Predictably, traffic school stunk. Actually, it wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. The main problem is that it killed my Saturday. But there was some nice scenery, if you know what I mean. Yeah, I’m a pig; I admit it.

What’s up with Padre starting pitching? This is painful. Last night’s game was so bad that I actually changed over to the Cubs-Rockies contest. Even listening to Joe Carter wasn’t as bad as watching the Padres. But I couldn’t stomach that for long, either. I ended up watching Animal Planet and then going out to Target with my wife. My sense of excitement and adventure knows no bounds.

Oh yeah, I finally posted a new article: Revisiting the Crystal Ball. It’s just a fun look back at some work I did with Bill James’ Brock2 career projections a few years ago. Take a look when you have a moment.

Former Padre Rodrigo Lopez keeps rolling. He won again last night and is now 13-4 for Baltimore. Another former Padre, Andy Sheets, knocked his third homer of the season for Tampa Bay. That gives him 17 for his career, just 116 behind Phil Nevin, for whom he was traded prior to the 1999 season. I know that’s old news but it takes some of the sting off of the loss of Lopez, so indulge me.

Has anyone noticed how well Ramon Vazquez has been playing of late? Since the break, he’s hitting .313/.380/.410. He’s also playing a terrific shortstop when he’s not being moved to an easier position to accommodate an inferior defender.

I still don’t believe it was a bright idea to let Mark Prior throw 136 pitches against the Rockies last week. But give Bruce Kimm some credit for yanking him after 86 pitches last night in a laugher. Don’t give him too much credit, though; he’s still been riding Prior very hard.

I’m wiped. Have a good one…