Okay, that was good

It took extra innings and another excellent game-winning hit by Verdugo for the Red Sox to beat the Guardians last night.

Bello pitched really well despite a problem with a bleeding blister or fingernail. He went five innings and gave up only one earned run. When he left the game, the Red Sox were up 5-1.

Then the bullpen imploded and gave up five earned runs over four innings. At the end of nine innings, the score was tied 6-6.

In the top of the tenth inning, the Guardians took a one run lead but the Red Sox came back in the bottom of the tenth with two runs to win the game 8-7.

As for today, Sale had a great outing, going six and a third innings, giving up only one earned run. When he left the game in the seventh inning, the Red Sox were up 4-1.

Schreiber came out to finish off the seventh inning. He was followed by Blier and Bernardino to finish off the game. It ended with the Red Sox winning 7-1 taking the series against the Guardians.

And I'm going to say that the trade of Mookie Betts to the Dodgers for Jeter Downs, Connor Wong and Alex Verdugo prior to the start of the 2020 season is looking a real win for the Red Sox.

Downs was DFA'd last December and is now playing for the Washington National but Wong and Verdugo are playing great baseball for the Red Sox. Their defense and their offense has been awsome.

Comparing Verdugo to Betts shows that Verdugo leads in every category except home runs and he only lags by one. He has more hits, a better batting average and a better on base percentage.

Wong has been outstanding behind the plate, calling great games and throwing base stealers out as well as pretty impressive with his bat.

⧫
The Bruins and Panthers face off in game seven of their best-of-seven playoff series. This is the win-or-go-on-vacation game where the winner will move on to round two and the loser will go on vacation.

Puck drops at 6:30 and hopefully the Bruins win. I would like to see them score early and often. Three of four goals in the first period will take the wind out of the Panthers sails.

⧫
I will be enjoying baked sole for my pre-hockey-viewing meal.

While I do that, you can check these out:

• Only in Florida.



• I'm sure his mom and dad are proud of him.



• Here's your Naked Guy In The News story.



• Oh Canada.

Okay, that sucked.

Last night, the Panthers beat the Bruins and the Guardians beat the Red Sox.

My youngest was at the Red Sox game and I was sending him text messages with the Bruins score so he got to experience the Red Sox loss live and in person and he got to experience the Bruins loss through me.

This was how our night ended:

And so tomorrow the Panthers will be in Boston to play the Bruins in game seven of round one of the NHL playoffs. Puck drops at 6:30.

⧫
As for the Red Sox, Pivetta did not have a good game. He threw 100 pitches over five innings and gave up four runs, all of them earned.

Crawford came in and finished the remaining four innings of the game and gave up only one run.

In the end, the Guardians won 5-4 and the Red Sox are now back below .500

Todays' game started at 4:10 and as I type, it is the top of the third inning. The score is 3-1 Red Sox.

⧫
I'm going to watch the rest of this game and then watch some LPGA golf. I was a little shocked to see the Lilia Vu did not make the cut and Nellie Korda is tied in the 29^th place.

Here are some links:

• Looks like Ukraine is pushing back.



• The JWST just keeps on doing it's thing.



• Curious Little Freaks would be a fantastic name for a 1980's brat-pack movie.



• Not sure what is worse: The ability of some idiots to acquire a firearm or the the ability of some idiots to acquire an automobile.



• Only in Florida.



• I would think a small sign would be sufficient.

I need a couple of winners

At 7:10 this evening, Red Sox pitcher Nick Pivetta will throw his first pitch to Steven Kwan of the Cleveland Guardians.

At 7:30 this evening, the Bruins will face off against the Panthers.

I need both of those games to end in a way that will bring me joy.

⧫
The other day when I said both Disney and DiSantis are wrong and both should just shut up, I was wrong.

DiSantis is wrong. He is so wrong that even Disney's wrongness pales in comparison.

You see, DiSantis is doing this because Disney said they were against his decision to implement his infamous "Don't Say Gay" bill. That is basically a governor using his authority and power to get back at a company that simply expressed opposition to his unethical edict.

If it has become possible for government to oppress our opinions, we have a problem. We have a big problem.

Disney should shut up but they are in the right on this and DiSantis is in the wrong. He is in the very, very wrong. He is bordering on a dictatorships worth of wrongness.

⧫
We have our first entrant into round two of the NHL playoffs:

The Golden Knights beat the Jets last night and moved on to round two.

⧫
I'm going to order some pizza and then do the channel-flipping thing. For those of you that are interested, Red Sox are on NESNPlus, the Bruins are on NESN and the second round of the JM Eagle Championship is on the Golf Channel.

While I figure out how to watch all of that (I suspect my laptop will be involved), you can visit these links:

• We do I have this image in my brain of R2-D2 or C-3PO having sex with some poor woman.



• Yes! Touchscreens suck! Now if they'll only bring back normal, non-blinding headlights.



• It's New Jersey. Need I say more?

Not a good night

After watching the Red Sox lose to the Orioles yesterday afternoon, I was looking forward to watching the Bruins win their game last night.

Boy, was I disappointed.

The Panthers scored first and the best the Bruins could do was tie the game. They never had the lead.

Regulation time ended in a tie and the Panthers scored during the sudden-death OT.

Oh well, you can't win 'em all!

The next game is Friday in Fort Lauderdale. Puck drops at 7:30 and I really hope they win that game.

⧫
I'm not sure if this qualifies as a "feel-good" story, a story of "perseverance" or a story about "a guy who didn't know when to call it quits" but either way, it's absolutely a story.

This is the story about a guy who spent thirteen years in the minors before getting his first major league appearance.

He struck out but that's okay. Not very many people can say they played in a major league baseball game.

⧫
I guess the market has accepted the fact that no matter what happens, we're stuck with an election between Biden and probably Trump.

We're screwed and there ain't nothing we can do about so we might as well gamble away our money on an unstable economy.

⧫
We are struggling to come up with a dinner idea.

The opening round of the LPGA JM Eagle Championship is on this evening so at least I have that to watch.

Enjoy these links:

• I have a lot of questions: What the hell is "dwarf bullfighting"? Is it standard-sized humans fighting dwarf-sized bulls? Is it dwarf-sized humans fighting standard-sized bulls? Are they both dwarf-sized? More importantly, why do some people call Steve Miller "Maurice"? Why do other people call him "the pompatus of love"?



• This is one of the many reasons why women live longer than us.



• Only in Florida.



• Also only in Florida.



• I'm beginning to think the Welsh are some pretty damned funny people.



• This is just about the dumbest thing ever.



• Welcome to The City of Brotherly Love.

They almost blew the game last night

With stellar performances from Kluber & Winckowski and some serious hitting from the hitters, the Red Sox went into the ninth inning with a 8-1 lead. They didn't score any runs in the top of the ninth and in the bottom of the ninth, Kaleb Ort came in to pitch.

He proceeded to give up a home run to the first batter he faced, making the score 8-2.

Then he proceeded to induce a fly ball out.

Then he proceeded to give up two singles. The next batter hit into a fielding error that resulted in loaded bases.

Then he proceeded to give up a grand slam, making the score 8-6. And there was still only one out.

At this point, I was having a small brain malfunction while screaming at Cora to get Ort the hell away from the ball.

Fortunately Cora heard me and pulled Ort out of the game. Kenley Jansen came in and proceeded to get two outs, mercifully ending the game before I had some kind of seizure.

Thankfully the Red Sox held on and won that game because if they lost, it's very possible that some fanatic from Boston would go after Kaleb Ort with malice aforethought...

⧫
As for this afternoon, first pitch was at 1:10 and Houck had an interesting outing. Not bad but not good.

He went five innings and gave up four runs, three of which were earned. Like I said, not bad but not good.

In the end, the Red Sox lost the game 6-2, losing the series.

They are off tomorrow. On Friday, the Guardians come in to Boston for a three-game series to end the month of April.

⧫
Game five of the Bruins/Panthers series is tonight with the Bruins up three games to one.

It looks like Bergeron may be back on the ice tonight. They say a decision will be made at game time.

Getting him back on the ice would be a good thing for the Bruins. It's not like they suck without him but he is certainly a key player on the team and they play better with him.

So I'm hoping tonight is the final game of this series and the Bruins get some time off before they have to start the second round.

Speaking of round two, it's beginning to look more and more like the second round will be the Bruins against the Maple Leafs.

⧫
Yep, the market is still overjoyed about Goofy Joe running for reelection...

⧫
The Professor got home from work early enough to make her world famous chicken & broccolli pastry. It is, in my opinion, pretty damned good eats.

While I enjoy that as well as tonight's hockey game, you can enjoy these:

• Looks like China has a better handle on foreign relations than the United States.



• Attention people of Easthampton: It's time for a new school board.



• When this whole shitshow started, I thought that both Disney and DiSantis were out of line. Disney needs to stay out of politics and DiSantis needs to stay out of business.



• Who is the fool who said french fries make you depressed? There is nothing depressing about them. As a matter of fact, I would argue they bring a little joy to your life.



• Oh Canada.



• Researchers: Contributing to the betterment of our society or a complete waste of perfectly good oxygen.

They lost

Two things about last nights game:

1) Pitch tracking is a joke.
2) Might be time for the Red Sox to look for a new hitting coach.

Watching last nights game had me in a bit of a kerfuffle because it looked like the the home plate umpire, Junior Valentine, was making the worst ball/strike calls in the history of baseball. Every time they replayed a pitch and showed it on the pitch tracker, it looked like the strike the umpire just called was a ball that was at least an inch off the plate.

It got so bad that the Red Sox hitting coach, Pete Fatse (a kid from around here, by the way) got himself ejected by yelling at the umpire.

It turns out that all the analytical websites I look at after a game to see how the numbers panned out have the umpire as being fairly accurate with his calls. Here is his scorecard from Umpire Score Cards:

An accuracy rating of 96% is good but a consistency rating of 94% is great. That means his strike zone remained consistent throughout the game.

Can't help but wonder if maybe that pitch tracker thing needs to be rebooted or given some percussive maintenance.

Which leads me to my second point regarding young Mr. Fatse. His job his to coach and mentor the hitters, not call balls and strikes. Given that there is a certain inconsistency on the Red Sox lineup, it's possible that the problem lies with the coach, not the hitters.

I like the kid but it might be time for the Red Sox to see if there are other options for a hitting coach.

With last nights loss to the Orioles, the Red Sox are once again at .500 and still in last place in the ALEast.

They need to win the next two games to win the series against the Orioles before finally getting a day off on Thursday.

⧫
Speaking of baseball, I heard back from my cousin regarding the Pirates.

She is very, very excited. Apparently so is my aunt.
⧫
Goofy Joe has announced that he is running for a second term as President.

The market is taking it well...

⧫
Yes, there is baseball this evening.

Yes, I am going to watch it.

Yes, there are links.

Here they are:

• Key entry from our favorite police log: "3:10 p.m. Someone was reported for using AA meetings to try and pick up women."



• The tallyman has tallied his final bunch of bananas.



• I bet this is going to piss of Elon Musk.



• Australia: Need I say more...



• It's the Phillies v. Yankees, what did you expect.



• More proof that our society is filled with idiots.

XBB.1.16?

Remember when covid variants were named after the region they came from? There was the UK variant, the South African variant, the Brazil variant, etc...

Then they decided to stop using the region of origin and start using Greek letter. We had the Alpha variant, the Delta Variant and the ever popular Omicron variant.

All of a sudden I'm seeing things like the XBB.1.16 variant.

Who the hell is naming these things? They sound like 1960s Air Force bombers.

More importantly, who cares? Why do we have to name the various genetic variants? Can't we just say, "I got a cold" and be done with it?

⧫
The Red Sox are playing the Orioles at 6:30 this evening and I will be watching.

But that's not the baseball news I wanted to tell you about.

What I wanted to tell you is that the Pittsburgh Pirates, the traditional cellar-dwellers of the National League, are currently in first place in the NL thanks to the Red Sox beating the Brewers twice.

I have a text message into my cousin out in Pittsburgh to see what she thinks about this whole thing. I'm really interested to know what she thinks about Rich Hill, the ex-Red Sox pitcher that they call "Dick Mountain".

⧫
I'm gonna make some fish sticks and watch baseball.

Here are some links:

• I never cared for his incredibly biased and idiotic opinions.



• And he's another one with incredibly biased and idiotic opinions.



• More proof that the New York Jets ownership and recruiting staff isn't that bright.



• What the hell is "weed day"?



• Well, you're not gonna be hot and sweaty but you're gonna smell like shit.



• Only in Florida.

A loss last night but...

The Red Sox lost to the Brewers last night 5-4 but not because they didn't play well.

As a matter of fact, the Brewers won because of their centerfielder, a kid named Joey Wiemer.

I watched that kid make at least three extremely athletic diving catches, two of which stopped doubles or triples by Verdugo.

But the Red Sox made up for it today when they beat the Brewers 12-5 and winning the series.

And what do I always say? It's all about winning the series.

⧫
As for the Bruins, well they won this afternoon, beating the Panthers 6-2 and taking a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.

They head back to Boston where they will play game 5 (and hopefully the final game of this series) on Wednesday.

⧫
I'm going to watch some bad television and try not to fall asleep on my couch.

While I do that, you can do these:

• Hey, no matter how ridiculous it looks, if it works, it works.



• Researchers: They have waay too much free time.



• They have cows in Israel.



• More proof that social media has made our society dumber than a box of concrete.



• Key event name in this story: "Balls Out Bowling!"
  (I've been to Pittsburgh numerous times. I don't want to see any of those people naked.)

Couple of wins

Last night, the Bruins beat the Panthers 4-2, taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven.

As the Hanson Brothers said in the movie Slap Shot, "Old time hockey. Like Eddie Shore!"

It was old time hockey all right. The Bruins came out with a chip on their shoulder, pissed that the Panthers had beaten them the other day by simply being physical.

I saw more full body checks and hits in the first period than I saw in the last three games combined. The Bruins were knocking the Panthers on their ass with a vengeance.

The fourth game is tomorrow at 3:30. Hopefully they come out as hard-hitting as they were yesterday.

⧫
The Red Sox beat the Brewers last night 5-3. Pivetta did not have one of his best outing but the Red Sox hitters were hitting and getting on base.

They are back at it again tonight at 7:00.

⧫
The Professor will be enjoy some grilled swordfish and I will be dining on grilled honey barbeque chicken. Well, we will be if I get off my ass and start the grill.

While I do that, you can enjoy these:

• Shore-and-Begorrha.



• Yea, because we need government to get more involved in telling us what we can't do.



• Key phrase in this story: "...which is a type of herring."



• I like Vlad Jr.



• Australia: Where even the crocs aren't safe.

Another evening of channel flipping

The LPGA Chevron Championship teed off at 6:00, the Bruins / Panthers drop puck at 7:30 and the Red Sox / Brewers first pitch is at 8:10.

I'm gonna need more televisions.

⧫
It's creeping up on us...

I'm gonna have to start watering my weeds.

Yes, I have some kind of infestation of weeds (quack grass?) in my lawn. I talked to the fertilizer guy about it and his answer was, "We probably need to kill everything..."

Oh well, At least it's green.

⧫
I went out with the boys this evening so this is the end of my blabbing

Here's a link or two:

• If I make it to 100 and I say something to the effect of, "Let’s go out to a dance somewhere", please take my car keys away from me



• Another reason I will never go to a soccer game.



• Who the hell is Elle Brookes?

Two losses and a win

The Bruins lost to the Panthers last night and that's bad. The final score of the game was 6-3 Panthers.

When a team is in a best-of-seven series, they need to win all of their home games. The Bruins didn't do that and now the series moves to Fort Lauderdale tied 1-1.

I will tell you that the game turned into a free-for-all at the end of the third period and I'm surprised that the NHL hasn't handed down some fines/suspensions of both Panthers and Bruins players.

Hopefully they get Bergeron back for the next game and they get back to winning.

⧫
The Red Sox also lost last night, getting beat by the Twins 10-4.

Kluber had a terrible outing, going five innings, striking out four, walking two and giving up seven earned runs.

⧫
The Red Sox made up for last nights loss this afternoon when they beat the Twins 11-5, winning the three-game series. (Winning series is the key)

This puts them once again at .500 and still in last place in the ALEast. Yes, they are only 20 games in to a 162-game season but it would be nice to see them in some other spot than last place.

⧫
In other baseball news, the Oakland Athletics are once again going to change their name.

The Athletics were once known ad the Philadelphia Athletics. Then they moved to Kansas City and became the Kansas City Athletics. After a few years of that, they packed up and moved to Oakland to become the Oakland Athletics.

Well, they announced today they are packing up and moving to Las Vegas where they will probably become the Las Vegas Athletics.

Oakland just can't hang on to their teams. The Raiders moved to Vegas two seasons ago and now the Athletics are moving.

⧫
I'm watching the LPGA Chevron Championship.

You can check these out if you want:

• I look forward to the story in the next few days about his mental health issues.



• SpaceX blew up the worlds largest rocket this afternoon and it was spectacular.



• Key phrase in this story: "...a hand that was too sticky."



• Daryl looks like a stand-up guy.

They won!

It took ten innings, a fly ball that appeared to be foul but turned out to be fair and two bad words from a pumped-up Alex Verdugo to complete last nights game but in the end, the Red Sox beat the Twins 5-4.

Let's start with Sale.

He was vintage Sale, throwing ninety four pitches over six innings, walking two, striking out eleven and allowing only one earned run. His command was on point and he was reaching 96 mph on some of his fast balls. But it was his slider that finally came back to him that was truly amazing and the Twins batters just couldn't touch it.

On to Verdugo.

So the game was tied 2-2 going into the tenth inning The Twins quickly scored two runs, giving them a 2-4 lead.

Crawford starts the bottom of the tenth on second base as the "extra innings ghost runner".

Hernandez reaches first base on a dropped strike three and Crawford runs to third.

Casas walks, taking first base and moving Hernandez to second. This loads the bases.

McGuire hits a sorching line drive to left, Crawford scores, Hernandez scores. Casas moves to second and McGuire reaches first. This ties the game 4-4.

Durran hits a single. Casas to goes to third, McGuire moves to second and once again, the bases are loaded.

Refsnyder hits into a double play - Casas out at home and Refsnyder out at first. McGuire moves to third and Durran moves to second.

So with the game tied and two outs in the bottom of the tenth inning, Verdugo hits a fly ball to right that scores McGuire. Let the celebration begin! Right?

Well, maybe not.

The ball initially looked like it was foul and the Twins manager called for a review. One camera angle shows the ball as it sneaked past the foul line to remain in fair territory. Let the celebration begin!

I took this screen grab from the video and circled the ball. This view shows the ball just after it has bounced off the wall about 4 inches past the yellow foul line:

During the post game interview, on live television, Verdugo was asked what was going though his mind as he watched the ball and his response was, "Please be fucking fair". At some point further on in the interview, he said it again, giving him two fucks in one interview. That may not be a record number of fucks on live television but it's right up there with Robert de Niro.

And yes, I managed to stay awake for the entire game.

They are back at it again at 7:10 this evening. That means I will be doing the channel-flipping thing because...

⧫
...game two of the NHL playoffs is also on this evening.

The Bruins will face-off against the Panthers at 7:30 and a win would be good.

If the Bruins win this evening, they head to Florida with a two-game advantage.

⧫
I'm thinking breakfast for dinner - french toast and sausages. Maybe some scrambled eggs.

After that, it will be time to put on some comfy pants and settle in to watch sportings.

You can do whatever it is you want to do. If clicking links is what you want to do, here they are:

• Boy, we sure got a lot of people wandering around with mental health issues. And some of them work for the federal government.



• If you run Chrome as your browser, make sure it is up-to-date.



• Only in Pennsylvania.



• There is nothing I can say that will make this story make sense.



• I don't know. Looks legit to me.



• Which might explain why their average life span was about 35 years.

Game one is a win

The Bruins scored first and stayed on top throughout all three periods last night, beating the Panthers 3-1 and taking game one in the best of seven series.

They remain in Boston for game two. Puck drops at 7:30 tomorrow night.

⧫
The Twins are in town and Sale is on the mound for tonight's game one of their three-game series.

With yesterday's loss the Red Sox are back below .500 but I remain optimistic. Hopefully Sale has a good game tonight and they come away with a win.

In other Red Sox news, they have optioned Dalbec back to Worcester and are keeping Durran up. I can't help but wonder if the Bobby Experiment may be over and we should not be shocked if Dalbec goes on the trading block in July.

⧫
Listen up people. If you own a firearm, your first thought should never be, "I should use my gun to shoot this person". It might be your third thought but never your first or second thought.

If someone shows up at your house and knocks on the door, your first thought should be, "I wonder who that is."

Your second thought should be, "I'll open the door and see who it is."

If the individual in front of you is a clear threat, your third thought can be, "I better defend myself." And by the way, a clear threat involves someone pointing a weapon at you, not standing there or driving away.

This is the second shooting of an unarmed, non-threatening individual who went to the wrong address and that is two too many.

⧫
Stuffed shells for dinner, followed by baseball.

You should find something to entertain yourself after you've visited these links:

• Damn. I was really looking forward to the entertaining bullshit that FOX was going to sling in their attempt to claim they did nothing wrong.



• By the way Mary is still running around.



• Maybe they should stick to football.



• If someone dumped a toilet in my front yard, it would piss me off but apparently, it's a thing in Kansas.



• Oh Canada.

Rain delay today

The Red Sox lost today's game 5-4. That means they won the series but did not sweep the Angels.

The game was scheduled to start at 11:10 but didn't start until 12:10 because of rain. Then, in the third inning, they had a rain delay that lasted until 2:30.

Bello started for the Red Sox and did not have a very good outing. He gave up five earned runs in the first inning, immediately putting the Red Sox in a deep hole.

Crawford came in after the rain delay and pitched like a champ. He finished the remaining six plus innings and gave up zero earned runs.

Tomorrow they face the red hot Twins. First pitch is at 7:10.

⧫
I lied yesterday when I said I would have more for you today.

Here are some links:

• This is why I probably will not vote for him. He behaves like a spoiled child.



• Oh good. I was hoping to be entertained by this show.



• How exactly does one go about setting up a police station?



• Pizza delivery guys - Don't mess with them.



• This is why I always order taco's when I go to Taco Bell.

Another series win

The Red Sox beat the Angels 2-1 this afternoon, winning three of the four games.

Game four is tomorrow morning at 11:10 and if the Red Sox win, they will have swept the Angels.

As things stand right now, they are back at .500. A win tomorrow will put them above .500 (.529 to be exact).

⧫
Tomorrow also starts the NHL playoffs. Or, as they like to call it, "The Quest for Lord Stanley's Cup".

The Panthers are in Boston to play the Bruins at 7:30 tomorrow night and hopes are high for a game one win.

At least the hopes are high in my world. I'm sure there are other people who would like to see the Bruins get their ass kicked.

Those people are weirdos...

⧫
This is late and short simply because I forgot to put something together.

I'll try to throw something together for tomorrow.

Until then, here's a few links:

• This is very cool.



• Australia: Blah, blah, blah...



• Key entry from our favorite police log: "10:21 a.m. An older man lying next to a fence was just taking a nap."

MLB loves the Yankees

I have no idea why this is but the media sure loves the New York Yankees.

I wanted to check the scores last night and when I opened MLB.COM, the first thing I saw was a story about two home runs the Yankees hit. When I looked at the scores, I saw that the Yankees were losing.

A better caption would have been,

" Despite two home runs, the Yankees are getting beat by the Twins again."

Between ESPN and MLB, you would think the only team in baseball is the Yankees.

⧫
Speaking of baseball, the Red Sox managed to win last night, beating the Angles 5-3.

I thought Houck pitched pretty well, going four innings and giving up two earned runs. But it was the bullpen that came through, going five innings and giving up only one earned run.

On top of that, the hitters were hitting and the baserunners were stepping on home plate.

Did I see any of that? No, I did not. The game was streamed on Apple TV and I don't have Apple TV. Instead, I watched the Worcester Red Sox lose to the Columbus Clippers 8-1. But that's okay, I listened to the game on the WEEI stream while watching Worcester on NESN.

One of the highlights of watching Worcester is I got to see James Paxton pitch. He did pretty damned well.

I'm thinking he'll be in Boston pretty soon.

This afternoon, the Angels and Red Sox are back at it and thankfully NESN is carrying the game.

⧫
More yard work got done today and the Professor has done all of her gardens "outside of the fence" which means she has cleaned, weeded and fertilized the front, sides and the backyard behind the garage. She says that she'll do the gardens in the dog's arena (inside the fence) tomorrow.

I managed to get the last (?) of the oak leaves off the lawn. There are two oak trees in my area that just refuse to drop their dead leaves until spring and they are still dropping leaves.

Oh, and both cars got washed so if you see a nice shiny CRV tooling down the road, give me a wave.

⧫
Right now, it's the bottom of the third inning and the score is 4-2 Angels . If the rain holds off, I'm going to grill up some teryaki steak tips. If the rain doesn't hold off, I'll be cooking them on the stove. Either way, I'm going to watch the rest of this baseball game.

While I do that, you can do these:

• Key phrase in this story: "...it is unclear how or why it ended up in Louisiana."



• What the hell is a "nerf-style gun"?



• Oh Canada.



• Drunk Birds would be a fantastic name for a 1960s all-girl British lounge band.



• More proof that some people are assholes.

They will play the Panthers

When I said the Islanders looked like they would take the second wild card slot, I guess I didn't count on the Panthers losing their final game and dropping below the Islanders to the second wild card slot

This means the Bruins will take on the Panthers this Monday in the first game of their best-of-seven series in round one of the playoffs.

The format is as follows: They will play the first two games in Boston. Games three and four will be in Fort Lauderdale. If necessary, game five will be in Boston, game six will be in Fort Lauderdale and game seven will be in Boston.

The playoff schedule has not been finalized yet so dates (other than the first game) and times are not available.

⧫
The Red Sox are not playing well but they aren't the Yankees:

The Twins beat the crap out of the Yankees yesterday. It got so bad that the Yankees had to put their short-stop on the mound to pitch.

The Angels are in Boston tonight to start a four-game series against the Red Sox. I'm slightly optimistic and hopeful that the Red Sox might win all four games. It's a stretch since the Angels are in first place in the ALWest but you know me - Mr. Always-Look-On-The-Bright-Side-Of-Life

⧫
Burgers on the grill followed by an evening of baseball.

You should think about checking these out:

• There is going to be a lot of pissed-off people in Russia in a month or so.



• It just keeps on flying.



• I can only imagine the sights you would see at a nude homeless camp.



• Crotch Scotch would be a great name for cocktail of some sort.



• If I remember correctly, whenever we played dodgeball in gym, the gym teacher always left to gym. I'm pretty sure he went out for a smoke.



• Anus Adhesive Tubes is a terrible name for almost anything.

They got swept

The Red Sox lost last night...

Sale did not have a good outing, going only 4 innings and giving up six runs, five of them earned.

The final score was 9-7 in favor of the Rays. I guess I could say that the hitters were hitting and the baserunners were stepping on home plate but in my humble opinion, the fielders spent way too much time screwing things up.

They only had one error but there were things that happened that should not have happened. For instance, no one covering first base on a bunt. That allowed a run to score and the hitter to be safe at first. There were also a lot of bad throws and numerous bobbled balls.

As for this afternoon's game, they sucked.

They were up 3-1 through the fifth inning and Kluber was pitching really well.

Then the wheels fell off and before anyone realized what happened, the Rays were up 8-3.

They scored one more run in the seventh, giving the Rays a 9-3 win and a 13-0 record.

In other sports, the Bruins will play the final game of their regular season tonight. They face off against the Canadiens at 7:00.

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I went and did some shootin' this morning.

This is my pistol target. The distance was about 30 feet:

This is my rifle target. The distance was 100 yards:

For the record, the center dot is one inch across, the inner circle is three inches across, the middle circle is five inches across and the outer circle is seven inches across.

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I'm going to make some dinner and then fall asleep watching hockey.

You should visit these:

• Key phrase in this story: "Stop The Aliens!"



• It's shit like this that makes cops look bad.



• Key phrase in this story: "...they can sometimes sneak through."



• Key stupid thing to say in this story: "Imma gonna shoot up the school."



• Oh Canada.



• Only in a Walmart in Florida.

Another loss

The Rays beat the Red Sox 7-2 last night. Whitlock did "okay" but he gave up five earned runs over five innings.

They play the third game of the four-game series this evening with Sale on the mound. I'm hoping he has a good day and holds the Rays to zero hits. I'm also hoping the hitters start hitting and the baserunners start stepping on home plate.

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The Bruins are a different story. They beat the Capitals 5-2 last night for their 64^th win and breaking the record for the most points in a season at 111 points for the team.

They are off this evening and tomorrow they take on the Canadians in their final game of the regular season.

They way things look right now, the final wild card slot is still kinda up in the air. The Islanders have 91 points and one game left to play. Right behind them are the Penguins with 90 points and one game left to play.

If the Islanders win their last game, they will be the final wild card no matter what happens with the Penguins. If the Islanders lose and the Penguins win, the Penguins will be the wild card. If they both lose or both win, the Islanders will be the wild card.

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I'm going to watch some baseball and pray they win.

Here are today's links:

• And there it is...



• Australia: Blah, blah, blah.



• Hopefully this ends the rash of catalytic converter thefts and ATM hacks that we've had here in Western Mass.



• Apparently you are not allowed to cook your bats in Germany.



• Attention travelers: You might want to avoid the west coast.



• Stay classy Philadelphia. Stay classy...

They lost

The Red Sox gave up one run yesterday and that was enough for the Rays to win the game 1-0.

Pivetta pitched an outstanding game, going five innings and giving up zero runs. The bullpen did pretty well, giving up only one run but it was a homerun in the eighth inning and that was enough...

Whitlock makes his debut appearance of the season this evening and everyone is hoping he is good to go.

The Bruins are back at it again this evening, taking on the Capitals. Puck drops at 7:00 so it will be a channel-flipping kind of night for me.

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I'm still dealing with some tooth issues. I'm in the midst of having a crown put on a molar that cracked.

Yesterday was the mold-taking, grinding, more mold-taking and then capping with a temporary crown. I'm pleased to say that despite being full of novocaine, I was successful in my endeavor to not chew into my cheek or tongue.

As for today, it hurts but not awful. I just pop a couple of ibuprofens and life is good but I did have a restless sleep last night. The dull ache is still there and I'm still avoiding chewing on that side simply because I don't want to accidentally pull the temporary crown off.

That would suck.

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While I watch baseball and hockey, you can click on these:

• Only in Florida.



• This little punch in the face has everything to do with this alleged insult.



• Oh Canada.



• I can hear the wiener jokes now.



• Well, I have nothing to worry about then.

The NHL has a new record holder

The Bruins beat the Flyers 5-3 last night, giving them a season win record of 63. That is the most wins any NHL team has ever had in a season and they still have two games left to play.

Tomorrow they play the Capitals and on Thursday they play the Canadians. Since both of those teams are not having a great season, it's a pretty good bet the Bruins will win at least one of those games, maybe both.

As my cousin Dan said, "I guess they really must have hated that guy Cassidy..." referring to the coach who was let go at the end of last season.

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John Rahm won The Masters yesterday and Fred Couples finished in the 50^th position.

Good thing I saved my $10.00

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The Red Sox are in Tampa to play the undefeated Rays and I'm really hoping they win all four games. I'd be happy if they win three of the games. I'm okay with a split and they win two of the games. If they get swept, I'm gonna be unhappy.

Right now, the Rays are untouchable, scoring an average of 8 runs per game while only giving up an average of 2 runs per game. I'd love to see Pivetta shut the Rays down and the Red Sox baserunners step on home plate numerous times.

One major issue is that Adam Duvall, the guy who has been hitting the cover off the ball, fractured his wrist during yesterdays game and they have no estimate for his return. That leaves a hole in their lineup that's going to be tough to fill.

The game starts at 6:40 which is kind of an odd time for a game to start. As a matter of fact, three of the four games start at 6:40 and the fourth game starts at 1:10. Maybe the Rays understand that old guys like me don't like to stay up past 10:00.

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Looks like I might want to think about putting in my air conditioners...

⧫
I had some dentistee stuff done today so dinner is probably going to be soup. Chewing is not on the list of things I'm interested in doing right now.

While I slurp some dinner and watch baseball, you can visit these links:

• Key phrase in this story: "...the children found the whole thing funny."



• Key phrase that I added extra words to so it would be funny: "Officers spotted a car matching the suspect vehicle doing 30mph in a 40mph zone with its left turn signal on..."



• Some people have an ability to find the downside to everything.



• Sound advice.



• Maria Clutterbuck and The Pillowcase Pythons would be a fantastic name for a 1960s folk music group.

They swept the Tigers

The Red Sox beat the Tigers 4-1 this afternoon. That gives them a sweep in the seris and moves them above .500 for the first time this season.

Crawford pitched very well, giving up only one "earned" run over five innings. I put the "earned" in quotes because that run is directly attributed to an error on the previous batter that should have ended the inning.

Now they are on their way to Tampa where tomorrow they will start a four game series against the currently undefeated Rays. As the guys in the booth said this afternoon, "The Rays are due for a loss!"

I'm hoping the Rays are due for four losses...

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Despite me only making it through two periods last night, the Bruins still won. They beat the Devils 2-1 and tied the record for the most wins (62) in a season.

They are playing the Flyers at 6:00 this evening and if they win, they will take sole ownership of the most wins (63) in a season for any NHL team.

I'm going to try and make it through all three periods tonight.

⧫
As for the Masters, Fred Couples made the cut but he's managed to fall to the 52^nd slot on the leaderboard.

Good thing I didn't bet on him...

⧫
Well, all the bushes are trimmed and the majority of the gardens have been cleared of debris.

Next up is the backyard. It's a huge mess but we don't care because it's the "back" yard. It's basically The Dogs latrine.

I'll cut back the bushes back there, drag the thatcher of the lawn and maybe throw some seed down because what the hell, I might as well toss another $50.00 worth of seed that won't grow on my dirt.

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I'm going to enjoy some ham and mac & cheese for dinner then watch the Bruins hopefully make history.

I hope you enjoyed whatever holiday your religion tells you to celebrate.

If you are interested, here are some links:

• I've been to Miami. I'm not surprised by this.



• Happy Easter everybody.



• It's a clear case of Gu chocking Zhong's chickens.



• No thanks.

Another win?

As I type this, the Red Sox vs Tigers game is in the bottom of the ninth inning, there are two outs and the score is 14-4 in favor of the Red Sox.

Houck pitched well, going five innings and giving up two earned runs. The hitters are hitting the ball (three home runs) and the baserunners are stepping on home plate. That is how this game should be played.

Hopefully things stay the same over the next ⅓ inning and the Red Sox finish with a win. That gives them the series and a possible sweep tomorrow.

⧫
The Bruins have four games left to play in the regular season and they are one game short of the NHL record of 62 wins in a season. That means they are only two games short of breaking the record for most wins in a season.

I'm feeling pretty good that over the next four games, the Bruins are going to win at least two of them and break the 62 wins record

Tonight they play the Devils and the game is being broadcast by ABC. That means it starts at 8:00 instead of 7:00. I'm hoping to make it through at least two periods.

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Got a load of yard work done today. The lawn has been thatched and mowed, the trees have been trimmed and my wife crawled under the hedges to pull out all the leaves.

Our yard looks pretty damned good and we'll be back at it tomorrow because there are still a lot of bushes to be trimmed and leaves to be pulled out of gardens.

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It's pizza night.

Here are some links for you:

• Australia: Where frogs hop away as if nothing had happened...



• Speaking of snakes and butts...



• Why do these idiots pretend to be a cop.



• Well, this sounds awful.



• Only in Pennsylvania.

Thank goodness for golf

The Red Sox and the Bruins are off today. Fortunately the Masters is going on so I have that to entertain me.

And speaking of the Bruins, they won last night, beating the Maple Leafs in OT.

The key phrase in the story about the game is, "The win was the Bruins' 61st of the 2022-23 campaign, leaving them one shy of tying the NHL's all-time mark for single-season victories."

As they say up north, "Dat's some pretty good hockey right dere, dat is. Eh?"

⧫
So The Masters is going on and prior to the start of todays round, 63 year old Fred Couples is in the 26^th position on the leaderboard. I checked the odds of him winning and found out that if I place a $10.00 bet on Couples to win The Masters, I would win $10,000.00.

Then again, since I don't really gamble and I never win when I do, maybe I should just hold on the my $10.00 and, when the tournament is over, I'll still have my $10.00.

It's bad enough I bet $10.00 on the Red Sox to win the World Series, no sense tossing more money away.

⧫
Busy day cleaning and fixing. Then there were numerous errands, not the least of which was grocery shopping.

Turns out we didn't really have any "good" food in the house.

⧫
I'm going to watch some golf and surf the interwebs for entertaining stuff.

While I do that, you can click on these:

• I have the emotional and mental faculties of an 8 year old boy. I really love the stuff coming from the JWST but this headline made me giggle.



• Alaska: It's not like where we live.



• So basically, she's a potential serial killer.



• Yes, alcohol was involved.



• Aggravated assault my ass. More like attempted murder if you ask me.



• Again, and I can't state this clearly enough, I'm an eight year old boy...

They won!

The Red Sox beat the Tigers 6-3 today but it was a scary start for Sale. He walked the first two batter on only eight pitches...

Then he kind of got his act together and started striking guys out.

Also, the hitters started hitting and the baserunners started stepping on home plate.

They are still below .500 but like I always say, it's early in the season.

They are off tomorrow and pick it up again on Saturday.

⧫
The Bruins face off against the Maple Leafs this evening so I have something to watch.

There is still a battle going on for the fourth wild card slot. Right now the Sabres and the Senators are tied at 81 points and the Red Wings are right behind them with 79 points.

I'm still thinking the Sabres will be the wild card but I guess we'll see what happens over the next eight days.

⧫
I went to The Vets house to do a little repair work on a chair. Seems that the back of one of her dinning room chairs developed a split and then the board started to warp. This caused the split to seperate about ¼inch.

I don't want to brag or anything but you gotta admit, this is a hell of a clamping job:

Hopefully I was able to get enough glue into the split.

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I think the courtroom sketch of Trump:

Looks a lot like Jeff Dunham's puppet, Walter:

⧫
I'm going to figure out what to have for dinner. Then I'm going to watch hockey and probably fall asleep early.

Here are some links:

• Where is Samual L. Jackson when you need him.



• This is going to either be a huge explosion or a really cool show.



• I'm thinking the entire family is crazy.



• Wow, they take Monopoly very seriously in Brussel.



• Only in Palm Beach, Florida.



• Researchers: Contributing to the betterment of our society or a complete waste of perfectly good oxygen.

Two losses

The Red Sox got swept by the Pirates with a 4-1 loss last night and a 4-1 loss this afternoon.

Last night's loss wasn't because of pitching but bad fielding and a lack of touching home plate. With the score 1-0 Red Sox in the second inning, McGuire, the catcher, had a strike three pitch that should have ended the inning get away from him. That put a guy on first. Next batter up hit a home run, giving the Pirates a 2-1 lead.

The batters were hitting the ball but not enough to move the baserunners across the plate.

As for this afternoon, pitching wasn't great but hitting was worse. They had a total of five hits over nine innings. That kinda sucks.

Now they are off to Detroit to start a three game series against the Tigers tomorrow. First pitch is at 1:10 tomorrow.

⧫
So I read up on the charges filed against Donald "I actually pay someone to make my hair look like this!" Trump by the DA in New York and to be honest with you, I'm thinking the DA is just as arrogant and self-centered as Trump.

Let's start with Trump:

He came out and said "REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS SHOULD DEFUND THE DOJ AND FBI..." Then he gave a speech where he said "I never thought anything like this could happen in American. Never thought it could happen. The only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it."

This is coming from a guy who successfully avoided the draft and then called John McCain a loser. This is coming from a guy who made fun of every municipality that looked into decreasing funding for police.

Now let's look at Bragg, the DA:

He came out and said, "We cannot and will not normalize serious criminal conduct."

This is coming from a guy who back in January of 2022 issued a memo to his staff that clearly stated they were to decline to prosecute certain crimes, including shoplifting, prostitution and theft of services.

Apparently you can normalize serious criminal conduct Mr. Bragg...

⧫
The Vet tells me an antelope has escaped from Lupa Zoo in Ludlow and was last seen running around Wilbraham.

Look, we got enough problems with deer in my town. I hit a deer with my car one evening while taking my youngest to a school event and that thing did a lot of damage to my car. I can only imagine what kind of damage would result from hitting one of these:

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It's leftover day.

You can enjoy these links while I figure out what leftovers I want to consume.

• Key phrase in this story: "...assaulted the clerk on the head with a 4-pound frozen hilsa fish."



• You gotta love dogs and the Seminole Country Animal Shelter.



• Key phrase in this story: "...raises awareness of her rare condition with adult content on OnlyFans."



• Alabama....



• Only in Pennsylvania.



• Only in Florida.

Not much going on today

It was a beautiful but boring day for me today. I ignored the All-Donald-Trump media circus so I have no idea what may, or may not, have happened today.

Just one time I would love to hear one of the talking heads say, "In today's news, Donal.... Oh screw this. The last thing that idiot needs is more publicity when he does the stupid shit he does. I'm not going to tell you what pinhead said or did today. As a matter of fact, I'm not going to talk about politics or anything related to politics."

Wouldn't that be nice. Imagine a news broadcast that contains information you can use like what food products are being recalled or what your weather is going to be like. How about talking about the research being done to determine why human beings are suddenly becoming psychotic and going into schools to shoot babies.

⧫
So anyways, I don't have much to blab about today other than the Red Sox lost to the Pirates 7-6 last night. It was not a good loss for them because the Pirates are normally not a good team.

Hopefully tonight Pivetta has a good outing and holds the Pirates to no runs. I would also like to see the batters get on base and drive in runs.

⧫
I need to figure out what to make for dinner.

While I do that, you can do these:

• Key item that struck me in this story: A 52 year old man was playing Pokemon GO at 7:00 in the morning...



• Merry Easter everybody...



• This is more interesting than Trump.



• Presenting this episodes Brilliant Criminal of the Day.



• First H1N1 was going to kill us all, then Legionnaires, then MERSa, then CoViD-19 and now Mexican Mummies.