Squirrel

omg .. lol .. was that in ... what, 79? 80?

Sigh ... struck out ... but Miracle still lead 3-0.

Runners on the corners, 2 outs, bottom 5th ... Walker batting ...

No, but nice thought.

He didn't retire ... he resigned.

Please don't tell me that's a pic at your wedding ...

Oh come on ... Shoemaker's beard is better tailored than that

Aybar got his hand before he touched the bag

Miracle are up 3-0 in the 5th.

oh great ... now i'm craving those sundae cones ...

Oh, but it does ... that, too ... did you see his picture from the colored suit thing the Twins did? He looked awesome in that!

I like Shoemaker's beard. I mean, if you can grow one like that, you have to grow one like that.

lol ... sorry ... could you send some to me?

Arcia might be the only one who could get away with zubaz ... they would go nicely with his hair.

sigh ... i'm in such a mood for ice cream

nolasco has to do better than this so far

heh ... I like that one ... it's in my iPod, along with moondance and brown-eyed girl

Let's enjoy it while we can ...

okay ... well ... a strike out for Nolasco

The building manager in a building I used to live in the early 90s used to wear zubaz all the time. He was a beefy guy. It really wasn't a good look for him. But then I never thought they were a good look for anyone.

Game-time forecast: Partly cloudy. Winds blowing out to center field at 5-10 m.p.h. Temperature near 65. (Gulp ... 65??? Brrr ... don't want to get used to the cold again.) ANGELS: SP, Shoemaker Calhoun RF Trout CF Pujols 1B Kendrick 2B Aybar SS Freese 3B Boesch DH Iannetta C Navarro LF TWINS: SP, Nolasco Santana SS Dozier 2B Mauer 1B Vargas DH Plouffe 3B Arcia RF Pinto C Herrmann LF Hicks CF ---------------------------------- Brian's up ... stay tuned ... or come back and tune in again ... ---------------------------------- Tuned... can mean so many things. Tune what you want to tune. Things to Think About: 1. The Californ.. Umm... Ana High... Umm...Los Angeles Angels? -- This team has an identity crisis. There was a time when they wanted to own the entire state of California so they were known as the California Angels. Since most people in California don't realize that San Luis Opispo is actually part of the state... The Angels got ahead of the curve and said... Screw Bakesfield and the Lake Tahoe Area and the soon to be 51st state of Jefferson. We are the Los Angeles Angels!!! Many have cried and screamed for the removal of Mike Scioscia as Manager after the Angels floundered for a few years... especially after the big money signings of Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton. However... Scioscia is still managing the club and currently they have the best record in the major leagues... So I ask everyone... Was Scioscia a bad manager the past two years and a great one this year? I don't know the answer but it should give us hope that Gardy could do something similar. Ha Ha Ha Ha... I crack me up!!! 2. Matt Shoemaker -- Matt is 27 year old and he is tossing from the mound tonight. Who is Matt Shoemaker and can he actually make shoes? Those are the questions on everyone's mind. Matt went to High School in Trenton in extreme Southeastern Michigan. Matt went to College at Eastern Michigan and went un-drafted before signing as a free agent with the Angels. Not being drafted is kinda strange for a major league American baseball player since the draft has about 347 rounds. However... Matt wasted no time proving that 30 teams missed by not selecting him and here he is. He has been very important to the Angels in this stretch run. He's 14-4 with a 3.24 ERA.... I'd love for the Twins to have someone with a 14-4 record with a 3.24 ERA. Oh Yeah... The 2nd part of the question... Can he make shoes? Umm... I don't know... but I'll tell you this... If my last name was Shoemaker... I would certainly learn how. My real name is Brian Incoherentsentencemaker. It's German in case you were wondering. 3. What's DIfferent? -- Many have been expecting the Angels to destroy everything in it's path since they signed Albert Pujols. It didn't happen but now it is... So What's Different? Well... Pujols is healthy... or at least he's playing more games. He's not quite the Pujols he once was but 24 dingers is nothing to sneeze at. The Angels have been waiting for improved play out of Kendrick and Aybar and have been getting it. Cole Calhoun has been decent and Mike Trout is perhaps the best player in the land. The Pitching has been good from unexpected spots. Weaver has slipped and Wilson has really slipped but Garrett Richards was amazing before getting hurt and Matt Shoemaker and Hector Santiago have been good. As the Twins noticed last night... Huston Street is a quality closer. All in All... They are competing as a club and getting done and it doesn't seem to matter who is on the mound or at the plate. They got a winning thing going on. 4. Ricky Nolasco -- Tricky Ricky with the Nolasco cookie takes the mound for the Twins. His ERA is sitting at 5.96 and nobody wants that thing to go over 6.00. Nolasco makes enough money that he's going to be around for awhile. We all sit and watch for signs any signs that he's going to start performing to at least his career average. 5. Tributes -- I usually say something silly here but tonight I'm going to go for poignant. On Wednesday I attended a funeral for an acquaintance from years gone by. Yesterday... the news broke that Joan Rivers had passed on. On Wednesday... I listened to the many tributes of a guys character and life. Last night and this morning... The news was full of wonderful stories about Joan Rivers and how much she meant to all of the people in her life. After listening to all these tributes it occurred to me that after people leave this earth. That's when all the nice things are said... Everybody talks about how they loved them... All the great accomplishments are brought to light... So... Here's my thought... and I think it's important. Why don't we tell people how much they mean to us when they are alive? I was thinking that Joan Rivers would have loved to hear all the wonderful things being said about her. Don't just look at your loved ones... Tell them they are loved and tell them that you think they are special and tell them what is special about them. Don't wait!!! It's the kind of stuff that shouldn't be kept to yourself and it just might make someone you care about confident and happy and big doses of confidence and happiness will help them as they walk down the road they are on.

Meh, I don't even care if the Bears win, and cheer them on occasionally. Despite having two baseball teams, the Blackhawks, Bulls, Fire (yeah, why not throw in the other 'football' team), Chicago is still first and foremost a football town.

Heh, I'm not much of a football person, pro or college, although I do check scores and standings from time to time, and maybe check out a Big 10 game or two, but your last sentence is very close to my football mantra, if you can even call it that: it's a good day in football when the Packers lose.

You could see the confidence even though they are very young, relatively speaking.

The Miracle haven't won a championship since 1985, before they were a Twins affiliate (they were the Fort Myers Royals) and Mientkiewics was 11. Watching them play on Wednesday you could feel the desire.