A Christmas card with poinsettias.
Baseball, Racing, Dungeons & Dragons, my own RPG --Fantasy Core, and other assorted nonsense.
Thursday, March 31, 2022
Wednesday, March 30, 2022
Postcards From the Edge: Mom's Family Cards 7
This first card is unique as it has a seal on it and folds out.
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Baseball Season Preview 2022
So, let’s do this!
I guess. Whatever. The whole lockout thing started this season
with a gag and a cough, followed by everyone forgetting that it happened.
The entirety of the sports media called the lockout, “100%
the owners’ fault.” That’s true in that
the owners initiated it. Would the
Players Union have gone on strike during the season if they hadn’t? Logically, you’d think they wouldn’t—that
they’d be smarter than that. The public
wouldn’t have supported them in the slightest regardless of the media’s
opinion. Regardless of the egos of the
player union reps, their lawyers, and their agents, I doubt the rank and file
would have voted to strike. Actually, I
know it, because they voted against their union heads to accept the owners’
offer and to end the lockout.
What was the outcome of all this labor strife? We got the DH (and 3 ½ hour games on average
this season because of it). I guess
there was also a playoff format change to make it more difficult to
follow. (I don’t know if you want have a
postseason format that compares to NASCAR’s
in complexity.) Yeah, there was
millions of dollars at stake in the various parts of the agreement, but it was
nothing more than squabbling over loose change.
Nothing major was decided about how the sport would be run, so this was
all a waste of time.
Frankly, a hard salary cap would be the best thing for the
sport. It would allow (with a minimum
salary floor to go with it) a much more competitive environment for all teams,
which is essential in growing the sport.
But that doesn’t help the Dodgers
and the Yankees (the sport’s most
popular teams), who can spend lavishly every year to maintain their relevance,
and it doesn’t help the superstar players get bigger salaries. The average player wouldn’t notice much
difference under either system.
What I just asserted there would take a long time to
unpack and justify and I’m not in the mood.
Discuss amongst yourselves. I’m
here to pick winners . . . because I’m a creature of habit and I’ve done this
for the last few years. I decided not to
buy a season preview magazine, since they all came out while the lockout was
still going and a whole bunch of free agents still hadn’t been signed. This is going to be blindfolded dart-throwing
then.
AL
East
I think I pick the Yankees
all the time to compete. It’s amazing
what money will do. They might be better
via the subtractions from their roster rather than any additions. The Rays
did basically nothing. There may be some
Canadian medical weirdness with the Blue
Jays, which are projected to do well.
I’m going to pick the Red Sox, since they signed Trevor Story. The Orioles are a Triple-A team.
AL
Central
This feels like the MLB player development division. I guess it’ll be the White Sox, partly from their talent, partly because of the lack of
competition in their division. The Twins made the biggest move by
acquiring Carlos Correa, or should I
say, the most expensive. Too bad he
doesn’t pitch. I think the Tigers might be good in the near
future, but not this year. The Royals will be playing games. That’s the most optimistic thing I can say
about them. I refuse to talk about Cleveland until they rename their team
to something else, because their current name offends me. They must bow to my Internet pressure, as
they did to others’ last year.
AL
West
And another uncompetitive division. How did the Astros not just cheat their way into winning, but also sabotage
every team in their division? (There may
be an update on the Yankees’ cheating
at some point this season. Remember, they got caught, too. Watch this
video.) The Astros have got a good
team and I’m curious how Justin
Verlander will do in his comeback.
The Angels still can’t
pitch. (Ohtani is okay, but I worry about his health playing both
ways.) The A’s are rebuilding. Mariner fans are going to be disappointed
again, because they didn’t do enough in the offseason. The Rangers
did a half-billion in free agent acquisitions and all they can hope for is for
is MLB expansion moving them into the AL Central.
NL
East
Hopefully, this division will be a season-long fight
between the Mets and the Braves.
With the Mets picking up Max Scherzer and the Braves getting Matt Olson, they’re loaded for battle. I think the Braves take it with Ronald Acuna Jr. having a healthy year. The Phillies
had some major additions, but will only be putting on some great batting
practices. The Marlins and Nationals
have some talent, but are works in progress.
NL Central
How many more divisions are
there? Quick check. Okay, I’m
almost done. I hate picking this
division. Whichever team can get over 81
wins will take it. Here’s a hint: it
won’t be the Cubs, Reds, or Pirates (at least until NMSU
star, Nick Gonzales, arrives in
Pittsburgh). It should be the Brewers, but that Cardinal name and those St. Louis fans are worth more wins than
they should get.
NL West
Groooooooan! Everyone is picking the Dodgers. They should get a couple of good years out of
Freddie Freeman. They traded off a couple of their best
prospects last season and still have a top ten farm system. The Giants
over-performed last year (unless they do it again this year). The Rockies
picked up some sex appeal by acquiring Kris
Bryant, which is a really poor way to assemble a roster. The Padres’
season may have collapsed with Fernando
Tatis Jr.’s broken wrist. GM AJ Preller uncharacteristically made
little in the way of moves. The minor
league cupboard may be bare, except for a couple of untradeable prospects. Oh yeah, the Diamondbacks are still a team aren’t they? I almost forgot.
Postseason
Well, let’s pick a winner
(out of this bag of mostly losers). Why
do I do this? I took the weekend off
from going to Aggie Baseball. I felt the need to punish myself. With the expanded playoffs, we will have
additional failed teams in the mix, so I’ll just cut to the chase. (Also, I don’t quite understand the new
format.)
The AL Championship will be the Blue
Jays over the Astros. The NL
Championship will be the Dodgers
over the Mets. Manager Dave
Roberts’ guarantee of a Dodger World Series win will come back and bite him
as the Blue Jays take it in five.
I may issue some more baseball updates during the season, probably at least at the trade deadline. I’ll keep my picks, though, because last year’s re-picks, weren’t as good as my original predictions.
Monday, March 28, 2022
Postcards From the Edge: Mom's Family Cards 6
The General Jackson steamboat in Nashville, Tennessee. That's the way to travel down a river.
Friday, March 25, 2022
Postcards From the Edge: Mom's Family Cards 5
Thursday, March 24, 2022
Postcards From the Edge: Mom's Family Cards 4
Back to the postcards. (There's plenty more.) Here's a Christmas postcard. I like the stamp on the back.
Wednesday, March 23, 2022
NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Softball 3-19-22 Game 2
If you thought Game 1 of this double header didn’t
go well for the Aggies, you might wish to avert your eyes for Game 2. Ron and I were now sitting in a different row
from Game 1. Thankfully, we could still
see the beautiful young woman below us, but now we were seated next to a loud
GCU fan.
We’ll get right into it. Gianna Nicoletti led off for the GCU Lopes and singled. In short order, she stole second, stole third, and scampered home on a bad throw by catcher, Hannah Lindsay. Aggie starter, Jordan King, got a popup next, but then gave up a hit. Jayleen Burton at short made a nice stop on the next grounder, but didn’t have a play.
Another hit followed.
It was a grounder to short that looked like the runner either interfered
with the ball or the fielder, but it wasn’t called. There was a throw home that beat the runner,
but was dropped. A running-scoring
sacrifice and another hit scored two more runs.
Jillian Taylor made a good
running catch to end the inning. 4-0
GCU.
What looked like a group of football players came in,
maybe linemen. Later, another group of
what looked like football players came in, but they looked more like wide
receivers. The two groups did not sit
together. Ramsay Lopez led off the bottom of the first for the Aggies with a
home run to right center. Maya Martinez got serenaded by the
dugout with, “Who’s up to bat with a big, old booty!” Maya doesn’t look like she has that much junk
in the trunk, unless I misheard that. Katelyn Dunckel at short for GCU made a
good running play to end the inning. She
then slipped on the dirt coming off the field.
4-1 GCU. This is as close as the
score will get.
Between innings, it was quiet enough in the lightly
populated stands that I could hear the GCU pitcher talking with a very pretty
assistant coach. Glamorous blonde, Macee Barnes, led off for the Lopes
with a first pitch home run to left center.
Next came a walk, a fielder’s choice, and a stolen base. Denae
Chatman came up and fouled a hard pitch into the Aggie dugout. She then got a hit. There was a play at the plate where the throw
beat the runner, but was again dropped.
Then there was a double and then Kristin Fifield came up and blasted a two-run homer to the left
center. She was endowed with a gold
chain around her neck when she got back to the dugout. Jayleen at short dropped a grounder next,
which finally precipitated a pitching change.
Hannah Burnett then stole
second and advanced to third on a dropped third strike. Hannah then stole home on a passed ball
before the inning finally mercifully ended.
11-1 GCU.
The Aggies just went down in order in the bottom. The Pocket Contest returned. A GCU fan lady ran down for a prize, but was
beaten out. One of the items called for
was a $2 bill. A couple of people in the
small crowd did have one. They must have
been here before, because this item has been called for before.
Lindsay had had a bad game behind the plate. It wasn’t surprising to see a new catcher, Jaelah Burrell, come in for the third. Right after a leadoff single, there was a
wild pitch that advanced Gianna to second.
A bad pickoff throw by Jaelah advanced Gianna to third. She then scored on another wild pitch.
By this point, it was getting a bit colder with the sun
going down and I was zoning out. There
was a walk that followed that I didn’t notice.
I had to ask Ron how that person got on first. Stephanie
Reed came up and hammered one to straight center into the (thankfully)
vacant camera platform. After another
single, Jordan was put back in to pitch.
A pinch runner was actually thrown out trying to steal second. She looked safe and I thought she’d been
called out for leaving early. Ron said
she should have slid. That was the first
out of the inning. Thankfully, the next
two batters went down. 14-1 GCU.
Finally, a little life came into the Aggie offense. Ramsay singled. It could have been ruled an error, but it was
a slow, deflected roller. Jillian drove
her in with a home run to left center.
14-3 GCU.
Meanwhile, a perhaps more important drama was playing out
off the field. Ron nudged me during the
inning and pointed out that Coach
Rodolph and Associate Coach Heifner were
out talking to each other out of the dugout and away from the bullpen. Maybe they didn’t want the players to hear
them. I didn’t notice, but after the
game, Ron told me that they never came back to the field. They left with the game still in
progress. I suspect this ties into what
that fan lady said during Game 1—that Coach Rodolph’s contract hasn’t been
renewed. We’ll see how this story
develops.
My notes started getting skimpy as my interest in the game
waned. The Lopes scored three more runs
on a Dunckel three-run homer in the fourth.
The Aggies changed pitchers again to get the final out. 17-3 GCU.
There was another retro Men’s Basketball jersey toss into
the crowd in the break. The girl at the
scorer’s table, who’d wanted one so bad during Game 1, was now mad dogging the
Marketing intern doing the toss. There
was drama everywhere. The Aggies got two
on in the bottom. Their dugout got loud,
but the inning ended with a strikeout.
For the fifth, the Game 1 catcher, Melika Ofoia, was inserted into the game. The GCU coach tried to do the Aggies a favor
and flushed his bench and subbed out all of his hitters. Even this couldn’t help the Aggies. Two walks started the inning and a
run-scoring double and a run-scoring single followed. The first baseman then changed positions with
the pitcher. Kayla Bowen, now in the circle, had trouble fielding the next
play. Felicia de la Torre, now at first, dropped an easy grounder on the
next batter. The GCU fans actually
laughed. Somehow, the inning ended. 21-3 GCU.
We had the fifth inning stretch and I made up new lyrics
to Take Me Out to the Ballgame to
reflect the current game. I don’t
remember them now. It was all freestyle. Ron was amused. He pointed out poor out poor Adam Young, who was calling this double
header for the WAC Digital Network. He was up in the pressbox with binoculars
trying to sort out all of the player changes for the bottom of the fifth of this
hopeless game. The Aggies only managed a
walk, before Reed in centerfield ended the game on a nice running catch. 21-3
GCU wins.
I told Ron immediately after the game that I was done with
Softball this season. I don’t care how
pretty the girl sitting in front of us was, it wasn’t worth it. I’ll keep an eye on Softball, because I’m
expecting some coaching news to drop, maybe even before the end of the
season. I’ll give Kristin Fifield on GCU a gameball for her 2 for 3, 4 RBI game with
a home run. At least things ended in
time for us to go get something to eat and be close to on time to watch the
basketball game.
Ron and I went back to my apartment to eat our dinner from
What-a-burger and watch the Aggie Men’s Basketball second round NCAA Tournament game on my new Internet
connection. It was a tense, defensive
struggle, and that was just getting the game to come in on my computer. The actual game was even more dramatic and
sexy. The “sexy” part was me flipping
over to watch Dizzykitten on Twitch during the long commercial
breaks.
More seriously, it was a great game, but the Aggies did
fall to Arkansas, 53-48.
There was no goat player on the NM State side, no bad coaching decision
that cost the team the win, and the refs mostly stayed out the deciding the
game. The contest was very evenly
matched and could have gone either way.
We do have an Aggie hero, even in defeat. Johnny
McCants, in his final game as an Aggie, was the team’s leading scorer,
ended up on the floor drawing several charges, had a highlight reel jam (with
the national announcer even stealing Jack
Nixon’s, “Here’s Johnny!” line), and he never gave up and wouldn’t let the team
do so either.
After the twin softball losses, Ron was so depressed, he
left before the end of the game. My dad
is a fan of both schools, so he was okay with the outcome either way. My Aunt Judy in Missouri had the Aggies going
to the Final Four, but another aunt is a big Arkansas fan, so one of them was
happy.
Nixon interviewed an Aggie fan after the game, and she
reported that much of the crowd had been won over into rooting for the
Aggies. The TV coverage really seemed to
favor NM State, too. At halftime, Charles Barkley was even impressed,
“You guys played the worst half of basketball possible, your leading scorer has
been shutdown, and you’re still in it!
Game on!” As for me, I was just
happy I could get back to watching Dizzy uninterrupted . . . err . . . that the
Aggies acquitted themselves so well in an entertaining game.
The next day we got the long-expected news that Coach Chris Jans had gotten a new job
with Mississippi State. AD
Mario Moccia was talking about him leaving even before the WAC Championship game. After Jans won that first round NCAA game, he
was going to be able to get a good job.
Jans did a tremendous job here, so it was a very mutually beneficial
relationship. NMSU did give him a chance
when most schools wouldn’t have after a scandal, and he delivered a winning
program in return.
I guess it was a bittersweet weekend for Aggie fans after
losing two basketball coaches, potentially the softball coach, some bad
softball and baseball loses, and losing a possibly winnable trip to the Sweet
Sixteen. Still, I think I think most
Aggie fans (including myself) where happy to have a team to root for in the
second round of the NCAA tournament.
Hopefully, Mario can work some more magic in his coaching searches.
I have to brag about Sunday’s sports. I got together with Ron to watch the NASCAR race at the newly reconfigured Atlanta track. I finally talked him into going to Caliches, not just for the frozen custard, but for a meal. He had a couple of their hot dogs and couldn’t have been more pleased. I had a croissant sandwich which was as great as the last time I’d had one. Of course, we had sundaes, too. I’d told him they had good food there, but he didn’t believe me. I thought the race was great (unlike apparently a lot of fans), but was about 100 miles too long. This was certainly a memorable sports weekend altogether, even with some disappointments.
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Softball 3-19-22 Game 1
I’d had an exhausting week at work. Frankly, I didn’t want to go to a Softball
double header today, much less write about it; I’d rather have slept in. I’d seen enough of the softball team last
month (2-13-22) and they’d only gotten worse since then. The game time had also been changed from
4:00pm to 2:00pm, but for a good reason.
The Aggie Men’s Basketball
team, after winning the WAC Championship,
had gone on and won their first round NCAA
Tournament game over UConn. It was a #12 seed upset of a #5 seed. This time change was done to accommodate the
6:40pm game time for the Aggies’ second round game.
It was a good change weather-wise, too. Ron had been at the Friday evening Softball
game and reported it got good and cold when the sun went down. At least it was really nice out to start the
games. The Aggies did beat GCU that night, which seems incredulous
given what happened on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Aggie Baseball was
having a brutal road trip. They’d
dropped two to Nebraska mid-week—one
close loss, one not. They next went to Dixie State and were pummeled in
consecutive run-rule losses. The team
did come back with a close win on Sunday.
I was greeted with a $7 ticket price at the gate. This was an increase. I’d thought about getting some popcorn
between games, but that $2 went to the extra ticket price. It was a light crowd, perhaps due to the time
change, or maybe they were waiting for the basketball game. Even the GCU fan representation seemed light. A security guard asked me before the game
where I thought he could see the basketball game. I suggested the pub across from the
university, but I knew that a co-worker had watched the UConn game at Peter Piper Pizza, so it was going to
playing at any local restaurant with a TV.
It was announced during softball that Rudy’s Barbeque was the official (sponsored) viewing place. I’ve got to try that place sometime.
I took a look over the GCU team. Ron had reported a very large pitcher on the Lopes and I did see her. Ron said she was good, but I didn’t get to see her play. I was more disappointed that the cute, freckled redhead, Lexy Coons, had moved on. There was another very pretty girl I noticed, but I only saw her poke out of the dugout a few times. I never got her player number. The Lopes played some hacky before the game. The Aggies worked on their dance moves. For the Anthem, a couple of the Aggies practiced their kneeling. I didn’t get their numbers to properly recognize them. Ron said one of the girls on GCU had her head bowed, which he is interpreting from watching Women’s Basketball, is also a protest.
This was obviously a rough game for the Aggies. It was a rough one for the scorekeepers,
too. My scoring differed from the
announced scoring at the end of the innings.
(The scoreboard is a bit primitive.
It doesn’t list hits and errors.)
The official scoring differed from both.
For both games, I was tempted to erase my scorecards and start
over. There’s no reconciling them, so
these aren’t officially accurate. (And given
the result, I don’t really care.) Also,
there was a really attractive young woman sitting in front of us that was a
constant distraction.
GCU’s dugout began the game in full chorus singing. We were seated around some GCU fans, who were mostly pretty chatty in shouting encouragement to their players. The game immediately wrong-footed for the Aggies, as GCU led off with a single and the runner took second when the throw into the infield got away. An error at third put a second runner on. After a ground out, a walk loaded the bases. Another walk scored the first run. Kristen Fifield then got plunked on the helmet, which drove in another run and ran the Aggie starter from the game. I hadn’t even written her name down on my scorecard.
Felicia
de la Torre came in and grazed the next batter to force
in another run. Aggie catcher, Melika Ofoia, was popping her hand into
her glove so hard, it sounded like a pitch.
It was confusing me, as I was looking down at my scorecard and thought
there’d been a quick pitch. Two more
walks and a single brought in three more runs before a couple of fly outs
finally ended the inning. The carnage
ended with GCU up 7-0.
The talk in the stands nearby was even more disturbing
than the team’s performance. Women’s Basketball Coach Atkinson had
already been let go at the end of the season.
While her record at NMSU looks really good, most of her wins came with
the previous coach’s recruits. The last
couple of years have been a disaster. A
fan talking to another fan said that Coach
Rodolph’s contract had not been renewed.
Now in this case, the coach has been responsible for probably all of the
Softball program’s successes and there have been a lot. I didn’t hear the rationale, but certainly
Kathy could have left for a better job whenever she wanted, so I don’t think
this is a dispute over money. Maybe I
should have joined the conversation, because I have no explanation. After what happened during Game 2, I feel like
this rumor has been confirmed.
The Aggies were not going to roll over, at least to this
point (along with some help from GCU).
The Aggies were still singing in their dugout. (There was also an attractive trainer in
there. I was trying to find
entertainment where I could at the game.)
A walk and a single put two on before a bad throw from first base led to
a two-base error and two unearned runs scoring.
Another single brought in another run, and a hit batter and another
error loaded the bases again. Jayleen Burton came up and hit one by
the third baseline. It looked out, but
the ump, who was right in front of it, ruled it fair, and another run
scored. The Aggies had come back to make
it a game for the moment. 7-4 GCU.
Catastrophe struck.
The eraser on my pencil popped off.
In trying to find it, I lost the pencil.
Lucky, I came prepared with a second pencil. (I found the first pencil eventually. It’s just a stub that I’m going to have to
take out of service anyway.) Denae Chatman (I like that first name)
led off the second with a line drive home run to center. Thankfully, things then settled down. Felicia only gave up a hit afterward. Jillian
Taylor made a great play in center on a ball that would have gone out to
end the inning. 8-4 GCU.
Jillian worked a walk to start the bottom of the second,
but was gunned down on a steal attempt by Kinsey
Koeltzow from behind the plate. GCU
tried to a help with a dropped foul ball for another error, but the at bat
ended in a popup anyway. There was a
single following, but a strikeout ended the inning.
The Lopes loaded the bases in the third with a walk, a
hit, and a hit batter. That’s the first
time I’ve seen a batter given first on a pitch that bounced to plate. Maybe I mis-saw that. Two more singles drove in two more runs. A wild pitch nearly brought in another run,
but was thrown out at home. 10-4
GCU. The Aggies went down in order in
the bottom. There was a Pocket Contest
between innings. Two people with requested
umbrellas ran down to the intern and the Aggie fan beat out the GCU fan there. I noticed there was a group of fans sitting
by the Aggie dugout behind the fence. It
was sort of like Baseball’s Diamond Club,
but a lot less appealing. The group had
a barking dog with them.
A GCU batter was hit in the lower back in the fourth. This was followed by a single, but Maya Martinez made an unassisted double
play by catching a liner and stepping on second. There was an impressive Jersey toss into the
stands between halves. It was a retro
Men’s Basketball shirt. One of girls
working at the scoring table ran into the stands and was begging the Marketing
intern for one. I got a look at one
later on a kid, who was wearing his. It
was very cool.
The sun started ducking behind clouds and a cold breeze
blew through. It wasn’t unpleasant
yet. In the bottom of the fourth, an
error on a bobbled ball by the shortstop let on a runner. There was confusion on a popup between the
second baseman and the right fielder, which allowed the ball to drop. This was called GCU’s fifth official error of
the game, but usually untouched fly balls are called hits. On the play though, Jillian was thrown out
trying to take home. (GCU’s second
baseman, Macee Barnes, is pretty
glamorous with a long, flowing, curly blonde mane.)
A double down the line by Katelyn Dunckel led off the GCU fifth. The pretty girl in front of us stood up to
reveal that she was wearing tight yoga pants.
I was momentarily stunned. Where
was I? Dunckel stole third and came in
on a wild pitch. It looked like the
throw home got her, but apparently not. Felicia
gave up a walk before giving a line drive home run to Fifield that hit the
sponsor board in right. When Fifield got
to the dugout, they awarded her with a gold chain around her neck.
The pretty girl came back from the Concessions. She gave her mom (?) a Coke. The lady said she asked for a beer. The girl said, “Sorry, I left my ID at
home.” “You mean your fake one?” the
lady answered. Okay, maybe that’s not
her mom. The girl then started working
on eating a big pickle. That might have
been kinda hot, but was mostly really smelly, even a couple of rows away. Xophia
Venegas came in to get the final out.
She tripped on herself during one of her pitches, but Jayleen at short
made a great play on a hard liner to end the inning. 13-4 GCU.
The damage had been done.
The Lopes were now in run rule territory. The Aggies, though, went down in order, which
finished the game early. 13-4 GCU was the final. I’m tempted to not hand out any Gameballs for
this one. The Aggies gave up 13 runs and
rolled over. GCU took batting practice,
but need more infield practice after giving up five errors. However, GCU’s Ariel Thompson did go five innings and didn’t give up an earned run,
so she gets one.
As Ron and I were leaving the stands, we were hailed from
the field. It was our friend from
baseball, Michael, who apparently works with the grounds crew. He wanted to say, “Hi.” We wouldn’t have recognized him in
uniform. Outside the stadium, there were
two groups of tailgaters. One was
literally drinking off a tailgate. The
other had a pavilion set up which said Virgin
Galactic on it. The group had been
announced during the game. They bugged
out after Game 1, as did some more fans, who might have wanted to get ready for
the basketball game. Ron and I retired
to his car for snacks. “Hey, did you see
that hot girl in front of us?” he asked.
On to Game 2.
Monday, March 21, 2022
St. Labre Indian School Cards 2
Once again, these cards came as a charity solicitation. Disclaimer: I haven't donated to them, so I don't know if they're a good charity or not.