This edition of the Pressbox will last only as long as my last couples bites of cereal and few sips of coffee. I guess you could call this a Pressbox Drive-Thru.
Fear not, we'll never mess up your order and my fingernails are always clean.
Here's a shoutout to my good buddy Alan for giving me a heads-up on the latest Sports Illustrated. The August 31 SI has an Outstanding (big O) feature on the '75 Reds including some fascinating personal features on guys like Morgan, Rose and Bench. Even if you're not a Reds fan, this is still a great read.
I saw the Dodgers in person over the weekend and I've got to tell ya, they are awfully good and awfully deep. What's more, in the last three days the Dodgers have acquired infielders Ronnie Belliard and Jim Thome as well as pitcher Jon Garland.
Belliard and Thome will likely be used off the bench.
Can you imagine being Brad Lidge in Game 5 of the NLCS, nursing a one-run lead and with two on and two out in the ninth and the Dodgers are running Jim Thome out there to bat for the pitcher?
The move I really, really like by the Dodgers though is Jon Garland, who came over from the White Sox with Thome and here's why...
The only real question mark on this Dodgers roster is the starting pitching. By and large, the rotation is pretty good, but it definitely lacks substantive depth. This point was validated on Saturday when they ran out rookie knuckleballer Chuck Haeger against the Reds.
No, Garland is not Cy Young, or even Tim Lincecum or C.C. Sabathia. But, what Garland is, however, is a guy that gives you a decent, strong start everytime out. If you're a Dodgers fan, this move isn't going to pay off dividends in the immediate future, rather you'll see the benefits begin to manifeset themselves somewhere around the second week of October.
That said, I want you to remember me, Dodger Fan, when Garland goes 6+ three earned, scatters seven hits and strikes out five in Game Four of the championship series, while also enabling Joe Torre to bring staff ace Chad Billingsly back on regular rest.
What're you doing Saturday?
If the answer to that question is anything other than, "spending the day watching college football, dawning a beer dispensing helmet, with the remote taped to my hand while my free hand is tucked slightly down my pants" I pity you, because that's precisely what I'll be doing.
No, I have no shame, just ask Kate.
There are a myriad of outstanding college football games on the tube Saturday afternoon beginning with the Bucks at noon, continuing with Georgia and Oklahoma State at 3:30 and ending with a couple blockbusters in the evening like BYU at Oklahoma and Alabama at Virginia Tech.
A quick note, if you're like me and live in Big 10 country, you likely won't see the Georgia, OK State game because Western Michigan plays Michigan at the same time on the same network.
Of course, I'd submit to you that watching the Western Michigan Broncos beat the holy hell out of Meechigan Saturday afternoon may be the most fun I'll have all day.
That said, a lot of people in Stillwater, Oklahoma think the Cowboys are more than capable of pulling out an upset against Georgia and I'm not inclined to disagree. If that Oklahoma State offense is anywhere near as good as it was a season ago, the 'Dogs may be in for a long day.
Speaking of long days, I'm due for one myself. Enjoy your Wednesday afternoon and please, please tell everyone you know about the literary brilliance contained inside this white space so I can finally start making money doing this.
I told you I had no shame.
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