Good Morning

I've managed to escape the grips of the worst course I've ever taken at Northeastern. I'm pretty sure I passed, but if I have to take that class again, serious thought will be given to finding a new major/career. I wrote a pretty long diatribe against higher education's principles the other day, and I'll probably condense it at some point for my reader(s) to see.


Angels 5, Baltimore 1

Apologies to Robb Quinlan, but dude, I don't see what Scioscia sees in you. The fact that you've made it this far in the big leagues despite having a swing that would embarrass even Adam "Uppercut" Kennedy and very little understanding of the defensive responsibilities of first basemen blows my mind.

Wait, Quinlan got a pair of hits? And an RBI?

Despite the production, I don't see Robb Quinlan as a real contributor, bench player or otherwise. Lackey nearly punched him in the face during their last game, when Quinlan forgot the advanced baseball technique known as covering first base. Despite Q's versatility, I'd rather have a real backup first baseman than a utility guy who really isn't defensively capable at any of his positions. How about Napoli at first on days when Mathis is catching? I have no idea what Napoli brings defensively, but it'd be hard to be worse than Robb.

Regardless, the Angels won, largely behind a good effort from John Lackey. Lackey went 7 innings and mized in 7 hits, 6 strikeouts, and a walk. It's a shame he's such an asshole, because I'd really enjoy watching Lackey pitch as an Angel for the next few years, but you just know he's following the $$$ and his BFF Teixeira to the Yankees. Kevin Jepsen also pitches really well, throwing 9 of his 12 pitches for strikes while retiring 3 of the 4 batters he faced in the eighth. Despite my early season concerns, he seems to be filling in nicely for Scot Shields.

Scot Shields. It's a weird season when Shields hasn't been on the field since May.

Encouraging: Figgins (3-4, BB), Aybar (2-4), Guerrero (1-3, bases loaded BB), and Kendrick (2-4).
Not: Abreu (0-4, 4K), Matthews, Jr. (0-4)

I haven't seen Abreu look that terrible all season. He was guessing with Orioles starter Matusz, clearly unable to hit the changeup but unable to tell when it was coming. He looked awful out there. I only mention this because this is the first time all year Bobby's had more than one bad AB in a game.

Torii Hunter is back today, and with any luck, he'll be ruining birthdays and keeping GMJ on the bench. Most importantly, stay healthy, Torii.


Miscellany:

• I've been meaning to write about the Kings for a few days now, but can't get off my ass long enough to really do it. I'll get it done eventually, but for now, I'm encouraged by Ryan Smyth and Justin Williams with Anze and Brown. If Doughty and Scuderi can keep Quick out of trouble, the Kings will make the playoffs and I will probably wet myself in excitement. Sad, but true.
• Casual observations from the first few days of iPhone ownership

1. Why is this whole thing made of fingerprint magnet? Matte materials are classy and don't make it feel like you're trying to keep a piece of greasy melting ice from plummeting to the ground.
   
2. The browser is, by far, the best part of the phone. Aside from Flash, it renders everything almost identically to a desktop browser.
3. ESPN Mobile for iPhone sucks...where's auto-refresh? And it doesn't seem to work on data networks.
   
4. Call quality's been surprisingly good. It sounds almost as good as my Motofone, and certainly better than the eBay Blackjack I've been using.
   
5. Having to use iTunes to move data around is a ridiculous limitation.
6. The whole camera interface is pretty neat, particularly the way it interfaces with a Twitter application.
   
7. I live in constant fear of dropping, spilling on, or looking the wrong way at this thing.
   
8. By and large, the applications are cool, but man, there's some real crap out there. Mark sent me a few good ones. I have a couple bucks of store credit, so I'm looking at getting MLB Gameday mobile (not really what it's called), but $10 seems a little steep to watch fake baseball.
   
9. Why can I get a free 30-day trial of Slingplayer Mobile but not Slingplayer iPhone?