Random house stuff.

[sepdet]

Well, I have splurged and bought the Looks Like It Was Made In Rivendell Bed which I have been coveting from day one (made from sustainable wood and recycled iron!), and still need to get a Really Good Mattress.


Ikea bed/default mattress = tiring on a bad back. That's what I've had ever since my old trusty futon compressed into a singularity.

Also, the burglar alarm wind chimes which has hung in my front entryway such that people over five foot two tend to hit it? Visitors will be happy to know that since I finally have a real burglar alarm, the wind chimes is now functioning as a wind chimes should.

I am exceedingly happy hearing it jingling outside. I finally found a long enough branch to make it swing in a modest breeze, so it's making quiet music about half the time.

I continue to fuss over my patio garden like a mother hen. The jasmine seems to be recovering from Edward Scissorhands treatment. The tomato has NOT recovered from being fertilized (oops). The new tomato (knock wood) will not be so mistreated, and I'm now trying to grow cherry tomatoes from seed (hah) so I can hang them in my upside-down tomato growing pot which is too amusing not to try.

Also, I got an old-fashioned Mexican "strawberry pot," the kind with all the little tiny clay shelfy things sticking out around it, and have put different organic herbs in each pocket with a mess of rosemary, oregano and thyme on top.

And I keep buying flowers. Yay!


Also, I say to the two or three people on my flist who care and/or understand about these things:

MANNY RAMIREZ ;aslfk;A@!5outfieldersWTF!!

Um. Well. Er. We needed a bat.
And Torre's used to handling primadonnas.

I don't think I'm going to be getting any work done tonight.

trekqueen, make sure your tickets for tonight's game get used by somebody. The first game of Manny Ramirez on the west coast, with Randy "The Perfect Game" Johnson vs. Clayton "At Nineteen, Could Be the Next Sandy Koufax" Kershaw in a matchup between two teams scrapping for a division title (nevermind it's a bad division this year; it's still a dogfight)... um... it's big, hon. Big.

Comments

[kirbyk.livejournal.com]

What they really gave up was Andy LaRoche, who is decidedly a top prospect. Baseball Prospectus has him projected to be about a .290 hitter with 25 homers, a good number of walks, low strikeouts, and plus defense at third base - looks a lot like Scott Rolen ten years ago.

These things don't always work out, but it makes tons of sense for the Pirates to want him. He was probably the Dodgers best hitting prospect.

The trade is good for LA 2008, though. And as the saying goes, Flags Fly Forever.

[firerosearien.livejournal.com]

Real good for 2008, yes.

If the LAD don't run away with the division now, I'll be shocked.

[sepdet.livejournal.com]

LaRoche's been driving me BONKERS, and I'm glad to see him go for his sake and ours.

Last year he came to ST with a chip on his shoulder, sure he was the Anointed One for our future 3B. He proceeded to drop balls, show lack of hustle, and in general utterly failed to win the job.

This year he came to ST with a bit more humility, but then got hurt. Nomar broke another rubber band (he's our guest star -- shows up for some of the best episodes but you never know when he'll be on TV) -- and was out, our utility infielder Ramon Martinez was out, so a brand-new kid in AA got called up, Blake DeWitt.

DeWitt carried the team for much of April. His defense was sound and solid. His plate discipline, his concentration and care at the plate was noticeable from his very first at bat. Pitchers have figured him out a bit, and we picked up a cheap rental utility infielder Casey Blake who's been doing a fine job now at third-- but it was growing increasingly clear that DeWitt was our future 3B, and LaRoche had no place in LA. It wasn't really fair to make him bench warm.

Whereas our other young prospects like Kemp and Loney are fairly vital for the future.

Essentially, LaRoche became our most valuable trading piece, and for once, I think Colletti actually pulled the plug on the right deal.

Oddly, I've heard of Manny, but the weird exhibition game at the Coliseum this ST was the first time I'd watched him.

He's coming to LA full of bounce, smiles, a sense of humor and looking ready to work. I'll admit I was charmed; he's going to fit right into Hollywood (although it's weird; all the Dodgers teams I've seen have been teams first with no "lead actor", despite Nomar and Martin). We'll see. Manny's got something to prove now, so hopefully he'll behave himself and give us a boost. I'll admit, it was fun watching him tonight, even if he GIDP at the end when we needed him to come through.