cat mybrain.txt | od -tc

• I am so bleepin’ happy that the A’s beat Kenny Rogers tonight. The fact that Rogers’ appeal has delayed his suspension nearly a month annoys the crap out of me. The fact that it was delayed precisely so that Rogers could face the A’s twice before his hearing annoys me infinitely more. The outcome tonight was pure justice.
   
• Joe Blanton is useful: he eats innings with an acceptable ERA, and he’s cheap. But unless he learns to throw a Greg Maddux-style cutter or something, I doubt he’ll ever be much more than that. I’m happy to keep him around, but I wouldn’t put him on my untouchable list, either.
   
• Is Kiko Calero hurt again? He hasn’t pitched since Saturday. Meanwhile, Joe Kennedy and his 7.00 ERA has pitched twice, once in a tie game, and once with the lead. Jay Witasick has pitched three times. If Calero is healthy, he shouldn’t be losing innings to those guys.
   
• Yes, I’ll take Jay Payton over Eric Byrnes, thank you very much.
   
• I was on an airplane during the last game against the Angels, so I missed most of Barry Zito’s innings. But I got home in time to see his final inning where he struck out Adam Kennedy on two wicked curveballs, and a check swing on a high fastball out of the zone. That sequence was vintage Zito.
   
• Eric Chavez looks like he’s trying to pull everything again. His tailbone ended up halfway to first base on a couple of outside pitches tonight.
   
• Who the heck do you root for when the Yankees play the Angels?
   
• Remember that optical illusion where there are two lines on a railroad track, where one looks about twice as big as the other, but they’re actually the exact same size? The A’s and the Dodgers are both 6.5 games out of their respective divisions.