Friday, August 1:
LAC-DES-SEIZE-ÎLES, PQ -- David Price?! Really?! My Tigers responded to Oakland's trade deadline acquisition of Jon Lester by getting Price, a former Cy Young award winner, in a three-team deal with Tampa Bay and Seattle. They, in effect, get Price for Drew Smyly, Austin Jackson and prospects. I like it. A starting staff of Max Scherzer, David Price, Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez and Rick Porcello should dominate the American League Central and guarantee a division title. And four of those five in a playoff starting rotation should dominate any opponent, save the A's. Overall, Oakland is stronger but the Tigers will cross that bridge if and when they come to it. Meantime, they know the time to win is now and the way to win is with superior pitching. Now, if they could only do something about that bullpen, which is why the Tigers won't win. Again.
Sunday, August 3:
LAC-DES-SEIZE-ÎLES, PQ -- Patience, Grasshopper. And it seems we are being rewarded for it. After five days of downright dreadful summer weather, we've had two gorgeous days and the promise of a good week in front of us. After spending part of last Sunday with great friends Jim & Janine and their family members at their rented house in Morin Heights, they returned the favour and stayed with us Friday and part of yesterday before driving home to London. And today, our nephew, his wife and (almost) three-year-old son arrive from Ottawa for at least an overnight stay. Life is good!
1-1-1-2-3-1-1-1-x. A secret code? No. That's the Tigers half of the linescore from last night's 11-5 win over Colorado. It's the first time since 1912 that Detroit has scored in every inning of a nine-inning home game.
Tuesday, August 5:
LAC-DES-SEIZE-ÎLES, PQ -- The weather pattern is repeating itself up here. After a fantastic four days, thunderstorms yesterday afternoon signaled the arrival of a cold front. The next few days are expected to be damp and cool, and then dry and hot again by the weekend. We shall see.
It's called the International Champions Cup and last night in Miami, it was won by Manchester United, in a 3-1 decision over rival Liverpool. Nice, but as new manager Louis van Gaal rightly pointed out, the game that really matters for Man-U is the Premier League opener against Swansea a week from Saturday. Still, a great pre-season under the new boss, who shone in the World Cup at the helm of the third-place side from The Netherlands.
Friday, August 8:
LAC-DES-SEIZE-ÎLES, PQ -- Damp and cool? Nope. Cooler, but mostly sunny and ideal for both swimming in the daytime and sleeping at night. And the weekend is expected to be sensational.
Got a phone call the other day from a friend with an offer I couldn't (and wouldn't) refuse. I'm not much of a golfer (he is) but he appreciates my love of sports history. The upshot is, he won an annual lottery that allows two people on the grounds of Augusta National during Masters week. Not the tournament itself, mind, but the Tuesday, featuring one of the practice rounds. To suggest I'm excited is a major understatement. I'm over the moon and both thrilled and honoured my buddy thought of me. Augusta National is hallowed ground for a golfer and only the rich, talented and fortunate few lottery winners get to stroll its grounds.
Fifty years ago today, I made my second visit to Detroit's Tiger Stadium for a Sunday doubleheader against the gaudy Kansas City Athletics (they wore gold uniforms in game one, grey in the nightcap). Julio Navarro won the opener, 4-2, in relief of Joe Sparma, beating future Tiger Orlando Pena. Denny McLain beat Moe Drabowsky 5-2 in game two and Norm Cash hit a home run in each game. There were 46,342 of us in attendance on something called bat day, as all the kids in attendance received miniature Louisville Sluggers. At one point, they asked us to hold our bats aloft, and it looked like an ad for a matchstick factory. And when we wanted the Tigers to rally, we all starting pounding the bats on the concrete floor below us. It's a wonder the old place remained standing. Somehow, I can't see a similar promotion being offered in this day and age.
Sunday, August 10:
LAC-DES-SEIZE-ÎLES, PQ -- Detroit Tigers rookie skip Brad Ausmus is getting grief for pulling a red-hot Max Scherzer after eight innings yesterday in Toronto with a 2-1 lead. Joe Nathan gave up the tying run in the bottom of the ninth and Joba Chamberlain surrendered the winner in the 10th -- 3-2 Blue Jays. But here's the deal. Ausmus has to know what he's got in the bullpen, even if it's not much. It must be very tempting to push Scherzer and the rest of the rotation into complete games. In this day and age, that would mean a worn-out starting staff down the stretch and potential arm damage in the future. The only way he should succumb to that temptation is in the World Series. And the other side of the Catch-22 is that the Tigers will never get that far with the bullpen they have. But that's not Ausmus's fault. He can only play the hand he's dealt, and somehow, some way, the relievers have to start doing their jobs and gain some confidence. If they don't, Detroit will go nowhere, maybe not even to the post-season.
Monday, August 11:
LAC-DES-SEIZE-ÎLES, PQ -- Only Tony Stewart knows what happened the other night on an upstate New York dirt track in an incident that left 20-year-old racer Kevin Ward Jr. dead. The youngster and the three-time NASCAR champ collided on the previous lap when Stewart's car went high and forced Ward into the outside wall. The caution came out and Ward, young and angry, left his car and started gesturing at Stewart as he came around the track. What happened next is not in dispute. Stewart's car slammed into Ward, who crumpled onto the track and was dead by the time he reached hospital. Stewart's supporters will question how well the track was lit in the area and whether his car drifted on the dirt into Ward. His detractors will point to Smoke's explosive temper and why other cars were able to avoid Ward when he did not. But for now -- and again -- only Stewart knows what happened.
Tuesday, August 12:
LAC-DES-SEIZE-ÎLES, PQ -- My favourite Robins include Van Persie, Wright, Tunney, Roberts (both female and male), Mattson, Ventura, Yount, Gibb and the Boy Wonder but right at the top was Robin Williams. I'm shocked and saddened at the death of the man who made me and millions of other people collapse in uncontrolled laughter time after time after time. We had family members visit here over the weekend and slapped in an old VHS tape of "Mrs. Doubtfire" after we got out of the lake. Even though I've seen it countless times, I roared along with everyone else. So sad that he couldn't find an earthly way out of the depression that ensnared him. The man was a comic genius.
Say hello to your second-place Detroit Tigers. And with Anibal Sanchez on the disabled list and Justin Verlander done after one inning last night with a sore shoulder, who knows where it will all end?
It all ends up here for us today. We'll spend the day driving back home with a stop in Ottawa to see the new home our nephew and his family are moving into. I'll miss the Laurentians but it's time. The great weather is slated to come to and end today with lots of rain waiting for us in Stouffville when we get home.
Wednesday, August 13:
When The Bride and I are packing to go somewhere, as we were yesterday for the trip home from the Laurentians Lakehouse, she is wont to ask me, "You got it all?" -- as in, "is everything packed?" And my stock answer is "Yes, just like Bogie and Bacall." And we lost Lauren Bacall yesterday at age 89, one of the great smoky and sultry actresses of Hollywood's golden era -- as well as Humphrey Bogart's on and off-screen love. Her death comes just a day after Robin Williams' suicide. Let's hope and pray that the "these things always come in threes" suggestion doesn't come true this time.
Between construction delays, torrential rain, a detour to Ottawa for a one-hour visit with our nephew at he and his family's gorgeous new home, and the usual stops for lunch, gas and "pit stops", the trip from the cottage took 11 hours yesterday. But we're here and happy to be home.
Friday, August 15:
It's an El Niño year, they say, and forecasters are suggesting it could be a rather mild winter for much of Canada. After the brutal winter and cool, wet summer we've endured, I'm all for a bit of weather relief, but all the forecasting in the world won't mean as much as the iron-clad guarantee of a mild winter once I get my snowblower fixed. Once that's done, I'm sure it will just sit in my garage gathering dust.
Sunday, August 17:
Manchester United has morphed into the Detroit Lions. When the Lions went 0-and-16 six years ago, many people forget they were a perfect 4-and-0 in the pre-season. United completed a 6-and-0 record in friendlies, only to fall 2-1 at home against Swansea yesterday in their EPL opener. New manager Louis van Gaal cautioned against the early optimism, saying the only result that really mattered was the opener. And despite looking stronger than the visitors on the pitch, it ended up as a defeat. Yes, there are injuries and no, United will not -- like the Lions -- lose every game in the campaign. But, and van Gaal freely admits this, they need better players by Labour Day. Whether the purse strings are loosened to meet that goal is anyone's guess.
Monday, August 18:
And thus it ends. Three weeks of vacation gone in the blink of an eye. But The Bride and I had a blast -- the first holiday we've been able to take together in a long while. And we closed it out in style with another Karaoke night Saturday with friends up the road in Mount Albert (I had 'em eating out of my hand -- they were weeping, I tell ya!). And we also got some things around the house done. Today, before I head downtown for the evening shift, we'll get our broken-down hot tub looked at to see if it's worth paying money to fix a 16-year-old spa. Depending on the price, it's either repair or a new unit. And with all of the water draining, scrubbing and cleaning I did yesterday, I wish it was in place and working now so I could soak my aching back.
Wednesday, August 20:
The best tweet I saw after the Chicago Cubs ground crew completely botched the covering of the infield during a brief but heavy downpour in the middle of the fifth inning last night -- leading to an unplayable field and a fortunate 2-0, rain-shortened win for the Cubs over the Giants -- was this: Cubs' ground crew WAR (wins over replacement): 1.0. It reminded me of a game I was fortunate to see live, the only game I ever saw at Baltimore's old Memorial Stadium, on a sweltering August Sunday back in 1978. The Orioles were playing the New York Yankees, who were trying to catch first-place Boston in the American League East. Baltimore jumped out to a 3-0 lead with three runs in the bottom of the sixth and an eye to the sky, where it was getting dark with storm clouds. In the top of the seventh, the Yankees scored five runs and were still batting when the skies opened and the tarps came out for the second rain delay of the game. A little background: The NFL exhibition season had started and the Baltimore Colts had just played a game at the shared stadium in less-than-ideal conditions and left field in particular was a bit chewed up. So when the thunderstorm ended at the baseball game and it was time to roll the tarp up, wily O's skipper Earl Weaver instructed the grounds crew, first to lollygag and then to carry the tarp, loaded with 30 minutes worth of heavy rain, out to left field instead of the usual right, turning the chewed-up ground into a quagmire. He then brought the umps out to left field, exclaimed, "We can't play on this!", and lo and behold, the game reverted back to the last complete inning, giving Baltimore an official 3-0 win. The Yanks were apoplectic but there was nothing they could do. At least not until the next year when the rule was changed and such comebacks were not wiped out but carried over in a suspended game. Here are pictures from that day 
and note the scoreboard in the eighth picture down shows that New York had scored its five runs at 4:16 p.m. On the very bottom, the scoreboard reverts back to a 3-0 final score at 4:52 p.m. In all, it worked out for the best. Had the Yanks won the game, there would have been no one-game playoff at Boston that October and Bucky Dent would have been just another ballplayer.
Thursday, August 21:
Toto, I don't think we're in 1978 anymore. The San Francisco Giants protested Tuesday's 2-0 loss to the Cubs, in which the Wrigley Field grounds crew managed to match the Cubs' century-plus reign of ineptitude in just a few short minutes. And unlike the Yankees in '78 (see below), major league baseball upheld the protest, the first upheld protest in the majors since 1986. So later today, San Francisco and Chicago will pick up where they left off, bottom of the fifth, the Cubs up 2-0. And they'll play the regularly scheduled game tonight. This will be interesting if the Giants come back to win -- and in five-and-a-half weeks, manage to beat the rival Dodgers by one game for the division title (assuming the second-place team doesn't snare a wild-card spot).
The Blue Jays won a game yesterday and picked up zero ground in either the division or the wild-card standings. They're back in second place in the A.L. East but still nine games shy of Baltimore. And while Seattle lost, Detroit won, keeping the Jays four-and-a-half games out of the second wild-card spot. They're tied with Cleveland, with the Indians holding two games in hand. Despite Toronto's win, all it did was cross another day off the baseball calendar, making probable elimination one day closer.
Monday, August 25:
My main computer has been acting up lately so I decided, after various band-aid solutions were met with spotty success, to do a clean re-install of Windows 7. Easy, huh? Not this time. Windows failed to recognize, or at least failed to allow my hardware to work properly. No sound, poor screen resolution, the works. So I've spent the last three days aside from work shifts -- toiling on getting the basics restored (which required another clean re-install). I think it's finally at the point where I can re-install software programs but it's been a mini-nightmare. Which is one reason why this blog and the picture of the week are overdue.
Wednesday, August 27:
This was going to be the homestand that defined the Toronto Blue Jays season. The games against Tampa Bay, Boston and New York were going to determine if they still had an outside chance at a playoff spot. Well, after dropping two of three to the Rays and two straight so far to the Red Sox, I think it's safe to say they're done. The Jays are back down to .500 for the season, sit in third place in the American League East, 10 games behind Baltimore and trail Seattle, Detroit, New York and Cleveland in the fight for the final wild-card berth, six-and-a-half games in arrears. The May run of success was a long time ago and the June 6th standings, when Toronto was six games up in the division and 14 games over .500, is but a distant memory.
Saturday, August 30:
Prayers for Mikhail Aleshin after a major IndyCar crash yesterday in Fontana, California. Doggone it, I hate open wheel racing on NASCAR tracks. I know these guys know what they're doing but the recipe for disaster is so great. It wasn't that long ago when Dan Wheldon lost his life on a similar track outside of Las Vegas. NASCAR tracks are simply not suited for open-wheel racing. They shouldn't eliminate all ovals -- just the ones that are built for stock cars, where you're virtually "on it" every inch of every lap, and where there's so little pack movement between cars at high speeds. When something does go wrong -- you know the rest.
Sunday, August 31:
This, from my September 2nd blog back in 2007:
"Let's scratch that "mighty" tag from the Michigan Wolverines, who bumbled and stumbled their way to the losing end of arguably the biggest upset in college football history. Yesterday's 34-32 loss to Appalachian State -- a Division 1-AA school -- is one for the ages. "
Consider that seven-year itch officially scratched away. Michigan played App. State -- now a Division I-A school -- yesterday at the Big House in the Big Rematch, and romped 52-14. At no time was the outcome in doubt. So the season opener was a rout but how good are the Wolverines? We'll get a far better idea next Saturday night when they visit Notre Dame in the final game (for awhile) of that rivalry. At any rate, welcome back, college football. You were sorely missed!
