A Welcome Back To The Big Hurt!

The Oakland A's resigned (& already played) Frank Thomas today after he was released by the BJ's a couple days ago. I wasn't too excited about this initially. Probably cause I'm always a bit skeptical when someone is let go... I mean, there must be a reason right?

But then, a strange thing happened. One of my roommies & an ex both sent me text messages about the events surrounding this acquisition. So I started thinking maybe this is something I should be excited about. I mean, just because Canada dropped him like a hot potato after only 16 games, doesn’t lessen the fact that he did do good things for the A’s. He was a great influence on the A’s club the last time around, so it must be some kind of karmic delight bringing good news right? Maybe rather than listen to the reports that he was livid at being benched by the Blue Jays more often than not, I should choose to believe that fate has a hand in this. I think he even got the award for the Comeback Player of the Year – but I have zero time to figure out where to look that up. What I did look up was that he had 39 dingers with the A’s. That pleases me, & makes me a tad bit more excited than I was initially.

So thanks boys for lighting a fire under me to think about baseball for a bit. It has brightened my day more than you can possibly realize. I cannot wait to spend some of my upcoming time off relaxing in the sun & watching our boys continue to kick ass. I keep you updated on all my A’s ogling adventures…

In other (Yankee Hating) news – this delighted me to no end!

Nick Swisher Traded to the White Sox... :-(

Yep it's true. For 3 Triple A-er's no less. At least one of the new kids sounds promising & is fairly cute too! Meet Ryan Sweeney folks...
Let's just pray they have game, & more importantly - heart!
The full article is here...

As you can imagine, I'm sorely disappointed. I think Swish is too:

Hey - Where's The Sports Talk?

I know I've been slacking - life does that sometimes & I'm not getting paid as well as most major leaguers for producing at only 30% like they do. I'm not getting paid at all come to think of it, so stop with the nagging emails about how "so much is happening in the sports world & I haven't weighed in on anything" Jeez!

I still don't have time to address everything, but here's what I shot out earlier when an old baseball buddy mentioned in an email that "Barry Bonds is toast":

Barry is beyond toast. He's toast crumbs. If this case goes forward, he'll either be found guilty & go to jail for a long time, or a short time & either way, will be suspended forever by the league when that's over. He'll never play again (unless he makes a Longest Yard-The Baseball Version situation in the pen) which is fortunate, because I can only take so much hate in this sport I love, & I'm completely consumed with hating A-Fraud right now. Barry Bonds doesn't even exist to me.

Of course, if I'm honest, he never really did. I only tried to be a decent Giants fan for friends who liked them - but deep down, I always, always, always knew it would come to this extreme with Bonds. The G's are lucky to have cut their ties with him just in time. Makes me wonder if the Mitchell Report got leaked to them a bit early so they would have time to put some substantial space between them.

I think Frisco has a real chance to make something of themselves now & I truly hope this could be Barry Zito's banner year (although I'm fairly sure that won't come til 2009 at the earliest.) But think about it: What better way is there to flip Bonds the bird than to win it all & rub that ring right in his face?

Bitter? Moi? :-) Not too bad as far as these things go. I'm more upset about Super Marco getting traded from my A's more than anything else. Although our AAA mounds needed attention & this will open up a nice spot for Donnie Murphy.

I swear I can remember being at at least 15 games where Scutaro knocked out a walk-off game clincher, including 1 I wrote about here, but his stats show he only did it 9 times in his career here. I guess I'll have to wait & see how it all works out. I just have this nagging suspicion that Marco won't be as lauded in Canada. He barely makes Ingles words okay, how's he supposed to pull off French!?!

New(er) Pics

Here's some from the A's game last week...









& I know you're dying to see new ones of the now 54lb. King..

Huston Street Is Engaged...

Sorry ladies, Oakland Athletics’ Closer Huston Street did in fact recently propose to his lady. On New Year's Eve, he proposed to his girlfriend of 2 1/2 years, Lacey Larsen, while surrounded by roses.

Huston and Lacey met in the summer of 2004. Roses seem to have always been big for them, as for their 1st year anniversary he brought her 365 roses gave them to her saying "One rose for every day you've made my life better."

He proposed to her in his new condo in Texas, making an effort to show her that he felt it was “their” place. Since he likes to do things in his ‘big’ fashion, he took Lacey to dinner where they had two $400 bottles of Gaja Barbaresco. (Huston’s quite the wine aficionado!) Then they took a romantic horse draw carriage ride while he had his buddy Curtis Thigpen, a friend who catches in the BJ’s organization, set up the condo with 1,500 red roses. He proposed with a well rehearsed speech that would make any girl’s heart melt & of course she accepted.
He eagerly brags about Lacey’s vital stats. It took her three years to get a marketing degree from TCU where she maintained a 4.0 grade-point average in her major, and a 3.8 or 3.9, overall. He says "She's a genius, which is really, really annoying, because I lose every argument."

Oh & just for fun, here’s 1,500 roses… just to give you an idea of what she was up against when they arrived home that night!

Oakland A’s Turn Their Back on Bradley!

The A’s told outfielder Milton Bradley to essentially take a hike today, designating him for assignment & giving themselves 10 days to trade or release his cranky butt. He had been hitting pretty well (.292 with 2 dingers & 7 ribby’s) but I think it’s pretty much because he’s such a bitchy baby.

If you know me at all, you know that I wasn’t too happy when he arrived, & although I was happy he was producing fairly well, I always knew it’d be a simple matter of time til he went a lil poopy again. Just 2 days ago, he was asked how he was feeling, since he’s been on the DL for awhile (like half the A’s roster) & he openly complained "I'm healthy and on the bench." He played yesterday & only had 1 walk in 3 AB's. Nothing else to report there.

& I swear I’m not just being judgmental about him. Remember the crap he pulled with he was with the icky Dodgers? He pretty much called Jeff Kent racist, called an ump an "Uncle Tom", once grabbed a bag of baseballs & threw them at another ump after he was ejected, & was suspended multiple times, including a 5 game sentence for an altercation with a fan after someone threw a plastic bottle at him. Not to mention his criminal record! He’s actually even had to serve time for various run in wit traffic coppers, plus there have been domestic violence allegations as well! He’s so not a good guy getting the shaft like he always whines he is.

My favorite was when quit the icky Dodgers. He didn’t even just quit, he threw a huge tantrum, actually took his jersey off, threw it on the field & walked off the field. All over a lil disagreement with an ump. When I saw that it was official that he was a tool. When I heard he was joining the A’s afterward, I shuddered. Imagine him, or anyone really, pulling a ridiculous stunt like that in Oakland. He wouldn’t have made it to the player’s gate. Someone woulda flat out shot him for dishonoring his uni like that. It’s just so un-American! (Of course no one threw a fit that it happened in L.A., it’s pretty much a given that if you play for the icky Dodgers or the MFY’s that you’re going to behave like an asshat.)


I say good riddance to Milton Bradley; no one here liked his game.

Updates...

I haven’t had a moment to write about anything going on with me lately so here’s an up to the minute live action type update! Enjoy & please do the same for me if you haven’t in a while…

I just had popcorn for lunch.

I’m wearing open-toed shoes, at work! I’m such a rebel!

My A’s are playing a bit of inter league in Houston & they’re tied @ 3 in the top of the 5th. I love that I get to listen to it since I can’t watch it right now. Plus I get fantastic lil tidbits like that Johnny Gomes from Petaluma had a pretty good outing in Florida today. He had a hit, a run & an RBI – Woo-hoo for the local kid! Ooh! A’s just went up 4-3 & the park is quite quiet in Texas! So cool! Also, Chad Gaudin is pitching for the A’s & his parents are at the game. Which isn’t necessarily a good thing for the A’s cause that tends to jinx them & he’s now got the bases loaded with only 1 out. Yep, gave up a hit, 1 scored. We’re tied 4 & they’ve pulled him for Jay Marshall. Bummer.

I'm seriously still giddy every time I think about my Ducks winning the Stanley Cup. I don't know how long it will be till I believe it. I get like that when I think about my adorable lil car too. I think I love it too much sometimes.

Okay, now to the big news:

I’m moving. Again.

Barf.

But there is a silver lining… I found a great new house that is literally IN my current backyard. We’re going to take the fence down & have the easiest move in the history of the world! I’m thinking I’ll just put a keg in the new house & have a “Help Us Move” party where guests have to take a box or piece of furniture to the new place to fill your cup! (If you wanna come help it’ll prolly start the evening of the 9th of July & continue every evening til we’re done!)

The new house is gorgeous & huge, as was my old house, but the new one has some fantastic upgrades & a bit better use of all the space. It has all Italian tiles for the floors throughout the downstairs & there’s a huge pantry & sliding glass door. My master bath is bigger, brighter & doesn’t have a frickin’ carpeted floor. Whoever thought that carpeting a bathroom floor was a good idea has obviously never showered. Oh & my closet is bigger than some bedrooms & even has a window inside it!

The part I’m most excited about is that the yard is cute & that I’ll be gaining a formal dining room. I’ve never really had one before so I don’t even have a dining room table! (If anyone has a table & at least 6 chairs I’m totally interested in taking it off your hands!) The best part of all this is that it’s a longer-term lease so I’ll finally be a bit settled for a while. I can’t wait!!!

That’s probably enough for now… Your turn!

Heading off to Oz...

Let's hope I don't see anything even remotely like this!



I'll be checking out Kauffman Field & cheering for the A's as they take on the Royals!

I'm so excited - A ballpark I've never been to before! Woo hoo!


I have no idea what's burning here, but I found this cool shot too! I'm really looking forward to seeing the fountains in the outfield, but not this kind!

Friday... The 13th!

So everyone seems to be mentioning something about Friday the 13th. I don’t feel anything particularly different or weird so far though. I did wake up with a headache, but I think that’s just cause I didn’t sleep well, & a couple of Advil seem to have taken care of that so far. I haven’t been looking out for things falling on my head or worrying that the world will end, but I also wouldn’t walk under a ladder or let a black kitty cross my path if that should arise. How ‘bout you?

The last Friday the 13th, in October, BetUs.com actually generated some odds on lucky and unlucky events for the day. These guys also had odds up on whether the world would end on 6/6/06. People were reportedly ‘flooding the site’ to wager on what may or may not happen as a result of the unlucky day. I couldn’t find any evidence of that toady, but here’s what their odds supposedly were:

The World to End: 1,000,000/1
You lose your job: 100/1
Your spouse leaves you: 500/1
You throw out your back: 250/1
You go bankrupt: 500/1
You get a flat tire: 50/1
You break your leg: 100/1
A bird will poop on you: 100/1
You will get sick: 50/1
You will get locked out of your house/apt: 50/1
Your car will get towed: 100/1
You will get a ticket (speeding, parking, etc.): 50/1
You will lose all your hair: 250/1
Your car will get stolen: 100/1
You will place a winning bet at BetUS.com: 1/1 EVEN ODDS
You will hit a Royal Flush at BetUS.com poker site: 250/1
You will find money: 50/1
You will slip on banana peel: 100/1
You will win the lottery: 500/1

Oh & Bits & Pieces found this:

"Friday 13th is unlucky for some. The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52 percent. Staying at home is recommended."

So far it’s been a rather quiet day at work though, so, so far, so good! I guess I’ll let all of you know about that on Monday?

I just really hope it isn’t an unlucky day for my Ducks tonight. They face the Wild tonight for game 2 of the playoffs & so far they’ve had a rather lucky week. As you may know, Giggy’s been off for a bit dealing with a medical issue with his newborn son Maxime. He & his wife did get good news about his condition yesterday, so hopefully he’ll be back soon & with a light heart. Either way, he’s got a great back up & Ilya Bryzgalov would do a fantastic job if he gets a chance at his second start tonight. I have trust & faith & zero superstitions about this game! GO DUCKS!

Oh & the A’s begins their first series against the MFY’s tonight too. I’ll make at least one of these games so keep your fingers crossed that Igawa, Pavano & Pettitte all get into a gay lil Spankee style love brawl where they all three strain their arms & can’t pitch this weekend. Yankees still suck.

In the meantime...

The hockey game doesn't start til tonight, so I'm listening to the A's game (they're up 2-0 in the first already with back to back doubles) This is something I did often last season when I was stuck @ work & MLB has completely upgraded they're online offerings. MLB Gameday looks fantastic too if you can't listen & the live updates are accurate & live. (Chavey just doubled too & brought in Piazza, 3-0, 2 on & 2 outs... This. Is. So. Fun!)

UPDATE: Golly that game turned quite ugly. )-; Poor Huston.

GO DUCKS!

Todd Walker and Mark Ellis were fantastically clutch lastnight & it looks like Ellis is right on track for his banner year!

The G’s picked up their 2nd win last night too, although by the opinions on the patrons of the bar I went to watch it in, you’d think this was August & they were playing under .300. I came in & asked someone if the score was really 5-0 Giants cause I couldn’t quite make out it on the tiny screens they had the game up on (I didn’t say it was a sports bar). Someone responded that that “couldn’t possibly be correct, that the scoreboard must be transposed; the G’s couldn’t possibly be ahead this deep in a game right?”

Not that I haven’t been completely discouraged by the level of my own Giants loyalty, but jeez, it’s only the first week people! I’m trying hard to stay a fan but the truth is that I don’t ‘get’ National League ball like I do American League ball. And the A’s are just plain more fun to watch. They’re young & hot & really enjoy their opportunities. The Giants seem to act more like football players, at war on the gridiron, as George Carlin would say. Not to mention the Green Monster’s transition to a worldwide market. There's exciting stuff in the AL. I wish someone would show me something similar in the NL.

But not just yet please.

Today & hopefully for the next few weeks, I’m focusing on hockey, & on my Ducks particularly. They begin their playoffs with the first series up against the Wild. This has to be one of the best match ups for the playoffs. The Ducks played the Wild 4 times in the regular season & both teams took 2. Only 6 points separate them with my Ducks coming out on top. So long as they can manage to hold Rolston & Gaborik in check they should do just fine! They’ve got new owners, a new look & a new hunger that should keep them as mighty as ever!