pimp is the boss of the whores") the interior is all gray leather and cherry wood. i felt like blaring rap music and doing a drive by. all the car is missing are some spinners.

you're welcome

i was 1/4 th of the way to hewitt this morning when the radio confirmed that there really had been a n earthquake this morning at around 4:30 am.

so weird. i woke up, and felt the earth shaking. i recall thinking "hey, an earthquake. no wait, im in chicago, there are no earthquakes here" and promptly fell back asleep. im actually fairly accustomed to the concept of being woken up by an earthquake these days.

figures there isn't an earthquake in IL the entire time i grow up there, but there is one the day after i come back for a visit. and apparently i have the power to transport natural disasters from the west coast to the midwest. who woulda thunk it?

so to all the people in the chicagoland area who felt an earthquake for the 1st time, you're welcome for my gift!

cardinals vs giants

last minute, I decided to try to see the cardinals-giants game tonight at At&T Park. no one was really going to climb, and it just so happened that kyle lohse (a personal favorite) was pitching for the cards. lucky for me, i have my new baseball buddy (i have yet to think of a witty pseudonym for him) who's totally willing to go to games whenever he's free.

it was GORGEOUS out. it had been blazing hot (relatively speaking) during the day and it stayed warm through the night. ive never been so warm in At&T park (even in the dead of summer). i wore flip flops, jeans, and a long sleeved t-shirt. i had come prepared with socks, shoes, an extra fleece, and my windproof soft shell, but i didnt need them. the game was good, as lohse pitched well, and so did zito. and albert puhols hit a 3 run homer.

its easy to go to games even when its teams you dont care about that much are playing. at&t park is just a fun place to be. if only they served old style and that bright fluorescent green relish they have in chicago.

here are some pics i took at the game with my new purple camera


lohse on the jumbo-screen

lohse on the mound

cardinals 8, giants 2

unbelievable

in the 5th inning, fukodome (playing out of position in CF) dropped a ball after he caught it. he was trying to avoid alfonso so-over-paid in center field, and a run scored. Z seems to take it in stride and struck out the next batter for the 3rd out. during that last at bat of the inning, one of the philly announcers was talking about how mean Z gets when the players don't support him, citing the fight with michael barrett last year and barrett's subsequent trade. he praised Z's maturity in this situation. yes, Z should totally get praised for not blowing up at a teammate for making a play he could not. give me a fucking break. the words spoiled brat come to mind. we should not give a grown man props for not acting like a petulant child.

cubs 3, phillies 5

my favorite song ever

seeing eddie vedder live was incredible. he's the same humble, witty, shy, enormously talented musician he has been for years. he still shines without the band, and knows that its because of the band he's able to do solo shows like the one i attended.

i joked last year that i had waited my whole life to see pearl jam at lollapalooza. i wasn't cool enough to go to rock shows when i was in high school, and pearl jam was too big to play in champaign-urbana in the late 90s. seeing them last year was a dream. watching eddie vedder listen to over 160,000 people sing betterman to him ranks as one of the best concert experiences ever (matched only by seeing prince perform purple rain live).

the solo act was remarkable. vedder talked to the audience like they were friends and thanked us numerous times for supporting him and the band over the years. and he was free to reveal a softer, more adult, activist side of him, rock star and all.

he played by himself and had an army of guitars to support him. he played the ukulele and a banjo. he ended his 1st set with a 2 microphones that created vocal loops he would add to. no words, just emotion in sound.

during his the final encore of the night, he again thanked the crowd for supporting the band over the years, and thanked the band for supporting him. he mentioned items on stage that were given to him or "borrowed" from his fellow pearl jam members: a rug from matt cameron, vedder's favorite acoustic guitar that actually belongs to stone gossard. he indicated that he didn't have anything from mike mccready and had to get something fed-ex'd to him earlier that day. that item was mccready himself, who was procured on a dolly. together they sat down to play my favorite song of all time, yellow ledbetter. i recognized it 2 notes in. here's the picture i managed to get (can you tell my hands were shaking)?



the show ended with a classic cover of "all along the watchtower." the show was 3 hours long and vedder had barely taken any time between encores. (he joked that after tonight, it was back to 90 min shows with the band.) and while he had been sedate, relaxed, and quietly witty during most of the night, he couldn't keep the rock star inside him bottled up, and performed as the front man of pearl jam , if only for 7 minutes.

im amazed that in spite of everything he has experienced; all the money, fame, and notoriety; eddie vedder, despite being in his 40s with a young child, still is the idealistic grunge rock star musician who changed music. and he still seems uncomfortable with that role. humble, and amazing.

9 days into the season...

... and i already have baseball withdrawal.

both the cubs and white sox have off days today. why is that? after a home opener (at pittsburgh and at home, respectively) there is always an off day. curious.

there is nothing for me to watch. good thing i have a concert in 2 hours (eddie vedder!!!!) otherwise i might have had to resort to doing my taxes or folding laundry or something else constructive. whew!

UGLY, and beautiful

UGLY is the only word to describe the cubs win today. sloppy pitching, sloppy fielding. they cubs deserved to lose today with all their struggles. 12 innings of back and forth vs the pirates was almost too much to bear. next time cleaner guys, ok? please?

however, on a bright note, joe crede hit a grand slam today in the sox home opener vs the twins. gorgeous! and he even took a curtain call, the first one ive seen him take. keep it up joe! play better so SF will be willing to pay a premium for you and you can show off you skills in the bay area. i'll come watch every week! even if its for a team that lost their 4th in a row today and are now 1-6 on the season. wow, thats bad.


cubs 10, pirates 8
twins 4, white sox 7

bizarro day

these are not good signs. i think the apocalypse is rapidly approaching:

• ryan dempster gets his first W as the cubs defeat the brew crew 6-3
• kerry wood gets his first major league save
  
• john danks got run support in his first start. this is the same guy who went 0-5 at the beginning of last season despite pitching pretty decent. of course, the universe still hates him, as he didnt get the win. that went to dotel, who pitched a single out. not fair.
  
• new kids on the block, now into their last 30s/early 40s, are reuniting.
  

im scared. what's this alternate reality i'm living in?

brewers 3, cubs 6
white sox 2, indians 1

swamp feet

i blew off work today to go snowboarding today. it was hey you's idea. she's on spring break this week, and wanted to get in one last day. we drove up last night, stayed at rustling wood, went to heavenly (the nevada side) and drove home.

it was a good day. the slopes were slushy, but still good. and i feel so much better about myself when im out there. hey you made me do not 1 but 2 blue runs. i made it ok. im still improving. and she was very patient and continued to give me pointers and waited for me.

we stopped at the oliver garden in vacaville for dinner. i had a craving. we had eaten breakfast before we left, and only had some minor snacks in the car until dinner. the restaurant was interesting, to say the least. a vibrant cross section of america. lets leave it at that before i get petty.

walking to the car after dinner, the air in vacaville was nasty, it smelled like manure. apparently vacaville is a cow town. not the most pleasant smell to walk into. EVEN NASTIER, however, was the smell in my car when we got in. i immediately noticed the rankness and thought that maybe we had left monday's chinese food or some cheese out of the cooler. when asked, hey you had an answer right away -- it was her nasty swampy snowboarding boots. how such a gross smell from such little boots permeated my entire car is unbelievable. and completely disgusting. seriously, drop those boots on the insurgents in iraq and call it a day. all the troops can just come home.

horse show

mopey boy and i went down to pebble today, to see hey you's horse show. it was my first time down there. very interesting the people who participate and watch those shows. lots of rich people, obviously. its not a poor man's sport.

and lunch at the club at pebble was interesting. i was definitely the token asian in the restaurant dining room. my $25 open faced steak sandwich was delicious though.

the pictures of hey you are posted on my flickr. i had to practice timing the slow shutter speed of my camera to get good pics. i ended up with quite a few pics of her horse's butt, or approaching the jump. i SO need a new camera.


here's the best picture i took today. unfortunately, its not of hey you. its of a 13 year old leaping over a height of 4'9" on $750,000 horse. no, all my zeros are in the right place there. what horse is worth a 4-bedroom house in berkeley? apparently this one is.



horse show024
Originally uploaded by sharynkaryn

spring training

so i havent blogged anything about spring training, mostly cos we all know it means little to nothing. but as it comes to a close this week, here are a few random thoughts about my team:

• boyfriend rich hill didn't look so hot his first few outings. but its ST, so its pretty inconsequential. im encouraged by his last start, which was pretty decent
• alex cintron's stint as a cubbie is over. not surprising, as we already had a surplus of infielders who were better than cedeno. and that guy made the team, pretty unbelievable.
  
• the brian roberts deal is not going to happen. hardly shocking. while baseball trades/deals are complicated, if they are going to happen, they never take this long. im glad that the guy who played hard (despite injuries and a heart condition) is the one who's going to be manning 2nd base. go DE-RO!
  

and here are some random thoughts about happenings around the league

• can i get a job putting on 20 lbs a year for 19 mill per year the way miguel cabrera did?
• i'm happy joe crede has a job, but i would have preferred for it to have been with SF, so i could watch him live more often. apparently i'm the only one who likes crede in the bigs while fields is sent down. and we all know how impartial i am. or not.
  
• will modern technology be able to measure how bad the SF giants are projected to be this year? $123 million ace barry zito got beat by the giant's own minor league team today. that's pretty pathetic. hey guys, do you want me to play? i can lose to the fresno grizzlies too, and i bet for cheaper as well. at least you can save some money
  

birshday birshday birshday

i had not one but 2 great birthday celebrations. first this weekend, up in truckee, where cuz and hey you gave me a very patient private snowboarding lesson. and then on wednesday we had a great dinner at kokkari in SF, even though they didn't set my cheese on fire. the wine was good and the company even better. here's a pic of 8 very full people leaving the restaurant


DSC04866
Originally uploaded by jen_chang

(can't you just picture mopey boy doing this in all his family pictures as a kid? i mean, if he had a family or something)

i got some great presents, which while i wasn't really expecting, i really appreciate! its great to be the birthday princess sometimes :) cuz gave me the lesson and a new pink wine rabbit, which i can't wait to use. b got a me an aveda haircut which is 10 times better than my last one. and my mom, unbeknownst to her, got me a black north face soft shell hoodie that had originally been destined for return.

here are pics of my handmade presents. thanks to hey you, i'm probably the only climber in the greater bay area who has a chicago cubbies chalk bag. she had to order the patch and sew it on and everything. i would never think to do that.


birthday 01
Originally uploaded by sharynkaryn

here's the box i got from coley today. all the way from hotlanta. who know such evil lurked within....


birthday 02
Originally uploaded by sharynkaryn

cole made me delicious-looking, multi-colored mini cupcakes for my birthday. too bad i can't eat them. she called me the day after she sent them and told me she had a horrible case of stomach flu and had probably sent me germ bombs. i had to throw them out when i got them. so sad. but they have been immortalized forever here


birthday 03
Originally uploaded by sharynkaryn

so i got a bunch of awesome presents, a fun day of snowboarding, and no stomach flu for my birthday. not too shabby :)