The Agony and the Ecstasy...

I finally finished phase one of painting the office. I say "finally" because I ran into another snag during the week when I cut in the top coat. ( I wonder if Michaelangelo had this much trouble... )

Meanwhile, Back at Chavez Ravine...

Heh, a week or so ago I was mentioning that as much as I admired the fact that the Dodgers seemed constantly able to pull games out of the fire with late inning heroics after giving up huge leads early, I would prefer they won games in a slightly less heart-stopping manner. Since then, they do seem to have hit upon a much more straightforward approach: pitch well and pound out runs early. Four straight excellent starts and an offense that leads the majors in runs have the Blue in first place with the best record in baseball at 9-2. It's the team's best start since 1955, which has to be a good omen. Even better, most of that 9-2 came at the expense of the two teams that were supposed to be their closest rivals for the division crown, the Giants and the Padres.

( Who are these guys... )

Tonight they start a road trip in Milwaukee, and the team is apparently staying in a hotel that is haunted. Elmer Dessens gets his second start out of the bullpen, and by happy coincidence, the man Dessens is replacing in the rotation, Brad Penny, has a rehab start tonight in Las Vegas. If all goes well, Penny could take over his designated slot in the rotation this weekend without even having to move any of other pitchers around. They may need him. The team has ten straight games before they get a day off.