>>(even bigger snip)
>>
>>>>Much as I'm not really a huge Jeter fan, I've always liked the same thing about him. He goes about his work. He's not going to degrade his sport. Of course, I'm discounting that time about five years ago when he was caught with a bottle of Flinstone vitamins.
>>>
>>>;-)
>>>
>>>>
>>>>The commissioner should have turned him to rubble for that one.
>>>
>>>Groan!!!!
>>
>>I am deeply sorry.
>>
>>Another win for the Brewers last night. Another low-scoring affair, 3-1 over the Dodgers. They have now won 19 of their last 21 games to open up a seven game lead over the Cardinals in the NL Central. (Eerily, this hot streak has coincided exactly with my time in St. Louis, as though I am human kryptonite delivered to the Cardinals). For quite a while they were doing it with hitting. Now they're doing it with pitching. They have given up five runs in their last six games. I read somewhere that going back the last 40 games or so they have an even better team ERA than the Giants and Phillies. They do not have a better staff than either of those teams but the guys they have are really clicking. You have followed baseball long enough to know winning is contagious. And so is team spirit, as corny as that sounds. These guys are having fun. When you're in Wisconsin, as I have been a lot this year, you get the local news, the kind of up close and personal stuff that wouldn't be cool enough for school in NYC, Philly, Chicago, or Dallas. We're all friends and nice people here, ya? -- that is the prevailing atmosphere. And you quickly realize this is a nice group of players.
>>
>>It's one of the reasons I hope against hope that Prince Fielder will choose to stick around, even though the accepted wisdom for a long time has been that the Brewers can't afford to re-sign him given baseball's salary cap and the long term contracts they have already locked in. He is having a career year in his walk year so is perfectly positioned to strike it rich with one of the usual suspects. No one, including Prince, is saying much about it during the season -- kudos. The romantic side of me hopes he stays. Here is a nice picture --
>>
>>http://www.blackcelebkids.com/2011/07/13/prince-fielder-celebrates-mvp-win-with-his-kids/
>>
>>We all know that photo could be taken in any number of cities in any number of uniforms. He has been having a terrific season and has been part of my enjoyment of the Brewers season.
>>
>>The guy I really like on the Brewers is Ryan Braun. I was following him from when he was a high first round draft pick. The Brewers brought him up in late May, to evade the conventions of modern bonus baby contracts (you qualify for free agency a year later), and he made his first major league appearance against the Diamondbacks there and also hit his first MLB tome run. I took my daughters to his first home game, Memorial Day weekend, arriving late due to construction traffic and getting into the stadium just as he took his first at-bat. We watched from behind the primo seats halfway down the first line, an understanding usher exchanging unspoken looks with me that we could stay to watch from there as long as we didn't overstay our price of admission. Braun swung mightily on the last pitch of that at-bat and struck out. After we moved to our real seats, much higher up, he grounded into a double play and struck out two more times, stranding the potential winning runs twice. By his fourth at-bat the fans were booing. Welcome to the big leagues, kid. The Brewers manager had inserted him into the lineup as the #3 hitter -- he's going to be there anyway, the manager said, so we may as well start that way -- so the expectations were enormous.
>>
>>Things got better from there. Braun started hitting and wound up named the National League rookie of the year. He hasn't stopped hitting since and is already a perennial fan favorite in All-Star voting. If the last quarter of this season goes the way the first three quarters have he will win his first MVP award. He is near the top of every NL stat worth mentioning and his team is poised to move on.
>>
>>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Braun
>
>Talk about booing... When Vernon Wells was here, he spent an entire season being roundly booed because he was having a lousy year, in spite of the fact of his many great years in Toronto. So he got traded to the Angels and everybody was happy to see him go. First game back in Toronto, he gets a standing ovation and cheers go on and on. Game on, and his first at bat he hits the long ball. Nothing but boos for the rest of the game.
>
>Ya gotta love this game.

LOL. True.

Following up on the earlier discussion, did you know that Sandy Koufax's birth name was Sanford Braun? It was changed when his mom remarried. That last name must be a good marker for baseball talent.

My life has been so boring the past four weeks. Which is not such a bad thing. I do my work and come "home" to the residential hotel. If there is a social scene at work I have not been invited to join it. Almost everyone splits when their appointed minute arrives, and many of them arrive earlier and work shorter hours than me. When I walk out to the parking lot there are only a dozen or two cars left in it. Next week it should become slightly more congenial. One of the managers at work divorced earlier this year and is renting out the two spare bedrooms in her house. A new employee -- quite nice, a college soccer player -- is already living in one of them and I will be living in the basement. It did not come furnished so I spent the early part of this week shopping for a bed and frame and arranging for its delivery. And explaining to my girlfriend that she doesn't need to be concerned about me living in a Three's Company arrangement, LOL. Good luck with that one, even when you are completely innocent. I was just looking for a (much) cheaper place to stay. It's not fancy but isn't too far from work and in a nice middle class suburb, Florissant. There is a big back yard and a running path down by the creek which I intend to use. I have my books and my studies. Life is good.