The scorpion in my kitchen ceiling light is still kicking, though there's no food up there and I can't imagine he'll hang on for long. Even then, he's just going to sit up there and I'll get to look at his dead carcass for a while.
Game 19: Ace Matchup
Gibson (3-0, 0.93) vs. Price (2-1, 4.39)
I think its safe to call Gibson the ace of this "staff" at the 11% point of the season after three good outings, with that last one being pretty stupendous. It may have been somewhat smoke and mirrors, since he's not striking out a whole lot of guys at 4.7/9, so hopefully we aren't looking at a Blackburn type of situation. I don't think that is the case, but I'm not the most optimistic of sports fans. I mentioned it last night in the CoC, but if Gibson can keep this going the starters for next year might be halfway competent, which would be nice.
His poor opponent is David Price, who recently got knocked around by the punchless Yankees, who are just 22nd in runs scored, but, like, top 5 in dollars per run scored (possibly as high as #2 behind the Dodgers). He's striking a bunch of guys out, though, and has had a couple good outings with a couple bad outings. Hopefully today is one of the bad outings.
On an unrelated topic, I used a new hoppinh technique on Saturday that was kind of fun called first wort hopping. Making an IPA, I took the hops I was going to use near the end of the boil (where flavor/aroma hops are added) and put them in the kettle during the sparge before the boil. This is said to increase the utilization of the flavor/aroma acids in the hops. It simplified things, for sure, and I'm excited to see how it turns out.
Happy Birthday–April 22
Bob Smith (1895)
Taylor Douthit (1901)
Ray Benge (1902)
Lew Riggs (1910)
Mickey Vernon (1918)
John Orsino (1938)
Steve Jones (1941)
David Clyde (1955)
Moose Haas (1956)
Dave Schmidt (1957)
Terry Francona (1959)
Jimmy Key (1961)
Jack Savage (1964)
Mickey Morandini (1966)
George Williams (1969)
We would also like to wish a very happy birthday to rowsdower.
April 22, 2014: But…How Did He…
There's a scorpion inside the light on my kitchen ceiling.
Olivier Messiaen – Quatour pour la fin du temps
Messiaen wrote/performed this whilst in a work camp in WWII. Richar Nunemaker, Clarinet. Johnny Chang, Violin. Olive Chen, Cello. I-Ling Chen, Piano. Last time I heard this live was in Minny at the Bakken Museum with Bert Hara on the Clarinet.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYpBHc8px_U
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Loading... Chet Atkins & Leo Kottke – Sleepwalk
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5oExc78IKE
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Third Monday Movie Day
This month I continued sort of enjoying the highs and eye-rolling lows of Dexter and the starting-to-feel-played-out Archer. I watched the first two episodes of Bob's Burgers, which shows some promise, though the belly laughs aren't coming yet. I braved the first episode of Hemlock Grove (a Netflix original about werewolves that the Netflix algorithm insisted I would hate) and it could probably be interesting if it weren't so hammily acted. I also saw the first two episodes of Sword Art Online, an anime series with a preposterous premise (a game developer has enslaved thousands of players into an MMO and is forcing them to try to survive the tower. If they die in the game, they die for real!!1!11). It's fun so far, as it's just so committed to the idiocy. I saw but a single movie: It's a Disaster. It is hilarious. I loved the performances and relationships all the way through and by the end I truly cared what happened to the characters, despite the fact that it was just a bit of absurdist comedy.
And you?
April 21, 2014: Clue
Today I try to solve a very important mystery: how the hell did two bottles of Shock Top Raspberry Wheat find their way into my refrigerator?
Happy Birthday–April 21
Hardy Richardson (1855)
Germany Smith (1863)
Ken Strong (1906)
Gary Peters (1937)
Dick Green (1941)
Al Bumbry (1947)
Jesse Orosco (1957)
Les Lancaster (1962)
Ken Caminiti (1963)
Kip Wells (1977)
Terry Tiffee (1979)
A member of the pro football Hall of Fame, Ken Strong played minor league baseball from 1929-1931 and played very well. He hit 41 home runs and had 130 RBIs in 1930 in what is now the Eastern League and hit .340 in 1931 in the International League.
In addition, we would like to wish a very happy birthday to twayn and to Mrs. freealonzo.
Game 18: Twins at Royals
Since leaving Minnesota last week, having been swept out of town by the Twins, the Royals have a 5-game winning streak they hope to push to six by returning the favor and finishing a 3-game sweep of the Twins. We hope not, but it will depend on pitching.
Yordano Ventura, a 22-year-old righty out of Samana, Samana, Dominican Republic, gets the start for Kansas City. Don't be surprised to see three digits on the radar gun today - Mr. Ventura touched 102 mph last year. In 5 starts between this year and last, he's posted a 2.22 ERA/4.16 FIP/.988 WHIP with 2.9 BB/9 and 9 SO/9.
Facing Ventura will be 27-year-old Phil Hughes, a righty out of Mission Viejo, CA, USA. Signed to a 3 year/$24 million dollar contract last offseason, Mr. Hughes is currently 0-1 through 3 starts with a 7.20 ERA/3.75 FIP/1.667 WHIP with 3.0 BB/9 and 10.2 SO/9. In 30 starts last year, he went 4-14 in 30 starts with a 5.19 ERA/4.50 FIP/1.455 WHIP with 2.6 BB/9 and 7.5 SO/9.
And apparently, Joe Mauer is very good at bunting too, but people still hate him.
Lineups:
1. B. Dozier, 2B
2. J. Mauer, 1B
3. T. Plouffe, 3B
4. C. Colabello, RF
5. J. Kubel, LF
6. J. Pinto, DH
7. K. Suzuki, C
8. A. Hicks, CF
9. E. Escobar, SS
1. N. Aoki, RF
2. O. Infante, 2B
3. E. Hosmer, 1B
4. S. Perez, C
5. A. Gordon, LF
6. B. Butler, DH
7. M. Moustakas, 3B
8. J. Maxwell, CF
9. A. Escobar, SS