Attention to Detail and other musings

I love baseball. The American pasttime is one of the most unpredictable competitive sports known to man. Nine men on each side, (10 if you are in the American League) pitted against each other.

My favorite Major League team is the Oakland Athletics. I'm asked why am I an A's fan. After all, I grew up in Buffalo. Most folks are Yankee or Met fans, Toronto is two hours North, Pittsburgh is four hours south and Cleveland is about three hours southwest-ish. I started following the A's during their late 80s/early 90s renaissance. The Era of the Bash Brothers, if you wish. Once I relocated to Las Vegas, I just couldn't get into following any of the SoCal teams. On a business trip to the Bay Area, I went to an A's game and I was hooked. Year after year, I've seen star after star leave, but Billy Beane keeps putting a quality product on the field.

Initially I thought this year was going to be a tough one. A "rebuilding year" if you will. On May 29th, the A's were 15 games below .500. On July 18th, they were 8.5 games out of first place. The Wild Card was a pipe dream, much less leading the division.

Well sports fans, today Oakland took the division lead with a 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels of Canoga Park or whatever their name is. They are also 18 games above .500! It was a fluke play in the bottom of the 9th that one it. A routine play, actually. Something as simple as the catcher tossing the ball back to the pitcher on the mound. Today, the pitcher formerly known as K-Rod muffed the catch as he steamed over an umpire's call. He booted the ball out towards second base, and the Jason Kendall sprinted in from third.

While I am truly enjoying this moment - I do realize there is a lot of baseball left - this particular incident shows that you can't take anything for granted and even the most routine detail needs to be paid attention to. You never know where your opportunities are going to come from, and you need to seize them when you get them.

That's all for now. I think Minx and Midge are getting into a little tift that I need to go break up.