It's sad to think I've only been awake for eight hours today.
I normally get up at reasonably normal times, but for whatever reason I slept until two in the afternoon today. So no, nothing really got done. I spent most of my afternoon watching baseball-related things (as if by a coincidence, I turned on This Week in Baseball to see a feature on Daisuke Matsuzaka that focused on Yokohama High School, which made my day) and later watched actual baseball. In the middle of the game, which really wasn't going swimmingly for the Mets at the time, we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant and then watched more of the game there, then drove home - so it was on the radio that we heard the Mets' eighth inning comeback, and we got home just in time to see Billy Wagner strike out the side in the ninth.
And my baseball day just got even better, because Manny Ramirez has reached 500 home runs! Congratulations, Manny - that's an amazing milestone. Now let's shoot for 600!
I'm excited - tomorrow I'm going to watch my kid brother's best friend's little brother play T-ball. I used to help out at my brother's T-ball and Little League practices (I even became his bullpen catcher when he decided to learn how to pitch), and I have to say I miss watching the little kids play. When they're still in T-ball, they're playing because it's fun, not because they're ambitious or trying to go professional. In T-ball, it's too early for the overly-competitive parents on the sidelines...they show up later. Right now, it's about the love of the game, and not enough people play for that anymore when they're kids (which is something I love about Oofuri - most of those kids aren't planning on going pro, but they play because they like the game; Haruna is there as a juxtaposition character).
On an Oofuri note, Tim McCarver actually surprised me and got something right during the telecast of the Mets game today - he stated that a good quality in a pitcher is an unwillingness to give up the mound. If that doesn't tell you McCarver was once a catcher, than nothing does...because Abe said exactly the same thing early in the series. So there you go. If McCarver and Abe are agreeing on something, then it's probably right.
And my baseball day just got even better, because Manny Ramirez has reached 500 home runs! Congratulations, Manny - that's an amazing milestone. Now let's shoot for 600!
I'm excited - tomorrow I'm going to watch my kid brother's best friend's little brother play T-ball. I used to help out at my brother's T-ball and Little League practices (I even became his bullpen catcher when he decided to learn how to pitch), and I have to say I miss watching the little kids play. When they're still in T-ball, they're playing because it's fun, not because they're ambitious or trying to go professional. In T-ball, it's too early for the overly-competitive parents on the sidelines...they show up later. Right now, it's about the love of the game, and not enough people play for that anymore when they're kids (which is something I love about Oofuri - most of those kids aren't planning on going pro, but they play because they like the game; Haruna is there as a juxtaposition character).
On an Oofuri note, Tim McCarver actually surprised me and got something right during the telecast of the Mets game today - he stated that a good quality in a pitcher is an unwillingness to give up the mound. If that doesn't tell you McCarver was once a catcher, than nothing does...because Abe said exactly the same thing early in the series. So there you go. If McCarver and Abe are agreeing on something, then it's probably right.