Hey, I’m back. Hope you all had a good Labor Day weekend. My brother-in-law came to town, which meant lots of Playstation 2 games (Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance this time around; highly addictive) and Asian buffet. If you can deal with Anne Murray singing about Jesus (she does some secular tunes, too; you haven’t really lived until you’ve heard her rendition of "What a Wonderful World" while you’re eating, I strongly recommend Arirang House on Convoy for Korean. The ribs and spicy beef are excellent, and I’m told by my wife, who is more tolerant of paradoxes than am I, that the kim-chee is good.

So, what’s happened since last we met? A lot, really. Get ready for bullet points…

• The MLBPA didn’t go on strike. Woo-hoo! I still wish the fans and media would’ve gotten on the owners more and the players less, but so be it. Games are being played; life is good.
• Adam Eaton made his first big-league appearance in 53 weeks. Sure, he got pounded but who cares? The important thing is he got out on the mound and reported no pain after the game.
• The Oakland A’s have won 19 straight games. The Miguel Tejada for MVP campaign is a little silly, but this is an incredible run.
• The Lake Elsinore Storm have won 11 straight games. Okay, so not as many people know or care about this one but the Storm won the final 10 games of the season to get into the playoffs and won their first playoff game yesterday at Lancaster.
• Solomon Torres won his first big-league game since 1996. Torres, if you don’t know, was a former top-flight pitching prospect for the Mariners and Giants back in the early-’90s. Injuries derailed his career, and after spending three years as a minor-league pitching coach, Torres started his own comeback. He’s still only 30, so if those 8 1/3 shutout innings he spun last night against the Braves weren’t a complete fluke, he might yet have a career.
• Sean Burroughs and Oliver Perez are back. Burroughs started at third last night and collected two hits. Perez pitched an inning of scoreless relief the day before, striking out the side (including Larry Walker for the fifth time in seven at-bats against him) in the process.
• The frightening fascination with Deivi Cruz and Eugene Kingsale continues. Stop the madness! These are not everday players in the big leagues. Not for teams that hope to contend, anyway. Decent stop-gaps until the kids arrive, nothing more.

There’s probably more, but that’s enough for now…