WhatIfBaseball Game 3

Game 3:
With the series moving to St. Louis for three games deadlocked the pressure was on both teams. Suppan and Washburn take the hill for their respective clubs and the expectations were for some offense.

This game was pressure packed until the final outs as the Angels put on a late rush but were turned away with the bases loaded in the top of the 9th, failing to capitalize and walking away 4-2 losers.

The Angels opened the scoring in the 2nd with 3 singles in the inning, but like the rest of the series the failed to get the big inning when given the chance.

The Cards took advantage in the 3rd with Suppan helping his own cause with a single, scoring on a 2 out triple by Grudzielanek. Suppan was running with the pitch and scored easily ahead of the throw from Garret Anderson, getting a start in center due to Finley’s ineffectiveness and Rivera’s solid play in the LCS.

In the 5th Suppan again helped himself out by bunting Nunez over to second which allowed him to score on the former Angel Eckstein’s single to left. Again clutch batting helps out the Cards as with 2 outs Pujols doubles to left scoring Eckstein. After 5 innings the Cardinals held a 4-2 lead.

Suppan pitched a gritty and gutsy game with 8 solid innings. The ninth was exciting as Suppan was pulled in favor of Isringhausen. Isi got the first out and then it got exciting. The fun began with a single for Juan Rivera (with him going 4-4 for the game), followed by singles by Erstad and Kennedy. With the bases loaded and only 1 out, the Angels pinch hit for the pitcher with Robb Quinlan who promptly hit into a 1-2-3 double play to end the game. Once again the Angels lack of clutch hitting came back and bit them with the Cardinals taking a 2-1 series lead with 2 more games on their home field.

Stay tuned!

WhatIfBaseball Game 2

WhatIfBaseball:
In an never before seen move the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and St. Louis Cardinals agreed to play games 2 and 3 on the same day, in different cities. The fans are ecstatic, the players are giddy, the airlines are rich, so in the immortal words of Mr. Cub – ‘Let’s play two!’

Game 2:
The game began as much as a ‘must win’ as possible for the Angels. Going in they knew that for them to stand a chance they would need a quality game from Lackey. Lackey had been the most consistent start for the Angels over the final weeks of the season as well as the playoffs so confidence was relatively high going in.

Game 2 was a struggle and tug of war, with 4 lead changes and 3 ties, requiring late inning heroics from Vlad to nail down the 5-4 win for the Angels.From the outset it looked like the 2 starters weren’t long for the game. Lackey began the game by hitting the 2nd batter and proceeding to give up consecutive doubles, allowing the Cards to take a 2-0 leat after ½ and inning. Fortunately The Angels were able to put a 3 spot on the board in their half, starting the scoring by a misplayed ball at third. With the bases loaded and no outs Garret Anderson hit a ground ball to Nunez who attempted to cut down Figgins at home, Figgins slid in safely to put the Angels on the board. Later in the inning Erstad hit a 2 out double plating 2 more closing the scoring in the first with the Angels leading 3-2.

With the shakey first innings behind the pitchers both settled in and dealt. The Cards were able to post a single run in the 3rd, thanks to a bases loaded walk. The Angels were able to scrap a go-ahead run in the fifth with a homer from Orlando Cabrera.

With the Angles leading 4-3 in the 7th, Shields was called from the pen and yielding 1 un-earned run due to a misplayed ball by Anderson in left.

Deadlocked at 4 the Angels turned to their bread and butter, little ball. Kennedy led the inning with a single. He was then bunted over by Figgins, and with 2 outs Vlad drove him home with a clutch double.

The relievers held serve the rest of the game with K-Rod coming in and pitching a 1 out save in the 9th, preserving the game 2 win for the Angels. Series tied 1-1, with game 3 later that day in St. Louis.

Filler

Game 2?
I think Lee is chicken as I wanted to play games 2 and 3 of the (as Dan calls it) WiWS but he blew me off.  Looks like the Cards are clucking!

Confessions of a Former Leadfoot:
Drove from here to Marin to visit my sister and I came to the conclusion that driving a hybrid does wonderful things for both the environment, and my overly aggressive driving habits.  When I had the V6 I would have a VERY heavy foot in both acceleration and top speed.  On the highway I would generally drive at about 75-80 and generally exceeded the posted limit, wherever, by 10 mph.  Since owning the Prius I rarely exceed the speed limit, choosing mileage over speed.  In spending some time on the Prius bulletin boards this is pretty common.  So there we go…  I am now working on the first 50mpg tank in my car’s history.  I like mileage!

Lame post, eh?

World Series Game 1

Regular Scheduled Boring Stuff:
A couple of weeks ago the family went over to Dan’s house with his new dog Cosmo. Peanut had a great time playing with Cosmo until he kind of puppy mauled her. He jumped on her and proceeded to lightly bite her shoulder. All of this wasn’t too traumatizing, and again this was 2 or so weeks ago. R was getting her dressed this morning and as she was putting her shirt on Peanut looked at the shirt and said “This is the shirt Cosmo bit, my shoulder hurt.” Lo and behold it was the same shirt.

Dungeons and Dragons for Baseball Fans:
Over a series of discussions today with Lee (diehard Cardinals fan) we decided to play a mock World Series with my beloved Angels and his Cards. At first via WhatIfSports I had the computer simulated the series for me and the Angels took it in 7 hard fought games, including 2 home team walk off wins (game 7 being one of them). Well this was fun and all but some of the decisions seemed odd, so what did Lee and I decide to do? We are going to simulate the WS with us as managers (simulating Lee as Tony LaRussa, and me as Mike Scioscia, duh). What follows is a recap of the first game we played this evening. To be clear Lee and I are going to be conscious of innings pitched by relievers so to simulate as best we can what might have happened.

It was wonderful weather for the start of the game. 5:05pm west coast time start. The pitching match up was: Colon v. Carpenter, ace v. ace. What more could you ask for?

Here are the highlights:

The Cards got to Colon early which is the key. In the 2nd inning after getting 2 runners on with 1 out the Cardinals got 3 consecutive hits to post a 3 spot on Colon and the Angels. Then in the 3rd Pujols lead off with a double, Colon walked Jim Ed (btw, I hate him), Walker hit into a 4-6-3 double play that for some reason Pujols failed to score on only to be followed with a single by Reggie Sanders to score him.

Score after 2.5 – Cardinals 4 – Angels 0

Bottom of the 3rd Casey Kotchman goes yard to put the Angels on the board and break up the no hitter and shut out (yeah it was just the 3rd inning but still).

Colon starts grooving setting down the Cards in order in the 4th, 5th and 6th. The Angels really failed to post much of an effort wasting a lead off double by one of the 3 Molinas in the game (Bengie).

Top of the 7th the other Molina in the starting lineup (Yadier) gets a single and Virtual Scioscia goes to the pen and taps Donnelly who gets 3 quick outs (7 pitches).

Bottom 7, Molina leads off the inning with another double (probably an inside the park homer for any other player in baseball) and once again is stranded.

Score after 7 – Cards 4 – Angels 1

Top 8 Donnelly continues his groove and sets the Cards down in order (11 pitches). Then the Angles blow it again: lead off triple by Figgins, then ground out, line out, ground out to strand him.

9th inning was pointless as both teams were set down in order.

Cards Win! Tough loss for the Angels who batted: 0-9 with a runner in scoring position.

Cards took home field away and look to game 2 with the pitching match up of Mulder v. Lackey.

Here is the box score:




Sure I am no sportswriter, I am barely an English writer, but stay tuned for Game 2, whenever that occurs. I also invite Lee to recap the game from his perspective in the comments.

Boring? Quite!

Football, Family, SlingBox:
Spent the weekend with the in-law family in Monterey and had a blast.  We all went to the aquarium and Peanut enjoyed the scuba divers in the big tank cleaning the glass the best.  Saturday evening we all went out to dinner, then back to the hotel and struggled to get Peanut to sleep (45 minutes but she went down).  About 45 minutes after Peanut went down the fire alarm went off and we all had to evacuate the hotel.  After we spent 45 minutes out in the cold we got to go back in.  Peanut went on to say as we were going back in: “first we went to dinner, then stories and milk, then do a deer, then sleep, then fire.”  She now will also say what the alarm said “do not take the elevator, take the stairs.”

Football and SlingBox you ask?  The hotel didn’t have FSN so I was able to watch the game by using the SlingBox, and it ROCKED!  R and I also were able to watch 2 of our shows while Peanut took her nap.  Have I mentioned that SlingBox ROCKS?

TV:
Desperate Housewives, Lost, Invasion, Veronica Mars all confuse me.  That is it.  I am just confused easily I guess.

Halloween:
Peanut will either be a princess or Dora, possibly a princess wearing a fireman’s hat.  Don’t ask.

Short and sweet.  1 week and 1 day until I am on the island!

All Right Now...

Sucky World Series:
It all ends with 2 horribly uninspiring teams are playing in this years WS. I cannot imagine anyone outside of the north side of Chicago or the city of Houston caring about this. I guess there is intrigue as one team has a shot at winning their first and the other team has a chance of winning their first since 1917, otherwise ugh. Lee says that people who appreciate good pitching would appreciate this. I say Lee is a sucker. Go Angels!

Surgery:
It was today and wow what a big hunk of flesh was removed from my leg. The surgery went quite well and the doctor is pretty confident that all is well. I get to swim in Hawaii which wasn’t a concern until the doctor told me not to go in the water for 2 weeks. Well 2 weeks from today I go to Hawaii, phew. I decided that since I am now a cancer survivor, albeit a bland form of non-life threatening cancer, that I should get a bracelet. Since as previously described this is the good type of cancer I vote my bracelet is beige. Beige for bland.

Prius Update:
I think I am approaching a 48mpg tank of gas. I am pretty jazzed about it and am in the process of increasing my familiarity with the car itself. Lots of cool nerd toys.

TV Time:
Dan did note that I only commented on the NEW shows that Drucker watches and likes. Well Here is a list of the old shows that would get an A from Drucker:

• The Office
• Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Arrested Development
• Veronica Mars
• Gilmore Girls (yes guys I know on the last 2 shows it makes me some kind o f a chick)
• Family Guy
• Grey’s Anatomy
• The Daily Show

Each of these aforementioned shoes would easily get an A or A- from Drucker. These are shows that I would not stop watching until they are cancelled (or for the Family Guy, cancelled again).

Here is my new and improved TV diet:
Monday: Arrested Development, Kitchen Confidential, Prison Break, How I Met Your Mother - 2.5 hours
Tuesday: Gilmore Girls, My Name is Earl, The Office, Supernatural, The Amazing Race, L&O SVU, WSOP (almost over) - 6 hours
Wednesday: Veronica Mars, Lost, Invasion, L&O - 4 hours
Thursday: Survivor, The OC, Alias, Everbody Hates Chris, ER - 3.5 hours
Friday: Nothing!
Saturday: Nothing
Sunday: Extras, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Simpsons, Family Guy, West Wing, American Dad, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy - 4.5 hours

4 days a week of The Daily Show and a couple of the Colbert Report. So basically I now watch about 24 hours a week. Good times.

So as noted from yesterday’s blog and the above paragraph I have been watching Supernatural. It is an odd, offbeat and extra creepy show dealing with the solving of certain urban legends (so far Bloody Mary and next week the campfire tale of the man with a hook hand). This week’s was extra creepy and really quite graphic. The amusing thing is that one of the characters is supposedly from StanfUrd and the end of the episode they played All Right Now which brought about the following conversation:
Me: “what the heck?”
R:”This is my favorite show EVER”
Me:”Just because they play your lame fight song?”
R: “Lame is the new cool.”
Me: “That was lame.”
R:”No THAT was cool.”
The good thing is that recounting this conversation is not nearly as funny as I originally thought it was.

Slingbox, Surgery, Scrubs...

Blog Update:
Actually busy thus the lack of blogs. I appreciate Dan and Lee expressing concern and interest in when the next ‘episode’ of this blog would appear. Well here we go, prepare to be bored silly.

Baseball:
Could the Angels have done much less in an effort to win the series they were playing in? Team batting average: .175, Team OBP: .200, and only 11 runs. The Angels allowed the White Sox to get 4, count them 4, consecutive complete games. It was just a dreadful series, very frustrating to watch as an Angels fan. The number of blown umpire calls that went agains them was also very hard to overcome. There is always next year. The hot stove league is one of my favorite times of year. It will be interesting to see what Arte can pull out of his hat.

In the other series it is getting interesting. The last time a team hit a homer in game 5, while trailing (later than the 8th inning), was the miserable Boston Red Sox in 1986. So looking forward the Cards will win the series v. the Astros and then go on to lose the World Series in dramatic fashion. Let them play, let them play… So Bill Simmons made a reference I had been thinking about for days. Day late dollar short.

Medical Information:
So I go under the knife tomorrow morning to get more of the lesion excised. It should be good times for all. The dermatologist feels as if it will only take 30 minutes but I am SO not looking forward to this. Stay tuned.

Slingbox!!!!!:
I am extra stoked about this device, still. I figured out how to use it from behind a firewall (not saying where I would need this), and am getting really good quality now that I updated my internet service provider. Got Comcast to install the cable and WOW it is fast. I am intrigued to see what kind of stuff I can view while in Monterey this upcoming weekend. Again I preach the good things about this device to all who will hear it. Are you guys at Slingmedia reading this? I am your newest and biggest fan. I am still trying to figure out how many 1st degree (friends of mine) or 2nd degree (friends of friends) TiVos I have sold. My guess is that I have gotten about 20 people to buy one. I’m just saying is all… I am going to do a blog of the appliances in my home in order of importance.

Poker:
So the WSOP is on ESPN and they are in the main event. Last week’s episode had 2 of the most amazing early hands I have ever seen. First, Jennifer Harman had Queens full and lost to a guy that sucked out a straight flush on runner runner, BRUTAL. Then Amid Farhidi has AT v. Kate Hudson’s brother who had TT. Flop comes AAT giving Farhidi the nuts. Well Hudson’s brother goes all in and loses on the first hand of the tournament.

TV:
I like TV. The Entertainment Weekly issue that notes the 5 shows to be watching just came out. The shows are:

1. Everybody Hates Chris – been watching this since the outset and it is really quite good. Takes place in 1982 but doesn’t use the time as a real gimmick. Drucker gives it an A.
2. My Name is Earl – Jason Lee is hilarious. The show is quite offbeat. Drucker gives this a B+, it needs to find legs.
3. Prison Break – gritty, dark, well shot, reasonably well acted. I like it but find it a bit disappointing based on my previous love of the show Oz which was far more realistic. Drucker gives this a B.
4. Supernatural – very X-filesish. Just watched one episode and liked it but not quite sold on it. Drucker gives it a C/C+.
5. How I Met Your Mother – funny and getting funnier. The timing is improving with each episode, and Doogie as a womanizer is funny stuff. Drucker gives it an A-.

Other shows of note:

• I am not watching Alias anymore. Just got bored of it.
• The Office is getting funnier and funnier. I pray that they don’t cancel it.
• Speaking of canceling I am praying that Arrested Development can stick around for a few more weeks, I fear that it is on it’s last legs. Stupid people in middle America not understanding witty comedy.
• Scrubs is back soon!

When is a K not a K?

Baseball:
So what is the deal… Last nights game could not have sucked much more. In watching the replays and the interviews with the umpires I am even more frustrated. But that is sports. Have I mentioned ugh yet? Go Angels!

Video iPod:
So Dan asked me to provide my feedback on the new video iPod v. other technologies out there. Here are the viable portable video media technologies as I see them: the video iPod, the PSP, portable windows media players, and Archos media players. In brief… the iPod is cool but $1.99 an episode is really expensive, no real ability to port captured videos over to it, and no ability to fast-forward or rewind the videos, I say no! The PSP, no hard drive, only uses proprietary disc formats but has a killer screen, no until they come out with a hard drive and then maybe. Archos are cool, relatively inexpensive (by portable media standards), and can record just like a PVR (or take videos from your computer), I vote a big maybe but I think that the transfer of data is tough. The last is the portable Windows Media Player - very cool, easy to port video and long battery life. The only real issue is that the Windows Media PCs are far too expensive to be a viable PVR choice. Once the prices come down the portable Windows player and Windows Media PCs it just isn’t practical. So there, are you happy Dan?

Peanut Update:
She has spent 3 nights in a row in her princess bed. We have been impressed that she cries out but stays in bed. We aren’t sure how long this will last, BUT… Go Peanut!

Angels in the Outfield

Slingbox:
So this thing IS super cool, still. My love of this device has yet to wane. I was able to access it from my office which was neat. I am working to improve the bandwidth from my house. According to the people at Slingmedia if I can up my speed to somewhere around 512k up I will be good to go for remote viewing of my TiVo. Currently my DSL stinks on ice: 400 down, 100 up. SBC cannot improve my speed due to crappy old copper here in the RWC. Drucker is a genius though (and not sure why it took this neat invention to get me to be so smart). So here is the gameplan:

• getting a cable modem installed on Friday which will give me 6 megabits down, 768k up
• once I get the cable modem installed I am going to call SBC and get them to start work on getting me up on their fiber optic line (they have to shut my DSL down for a week to do the work)
• I will then be able to evaluate between which is faster and more stable over the 3 weeks (the cable and DSL will allow me to cancel after a month)

All this being said I will have faster internet and the ability to watch TV anywhere. Go TV!

Football:
I refuse to talk about the game this past Saturday. I am jus that mature.

Baseball:
I do not refuse to talk about this. The Angels played an amazing series capped off by an incredible game. Tonight’s game was pure grit by the Angels. Colon leaves after pitching 1 inning, Santana (a 22 year old) comes in and gives up 2 runs quickly, then the Angels claw back into it and take the game and series. It was just a phenomenal game. Go Angels. They have to fly to Chicago tonight and are playing 21 hours after the game ended. Someone said that the Angels will play 3 games in 3 different cities, traveling 7200 miles. Go Angels!

TV:
Drucker loves TV.

Coolest THING Ever!

Slingbox:
Officially the coolest thing EVER. Bought it and installed it. It is a remarkable piece of technology. The installation is 4 steps: hook up the AV from the TiVo to the box, hook up the ethernet cable from the router to the box, hook the IR blaster up in front of the TiVo, and then just run the set-up wizard and ta-da! There are a couple of idiosyncratic things that I had to do because the TiVo I have it set-up to is an HDTiVo, but wow it is just a cool and amazing thing. Have I said wow yet? So now I am pretty sure I will be able to watch TV anywhere I have internet access. I have been waiting for technology to catch up to my love of TV. Guess what, it did.

Baseball:
Series is tied 1-1, Randy Johnson Pitching tonight, game in NYC. Should be interesting. Paul Byrd has been dealing lately so I think the pitching matchup is more or less a draw, but, it is Randy Johnson. The Angels just need to get some offense going. I am figuring that whoever wins game 3 takes the whole series (not that big of a stretch). Go Angels.

TV:
Didn't I just write about this? Watched this weeks episode of Lost last night and I am more confused than I was before. The people on the other side of the island are part of the plane, the dude in the bunker, the computer thing, Locke's personal life with the voice of Leela from Futurama. I am confused. What further causes me grief and problems is that Invasion follows it and that show might confuse me even more. I hate when TV confuses me. I am dumb I guess.

Peanut Update:
So she is officially potty trained. YAY. We have a Princess Bed en route. the bed thing will be interesting, she likes to play a going to be game where she gets put down and then calls to us. This game only takes like 15 minutes but when she has the chance to get out of where she is lying down, well we shall see.

WSOP:
Good poker on TV. The Main Event starts on ESPN next week. Even though I know the outcome and know more or less how everything happened I am still quite excited about this.

Long time no write

So the updates have been lacking over the past few days due to a few things:

1. not much of interest going on
2. family in town
3. religious holiday

So now I am back and have a few things to report on.

Cool Toy:
How could I have never thought to get this invention: Slingbox. This thing looks like it is the coolest thing since TiVo. So TiVo allows one to timeshift (i.e., watch a show whenever you want not when the network tells you to). The Slingbox allows you to not only timeshift but placeshift (i.e., watch your TiVo'd shows ANYWHERE!!!). Again how do I not have this YET? This allows one to manage and set their TiVo remotely as well as watch TV at work. Shhhhhhh.

Baseball:
Last night's game kinda stunk. Colon gets 2 outs then proceeds to give up 4 straight hits (each batter had 2 strikes on them). Just a frustrating loss where the Angels failed to get anything going offensively. Hopefully they can win tonight as they have Lackey going. Go Angels!

Football:
Cal looked flat against UofA which is a bit concerning with the UCLA game coming up this weekend. Ayoob needs to step to the plate and show that he is both a solid QB and a leader. UCLA will more than likely dare him to throw and he needs to exploit that fact. UCLA are 2 point picks and ugh..... The good thing is that UCLA looked pathetically bad v. UW (worst team in the PAC-10). So maybe they are a bit overrated and we can sneak out of LA 6-0. Go Bears!



TV:
So I finally decided to own up to the massive amount of TV that I actually watch so here is the run-down day by day of what Drucker watches:
Monday: Arrested Development, Kitchen Confidential, Prison Break, How I Met Your Mother - 2.5 hours
Tuesday: Gilmore Girls, My Name is Earl, The Office, The Amazing Race, L&O SVU, WSOP - 6 hours
Wednesday: Veronica Mars, Lost, Invasion, L&O - 4 hours
Thursday: Survivor, The OC, Alias, Everbody Hates Chris, ER - 4.5 hours
Friday: Nothing!
Saturday: Nothing
Sunday: Extras, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Simpsons, Family Guy, West Wing, American Dad, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy - 5.5 hours
Total: 22.5 hours. More than a halftime job.

Here are the shows that will more than likely be purged in advance on a trip to Hawaii (4 weeks from today): Alias, The OC, West Wing. Bringing me closer to a 19.5 hours. The other things to consider is that during the baseball playoffs all the Fox shows are in re-run mode, or just not on at all. Also the WSOP is only on for another month or so. So basically I don't watch any TV. Yay Slingbox!