The Danger of Watching Baseball in Bed...

Everyone knows that smoking cigarettes in bed is dangerous. Well, here's a lesser known danger: Watching baseball games on an iPad in bed. So you may wonder, why is that so dangerous? Look at what happened to me last night and learn...

With the Astros playing just over .300 ball (that's wins, not batting average), on a 7-game losing streak, and trailing since the first inning, who could blame me for deciding to turn off the iMac before Take Me Out to the Ball Game? Instead, I went to bed with my iPad, planning to watch the rest of the game on the At Bat 11 app. But then, because it was late and the bed was comfy and the game was dragging... I fell asleep. That's how I came to be dreaming of next year's Spring Training when Bogusevic hit his walk-off grand slam in the ninth.

First thing in the morning, I grabbed the iPad to check on the ending of the game. I was brushing my teeth when Bogus' swing was anything but bogus, the ball was flying out over the center field wall, JD and Brownie were hyperventilating, and what was left of the crowd was going crazy. Then the Astros players jumped out on the field for Bogusevic's ritual head bashing. He may have lost a standard deviation's worth of IQ points from that, but, hey, it was worth it! I watched the ninth inning twice while I was getting dressed for work, then came downstairs and watched the Cubs broadcast of it while I was fixing my breakfast, so I could gloat.

It's kind of fun watching a surprise win when you already know the ending. It gives an extra depth to all of the broadcaster's comments -- that Dempster, the Cubs' starter, was probably in the clubhouse, icing his arm, with one eye on the game. Or that Bogusevic really does have it in him to hit one out of there, even though they didn't sound very convinced that this would be anything other than another routine loss. As JD and Brownie noted, it's a "bleak" season, to say the least.

Bogusevic didn't do it all himself, of course. After Paredes lined out to start the ninth, Shuck hit a single just past the first baseman. Barmes managed to knock a not very promising pitch into left field, to put runners on the corners with one out. Then Downs pinch hit for Q. Gotta like your chances with Downs off the bench, and he did his best to hit it into the seats. But he was patient, didn't go for Marmol's slider, and walked to load the bases. Then Bogusevic came up, got down in the count with two quick strikes, before whacking a 2-2 fast ball over the center field fence, way over the 404' sign. A thing of beauty. It brought tears to my eyes, even the fourth time I watched it.

Today's an afternoon game - I should be able to stay awake till it's over!

Special shoutout to my Spring Training pal Carole, who was there for the game -- guess you got your money's worth!!!

Cheering for the Twins!

Every so often, I have to take a quick detour from baseball to remind you all that in my Real Life I'm a secret Twins fan. Not the ones from Minnesota, dontcha know -- the ones from Brooklyn. Just had a two hour (much-too-short!) visit with my grandsons Oscar and Oren, who are passing through Maryland on their way to the beach. Now going on 9 months old, they are full of tricks - walking around the furniture, escaping when you're trying to change their pants, waving bye bye (alas!). So cute. We were too busy playing to take many pictures when they were here this afternoon, but here's one of Robert (AKA "Saba") making the airplane full of baby food fly into Oren's mouth, as Oscar looks on.

With Oscar in his helmet (for reshaping a flat spot on the back of his head), they kind of remind me of Doonsbury and BD. Here's a picture with the helmet off, so you can see how cute they are. That's Oscar in blue, Oren in brown.

So if that's not enough of a case for being a Twins fan, there's always this: their 3 1/2 month old girl cousins Lyla and Sylvie. 

Okay, this is a baseball blog, so I should say something about the game. Having cleaned house, and sent Pence and Bourn packing, the Astros are mostly playing their new baby players -- just a little bit older than my grandkids. (They're all closer to the babies' age than mine!) I'm just learning to recognize the new players, since I missed Spring Training this year, and some of them were acquired since then in trades. It's kind of refreshing to see young players running hard, trying their best, knowing that this is their chance to get a spot on a big league team. Lots of hits, lots of diving plays, lots of running. We may not win many games, but the kids are fun to watch. Almost as fun as the Twins.