It's now how you play the game, it's if you win or lose

I went to the Astros game last night with my best friend and the folks. Mom 'n Dad had tickets to the Commodore Club box seats (they both went to Vanderbilt and have contributed to the university...or something along those lines), and JT and I had excellent seats about 10 rows back in right field. We were pretty close to either Jason Lane or Geoff Jenkins (whom JT repeatedly said that he hates. Not dislikes...HATES. I think due to years of Jenkins getting hurt on JT's fantasy team.) at all times.

So we get to the game, get to our seats, it's not that crowded, the weather's nice (after the sun stops shining directly into our eyes)...life's good. And then our offense changes all that. Well, we had some chances. Biggio singled and Berkman walked in the 1st, but Ensberg lined into a DP to end it. Lane led off the 2nd with a double, but Everett (who has looked awful. AWFUL.), Burke, and Ausmus do nothing. Then Doug Davis kinda dominated for a bit (he ended with 8 K's). But Zeke Astacio was matching him. It was the first time I'd seen Astacio pitch live, and I was fairly impressed. He has good life on his pitches, and he throws strikes. The occasional downside to throwing strikes is good major league hitters can often hit strikes. Astacio gave up some hard hit balls, but thanks to 5 K's in the first 3 innings he managed to stay out of trouble. But a leadoff double by Corey Hart and a single by Overbay gave the Brewers a 1-0 lead. This lead was starting to look insurmountable...until the bottom of the 7th.

Oh, at this point JT and I had switched seats with the padres and were up in the box seats. Har to beat free chicken tenders and beer. We got a few funny looks but I'm a Vandy grad and JT was my 'cousin' for the day so we weren't too worried. Anyway, in the 7th - two quick outs on Lane and Everett. Then Chris Burke lines a single to LF. Ausmus coaxes a walk. ("That's bad, Davis. BAD." -JT) Yost comes out and brings in K. Davis. (I don't know his first name.) Jose Vizcaino pinch-hits. Yes, he's my nemesis, and yes, I despise him, but he's a singles hitter who doesn't strike out too often. Maybe he'll get lucky. He fouls off a few pitches. The place is ROCKING. It's loud. Then Viz hits a hard ground ball....up the middle! Burke scores!! So it's 1-1. Taveras comes up. Ausmus made it to the 3rd on the single...and scores on a wild pitch on the first pitch of the at-bat! YEAH! 2-1, Stros. Taveras lunges at a few pitches (JT and I both noticed his disturbing tendency to flail at pitches. It's hard enough to hit major league pitches if you're not falling forward. Taveras also has a really long swing for a guy that gets no power whatsoever. He's only 23 and this is his first season in the majors, but he needs to work on a few things.) but manages to walk. Biggio up, 1st and 3rd, 2 øut. I tell JT that Biggio absolutely has to take a few pitches, because Davis can't throw strikes. Biggio hits a slow ground ball to the right side of the pitcher's mound, and as Davis comes over and looks to throw to Overbay, Biggio kind of puts his arms up and the throw hits him the left hand! Viz scores! 3-1, Stros. Ned Yost comes out and argues for a bit, and I don't blame him. Biggio said after the game he was trying to avoid being tagged by Overbay, but I don't buy it. It was a cheap move, but we'll take it. Berkman comes up and lines out to CF on the hardest hit ball all inning (well, maybe Burke's single). Then in the bottom of the 8th, Ensberg works a walk, and Jason Lane jumps on a high fastball which he hits just above the yellow line in left-center. 2 run bomb! 5-1, Stros. Springer, Gallo, and Wheeler combine for 3 scoreless innings, and Mike Burns comes in in the 9th...and gives up a massive 2 run HR to mighty Damian Miller. Oops. Then it's Lidge time - game over. 5-3, Astros.

I basically found out my class schedule for Fall 2005. I'm teaching two Intro to Statistics courses (sweet), and taking three classes (two Stat, one Math). My MWF days are really busy (8 am - 3pm), but I have nothing on TR except a class that I teach at 5:30 pm. I'm trying to figure out what to do on TR morning (and early afternoons). Possible options:

Tennis
Disc golf
Poker
Run
Study

Probably some combination of all five. It's looking like it should be a good semester. I start on Monday.