formerly33

BALLGAME!!! You can totally thank Paulitor Maul!!

MIN Challenge: Call on field overturned. Luckily, I see. The deficit has been decreased by 1.

Let us pause a moment in our hectic, work-filled day to salute Kim Jong-Un and North Korea for their new miracle pill, Kumdang-2. This pill, which works even if you're mostly dead (if you're all dead there's only one thing your friends, relatives, or - and the most likely scenario - the coroner can do: go through the clothes and look for loose change), contains a variety of ingredients including ginseng, and the chocolate coating makes it go down easier. In fact, there's only one drawback to this sublime creation - you have to wait fifteen minutes for full potency, and you shouldn't go swimming for at least an hour after taking it. Unfortunately, Kim is rather reluctant to release this miracle pill to the dregs of society, but I'm sure that if he deems their cause a noble one, he'll be more than happy to lend a hand. I suppose it would be helpful to include an external link for those who are interested: http://www.inquisitr.com/2186988/kim-jong-un-insists-north-korea-have-a-cure-for-aids-ebola-and-sars-theyre-just-wont-reveal-what-it-is/

Brilliant. Positively brilliant.

If they're ghosts already, is it possible to kill them again? BTW, good job, Rosario.

Danny is torturing Cory by telling him that we're playing a little league team.

That explains why it didn't show up.

No, he means that he sees him on the screen rather than in person.

Little "hits" work too.

As much as I don't want kids to hear the f-word, things like this just can't be handled at a political level. To me, it's a lot like bringing religion into politics. Of course freedom of religion means that everyone has the freedom to worship in whichever way they choose, but I wish that the Republican party would stop trying to cram the news that they're the "religious" party down everybody's throats while at the same time arguing that we have freedom of religion, etc. etc. Freedom of religion also means that people have the freedom to be atheist, and supposing you are a Christian Scott Walker, that doesn't mean that you're in God's favor and therefore you or one of your fellow Christian Republican candidates deserves the election. So stop acting like it. But in my opinion, this is like the least of our worries ... and that's why I think it should be dropped. I'm tired of the way the two parties like to banter back and forth about personal things, meanwhile forgetting the big picture and ignoring what's in the people's best interests. This isn't a game. Politicians (not all, of course - I hope - but most) need to stop being so self-centered. And when it comes to the things that do matter, I won't even go there. Both parties are screwed. I don't agree with the Republicans, and I don't agree with the Democrats. I used to think that I'd vote as soon as I turned 18, but now I'm not so sure. I don't find the idea of voting for the "lesser of two evils" remarkably appealing, so I'm probably going to stay out of that. I know people who tell me in so many words that as an adult it's my duty to vote for the freedom of others, but what freedom does voting for either party bring? In my opinion, part of my freedom as an American citizen is the ability to refuse to vote now that I'm 18.

Todd Van Steensel pitched 2 innings in relief and struck out 1 while earning his 8th save of the season. The Miracle won 9-5, and 4 Daytona Tortugas were ejected, 3 of which were thrown out during a brawl in the 9th. Van Steensel's response: https://twitter.com/toddvs35/status/611748651702968320

I discovered last year that with private browsing turned on in Safari, you can vote, um, maybe 5,000 times in just an hour and a half or so by simply switching to a new window and typing in bogus email addresses. Let it be known that I do not take advantage of the system, but my point is that the online voting is such a joke that it doesn't even call for twelve devices and multiple accounts to stuff the ballot box. Why don't they at least make it so that you have to have an MLB account to vote? That would be a huge start (even though it would be possible to create a new MLB account, but at least it would slow the people down a bit), and I don't really care about how many times people are able to vote as long as they all get to vote the same amount of times.

You mean ... like this? Can you see the horse now?

They still can't get my nose right...sigh.

Okay, first Chief and then you???!!! What next?

VARGAS!!!!!! BALLGAME!!!!!!!!

Hicks would've caught that.

Pelf, only 103 pitches and you leave the game? I am disappointed...very, very disappointed.

Perhaps not. When I look it up I just get references to The Princess Bride, and since the Sicilian was wrong, then Inigo must be right.

Neither can I. It's rare enough to see a Mauer home run, but a called Mauer home run? Inconceivable!

YOU DON'T SAY!!! ETA: I had to go back and like that post. Just because.

You sure it won't be the Home Run Derby?

What game could be more perfect than one in which Luke Westphal not only got the win but Todd Van Steensel got the save? Well, that's what happened last night as Westphal came in for the 7th inning, and...well, at this point I'm just going to forget about relaying numbers. What happened in last night's game is just too entertaining to miss out on. Daytona Tortugas and Fort Myers were all tied up with 5 apiece when Luke came on to pitch in the top of the 7th inning. Daytona's leadoff man Phil Ervin went down gawking, and from what I can see, he wasn't too pleased. Only having access to the recap, however, I don't know whether the call was correct or not, but apparently Phil turned around to bark at John Mang, the fellow who had the duties behind the plate. At least I think that's what happened because he was ejected immediately following the call. The next batter up flew out undramatically to left, but following him, Daytona's Sebastian Elizalde was hit by a pitch. I don't know where or how hard it hit him, but apparently he decided that maybe it was unintentional and took his base with little ado. At least, he wasn't ejected, so I'll assume that. Sadly, Luke threw a wild pitch with 2 strikes to the next batter, who promptly swung at it and then took off for 1st; he was deemed safe by 1st base umpire Matt Winter. The runners ended up making it to 2nd and 3rd on a passed ball by Alex Swim, but Luke Westphal managed to get out of it when he sent Taylor Sparks down swinging to pick up his 3rd strikeout of the night and end the inning. In the bottom half of that inning, the Miracle scored 4 runs to make it a 9-5 game. I won't go into details, but I will note that Tanner Vavra was hit by a pitch. We all know that Tanner isn't a player that terrorizes pitchers, so I think I can say that it was an accident, and that means that the pitcher was lacking control. However, the Tortugas tried to pretend that it was done intentionally, and you'll see why I say that in just a minute. However, first I have to record the sad fact that when Luke Westphal came back out in the 8th he walked 2 in a row and was unable to record an out before being replaced by Todd Van Steensel, who got out of the jam with a double play and pop out to end the inning. The Miracle were unable to score in the bottom half of that inning, and then the Daytona Tortugas returned to the plate. With Todd Van Steensel still on the mound, Junior Felix Arias ground out to 1st base to start the inning. However, the next batter up, Alex Blandino, was hit by a pitch. I don't know how many pitches there were in the count when this happened, but I like to imagine that it was the first pitch he saw. At least, there's a good chance it was, because the same Sebastian Elizalde mentioned earlier was on deck when it happened and was ejected following that at bat. I don't know if this happened in the middle of the count or if he immediately charged the mound when Blandino was hit, but then Daytona's pitcher Amir Garrett (who it should be noted did not pitch in last night's game) was also ejected, so I would assume that there was a brawl. I wish I could find out more about it, but I've been forced to let my imagination come into play. However, I'm only going to relay facts since I don't want any rumors to start, so all I can say at this point is that Daytona's manager, Eli Marrero, was also ejected in the little spit, but all of the Miracle's players, manager, and the rest of the coaching staff remained in the game. Wendell Soto, who replaced Elizalde after the ejection, was called out on strikes and then the next batter flew out to end the game. Luke Westphal is now 3-3 on the year, and Van Steensel picked up his 8th save.

I'd seen about enough of him before he got the call.

While we're talking about The Hunger Games, I've often wondered what it would be like if they modernized baseball stadiums and started raising the players up into their respective positions the same way the tributes were raised into the arena. Who would be the first to start?