It's baseball season

“At last glance, the Gigantes were leading the Angeles, 3-0. In errors. But the score was tied, zip-zip, at least....”

“Cubs win their first, 2-1 over the A's.”

“Hey Cub fan, didja see the ivy-covered fence behind my back yard pitching mound????


last edited: 3/03/05 5:57:34 PM”

“Veeeeery nice.”

“You're a cool dad Bowlderman!”

“Third base looks pretty doggone big!”

“It discourages runners from scoring on a passed ball - that first step is a doozy!”

“Head first slides, too, I would imagine.”

“Of course, with such a large base, it's a lot shorter distance from 2nd....”

“This is true, and you don't have to take such a big lead off third either. The catcher needs to stay alert. Is that what you're trying to teach Bowlderkid?

That is neat. Our ballfield was a lawn at my grandfather's farm. Third base was a huge lilac bush, and the roof of the barn was a home run. There was a huge rock wall in right center, and a grape arbor on the right side of the field. The layout favored hitting up the middle, but power hitters could pull the ball onto the barn roof. That would make my grandfather storm because it loosened the shingles.

One time we enticed him to stand in and hit a few, and at age 75 he jacked one up onto the barn roof. We kids had a lot of fun telling him he loosened the shingles.

He never did play again.”

“I grew up across the street from a middle school, so we played over there all the time. My brother was the only one to ever hit one onto the roof. Then there was the one left-handed kid - we got so tired of switching fields in our 3-on-3 games that we made him learn to hit righty, too....”

“That's just cruel.

Unless he is playing in the show now because he became a good switch hitter.”

“Heh heh. Well, didn't advance beyond little league, but he did do pretty well switch hitting in LL.....”

“Charlie Manual tells the story about the last time he gave hitting advice to the other team.

He was watching Paul O'Neil in the batting cage and told him how to address a problem. So O'Neil hit a grand salami in the game and that's the last time Charlie gave advice to the other team.”

“The Fightins lost to Los Tigres again! Only 3-0 this time.”

“In an interview Thursday with MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann, former Major League Baseball player Jose Canseco said to “look for something major to happen in the next month” relating to the possibility of him taking a lie detector test live on Pay-per-view.”

“Right, ... I'll sign right up for that ... NOT!”

“Huh? Heck, I'll sign up for sure! How much are they paying us?”

“Dream on silly boy!”

“I'll even watch it twice!!”

“I noticed bit has been strangely quiet today: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=250306126”

“The Fightins are now 0-4 in the Grapefruit League. Randy Wolf pitched well yesterday, and it was the guys on the bubble who blew Sunday's game.”

“Go ahead, blame it on the poor suckers who won't make the team....


My neighbor had a funny experience last week. There was a voice mail from some guy asking for him and if he had played for the Quad City Cubs some years earlier (like, more than 20!); there was a return number with an unfamiliar area code.

He said his first thought was, gee, maybe it's somebody claiming I'm his dad - his wife appreciated that, of course. So he finally called the guy, and it turned out that this guy had been rummaging through some old stuff at the stadium (which is being renovated) and found a box with hundreds of his baseball cards in it. It turns out that my neighbor had signed a baseball card contract with Topps, but had been shipped off to some other affiliate before the cards arrived. Instead of throwing them out, someone had just put them in a closet at the stadium. So now BowlderSon is the proud owner of a signed, mint condition card of our neighbor!”

“NEW YORK - Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire and Jason Giambi were among seven current and former baseball stars that a congressional committee plans to subpoena as soon as Wednesday to testify about steroids.

Curt Schilling, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro and Frank Thomas also were asked last week to testify. Thus far, only Canseco and Thomas have said they were willing to appear.

“We hope subpoenas won’t be necessary, but we are prepared to move forward with subpoenas tomorrow if we receive information that witnesses are not willing to appear voluntarily,” David Marin, a spokesman for House Government Reform Committee chairman Rep. Tom Davis, said Tuesday.”

“The Fightins are now 1-5 in the GF League. I can see how having Larry Bowa out of there is helping things.”

“Looks like the Gigantes are getting desparate....

http://promotions.yahoo.com/fantasy_gm/static/faq.html”

“

Yahooooo ha ha ha hee!!!!!!!”

“

Oh Yeah!”

“Atta boy!”

“

It feels really good, dontcha know!”

“Now I have to find one that says Red Sox Suck!”

“Do you know where I can find one Artex?


I mean, you live up there in Red Sox Nation.”

“If I did, do you think I'd tell you? ;-)”

“Well, sure, ... we're friends, aren't we?

You who change football teams with the times.”

“Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis? I root for the Patriots, but I'll always be a Tampa Bay Bucs fan first. I've been a fan since when I lived there back in the 70s. Some bad habits are just too hard to break.”

“LOL!”

“I am officially retired, April 10th would have been my 17th opening day. Feels kinda strange. I'm sure it will feel even more strange when the 10th comes around. I now get to hike with you crazy people more! Booya!”

“So, what did you do, BackSlacker?”

“Mens Softball, played short on two teams, and second on two others. Over the last couple of years I cut it down to one team playin' second for a doule header sunday league. All these years I played in four championships. Won 2 Lost 2.
last edited: 3/15/05 9:41:32 PM”

“I played little league two seasons when I was a kid. And I pretty much sucked at it. But hey, them's the breaks!”

“I also played six years in little league and traveling all stars, I stoped playing when I hit my teens and discoved girls (stupid), I started playing softball when I was twenty.”

“If I had been your coach, bit, you wouldn't have sucked! Of course, it would have been strange to have a coach about the same age as yourself....”

“Softball catcher here, many years ago, but still squatting in the dirt in my mind.”

“Check this sad fact out. Being a die-hard Yanks fan and having your 7 year old son lured away to the dark "Boston" side by friends from Maine.”

“Ummm, why is that sad?”

“Do you how much much brain washing I have to do to get my son back?!? He has the delusion that Boston is great. Sheez!”

“It's probably that world series championship thingee....”

“Just hang this in his room:

”