#FlyTheW

I was sent this picture from a coworker of mine who is at the game tonight.

The marquee is missing a couple of lights, but the message is still clear.  FlyTheW!

Go Cubs, go!

Waiting 'til First Pitch

Since the inception of this blog I haven't really done a ton of waiting, at least not the type of waiting which is inferred by the name of my humble little blog. The Cubs were 106 games under .500 in the four seasons since I started the blog. Then 2015 came and things have changed all of a sudden.  I'm not used to playoff baseball and I find myself looking at the clock over and over again.

First pitch is coming soon, right?

No.
Fine, I'll blow the leaves out of gutter.

How about now? 
No. 
Crap, let's mow the lawn then.

Surely game time is close now! 
Nope. 
Argh! Let's go for a run to burn off some nervous energy.

It's absolutely driving me crazy.  It's as if time has come to a standstill.

I was able to take on a small project this weekend between stealing glances at the clock.  The faucet to the utility sink in the basement has had a slow leak and my loving wife gave me an end of October deadline to get it fixed.

It should have been an easy job, but the packing on the cold water valve was shot and it wouldn't turn off.  The result was a wet cat, who was giving unsolicited help, and me having to turn the water off to the entire house.  I over-tightened the first replacement valve and I must have cracked the inside, because I could never get a dry seal.  A second trip to the big box store was required, but I learned my lesson and didn't screw the next valve on so far.  Oh, the joys of home ownership!

This valve will haunt me in my dreams.

Then I had another set back. I had trouble removing the hex nut on the under side of the faucet, which resulted in me removing the entire sink, with faucet attached, from the counter top. Luckily my dad had a dremel and he's pretty darn good with it.  He sliced right through that hex nut like a boss!  Thanks, Dad!

Once the valve was fixed and the old faucet had been removed it was a petty easy job.  But those two curveballs were more than frustrating. 

Hugo seems to like the new faucet. 

The best part is there's no more leak and now I resume staring at the clock.  Sigh.

I'm not making any predictions for tonight, because the Cubs lost and my pick to click didn't register a hit. I'm hoping the extra day of rest does Arrieta some good, but I'm worried. Maddon rode him pretty hard down the stretch and I'm wondering if he's got anything left in the tank. We'll have to wait and see, if we can ever get to game time.

Go Cubs, go!  #FlytheW

Cheeseburgers Don't Predict the Future

Homemade jalapeno cheeseburgers

Well, here's how things stood BEFORE the clinching game of the NLDS between the Cubs and Cardinals:
The Cubs were 0-1 in playoff games in which I did not write a blog post beforehand, nor eat a jalapeno cheeseburger.
The Cubs were 3-0 in games in which I quickly typed up some drivel and also attempted to satiate my appetite with one of my favorite pleasure foods.

I tested the baseball gods and won.  I wrote a blog post the day before AND I didn't have a chance to eat my jalapeno cheeseburger until after the game started.  In fact, I didn't start prepping my charcoal grill at home for a burger until the 7th inning.  I pulled the burgers off the grill right before the game ended and didn't take my first bite until after the Cubs had defeated the Cardinals.

After the win, I don't know that a burger has ever tasted so good!

I guess superstitions are made to be broken. Or perhaps I overestimated my importance to the cause?  Either way, I'm just happy the Cubs have reached the NLCS for the first time since 2003.

So, no burger for me tonight.  In fact I'm heading over to my parents' house to enjoy dogs and brats on the grill.

My last three predictions for player of the game have each hit homers in that day's game: Soler in game #2, Rizzo in game #3, and Baez in game #4.  That's quite a streak!  Yet, I'm feeling out of sorts since coming to the shocking realization that my consumption of jalapeno cheeseburgers doesn't affect the outcome of baseball games.   So, please forgive me for not going with my gut.

I wanted to go with Chris Coghlan, but I don't know that he'll start tonight.  So instead I'll go Anthony Rizzo, because I think he's starting to come out of his funk.
Anyone see his impersonation of the Jose Bautista bat flip the other day?

Not as good as the original, but pretty funny nonetheless.

Thanks for reading and go Cubs!

An Addition to My New PC: That Was Quick!

So, a PWE (plain white envelope) lands in my mailbox early last week, but I'm busy so it sits on my desk.  It stays there and it collects dust.  At some point it is knocked on the floor by Hugo or Holiday, but that's okay, because it shook off most of the dust.

My money is on Hugo because he's always messin' with my stuff!

Then the Cubs win the NLDS and I find out that I have four days to catch up on my blogging until my team takes the field again. Commence the blogging of cardboard!

Yesterday I started by introducing my knew player collection (PC). Today I finally broke into the PWE from Brian.  Brian is the brainchild behind Highly Subjective and Completely Arbitrary.

 What a nice note from Brian!  I love it when other bloggers pull cards and think of me.  I do the same pretty frequently: Pale Hose = JediJeff, unique cards = Dimebox Nick, Padawans = Zippy Zappy, Peg Legs = BWTP and etc.

I miss Donruss.  I know, I know.  Panini is producing Donruss cards, but from what I have seen Throwback Threads and Leather & Lumber are pretty.  Plus licenses.  Sigh.

 Here's a couple of pre-rookie cards of some Cubs arms. Joe Kraemer didn't pan out, but Armando Rivero should have a crack at the bullpen in spring training next year. The man throws smoke!

 Here's a nice little collection of Cubs from my favorite team growing up, the Boys of Zimmer (1989).

 A shiny Ryno, an old school Mad Dog, a Duracell Hawk, and three baseball card magazine cards of Amazing Grace, Juice and Dwight Smith.  I don't think Dwight had a nickname. No?

And now for the sweet addition!  Another Dan Vogelbach card to add to my new player collection!

I think he just went oppo? And look at the sweet uniform! I think it's a great photo and I'm pretty excited to add this one to the collection.  I've been watching the team sets for some time on eBay, but I think I'll delete those from my watch list now that I have my most coveted card from the set.

Thanks for the PWE, Brian!  Next time I pull some Twins you'll find them in your mailbox!

All My Vogelmonsters!

 All the Dan Vogelbach cards from the 15 cases arrived the other day. Inside I found more than enough base chrome to keep me happy and three other cards that are a little rarer.

I rolled the dice and did OK: two refractors numbered to 499 and one orange wave. I was hoping for a lower numbered parallel or two, but I struck out as far as that goes.  I've picked up five more parallels since then and I'm up to eight Vogelmonster cards from the rainbow. 

 I have yet to pull the trigger on the orange (#/25) and I haven't seen a red (#/5) or the superfractor pop up yet on eBay.  Above I have the blue wave, base chrome, refractor, blue, green, purple, gold, and orange wave.

I was in a pretty good mood last night after the Cubs clinched at least four more games to play by advancing to the NLCS.  So, I decided to catalog all of my Vogelmonsters!

  There are lots of Bowman cards, which isn't a surprise, with a smattering of Topps thrown in for good measure.

 I have a few cards of Vogelbach from minor league team sets and those are probably some of my favorites. I like the unique (used only once) pictures!  The Onyx above is a game used batting glove.  That's kinda cool.

 I've landed three in person autographs while Vogelbach was playing in the Midwest.  I think they are much better than the little ones confined to stickers.

 There are six autographs in all, which is he most I have of any one given player.

If you'd like to check out my "have list" feel free to click here.  I'm always up for a great trade involving the masher known as the Vogelmonster!

Thanks for stopping by and go Cubs!