Here I am, trying to buck the recent trend of Game Log previews. Enough of the Donald Judd/Carl Andre/Richard Serra stuff already!

First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 Central, 4:05 Left Coast.
Probables:
Scottie Baker (4.28 xFIP, 115 tRA+, 1.20 WHIP, .389 SLGA, 123:39 K:BB in 153.67 innings) vs.
Cliff "Cy Young" Lee (3.64 xFIP, 165 tRA+, 1.06 [...]

Last Wednesday, I met up with Will Young (no relation to Delmon) in Chicago to see the USA take on Trinidad & Tobago in a qualifier for the 2010 World Cup.  The car I was in got to Toyota Park about 15 minutes after the parking lot opened.  We were about the 10th car there. [...]

Before the Hold Steady were deemed the world's greatest bar band, these gentleman wore the crown at a rakishly, drunken angle. Two-fer-one: First up, a rare ballad. Twins fans take note. 2001.

Rawking in Tallahassee, 2000. The Club is Open.

FWIW, lead-singer Bob Pollard was a star HS athlete in Dayton, OH and later pitched a no-hitter for Wright State University.

No, I'm not counseling Statfreak to take a Xanax before the next game -- although that might be good for his heart I'm talking light beers that I would actually drink. Session beers for everyone!!!!

It was beastly hot out here in the Sactown area last week. But the topper was bonding time with Mrs. S: hanging art on the wall cutout in our stairwell. There's nothing quite like hanging wall art to build up a thirst.
You'd think that drilling four holes and putting in four wood screws would [...]

It's grilling season here on the Left Coast. Actually, it's almost always grilling season here. So, it's Summer grilling season. And what better to go with smokey, charred, grilled meats than a smokey beer?
Today's featured beer is the lovely, refreshing and elegantly smokey Spezial Rauchbier from Brauerei Spezial in Bamberg, Germany.
Spezial is the oldest [...]

Andrew chats with cheaptoy in the latest edition of Better Know a Citizen.

Now, I know that I'm something of a pollyanna when it comes to beer reviews. I like a lot of beer and nearly every style is "one of my favorites". So I'll understand if some of you are getting a boy-who-cried-wolf sort of feeling when I tell you that this beer is really good.
If you [...]

Pabst is bringing back Schlitz Beer.
It's the beer that made Milwaukee famous. Now Schlitz is making the city nostalgic.
That beer with the old-time mystique is back on shelves in bottles of its original formula in the city where it was first brewed more than a century and a half ago.
Schlitz was the top-selling beer for [...]

Traveling the world in a bottle -- to bring better beer to the Nation. Tonight's offering hails from Poland: Kiper ("pronounced "Keeper"" I'm sure the American ad men had a hand in that) bock. 11.2 oz. bottle, $4.99 for a 4-pack from Bevmo in evil green bottles. It also sells as Kiper Mocne according to the good folks at Ratebeer.

Product of the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, TX, this is a beautiful, ebony lager ($7.99 for a sixpack at my Bevmo) in the Schwarzbier tradition. It pours black with a bubbly tan head that leaves light lacing. The nose is full of molasses, licorice, coffee and darkly roasted malts.

But don't let the nose fool you. This is a lager, not a stout.

I'm in a mello mood, perfect for a nice, refreshing hefeweizen. Today's selection: Georg Schneider's Wiesen Edel-Weisse, von Private Weissbier Brauerei G. Schneider & Sohn.

The label trumpets this as "USDA Organic". w00t. As you can see from the pic, it pours a slightly cloudy, golden color with a fluffy white head that dissipates quickly with little lacing. The aroma is slight spicy, with bready and light lemon/citrus notes.

I do it all for you, Nation, out of love
This is what happens when the wife leaves town.

Ok, I haven't been a George Will fanboy for almost 20 years, but all is forgiven. George has tapped the public consciousness with this foam-at-the-mouth column.

A reminder why slab construction has been such a disaster for the quality of life in America: no place to cellar your beer.

It's gotta be better than Dazzle bobbleheads (or Mauer's adhesive sideburns), right? Found this at the end of davidwatts link about the cheapest stadium beers. "Allo, Cleveland!"

I bet the keeper is pissed.

This should be all you need to know.

Pre-game edition. Today's Paper of Record had a very nice review article on Bitters/English Pale Ales. Which was almost enough to get me to turn around and review the Greene King Abbot Ale I've been eying for about 3 weeks (and one of Eric Asimov's featured ales in today's article). But I couldn't help myself [...]

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 [...]

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, [...]

This week's selection is the "Hen's Tooth" Bottle-Conditioned English Ale from Morland (Greene King). Greene King is a fast-growing, integrated pub-operating and brewing firm in England, responsible for such well known keg brands as Greene King IPA, Abbot Ale, Old Speckled Hen and Ruddles County. Established in 1799 by the great-grandfather of writer Graham Greene [...]

There's nothing like a little sh!t-talk to get the competitive juices flowing. And with zooomx bringin' the heat lately, I had to respond. My aim here is to provide occasional (once every week or two), short reviews of notable beers. None of that "gulp and ignore" stuff around here.
Today's inaugural offering is the Pyramid Imperial [...]

I was planning a holiday photo essay, but words may have to do, as the camera is heading out of town with Mrs. S and the kids. As a newly minted burro-crat, I don't rate any vacation time yet.
So I'm staying home to work, work, work. I'll be slaving away at the office, Bob [...]

Name: brianS
Hometown: Spamtown USA.
Town I Currently Live In: Warehouse City, NorCal
Profession: edge-a-kater
Bats: right. although I hit almost as well lefty in slow-pitch
Throws: right. but I throw a football better lefty.
Positions: mostly first base. I also pitched in "yoot" baseball.
Greatest Career Achievement in Baseball/Softball/T-ball: Drove in the winning runs in bottom-of-last-at bats in an intramural
softball playoff [...]

Twins baseball in Queens. Woot! And at a stadium NOT named after some damned corporate sponsor. Old school. Kind of like Casey Stengel.

After last night's thrilling victory, let's hope that the Jackal can repeat his last outing. I'm in no mood to see any apples popping out of hats tonight. So keep it down, Carlos!

Atlanta is a fine town in many ways. I'm sure it's a nice place to live. As a beer destination, it's kinda boring, however. The city sprawls. Thankfully, MARTA can get you to a lot of places. Here's one list to get you started on a serious pub crawl. Better yet, see if you can [...]

Intro to Philosophy in 4 minutes. Live at the Hollywood Bowl. [This entry rates one chile pepper for language, in the first minute--bS]

Something you want to see? Call the request line.

In my continuing endeavor to educate SBG's palate away from BudMilloors UltraLiteIceDry, I bring you another installment of Barley Pops and Hop Hits.
Sure, the Nats are visiting the Dome, but I don't care. This is about beer in the DC area. And any beer tour of the planned community of L'Enfant Town has to include [...]

Welcome to a new, occasional feature, "Barley Pops and Hop Hits".
I won't make any attempt to compete with banjo's masterful On the Grill feature here. Instead, my goal will be offer a small foray into the foamier side of baseball fandom in each city.
The Twins open a series tonight in Anaheim, home of the [...]