With the Exception

There is a clause in all sports, especially pre-season baseball that really irritates me. “With the exception” is the clause. And today in baseball, Juan Dominguez pitched well, with the exception of the third inning. And there it is: “With the exception.” With the exception of all the losses the Rangers had last year, they went undefeated. I don’t know about anyone else, but I think that clause is outright stupid. Dominguez didn’t pitch well, period – end of sentence. He gave up four runs in four innings. And last I checked, when you give up one per, that’s pretty bad. And being this close to the regular season… I have to admit… my prediction of 162-0 is feeling a little in danger. With the exception of the starting pitching and the relief pitching, I am feeling pretty good about things. Seriously… the address of pitching for the Rangers was a huge thing in the off-season, and I do know that pre-season is pre-season. When I notice the scores of late, they scare me. Opening day is less than a week away and we are still giving up big numbers to the other team. I wonder if I can sign up for the same anger management classes as Kenny. In Texas, people oh-and-ah over fireworks. The homerun is a big deal and every month there is a mondo firework show. I do like a huge offense, but more importantly, I LOVE a great defense. I love pitching. A friend has offered me a ticket to opening day. I haven’t been to opening day since 1994, when the new stadium opened up. What a great day, I miss the red uniforms and I miss the pitching that we had back then. Remember, when we wore red, we caused our opponents to see red as well. The only time we made the playoffs was in the red uniforms. Maybe that says something. I don’t know.

In the bush league, my Bashers sent the Madness home. The Bashers went up against them in the final playoff game with the winner going to the Tournament of Champions. The Madness didn’t loose a game all season and posted a record of 30-0. The Bashers had a record of 21-9 (but winners of there final 13 regular season games). The game went into extra innings, tied at 1 a piece. Nolan Ryan came on in relief and shut them down for the 2-1 win, completing the best upset of my short Bush League managerial career. Constipate Imodium went 3 out of 4 with an RBI and Madya Look went 2 out of 3 with the game winner. I know you wouldn’t normally care about the names and stats, but the names are pretty funny. Madya Look? Get it… made ya look! Anyway…

The Mavs lost a great game tonight… dropping to the Pistons in a game that really came down to the final four minutes… a real heartbreaker for me. With the exception of the Mavs giving up more points than they scored, I think they played a great game.

My original prediction of the Mavs beating out the Spurs… I am feeling a little edgy on that right now… I am not sure if it is going to happen. Either way, though, the Mavs have clinched the playoffs, they will win over 60 this year and they will make some serious noise in the playoffs. I would still take them over the Spurs in a seven game series. Anyway, Johnny Out.