The baseball gods ended this one with a signature - a note, letting us know they were there. They signed this one with a probability function that boggles the mind (an unlikely ending).
Aaron Hill walks to lead off in the ninth - down by five runs - and walks again in the same inning with the bases loaded to force in the winning run!
The gods seemed to have believed the D-Rays should lose this one.
With a bow on!
Tonight was an object lesson in why one should never leave a baseball game before the last out.
Going into the ninth:
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 11 - Toronto Blue Jays 6
Final Score:
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 11 - Toronto Blue Jays 12
mh
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Raccoon Attacks Garbage And Residents Castle.
Images
I heard a thump on the deck in the backyard, so I turned on the outdoor light. Illuminated are five baby raccoons slowly wobbling about the deck. Oblivious to me standing at the patio door, they continue scanning with their noses for food. A clay flower pot lay on it's side by the steps.
When I slide open the patio door, their hard-wired defensive instincts kick-in and they scurry for cover.
Raccoons are scavengers, they'll eat anything that's not moving; everything you would throw in the compost bin - or the garbage. They have claws, like a bears, that are good for digging and climbing. They never attack, but they will not retreat, unless they deem it is safe to do so. Their best defense are their claws, so turning and running render raccoons defenseless.
Later that night I hear another noise, the curb-side garbage pales topple, so out I go to investigate, because cleaning the mess in the morning is more work and less fun than playing security guard now. Out the patio doors at the back, around to the front along the driveway... And there it is, this beast of a coon; he's about two feet long, and looks like he'd weigh fifty pounds.
He stops prying off the triple bungee-corded garbage pale lid, and stands there on his hind legs, balancing on the toppled pale - staring at me.
My first instinct is to attack - he's got my garbage pale and he's not responding to the fact I'm four times his size and that scares me. So I bluff an attack to free my garbage pale!
And he stands there.
Then I remember a lesson of my experience with these guys over the years. I stop my bluff and stand still. Then - very purposefully - I take one step back. Nothing happens, so I take another step back. Apparently that's clear enough; and off he goes.
My adrenaline is up, my hands are tingling - it's my hard-wired defense response - and it almost made me a bad guy.
I light up a smoke and exhale a long plum into the starry night, I survey my Kingdom.
I'll have to add another bungee cord to that garbage pale lid...
5/1/07 edited seo/mh
I heard a thump on the deck in the backyard, so I turned on the outdoor light. Illuminated are five baby raccoons slowly wobbling about the deck. Oblivious to me standing at the patio door, they continue scanning with their noses for food. A clay flower pot lay on it's side by the steps.When I slide open the patio door, their hard-wired defensive instincts kick-in and they scurry for cover.
Raccoons are scavengers, they'll eat anything that's not moving; everything you would throw in the compost bin - or the garbage. They have claws, like a bears, that are good for digging and climbing. They never attack, but they will not retreat, unless they deem it is safe to do so. Their best defense are their claws, so turning and running render raccoons defenseless.
Later that night I hear another noise, the curb-side garbage pales topple, so out I go to investigate, because cleaning the mess in the morning is more work and less fun than playing security guard now. Out the patio doors at the back, around to the front along the driveway... And there it is, this beast of a coon; he's about two feet long, and looks like he'd weigh fifty pounds.
He stops prying off the triple bungee-corded garbage pale lid, and stands there on his hind legs, balancing on the toppled pale - staring at me.
My first instinct is to attack - he's got my garbage pale and he's not responding to the fact I'm four times his size and that scares me. So I bluff an attack to free my garbage pale!
And he stands there.
Then I remember a lesson of my experience with these guys over the years. I stop my bluff and stand still. Then - very purposefully - I take one step back. Nothing happens, so I take another step back. Apparently that's clear enough; and off he goes.
My adrenaline is up, my hands are tingling - it's my hard-wired defense response - and it almost made me a bad guy.
I light up a smoke and exhale a long plum into the starry night, I survey my Kingdom.
I'll have to add another bungee cord to that garbage pale lid...
5/1/07 edited seo/mh
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Alex Rodriguez Is A Cheater - In Win Over Toronto Blue Jays
Remember in the American League Series when Alex Rodriguez slapped the the glove of the man covering first? The ball dropped; and the New York Yankees went on to lose the series.
Image
According to the Baseball Gods; you can steal bases, you can throw junk pitches, you can even slide hard - but, Alex Rodriguez, you can't knock the ball out of the other guys glove hoping the umpire doesn't see it.
That's cheating.
Tonight at Rogers Centre with a Blue Full Moon overhead (infoplease.com), Howie Clark is camped under a easy pop-up to end the eighth, in a one run game. Alex Rodriguez is sauntering by, on his way to third - going through the motions. Howie Clark knows shortstop John McDonald is right behind him - and he knows it's the shortstops ball if he calls it.
All of a sudden Clark dives out of the way, the ball drops, a run scores...
Then John McDonald goes ballistic on Alex Rodriguez who's now standing on third.
You don't do that in baseball - because two players running to a high struck ball, blind with their eyes on the ball, are in a MOST perilous position. A system of protocols is in place, on every play, so that nobody is injured in a collision.
So... no one on the field of play crosses that line; you don't trick the other guy by saying 'I got it' as you run by - it’s DANGEROUS.
That's cheating - twice.
Alex Rodriguez Is A Cheater.
mh
Image
According to the Baseball Gods; you can steal bases, you can throw junk pitches, you can even slide hard - but, Alex Rodriguez, you can't knock the ball out of the other guys glove hoping the umpire doesn't see it.
That's cheating.
Tonight at Rogers Centre with a Blue Full Moon overhead (infoplease.com), Howie Clark is camped under a easy pop-up to end the eighth, in a one run game. Alex Rodriguez is sauntering by, on his way to third - going through the motions. Howie Clark knows shortstop John McDonald is right behind him - and he knows it's the shortstops ball if he calls it.
All of a sudden Clark dives out of the way, the ball drops, a run scores...
Then John McDonald goes ballistic on Alex Rodriguez who's now standing on third.
You don't do that in baseball - because two players running to a high struck ball, blind with their eyes on the ball, are in a MOST perilous position. A system of protocols is in place, on every play, so that nobody is injured in a collision.
So... no one on the field of play crosses that line; you don't trick the other guy by saying 'I got it' as you run by - it’s DANGEROUS.
That's cheating - twice.
Alex Rodriguez Is A Cheater.
mh
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