Just one victory separates the Giants and their first World Series tittle in their San Francisco era after rookie left-hander Madison Bumgarner baffled the Rangers with 8 shutout innings, and the Giants have to be sensing something special.
I said it after his relief outing in game 6 when the Giants clinched the NLCS, Bumgarner's nails in pressure situations, and looked to really get back on track in that outing, and it definitely showed in Game 4 in Texas Sunday. Bumgarner held the high-powered Rangers offense to just 3 hits, none for extra-bases, and struck out 6 Ranger hitters on the night. Offensively, all the Giants really needed was Aubrey Huff's 2-run bomb in the 6th, but for good measure, Andres Torres drove in a run with a double, and Buster Posey hit a solo homer off of Darren O'Day to push the Giants lead to 4 runs. Though the offense looked good, the defense was dominant, as Bruce Bochy fielded his best defensive club, and they really came through for Bumgarner. Freddy Sanchez was great at 2nd base all night, as he's become a wall over there at second, and is finally showing Giants fans his full abilities. Cody Ross also made a few catches in left that Pat Burrell may not have gotten to, and had that been the case, who knows how this game transpires. Also, Buster Posey was once again brilliant behind the plate. The 23-year old hasn't had the best offensive series against Texas yet, but he sure has been brilliant behind the plate, and has come up with the clutch hit when needed.
Now, I can go on and on about this game, but chances are, most people got to watch or listen to it, so I don't really have to recap anything for anyone..... The Giants, fittingly, get to send Tim Lincecum to the hill in game 5 as they take their first shot at clinching the 2010 World Series. It will be a re-match of game 1 as the Rangers will counter with Cliff Lee again in the match-up of aces. Again, it's going to be key for the Giants to get on the board first and put Texas into panic mode. If Texas gets Lee an early lead, I think the lefty will do anything in his power to will himself to victory, so the Giants have to disrupt him early like they did in San Francisco. It's also key that Lincecum doesn't come out over-hyped and over-throwing.... That said, I don't think nerves are going to be a problem for this Giants team as they are now in complete control of this series... I'd also look for Pat Burrell to be back in the linuep, but it wouldn't surprise me to see Ishikawa at first and Huff at DH again, even against the lefty.
Ah- Halloween, when the kiddies are out trick-or-treating and the adults sometimes get to play dress-up too. It's been awhile since I got to do that, but that doesn't stop me from appreciating the end results of others and their costumes.
While some are unfortunate and others are nothing short of complete disasters, others work out quite well, even when they don't work out as intended.
Not too long ago, I was working nights at a sports bar when we were invited to a party afterwards. To my surprise, I saw one of the attractive-but-painfully-shy waitresses there in a costume with fishnet stockings and a pseudo-tuxedo top along with a top hat. To say it was a good look for her would've been the understatement of this relatively young century [unfortunately this all took place before I ever got myself a digital camera or cameraphone- NANESB!].
So, finally after some guesswork on my part, I simply asked her 'Magician's assistant?'
'No...' she replied rather sheepishly and began to explain. 'I was trying for the female Penguin look, but I couldn't get my hands on a monacle or one of those cigarette holders at the last minute'
'The Penguin? From Batman?' I asked
'Yeah'
'But you're not hideously deformed or anything' I replied, with Danny Devito's waddling, hooked nosed antagonist from Batman Returns being the only incarnation of the Penguin I could think of off the top of my head.
'Um- thanks?' she said, arching an eyebrow at my gaffe. 'As you can see, things didn't work out. I couldn't even get an umbrella- do you think anyone will notice?'
'Yes...they're all pointing and laughing at you behind your back. Nah.' I said, trying to be nonchalant. 'As long as you don't go around advertising that you're missing a bunch of stuff, I think you'll be just fine.'
It was kind of funny to hear her stressing over whether or not anybody would notice her costume was incomplete. It would be a little like the raven-tressed bruja pictured above fretting over her costume being incomplete because she left the stuffed black kitty at home.
Speaking of which, the title of this 1959 image by the incomprable Gil Elvgren is 'Riding High'.
While Elvgren, like many other pin-up artists of the day, used live models for much of his work, there doesn't seem to be nearly as many photos of them posing for other pieces are there are of this one model for Riding High, which I thought I'd include....you know...in the interest of being thorough.
So happy halloween and for the love of god, stay away from the candied corn....why do they even still make that stuff?
Shortly after Halloween, a shrill whistle pierces the quiet afternoon of a crisp autumn afternoon as a pair of Canadian National steam engines chuff past with a short freight train.
You might assume this scene took place some 50-60 years ago, but this was actually snapped by railpictures.net contributor Christian Signorelli on in the fall of 2007 on the 4 ½ mile Strasburg Railroad. The Starsburg operates in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country, literally across the street from the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum in Strasburg, PA. The present-day Strasburg was established by a group of rail enthusiasts in 1958 after the original Strasburg fell on hard times when traffic began drying up after WWII and a series of storms washed out its right of way throughout the 1950s.
Although compact, the Strasburg's roster is primarily steam powered, with at least four operating examples of locomotives from Baldwin or the Canadian Locomotive Company. And with restored vintage equipment available from the museum, the Strasburg also operates occasional 'photo freights' alongside their year-round excursions (and infrequent revenue freight- the line still does have some customers). Here, Mr. Signorelli caught the Strasburg's two ex-CN steamers- CLC 2-6-0 #89 and Baldwin 0-6-0 #7312- on a rare doubleheaded photo freight making it's way past the pumpkin patch on an Amish farm at the Cherry Hill station site on November 5th, 2007.
The Strasburg also has an operating former Norfolk & Western 4-8-0 and an ex-Great Western 'decapod' 2-10-0 available.
The Rangers really had to win Saturday's game 3 in order to avoid going down 3 games to none to the Giants in the World Series, and they did just that, getting to Jonathan Sanchez early, then shutting down the Giants the rest of the way to hold on the win.
Sanchez once again had a rough start, as he's really hit a wall after finishing the year so strong, then dominating the Braves in his lone NLDS start in Atlanta. He struggled in his 2 starts in Philly, looking very bad in his last on in game 6, a game in which he failed to get out of the 3rd inning. He didn't throw particularly bad Saturday, but gave up a huge 3-run bomb to Mitch Moreland in the 2nd inning. After that, Sanchez really cruised into the 5th inning, until, once again, he was taken out of the yard by Josh Hamilton. That AB by Moreland was a tough battle, and you kind of have to tip your cap to the Rangers' first basemen for fighting off those tough pitches until he got that low fastball in the zone where most left-handed hitters can crush the baseball. The homer he gave up to Hamilton was really a mistake on his part though, and it was a big blow, moving the Rangers up 4-0 on a night when Colby Lewis was dealing. The Giants have to really hope that shot by Hamilton doesn't awake the beast, cause he was really quiet in SF after carrying the Rangers offense past the Yankees. If he gets going, along with Nelson Cruz who had a big game, the Giants are going to be in some trouble. With the way the Giants rotation lined up, Sanchez would be set-up to take the ball in a possible game 7, and although it would be played in San Francisco and not on the road where Sanchez has struggled the last few outings, Bochy has to really consider using Timmy on 3-days rest. Again, this is getting way ahead of things, but after seeing the Rangers wake up on Saturday, I'm thinking this series is coming back to San Francisco.
On a positive not in Game 2, Cody Ross continued his postseason brilliance, with his 5th postseason home run which put the Giants on the board in the 6th. It's too bad the 2 hitters in front of Ross haven't done more this series, cause this dude continues to hit, and needs to have runners on when he's up there. Speaking of the 2 guys in front of him, Pat Burrell and Buster Posey, they have been having a real rough go of it through the first 3 games. Burrell went 0-4 with 4 k's on the night, dropping to 0-9 on the series with and astonishing 8 strikeouts. That's pretty brutal right there out of your #5 hitter. Still, it's tough for Bochy to do much else, as the Giants don't really have another power hitting outfielder on their bench to spell Pat, and even though he's struggling, he's still very capable of hitting that huge 3-run homer when they really need it. I'd just think about maybe dropping him down a few spots and moving Ross and Uribe both up a spot. Posey hasn't been quite as bad as Burrell, but he just looks tired, as he's played the most baseball of his life this year. Posey's gone 3-12 in this series, and even has an RBI, but he's struck out 5 times, and all 3 of his hits have been off balance little bloopers barely over the infielders heads. His timing just looks a little off, but he's still getting it done behind the plate, and like Burrell, you never know when this kid will break out with a 4-hit game.
A Glance At Game 4: Now, even though Giants are still in pretty good shape at the moment, Game 4 becomes a pretty big one, because if the Giants lose, they face Cliff Lee in his home ballpark with a chance to put his Rangers ahead in the series. Not to mention, if they win tomorrow night, they'll have all the momentum on their side, and have their fans in a ruckus in game 5. So, this makes it a huge game for the rookie, Madison Bumgarner, who's last appearance came in relief in game 6 of the NLCS and was a big part of that series clinching game. I'd give him the slight advantage over the Rangers' starter Tommy Hunter, who's struggled this postseason, but I thought the same about this match-up tonight, and look how that turned out. You can just never count out that Texas offense.... The Giants bullpen did look very well in relief of Sanchez, going 4.1 shutout innings... Speaking of good bullpens, Rangers' closer Neftali Feliz is a freak of nature and reminds me very much of Francisco Rodriguez when he came up with the Angels in 2002 (knock on wood). What makes him even more tough and gives him an edge on most flame-throwing closers, is that he's a former starter, and can get 6+ outs in a pinch if needed.
ATTENTION TOPPS: Why do you persist on making the "manufactured" patches? Why are you now making "manufactured" bat barrel cards? It's one thing to have the real thing in your hand. It's no fun when you pull a barrel card and it's a hunk of decorative DAMAGED art junk. Let it be the real thing or don't make it at all. It's worthless and just a filler like the thick white cardboard in a pack of cards or even sometimes the cards themselves!
Just use this template for future press releases or disclosures to the tabloid and watch the attention you've so desperately been whoring for come crashing in like a tidal wave:
Dear [insert publication or website name here] ________________:
I never thought it could happen to a guy like me. This took place a few years ago when I was a
[] Superbowl MVP Quarterback
[] Army Force Recon SAS Ranger SEAL Commando
[] Secret Agent Billionaire Cowboy
[] Deadbeat College Student.
It was Halloween and I had been pounding
[] Jello Shooters
[] Budweiser
[] Black Tar Heroin
[] Absinthe poured into an upside down bowler hat
all afternoon when in walked my roomate's girlfriend's cousin's sister's best friend and her classmates. I could tell they all wanted me so bad, but I was all like "Yeah, whatever" as I looked up from the
[] XBox
[] Nintendo 64
[] Laser Tag
[] Gaming platform yet to be invented.
I've gotten used to it with this cursed animal magnetism of mine totally drawing the shorties to me like a moth to flame. But still, it get's annoying after awhile, and one look from my steely azure eyes let them know that I was so not interested.
But this one chick wouldn't take the hint. For her Halloween costume, she was dressed up like
[] A Ladybug
[] A Maid
[] A Bellydancer
[] That Asian Dominatrix I pay to strangle me every week.
It was a good look for her, but she threw off this sort of desperate and clingy vibe that made me uneasy. Plus I couldn't help but shake the feeling that she would some day be in the running for
[] Congress
[] US Senate
[] Governor
[] America's Top Model
on a number of issues that made this 100% red blooded and heterosexual all American ladykiller who isn't afraid to show his sensitive side more than a little nervous. At this point she asked me if she could change right there and before I could even respond, her costume was already in a heap on the floor and [sordid details redacted] _____________________________.
[insert ambiguous and unverifiable boast about your unmatched sexual prowess over hapless, naked, mousy future political candidate here _______________________.]
Then she got all clingy and would like e-mail me and text me every month and be all "The restraining order says 50 feet- why is that so hard for you to understand?" "Hey- do you wanna hang out?". This chick would seriously not leave me alone, but being well versed in the art of seducing women I had absolutely no interest in, I was used to it. I didn't give it too much though at the time until just recently when I was watching TV and saw footage of
[] Christine O'Donnell
[] Nikki Haley
[] Yulia Tymoshenko
[] Lousie Slaughter
and I was like "Oh my god! That's so totally the chick that wouldn't leave me alone!". I mean..... "That's so totally one of the many chicks who won't leave me alone because I'm so awesome in the sack that I always leave them panting for more".
Why am I writing this, you may ask? Some of you out there might think I did it for the six figure check [insert name of publication or website______] cut me while others might think this anonymous, one-sided version of events is simply self serving bragging about one-night stands to compensate for experimenting with my bunkmate at the all-boys sleepaway camp advertise my Lothario-like charms and unmatched allure to all the chicks out there. To that, all I can say is 'shame on you'.
No, my pure and unselfish reasons for doing this are to warn you of the consequences of voting for somebody I totally did.
Well...OK, technically I didn't 'do' her, but she was like right there in front of me, and her being in the same room as me is clearly an indication of her longing for an unforgettable carnal encounter with yours truly, and she probably knew I was going to ditch her anyways.
Crews contracted by BC Hydro to clear brush from underneath power lines discovered a loaded anti-tank weapon not 20 feet from the Trans Canada Highway on Friday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and a Canadian Forces ordinance disposal unit were called to secure the area about 25km north of Victoria BC and take custody of the device.
The weapon was identified as an M72 Light Anti-tank Weapon (a predecessor to the US Army's AT-4). RCMP Sgt. Rob Webb said that the weapon appeared to be at that location for a few weeks before being discovered.
I'm not sure why a loaded anti-tank weapon would be abandoned by the side of the road in Canada, but it does seem pretty disturbing in light of today's other events. Police elsewhere in British Columbia have said they seized a similar weapon in a raid on a marijuana growing operation in a rural area outside of Kamloops earlier this year. So there may be nothing more to it than that, but it seems extremely foolish to dismiss this report with a mere "Oh come on now, that could beanybody'sloaded rocket launcher abandoned by the side of the road."
I was flipping around between the World Series, the Bruins and the NC State/Florida State games last night, so instead of being able to tune in to all three games, it was more like trying to get caught up on all three games.
WORLD SERIES: And just like that, the San Francisco Giants are out to a 2-0 lead in the 2010 World Series. I'm not really surprised by that as much as I am the margin of San Francisco's victories.
They jumped all over Cliff Lee in Wednesday night's 11-7 win- the Ranger's starter didn't even make it through the 5th inning, getting yanked with two away after giving up an RBI double to Freddy Sanchez and RBI singles to Aubrey Huff and Cody Ross. It got even worse for the Ranger (who did lead 2-0 early in the game) when Darren O'Day came on and gave up a homerun to deep left off the bat of Juan Uribe to make it 8-2 by the time the 5th inning was finished. Despite that, the Rangers were able to cut into the lead on a Bengie Molina RBI double and a David Murphy single to make it an 8-4 game. However, the Texas bullpen would continue to self immolate, giving up three more runs in the bottom of the 8th, and while the Rangers were able to score 3 more runs in the bottom of the 9th, it was too little too late.
For Game 2, Branch Rickey's quote about baseball being a game of inches never seemed more accurate when Ian Kinsler led off the top of the 5th inning with a booming double off of Giants starter Matt Cain that bounced off the top of the wall and teetered back into play. Had it rolled the other way, it would've been a 1-0 Texas game. Instead, Kinsler was stranded at second and Edgar Renteria belted a solo homer that put San Francisco up 1-0. Texas' CJ Wilson went 6 decent innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits. But all of that would be forgotten when the Rangers bullpen once again took over and self-immolated, giving up 7 earned runs on fice hits and four walks to give San Francisco a 9-0 lead. The Giant's Matt Cain threw 7 and 2/3rds shutout innings, allowing four hits and striking out two for the Giants' 9-0 win on Thursday night.
For Game 3, the series heads to Arlington, TX with Colby Lewis getting the start against Jonathan Sanchez on Saturday night. Lewis has gone from closing out the Yankees to being the last, best hope for the Rangers in this World Series. First pitch is at 6:57 PM Eastern Time. NHL: Phil Kessel earned the gratitude of the crowd at TD Banknorth Garden Thursday night when the Bruins played host to the Maple Leafs after 1st round draft pick Tyler Seguin tallied an insurance goal. Almost as soon as the red light went off behind Toronto's Jonas Gustavsson, the Bruins faithful broke out into a spontaneous, taunting chant of "Thank you, Kessel!".
Kessel's demands for a new, pricey contract or else be traded from Boston culminated in the September 2009 deal where he wound up in Toronto in exchange for Toronto's first overall draft pick in the 2010 NHL Draft as well as another one in the 2011 draft. Let us not forget that the Maple Leafs are responsible for giving us Tukka Rask as well....
But back to last night's game....Patrice Bergeron opened the scoring with his first goal of the season coming on a Bruins power play with less than a minute left in the first period. Seguin's goal- even strength- came in the second period with assists from Michael Ryder and Dennis Seidenberg and Tim Thomas faced on 20 shots from the Leafs in Boston's 2-0 shutout win. The Bruins head into Saturday night's game at Ottawa with a 5-2-0 record.
The Bruins had the option of sending Seguin down to Providence after nine games, but after the game, Claude Julien announced that they plan on keeping him in Boston for the rest of the year.
NBA: Can you believe the NBA season's here already? After beating Lebron James' new team pretty convincingly, the Celtics stumbled against a LeBron-less Cavs. In the 4th quarter, with the game tied 86-86, Cavs Guard Anthony Parker hit a 3 pointer that was subject to review over whether or not the shot clock had expired and if his toes were on the line. Doc Rivers, not surprisingly, objected- saying it was one of the longest seconds in NBA history.
So after beating the Miami Heat at home Tuesday night by a final of 88-80 (this coming despite a 31 point night by LeBron), the C's fall to Cleveland by a final of 87-95, giving them a .500 record. The C's will next host the Knicks on Friday night.
NCAA FOOTBALL: The North Carolina State Wolfpack managed to come back from a 21-7 halftime deficit against #16 Florida State on Thursday night. Facing a 4th and goal from the 1-foot line with 2:44 left, the Wolfpack decided to go for the go-ahead touchdown instead of the game tying field goal, and it paid dividends, putting NC State up 24-28. But Florida state would march right back down the field from their own 29 yard line on the next possession, and when it looked as though the Seminoles would score the go-ahead TD with less than a minute left. However, 'Noles QB Chris Ponder fumbled the ball inside the NC State 10 yard line, effectively putting away the game for the Wolfpack by the 28-24 final.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NCAA: A 20-year old Notre Dame Student died Wednesday when a tower used to film the football team's practices collapsed. Declan Sullivan was filming the practice from a hydraulic scissors lift for ND's athletic department. Most of the Midwest had been experiencing harsh weather for the past few days and the National Weather Service reported that there was wind gusts of up to 51 MPH in the area at the time of the incident.
NFL: The Minnesota Vikings have listed QB Brett Favre as questionable for starting Sunday's game against the New England Patriots. Two fractures were discovered in Favre's ankle after the Viking's Sunday night game against Green Bay. The latest injury puts Favre's NFL-record of 291 consecutive starts in jeopardy. Head coach Brad Childress announced that it will likely be a gametime decision on his part.
Suspicious parcels discovered in airfreight shipments by authorities in the UK and United Arab Emirates prompted a terror alert in which UPS planes were grounded in Newark and Philadelphia.
Federal investigators were inspecting the contents of the grounded planes at Newark's Liberty airport and Philadelphia International based on concerns over a terrorist threat originating from Yemen.
The Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is suspected, and investigators are looking into whether the packages were part of a dry run for a future mail-bomb plot. A UAE official told the Associated Press late Friday that an "explosive device" in Dubai was found in a courier company's regional hub.
FedEx reported earlier that a suspicious package was found at its Dubai facility.
Another package, found on a UPS plane at East Midlands Airport in central England, contained what looked like a toner cartridge with white powder and wires coming out of it.
The Thursday night discoveries prompted U.S. authorities on Friday to sweep a UPS plane in Newark, N.J., two UPS planes in Philadelphia and two UPS trucks in New York City.
The planes in Philadelphia are still being investigated. The Newark flight and New York trucks have been cleared [snip].
Given the origin of the packages, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula "is at the top of the list" of suspects, a U.S. official told Fox News.
"Since two of the suspicious packages that were intercepted were addressed to religious institutions in Chicago, all churches, synagogues and mosques in the Chicago area should be vigilant for any unsolicited or unexpected packages, especially those originating from overseas locations," Chicago FBI spokesman Ross Rice said.
Federal law enforcement officials said the suspicious device that resembled a toner cartridge was removed from the a flight in a distribution center at East Midlands Airport in the U.K.
A crew member aboard a UPS plane arriving to Philadelphia from Paris later notified authorities on approach about a suspicious package. The crew member described a possible radiological component to the package, the incident report said. The two occupants safely exited the aircraft after landing in a remote area of the airport.
A second UPS plane was isolated near the UPS terminal at the Philadelphia airport before take off, the report said.
A third UPS plane, which arrived at Newark Liberty Airport from East Midlands in the U.K., was investigated, but UPS says it was cleared and proceeded on to Louisville, KY.
Two UPS trucks in Brooklyn and Queens, N.Y., were also investigated and cleared, officials said.
Law enforcement officials also are investigating a suspicious packages in Portland, Maine. No word on whether that package has any links to UPS or Yemen.
"As an additional safety measure, FedEx embargoed all shipments originating from Yemen," Maury Lane, spokesman for FedEx told Reuters.
My blog has officially recorded over 10,000 views. I am simply amazed at this because I wouldn't have never expected to see that many people reading my ol' boring site/blog. For those that do I say, "Thank You" and I encourage you to continue to fight the good fight and spread the word at just how bad PANINI really is this year. Would someone please donate some ideas for them. Perhaps if we posted a sign that said, "Listen to the collectors and they will come", they might actually see improvements........Yeah..........and I have 10,000 yen. Perhaps the man on the yen should use his stick on PANINI and teach them how to do cards "THE RIGHT WAY". However, on a serious side.....Thanks guys for the support!
Welcome to another addition of "Chicken Scratch". This week's subject is non other than Cincinnati Bengals rookie Wide Receiver Jordan Shipley. In Jordan's last NFL game against the Falcons, he had 6 receptions for 131 yards which included a beautiful 64 yd TD reception. His bold signature is almost legible. His "J's" and "S's" are pretty easy to recognize and he does make an effort to sign his last name where as some athletes just write a straight line instead. When you look at his first name you might assume it was "Jim or "Ji" or even "JD". When you look at his last name .......um yeah.......the only thing that I can come up with is "sis". Still his signature is still a far cry better than Chris Johnson's or Amobi Okoye'sautograph. For this lovely piece of artwork I give it: 3 sharpies!
After taking game one in a surprising slug-fest, the Giants look to go up 2-0 on the Rangers in the World Series on Thursday night.
The Giants are sending out Matt Cain, a guy who I'm sure every Giants' fan is pretty confident in. He'll be a opposed by C.J. Wilson, who's in his first year as a full-time starter, but has been brilliant in the role. He did struggle his last time out though, so hopefully the Giants can get to him early and get into his head a bit. I'm going to do something I've never done here on this unique occasion, and sort of do an in-game post. updating this post every time I feel I have something to add. So go Giants, and be sure to check back throughout the game, and after, to vent or whatever! As long as Matt Cain keeps rolling, and the Giants keep coming up with those clutch 2-out hits, we should be OK. Texas has that high-powered offense that can score in a hurry, as we saw last night, so the Giants cannot let down and have to take advantage of every run scoring opportunity they get.
In Game Notes
*Through 1, both pitchers look pretty good, no baserunners, although Sanchez came close on that grounder to Kinsler... Wilson reminds me a bit of Jonathan Sanchez, when Sanchez is keeping the ball down. Giants hitters have to make him get the ball up.
*Nice work by Cain to pitch by that missed called strike by the umpire there in the third. Cain looks really sound rignt now... The Giants need to give him a few runs... Cody Ross is giving the Giants every reason to make him a mainstay in this lineup for the next couple of years... The dude can hit when it matters the most, just too bad they weren't able to get him him from second, something they have to do if they want to beat this team.
*A run... Finally! What a shot by Renteria! He's quietly been huge this postseason, with great glovework and some timely hits/walks... I love that Cain now has the lead, but something tells me the Giants need more than 1 to win this game. They can't let up, and I don't think they will. Get into Texas' bullpen!
*Cain gets through the 6th untouched despite allowing 2 RISP with less than 2 out... That just shows you how locked he is, but still, the Giants need insurance... Big play by. who else, Cody Ross, with that smother, keeping Michael Young from going to 3rd. The Giants are making their own luck right now, and they are looking like a Championship caliber ballclub!
*UUU-REEE-BAY, another clutch hit. This one an RBI blooper to give the Giants a 2-run lead. Now they need to preserve that for 6 more outs, and they'll find themselves up 2-0 in the World Series!
Postgame
The Giants busted it open in the 8th, taking a 9-0 lead, and finishing off the Texas Rangers in game 2! The Giants are now 2 wins away from bringing home their first World Tittle in their San Francisco era. There's not much to say since I made most of my points in-game. You can sum it up in a couple of sentences. The Giants look damn good right now. Championship good! That play that Uribe made in the top of the ninth on that weakly hit grounder shows you just how focused this team is. In a 9 run game, most 3rd basement play that safe and eat it, but Uribe made the perfect throw on the run and put away that ever important leadoff hitter for Guillermo Mota. They got the great starting performance, they played really good defense, and they hit the ball (and took pitches) when they had to. Again, I hate to jynx things, but Texas looked overwhelmed in San Francisco, and right now, the Giants are the better team, by far... We'll have some more on this game, as well as a look at the series shift to Texas for game 3 in Friday's Post. Right now though, Giants up 2-o, and have really put Texas' backs against the wall.
Today's train of thought takes us to the opposite shore of Lake Champlain and the Canadian Pacific's former Delaware & Hudson line between Albany, NY and Montreal, QC.
This end of the D&H wasn't historically as busy as the Mechanicville, NY to Binghampton, NY segment, which to this day serves as a bridge line between New England and the mid-Atlantic states and points west. However, besides being the railroad's gateway to Canada, the more northerly and scenic portion of the D&H was noteworthy in that it hosted one of the few post-Amtrak passenger trains where a freight railway used their own locomotives and rolling stock, when the railroad resumed passenger hauling with the Adirondack in 1974.
Amtrak eventually assumed control of the Rensselaer, NY to Montreal segment of the Adirondack and to this day is rated as one of the passenger carrier's most scenic routes. Through it all, the Adirondack has continued operating through the host railroad's acquisition and subsequent messy divorce from Guilford Transportation, the more amicable divorce from New York Susquehanna & Western and it's current ownership by Canadian Pacific.
In fact, traffic on the Albany-Montreal section of the D&H is expected to see an increase, with the Canadian Pacific and CSXreaching an agreement on hauling CSX freight between Selkirk, NY and Montreal, eliminating a lengthy detour via Syracuse, NY for CSX. In return, CSX would handle Canadian Pacific's freight between New York City and Selkirk. Aside from the already existing CP traffic and newly rerouted CSX traffic, the Adirondack also has to compete with trains 666 and it's less satanic counterpart 667, a unit ethanol train that runs between North Dakota and Providence, RI via Chicago, Toronto, Montreal and Rutland, VT (onto the Vermont Railway, New England Central and Providence & Worcester).
Railpictures.net contributor Frank Jolin knows this line well, and on October 23, 2009 he caught Amtrak P42CD #16 leading the southbound Adirondack (train #68 on most timetables), complete with a dome car, making it's way past the Red Rocks above Lake Champlain's Willsboro Bay, just north of Willsboro NY.
Gov. Deval Patrick's office- acting under orders from the Massachusetts Secretary of State- released figures showing that an estimated 52,000 illegal immigrants in the MassHealth Limited system cost the commonwealth $33.8 million in taxpayer funded in-patient care and another $1.9 million in emergency care [no word if this included coverage for Obama's Aunt Zeituni- NANESB!].
For some reason, Patrick doesn't want to talk about it.
The Patrick administration, which supplied the figures last week, refused to make state health insurance officials available to discuss them.
But critics were quick to blast the huge medical bill being footed by hard-pressed, law-abiding taxpayers.
“Incorporating illegal immigrants into any type of government-sponsored health care is legitimizing their presence here,’’ said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the conservative Center for Immigration Studies, which favors stricter immigration policies. “It’s a kind of piecemeal amnesty.’’
Hmmm.....must be those dangerous Tea Party activists, healthcare opponents or the various and sundry right-wingers that the Department of Homeland Security and Mayor Bloomberg warned us about.
Farooque Ahmed, 34, of Ashburn, conspired with people he believed to be al-Qaeda operatives to attack the stations at Arlington National Cemetery, Pentagon City, Crystal City and Court House, the indictment said.
An administration official said Ahmed, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Pakistan, first drew the attention of law enforcement officials by seeking to obtain unspecified materials. He later became the target of an undercover sting operation, officials said.
According to the indictment, in April Ahmed began to meet in hotels in Northern Virginia with people he believed to be affiliated with a terrorist organization. He agreed to conduct video surveillance of the stations, suggested the best time to attack and the best place to place explosives to maximize casualties, the indictment alleges.
The 21-year-old [Abdel HameedShehadeh] born and raised in New York created websites and posted threats of radical Islamic violence, including one from another American expatriate, AnwaralAwlaki. Then Shehadeh flew to Hawaii and allegedly started taking target practice.
FBI agents said he wanted to join a jihadist group to learn “guerrilla warfare and bomb-making.” Had he been welcomed into the U.S. army, they said, his plan was to defect in Iraq and turn against his comrades.
Shehadeh’s journeys ended last Friday. He was arrested in Honolulu and accused in a federal criminal complaint, unsealed Monday, of making false statements in an international terrorism case
Wait....what? They're not with the Tea Parties? That can't be right....I mean it's not like the SPLC or NAACP would lie about or exaggerate such things.
Authorities in Indonesia are attempting to cope with no less than two disasters that have struck seperate parts of the country. Television reports from Java indicate that at least 28 people were killed when the 9700 ft Mt. Merapi volcano erupted, unleashing a plume of toxic gases and superheated ash throughout the reigon.
At least 11,000 people scattered thoughout small villages live at the foot of the volcano. Authorities have tried setting up a 4-mile exclusion zone around Merapi, but locals can easily circumvent it with a network of footpaths that lead back to their properties ignoring official warnings to check on their houses and livestock.
Vulcanologists have indicated that pressure is building up under a lava dome inside of Merapi, a likely precursor to a larger and more devestating eruption. The volcano is located in the Yogyakarta province of Indonesia's most populous island.
Meanwhile, about 800 miles to the west, at least 154 people are dead and another 500 missing off of Sumatra's west coast after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake triggered a tsunami on Monday. The quake took place along the same fault line that started the devestating 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.
Rough seas, bad weather and the remote location of some of the stricken areas have hindered relief efforts, leaving survivors to make do with what they could salvage for two days. Fishermen were scouring the waters for survivors while corpses littered beaches and roads in some parts of Sumatra. Cargo planes carrying tents, food, fresh water and medicine were expected to arrive in the area later on today.
Anderson was the nephew of Paul Terry, whose Terrytoons included Mighty Mouse and were distributed in theaters. After working with his uncle, Anderson and his longtime friend Jay Ward got together and began producing cartoons for the emerging television market in the late 1940s.
Laughinghouse cast his ballot at the [Craven] county administration building at about 2:30 p.m., he said. After voting, he located a Republican worker on site and asked to speak with her about his voting machine issue. A man interrupted, he said, directing Laughinghouse to talk with him instead. That man said the machine likely needed to be calibrated, Laughinghouse said, and set about the method to do so
Out in Nevada, there have been reports coming in from Las Vegas and elsewhere in Clark County that voters have found their touchscreen voting machines had already checked Harry Reid's name.
Voter Joyce Ferrara said when they went to vote for Republican Sharron Angle, her Democratic opponent, Sen. Harry Reid's name was already checked.
Ferrara said she wasn't alone in her voting experience. She said her husband and several others voting at the same time all had the same thing happen.
"Something's not right," Ferrara said. "One person that's a fluke. Two, that's strange. But several within a five minute period of time -- that's wrong."
As it turns out, the technicians for the voting machines are represented by SEIU Local 1107, which has supported Reid's bid for a fifth term as senator. Perhaps even more ominously, Reid's son Rory also happens to be the chairman of the Clark County Commission and is running for governor of Nevada.
And in Troy, NY, New York State Police investigators have taken DNA samples from a Troy city councilman and the city clerk as part of an ongoing absentee voter registration fraud case from last year. The two officials are suspected of forging dozens of absentee ballots and attributing them to voters who had no role in filling them out.
As an aside, I worked as an election worker in a statewide special election a few years back. The only position that was available at the time was to set up and inspect the touchscreen voting machine. I was assigned to a polling station in a village of about 1800 and maybe 40 people showed up all day. The county gives you the choice of paper ballot or the touchscreen, and none of the voters who showed up wanted to use the touchscreen, so I was basically the Maytag repairman throughout the day. And even though nobody used the machine, we had to secure the memory card and printout with the paper ballots as though there really were votes to be tallied on there before handing them off the the Sheriff's department.
So with that in mind, the million dollar question is "Do each of these jurisdictions offer a choice between paper ballot or the touchscreen, or is it exclusive touchscreen voting?". Although clearly not 100% tamper-proof, I would prefer to use a paper ballot myself come election day in light of recent events.
What will the Kansas City Royals do about Zack Greinke? He will be an official Free Agent till 2013. In 2011 and 12 his salary will go up to $13,500,000. At this point the Royals are looking into trading Greinke. The Twins are intrested but the Royals will not trade Zack to a rival team. FoxSports had reported that Greinke has a no trade list that includes half of the clubs in the MLB. It was also reported that he does not want to stay with the Royals if they continue to fall behind in the standings. He prefers smaller market teams like the Rays. Since I have no idea what his no trade teams are, Zack must notify the Royals to let them know who is on his no trade list that will incluide 8-10 teams. He has to do this after the World Series. With this in mind the St.Louis Cardinals do have an intrest in Greinke. There is a possibility that the Cards won't sign Westbrook. Would Greinke be intrested in the Cardinals or are they on his no trade list. I would love to see this Cy Young winner to wear Cardinal Red and become a part of a very strong rotation. Lets keep our fingers cross after the World Series to see what will happen next.
I already mentioned that New England doesn't necessarily have the monopoly on fall colors, right? True enough, the foliage in Michigan's upper peninsula or upstate New York's Adirondack and Hudson Valley regions explode into similarly brilliant displays of reds, oranges and yellows- all making for impressive photographic backdrops.
Although many areas in the Southeast or mid-Atlantic can be hit or miss, West Virginia has no shortage of autumn foliage. Railpictures.net contributor Chase Gunnoe reported that a particularly mild summer in 2009 resulted in noticeably brighter oranges and yellows. Here, he snapped CSX (ex-Conrail) GP38-2 #2751 heading south through Ben's Run, WV in October 2009 with a local. The local train originated at Brooklyn Jct. in New Martinsville, WV and is heading south parallel to the Ohio River and WV Route 2 en route to switching some of the industries along the former B&O Ohio River Subdivision.
“If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, ‘We're gonna punish our enemies and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us,’ if they don't see that kind of upsurge in voting in this election, then I think it's gonna be harder and that's why I think it's so important that people focus on voting on November 2,” Obama said in the interview, which was taped Friday in Los Angeles.
And what 'enemies' is the Commander in Chief referring to? Al Qaeda? A nuclear Iran? The Mexican cartels and their murderous enforcers?
Gosh no, you naive rubes. He's talking about Republicans- you know, the political party that's been out of power for the last four years.
Obama sought to place blame directly on Republicans, who he said have turned on Latinos by focusing only on border security, supporting Arizona’s immigration enforcement law and opposing the Dream Act, which would provide a pathway to citizenship for some students and those who serve in the military.
“Those aren’t the kind of folks who represent our core American values,” Obama said of Republicans
Yes, apparently focusing on border security and enforcing this nation's laws is contrary to core American values in Obama's eyes. I mean anybody who opposes wholesome Democrat supported legislative items like 0bamacare, Card Check, Cap & Trade or another stimulus clearly hates mom, baseball, apple pie and all things American.
Let that sink in. We have a sitting president of the United States of America who is exhorting one ethnic group to 'punish their enemies', referring to other US citizens as the 'enemy'.
Hitting coach Mark McGwire will return for a second season with the Cardinals, the club announced Monday afternoon. McGwire was thought to be leaning towards not returning after spending time with his family, which includes triplet girls that were born during the season. But the Cardinals offered McGwire the chance to return and the former home run king eventually decided to accept their one-year offer. The club also announced that pitching coach Dave Duncan signed a two-year deal with a vesting option for a third year and will return as well. General manager John Mozeliak initially said the Cardinals would only offer one-year contracts to their coaches, which caused some uncertainty over his return when manager Tony La Russa confirmed that Duncan was looking for a multi-year contract. La Russa announced last week that he had agreed to a one-year contract with an option for 2012. McGwire was a source of criticism for a Cardinals offense that was inconsistent for much of the season. Second baseman Skip Schumaker followed three straight .300 seasons with a .265 average and shortstop Brendan Ryan saw his average drop from .292 in 2009 to .223 this season. Catcher Yadier Molina had his worst offensive season in five years as well, hitting .262 with a career-high 51 strikeouts. But despite some of the individual struggles, the Cardinals finished the year with the second best batting average in the National League at .263. After strikeouts plagued the Cardinals early in the season, they ended up striking out the second-fewest times in the league. After concerns of a media circus following McGwire around the country and providing a distraction for the club this year, the reaction to McGwire was fairly small outside of a few days during spring training. The 65-year-old Duncan will enter his 16th season as the Cardinals pitching coach and his 32nd season overall. Duncan, who said he wanted to coach three more years before retiring, led the Cardinals pitching staff to the fourth best ERA in 2010 and the second lowest totals in walks and home runs allowed. Three other members of the Cardinals coaching staff - first base coach Dave McKay, third base coach Jose Oquendo and bench coach Joe Pettini - also signed one-year contracts to return. The Cardinals are still searching for a bench coach after the dismissal of Marty Mason, but the club has said that hire will come from within.
ster Posey hit a solo homer off of Darren O'Day to push the Giants lead to 4 runs. Though the offense looked good, the defense was dominant, as Bruce Bochy fielded his best defensive club, and they really came through for Bumgarner. Freddy Sanchez was great at 2nd base all night, as he's become a wall over there at second, and is finally showing Giants fans his full abilities. Cody Ross also made a few catches in left that Pat Burrell may not have gotten to, and had that been the case, who knows how this game transpires. Also, Buster Posey was once again brilliant behind the plate. The 23-year old hasn't had the best offensive series against Texas yet, but he sure has been brilliant behind the plate, and has come up with the clutch hit when needed.
Lincecum to the hill in game 5 as they take their first shot at clinching the 2010 World Series. It will be a re-match of game 1 as the Rangers will counter with Cliff Lee again in the match-up of aces. Again, it's going to be key for the Giants to get on the board first and put Texas into panic mode. If Texas gets Lee an early lead, I think the lefty will do anything in his power to will himself to victory, so the Giants have to disrupt him early like they did in San Francisco. It's also key that Lincecum doesn't come out over-hyped and over-throwing.... That said, I don't think nerves are going to be a problem for this Giants team as they are now in complete control of this series... I'd also look for Pat Burrell to be back in the linuep, but it wouldn't surprise me to see Ishikawa at first and Huff at DH again, even against the lefty.
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