stoutfellow

I discovered, last night, that I have two copies of Goedel, Escher, Bach. I have no idea how that happened. I guess I'll offer the extra copy to my students, see if anybody wants it. (I have to remember to try to find someone to dogsit while I'm in Reno next month, too.)

Speaking of Reno, I've been pretty slow about reading the Hugo materials. I've read the short stories and the novelettes, and I'm halfway through the novellas. Fortunately, I've already read three of the five novels. A few comments: for short story, it was a close decision for the first three slots, but "Ponies" (yuck!) finished fourth, hands down. For novelette, I had trouble choosing between "The Emperor of Mars" and "The Jaguar House in Shadow", but finally decided to put them in that order. So far on the novellas, I'm going with "The Lifecycle of Software Objects" - just a solid, thoughtful story. I haven't read "The Sultan of the Clouds" or "Troika" yet, so I may change my mind, but I loved "Lifecycle".

The Padres have skidded back into the cellar. The non-waiver trade deadline is the end of the month; I expect Bell, Ludwick, and maybe even Adams to be gone by then. Here's hoping they get some solid prospects - especially a shortstop; Drew Cumberland, who was their Shortstop of the Future, is suffering what may be career-ending health issues, and there's nobody else in the system at that position with that kind of promise. (I'm still holding out hope for Everth Cabrera, but it's increasingly looking like his rookie year was a bit of a fluke.)

I don't seem to have a lot of energy this weekend. Fortunately, I don't have any major tasks that need doing. Gracie continues to improve (and to piddle in the house, two or three times a day). I've been watching my Cagney & Lacey DVDs, and enjoying them. It's the personal interplay between the two of them that I've always liked... The last episode of the season, if I'm not mistaken, features Chris's first encounter with the elegant jewel thief she was to pursue for a couple of years - I loved those episodes, especially the last one, when he "surrenders". ("I can't accept this." "I bought it!")

The Padres are no longer in last place in the NL West.

At least for the moment, they are one game ahead of...

the Los Angeles Dodgers.

:snrk:

BWAHAHA!

Me, a few days ago:

I can't wait for next year: Rizzo, Darnell, Decker and Tekotte will probably all be in the starting lineup, and I look forward to that.

Yesterday, Blake Tekotte got his first major-league start. He doubled, tripled, drove in a run and scored another as the Padres won 2-1.

Tekotte is probably the least promising of the four players I named. (Maybe it's five: there are two, unrelated, Deckers in the mix.)

I see that Adrian Gonzalez is leading the Red Sox in damn near every offensive category. (As of yesterday, it was everything except BB, SB, and OBP - and he was only a couple of points down in that last one.)

I'm glad to see it. He deserves it, and it gives me something to be happy about in this dismal season.

(That's not entirely true. The Padres' bullpen is as good as ever, and Cameron Maybin seems to be living up to his promise. Other than that, though, I got nothin'.)

Well, it's still National Poetry Month, so I will present you with a bit of doggerel, due to Franklin Pierce Adams and singable to the tune of "Vive la Compagnie". It's been earworming me for the past hour.

These are the saddest of possible words:
Tinker to Evers to Chance.
Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds,
Tinker and Evers and Chance.
Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble,
Making a Giant hit into a double -
Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble:
Tinker to Evers to Chance.

(And don't talk to me about the Padres. Just don't.)

It was just an ordinary Australian Rules football match, until the dog got into the act. (Video; hat tip to Morbo on Balloon Juice.)

Well, none of my favored teams (San Diego, Boston, LA of Anaheim) made it to the Series, but I can at least take comfort in the fact that none of the teams I hate (Atlanta, the Dodgers, the Yankees) made it either. I think I'm going to root for the Rangers.

Norf! Norf!

Here it is, mid-August, and the Padres are still in first place - in fact, still with the best record in the league.

This weekend was especially sweet. It's pretty much a two-team race now; the Giants have been surging while the EBE and Rockies have collapsed. Coming into this weekend's three-game set, the Giants were two and a half games out. One of their pitchers predicted a Giants sweep, putting them in first place, where (he said) they would stay for the rest of the season.

The Padres took two out of three; the prophetic pitcher lost one of those two.

I'm beginning to believe. It will probably end in tears, but I'm beginning to believe.

One of my regular websurfing stops is Baseball Musings, but I'm beginning to reconsider that. About a week ago, its author posted a brief look at the Padres, headlined "How Is This a First Place Team?" Well, okay; their no-better-than-average offense is not exactly news. But....

Yesterday, in a "Games of the Day" post, he recommended several games: Yankees/Toronto, Detroit/Seattle, Atlanta/Florida, Tampa Bay/Minnesota, and Arizona/Dodgers. He concluded by saying

Tim Lincecum and Roy Oswalt also pitch tonight, so it should be a great night for lovers of good pitching. Enjoy!

Oswalt did, indeed, pitch last night. His opponent was Mat Latos of the Padres. Latos is leading the league in Batting Average Against and tied for the lead in Walks/Hits Per Inning Pitched. His ERA is significantly better than Oswalt's; his W-L is much better; and though Oswalt has more strikeouts, on a per-inning basis they're about even. (Oswalt and Latos both pitched seven innings of shutout ball, as it happens; the Padres scored three off the Astros' bullpen and won 3-0.)

How is this a first place team? Because they've got the best damned pitching staff in baseball, is how.