Not the first time that catwalk has been hit. I believe I heard it was either the sixth or eighth time.

Yes, I do need to get a life…..

Thanks, SL, I sent some emails to Rays PR people and Carter Gaddis, a sportswriter at TBO.com, nothing yet.

Jason – I think that catwalk is about 150 feet high – no idea how close to the wall.

hop, Torre has never been big on gamesmanship so the fact he only mildly protested doesn’t surprise me. when you see someone like Gomes doing what he does, ya gotta lay the seeds in the umpires’ heads that he’s not doing anything to get out of the way of pitches that are in the strike zone. duh, why do you think he wears the elbow pad?

OK, I’m no fan of Wright, but those alleged HBP with Gomez (2 Wright, 1 Rivera) were absurd. He stands with his padded elbow in the strike zone and doesn’t make ANY attempt to get out of the way of a pitch. That’s what is called a strike. I know the umpires have a quota of how many times they need to blow that call in a season and there’s a big void left by Barry’s steel-plated elbow ™, but can we at least pretend to know the rules of the game now and then? I would hit him every time he was up. Of course the best Torre can muster is a mild argument on one of the three incidents. I know, I know. He has four rings. And they’re very heavy, so he can only climb out of the dugout a few times a game.

How far back (in relation to the centerfield wall) is that flag and catwalk at the Trop? Without the benefit of depth perception, I could have sworn that flag is hanging directly over the straightaway centerfield wall.

If true, Alex’s catwalk home run was longer than the dumpster shot a few days ago. It was Mantle-off-the-scoreboard-in-Yankee-stadium distance, an HR that my father witnessed and swears is by far the longest ever in major league history.

That’s part of the fun of blogging Jen, being able to look back on some of this stuff and not having to rely on memory.

JeremyM – thanks. You just made my morning.

Josh – that’s funny – I too thought “This is starting to look like my kinda team” which I think is part of “starting to come together Pepper, starting to come together.”

I knew it had to start ending for them soon Joel – no one is a .750 ball team.

Oakland loses another tough game and just like that we’re one behind them for the wildcard.

What a glorious night for baseball. I have rarely been happier to have purchased MLB Extra Innings. Yanks win another, Wright looks good, and I flip over to see Schill pitch a terrible, terrible, wonderful 9th in Detroit. In the immortal words of Lou Brown, “starting to come together Pepper, starting to come together.”