Dear Commish:

Well, Dad2B, we are close going into the final day. Only HR, RBI, SB, & W appear to be decided and they are split 2-2. We each have only one starter going, both are middle-of-the-staff types (Danks for you; Myers for me). You apparently have at least 9 closers to my 3, so odds are good for you in Saves. The rest are up for grabs.

We're off to enjoy the last rays of summer. Cheers.

--Grandpa2B (11:00 am PDT)

Ps: Ok, just checked at 3:30 PDT. Yikes. We're ahead, but on the verge of a meltdown. Here's where we are:




...to be continued. Nap time now.
--G2B.

End of Day: Jim, you called it in our tele conf this afternoon: thanks in no small part to Louis Ayala who went "inf" in relief for the Mets, we finish 8-3 and are in the finals. Wow. Nice. (And it's on the same day that Carlos Z threw the first Cubs' No-No in approximately 40 years.)





On to more important things: Looking forward to seeing you and the Mrs. and Baby No.1 in November.

--G2B

Dear Honey Nut Ichiros:

We were a great matchup in Round One of the 2008 WATBL playoffs. Matchup was 6-5 in my favor on Sunday morning. You had Adam Wainwright and Cole Hamels starting; I had Josh Johnson & Paul Byrd available to start, but decided to sit Paul Byrd against the slugging Rangers. (Another Vitamin D "overthink?" Like sitting Josh Beckett this week on his first start coming off the DL, only to have him win a game, give up no runs and get 7 freaking K's!)







[to be continued...I'm off to do yard work in the Seattle sun.]

Eight hours later ... here's where we ended up Sunday night.




Whew! That was waaaay close ... and even closer than it looks. We were tied (6-6) going into the last game on the last day. I had two hitters left (Rollins, Delgado) who were hitting against Santana and Hamels, respectively. And the white hot Cole Hamels, was your remaining player. Yikes.

Rollins tanked, of course (oh-fer against Johann), but Carlos surprisingly hammered Cole for 2 HRs (l-o-n-g, too) and the threat to WHIP was gone and HR's were now tied ... and we escaped with at 6-5 win.

So ... good match, Jen. See you next spring for the Baby X "coming out party."

--Vitamin D Ownership.

Ps: Yes, 20-20 hindsight shows The Sitting of Paul Byrd was a mistake as he went 6.2 innings with no earned runs and got the W against the suddenly anemic Rangers. (Combined with Beckett boo-boo mentioned above, it cost us the W's category.)

Dear WATBL Owners:

I've seen some good pitching in playoffs (and, granted, we're not "done" with Friday night of Round the Oneth, c. 2008), but I found this pretty impressive. When is the last time you saw five (5) pitchers that were all under 2.00 ERA and under 1.00 WHIP in the same head-to-head matchup series ... after this many innings?

--Vitamin D-elighted at the quality pitching in our series. (Way to pick'm, Jen.)

Dear Vitamin D-isaster....

Your clubhouse privileges are hereby revoked. You'll find a supply of cat food and Perrier water at the back door. Please use it wisely. Thank you. ---Management. listen

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Dear One of the Many Jose's in WATBL:

... in this case, Mr. Valverde of the Houston Not-So-Astronomics. Nice game, Senor Closer.

Which translates into a daily stat against the Mighty Blizzzzzards) of ...



---Vitamin D-isinclined to renew your contract

Dear Josh Hamilton:

Don't get cocky, kid.

--Vitamin D-efinitely Impressed

Ps: Oh. Didn't see it? Check out the video.

Dear Shrinking Vitamin D Fan Base:

Tuesday, July One, 2008.

We know. We know. We're working the problem. Needless to say, the GM is on Double Secret Probation and ownership is searching Craig's List for a replacement.

The Good (please fill glass half-full first): Jenn didn't shut us out last week!




The Bad* (please empty glass, then fill with forlorn hope): Senor Fuentes yesterday, the stats for which we were watching in horror at the Ms vs Jays game last night (with The Commish and Mrs. Commish, Glitterbabyz2B):



The Just Plain Dumb (feel free to bang head -- repeatedly -- on desk or other hard surface): we left 2 Ws and 14 Ks on the freaking bench yesterday -- the straw that pushed ownership over the edge:




--Vitamin D-umb PR Department

* Late breaking (more) bad news: "RF Magglio Ordonez was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday with a pulled right oblique and lat muscle suffered in the first inning Saturday night. He told reporters the pain increased overnight. Ordonez, batting .307 with 12 home runs and 50 RBI, had not missed a game this season. "I don't want to take a chance," said Ordonez, third Tiger this month to go on the DL due to an oblique muscle pull.