That's A Winner

I was in St. Louis for my sister's wedding last week, and as you can tell things were busy enough that I never once encountered the Internet. I'll be traveling to Tanzania, Africa on July 2nd for two weeks, so I suppose last week will be good practice for nothing but dead silence here, since I don't expect to encounter lots of internet connections where I'll be.

One of the highlights of the week in St. Louis was watching the Cardinals' come-from-behind victory over the hated New York Yankees, spurred by a pinch-hit home run from unknown former Yankees farm hand Scott Seabol. He knocked it out literally seconds after I turned to my son and said, "Never heard of 'im." We were fortunate enough to have seats close enough where Alex Rodriguez could actually hear me calling him a loser as he returned to the dugout after striking out. Good times.

For the uninitiated, it's hard to describe how integral the Cardinals are to St. Louis, and how one hasn't really officially visited the town without attending a baseball game there.

While in town (since in St. Louis one's mind turns to baseball), I had the time to read the new book Three Nights in August, by Buzz Bissinger. Bissinger, a Pulitzer prize winner and author of the heralded Texas high school football odyssey Friday Night Lights, has written a delightful, must-read tome for any baseball fan. Though it focuses on a crucial series between the Cardinals and the Cubs during the 2003 season, the book is really timeless, dealing with strategy, triumph, and tragedy through the eyes of Tony La Russa, one of the game's most successful and enigmatic managers. The chapter on the strategy of the bean ball is alone worth the price of the book.

And of course there were Belly Bombers. Lots of Belly Bombers.