Luck Runs Out For Mustangs

Though they won their last regular season game, 2-1, in the bottom of the 13th courtesy of a Skelsky home run, they needed Missoula to defeat the Voyagers but they didn't, so everybody goes home today or tomorrow, maybe a few lucky ones to the AZ Fall Instructional League. A few will come back next season because they didn't get a chance to play much this year, and a few will get promoted for next year, either Dayton or Bakersfield. Thanks for a good try dear Mustangs of 2011. We enjoyed watching you.

Mustangs Lose 8-4; Down To Luck And Last Game

One game back with one to play:

Owing to the kindness of the Missoula Osprey who defeated the Great Falls Voyagers last night, 5-4, the Billings Mustangs are still alive as possible winners of the 2nd half of the schedule in the Northern Division of the Pioneer League. Of course, they need to win tonight, and of course, the Voyagers need to lose for this to happen. Not an impossibility. I calculate it as slightly less than even money. Missoula won the first half and Helena has not had a great season in either half, but still, there is no wiggle room in this one.

Last night, the batters were a little weak and the pitchers were a little unlucky and the field umpire was just crappy. He evened up a bad call on a pick-off play with an even worse call on another pick-off play. Twice catcher Danny Vicioso tried to prevent a wild pitch, only to have it bounce he knew not where, leading to runners advancing, followed by seeing-eye ground balls by Dhanani through the infield to score runs, and once a run and hit attempt by Missoula led to the third baseman going toward the bag and not being in place to catch the line drive hit by the batter. And Robert Maddox's improvement in the field suffered a setback last night too. And baserunners seemed to steal bases at will last night. All in all, a weak performance. Arias hit a home run in the 9th, too little, too late. The radio announcer continues to play well, not afraid to say when the umpires mess things up. Things have to get better tonight.

Mustangs Win 7-0; One Game Behind With Two To Play

Lots of Mustangs looked good tonight: the starter, Tony Cingrani, carrying on after his last no-hit, 13 strikeout outing, allowed just 3 hits in 6 innings with 10 strikeouts; Vicioso is hitting and catching well; Maddox (15), Arias (7) and Dickinson (2) hit some awesome home runs and some doubles too. Maddox is making the infielders look good with his scoops and tags at first base, and the outfield is chasing down a lot of flyballs. So the pitchers, including Gonzalez and Braun tonight, relative newcomers, are pitching well and the hitters are hitting well. Not sure where Sean Buckley is these days. He didn't play tonight and Robert Maddox passed him in the home run hit parade. I guess his position is fairly safe, so Pat Kelly is seeing what the others can do. Kurt Waldrop has been playing well in right field and has a team-leading 9 triples—three times more than anyone else on the team, and a team-leading 21 doubles, as well as a respectable 5 home runs.

I should have said in the headline that if Helena can hold on to beat the Voyagers tonight, then Billings will be one game behind with two to play. This they did, beating Great Falls 8-2.

So, if Great Falls wins their two remaining games it won't make any difference what the Mustangs do. If they lose one and win one, and the Mustangs win both of their remaining games they wind up in a tie, but the Mustangs have the better record for the tie-breaker. If the Voyagers lose both, then the Mustangs need only win one to tie. If the Mustangs lose both then it doesn't make any difference what the Voyagers do. I think that is all the possible permutations, right? [If they both win one and lose one, then the Voyagers are still ahead, I forgot to mention, got it?]

Abuse Versus Argument

For use in arguing with your liberal or 'watermelon' friends and acquaintances.

Where To Go In Billings

You know where there is a rub-spot on your carseat, the place your butt rubs against each time you get in and out of the driver's seat. That's right, it is the spot in the picture to the right that you can barely make out is slightly lighter in color.


I took it to M.A.R.S. on Moore Lane. See the sign above. Not entirely sure but I think it stands for Mobile Auto Restoration Service. They actually do all kinds of rehabilitative stuff, inside and out on your vehicles.


Don't worry about the construction, you can still find it about half-way down on the left if you are coming from Central.

They sewed the pieces together, then put some sort of vinyl-like waxy material over it and this is the result. Very smooth and colors match up very nicely. Call me a satisfied customer.

Scientific Debate Continues

This debate is probably not of the same degree of magnitude—I wonder if there is a Richter-like scale to compare and contrast scientific debates—as that of the Polish polymath Nicolaus Copernicus, see the portrait to the left, and his colleagues of the 16th century as they argued about the earth versus the sun as being the center of the universe.

There are some parallels though, as Twain would say, "history doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme:" astronomy was a kind of hobby for Copernicus as he was very busy doing all sorts of other important things such as being a mathematician, translator, artist, Catholic cleric, diplomat etc, not unlike many of the daring skeptics of the global warming cult; and like Copernican ideas about our sun being the center of the universe being replaced, it seems likely there will be better theories to come in the climate change wars.

Although the outcome of the War is not perfectly clear, it does seem as if the tides have changed for the worse for the warmest side, though our main-stream media have not been able to discern this change thus far. A nice summary of recent dispatches from the fronts can be found here, as well as the source of this excellent image to the right.

Especially because of the vast cultural and economic consequences for all of us, like war for generals, we cannot let climate science be the exclusive playground for climate scientists. Ordinary folks could ignore Father Copernicus because the argument didn't affect their lives, but we will have to pay attention to this argument because some, if not most, of our natural leaders in the scientific and political realms are failing to understand what is going on.

[To encourage them, perhaps we should use some demonstration of understanding as a litmus test for candidates for any political office higher than county clerk for example.]

What Next?

Great Day In Billings

In the early part of the cool at last morning on this lovely Saturday in early September there is a splendid Farmers' Market in downtown Billings. Good corn, nice egg rolls and a really nice peach pie, though we didn't know that for sure until we had sampled it at home for lunch. Some art galleries are open too.

Our corn guy from Hardin says this is his last day at the Farmers' Market, reminding us that all good things must come to an end, some day, probably all bad things too, now that I think about it.

There are signs everywhere, see left, reminding us that some of our 11-12 year old boys are certified heroes, winning the state Little League baseball crown, then going to San Bernardino CA to take the regional and wonder of wonders, reaching the final game of the National Tournament at the World Series before losing to Huntington Beach CA.

Then, about mid-day we are off to Metra Park which is chock-full of really fine old cars, lots of parts for older cars, and a lot of people, old and young who like to look at well-cared for cars, especially those that remind them of their childhood. I saw a 1939 Plymouth, a car I drove in the middle 50s. Oops, busted for driving without a license. Yes, grandsons, if you were a farmer or small businessman, your Dad would have you driving to deliver this and that. The '40 Chev to the right was probably rescued from some junkyard to be restored. It really was a mess.

Later in the afternoon we drive down 27th to Dehler Park. The usual parking lots are full and we see people lining up on 27th St and 9th Ave, in the Park and around it.

The parade wound its way up from the South Side with fire sirens and horns blaring and all the boys and everybody else waving and cheering as they approach Dehler Park.

Even some patients from Billings Deaconness Hospital are watching from their windows.

There are probably close to five thousand people to tell our returning young heroes from Big Sky Little League, fresh from their games at the Little League World Series in South Williamsport PA that they were and are great, that they represented us well: from the governor who gave the best short and sweet speech of his life, driving from Helena just to make a 45 second speech honoring the courage of our Big Sky All-Stars who were willing to stand at home plate and swing away at fast moving hard balls thrown surprisingly close to them; and from the mayor of Billings, all the families and friends, the fire and police departments, lots of good fireworks and a really good turnout of just ordinary folks filling all the seats and crowding the concrete concourse with standing room only cheerleaders of all ages.

The boys were introduced individually with a review of what they had done over the past month or so. Then they had fireworks too. A great day for all of Montanans, especially from Billings, the Magic City.

Probably Worth Knowing or Being Aware Of

I'm not sure, is it true that headlines should not be ended with a preposition? From your friends at MedicalBillingAndCodingCertification.net and via Aggie Catholics. Is it OK to tell Aggie jokes if they are also Catholic?


Created by:http://medicalbillingandcodingcertification.net/

Some Bloggers Attract Really Excellent Comments

Such as this one: from a comment on Just One Minute, which very quickly was translated to Charlie Martin on PJ Tatler, where I happened across it while looking up something else, I think it had to do with some boring climate change thing.

Found this in my local Play Bill:

Waiting for Jobs is an absurdist play by David Axelrod, in which two characters, Barack and Michelle, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Jobs to appear. Job's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's staging every autumn after 3 successive "recovery summers". It was voted "the most over-rated and insignificant English language play of the 21th century".[1]Waiting for Jobs is Axelrods's translation of his own original French version, En attendant les Travaux, and is subtitled (in English only) "a [national] tragicomedy in two acts known as Inauguration and Failure".[2] The original French text was composed between 21 January 2009 and 8 September 2011.[3] The première was on 3 February 2009 in the Theater of Congress, Washington, DC. The production was directed by David Plouffe, who also played the role of Pozzo.

Posted by: Jack is Back! | September 01, 2011 at 09:37 AM