"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do, I stare out the window and wait for spring." - Rogers Hornsby

:: Saturday, March 15, 2003 ::

Worrisome

This hasn't gotten that much headline play -- yet.

But there is apparently a mystery virus circulating in parts of Asia, causing flu- and pneumonia-like symptoms, and it has now apparently spread to places as wide apart as Germany and Canada; I'd guess through someone traveling by air.

Of course, you think terrorism here, and until this is identified, not that I'm trying to be a panicmonger, but this certainly bears watching.

We surely live in interesting times.

:: posted by Al at 8:07 PM [+] ::
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A Cloudy Day In Arizona

TEMPE, Arizona -- This day did not start out auspiciously.

I have been to Tempe Diablo several times. But it is kind of out of the way, and I have gotten lost before. So I decided to check the stadium website. The directions there were pretty worthless, so I got lost anyway. Then, despite being there 90 minutes early, there was a huge traffic jam. Evidently no one had told the Tempe police that a sellout crowd was expected.

OK, finally got in. Was going to check out the souvenirs but there was a constant line throughout the game, and even after the game, so I skipped it. I'll be back there on the 27th, when the crowd should be smaller. I was also pleased to find out that, like HoHoKam, Tempe Diablo has gone completely non-smoking.

This was a curious game. Kerry Wood was supposed to start but had a recurrence of the flu, so the Cubs decided to go with six relievers instead. Not a horrible idea, actually. Mark Guthrie, of all people, started, threw one inning, then gave way to Mike Remlinger, Will Cunnane, Felix ("I'm Not Jesus") Sanchez, Rob Stanifer and Joe Borowski. Everyone threw well except Stanifer, who has no chance of making this team anyway; he gave up a 2-run HR to Jeff Davanon, which proved to be the difference in the 4-3 loss.

The offense was totally stifled by Chris Bootcheck (who?); he gave up only a double to Hee Seop Choi and a walk to Bobby Hill in his five innings. After Troy Percival threw a scoreless sixth (isn't that odd to see Percival used that way?), the Cubs managed to break through against some of the Angels' "won't make the squad" squad. Of course, by then it was the Cub scrubs hitting.

I was puzzled as to why David Kelton suited up for this road game but did not play. After Bellhorn was pulled, Lenny Harris came in at 3B and Phil Hiatt at 1B. Now, Hiatt will probably be the 1B at Iowa this year, but why not put Harris at 1B and Kelton at 3B? Very strange.

Today's starting lineup -- Hill, Gonzalez, Sosa, Alou, Choi, Karros (DH), Patterson, Bellhorn, Miller -- is likely to be the opening day lineup. Smart move DH'ing Karros, to get him some AB's; he went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

Lenny Harris wound up batting with the tying and lead runs on base in the 9th and 2 out, which is a great situation for a guy like him. Even though he grounded out to end the game, he had a terrific 10-pitch at-bat, which is exactly what you'd like from a bench player in that situation. I'd like to see him make the team.

Human air-raid siren update: Not seen today, though the college frat guys sitting next to me were talking about him. I just shook my head.

For those of you who know me well, today was another first. I wore -- don't faint -- shorts to the game. This is an experiment. I may do it again, we'll have to see.

:: posted by Al at 5:35 PM [+] ::
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Shame on Texas Radio

A radio station in Houston has pulled the Dixie Chicks off the air after they criticized President Bush's war policy.

This is their prerogative, of course, but the scary part of it is that many of their listeners said it was "unpatriotic" to criticize the president.

Hello? Isn't that what this country is all about?

:: posted by Al at 6:29 PM [+] ::
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It Doesn't Get Better Than This

MESA, Arizona -- The entire day couldn't have been better (well, except it was cloudy. Yeah, I know, feel sorry for me), as the Cubs shut out the A's 3-0.

Carlos Zambrano was dominant. That's not easy to say in a spring training game, but he was. He allowed two doubles by former Cub farmhand Adam Melhuse (and the second hit high off the hitters' background in CF, and would have been a HR if it had been hit to the left or right), and a couple walks. What was even more impressive was his fielding, as he moved well off the mound for a slow roller, and he also started a neat 1-6-3 DP. In some ways physically, he reminded me of Rick Reuschel, the way he moved off the mound.

We're in good shape if this is our fourth starter.

Offense was provided by the first two batters of the game -- Patterson beat out an infield single and Gonzalez homered. The other run was scratched out on a single, two infield outs and another single.

Sometimes that's all you need. Mark Mulder was shaky for Oakland, but managed six innings.

Eric Karros made his spring debut and went 0-for-3, reached on an error. Despite the fact that this was a split-squad game, there were still wholesale lineup changes. Both Nic Jackson and Jackson Melian played even though they have officially been cut. Didn't get to see Kelton; I presume he played in Tucson.

Moises Alou looks in great shape, ran well in the field and hit two doubles.

The ballpark is still the same -- mediocre overpriced food, mediocre overpriced souvenirs, though I did find one T-shirt I liked, which I bought. The crowd was 9,511, about 3,000 short of a sellout, not surprising for a Friday. I was, however, quite pleased to note that the park has been made entirely non-smoking. The PA guy, who's been there as long as I've come to games in Mesa (nearly 20 years) was way behind, as usual, on the lineup changes and you can barely hear him in the outfield. A guy named John Hamilton entered the game in the 7th to play LF wearing #98, and one of the resident drunks harassed him for three innings. It was actually pretty funny -- comparing him to "Rudy" of Notre Dame fame.

Human air raid siren (Ronnie Woo Woo) watch: He showed up in the LF berm in about the fourth inning, played with his hula hoops with a kid and did NOT make any strange noises, then he left, for which I was grateful.

:: posted by Al at 5:50 PM [+] ::
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Greetings From Sunny Arizona!

Oh, man, is it beautiful here. And considering what's been going on in my family, which you all know about, the timing couldn't have been better. Strictly coincidental, I booked this flight quite some time ago.

Don't think me crass for coming here so soon after the funeral. Frankly, I think the best thing for the living is to live their lives, and remember those who have gone. That's what I'm doing.

I'll report on the Cubs split squad game vs. the A's in Mesa tomorrow. Today was an off day.

One news item I wanted to mention -- the censorship of the Rolling Stones for their concert tour in China. They have been told they cannot play Brown Sugar, Honky Tonk Woman, Beast of Burden and Let's Spend the Night Together.

They didn't play anything from "Some Girls" when I saw them in Chicago in January, so "Beast of Burden" was unlikely.

I wonder if they'll take a page from their 1967 appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show when he banned the Stones from doing that song, so they changed it to "Let's Spend Some Time Together".

:: posted by Al at 6:01 PM [+] ::
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A Few Notes

* My sister Ann's funeral will be today. Read her obituary here.

* The strike by the American Federation of Musicians that had shut down Broadway shows was settled yesterday, with a satisfactory agreement.

* My record in Cub radio-broadcast games continued almost uninterrupted, as I listened to the last two innings of the Cubs' 14-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals. There was very little good about this game. And although Denny Matthews has been a popular KC broadcaster since the beginning of the franchise, he's terrible.

* I'll be in Mesa to report on Friday's game.

:: posted by Al at 6:50 AM [+] ::
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IN LOVING MEMORY
Ann Yellon
December 20, 1960
March 10, 2003

My sister passed away last night after a long battle with metastatic breast cancer.

:: posted by Al at 4:45 AM [+] ::
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In Support Of Striking Broadway Musicians

Three days of Broadway shows have now been lost to a strike by Broadway show musicians, who are striking to try to stem the elimination of jobs to automation.

This is something many of us in the Directors Guild of America are only too familiar with. I'm in full support of the American Federation of Musicians, the union striking, as are IATSE, the stagehands union, and the members of Actors Equity, who also went out in support of the AFM. Said Bill Dennison of the AFM: "Conductors have lost control of the sound of the orchestra. It's now in the hands of a technician at a sound board."

The saddest thing about all of this are the people visiting New York who had only that one chance to see a Broadway show, who now get only a refund, and the many people who work at the restaurants and bars in and around the Broadway theater district, who are really hurting for business. It's estimated that those businesses are losing $7 million a day.

C'mon, theater producers. Settle this so that the show "The Producers" can go on.

:: posted by Al at 9:48 AM [+] ::
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It Worked Again...

Was unable to listen to anything but the last inning of the Cubs' 8-6 win over the A's today, and by then they had the lead for good.

Mark Prior again threw very well, and the offense provided by Hee Seop Choi (2 hits, 2 RBI) and Sammy Sosa (2-for-3) finally showed some signs of life.

Meanwhile, the Cubs' other split-squad beat the Padres 5-2. This game wasn't on radio at all, so listening was impossible. Corey Patterson hit a HR and went 3-for-3 in this game, and Juan Cruz threw three scoreless innings.

I think I've hit on something here, and since I can't stand listening to Ron Santo anyway... I'll just stick to postgame shows on the radio for this season.

The two wins even the spring record at 6-6.

:: posted by Al at 7:17 PM [+] ::
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