Random Notes

Is this a threat?

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Wednesday that he would possibly send troops into Pakistan to hunt down terrorists, an attempt to show strength when his chief rival has described his foreign policy skills as naïve, the AP reported

In addition, "The Illinois senator warned Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf that he must do more to shut down terrorist operations in his country and evict foreign fighters under an Obama presidency, or Pakistan will risk a U.S. troop invasion and losing hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. military aid."

That must be causing Musharraf to have some sleepless nights.

Happy Anniversary.

August 1st was the 19^th anniversary of the legendary Rush Limbaugh program. Happy Anniversary, Rush. Here’s to many more years of broadcast excellence.

Baseball Notes

Baseball’s non-waiver trading period ended the other day. The Dodgers shored up their bullpen, acquiring Scott Proctor from the Yankees to infielder Wilson Betemit. Listening to Yankee games on XM, I heard their announcers complain about Proctor’s tendency to walk the lead off batter. Statistics show that when the first batter of an inning gets on base, he scores 40% of the time. Hopefully he can improve in this area in the next few months.

The Angels stood pat…oh and this just in, the sky remained blue.

My opinion is that they needed an impact bat at 3^rd. People will argue with Chone Figgins’ success since late May. However they need someone to bat behind Vladimir Guerrero. Figgins could have been packaged in a trade with a prospect or two to get a power-hitting third sacker. The problem is, most teams wanted Joe Saunders, and the Angels pitching depth is down with the injury to Bartolo Colon, and Ervin Santana pitching more like Carlos Santana, than Johan Santana. The other problem? No one seemed to be offering any power-hitting third basemen.

In addition, Vladdy needs to be a little more selective on what he swings at. If he had Barry Bonds’ plate discipline, he would be unstoppable. This “nose to toes” strike zone has got to stop. Maybe chin to shin would help.

Golf

The Bridgestone Invitational at the Firestone Country Club got underway today. Tiger Woods has won this event two years in a row, and also one three straight times from 1999 to 2001. He finished the first round at -2, one stroke behind the leaders.

Hunter Mahan is one of three golfers leading the pack at three under par. Right now there is no hotter golfer. Mahan has finished in the top-10 in his last four starts, and in the top 25 in his last six. He is making a charge to be on the President’s Cup team.

-Keep Grinning