Orel Family

I went to my 2nd ever World Series game last night. Like the first World Series game I attended, it was the first World Series game in the city in more than 2 decades. And, like the first World Series game I attended, the opposing manager was Tony LaRussa. And, like the first World Series game I attended, LaRussa's team routed the home team. That first game, back in 1989, is hardly remembered. The A's won 13-3, 10 days after the Loma Prieta earthquake. Went with Karen and her brother Larry, amazingly his only other WS game was that very same game 3, 17 years ago. The view from the right field side, as the Cardinals take batting practice. The Tigers are heavy favorites; considering that the Cardinals starting lineup includes David Eckstein leading off, as well as Juan Encarnacion, Yadier Molina and Ronnie Beliard, this is understandable. Most people expect that Detroit will sweep the series, and the big question is whether the Cardinals will win a single game. Bob Seger...

There's a saying around here, goes something like this: If you don't like the weather in Michigan, stick around, it'll change. Of course, that doesn't always mean it'll get better . What had been a merely cool fall turned frigid this morning. I woke up to 36 degrees outside. Good thing I covered the plants last night, though I don't know if the covering held -- it was pretty windy out there. At about a quarter to 8, the snow started. According to reports that I have heard, this is the earliest ever recorded snow in the area. And this wasn't some tiny little squall, either, it was gusty with big flakes and limited visibility. There were white caps on the Detroit River today, and several more passing flurries during the afternoon. When I arrived home, there was snow on the ground. Still need to cover tonight, or at least make sure the covers haven't totally abandoned the plants -- not that there's much left, anyway. In the middle of this, the...

Gotta hand it to Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN . In a column he wrote for espn.com today , Wojo writes: "The martyr -- who missed 31 games in 2006, had only 367 at-bats, couldn't field his position, hit 29 points below his career average and produced his lowest home run total (in 112 games or more) since 1991 and his lowest RBI total (in 112 games or more) since 1989 -- is at it again. " That's pretty much right on cue, as predicted two weeks ago, when I wrote: "Much commentary on Bonds’ performance this year has focused on how he is suddenly 'human' (at age 42, who isn’t?) or that he’s not as feared as he once was, or that the assumed steroids must have worn off... On the surface, these observations might seem to have some merit: As I write, Bonds has a .262 batting average, his lowest since 1989. His .532 slugging percentage and his .988 OPS are his lowest since 1991... He has scored 69 runs; he’s never been below 89 as a qualifier. His RBI total of 6...