waffle

was at the Boise Hawks game last night. Not a top notch effort. The Volcanoes starter, Reyes, seemed to really keep the Hawks off balance while he was in there. Lots of check swings, lots of called strikes. Liked what I saw. The Hawks starter, Trevor Graham really labored. Seemed like every pitch he threw went somewhere he wasn't expecting. Lots of stuff in the dirt. His only plus pitch seemed to be his charge which when he could control it, seemed pretty wicked. Did not look like a big league pitcher out there at all. At the plate Marra was the hitting star. Just looks GOOD up there. Seems to have a really good approach. Many of the other Hawks were swinging at the pitcher's pitch with expected results. I also like Flete up there. Flete looks great in the field, MOSTLY. He did boot one ball badly that eventually cost a couple of runs. The other player that I liked alot was Jeremy Null. Lots of bad swings. They just were not picking up on what he was throwing. His control seemed a work in progress but the Volcanoes did not look at all comfortable up there against him. Zagunis did not make much of an impression at all. Looks shorter than listed 6' to me. Looked pretty good at the plate. For a team with quite a few players hitting well last night they mostly looked over matched.

I might see you there. guy with a cubs hat, handsome 10 year old next to me. Homeless guy beard (me, not the kid). I think In section 106? Make that section 103 Row F

will be going to see the hawks play Salem-Keizer tonight. Taking the boy. Saw them play in Eugene earlier in the year. They were pretty brutal in Eugene, hoping for a better showing tonight. Will report back tomorrow.

I had this voice in my head (not that frequent, actually) that Castro was going to get moved.

I watched conforto play ALOT and never thought he was anything other than above average in the field. Maybe just when I was watching. Not a great arm but has a knack for making the big play and big throw at just the right moment. Kid can really hit, though.

as a proud beaver, take that! As a cubs fan....hum.

I have heard numerous times managers and other such informed folks say that being a closer is as much about your attitude as it is about your stuff. There are plenty of examples of closers with meh stuff but whoa 'tudes who were effective closers. Carlos, to me, currently seems to NOT have the right stuff, so to speak.

do you really think so? Well, maybe it would be less stressful to him. Again, he seems to have the yips to me. The script of his outings going back to the early part of last year are eerily similar. "Wait, I've seen this movie before and I didn't like it the first time"

is it his head or his stuff? I do think putting him in the setup slot might help (especially if it is his head). The script for his outings is SO CONSISTENT I kinda think it's between the ears. It's like groundhog day.

ah crap

I'll be going to a bunch of the Oregon St. games this year. They have been saying optimistic things about the team, we'll see.

wow...you can buy alot of...well, everything with that kind of money. Spending big long term $$$ on starting pitching I think has been shown to have poor return, overall.... Whew.

so, what do we think are the overall odds he gets traded at all? >50/50?

man, training camp is going to be very very very interesting. Probably a few more very's

just said red sox close to a deal w/ Demp. Good fit I would think