today's exhibition game was much better than friday's. first off, no rain! instead, blue skies, a few clouds, and a massive flock of seagulls in the ninth. second, not only did the a's get hits, they scored runs! three cheers for bobby crosby and mike sweeney, who each hit home runs, and a round of applause for todd linden's overall awesomeness. really, this guy deserves a roster spot. he hits the ball well, and gracefully leaps and dives in the outfield for any balls that come his way.

after pre-game warm-ups, i gave the box of "those giants are big softies" chewy cookies to gio gonzalez, who promptly looked at them, exclaimed, "thanks!," and then said, "i can't eat all these! i'll be a fatty!" being the on-the-sidelines cheerleader that i am, i encouraged him to share with his teammates and not hoard all the cookies for himself. hey, it's only fair! interesting fact about gio: he pitches lefty, but writes and bats righty. he's also very cordial to his fans, taking the time to say hello, high five the big brawny men, and sign autographs for kids and young women.

now, about those cookies: the recipe calls for a moist cake mix base (i used duncan hines moist devil's food cake). i also subbed in sweet cream butter again for regular butter. these cookies turned out perfectly soft and chewy. mm mmm, good. i hope the players liked them, too. that is, if more than one of them ever got any...

the great thing about working in SOMA is that it takes me about 5 minutes to walk from work to at&t park. i got there in time to watch warm-ups, which included huston street working on his stretch and angle with coach young and santiago casilla throwing as much as he could. kirk saarloos seemed a little distraught that he didn't get to throw a practice session in the bullpen; seems he was told he would get the chance, but coach young said, "not today." kirk was respectful, but i felt badly for the guy.

this is one of the (only) positives about the bullpen positioning at at&t. sure, the planners forgot to build a bullpen originally, so pitchers are always at risk for getting hit. BUT during warm-ups, fans (and their boxes of cookies) can stand right there and feel like they're part of the action.

i passed off my "two thumbprint up cookies" to a cute, blondish haired player, who resembled our aaa-pitcher of the day, greg smith (dear cookie receiving player, if you weren't greg, oops!). i used ina garten's recipe, but took a little liberty, substituting jana valley sweet cream butter for the regular butter, mountain fruit co.'s strawberry gem jam and stonewall kitchen's wild maine blueberry jam (with adorable tiny blueberries) for raspberry and apricot, and dried unsweetened coconut for the sweetened variety. 

my anti-rain dance proved disastrous, though. by the second inning we were huddled under my umbrella and propping our bags on our feet (by then, the puddles had turned into swamps). the attendance was dwindling at about a few double N-Judah cars worth, but we stayed on for the whole game, rewarding ourselves and our frozen limbs with a big bowl of tom ka from citrus club afterwards.

neither team was "on," but i felt courageous for sitting through my first rainy game ever. things can only get better, right? like the giants' spelling, perhaps?

i've got my super duper hammacher schlemmer umbrella packed in my game bag, along with a green blanket, sweater, gloves, hat, and box o' cookies for the boys. now if only the rain would retreat for the next 6 hours or so. anti-rain dance, anyone?i'll be leading it by the overhang to section 105...

i didn't get up to the mets/orioles game yesterday. the clouds kept teasing me, what with their puffy, dark grayness and heavy rain to the south of us. i woke up this morning late (i gave up adjusting to the time change since i'm heading back to california tomorrow) and saw the the a's fell to the red sox in japan. it's a little sad, but hopefully they'll come back today/tomorrow morning. i'll keep my fingers crossed while i'm de-shoeing at airport security at 6am manana.

in other non-news, this season i almost joined a fantasy baseball league again, but i didn't think i'd have enough time to really devote my full energies and lack of statistical knowledge to the game. but if you're into fantasy baseball, you might be interested in this upcoming Q&A with Bill James, sabermetrician and senior baseball operations advisor for the red sox.

i'm visiting family in south florida and trying to follow the games in japan at the same time. it's hard, but i've got my laptop, which keeps the a's at my fingertips! i've been reading joe blanton's new mlblog, and i really enjoy his writing; he seems honest and personable, and i look forward to more of his posts.

i had hoped to go to my first spring training this year, but the trip just wasn't in the cards. i really wanted to paint my face green and gold and watch the paint melt off my face around 10am and drip down to my sneakers and cheer with a bunch of semi to fully hardcore fans under the beating desert sun, but with the team in such flux, it was hard to justify taking a week off to go to phoenix. plus, i kept wrestling with baking in a hotel room with kitchen; it most likely wouldn't work. i'd need baking sheets and ingredients and bowls and spoons and a timer... and how could i show up to a game or practice empty handed? i think it'd make me feel empty inside. or at least naked. and we don't want that to happen.

i am, though, thinking of checking out the orioles vs. mets game here in ft. lauderdale on monday (as long as the rain holds off). i've tried rationalizing this, saying that it's the grapefruit league so it doesn't count. or does this make me a cheater?

during the offseason, i sat on the edge of my ergonomic seat with a mixture of glee, anticipation, and sadness. no more marco, danny, mark, shannon, nick, or mike. now spring training is in full swing, and rich harden sounds like the ace he's always potentially been. talks regarding trading joe blanton may or may not be happening behind semi-closed doors, and i've also found out that the team affectionately calls lenny dinardo "pecs." sadly, kirk saarloos has been sent to minor league camp, but here's hoping he ends up on someone's major league roster this year. if anything, he deserves some time at the family spa.

i rarely post about a team other than the a's, but my main man sent this to me earlier and i thought it was hilarious. if you can't view it, go here. enjoy!