David HK

Why I loathe Boston, and how I came to miss my Baby, by David in HK Greetings to all back in the World, and elsewhere. As the home town team embarks on a rather testing first half of September, I raised my hand to offer some thoughts, and grind a personal axe for this series at the same time. As many of you know who have followed these threads for the past few years, I'm in Hong Kong these days, (more on that later), having been on the China side of the water now since '09. And why I'm still here has a lot to do with Beantown. The shortest story version, but still long, so bear with me a little bit- ND native, Twinkie fan since my toddler days in '65. Living in the Cities in '87, soaking it all in! Those were great days! A sea change in the working life- decided, in my early 30s, to chuck it all and become an actor. Chicago-theatre for the 90s, then LA for the 2000s. Teaching school in East LA for the day job, while doing the film/TV thing. Some nice stuff here and there, but never to the point of quitting the day job, as they say. Then one day, outta the blue, the wife meets the guy with the yacht, and life goes upside down. Had a friend in Guangzhou, working for a clothing company (Heh...ex-and-future GF, as it were). Suggested I get out for a while, come see the other side, take a break from the life and heal the ol' broken heart. So I did. Took a leave from the teaching ESL to Spanish-speaking students, spent a year teaching ESL to Chinese-speaking students, experiencing that other-side life. That was enough. Came back to LA at Xmas time. Connected with the former schools where I'd taught, secured some substitute teaching jobs for the Xmas season (LA schools go year-round on staggered schedules). Landed in LA on a Friday, having had my fill of adventure, and ready to start anew. Now- to the Baby. She was under the care, and in the garage of a fellow actor-friend, whom you may have seen on your screens from time to time. He'd wrecked his own bike a month before, had to go to the airport to fly out for a film shoot for a week. Sooooo.... he took mine. Parked in long-term parking. Came back at the end of the shoot----*poof*. No more Baby. Gone. Swiped. PInched. Vamoosed. He sent a message about a week before I came back, in response to my own message requesting that he get her out and started up for my return. So, as noted above, I landed in LA on a Friday, jet-lagged, wiped out, and in a taxi to my buddy's house in Van Nuys, a world and a half away from LA Unified School District's downtown HQ. If I'd had my bike, I'd have made the run downtown to the office to get officially reinstated, but as it was, the thought of a couple of long-ass bus rides and connections halfway across that hellish megalopolis, or a taxi tab that would have approached the $ of my flight across the Pacific, made the couch and a long nap look a whole lot more inviting. I'll go in Monday morning, I said to myself. As it happened, that Friday was the last day of my leave of absence. If I'd gone in that day, hunky-dory all the way. As it happened, that little thing called the Financial Crisis of 08 was still having ripple effects. LAUSD was shedding everyone they possibly could, with a hiring freeze also in effect. Hit that brick wall when I went in on Monday. Tried to fight it through channels, through the union, etc, to no avail. Clock ticking, no income, no way to rent an apartment of my own, no foreseeable way out from under that red-tape nightmare any time in the immediate future, and savings already long-since drained. But- a job awaiting, back on the other side. Bit the bullet, packed up, and headed back, and been there ever since. What does this have to do with baseball, you ask? What does all this have to do with night games that come on at 7AM, and day games that start at 2AM? What does this have to do with my absolute and total loathing of New England sports of any kind? That dude, who got my Baby stolen-- was from Beantown. I've hated them all ever since. Go Twinkies. Moider dem Sawks. Cheers from HK, all! Speculative lineups: Our Beloved Twins Evil Empire 2 1 A Good German 1 Some punk 2 Switch hitting future MVP 2 Some other punk 3 The Ancient Mariner 3 Who Cares 4 Ever-Ready Eddie 4 Yeah, whatever 5 The Big Bopper 5 a Nimrod 6 Joe Morgan III 6 Some jagoff 7 Mr. Mutton-chops 7 Nimrod, Jr. 8 Fidel 8 Yet another nimrod 9 Barbara Bach's Husband 9 Seriously? *Official lineups, I'll have to ask someone to help post, as I'll most likely be asleep when they come out.

Well, bottom line is- when the team needs starters to take a step up, nearly all of 'em are taking a step back.

Holy moley-- Just now checking into this game- did Duffey just miss an immaculate inning? Wow....

Good work, boys! Chicken time! And speaking of boys, how old is Stashak, anyway, 17? He's still got zits and sparse, scraggly chin whiskers... Take it easy on the Hershey bars, now, Cody!

Haven't been able to check in much lately, but got the chance today- I gotta say, I really like the Sox TV crew these days. Jason Benetti has got such a wry and quick sense of humor- the guy could spend time at Second City. And I think he's breathed new life into Steve Stone, drawing him into bits, a lightening up even the darkest Sox moments- especially in contrast to the Hawkster, who used to go even darker at those times. Plus, he doesn't use those same worn-out, infuriating cliches..... Don't stop now™, Jason!

Re: the Elizabethton game. Nice to see Fidel hasn't given up on his major league dream, even at this late stage...

I concur with all those moves, and they've been echoed out here long enough. What I don't get, is that such things are glaringly obvious to even the most casual fan, and have been for a while now- and the fact that none of them have even been tried yet is mind-boggling.

If the ace ain't acting like an ace, he needs to have a seat.

I like Baldelli, I think he's done a pretty good job, but we're in the thick of a pennant race now, and things like game management have to be adjusted. It's not April or May anymore. This is the time for games we need to win, not lessons we need to learn. Berrios should have been pulled after those first couple of runners got on. Period. Showing confidence, whatever, be damned. That's just bad management. It kind of goes along with the question of why 34 home runs and .333 OPB is in the leadoff spot, and 3 home runs and .405 OBP is hitting 5th in the order, at this late date. Those hitters need to be switched, like a month and a half ago. The fact that this management team missed out on both Stroman and Minor at the deadline is coming back to bite us, hard. Good luck with all the 40-man decisions at the end of this season, and watch us lose some guys for nothing that we could have dealt for real help this year. Or maybe I'm just being a little pessimistic...

Out for a morning hike today, thought I'd be back in time to catch the last couple of innings. Glad I'm not home watching this mess. Think I'll do one more hill before going home for breakfast. For a view of last night's peaceful protest in HK, check out my post : http://twinsdaily.com/topic/34588-last-night-in-hk/?do=findComment&comment=904451

Last night in HK, this happened: https://www.hongkongfp.com/2019/08/23/pictures-protesters-form-pro-democracy-human-chain-across-hong-kong-30th-anniversary-baltic-way/ With thousands upon thousands of people forming a human chain, miles long, throughout the city- peaceful, and powerful. ...and 1 Twins fan.

Kind of pathetic when we have to send a thank-you postcard to the Mets.

Welcome to Twins Daily. I'm launching a Go Fund Me page for you, payable only in acorns. See you again soon, we hope!

Well. Sam Dyson blows yet another save. Is it too soon to start calling it the SDE? (Yikes, that's too close to a very bad acronym indeed...) Meanwhile, down on the farm: Jaylin Davis: 14 games for Sacto, 9 HR, 16 RBI, BA .404, OPS 1.462 Hm.

Oh, my.... I nearly wet myself laughing.

So, how does one go about finding the document to sign up for a thread? I'd like to volunteer for one of the Red Sox games in Sept.