Monday musings
*So I got a letter in the mail today demanding vehicle excise tax from a city in which I no longer live for a car I no longer own. Good times. Sets the tone for the entire day.
*For months, I've babbled about how the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were going to turn the corner, and much sooner than everyone thought. I said they would be a major factor in determining the A.L. East champion, considering how many games they play against the Sox and Yanks over the last six weeks of the season (13, to be exact).
The basic reaction I got to these assertions was similar to an adult patting a child with Down's Syndrome on the head for their attempts to color inside the lines.
But where are the Rays, who are pulling into Fenway for a four-game set with the Red Sox, now? 27-15 since the All-Star break, second-best record in baseball. They steamrolled the Angels and Indians in the past couple weeks.
Now, the Sox were one of the few teams to thwart the DRays since the break, as they took two of three in the infamous "Manny's Day Off" series. (Boy, Manny really dogged it in scoring from first on that Jason Varitek double yesterday, incidentally). So maybe that will continue.
Either way, the unsung factor in the Rays' rise has been setup man Joe Borowski. Cast off by the Cubs, he was picked up over the All-Star break and has not allowed a single run in 22 innings since. If you remember earlier in the season, the Rays were taking a lot of leads early and couldn't hold on because of bullpen meltdowns, that tendency slowed sown dramatically once Borowski came on.
*Enough Tampa talk. I watched the Patriots-Packers replay on the NFL Network, a station which continues to impress. They basically re-run all of the exhibition games over the course of the weekend, and in the case of the Pats game, at least, they ran the Packers broadcast in the first half and the Pats version in the second. Of course, if one actually enjoys watching exhibition football all weekend, that person might need help, but that's a different story.
*Former longtime Yankee Bob Watson has upheld a six-game suspension for Boston's David Wells. Stunner.
*I was going to say something about my Fantasy Football team here, but then I remembered one of my cardinal rules in life, which is, in caps: NO ONE CARES ABOUT ANYONE ELSE'S FANTASY SPORTS TEAMS IF THEY ARE NOT IN YOUR LEAGUE. Intra-league chit-chat? A-OK. Not in my league? I don't care if Curtis Martin getting stuffed on 3-and-1 cost you your game; don't care if Peyton Manning's five touchdowns on turf indoors against the Lions sealed your win; and don't care that someone in your office is proposing a six-team swap that will get you LaDainian Tomlinson. Likewise, this is the last you'll ever hear from me on the subject of fantasy sports.
*If ESPN doesn't air this one on Wednesday night, demand a refund on your cable bill: Mariners vs. Yankees; Felix Hernandez vs. Randy Johnson. The phenom vs. the best pitcher in franchise history. Biggest night at Safeco Field in years. I gotta work or else I'd be there.
*Special message to avid Dave's World reader C: I'm flattered you keep taking ideas off here and borrowing them. Glad to be of service. Now if you can figure out some way to link to my site, that would be a pretty great way to return the favor. Thanks pal.
*That's a wrap. Best wishes to those in the path of Hurricane Katrina, and we'll have a brand-new Chile's Corner up on the site tomorrow.
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