"When this postseason started, our magic number was eleven. Now we've got eight more to go."
-- Dodger Owner Frank McCourt
Need anything else be said?
I won't get to use my tickets tomorrow but hell, it was worth it.
2008-10-04
2008-10-03
Shamrock vs Slice + More From EXC
So, a lot is on the line for Elite XC tomorrow night with their latest CBS Prime Time special.
Obviously, their big meal tickets are Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano - so with both fighters in action tomorrow night, this show becomes very important - perhaps key - to their future as a company. There's been a lot of talk that they're bleeding money, big layoffs at the offices, and even some discussion of having to sell the company to save it. Showtime has been rumored as a possible suitor as has a merger with Affliction. But one thing is for sure, if they fail miserably tomorrow night, the offers may dry up completely.
The weigh-ins today seemed to have some excitement - sex and violence. First, the violence. Apparently, all hell broke loose when Kimbo turned his back on Shamrock instead of posing for the obligatory staredown. Shamrock reacted in typical Shamrock fashion, shoving Kimbo from behind and screaming, "Don't you turn your back on me!" or other such nonsense. I guess it serves the purpose of some last minute hype for the fight though. The sex was a lot more interesting though as Gina Carano failed to make weight yet again and was forced to strip down to not a stitch to eventually make the weight.
Awesome.
Anyways, the big deal is the Shamrock/Slice fight and it has obviously drawn some attention from casual fight fans. A few people who I would deem that have asked me about the fight in recent weeks. It's a freak show fight in all honesty that would surprise me if it's worth a damn. This isn't a fight designed to be a masterpiece - it's designed for some star power to collide and ultimately, they hope that it's a big name KO for Kimbo to make people forget the James Thompson debacle.
Hrm.
Shamrock is obviously not Shamrock from ten years ago but I can guarantee you that if Shamrock gets Kimbo down on the ground, he won't fail down there like James Thompson did. I don't think Shammy has what it takes anymore - and I think he'll make the big mistake of trying to stand and throw - so I'm pretty sure that Kimbo takes this one but... well, it may be more interesting than some people expect.
Oh, and Game 3 is on too.
Did someone say there was a fight happening tomorrow night? I suddenly lost interest.
Obviously, their big meal tickets are Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano - so with both fighters in action tomorrow night, this show becomes very important - perhaps key - to their future as a company. There's been a lot of talk that they're bleeding money, big layoffs at the offices, and even some discussion of having to sell the company to save it. Showtime has been rumored as a possible suitor as has a merger with Affliction. But one thing is for sure, if they fail miserably tomorrow night, the offers may dry up completely.
The weigh-ins today seemed to have some excitement - sex and violence. First, the violence. Apparently, all hell broke loose when Kimbo turned his back on Shamrock instead of posing for the obligatory staredown. Shamrock reacted in typical Shamrock fashion, shoving Kimbo from behind and screaming, "Don't you turn your back on me!" or other such nonsense. I guess it serves the purpose of some last minute hype for the fight though. The sex was a lot more interesting though as Gina Carano failed to make weight yet again and was forced to strip down to not a stitch to eventually make the weight.
Awesome.
Anyways, the big deal is the Shamrock/Slice fight and it has obviously drawn some attention from casual fight fans. A few people who I would deem that have asked me about the fight in recent weeks. It's a freak show fight in all honesty that would surprise me if it's worth a damn. This isn't a fight designed to be a masterpiece - it's designed for some star power to collide and ultimately, they hope that it's a big name KO for Kimbo to make people forget the James Thompson debacle.
Hrm.
Shamrock is obviously not Shamrock from ten years ago but I can guarantee you that if Shamrock gets Kimbo down on the ground, he won't fail down there like James Thompson did. I don't think Shammy has what it takes anymore - and I think he'll make the big mistake of trying to stand and throw - so I'm pretty sure that Kimbo takes this one but... well, it may be more interesting than some people expect.
Oh, and Game 3 is on too.
Did someone say there was a fight happening tomorrow night? I suddenly lost interest.
2008-10-02
Blue's Reviews: A Trio Of Musicals
Long-time readers of this blog have heard [read] it said before...
To quote my brother-in-law, I "have an affinity for musicals." I just can't help it. There's just something about an entire story presenting in the form of song that I just can't resist. I mean, you should have seen my face light up at the rumor yesterday that there may be a musical edition of Pushing Daisies down the road. Awesome.
Anyways, this is a long-delayed review so I decided to make it a super-sized one combining three separate reviews that I had intended on doing. I had planned on still doing them separately but then it occurred to me that since each was reviewing a musical - each in a different form - it would be kinda cool to mix them all into one. And thus, we arrive at this point in the road.
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
I talked a little bit about this in a post a couple of weeks ago but didn't even scratch the surface of how genius I thought this was. The backstory behind the creation of this is that Joss Whedon wrote it during the WGA Writer's Strike as a simple, inexpensive way to demonstrate that quality product could be made explicitly for the Internet - kinda a jab at the suits who didn't want to give the writers their due for Internet work because it was a "unproven field." It was initially released for free on the Internet and quickly gained a cult following - a Joss Whedon show gaining a cult following? Go figure! I knew I probably would love it because... well, I love Joss Whedon and his work... but somehow I kept managing to not get to see it. That finally changed a few weeks ago when the Missus and I both watched it on Hulu and were blown away.
You have to start with the cast because whether you want to admit it or not, the idea of Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion as opposing superheroes and villains is just so damn awesome, how can you not watch it? Add in Felicia Day who did just fine in her role as Penny, the unrequited love of Dr. Horrible's life, and you've got yourself a winning combination.
The plot is simple enough to follow but complex enough that after the 42 minutes of the "show," it leaves you wanting more. We've got Billy/Dr. Horrible shooting a video blog of himself and talking about wanting to join the Evil League of Evil - no, that's not a typo. He's been striving to join the League for a long time and is looking for the appropriate evil deed to gain entry. But Dr. Horrible is not your ordinary supervillain. He's in love. Penny is the apple of his eye - but she's never even noticed him despite their weekly visits to the same laundromat. Horrible is trying to make a freeze ray and hopes that his public theft of his final needed ingredient will gain the respect of Bad Horse, the leader of the League. From there, our story unfolds with the arrival of Horrible's arch-nemesis, Captain Hammer and hilarity ensues.
Until the end - which will likely knock the wind out of you and leave you cursing Joss Whedon a bit. But you'll have to admit the man knows how to rip a visceral emotional reaction out of you. And if you've seen the Buffy musical, you'll also have to admit he makes a damn fine, catchy-as-all-hell musical.
The best praise I can heap upon Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is that when it ends - you actually want a sequel. And as someone who has actually attended a "Once More With Feeling" [the Buffy musical] sing-along, I have to wonder if at some point, Dr. Horrible sing-alongs will become the norm.
From the land of Internet videos, we move on to the stage.
Wicked - Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, California - September 17, 2008
Rent Filmed Live On Broadway
Someone at work who knows I'm a huge Rent fan tipped me off about this. As some of you may be aware, my favorite stage musical just finished up its' Broadway run in September. In tribute to this, they taped the final two Rent performances and spliced the footage together to show the entire musical from start to finish. They also hyped that original Rent cast members would be involved as well. This was set up as a series of special screenings - $20 per ticket over a few nights. As a long time fan of Rent, I just had to check it out as I've always wished they would release all musicals in this fashion on DVD once they had hit the downslide of their run.
After seeing it, I was a little torn. On the plus side, they really did capture the feel of being in the building for the show. With the digital projection, the film was crystal clear and the sound was great. The editing was a little weird for me though. They opted to do a multi-camera shoot of it as opposed to just doing one stationary "wide shot" camera - which probably was the right decision as it allowed for zooming in on actors' expressions and the like but to someone who is used to the musical as it is, it was a little odd to see.
That being said - it was still Rent so I loved it. The music was great, the acting was solid. I thought the person playing Roger was one of the best I had seen in that role as most Rogers tend to get a little screamy at points but he always seemed in control of his voice. The rest of the cast was good enough - nothing super-impressive but it was good.
The biggest disappointment in this was the much-hyped appearance by the original cast who simply walked on stage and sang "Seasons Of Love" with the current cast. Nothing great at all. I guess it was kinda cool to see the old cast back on that stage but... eh, whatever. If you're going to see it for that reason, skip it. But if you've never seen Rent before, this is a decent way to get introduced to it. In the end though, I thought the experience fell a bit flat compared to seeing it on stage. It was better than nothing and I'm hopeful it gets released on DVD but given the choice, you should make an effort to see it on stage whenever the chance prevents itself.
Whew. Annnnnd I'm spent. Well, at least it'll get those rabid Blue fans who wanted this review to be done off my back.
To quote my brother-in-law, I "have an affinity for musicals." I just can't help it. There's just something about an entire story presenting in the form of song that I just can't resist. I mean, you should have seen my face light up at the rumor yesterday that there may be a musical edition of Pushing Daisies down the road. Awesome.
Anyways, this is a long-delayed review so I decided to make it a super-sized one combining three separate reviews that I had intended on doing. I had planned on still doing them separately but then it occurred to me that since each was reviewing a musical - each in a different form - it would be kinda cool to mix them all into one. And thus, we arrive at this point in the road.
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
I talked a little bit about this in a post a couple of weeks ago but didn't even scratch the surface of how genius I thought this was. The backstory behind the creation of this is that Joss Whedon wrote it during the WGA Writer's Strike as a simple, inexpensive way to demonstrate that quality product could be made explicitly for the Internet - kinda a jab at the suits who didn't want to give the writers their due for Internet work because it was a "unproven field." It was initially released for free on the Internet and quickly gained a cult following - a Joss Whedon show gaining a cult following? Go figure! I knew I probably would love it because... well, I love Joss Whedon and his work... but somehow I kept managing to not get to see it. That finally changed a few weeks ago when the Missus and I both watched it on Hulu and were blown away.
You have to start with the cast because whether you want to admit it or not, the idea of Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion as opposing superheroes and villains is just so damn awesome, how can you not watch it? Add in Felicia Day who did just fine in her role as Penny, the unrequited love of Dr. Horrible's life, and you've got yourself a winning combination.
The plot is simple enough to follow but complex enough that after the 42 minutes of the "show," it leaves you wanting more. We've got Billy/Dr. Horrible shooting a video blog of himself and talking about wanting to join the Evil League of Evil - no, that's not a typo. He's been striving to join the League for a long time and is looking for the appropriate evil deed to gain entry. But Dr. Horrible is not your ordinary supervillain. He's in love. Penny is the apple of his eye - but she's never even noticed him despite their weekly visits to the same laundromat. Horrible is trying to make a freeze ray and hopes that his public theft of his final needed ingredient will gain the respect of Bad Horse, the leader of the League. From there, our story unfolds with the arrival of Horrible's arch-nemesis, Captain Hammer and hilarity ensues.
Until the end - which will likely knock the wind out of you and leave you cursing Joss Whedon a bit. But you'll have to admit the man knows how to rip a visceral emotional reaction out of you. And if you've seen the Buffy musical, you'll also have to admit he makes a damn fine, catchy-as-all-hell musical.
The best praise I can heap upon Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is that when it ends - you actually want a sequel. And as someone who has actually attended a "Once More With Feeling" [the Buffy musical] sing-along, I have to wonder if at some point, Dr. Horrible sing-alongs will become the norm.
From the land of Internet videos, we move on to the stage.
Wicked - Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, California - September 17, 2008
For a long while now, the Missus and I have planned on going to see Wicked over at the Pantages before it wraps up its' run in a couple of months. So, when the opportunity presented itself to get some damn fine seats through Costco for her birthday, we decided to make the plunge. This was our second time seeing Wicked - the first being at the Orange County Performing Arts Center a couple of years ago. This version blew that one out of the water.
For those unaware, Wicked is the story of The Wizard Of Oz told through a slightly skewed point of view. As the marketing materials say, "A Lot Happened Before Dorothy Dropped In." The story actually leads up to that point and goes a little bit beyond it which creates a few plot conflicts for people who know The Wizard Of Oz - like those of us who remember it only being shown once a year on television on CBS as a child and waited every year for that showing - but if you can ignore the conflicts, you'll enjoy it just fine. The story is also loosely based on a novel - but in my opinion, this is one of the few instances where the movie/play/etc. FAR exceeds what the novel pulled off. In fact, the novel is high on my "Do Not Recommend" list. Don't read it thinking you'll like it because you liked the musical version.
Again, we'll start with the cast. There's three cast members in Wicked that need to not suck to successfully pull the show off. Glinda, Elphaba [the Wicked Witch... or is she?], and Fiyero. This particular cast hit two of those out of the park and... well, the other was okay. First, the bad. Derrick Williams just did not fly for me as Fiyero. The role of Fiyero is the spoiled rich kid who is used to having everything go his way as he "dances through life." But Williams just failed at expressing that to me. It also might have had something to do with the image of Fiyero in my mind. I always picture him as a long-haired, hippie type - something like "Sunshine" in Remember The Titans before he gets his hair cut. Derrick Williams was none of those things. It just didn't match up to what was in my head so that probably didn't help matters. His acting also seemed pretty shoddy to me.
The good? Teal Wicks as Elphaba was pretty good. Again, her acting didn't seem all that great at spots but her vocals were amazing. She constantly blew me away song after song - even songs that I don't particularly like in the show [of which there are several]. Her shining moment came at the end of the first act during Defying Gravity - which is, of course, the show's signature song. She was absolutely incredible during the song and during the last few seconds of the act when she's raised above the stage for the finale, she took it to a whole other level and really created a breathtaking moment. There were a sprinkling of wet eyes all around when the lights came up for intermission to be sure.
But the shining star by far in this production of Wicked is Erin Mackey as Glinda. And it wasn't the vocals - although those were nothing to sneeze at. But she had the character down pat. She WAS Glinda and really gave me a glimpse at how Kristin Chenowith must have been in that role. She had all the little things down so well. The hair toss-toss, the voice, the attitude - it was an incredible sight to see and she had the crowd in the palm of her hand every second that she was on stage. If you get a chance to see the show with her in it, do so - you will not be sorry.
As for the musical itself, Wicked is an interesting one for me. While there are songs in the show that I really love [Defying Gravity, For Good, Dancing Through Life] - the songs that I dislike, I STRONGLY dislike and won't even listen to when they come up on shuffle on my iPod. If you contrast that to Rent which has maybe one or two songs that I skip, Wicked comes up a bit short. I've never liked the start of the show as I think it builds too slowly and starts off flat with two numbers that don't do much. In fact, when I first saw the show, I thought I was going to hate it until Elphaba's "The Wizard And I" number. From there, they hit a strong patch from "What Is This Feeling" all the way through to the end of the first act with the exception of "Something Bad" and "A Sentimental Man" - although having Steve from Married With Children singing the latter seemed to add something to it that doesn't come across well on "tape." One of my other problems with Wicked is that it's top heavy. The second act only has two musical numbers that I really like which makes it come off flat. But it's paced faster so you really don't notice it too much.
All in all, this production of Wicked is very well done and with the amazing Pantages as its' home, you're doing yourself a disservice if you're a musical fan and you don't get down to Hollywood to check it out before the end of the run. Also, as a "sneak peek," the new season at the Pantages for 2009 looks awesome with runs of Phantom, Rent, Legally Blonde, Mamma Mia, and Grease among others. Add to that OCPAC getting Avenue Q next year and it should be a fun year for musical fans in SoCal.
And speaking of Rent...
Rent Filmed Live On Broadway
Someone at work who knows I'm a huge Rent fan tipped me off about this. As some of you may be aware, my favorite stage musical just finished up its' Broadway run in September. In tribute to this, they taped the final two Rent performances and spliced the footage together to show the entire musical from start to finish. They also hyped that original Rent cast members would be involved as well. This was set up as a series of special screenings - $20 per ticket over a few nights. As a long time fan of Rent, I just had to check it out as I've always wished they would release all musicals in this fashion on DVD once they had hit the downslide of their run.
After seeing it, I was a little torn. On the plus side, they really did capture the feel of being in the building for the show. With the digital projection, the film was crystal clear and the sound was great. The editing was a little weird for me though. They opted to do a multi-camera shoot of it as opposed to just doing one stationary "wide shot" camera - which probably was the right decision as it allowed for zooming in on actors' expressions and the like but to someone who is used to the musical as it is, it was a little odd to see.
That being said - it was still Rent so I loved it. The music was great, the acting was solid. I thought the person playing Roger was one of the best I had seen in that role as most Rogers tend to get a little screamy at points but he always seemed in control of his voice. The rest of the cast was good enough - nothing super-impressive but it was good.
The biggest disappointment in this was the much-hyped appearance by the original cast who simply walked on stage and sang "Seasons Of Love" with the current cast. Nothing great at all. I guess it was kinda cool to see the old cast back on that stage but... eh, whatever. If you're going to see it for that reason, skip it. But if you've never seen Rent before, this is a decent way to get introduced to it. In the end though, I thought the experience fell a bit flat compared to seeing it on stage. It was better than nothing and I'm hopeful it gets released on DVD but given the choice, you should make an effort to see it on stage whenever the chance prevents itself.
Whew. Annnnnd I'm spent. Well, at least it'll get those rabid Blue fans who wanted this review to be done off my back.
2008-10-01
Blue's Liveblog: NLDS Game One
The horrific economy yields its' first good news as I get sent home early from work because it's dead - just in time to watch the game. I paused it as soon as I walked through the door so I may be a little bit behind for the first few notes:
3:42 PM - Returned from the DL leadoff man Rafael Furcal is o-2 to start the game. That's a bad sign as I click pause once more to return to live action.
3:45 - Strike Three swinging. I'm not a believer in omens but - well, that one kind of speaks for itself if you believe in that kind of thing, no? Martin works a 3-2 count on a very close Ball 3.
3:47 - 1st Manny appearance draws boos from the Cubs fans. If he goes long with a runner on, he'll draw a lot more.
3:48 - Fuck. Cursed him. DP ball. I'll go shut up now.
3:53 - Jesus Christ, I love Tony Gwynn but he is shit on the mic. I'm sure he has tremendous insight to offer but his delivery is about as enthralling as listening to paint dry. It seems like Lowe is making a lot of pitches early but typical of modern sports announcers, they haven't mentioned it yet. He can't afford to make a lot of pitches while recovering from the flu. Just as I write that, he goes to 3-2 on the second straight hitter. That's not good.
3:58 - Walked the three hitter. Aramis Ramirez looking to make Lowe pay by drawing a 2-0 count early but Lowe induces the ground ball to get out of it safely. Still too many pitches for my liking but so far so good.
4:03 - Ethier draws a leadoff walk on another close call. Looks like the ump is calling a tight zone so far today. Loney up with a chance to get something going.
4:04 - Apparently Loney was 3rd in the league in GIDP this year. What a shitty stat. Between that and Kemp being close to [or setting?] the Dodger record for Ks, the young 'uns had some trying times this year. Loney pops up for the first out to bring up the aforementioned Kemp.
4:06 - Wow. The announcers just said it's "World Championship Or Bust" for the Cubs and their fans. Talk about getting looked over. I hope the Dodgers show a little more fire in their bellies for that kind of talk than the Lakers did in the Finals. Kemp flies out, Ethier still stuck at first. I talked last night about how the series might come down to taking advantage of situations when you had them. As Dewitt flies out, not budging someone who led off the inning with a walk is a perfect example of that.
4:11 - So, the NLDS is sponsored by Blackberry. With the tremendous MLB At Bat app for the iPhone, you would think they would've tried to get Apple to drop some coin. It'd make MLB look a little younger and hipper than the stodgy boring Blackberry does. It's one of those little things that keeps MLB behind the NFL and the NBA as the "cool" sports. Of course, the NBA had Hall And Oates perform at the All-Star Game in recent years so what the hell do I know? Linedrive single for Jim Edmonds with one out in the second for the first hit of the game. Fucking former Angels.
4:15 - Fuck me. Two-run shot by Mark DeRosa. Just barely fair but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades as Jesse "The Body" Ventura used to say. Cubs up 2-0 in the second is not the way the Dodgers wanted to get this thing going early. Lowe needs to bear down and not get rattled.
4:17 - Grrr. Don't let the opposing pitcher get a hit!
4:19 - Good lord. Fukodome with a fluke catch on Casey Blake's foul ball. Talk about curses. He almost tweaked his knee though doing it on one of those stupid baseline bullpens. Hey! Lou Pinella manages the Cubs! Who knew?
4:21 - Lowe battles to a 2-2 count. At least someone's working the count. Check swing gets to a full count for D-Lowe. Ball four! D-Lowe draws the walk - Dempster's third walk of the game.
Raffy threatens a running bunt for Strike One. Might not be a bad idea with no outs but with one, I'm not sure I'd sacrifice an out at this point.
4:23 - Wooo! Up and in on Raffy. Another full count. Beautiful camera shot of Martin on deck with an amazing sky in the background. Ball four puts Raffy on to put two one with one out with Martin and Manny up next.
4:25 - LOOK OUT! Martin almost gets popped on a bunt attempt - and then misses a pitch outside. Manny gets the benefit of the awesome camera shot this time. It's one of those shots that probably wouldn't look all that great in standard def but is absolutely gorgeous in HD. Count draws even on a pitch that almost snuck past Soto. Dempster hits the 50 pitch mark which makes me wonder how the Cubs 'pen is.
4:28 - Martin takes him deep but just misses it. Soriano tracks it down on the warning track which prompts an obscenity from me. Manny gets another chance to make an offensive impact with runners on first and second with two outs.
4:29 - Two up and in pitches on Manny. Dempster's a bit wild this inning. Infield single for Manny loads 'em up for Ethier. Come on, Andre!
4:32 - Ethier works the count to 2-2. The announcers are talking about the big difference for Andre since Manny showed up. Of course, most of that was with Andre hitting in front of Manny, not behind him. Full count. Payoff pitch on the way.
4:33 - Strike 3 swinging. Missed opportunity #2. Hey! An iPhone commercial! This one is telling you how great the iPhone is as a gaming platform - whoops! It's actually an iPod Touch commercial. First time I've seen that one.
4:35 - Caught up with the live feed so this should be "right" the rest of the way. A hard ground ball by Fukudome is gobbled up by Dewitt for the first out. The Cubs sure aren't a soft hitting team. Almost every ball has been hit hard - even the outs. Now it's D-Lowe with some wildness, drawing a full count on Lee. Too many pitches.
4:38 - Lowe needs a quick groundball here to get out of the inning. He can't keep throwing this many pitches. Send Greg Maddux out there to talk to him!
4:39 - And there's my double play groundball. Nice job, D-Lowe.
4:40 - Blackberry commercial advertising how awesome it is. Trust me, it's not. I just like the physical keyboard. Everything else falls way short of the iPhone in my oh-so-humble opinion. Viagra commercial advertising how awesome it is. Trust me, it's- errr, I mean... uhhh... not that I... it's this guy that I know who... hey! Captain Morgan commercial!
4:42 - Time for a beer. Be right back.
4:43 - Thanks for waiting! With a Red Stripe in hand, I feel much more "off work." Loney flies out to Soriano for the first out. Soriano did some kind of a little hop when he caught the ball. Has he always done that? Kemp grounds out weakly on an 0-2 count. MLB Record: 3,852 Reg. Season Wins between Torre and Pinella for the biggest combined total ever for two opposing postseason managers. How 'bout that?
4:45 - Dewitt with a blooper for the Dodgers' second hit of the game. Casey Blake up with two outs to try and get something going. Dempster seems a little more on target in this inning. The announcers points out the Dodgers have 4 LOB already in the game. Thanks - I wasn't aware. Shit. Blake lines out to end the inning. I guess we'll call that a missed opportunity but with two outs, they probably weren't likely to do much.
4:48 - Kutcher commercial for the Nikon D60. I've been thinking about buying a digital SLR in the near future but I'd hate to tell people that I researched the camera because the guy from Punk'd used it to hit on bridesmaids.
4:49 - Another snazzy HD shot or two as they come back from commercial. I just can't tell people enough how much I love sports in HD. I talked to someone recently though who said that the over-the-air HD is even better. I find that hard to believe. At what point does the signal just get so good that our eyes can't tell the difference anymore? The announcers chat about the Angels/Sox series. Personally, I'll believe the Angels can beat the Sox in the postseason when I see it. Nothing has proven they can yet. Speaking of Angels, Edmonds goes down on strikes on a check swing third strike.
4:53 - Oh joy. Replay of the homerun. Awesome. They haven't mentioned how many pitches Lowe has made yet. I hate sports announcers not named Vin Scully anymore. DeRosa singles up the middle to give the Cubs a runner with two outs. Base hit to right by Theriot puts two on with two outs with Dempster at the plate.
4:55 - Dempster chases two out of the zone to get the Dodgers out of the inning. Thank god.
5:01 - 3-0 count to Raffy with one out. He takes a high strike - a very high strike. So much for squeezing the zone. Ball four on a pitch I thought was closer than the high strike. Oh well. It all evens out, I suppose. Raffy with a walk to give Martin and Manny a shot to get things going for the Blue Crew.
5:04: 3-0 count to Martin. They need to be careful here. This could be a very key at-bat. Another high strike to put the count at 3-1. Martin flies out. Sigh. Not deep enough to advance a runner again. That brings up Manny with two outs and a runner on again. I can't figure out why Manny wears a mouthpiece. I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone in baseball wear one before. Two strikes brings the crowd to their feet. High fastball - Manny doesn't go for it. Foul ball to keep the count 1-2.
5:07 - A lot of pressure on Manny. He's got to know that Dodger fans have a lot of their hopes riding on his shoulders. Another high fastball that he ignores. 2-2. Another high fastball to take the count full. Pinella apparently has told a "sideline reporter" that this is the worst control Dempster's had all year. Great. I hate hearing stats like that when the Dodgers aren't taking advantage of it. Ball four inside to put Manny on and put Ethier in the pressure spot again. Manny with a great at-bat to draw the walk.
5:09 - And if there's a lot of pressure on Manny, Ethier must be feeling it too. Two at-bats in a row, he's found himself in a tight spot. Dempster has thrown 99 pitches so far. The 100th pitch is inside for a ball. 2-1 count for Ethier. He carried the team through the late part of the year and they could use a little magic from him now. 3-1 count with Loney on deck. The announcers speculate that Dempster's pitching around Ethier to get to Loney. Ball four on three walks. That makes seven walks for the game for Dempster. Seven walks and the Dodgers don't have a run yet.
5:12 - Being at Wrigley Field always brings Harry Caray memories to mind and as Harry would say, "The sacks are bulging" as Loney steps up and misses the first pitch badly. Loney needs to do something badly here. 0-2 count. Just barely got a piece of a third pitch to stay alive. If Loney strikes out on three pitches, I bet Nomar gets the start in game 2.
5:14 - Very high fastball almost gets away. 1-2 count. DEEEEEEEEEEEEP! GRAND SLAM!!!
Holy shit! That's the beauty of the liveblog. One moment you're sending someone to the bench and the next you want to be there to hug the shit out of them. Thank god for the windy Wrigley sky! It's the 3rd grand slam in Dodgers postseason history. Kemp slaps one into the alley for a stand-up double. And here comes the hook. Dempster's night is over in the top of the fifth inning.
5:19 - Announcers talking about walks "tempting the baseball Gods." Sounds good to me. By the way, the salami was to center field too. It seemed to hang in the air forever. 2-2 count to Dewitt with two outs. He strikes out to end the inning but as Mr. Scully would say, "The damage has been done." A two run lead in the middle of the fifth. Now the pressure on the pitching staff becomes even greater. Oh, and I guess we'll find out how the Cubs' pen is.
5:24 - Torre being interviewed. Nothing really of note. He likes Lowe being out there with his experience, big at-bat for Manny, yadda. Casey Blake takes a liner off the body for an error. Bad scoring, IMO. Fukudome on first with one out and Lee at the plate. Lowe goes over the first a couple times to keep him close. This is a dangerous situation with Lee and Ramirez coming up. Pitchout but no activity.
5:26 - Lowe goes to first again. The announcers talk about the number of GIDPs for Lee. We could use another groundball here to get out of this inning and leave Aramis stranded on deck. 1-2 count to Lee as he takes a big cut. Another throw to first. Lowe's really worried about the runner apparently. Low and outside to take the count to two and two. Like I said, a dangerous situation.
5:28 - YES! DP hopper to short! Good job, D-Lowe! Earn that big contract coming your way in the winter, baby! Dodgers holding on to the 4-2 lead moving in to the Top of the Sixth.
5:30 - I was just checking my Google Reader during the commercial and saw some Laker news from training camp. I totally had forgotten that training camp was opening. It's interesting as a fan of both teams to see where your loyalties shift when the seasons collide. Obviously, my focus won't be on the Lakers as long as the Dodgers are in the postseason just as my focus is never really solely on the Dodgers until after May or June most seasons. But it is night to have the ability to say things like, "I can't wait for (insert team here) season to begin" as opposed to "Wait til next year."
5:33 - 3-0 count to Lowe draws some boos from the Cubbie faithful. Ball four puts Lowe on for the eighth walk by the Cubs' pitching staff of the night. Split-screen shot of Zambrano and Chad Billingsley. It's gonna be a big night for Chad tomorrow and I have every confidence he's going to show the talent that has made me root so hard for him every since his initial call up. Raffy almost gets plunked as the count moves to 2-0. Jason Marquis up in the 'pen. It's always interesting to see how a starter will do when coming out of the bullpen.
5:35 - Sarcastic cheer from the fans on Strike One. I wonder how long of a leash Raffy will have in this series. He hasn't played badly tonight but Angel Berroa was fantastic during the last month or so of the season. Also, with Nomar on the bench, Raffy has to feel the pressure a bit. He strikes out for the second out of the inning to bring up Martin with a runner on first.
5:38 - Martin hits the ball hard but right to Soriano for the third out. Bottom of the sixth coming up.
5:42 - A leadoff double by Aramis Ramirez off the ivy in center just shows how important that DP ball was in the last inning. But a man in scoring position with no outs puts Lowe in another dangerous situation. He'll need to work carefully. Cory Wade gets up to throw in the Dodgers' pen as Lowe falls to 2-0 to Soto. Martin and Honeycutt to the mound to try and settle Lowe - and probably to buy some time for Wade to get heated up in case they need him. Beautiful blimp shot during the mound conference of the stadium.
5:44 - Lowe looks a little tired as they show him settling back in on the mound. The flu might have sapped some stamina from him. Strike one to Soto with Edmonds on deck. Strike two with a low fastball. Strike three! Very big at-bat there for Lowe. He's still got to be on his game with the tying run at the plate with every hitter in this inning though. Jim Edmonds steps in 1 for 2 on the night looking to get the Cubs even in a hurry.
5:46 - Lowe calls Martin to the mound. That was interesting. The announcers are talking about Saito being the planned closer if they get to that point tonight with Broxton as the setup man. 2-0 count to Edmonds with DeRosa on deck. I don't like this at all. I'm very nervous right now. Lowe steps off the mound again. He and Martin are having trouble working together at the moment. Strike One to Edmonds on the outside corner. Grounder to second for the first out as Ramirez moves over to third on the play.
5:47 - DeRosa up as the tying run. 92 pitches for Lowe is finally shown as an on-screen graphic that the announcers ignore. Not horrible for the second. Whew. Ethier catches a fly ball to end the inning. Again, great pitching by D-Lowe to cling to that 4-2 lead and strand a runner a third.
5:49 - Wow. Commercial for Appaloosa with the quote "It's a classic in the vein of Unforgiven." That's damn high praise. Anyone seen it yet? I'm eager to check it out ASAP after that soundbite.
5:51 - With Manny, Ethier, and Loney coming up, I'd feel a lot better with some more runs on the board. Still a lot of baseball left to play in this game. Manny fouls one off his foot and walks it off. He's still not back in the box yet. Now, he settles in with an 0-2 count. Closeup of Manny's helmet which looks even more disgusting in HD. GONNNNNNE! MANNY SOLO SHOT! I was just about to comment on how there was an article in the Times that credited Manny with earning the Dodgers about 7.5 million dollars in revenue in his short stay. His negotiations are going to be very interesting. Hey, Manny - don't forget that guy who wanted his picture with you on his wedding day. Remember when he showed you the cufflinks made of Dodger Stadium seats? Yeah. We know that's why you want to stay. Give us the hometown discount for it!
5:55 - Ethier goes down quietly. Loney up with one out and an 0-2 count. And my beer is finally gone. Be right back!
5:56 - Red Stripe #2 is ready! Loney out as well. Kemp up with a 1-1 count and two outs. The announcers are still talking about Manny. It's hard not to. The guy is just amazing. From his performance on the field to the effect he's had off the field on the team's chemistry. Just amazing. Kemp Ks to end the inning. Well, I'll take the one run extra, I suppose!
6:01 - Cory Wade in to pitch to replace Lowe. Now I'm really nervous. There was a great story about Wade I saw in the past couple of days where he talked about how he never would have dreamed he'd be pitching in October this year. He was scheduled to start the season at Double A, I believe. You've gotta love a story like that. Kid, you're there now and it's VERY VERY important that you don't stink today! Have at it.
6:03 - Another replay of the Manny homer. How the fuck did he do that? He bent over and golfed that one. Amazing. Hard single to center for... some guy... he was pinch-hitting for the pitcher. That brings up Soriano with a runner on and one out. Wade would do well to channel some D-Lowe magic and get a groundball here. 0-2 count on Soriano. Broxton's throwing in the 'pen to presumably get ready for the eighth inning to follow the Torre plan of Broxton to Saito. Popup by Soriano for the second out.
6:06 - Fukudome up. Wade's making me nervous because a lot of his pitches are ending up in the zone. You make a mistake high with some guys in the Cubs lineup and you'll be searching the streets outside Wrigley for the ball. Wade nips the corner to get to a 2-2 count. Much better pitches there and he strikes him out with a low pitch. Heading into the eighth with a 5-2 lead.
6:08 - I fucking hate "Frank TV." I've never seen it - I don't want to ever see it. But I fucking hate it. I hated it when they showed tons of commercials for it during the NBA playoffs and I'm going to hate it even more if they're going to show them during the MLB playoffs too. Lots of financial broker ads right now. Have they missed the news that no one has any money to invest at the moment?
6:12 - Jeff Samardzija in for the Cubs - a great baseball Scrablle name by the way. He was throwing some heat until Dewitt bashed one off the ivy for a leadoff triple. Beautiful. More runs, guys. Add some more. Jeff "Mr. Personality" Kent on deck to bat for Cory Wade as Casey Blake looks to get the run home. Almost thrown away in a wild pitch. Soto's been awesome to keep the ball in front of him all night on some very tough pitches to handle. Closeup right there of the Wrigley lights - remember when they played all their games during the day? Good times. Another ball in the dirt that Soto has to save.
6:14 - Casey Blake grounds one up the middle to bring home Dewitt and make it 6-2 for the Boys In Blue. Nice piece of hitting. Kent comes up with the chance to add on to that. Kent grounds into a weird double play. Figures. Wasn't he involved in that stupid two guys tagged out at home against the Mets too? Raffy comes up 0 for 2. He needs a hit here to get himself on track. 2-2 count. Soriano catches a sailing fly ball on the warning track for the third out. Welp, here comes Johnny B. Goode.
6:22 - Johnny's in to bring the heat. Berroa in at second as a defensive replacement. Broxton hits 96 on the gun with his second pitch to take the count to 1-1. He tries to nibble and misses the black. 97 inside makes Lee swing through it. Berroa gobbles up a ground ball for the first out. The crowd is silent. Camera shot of the announcers. Ron Darling looks just like he always did. Tony Gwynn looks fat. Which means he looks just like he always did too.
6:25 - Johnny goes inside with a 99 mph fastball. That's enough to leave a puddle in the batters box. Rising fastball gets chased by Aramis. Flyball out for the second out. Broxton looks sharp so far as Soto comes up to the plate. Announcers are discussing how Saito is not an automatic lock to pitch the ninth since Torre doesn't know if he can use him in back-to-back games yet. Would Broxton get a chance to go two innings? That's a little scary since that makes him tough to use tomorrow if you need him too. No one else is warming or I would think maybe Kershaw or Maddux was a possibility to close. Broxton walks Soto. Raffy gets the signal to go in to talk to Broxton to buy Saito time to warm up. So much for that discussion.
6:28 - Edmonds at the plate with a runner on first and two outs. Wheeew. Very close foul ball in left field. Just barely missed the chalk. That would have scored one because Manny is... well, Manny. Probably would've left Edmonds at third too. 0-2 count annnnnnnnd... Edmonds sends one deeeeeeeep - CAUGHT! Kemp catches it on the track for the third out. That was too close. Broxton's been making me nervous for several weeks now. I wonder if the closing duties [and his fat ass] have worn him down a little bit late in the season. It could become a factor at some point.
6:34 - Marquis finally comes in to face Martin, Manny, and Ethier. Saito is heating up. Is it wrong that I still have butterflies? HOME RUN FOR MARTIN! Solo shot to lead off the inning and that's good to see as he's been struggling a bit.
6:35 - Second beer is gone! Be right back!
6:36 - Red Stripe #3 says hello! The announcers claim they've never heard Wrigley Field this quiet. Maddux joins Saito in the 'pen. Torre's reading my blog! Heeeeeey Joe! Where you goin' with that gun in yo' hand? Strike three to Manny gets some cheers from the Chicago crowd. Ethier steps in with no pressure on him. That's gotta be nice. This ump takes a long time to call the ball/strike. I wonder if it's the same guy Vinny was bitching about last week. Ethier unloads... but Edmonds pulls it in on the warning track for the second out.
6:39 - Loney up to the plate 1 for 4 - and of course, we know the 1. They showed a shot of the dugout during a grand slam replay and Martin did some crazy overjoyed leap that made me giggle just now. Loney grounds out for the third out and - here comes Maddux! This should be... interesting. Hang tight, Dodger fans!
6:41 - I just realized they didn't even mention who sang during the Seventh Inning Stretch. Ridiculous. That's one of those classic Wrigley moments that deserves to be seen and a commercial or two could (and should) be sacrificed for it.
6:43 - So, if Maddux does well in relief, he might be able to pitch until he's 60. Quick 0-2 count to DeRosa. Ron Darling sounds like he's watching his hero and makes the comment that when he pitched against the Professor, "I was playing checkers while he was playing chess." Awesome. Even as bad as Maddux has pitched with the Dodgers, you have to like your chances when Greg Maddux takes the mound for your squad. DeRosa is fighting off a few pitches though to stay alive. Maddux isn't going to overpower anyone. Close one called a ball to make it a full count. Grounder to Furcal for out #1.
6:46 - Maddux just looks so effortless out there. Loney leaps to knock down a line drive and they almost beat Theriot to first. Maddux missed the bag [according to the replay] and Theriot is safe at first with one out.
6:47 - Darryle Ward is hitting? DARRYLE WARD?! Where the hell did they find him? He grounds out to first. Theriot advances to third after stealing second. Saito back up to throw again - just in case. Soriano comes up with a runner on third and two outs. The Sox and Angels are up next. I'll probably watch some/most of that until the premiere of Pushing Daisies comes on.
6:49 - Loney catches a looper from Soriano - and the Cub fans boo. Ungrateful fucks. But the important thing is the Dodgers take Game One of the NLDS.
Did you catch that?
The Dodgers take Game One of the NLDS! WOOOOOOO!
3:42 PM - Returned from the DL leadoff man Rafael Furcal is o-2 to start the game. That's a bad sign as I click pause once more to return to live action.
3:45 - Strike Three swinging. I'm not a believer in omens but - well, that one kind of speaks for itself if you believe in that kind of thing, no? Martin works a 3-2 count on a very close Ball 3.
3:47 - 1st Manny appearance draws boos from the Cubs fans. If he goes long with a runner on, he'll draw a lot more.
3:48 - Fuck. Cursed him. DP ball. I'll go shut up now.
3:53 - Jesus Christ, I love Tony Gwynn but he is shit on the mic. I'm sure he has tremendous insight to offer but his delivery is about as enthralling as listening to paint dry. It seems like Lowe is making a lot of pitches early but typical of modern sports announcers, they haven't mentioned it yet. He can't afford to make a lot of pitches while recovering from the flu. Just as I write that, he goes to 3-2 on the second straight hitter. That's not good.
3:58 - Walked the three hitter. Aramis Ramirez looking to make Lowe pay by drawing a 2-0 count early but Lowe induces the ground ball to get out of it safely. Still too many pitches for my liking but so far so good.
4:03 - Ethier draws a leadoff walk on another close call. Looks like the ump is calling a tight zone so far today. Loney up with a chance to get something going.
4:04 - Apparently Loney was 3rd in the league in GIDP this year. What a shitty stat. Between that and Kemp being close to [or setting?] the Dodger record for Ks, the young 'uns had some trying times this year. Loney pops up for the first out to bring up the aforementioned Kemp.
4:06 - Wow. The announcers just said it's "World Championship Or Bust" for the Cubs and their fans. Talk about getting looked over. I hope the Dodgers show a little more fire in their bellies for that kind of talk than the Lakers did in the Finals. Kemp flies out, Ethier still stuck at first. I talked last night about how the series might come down to taking advantage of situations when you had them. As Dewitt flies out, not budging someone who led off the inning with a walk is a perfect example of that.
4:11 - So, the NLDS is sponsored by Blackberry. With the tremendous MLB At Bat app for the iPhone, you would think they would've tried to get Apple to drop some coin. It'd make MLB look a little younger and hipper than the stodgy boring Blackberry does. It's one of those little things that keeps MLB behind the NFL and the NBA as the "cool" sports. Of course, the NBA had Hall And Oates perform at the All-Star Game in recent years so what the hell do I know? Linedrive single for Jim Edmonds with one out in the second for the first hit of the game. Fucking former Angels.
4:15 - Fuck me. Two-run shot by Mark DeRosa. Just barely fair but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades as Jesse "The Body" Ventura used to say. Cubs up 2-0 in the second is not the way the Dodgers wanted to get this thing going early. Lowe needs to bear down and not get rattled.
4:17 - Grrr. Don't let the opposing pitcher get a hit!
4:19 - Good lord. Fukodome with a fluke catch on Casey Blake's foul ball. Talk about curses. He almost tweaked his knee though doing it on one of those stupid baseline bullpens. Hey! Lou Pinella manages the Cubs! Who knew?
4:21 - Lowe battles to a 2-2 count. At least someone's working the count. Check swing gets to a full count for D-Lowe. Ball four! D-Lowe draws the walk - Dempster's third walk of the game.
Raffy threatens a running bunt for Strike One. Might not be a bad idea with no outs but with one, I'm not sure I'd sacrifice an out at this point.
4:23 - Wooo! Up and in on Raffy. Another full count. Beautiful camera shot of Martin on deck with an amazing sky in the background. Ball four puts Raffy on to put two one with one out with Martin and Manny up next.
4:25 - LOOK OUT! Martin almost gets popped on a bunt attempt - and then misses a pitch outside. Manny gets the benefit of the awesome camera shot this time. It's one of those shots that probably wouldn't look all that great in standard def but is absolutely gorgeous in HD. Count draws even on a pitch that almost snuck past Soto. Dempster hits the 50 pitch mark which makes me wonder how the Cubs 'pen is.
4:28 - Martin takes him deep but just misses it. Soriano tracks it down on the warning track which prompts an obscenity from me. Manny gets another chance to make an offensive impact with runners on first and second with two outs.
4:29 - Two up and in pitches on Manny. Dempster's a bit wild this inning. Infield single for Manny loads 'em up for Ethier. Come on, Andre!
4:32 - Ethier works the count to 2-2. The announcers are talking about the big difference for Andre since Manny showed up. Of course, most of that was with Andre hitting in front of Manny, not behind him. Full count. Payoff pitch on the way.
4:33 - Strike 3 swinging. Missed opportunity #2. Hey! An iPhone commercial! This one is telling you how great the iPhone is as a gaming platform - whoops! It's actually an iPod Touch commercial. First time I've seen that one.
4:35 - Caught up with the live feed so this should be "right" the rest of the way. A hard ground ball by Fukudome is gobbled up by Dewitt for the first out. The Cubs sure aren't a soft hitting team. Almost every ball has been hit hard - even the outs. Now it's D-Lowe with some wildness, drawing a full count on Lee. Too many pitches.
4:38 - Lowe needs a quick groundball here to get out of the inning. He can't keep throwing this many pitches. Send Greg Maddux out there to talk to him!
4:39 - And there's my double play groundball. Nice job, D-Lowe.
4:40 - Blackberry commercial advertising how awesome it is. Trust me, it's not. I just like the physical keyboard. Everything else falls way short of the iPhone in my oh-so-humble opinion. Viagra commercial advertising how awesome it is. Trust me, it's- errr, I mean... uhhh... not that I... it's this guy that I know who... hey! Captain Morgan commercial!
4:42 - Time for a beer. Be right back.
4:43 - Thanks for waiting! With a Red Stripe in hand, I feel much more "off work." Loney flies out to Soriano for the first out. Soriano did some kind of a little hop when he caught the ball. Has he always done that? Kemp grounds out weakly on an 0-2 count. MLB Record: 3,852 Reg. Season Wins between Torre and Pinella for the biggest combined total ever for two opposing postseason managers. How 'bout that?
4:45 - Dewitt with a blooper for the Dodgers' second hit of the game. Casey Blake up with two outs to try and get something going. Dempster seems a little more on target in this inning. The announcers points out the Dodgers have 4 LOB already in the game. Thanks - I wasn't aware. Shit. Blake lines out to end the inning. I guess we'll call that a missed opportunity but with two outs, they probably weren't likely to do much.
4:48 - Kutcher commercial for the Nikon D60. I've been thinking about buying a digital SLR in the near future but I'd hate to tell people that I researched the camera because the guy from Punk'd used it to hit on bridesmaids.
4:49 - Another snazzy HD shot or two as they come back from commercial. I just can't tell people enough how much I love sports in HD. I talked to someone recently though who said that the over-the-air HD is even better. I find that hard to believe. At what point does the signal just get so good that our eyes can't tell the difference anymore? The announcers chat about the Angels/Sox series. Personally, I'll believe the Angels can beat the Sox in the postseason when I see it. Nothing has proven they can yet. Speaking of Angels, Edmonds goes down on strikes on a check swing third strike.
4:53 - Oh joy. Replay of the homerun. Awesome. They haven't mentioned how many pitches Lowe has made yet. I hate sports announcers not named Vin Scully anymore. DeRosa singles up the middle to give the Cubs a runner with two outs. Base hit to right by Theriot puts two on with two outs with Dempster at the plate.
4:55 - Dempster chases two out of the zone to get the Dodgers out of the inning. Thank god.
5:01 - 3-0 count to Raffy with one out. He takes a high strike - a very high strike. So much for squeezing the zone. Ball four on a pitch I thought was closer than the high strike. Oh well. It all evens out, I suppose. Raffy with a walk to give Martin and Manny a shot to get things going for the Blue Crew.
5:04: 3-0 count to Martin. They need to be careful here. This could be a very key at-bat. Another high strike to put the count at 3-1. Martin flies out. Sigh. Not deep enough to advance a runner again. That brings up Manny with two outs and a runner on again. I can't figure out why Manny wears a mouthpiece. I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone in baseball wear one before. Two strikes brings the crowd to their feet. High fastball - Manny doesn't go for it. Foul ball to keep the count 1-2.
5:07 - A lot of pressure on Manny. He's got to know that Dodger fans have a lot of their hopes riding on his shoulders. Another high fastball that he ignores. 2-2. Another high fastball to take the count full. Pinella apparently has told a "sideline reporter" that this is the worst control Dempster's had all year. Great. I hate hearing stats like that when the Dodgers aren't taking advantage of it. Ball four inside to put Manny on and put Ethier in the pressure spot again. Manny with a great at-bat to draw the walk.
5:09 - And if there's a lot of pressure on Manny, Ethier must be feeling it too. Two at-bats in a row, he's found himself in a tight spot. Dempster has thrown 99 pitches so far. The 100th pitch is inside for a ball. 2-1 count for Ethier. He carried the team through the late part of the year and they could use a little magic from him now. 3-1 count with Loney on deck. The announcers speculate that Dempster's pitching around Ethier to get to Loney. Ball four on three walks. That makes seven walks for the game for Dempster. Seven walks and the Dodgers don't have a run yet.
5:12 - Being at Wrigley Field always brings Harry Caray memories to mind and as Harry would say, "The sacks are bulging" as Loney steps up and misses the first pitch badly. Loney needs to do something badly here. 0-2 count. Just barely got a piece of a third pitch to stay alive. If Loney strikes out on three pitches, I bet Nomar gets the start in game 2.
5:14 - Very high fastball almost gets away. 1-2 count. DEEEEEEEEEEEEP! GRAND SLAM!!!
Holy shit! That's the beauty of the liveblog. One moment you're sending someone to the bench and the next you want to be there to hug the shit out of them. Thank god for the windy Wrigley sky! It's the 3rd grand slam in Dodgers postseason history. Kemp slaps one into the alley for a stand-up double. And here comes the hook. Dempster's night is over in the top of the fifth inning.
5:19 - Announcers talking about walks "tempting the baseball Gods." Sounds good to me. By the way, the salami was to center field too. It seemed to hang in the air forever. 2-2 count to Dewitt with two outs. He strikes out to end the inning but as Mr. Scully would say, "The damage has been done." A two run lead in the middle of the fifth. Now the pressure on the pitching staff becomes even greater. Oh, and I guess we'll find out how the Cubs' pen is.
5:24 - Torre being interviewed. Nothing really of note. He likes Lowe being out there with his experience, big at-bat for Manny, yadda. Casey Blake takes a liner off the body for an error. Bad scoring, IMO. Fukudome on first with one out and Lee at the plate. Lowe goes over the first a couple times to keep him close. This is a dangerous situation with Lee and Ramirez coming up. Pitchout but no activity.
5:26 - Lowe goes to first again. The announcers talk about the number of GIDPs for Lee. We could use another groundball here to get out of this inning and leave Aramis stranded on deck. 1-2 count to Lee as he takes a big cut. Another throw to first. Lowe's really worried about the runner apparently. Low and outside to take the count to two and two. Like I said, a dangerous situation.
5:28 - YES! DP hopper to short! Good job, D-Lowe! Earn that big contract coming your way in the winter, baby! Dodgers holding on to the 4-2 lead moving in to the Top of the Sixth.
5:30 - I was just checking my Google Reader during the commercial and saw some Laker news from training camp. I totally had forgotten that training camp was opening. It's interesting as a fan of both teams to see where your loyalties shift when the seasons collide. Obviously, my focus won't be on the Lakers as long as the Dodgers are in the postseason just as my focus is never really solely on the Dodgers until after May or June most seasons. But it is night to have the ability to say things like, "I can't wait for (insert team here) season to begin" as opposed to "Wait til next year."
5:33 - 3-0 count to Lowe draws some boos from the Cubbie faithful. Ball four puts Lowe on for the eighth walk by the Cubs' pitching staff of the night. Split-screen shot of Zambrano and Chad Billingsley. It's gonna be a big night for Chad tomorrow and I have every confidence he's going to show the talent that has made me root so hard for him every since his initial call up. Raffy almost gets plunked as the count moves to 2-0. Jason Marquis up in the 'pen. It's always interesting to see how a starter will do when coming out of the bullpen.
5:35 - Sarcastic cheer from the fans on Strike One. I wonder how long of a leash Raffy will have in this series. He hasn't played badly tonight but Angel Berroa was fantastic during the last month or so of the season. Also, with Nomar on the bench, Raffy has to feel the pressure a bit. He strikes out for the second out of the inning to bring up Martin with a runner on first.
5:38 - Martin hits the ball hard but right to Soriano for the third out. Bottom of the sixth coming up.
5:42 - A leadoff double by Aramis Ramirez off the ivy in center just shows how important that DP ball was in the last inning. But a man in scoring position with no outs puts Lowe in another dangerous situation. He'll need to work carefully. Cory Wade gets up to throw in the Dodgers' pen as Lowe falls to 2-0 to Soto. Martin and Honeycutt to the mound to try and settle Lowe - and probably to buy some time for Wade to get heated up in case they need him. Beautiful blimp shot during the mound conference of the stadium.
5:44 - Lowe looks a little tired as they show him settling back in on the mound. The flu might have sapped some stamina from him. Strike one to Soto with Edmonds on deck. Strike two with a low fastball. Strike three! Very big at-bat there for Lowe. He's still got to be on his game with the tying run at the plate with every hitter in this inning though. Jim Edmonds steps in 1 for 2 on the night looking to get the Cubs even in a hurry.
5:46 - Lowe calls Martin to the mound. That was interesting. The announcers are talking about Saito being the planned closer if they get to that point tonight with Broxton as the setup man. 2-0 count to Edmonds with DeRosa on deck. I don't like this at all. I'm very nervous right now. Lowe steps off the mound again. He and Martin are having trouble working together at the moment. Strike One to Edmonds on the outside corner. Grounder to second for the first out as Ramirez moves over to third on the play.
5:47 - DeRosa up as the tying run. 92 pitches for Lowe is finally shown as an on-screen graphic that the announcers ignore. Not horrible for the second. Whew. Ethier catches a fly ball to end the inning. Again, great pitching by D-Lowe to cling to that 4-2 lead and strand a runner a third.
5:49 - Wow. Commercial for Appaloosa with the quote "It's a classic in the vein of Unforgiven." That's damn high praise. Anyone seen it yet? I'm eager to check it out ASAP after that soundbite.
5:51 - With Manny, Ethier, and Loney coming up, I'd feel a lot better with some more runs on the board. Still a lot of baseball left to play in this game. Manny fouls one off his foot and walks it off. He's still not back in the box yet. Now, he settles in with an 0-2 count. Closeup of Manny's helmet which looks even more disgusting in HD. GONNNNNNE! MANNY SOLO SHOT! I was just about to comment on how there was an article in the Times that credited Manny with earning the Dodgers about 7.5 million dollars in revenue in his short stay. His negotiations are going to be very interesting. Hey, Manny - don't forget that guy who wanted his picture with you on his wedding day. Remember when he showed you the cufflinks made of Dodger Stadium seats? Yeah. We know that's why you want to stay. Give us the hometown discount for it!
5:55 - Ethier goes down quietly. Loney up with one out and an 0-2 count. And my beer is finally gone. Be right back!
5:56 - Red Stripe #2 is ready! Loney out as well. Kemp up with a 1-1 count and two outs. The announcers are still talking about Manny. It's hard not to. The guy is just amazing. From his performance on the field to the effect he's had off the field on the team's chemistry. Just amazing. Kemp Ks to end the inning. Well, I'll take the one run extra, I suppose!
6:01 - Cory Wade in to pitch to replace Lowe. Now I'm really nervous. There was a great story about Wade I saw in the past couple of days where he talked about how he never would have dreamed he'd be pitching in October this year. He was scheduled to start the season at Double A, I believe. You've gotta love a story like that. Kid, you're there now and it's VERY VERY important that you don't stink today! Have at it.
6:03 - Another replay of the Manny homer. How the fuck did he do that? He bent over and golfed that one. Amazing. Hard single to center for... some guy... he was pinch-hitting for the pitcher. That brings up Soriano with a runner on and one out. Wade would do well to channel some D-Lowe magic and get a groundball here. 0-2 count on Soriano. Broxton's throwing in the 'pen to presumably get ready for the eighth inning to follow the Torre plan of Broxton to Saito. Popup by Soriano for the second out.
6:06 - Fukudome up. Wade's making me nervous because a lot of his pitches are ending up in the zone. You make a mistake high with some guys in the Cubs lineup and you'll be searching the streets outside Wrigley for the ball. Wade nips the corner to get to a 2-2 count. Much better pitches there and he strikes him out with a low pitch. Heading into the eighth with a 5-2 lead.
6:08 - I fucking hate "Frank TV." I've never seen it - I don't want to ever see it. But I fucking hate it. I hated it when they showed tons of commercials for it during the NBA playoffs and I'm going to hate it even more if they're going to show them during the MLB playoffs too. Lots of financial broker ads right now. Have they missed the news that no one has any money to invest at the moment?
6:12 - Jeff Samardzija in for the Cubs - a great baseball Scrablle name by the way. He was throwing some heat until Dewitt bashed one off the ivy for a leadoff triple. Beautiful. More runs, guys. Add some more. Jeff "Mr. Personality" Kent on deck to bat for Cory Wade as Casey Blake looks to get the run home. Almost thrown away in a wild pitch. Soto's been awesome to keep the ball in front of him all night on some very tough pitches to handle. Closeup right there of the Wrigley lights - remember when they played all their games during the day? Good times. Another ball in the dirt that Soto has to save.
6:14 - Casey Blake grounds one up the middle to bring home Dewitt and make it 6-2 for the Boys In Blue. Nice piece of hitting. Kent comes up with the chance to add on to that. Kent grounds into a weird double play. Figures. Wasn't he involved in that stupid two guys tagged out at home against the Mets too? Raffy comes up 0 for 2. He needs a hit here to get himself on track. 2-2 count. Soriano catches a sailing fly ball on the warning track for the third out. Welp, here comes Johnny B. Goode.
6:22 - Johnny's in to bring the heat. Berroa in at second as a defensive replacement. Broxton hits 96 on the gun with his second pitch to take the count to 1-1. He tries to nibble and misses the black. 97 inside makes Lee swing through it. Berroa gobbles up a ground ball for the first out. The crowd is silent. Camera shot of the announcers. Ron Darling looks just like he always did. Tony Gwynn looks fat. Which means he looks just like he always did too.
6:25 - Johnny goes inside with a 99 mph fastball. That's enough to leave a puddle in the batters box. Rising fastball gets chased by Aramis. Flyball out for the second out. Broxton looks sharp so far as Soto comes up to the plate. Announcers are discussing how Saito is not an automatic lock to pitch the ninth since Torre doesn't know if he can use him in back-to-back games yet. Would Broxton get a chance to go two innings? That's a little scary since that makes him tough to use tomorrow if you need him too. No one else is warming or I would think maybe Kershaw or Maddux was a possibility to close. Broxton walks Soto. Raffy gets the signal to go in to talk to Broxton to buy Saito time to warm up. So much for that discussion.
6:28 - Edmonds at the plate with a runner on first and two outs. Wheeew. Very close foul ball in left field. Just barely missed the chalk. That would have scored one because Manny is... well, Manny. Probably would've left Edmonds at third too. 0-2 count annnnnnnnd... Edmonds sends one deeeeeeeep - CAUGHT! Kemp catches it on the track for the third out. That was too close. Broxton's been making me nervous for several weeks now. I wonder if the closing duties [and his fat ass] have worn him down a little bit late in the season. It could become a factor at some point.
6:34 - Marquis finally comes in to face Martin, Manny, and Ethier. Saito is heating up. Is it wrong that I still have butterflies? HOME RUN FOR MARTIN! Solo shot to lead off the inning and that's good to see as he's been struggling a bit.
6:35 - Second beer is gone! Be right back!
6:36 - Red Stripe #3 says hello! The announcers claim they've never heard Wrigley Field this quiet. Maddux joins Saito in the 'pen. Torre's reading my blog! Heeeeeey Joe! Where you goin' with that gun in yo' hand? Strike three to Manny gets some cheers from the Chicago crowd. Ethier steps in with no pressure on him. That's gotta be nice. This ump takes a long time to call the ball/strike. I wonder if it's the same guy Vinny was bitching about last week. Ethier unloads... but Edmonds pulls it in on the warning track for the second out.
6:39 - Loney up to the plate 1 for 4 - and of course, we know the 1. They showed a shot of the dugout during a grand slam replay and Martin did some crazy overjoyed leap that made me giggle just now. Loney grounds out for the third out and - here comes Maddux! This should be... interesting. Hang tight, Dodger fans!
6:41 - I just realized they didn't even mention who sang during the Seventh Inning Stretch. Ridiculous. That's one of those classic Wrigley moments that deserves to be seen and a commercial or two could (and should) be sacrificed for it.
6:43 - So, if Maddux does well in relief, he might be able to pitch until he's 60. Quick 0-2 count to DeRosa. Ron Darling sounds like he's watching his hero and makes the comment that when he pitched against the Professor, "I was playing checkers while he was playing chess." Awesome. Even as bad as Maddux has pitched with the Dodgers, you have to like your chances when Greg Maddux takes the mound for your squad. DeRosa is fighting off a few pitches though to stay alive. Maddux isn't going to overpower anyone. Close one called a ball to make it a full count. Grounder to Furcal for out #1.
6:46 - Maddux just looks so effortless out there. Loney leaps to knock down a line drive and they almost beat Theriot to first. Maddux missed the bag [according to the replay] and Theriot is safe at first with one out.
6:47 - Darryle Ward is hitting? DARRYLE WARD?! Where the hell did they find him? He grounds out to first. Theriot advances to third after stealing second. Saito back up to throw again - just in case. Soriano comes up with a runner on third and two outs. The Sox and Angels are up next. I'll probably watch some/most of that until the premiere of Pushing Daisies comes on.
6:49 - Loney catches a looper from Soriano - and the Cub fans boo. Ungrateful fucks. But the important thing is the Dodgers take Game One of the NLDS.
Did you catch that?
The Dodgers take Game One of the NLDS! WOOOOOOO!
2008-09-30
It's Go Time
Welp, much to my dismay, I was unable to get anyone to cover my shift tomorrow at work so I'll be slaving away for "the man" when I should be at home, kicked back watching the game. I'm going to attempt to avoid hearing anything about the game - but I'm sure that'll be pretty much impossible since I work until 8:30... a full 2 and a half hours after the game will likely be over. But I'll be sending as many good vibrations as possible to my boys in Blue as they battle the Cubbies in Chi-Town.
The key to the series is pitching. Both teams have good pitching so it'll be important to take advantage of the chances you get on offense and to avoid big mistakes on defense.
Timingwise, the key is taking one of the games in Chicago. Losing both would put them in a deep hole to try and dig out of. You manage to "steal one" in Chicago, you put yourself in position to hold serve and win the series. That's gotta be the goal at minimum.
The odds are long. Almost every so-called expert out there is picking the Cubs to win and win handily. But I've heard that before.
20 years before to be exact.
I know this'll sound familiar to fans of this blog but... well, it's gotta be said.
You've gotta believe, baby. You've gotta believe.
The key to the series is pitching. Both teams have good pitching so it'll be important to take advantage of the chances you get on offense and to avoid big mistakes on defense.
Timingwise, the key is taking one of the games in Chicago. Losing both would put them in a deep hole to try and dig out of. You manage to "steal one" in Chicago, you put yourself in position to hold serve and win the series. That's gotta be the goal at minimum.
The odds are long. Almost every so-called expert out there is picking the Cubs to win and win handily. But I've heard that before.
20 years before to be exact.
I know this'll sound familiar to fans of this blog but... well, it's gotta be said.
You've gotta believe, baby. You've gotta believe.
2008-09-29
"Wait, wait - I've got it. There's this cat, ya dig? And he's a ninja!"
I'm not a big cat person. It could be my Mom's obsession with them ever since my dog died. It could be my aunts having three cats that I actually liked die from feline leukemia when I was younger. Maybe it's that fucking beast that belonged to my friend Brian's mom that jumped on my arms and clawed the shit out of them years ago.
Anyways, I'm not a big cat person. But I'll be damned if this wasn't just too awesome not to share. I came across it on a podcast that I subscribe to but I can't remember which one.
Enjoy!
Anyways, I'm not a big cat person. But I'll be damned if this wasn't just too awesome not to share. I came across it on a podcast that I subscribe to but I can't remember which one.
Enjoy!
2008-09-28
The Creative Process: Uh oh
The Creative Process went off track majorly this week. You may recall earlier in the week when I mentioned how I had two days off to write - well, I ended up working both days and as I approach my tenth consecutive day working, I've barely had time to write on here let alone work on the screenplay.
But here's a twist I didn't see coming - a two-part twist in fact.
First, I did actually manage to start the new screenplay before I was asked to cover for a sick co-worker. I was about three pages deep into it, writing a scene that I had played over and over in my head for weeks when I believe the following words came out of my mouth...
"Wow, this really sucks."
Not the idea, mind you, or the scene itself. But the dialogue was horrible. So much so in fact that I pondered making the opening sequence silent (an idea I still think might work.) So, Twist #1 saw me glaring painfully at the words I had written and thinking about restarting it from scratch.
And then the second twist occurred.
Annoyed, angry, irritated, upset, frustrated, sickened - all would be good words to toss in here about how I felt as I was driving to work and thinking about what I had written when something popped into my brain.
The novel idea I had mentioned previously. And I suddenly started wondering if I could turn that into a screenplay instead since I really liked the idea. And the more I started thinking about the idea, the more I liked it. And the more I liked it, the more I kept thinking about it and how I could evolve it.
And then I thought of something else I had seen recently which gave me a whole new way to tackle this idea.
And now?
Now, I sit here wondering if my decision between two screenplay ideas just got bushwhacked by a third - a dark horse if you weeeeeel - that might turn out better than either of the others at this particular moment in time.
I have two days off this week - maybe three if I make someone cover for me so I can watch Game One on Wednesday.
The plot, once more, thickens. Stay tuned.
But here's a twist I didn't see coming - a two-part twist in fact.
First, I did actually manage to start the new screenplay before I was asked to cover for a sick co-worker. I was about three pages deep into it, writing a scene that I had played over and over in my head for weeks when I believe the following words came out of my mouth...
"Wow, this really sucks."
Not the idea, mind you, or the scene itself. But the dialogue was horrible. So much so in fact that I pondered making the opening sequence silent (an idea I still think might work.) So, Twist #1 saw me glaring painfully at the words I had written and thinking about restarting it from scratch.
And then the second twist occurred.
Annoyed, angry, irritated, upset, frustrated, sickened - all would be good words to toss in here about how I felt as I was driving to work and thinking about what I had written when something popped into my brain.
The novel idea I had mentioned previously. And I suddenly started wondering if I could turn that into a screenplay instead since I really liked the idea. And the more I started thinking about the idea, the more I liked it. And the more I liked it, the more I kept thinking about it and how I could evolve it.
And then I thought of something else I had seen recently which gave me a whole new way to tackle this idea.
And now?
Now, I sit here wondering if my decision between two screenplay ideas just got bushwhacked by a third - a dark horse if you weeeeeel - that might turn out better than either of the others at this particular moment in time.
I have two days off this week - maybe three if I make someone cover for me so I can watch Game One on Wednesday.
The plot, once more, thickens. Stay tuned.
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