Bruiser Chong

I'd say Astros/Cubs is damn near must-see TV considering we'll see the two hottest hitters in the NL squaring off.

I'd like to point out that all four runners the Cubs pushed across the plate today were on base via the walk. Only four hits for the boys in blue, but a ton of walks set the table for those four hits to drive in runs.

Is there any hitter in the game today who's more Jekyll and Hyde than Alfonso Soriano? Few guys look as bad as he does when slumping, but good streaky Soriano is just unstoppable.

The tour is hitting up Detroit next Thursday. I'd love to go, but cash and not knowing many people who'd wanna go shell out money to see Kanye live is going to prevent that. Speaking of the tour, Entertainment Weekly gave it a B+, which raised the ire of Ye, who proceeded to tell EW to never come to one of his shows again.

What a white-knuckle finish. I don't have anything emotionally invested in either team, but I think I stopped breathing at certain points. That last sequence after the missed FT was crushing.

Watching Miguel Cabrera occupy first base makes me value Derrek Lee that much more. Yeesh.

I've been getting better acquainted with LL Cool J's back catalog. Being a 23-year-old guy who didn't think much of rap until six or seven years ago, LL's best known to me as the "Momma Said Knock You Out" dude who seems to get younger looking with age. But tracks such as Going Back to Cali and I'm the Type of Guy have given me a newfound fondness of the guy.

We can talk about Berkman, and we should, but Josh Hamilton is just sick this season. Forty-nine RBI after tonight's game.

I took Michael's retreating to Jan as more of a statement on his desire to be a father than anything else. Michael's dream of becoming a father has been a recurring theme since the second season and that's how I read his offer to be there for Jan. Sure, it's not technically his kid, but as he saw it, this is his safest bet for being able to play the father role.

I remember how much I had to fight the urge to like that song, since I was unbelievably anti-rap when that record got released. I'm pretty "meh" about it these days, but back then, I'd find myself unconsciously saying, "Can I get a..." before realizing it went against my stance on rap. And then I'd go make up for my slip by listening to Jimmie's Chicken Shack. I sucked.

I think the cut hand thing is just a front. They just needed to get him on the DL and away from meaningful games.

Haven't you ever seen 25th Hour? Just go there and hope your teacher Phillip Seymour Hoffman is there and he'll get you in. He might try to make out with you in the bathroom later on, though.

I can't stand Sutton. It's weird listening to him be such a DBacks homer after all those years of cheerleading for the Brewers. But then, I guess it's his job. His style just smacks of arrogance and while I appreciated his frank take on many subjects, said arrogance is overbearing when the team that's signing his checks is doing well.

Oh, make no mistake. I was referring to race in that respect, but not to suggest you're predisposed to disliking non-white players while going all rah-rah for the Mike Fontenots of the world. It was more of an offhand description of Theriot.

A classic. The last two episodes reassured my faith in the writing staff. The Kevin/Holly angle was one of my favorite subplots of the series, mostly because none of it had to be forced. Everything Kevin said was classic Kevin, which made it even better how his lines fit into the mentally challenged storyline.

I don't have a problem with Lou playing Theriot while he's hot. I wouldn't remove him from the lineup either at this point. But when he inevitably comes crashing back to Earth, I don't trust Lou to do the right thing and let Ronny get a crack at it. And it's not an ethnicity issue. It just seems like you're always taking guys like Ronny and Felix to task for being too baseball retarded and yet, there's little criticism against someone like Theriot, who despite a very nice batting average right now, has run the bases like a jackass this year.

The Giants are just absolutely good for nothing. And yet I read an article this morning about ad wizard Brian Sabean stating he believed his clubs still "has a chance" in 2008.

Yeah, but he'll still love them when they're gone.

How are we ever going to find out if he's good or not? He's been allowed to play just ELEVEN of the team's games the whole way through this year. And we're talking about a guy who had allegedly won the spot in ST. It's idiotic to give the guy the shaft on the basis of his sub-par performance in a small fraction of the team's games. Especially if your alternative is hitting even worse and has much more limited range defensively. I know you're all about the vanilla fuckers like Ryan Theriot and don't want to give guys like Pie and Cedeno a shot, but don't be blind about the specifics here.

I forgot to mention they're already booing him. Good.

Oh, please. The sooner this colossal mistake is exposed, the better for the team. Any success Edmonds finds is going to give Hendry the idea he made a good decision. On top of that, it'll only further stunt the development of Felix Pie. I know I come off like a Pie fanboy here, but it's discouraging to see that the organization is so hellbent on preventing him from getting a real chance. At this point, he's a better hitter than Edmonds and has MUCH more defensive range. Let's not hang our hats on what Edmonds used to be. Otherwise, the Cubs should go sign Ray Lankford, too. I know you aren't defending the signing itself, but I can't in good faith hope he does anything positive for the team. And so far, he's off to a great start. One-for-four with SEVEN runners left on base. I hear his last at-bat with the bags full where he struck out was particularly ugly.

If nothing else, they've got more homers than the league that lets its teams have a guy in the lineup whose job is strictly limited to hitting.

Hollywood Edmonds is a Cub. I hope he crash and burns.

I got to see Three Doors Down relatively up close every time I went to a movie from early 2007 to early 2008. It sucks. Trust me.

Oh, now I get it. Sixty bucks to see Hinder.