checking in.

Well, long time, no ramble.... The professional baseball season is now complete with every level now complete and champions crowned. The Yankees (bleah) are the World Series champs, and the Phillies will have to regroup, retool, and figure out how to climb the mountain for next season. Judging by some of the talent we saw come through City Island this year, and with a few key signings and acquisitions, they should be able to make another good run. The Nats? Any body's guess. Haven't seen much movement yet, although I haven't kept a real close eye on the scene, so we'll see what unfolds. Steven Strasburg, from what I've read, hasn't really been lighting up the Arizona Fall League and missed the Player's Showcase game with a sore shoulder, I believe. So the only real news to report is the naming of new manager, Randy Knorr. Wasn't too surprised when I heard that John Stearns had been cut loose. My guess is he didn't really ingratiate himself with the upper management. But some of the things they do sometimes leave me scratching my head. I was happy to hear Randy Knorr is coming to City Island, though. By all reports, I've heard he's a good guy, a real student of the game, and should be a good fit here. I haven't heard if they've named any other staff yet, but it would be nice to see Randy Tomlin and Troy Gingrich return, too. If they don't, I won't be all that surprised. It might be a total makeover for next year. The only things left will be us old farts on the Grounds Crew, exercising our superior intellect for "Are you smarter than..." I've been watching the pictures of the stadium renovations on the Weatherbug web cam. Moving right along, starting to look like a ballpark again. The field, as usual, looks immaculate. At last glance it looks like the basic framework for the dugouts, the seating areas behind the 3rd base dugout, the dugout box seats and some of the concourse areas are starting to take shape. I think the weather has been decent enough for them to move along at a fairly rapid pace. I really must head over there one of these days and get an up close and personal view of things for myself. Until then, I'll watch the Weatherbug web cam to keep abreast of the progress. You can too at www.weatherbug.com, punch in zip code 17105, and click on weather cams. There should be a choice for City Island that shows a view from the annex building behind 1st base. It gives a still picture and a time lapse version by the hour, several hours and for 30 days. Pretty cool. Other than that, haven't really spoken to any of the other guys in a while. It's going to be time to schedule the holiday get-together soon, to go out and eat and drink and catch up. Frank should be settled in his new house by now, hope every thing's going well there. Other than that, I've just been working, doing a lot of home remodeling stuff and tinkering with my Vanagon. I'll check back in when I catch up with the guys, or if some earth-shattering news comes along.
Until then, later....