And into the trash heap. The Dome ranked 26th of 30 venues for baseball. That seems high to me...

Sure, sure, Santana is a fine hitting pitcher, but c'mon!!!

I'm a huge Willie fan. In my opinion he's one of the finest songwriters and performers, ever, any genre.
Willie Nelson, Live in the 'Fresh Air' Studios : NPR Music

Harmon says he won't retract anything he's said about Daly.

New book on endangered foods divides the U.S. into 13 culinary "nations" named after characteristic foods. All in all, I'd rather be in Clambake, no, Crabcake, no, Gumbo Nation.

BCS chairman: "The BCS is in an unprecedented state of health. If you mean sick beyond all hope, I'm with you.

Nick Masset vs. Nick Blackburn

John Daly says Butch Harmon has apologized for (apparently) falsely accusing him of drinking at hospitality tent, which lead to Harmon severing ties with the troubled golfer.

Apparently, he granted Top Jimmy an interview. Ah, well, Joe's a nice guy. Too nice.

Nice win last night.

With the light beisbol schedule this week, I figured it would be a good time for a beer two-fer. Today's selection is the lovely "Grand Opening Ale" Hefeweizen from Sacramento Brewing Company.
The Sacramento Brewing Co. is a small, local producer. They operate two brewpub-restaurants in Sacramento as well as bottling a number of their [...]

Gavin "donotdenymyunicorn" Floyd vs. Boof Bonser
I'm not a big Gavin Floyd believer. Check out these projected ERAs:
5.30 -- PECOTA
5.87 -- ZiPS
5.56 -- CHONE
5.89 -- Bill James
5.44 -- Marcel
Pretty ugly, huh? Now let's look at Floyd's performance so far this season:
5.3 K/G, 4.6 BB/G, 34.2% GB%, 5.38 xFIP
So his xFIP to this point is [...]

I'd like to see the Twins win a couple here.

Short post for a short series, the Twins play two against the White Sox to begin the week. The White Sox come into this game on a ... well ... it's hard to explain, but they're not on a winning streak, or a losing streak. We won't be able to figure that one [...]

Note: this review was begun before sundown saturday last week, so TOTALLY kosher and stuff. After all day in the sun watching the daughter play futbol, there's nothing like a kick-butt doppelbock.
Commercial description: The classic German dark beer, bottom fermented Doppel Bock. 7.2 pct ABV. I paid $1.99 (on sale, regularly about $2.49, [...]

I just want to pinch Joe Sheehan's cheeks he's so cute right now, what with the schoolboy naiveté he put on display today:
Parity. The last few years have seen the spread between the best and worst teams in the game narrow considerably, as natural cycles of aging and unnatural wealth-redistribution mechanisms serve to bring the [...]

Why try to understand Arab culture or Islam? Attacking it is so much more fun.

So, today's an off day, and not the same way that Thursday and Sunday were off days. Some things I thought I would mention:
Matt Tolbert, Pumpkin
.455/.520/.500 -- Matt Tolbert, first 26 plate appearances
.179/.179/.250 -- Matt Tolbert, last 28 plate appearances
I know I emphasize the sample size thing a lot, but I imagine that casual [...]

A day off. Time to catch your breath.

[contributed by: Rhubarb_Runner]

Holy Cow!  The Life and Times of Halsey Hall

zooomx sez: was downloading some Trip Shakespeare songs and eventually ended up on You Tube and found this cool little promo for Dan Wilson's solo effort Free Life. As a huge Trip Shakespeare fan in the 80's and liking Semisonic a bit too, I really enjoyed the clip. Thought you might enjoy it.

Livan Hernandez vs. Vincente Padilla
No proper game intro as I spent too much time last night sweeping the street in front of my house after some lowlife decided it would be a good idea to smash a glass bottle and drive off. Real funny wiseguy(gal). ubelmann will not stand for broken glass in [...]

I really like a good Shiraz. Ever since my first experiences with wine, I have always gravitated towards a well made Shiraz. That being said, until last week, I have never had the opportunity to try a Shiraz from Grant Burge. This doesn't make much sense as Grant Burge is one of [...]

Rhu_Ru opines CLASSIC Eumir Deodato! Some tasty Nitschke. That guy was a kick-butt linebacker/philosopher.

Scott "Light Rail" Baker vs. "Sir" Sidney Ponson
A lot of folks look back and mock the Ponson Era. And certainly Sidney's girth makes him easily mockable. I thought it was a good move to sign him to a minor league deal and a ridiculous move to put him in the Opening Day rotation [...]

I am not sure what I did wrong, but the weather gods are obviously punishing me.

Shout out to davidwatts. His Nick Lowe pick was dead. So here's a cover version from Nashville's Lowe Numbers. From the tube: "as part of Nick Lowe "Jesus of Cool" tribute week. February 23, 2008."

and here's a vintage Nick Lowe cut. "Crackin' Up" from Top of the Pops, 1979.

Nick Blackburn vs. Kevin Millwood
Today would be a good day for Mr. Blackburn to keep that GB% above 50%.
I would like to think that this would be a good time for the offense to break out, but it's tough to take advantage of the hitter-friendly conditions in Arlington if you're not hitting fly balls. [...]

Restaurant quality pizza in your backyard? Why yes. Here's how to impress the neighbors and make some of the tastiest pizza you've ever eaten.
At first blush pizza seems like an unlikely candidate for the backyard grill. The dough alone is enough to scare of some of the heartiest grillmasters. But if you're a fan of [...]

More beautiful weather here in Minneapolis.

New Guy sez: once again I have found a song that I have fallen in love with. I don't really know much about her other than that she is from Sweden but is of Ethiopian descent."

Buried, then retrieved, jersey nets $175K for charity Could we trying burying the Twins' offense in concrete?

F-Sparkler vs. Greg Smith Unknown Lefty Destined To Dominate The Twins
A kitten dies every time you overanalyze a Francisco Liriano outing.

“kittens” by d u y g u, cc-licensed.
Now if we're all careful today, we can save a lot of kittens. Who's with me?

Big Hurt signs with Oakland, costs A's $337,000.

This makes sense. Allow prep-to-pros, but if you don't go, you have to stay in college until you have completed three years or are 21. Just like baseball.

Happy Birthday, BabySBG!

The lovely violinist takes a crack at the Zep classic. Joined by the inaugural winners of the Heavy Metal Grammy, Jethro Tull. (heh.) Suggested by Twayn (about 3 months ago.)

Is it better to have swung and lost than never to have swung at all and taken your free base?

Boof vs. Chad Gaudin
The early word is that Gomez is getting the day off in favor of Span in CF. Gomez has played all 20 games so far, and it's good for guys to get a breather every now and then. In addition, Chad Gaudin has a fairly big platoon split for his [...]

Ladies and Gentlemen: The Environment President.
I love it when the administration interprets legislative intent. It's like Bucky Katt is preznit or summat. "You can wordify anything, if you just verb it."

Did Tiger Woods injure his knee doing a fist pump?

Spurs making my pick of the Suns look bad.

[contributed by: Rhubarb_Runner]

2002 Homer Hanky

Ziggy Stardust, himself, 1973. Requested by another David, davidwatts. His favorite Bowie song from his favorite Bowie LP.

Johan Santana vs. Dan Haren
Oops.
Livan Hernandez vs. Joe Blanton
Well, that's certainly a ... a ... um ... heavier matchup.
Let's take a gander at how some of the Twins and A's have gotten off the starting line:
New Center Fielder
.318/.348/.409 -- Ryan Sweeney
.244/.262/.329 -- Carlos Gomez
New Third Baseman
.196/.344/.294 -- Jack Hannahan
.145/.186/.218 -- Mike Lamb
I guess that, technically [...]

Amazingly, the most interesting part of this box score is not that Kyle Lohse was batting ahead of a position player.

Ex-Knicks coach Thomas banned from contacting players as part of his reassignment agreement. If he meddles, I'm figuring he's fired with cause and that money the Knicks owe him will be forfeited.

It's Earth Day.

How much can they eat?

IP
Hungry, Hungry Hippo

27.0
Livan Hernandez

25.2
Scott Baker

25.1
Nick Blackburn

23.0
Boof Bonser

11.1
Brian Bass

But what does the food taste like?

xFIP
Hungry, Hungry Hippo

3.24
Scott Baker

3.99
Nick Blackburn

4.31
Livan Hernandez

4.39
Brian Bass

4.44
Boof Bonser

We interrupt Request Fest to say "Happy birfday, Glen!"

Wowza. "Footage of Glen waiting to shoot his video, Living in a House Full of Love, in Phoenix, circa 1990.

Raw milk enthusiast bares witness in CA Senate hearing

Kenton Keith was arrested outside Cloud 9 last night, which is the same bar Jamaal Tinsley got into a beef with the guys who shot at him and just down the street from the Stephen Jackson shooting.  I've got nothing else to add besides *rolls eyes*.

One down, 15 to go.

Request Fest Begins! Rhu_Ru sends this our way.

Last night I looked at the RZR(1) rankings in the AL, and when I saw Brendan Harris' name at the top of the pile, I scratched my head. (And then I realized that I scratched my head, which was kind of weird.)
So I looked a little deeper. By RZR's count, there were 30 [...]

Paul Byrd vs. Scott "Light Rail" Baker
Undoubtedly, we will hear a lot about how Byrd pitched well against the Twins last season. (It was the first thing that I thought of when I saw that Byrd was making the start today.) Over 4 starts, he threw 29 innings and had a 3.41 ERA. [...]

From the I Love Lucy TV show, 1958.

I'd like to start off by saying -- sorry I've been away so long. While others have done their fair share of heavy lifting (Ubelmann, Big Mak, Andrew, BrianS, E-6, The Wig, Zoomx, GreekHouse and others who I may have missed) I've been freeloading. I had big plans last summer for "OTG" and like a [...]

Jake Westbrook vs. Nick Blackburn
This game will be broadcast on FOX. I think I lucked out and it will be on in my region, but I'm not sure I'll be able to watch.
I'm having trouble getting very excited about any particular aspect of this team right now. Slowey is injured. Young, Gomez, [...]

I cannot wait for the NBA playoffs!

Live at The Cambridge Corn Exchange, 2004. For Ubelmann.

Cliff Lee vs. F-Bomb
Liriano supposedly made a great adjustment in the last bullpen that should help with his command. I'm not expecting any overnight miracles, though.
Cliff Lee has had an xFIP of about 5.50 the last two years--lots of fly balls, a below-average walk rate, and a mediocre strikeout rate. Of course, he's [...]

Thomas out as Knicks coach but will remain with organization. Donnie Walsh: "He will have no official title, but he will provide meaningful input." Not to mention collect a huge paycheck.

Thinks Wolves can win twenty more games as in twenty more than this year, not twenty total, in 2008-09 with this roster.

Six games into his major league career, Evan Longoria signs six year, $17.7 million contract. Rays can extend it to nine years, $44 million.

Josh Beckett on Manny Ramirez:
"He's pretty good, huh? Hopefully, he'll invite me to his Hall of Fame speech."

What's this? ESPN's Jim Baker writes an analysis piece and talks about EqA, replacement level and implies that park effects and overall offensive environments are important? We cannot have this! Get back into your mother's basement!

I love the dingy lucky hat. (from Left of Center Photo)
The Indians come to town for a weekend series after trading blowouts with the Tigers over the last two days (an 11-1 win yesterday, and a 13-2 loss on Wednesday). The Tribe currently sit at 6-10, with a 2-4 record on the road. [...]

As brutal as the NBA season was for Minnesota Timberwolves fans, there's no denying that the 2007-08 regular season was one for the ages. The West had, count 'em eight 50-win teams this year a record for one conference. The East isn't quite as deep (actually not by a long shot), but they [...]

Still some ice in my yard. (My alltime record as a homeowner is April 21, 1997.)

It's 12:34am local time, and I should be going to bed, but the Padres and Rockies have just started the top of the 20th inning--tied 1-1--in their game tonight.
Sweet play by Kouzmanoff to lead off the top of the 20th. It just seems weird to say that. Top of the 20th. [...]