The Rest of the Story

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

Escogido 3, Este 2 in Este.  Ramon Santana was 0-for-3 for Este.

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE

Caguas 6, Ponce 0 in Caguas.  Angel Morales was 1-for-4 for Ponce.  Aaron Bates was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run for Caguas.  Dereck Rodriguez was 0-for-1 as a reserve for Caguas.

Carolina 6, Mayaguez 4 in Mayaguez.  Eddie Rosario was 0-for-4 for Mayaguez.  Nelvin Fuentes pitched one inning, allowing a run on two hits for Mayaguez.

Venezuelan View

Lara 6, Aragua 5 in Aragua.  The Cardenales scored two in the eighth and two in the ninth to overcome a 5-2 Tigres lead.  Luis Valbuena (Cleveland) led Lara with two hits.  Oswaldo Navarro (Houston) hit a home run and drove in three.  Johnny Montoya worked 2.1 scoreless innings to get the win, while Scott Patterson (Seattle) struck out two in a perfect ninth to get the save.  For Aragua, Luis Maza had three singles and a double and Luis Hernandez had two singles and a double.  Yangervis Solarte pinch-hit and was 1-for-1.  Victor Moreno allowed two runs on two hits and a walk in one inning to take the loss.

Magallanes 5, Anzoategui 4 in Magallanes.  The Navegantes lost a 4-0 lead but scored in the bottom of the ninth to win.  Jose Altuve (Houston) led the way with three hits.  Bryan LaHair (Cubs) hit a home run.  Jean Machi (San Francisco) got the win by allowing two runs on three hits in the top of the ninth.  The Caribes were led by Luis Nunez (Yankees), who doubled and singled.  Eliezer Alfonzo (Colorado) hit a game-tying homer in the ninth.  Lester Oliveros worked 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits.  Matt Palmer took the loss, allowing a run on a hit and a walk in a third of an inning.

In games not involving Twins players, La Guaira defeated Zulia 5-2 and Caracas blanked Margarita 6-0.

There are no games scheduled in the Venzuelan Winter League today.  Tomorrow, Aragua is at Margarita, Caracas travels to Lara, and Magallanes goes to La Guaira.

Solar Sox Summary

Where they stand:  Mesa is 14-14, second in the AFL East, three games behind Salt River.

Who's hot:  Brian Dozier is hitting .302/.351/.442 in 86 at-bats.  Aaron Hicks is hitting .244/.344/.500 in 78 at-bats.  Chris Herrmann is hitting .343/.439/.514 in 35 at-bats.  Cole DeVries is 2-0, 2.70, 0.95 WHIP with 3 walks and 13 strikeouts in 20 innings (6 starts).

Who's in the middle:  Brett Jacobson  is 1-2, 4.50, 1.50 WHIP in 10 innings (9 appearances).

Who's cold:  Bruce Pugh  is 0-1, 8.18, 2.73 WHIP in 11 innings (9 appearances).  Dakota Watts is 0-1, 7.15, 1.68 WHIP in 11.1 innings (9 appearances).

The season ends November 17.  Mesa hosts Peoria this afternoon.

First Monday Book Day: Straight Flush on the River

If ever there was a book that deserved to be the signature book of the WGOM, this baby would have to be it, because it is full of half-baked cr@p. Rose George's
The Big Necessity The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters is, without a doubt, the best book I've ever read about poop.
But seriously, this is both an entertaining and important book. George moves deftly from the sewers of London to the slums of India; from high-tech bidets in Japan to "helicopter toilets" in Africa; from biogas digesters in rural China to the biosolids industry in the U.S.

Sh!t is big. An estimated forty percent of the world's population regularly or exclusively defecates in the open, without access to toilet or latrine. "One santitation expert," she writes, "has estimated that people who live in areas with inadequate sanitation ingest 10 grams of fecal matter every day."

"Diarrhea -- nearly 90 percent of which is caused by fecally contaminated food or water -- kills a child every 15 seconds. ... Diarrhea, says ... UNICEF, is the largest hurdle a small child in a developing country has to overcome. ... Public health professionals talk about water-related diseases, but that is a euphemism for the truth. These are shit-related diseases."

The ultimate in bathroom reading, this book is not all gloom-and-doom. George is an accomplished reporter and story-teller. This book weaves together sketches of fascinating entrepreneurial characters fighting for social change and sanitation improvements, up-close-and-personal tours of sewer systems in London and New York, and accessible discussions of the problems of sewage sludge disposal in the U.S. I particularly enjoyed a section on the development of a new, more realistic "test medium" for toilets' flushing capabilities in the early 2000s. The secret ingredient -- miso paste.

I didn't expect [the inventor] to reveal the recipe of his giji obtusu ["fake body waste"], and in fact he's contractually forbidden from doing so. When he found the right brand, he asked to buy 250 kilograms from the importer. "His eyes lit up and he said, `How many restaurants do you own?' I said none and that actually he'd think it was funny but I wanted to use it to test toilets. He didn't think it was funny and suddenly he didn't want to sell it to me anymore."

Already, the book has had an impact on my family (both the Mrs. and The Girl read it before I did). I'm sure you'll be pleased to learn about the aerosol effects associated with flushing a toilet. We close the lid now....

What are you reading?

The Rest of the Story

This is what, for now, I'm calling the round-up of Twins players in fall/winter ball who are not in the AFL or the VWL.  I'm not in love with the title, but it'll do until something better comes along.  Today, the only games involving Twins players came from the Australian League.

Perth 7, Adelaide 4 in Perth (Game 1--Scheduled 7 innings).  Allan de San Miguel was 3-for-3 with a double for Perth, scoring once.

Perth 3, Adelaide 2 in Perth (Game 2--Scheduled 7 innings).  Allan de San Miguel was 0-for-2 with a walk.

Brisbane 9, Canberra 6 in Canberra.  Rory Rhodes was 1-for-4 with a walk for Brisbane.

Sydney 2, Melbourne 0 in Sydney (5 innings--rain).  Joshua Hendricks was 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter for Melbourne.  Sam Gibbons surrendered two runs on two hits in a third of an inning, taking the loss.  Jacob Younis was 0-for-1 for Sydney.

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.