Moody Thinking

NOTE: THIS IS AN OLD POST. HERE’S A LINK WITH UPDATED INFORMATION: http://moodythinking.com/2009/08/11/montgomerys-half-marathon-update/

I got some exciting news today. Montgomery is getting a half marathon! The date is October 3rd and they are working to promote some of the new parts of the downtown area including the alleyway.  It will be an all day event with bands at the ampitheater, food provided by Jim N Nicks, beer and other refreshments, and televisions to watch the 11:30 SEC game.

This should be a great event as most Montgomery runners have been wanting something longer than the Jubilee 8K in our city. Auburn and Alabama are both away, so no excuses people. (For the 2 LSU fans I know, they are at Georgia).

We want to make this a huge event for years to come, so we will need a lot of people to sign up. The people planning the event are the same ones that put on the Mercedes Marathon and Half Marathon every January.

Think you could not possibly run 13.1 miles, then think again. My brother Jon ran the Seaside Half Marathon with very little training and did quite well. I would recommend training and I will be posting regular tips on this blog that I come across in my own training.

Here’s the route (from mapmyrun.com):

Montgomery Half
Find more Runs in Montgomery, Alabama

Let’s make this a great event for our city!

Yankees vs. Red Sox is Major League Baseball’s biggest rivalry, which immediately makes the American League East the proving grounds of baseball dominance, especially considering Boston’s recent success and the rise of Tampa Bay and Toronto as contenders.

This year’s AL East is a four team race, but the nation should not miss the intiguing story lines in the National League East. The reigning World Series champ resides there, as well as New York’s other team and the one time perenial playoff bound Atlanta Braves.

This year’s interleague games took place between these two divisions. With all of the attention given to the AL East, one would think that they would dominate these matchups.

Well, they did not.

Philadelphia won two of three from the Yankees and Boston had to win Sunday to avoid being swept by the Mets. The Braves swept the Blue Jays, who led the AL East coming into this series.

The story lines were great. Brad Lidge, who was perfect for Philadelphia last year, blew two saves over the weekend, forcing the Phillies into a loss on Saturday and an extra innings win on  Sunday.

The Mets, without one of their best hitters and a shaky bullpen, managed to win two of three from Boston, showing why they will continue to contend.

Braves 33 year old Japanese rookie Kenshin Kawakami went pitch for pitch with Roy Halladay andkept the Braves close enough to get the run they needed in the late innings after Halladay’s exit. Add in a shaky ninth inning for Mike Gonzalez and a fantastic bases loaded one out rescue by Rafael Sorino, and we had the makings of a great dramatic series.

Both divisions will go down to the wire with three teams in the NL East and four teams in the AL East that will contend for the title.

The NL East finished the first weekend of interleague play seven for nine. The true results will be seen as the year progresses through the rest of interleague play, but the NL East has begun its case to be named baseball’s most dominate conference.

I assumed that Braves would lose to the Jays in game 1 of the interleague series. Roy Halladay was pitching. He’s going for his ninth win (with only one loss). He’s dominant.

The Braves were trotting out 31-year-old Japanese rookie Kenshin Kawakami, who has lacked control to start the year and has been susceptible to the long ball.

A match made for the Blue Jays to recover after being swept by the Yankees, right?

Wrong! And a delightful slam the 1980’s era “No Whammie” buzzer wrong. “BZZZZZZ.” (That was a long way to reference my childhood, but we all watched “Press Your Luck.”

Kenshin Kawakami pitched his best game of the season against the best pitcher in baseball.

Kawakami was excellent. His 90 mph fastball had late movement and he got ahead in the count so that his 70 mph curve ball fooled a lot of hitters. (Not to mention his 82 mph change up that comes back in to right handers). He went pitch for pitch with Halladay.

Halladay pitched a gem as well, as usual, so it came down to the bullpen. Kawakami took the Braves all the way through the eighth inning, throwing seven K’s and giving them a chance.

Halladay came up to bat in the seventh, so the Jays opted to hit for him and bring in Jesse Carlson to pitch the eighth. Matt Diaz hit for Kawakami and got a ground rule double and advanced to third on a Yunel Escobar ground out.

In stepped Casey Kotchman, a constistent hitter with great RBI potential. He hit it deep enough to left to score Diaz and give the Braves the lead.

Uh-oh. Braves bullpen time. Mike Gonzalez came out to pitch the 9th, got one out and then gave up a double to Aaron Hill, who advanced to third on an Alex Rios groundout.

Then, just to make sure my heart was ready for strain, Vernon Wells grounded a dribbler to Martin Prado at third who bobbled, recovered, and throwed out Wells at first to prevent the tying run.

BZZZZZZZZZ. BZZZZZZZ. BZZZZZZZZ. I am killing the buzzer as much as Mike Gonzalez kills his vocal chords after each save.

After taking the best pitcher down, the Braves can sweep the series and get a few games over .500. I refuse to let the Colorado debacle of last week scare me.

Call me naive (you will not be the first), but this series is the Braves chance to gain some ground in the division, as the Mets and Phillies are facing the Red Sox and Yankees respectively.

Let’s go Braves… No whammies.

I’m travelling with work this week. Four hour flights and nights in a hotel lead to a lot of reading and I came across some great thoughts from both fiction and non-fiction books this week. I am going to make the quotes and let you draw your own information from them. 

“Why do grown-ups think its easier for children to bear secrets than the truth? Don’t they know about the horror stories we imagine to explain the secrets.” — Cornelia Funke, Inkheart.

“Today’s Christians, by indentification with their forbears, must acknowledge these inconsistencies in regard to a twisted view of race. We can use no lesser word than sin to describe those instances where the practice was (or is) so far from what the Bible directs.” — Francis Shaeffer, How Should We then Live? 

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” — James 1:27

“The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his father.” — Charles Spurgeon

And because all quote groups should include Shakespeare:

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” — Hamlet.

“All that glisters is not gold; Often have you heard that told. Many a man his life hath sold but my outside to behold.  Gilded tombs do worms enfold.” – The Merchant of Venice

Here’s the trailer for the original “Invisible Children” DVD. Since the rescue, the guys were able to get some time on Oprah and have planned a lobbying event in DC in June.

Please do not miss the work that can be done to alleviate the suffering of these people. Pray, donate, spread the word, do whatever you can to help take Joseph Kony out of power and free Africa’s child soldiers.

Yes!

I just performed the Jaba Chamberlain-K-Rod-Jonathan Papelbon finishing move (one fist pump, yelling, a double fist pump, more yelling, going to one knee and point both hands to the sky).

It was a little over the top. I will admit that point, but the Braves just gave me tremendous reason to celebrate. They beat Johan Santana. (They really beat the bullpen, but Atlanta won the game he pitched).

Let's just say the Braves are glad that Derek Lowe signed with them over the Mets.

Santana and Braves ace Derek Lowe battled in a classic pitchers duel until the seventh. Santana was brilliant, pitching 6.1 with 2 unearned runs and 6 strikeouts. Derek Lowe recalled images of Greg Maddux with a ton of groundouts and two double plays. This pitching performance is why Atlanta signed him to a 4 year, $60 million contract.

In games like this one, two things can kill a team: errors and bullpen.

Jose Reyes' error in the 7th loaded the bases for the Braves who then hit consecutive singles to score 2 runs. Apparently the cobwebs on his elbows could not help him catch (AP Photo/Kathy Willens).

The Mets gave up the first run on a throwing error that brought Yunel Escobar home from second. Then Jose Reyes booted a routine grounder that loaded the bases and set up 4 runs scored on consecutive 2 out singles from Matt Diaz and Casey Kotchman.

The Mets dug their own grave to an extent, but the Braves resiliency should not go unnoticed. Derek Lowe’s pitching kept them in the game and errors mean nothing without base runners. Their defense worked (no errors) as well as strong performances by the resurgent Peter Moylan and Rafael Soriano.

All the pieces came together with good management with playing Diaz over Garrett Anderson in left and starting Kelly Johnson (both with decent track records against Santana).

The Braves are 5-1 on the current 8 game road trip and just won against the Mets ace. Hopefully these are the tidings of continued success as Atlanta is back to a .500 winning percentage and 1.5 games behind in the division.

(Pardon me while I tomahawk chop the air).

Note: This post also published at http://www.gatewaylife.net.

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. – Matthew 10:29-30.

You’ve got to be kidding. Manny didn’t know what he was taking was illegal? You buy that, Peter Gammons?

He tested positive for HCG. A fertility drug used to increase testosterone production (which players need after a steroid cycle to normalize testosterone levels).

Why would he need this drug? It’s not viagra, it has a specific purpose to baseball players and is abused.

These analysts that are defending manny are off their rocker. Do we really believe that these guys don’t know what they’re doing?

Here’s a thought: You get paid $25 million. Don’t take the doctor’s word for it. Send it to the MLB and make sure they approve it. Check it against their PUBLISHED LIST!!!!

Sorry for the yelling, but I could not help myself. He cheated and deserves to be punished.

Derek Lowe was on the mound, a rookie pitcher was starting for Florida, Garrett Anderson was back in left field;  everything seemed perfect for the Braves to stop their current skid and get back on track. 

And they did, but not in Braves fashion. Normally with an ace like low (ground ball pitcher) you expect the other team to score maybe 3 runs and then your team can put up 4 to win a normal baseball game. 

This game was anything but normal. The final score 8-6 with 6 earned runs given up by the staff ace. 

By the time Lowe was pulled out in the 6th after allowing the six runs and letting the Marlins crawl back in, Bobby Cox was doing his best Buttermaker impersonation by sitting alone in the dugout with the “I might get thrown out just so I don’t have to watch this” face. 

The Braves offense provided 8 runs off the bag of peanuts Florida is putting in the 4 and 5 starting rotation spots, so they had enough offense to save Lowe’s day and make him a very lucky 4-1 on the year. 

Timely hitting? Thank you Mr. Anderson and welcome back (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

This offense has struggled lately and finally put together some hits with runners in scoring postision. Welcome back Garrett Anderson who led the team with 3 RBI’s and provided the initial spark in the first inning by putting the ball into play so that Omar Infante could score from third. 

Add timely hits and walks in the second and you have enough firepower so that a struggling starting pitcher can give up runs and still get the win. Not to mention a bullpen that shut down the opposition, except for a couple of Buddy Carlyle baserunners. Peter Moylan was efficient. Rafael Soriano was strong. Mike Gonzalez was filthy. IF (big if there) this bullpen can continue to close the door, then the Braves will have a shot in most games. 

Are things changing for the Braves? I hope so. This offensive output could be a sign of good things to come. I may be putting too much into one game, but the Braves have Brian McCann coming back this weekend (newly equipped with Rec Specs) and the lineup will finally settle down. 

Pitching will have its ups and downs, but the bullpen can provide stability for the late innings. 

Here we go. My hopes are up again. Check with me later in the week and I will want to sell all the pieces and play for next year. (Isn’t being a fan great?)

Please watch this video and hear an example of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is by Matt Chandler from a Desiring God conference.

Wow. Just wow. Jesus came to heal the sick not the well.