things still busy. team arrived in town today, which meant meet the team dinner time. fun time had by all. it was just a buffet-style meal, and we had the players sit about two or three to a table...fans came in and joined whomever they wanted to join. it made for a surprisingly comfortable atmosphere, actually.

it seems to me that this team is a lot friendlier with each other than past teams i've been with, and we're only 4 hours into the experience. it is my belief that the escalation of the cell phone has absolutely killed the camaraderie that used to be a part of minor league baseball - instead of playing cards and bonding, these guys are always on the phone with their girlfriend/wife. it's sort of disheartening...the minor league equivalent of '20 cabs for 20 guys.'

without a stadium or clubhouse that are readily accessible, these next two days (media day - full uniform - wednesday afternoon, short workout - road sleeves and old pants - wednesday night, travel for thursday game - road uniform - thursday morning), it's making it particularly tough on our groundskeeper, who is doubling as clubhouse manager prior to the stadium's opening. he said to me, about 10 (we were at the office) tonight: "remind me this time tomorrow that i love my job." and so i will.

made my california (old guy) radio debut monday morning, and i think i left the listening public unimpressed. long-winded and overly-esoteric, i just didn't give the people what they wanted. i made the following awful predictions: nl west: dodgers; nl central: houston; nl east: atlanta (which i really, really want to believe); al west: seattle (i forgot about anaheim and oakland...it happens); al central: minnesota; al east: yanks, i think.

i tried to justify the picks the following way:
atlanta: bobby cox is still the best manager in the game, you can't do much better than the jones brothers, and i think jd drew will finally stay healthy.
houston: simply put, i can't pick the cubs...makes me nervous
los angeles: i like milton bradley (!), and i think that jeff weaver finally puts it together this year (!!)
seattle: ehh...why not? oh - wait - it's because freddy garcia'll be back this year. (if i were smart, i'd've mentioned the fact that rafael soriano will either win ten from the bullpen or win 17 in the rotation.
minnesota: i love joe mauer...blah...blah...blah...power will come...walked 62 times and only struck out 41...numbers have gotten better as he's gone up the ladder...blah...instantly becomes the best defensive catcher in the a-l...he's so humble...what an amazing story...blah....blah...blah... (and i didn't even mention johan, who i love)
new york: vazquez is an ace (although i don't think i can spell his name). i think kevin brown will hold up.

thankfully, he didn't ask for a series or wild card prediction. i'd've probably found some way to remember oakland, and then pick the giants over oakland, in a 15-year-anniversary revenge series. i'm dumb. but it was early.

we said we'd do it again, and, if we do, i'm coming armed with material. real material. better material than: "how many dominican infielders can you fit in john kruk's suit?"

coupla cd purchases today, probably the last ones before (next month) the polyphonic spree record comes out. wire's pink flag and modest mouse's newly-released good news for people who love bad news. pixies announced a saturday, november 13, show at the riviera (i think) today. don't know when tickets are on sale. i'll probably try to see them, although i only really know surfer rosa. i've got half a year to learn.