Don’t get all comfortable with this regular posting thing because I’ll be disappearing in a week for a short-term trip to England [crosses self, Insha'Allah, B'ezrat Hashem]. I’ve been assured that I’ll have access to email and whatnot for a week but I’ve still got to get my fantasy teams prepared in the event that I cannot manage my teams effectively. And you know, I have to finish the semester and get some traveling stuff in order. I suppose that’s sort of important.
August 13 appears to be the winner in the “Which Minor-League Game Will I Attend With My Friends?” sweepstakes. That evening’s promotion is in no way enticing me or four-ish friends to attend.
ESPN pundits say the Cardinals might just want Jason Marquis back right about now after his recent pitching performance including tonight’s complete game shutout. To that I offer a resounding and firm NO! (You can add whatever expletive of your choosing before that NO.) I would still rather send my grandmother to the mound wearing the birds on bat than Bipolar Betty. Chicago may turn out to be an environment in which he flourishes, but I still say the way he’s pitching now is not sustainable given his mental status, which means he’s setting the Cubs up for a big tease. Heh heh.
I don’t know about you, but I vividly remember two [dozen heartbreaking] things about Jason during his tenure with the Cardinals: 1) the improvement after a change of scenery from Atlanta followed by a sharp decline over a couple seasons and 2) that short-rest shutout against the Nationals a couple seasons ago in which all he did was show his potential, continue pitching mostly like crap with a few flashes of brilliance, and in the meantime make us all say “But! Look! Complete-game shutout!” Let’s all say it together: Regression to the mean.
Fantasy update: J. Marquis earned me 36.5 points tonight with that three-hit, no walk complete game shutout. I feel like they’re dirty points, but points nonetheless. I’m in second place in my other league; I keep trading first and second places with the guy who hasn’t even managed team in a month.
So… the Cardinals won today. Huzzah! I’m too nervous to talk about any good things that may have occurred during the game for fear that the parties responsible may be alerted and good things may be curtailed. However, the nine runs scored does give one the impression that someone(s) may have successfully replicated their Sunday routine for a Wednesday game.
