Two Mannys?

With a tear in our eye, we say, 'goodbye!'

Peeking in the RiverCats' dugout during Sunday's game something didn't seem right about Manny:

Here is Manny being Manny from Game 1...

...and Manny from game 4. When did he start wearing glasses?

 Hmmm? Looked odd with the naked eye. Really looked odd zoomed in.

And he looks kind of doughy. What the?

Wait a second! That's not Manny! IMPOSTER!

Who is that fake-dreadlocked man? And what has he done with Manny?
 

The imposter inspects his bat like Manny...

...wanders the dugout aimlessly like Manny...

...he's even wearing Manny's batting gloves,
protective elbow guard and doo-rag...

Does Manny have a doppelganger?

The face is starting to look familiar...

...is it? Could it be?

It is! It's ex-Sky Sox pitcher Bruce Billings!
Now sporting a beard and glasses to fool the masses.

Damn! Manny's going to be so pissed! Bruce is going to die!

Bruce Billings give Manny back his stuff.
Manny seems cool with it.

No hatin', just lazin' on the fence together. Manny is a good dude.

Bruce lived. Manny hit a couple of balls hard and seemed to be a good teammate. Good luck with your comeback Manny. Thanks for a fun weekend. You deserve to go out on your own terms. Hope you get that chance.

Manny-Apocalypse

What's happening in

Well, Saturday was Todd Helton bobblehead night!

I've always had the feeling Todd didn't like me...hmmm?

People love them bobbleheads! There is one already on eBay starting at $29.99, or buy it now for just $59.99 w/ free shipping! Wow! That's almost as cool as this thing (or not):

The horror! The horror!

It's got to be the legs, or the transition of the legs to the tomato body, or the lack of pants that push it over the normal, creepy mascot vibe into the 'get the hell away from me' mascot vibe. Let's just chalk this one up in the 'I Do Not Like That Thing' category okay? 

Hernan Iribarren makes a fine running catch
in front of the Sky Sox bullpen.
Kennil Gomez, standing, shows his appreciation.

Onto the game. Cats crushed the Sox 10-2. Cats always crush the Sox. The RiverCats are a damn good baseball team. And Manny Ramirez was a 40 year old Manny Ramirez. Going 1 for 6 with a weak single to rightfield.

Manny singles to right even while playing with a cat trapped under his helmet.

Manny watches one of his 'foul' balls.

Just when I think I get my shot of the season (see the Why I shoot Post) I stumble on a better one the very next day...

The Zombie Manny-Apocalypse is upon us!

Why I Shoot

Moment like this are why I shoot:

Sky Sox shortstop Tommy Fields turns two
despite the slide of Sacramento's Brandon Hicks
and the distraction of 2nd baseman Hernan Iribarren
kung-fu-ing himself into the play.

You work into position. Then you wait. And wait. And wait. Most of the time you get squat, or pictures of bullpen shenanigans...

The Sacramento RiverCat bullpen doing a lot of sitting around and stuff.

...or pictures of Manny Ramirez doing stuff...

Double-Dutch. Man-Ram style!

...but sometimes your preparation and work pay off. You have the perfect light, the right play and an awesome shot (see above). This is why I shoot.

Sky Sox 3rd baseman Brandon Wood takes a poop on the field.

Speaking of squat, you mostly get this. Mostly. 

 

Euro 2012!

EURO 2012! It's like the World Cup but without all the teams that have no hope of winning ('cept Brazil and Argentina). It's EURO 2012! It's on ESPN proper! It's usually great soccer! PengoSports sez, check it out! We are betting it will be the Netherlands v Spain with the Netherlands taking it all! Finally!

Soccer! He's ready for a touchdown or homerun or something!

Saturday's games are:

 Germany v Portugal @ 1000am 

Netherlands v Denmark @ 1245pm

Sunday has:

Spain v Italy @ 1000am

Ireland v Croatia @ 1245pm

Click here for the rest of the schedule

Give it a watch. And don't worry about Iceland.

They didn't make it.

Mailing This One In

Manny made it. Manny didn't play. It was supposed to rain, rain, rain. It only rained (started it the 4th and the game was suspended). It was suppose to hail. It hailed. On the drive home that hail broke my f*#%kin' windshield. I probably should care. I don't. Windshields are so over-rated. Now here is what happened Wednesday in...  

Manny didn't not sign any autographs, but he did pretend bat alot and, for a while, chewed on a sunflower seed bag.

Manny eating the seeds bag. Get it! Get it Manny!

This guy came in to much fanfare...

Hey! It's Rick from Pawn Stars! Wait. I have to call a buddy on this...

...at least minor league baseball fanfare. He was dressed as John McClane from Die Hard and announced as Bruce Willis here to throw out the 1st pitch. He looked like a dude that looked like Rick from Pawn Stars pretending to be Bruce Willis playing John McClane from Die Hard. Meh. 

...nope. Just a guy impersonating Rick from Pawn Stars
impersonating Bruce Willis from Die Hard
throwing out the 1st pitch.  Why?

During the anthem Manny spit and reached for something in his back pocket (not finding anything).

Manny being Manny while spitting on my logo!

He then spent most the game pretend to bat, actually he just stood there in his stance. I never saw him swing.

Manny pretend hitting in the dugout. Look at the focus! Just look at it!

This impersonating stuff is getting out of hand.
Here is Manny impersonating Captain Jack Sparrow
impersonating Manny's batting stance.

Then someone told me that Rockies' manager Jim Tracy was in the house. I shot a picture of him eating.

Rockies skipper Jim Tracy just out and out destroying some type of sandwich.
Could it be a Philly?

Then the rain came. The umps called the game after a 13 minute rain delay. I drove home and my windshield got smacked by giant hail and it is now cracked.

That weather? It came it the 4th.
Crap broke my windshield. Insert curse words here...

Meh.

MANNYWOOD-SPRINGS!

Manny Ramirez is coming to Security Service Field! You know Manny Ramirez of Manny being Manny (BoSox) and MANNYWOOD (Dodgers) fame!? He's trying a comeback with the A's and is getting up to speed with the AAA affiliate Sacramento River Cats. Fresh off his 100 50 game drug suspension, if our memory serves us correctly we believe he was trying to get pregnant, got suspended because MLB is a haters league when it comes to pregnant men, then retired when he was all emotional and stuff from not getting preggers/getting suspended and is now un-retired and still not pregnant but trying to make the A's and maybe trying to getting pregnant again or something. Got it? 

Just Manny Being Manny, at Altitude!

The series runs Thursday, June 7 - Sunday, June 10. Good seats are available for all the games. So come out and root on the pregnant man and bask in the wonders of MANNYSPRINGS!  (Then again it is Manny Ramirez and he might not even play, or show up, or whatever.)

Annoying Bells Night

Monday night's giveaway at Security Service Field at Mile High? F#*%ing mini cowbells. Yup. Last night was Annoying Bells Night:

Get your stinkin', free, annoying bells here!

"I'll sign, but only if you get rid of them damn bells!"

The Sox lost 3-1 to the AAA Padres. It serves them right that they lost to a team of synchronized nose pickers like the Tucson.

The Olympics are only days away boys!
The Synchronized Nose Picken' gold is almost yours!
USA! USA!! USA!!!

Now I hate mini-annoying bells almost as much as I hate Iceland...I hate Iceland...

...so I encouraged mascot extraordinaire, Sox the Fox, that he should liberate said annoying bells, stuff them in a sack and drop them in a dumpster. He was still all Bruce Wayne and not yet in the Batman suit so he just smiled and wandered away. Well, guess what? That no good bastard of a mascot went and fashioned himself a belt of the f*#%ing things and after his intro he hopped into the stands, sidled up behind me and commenced to clanging and rattling to wake the dead! I'd move and he'd find me again (granted there were only 12 people there due to a hella-wind/rain storm about an hour before 1st pitch so I was pretty easy to find). 

Clang away you damn over-sized rat. Where's my dCon?

A rat with an empty pizza box. Hello Templeton.

As I left the stadium I saw an apt metaphor, or something, for the evening:

Yeah! That's right! Nobody wants you! Have fun in the landfill you annoying piece of crap!

And since I'm on a rant here, who are the marketing geniuses that thought this one up?

Legendary Classic Rock. Brought to you by Big Large Huge Stuff.

 BOOOOOOOO!!! Boo to everything!

Go Pick Me A Winner Bobby

Tucson Padres bullpen, ready for the big game (click pics to embiggen)...

Ready boys?

...and it's 1, 2, 3...guys a pickin'...at the old ballgame!

Who's a pickin'? And who's a grinnin'? Seems like half the bullpen.

Pick it! Pick me a winner Bobby! Go on! Pick it!

They won the game. So whatever works? I guess.

H_O_E_S

The August 2011 Chili Con Carnival/Wing Fest at the ballyard was HELLA AWESOME! HOOTERS to H_O_E_S only took three well placed (or misplaced) bodies. One of our all time favorite dumb luck shots.

No tricks. No Photoshop. Just plain old fashioned dumb luck.

Now here is a Tucson Padre, fresh from another bullpen foul ball scare, with a blue lollypop.

Hope you brought enough candy for the rest of us...

Look Out!

Foul ball goes screaming into the Tucson Padres' bullpen scattering a bunch of slackers just a loafing and a lounging...

Look out! It's a ball...

...too bad they don't have gloves and stuff to catch it.

...serves them right the lazy bastards. Hope they pissed themselves.