Depressed

Enough said.

Strike Looming

I don't give a rat's . . . for labor unions. I think they are draining productivity from the American workforce. There may soon be ANOTHER supermarket strike that will affect principlily Albertsons. BUT Ralphs and Vons will join in solidarity with Albertsons employees. If given the opportunity, I will cross the lines. I don't care about unions.

Baseball Is Back

Baseball is back and I am glad. The days are getting longer and summer is just around the corner. The Angels are the favorite to win their division because of their pitching and "improved" defense. I just hope that the Gary Matthews/HGH ordeal will not affect the team in a negative way. A problem that can derail our team, I am hoping for the best. I believe our bullpen is our strongest asset. Anchored by K-Rod and Scot Sheilds, the addition of Justin Spier was a HUGE but often overlooked signing. If our starters can consistantly pitch into the sixth and seventh innings with the lead I know that when the opposition plays the Halos they will be playing a seven inning game. Pitching and defense win championships. That is the recipe for success in Major League Baseball.

All in all,

I am just excited to see baseball again.

Political Vid

YouTube will be a POWERFUL player in the 2008 presidental election. This video was not done by the Obama campaign. The author of the vid is currently unknown.

I Love This

Los Anjealous

Spring Training Day Three 3/10/07

The final day of our trip had arrived. We got to the ballpark at 10 instead of 11:30 for a 1:05 game. Today, the Angels were playing the hated Oakland A’s. Adjacent to the main parking lot there are three practice fields and a number of the Angels were taking batting practice. Angels’ such as Bartolo Colon, Jered Weaver, Scott Sheilds, and Kelvim Escobar were catching fly balls and giving them to the children. That was cool.

A half hour later, a few of us walked around Tempe Diablo Stadium looking for any balls that were hit out during batting practice. Bryan was lucky and found one and some girls were able to reach through a fence to grab another. Twenty-minutes later, I walked to a walkway where players often walk in between the practice fields and Tempe Diablo Stadium. I was able to snag a few autographs from a few minor leaguers. Alex was able to get relief pitcher Justin Spier. But I thought he was just another minor leaguer. I was bummed because Spier was one of our big free-agent acquisitions.

When the gates opened at 11:30 I went to the first base line and waited for more autographs. I waited for until 12:45 until I scored and got John Lackey and Jered Weaver on separate balls. That made my day because I really wanted Jered Weaver’s autograph since last year. Alex and Jonathan were able to get Angel shortstop Orlando Cabrera’s autograph. Sunday was a great success.

The game went back and forth between the Angels and the A’s. The A’s jumped out in front early but the game was equalized by a solo homerun in the bottom first inning by Casey Kotchman. The Angels carried the lead for most of the game but in the eighth inning the A’s jumped into the driver’s seat. Unable to mount a rally, the Halos fell to the A’s. I really didn’t care if the Angel’s won but I was just excited to see them play. Baseball season is just around the corner and I can hardly wait!

Overall, the trip was a lot of fun. Although, I felt the players were not as accessible this year compared to last, it was still plenty of fun. I hope that we can go again next year. Every baseball fan should try to make it to spring training because it is different atmosphere unlike the regular season.

Spring Training Day Two 3/9/07

We were expecting to get a lot of autographs today. We got to the ballpark at 11:30 for a 1:05 game. The five of us decided to wait near the Angels dugout for autographs. Brian got lucky early by getting Angel great Booby Grich to sign a baseball. We were able to get a few autographs but there were mostly from players trying to make the sqad. I got nothing….

The game was exciting for a few innings because the Mariners, won the game 14-2. Our seats were down the first base line. We were not as close like Friday but we were in the shade for the entire game. There was a bit more cloud cover compared to Friday and that made increased the humidity a tad but it was still great baseball weather.

After the game, we upgraded our rooms to the fourth floor of our hotel. We knew from past experience that a few baseball players stayed on the fourth floor of our hotel. The upgrade included a free mini bar and a free continental breakfast in the morning.

After that, we met up with Tim’s sister and her husband Mike who lived outside of Scottsdale. They fed us and we relaxed at their house for a few hours. On the way back to our hotel we went to a mall called Arizona Mills. It was basically The Block of the Phoenix but indoors. So, that was the end of day two. With one more day to go, we were optimistic that our fortunes would turn…