The Tejada Thing

Who remembers Ken Caminiti?

Craig is on the tee vee.   Yeah right, Craig didn’t know either.  He played with Cami.

Kazmir

What kind of name is that?

A Day at the Ballpark

My brother got tickets to today’s Astros game, and he had enough to give me and my buddy a chance to go.  I got to spend time with my nieces, brother and sister and sister-in-law.  Our seats were’nt together but were in adjacent sections.  We decided to let one niece come sit with us every three innings.  The middle one was first and she munched on peanuts.  After the 3rd inning, we made the switch.  We were in the middle of the aisle, so after I got out with the middle niece, she found she had forgotten her peanuts.  At that point the littlest one was ready to go down the aisle.  Everyone was really nice — I said that she was a little sleepy and one guy said that as long as she wasn’t slippery, everything would be ok.  As my sis passed the peanuts, another guy said that peanuts in exchange for a sweet little girl was a good deal.  I agreed.  People at Astros games are always great.  That was the good part.

When we got there, there were a good number of Taiwanese outside with signs.  It turns out that Chien-Ming Wang was pitching.  The last time I saw so many Taiwanese at the ballpark was when the president of the country had a stopover in Houston.  I went to that game with a good number of my Taiwanese students.  One whole section in center right field was taken over by Taiwanese in that game and they held up plackards spelling out different slogans in Chinese.  We were on the third base side.  Behind us was a small group of mainland Chinese with flags and posters.  The president left after four or five innings, as did the Chinese behind us.

Back to the bad part of today’s game.  Those of us Astros fans in our section had problems with the plate umpire’s calls from the get-go.   At one point Coop came out and had words with him.  (Pushing it?  I like it.)  Royran up a ridiculous pitch count.  The pitching change blew things wide open.  Astros lost 13-0.  After the first home run, all of the dick Yankees fans started getting full of themselves.  Us Astros fans muttered to ourselves about how it is now with Philly, or Cubbies, ar Atlanta.  It’s pathetic.  We do try — us loyal Astros fans.  There is a very vocal group — the cabaneros — who were Astros pinstripes with sombrerros.

We decided to blame the loss on my brother, since it was his day and the last time we had all been was his birthday and the Astros had lost then, too.  I asserted that the ’stros always win on my birthday, and everyone backed me up.

Doh!

Moises Alou fell off an exercise bicycle.  I can’t even remember how long he was out.

Andy Pettitte injured his arm in batting practice (!) and was out for a year.

Now Hunter Pence has fallen through a glass sliding door and will be out for about a week.

It’s only February.

Cammie

I’m going to do this without links — just from memory.

Ken Caminiti was the ultimate third baseman.  He could throw a bullet to first after digging up a near foul in the dirt.  Although my clearest memories of him are of great defensive plays (it’s probably because of the way I look at baseball), my last memory of Cammie was in the very last game played at the Astrodome.

(Gees, I’m writing this while watching the news — Tom DeLay managed to get in front of a camera again.  He’s trying to energize the fundies. Didn’t he move?)

Like I was saying, Cammie was the only one to hit the damn ball in that game.  It was yet another example of Bagwell and Biggio and the rest collapsing when playing the Braves.  But not Cammie.

I was in Mexico City when the big deal went down that scattered the Astros.  I was walking down a street in the Zona Rosa — with my best friend — and heard the news.  I couldn’t believe it.  Cammie went on to get an MVP of the World Series for the Pads.  I remember reading that at one point his injuries had him on the floor.  Someone shot him up, at his request, so he could play.

I feel bad now about all the years that I made fun of his player of the game interviews on the local Astros’ radio network.  Cammie just loved to play ball and sacrificed more than he knew he was.

All the talk is about Clemens and Pettitte, but the fact that Cammie’s name was part of the report — with no note that, unlike the others, he did it out of a sense of responsibility and contributing to his team — however misguided that was — makes me sad.  Cammie was the ultimate team player.  Not out for glory or money — just a win for his team.

That’s how I will always remember him.  All those long throws to first, all those seemingly impossible hits and the rallies he started.   Cammie was a good guy.

 Late link: Ann Althouse looks for links out of the story.  It’s really not worth going to unless you are bored at work. 

PW morans finally peter out (don’t you people have anything better to do? sheesh)

UPDATE!!!

Like a swarm (it’s like having roaches or fleas), they come and look at the “About” page looking for?  Hell if I know.  It’s not as if they’ll get more info from my little blog than they did at Jeffy’s.  None can comment or won’t.  I don’t care. 

Jeffy was wrong to post my personal information in his comments, but hey, he’s known for doing such things or leaving them up.  He doesn’t seem to care about what’s right or wrong — just getting his kicks.  That’s fine.

At any rate, it looks like Jeffy has held up another shiny thing and all of his 3 to 4 commenters and his sybil-like personalities are finally occupied.

At least I have a job — and try as Jeffy might (or any of the other ding-dongs) — he’s not going to impact my employment.  Should he try, he’ll just be brushed off as the blithering idiot that he is.  See, here’s the thing — Jeffy could publish my work info because I work.  Even if I wanted to retaliate, what would I point to?  That public toilet of a blog he maintains?  And that would prove what?  He runs a public toilet?  So?

Update:  And even after I post this, yet another moran clicks and looks at the ‘About’ page.  Brick.

Update 2:  Baaawaahaa

Update 3:  I spoke too soon.

Busy Day

I woke up late, but hey, I’m on vacation.

I listened to the radio most of the day.  Joe Pags at KTRH ***warning — at the momment this sicko has pics and links on his “blog” that you probably don’t want to see*****is a seriously overbearing yahoo.  He insults his callers if they even present a little disagreement with him.  Today his topic was the law that makes two-time sex offenders eligible for the death penalty.  Ok, yes this is Texas and we do have laws on the books that if in the commission of a felony someone is murdered, one can receive the death penalty even if not the murderer.  It is my understanding that the Texas Supreme Court has ruled that a defendant cannot receive the death penalty if no death occurred.

One young man who called in was a youth minister and articulately argued against Joe Pags’ point.  (If it’s KTRH, you are guaranteed that the host is a ‘kill them all’ raging maniac.)  Pags went straight for the personal.  You could hear a child in the background on the callers line, and Pags demanded to know the child’s age.  I stopped what I was doing — hoping hoping that the caller would tell Pags that it was none of his business.  The caller hesitated, but in the end told him.  Big mistake.  Pags laid into him and by the time he was done, and from there on out, Pags discredited the caller as a bad parent.

Next up, Rush’s sub — some guy from Cali — yammering for hours about Alberto Gonzales.  I had read a tip on Think Progress earlier and gotten a call from R this morning about it (and other things), so I knew it would be a topic.  KTRH broadcast Bush and Gonzales and bonus Michael Vick pressers. (Local news it advertising a piece about Gonzales’ “hot job prospects” here in Houston.  Great.  Wingnut welfare.)

At 2, I switched over to MAN-TALK to listen to Baker and Hunt — possibly the most inept show on the airwaves.  Baker keeps blaming the problems on the idea that this is a new station — it’s not — just a new couple of hours programming that he and Michael Berry can’t seem to do right.  Why do I listen?  To mock Baker, to see if Cynthia Hunt will improve, and to laugh (at them, not with them.)  Today’s topic was Michael Vick and Baker’s same old same old argument: “but what about the football d00ds who impregnate women?   They are just as bad or worse!”  He also regularly insults Hunt and she never gets in a good dig at him in return.  She tried last week by saying the Baker is too fat to have a “hot young wife.”  I am so very tempted to email her the Lexus/Nexus article about Baker getting liposuction a few years back.

The Astros news conference came on.  Garner and Purpura are out.  I’m glad.  Houston baseball has been crap for the last couple of years.  At least it was the Rangers in that record setting 30 run game and Barry Bonds didn’t hit that homer here or against Houston pitching — minimal silver lining. ***Added — Cecil Cooper moves up from bench coach to interim manager.   This seems promising.***

I switched back over to KTRH for Baker’s solo show.  It was a lame version of sports talk.  Finally it was time for the real news.

When I got on the intertubes, I caught up with the whirling news of yet another “values” Republican get busy in a public restroom.  I ran into Kathleen on a comment thread, trying to be funny (I guess) with her and another commenter trying to tie the Republican perv to a Edwards.  I think that called attempted deflection.

Lest one thinks that I spent the day on my ass, wrong one would be.  Yesterday I bought a beautiful new vacuum cleaner at Sears.  It’s a Eureka Optima.  It’s a fantastic machine — the power!  — the attachments! — the easy of cleaning! — why didn’t I buy this years ago?!?!?!?  The four-footed ones HATE it; Cisco is trying to recruit it to his side — to use it against Tam, I suspect.  I rearranged the living room and the Optima ate all the dust bunnies.  Great Value.  I love Sears.

Links in a bit, I want to watch the news.

I’m so distracted, links will have to wait.

Local news DID NOT report on Gonzales’ future employers.

Roger Clemens’ Cingular Commercial

The Cingular commercials where one side of the phone call gets dropped and gentle humorous situations ensue have now been ruined.

Enter Roger Clemens calling his wife to ask about either retiring or taking a deal with the freaking Yankees.  Roger’s wife’s phone goes out and while he’s all happy, saying that she is speechless, she’s screaming and throwing things in silence.

Ha Ha.

Asshole.

This Makes Me Sick to My Stomach

via Think Progress:

When contacted by Radar last week, various White House spokesmen declined to go on record about whether America’s most powerful baseball fan was going to publicly congratulate or condemn Bonds after he tied or broke Hank Aaron’s home-run record (Bonds tied the record Saturday night in San Diego).

This morning the radio wingnuts were out (Gallagher, I heard) saying that steroids weren’t so bad.  If you caught the Bonds ball, why not sell it?  (Deflection) What’s wrong with steroids?  (Deflection)

But wait — that article said ” the most powerful baseball fan.”  CRAP.  I guess after this past weekend it is true.

Pathetic.

I heard this first on Rome’s show:  If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.  Boy bush and Cheney have taken it to a  HNL.

That’s your ethos people.  Live with it.

Astros Win!

I don’t know if my mom planned it this way, but my birthday has always lent itself to a day at the ball park.  With my beloved Astros facing a seven game losing streak — they had a players only meeting before the game — I can tell you that the fact that they won on my birthday is true.  They always do that.  It’s just the way the world works. It’s my birthday, ’stros win.  Even when I was in Riga and I heard the game on tape later, we won YaY!