Moonlit Jazz

Inside Pitch: Mulder Says Goodbye To A’s Family
By Staff Scout.com
Date: Dec 28, 2004

[The link above is no longer readable, unless you subscribe to the site for a fee. Just in case anyone wanted to read it, here you go…]

The initial shock of getting traded had Mark Mulder so speechless, he later felt bad that he didn’t sound very excited when St. Louis Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty talked to him.

But a few days later, it started to sink in that he really is gone from Oakland, that he’s really joining a team that was in the World Series last year, and that he really won’t be pitching in the same rotation with close friends Tim Hudson and Barry Zito anymore.

“Those are some of my best friends,” Mulder said. “It’s going to be weird. I’ve only pitched with those guys. We’ve all relied on each other. We all pushed each other in a good way. We all knew this would happen, sooner or later, but we didn’t think it would happen this quickly. It was quite the shocker.”

The friendship and rivalry will continue across divisions, leagues and time zones.

Mulder is excited to hit on a regular basis in the National League. He already has a bet with Hudson over who will hit the first home run.

“Me and Huddy will come up with some more good (bets),” Mulder said. “He already told me he’s raking me if we ever face each other.”

Mulder hit .335 his junior year at Michigan State, but he’s just 1-for-22 in interleague games.

“Those numbers don’t look too good,” Mulder said. “It’s tough when you only get four or five at-bats a year. I know I can do it. I just haven’t done it since college. I’m looking forward to taking batting practice, helping myself out by moving somebody over, or getting base hits.”

Mulder reiterated he was fine physically down the stretch, when he went 0-4 with an 8.31 ERA and .365 opponents’ average in his final seven starts.

“I don’t know if I got tired,” he said. “I started thinking too much down the stretch. I was completely fine. There’s nothing wrong with me. It was one of those things. I flat-out struggled. I’ve never struggled like that in my career — even when I was a rookie. More than anything, it was embarrassing for myself. I was trying so hard to get out of it.

“Is it something that I’m concerned with? No. I’ll be ready in spring training. I hit a bump in the road. It was a big bump.”

Mulder regrets that he wasn’t able to say goodbye to the friends he made at the Coliseum, such as the clubhouse kids, grounds crew members and security guards. He’s glad another buddy, Jason Isringhausen, could give advice on where to live in St. Louis during the season.

“I’ve heard nothing but great things about St. Louis,” Mulder said. “I’ve had numerous e-mails from players that I’m friends with who used to play there and how much they loved it there. They said it’s such a great baseball town; the atmosphere there is all about baseball. That’s exciting for me. The fans we had were great. We just didn’t have a lot of them. I’ll enjoy playing in front of a packed house every night.”

[from the OaklandClubhouse.com site, no copyright infringement intended…]

The rain began again just before sundown. We walked out of Best Buy to raindrops falling on our heads. Ah well.

Last Sunday of regular season football. Almost went unnoticed by me. I really wasn’t into football this season. Probably because the 49ers sucked this year. Blah! Besides, I’m a baseball chick, eh? 😉

I still haven’t figured out my resolutions. Does this mean I will be in a constant state of flux? I hope not.

I replenished the wardrobe today. Mostly work trousers. (I didn’t want to say pants because I didn’t want anyone to think of underwear. LOL!) One shirt. Oh, and two pairs of jeans. I can now conceivably *not* wear jeans to work all week, except for Fridays. Weirdness! Let’s see how I do with that.

I just finished burning two mix CDs. I love iTunes, it’s so fast! 😀

I can hear the rain outside. Drip drip drip…

Welcome to 2005. WOW! 🙂 So a new year begins. What shall this new year hold?

I was sitting in bed at the stroke of midnight last night. After watching a bit of the fireworks on tv, I settled in and went to sleep. You know, it’s much nicer being at home when you know the rest of the world is going a bit nuts outside. 😉

I woke up at around 8am or so. I think I turned on the computer with thoughts of revamping kiari.com. I’ve started a little bit of it. Maybe I’ll do it tomorrow. 😛 I also did some laundry and the dishes.

A bit after noon I started getting ready for my cousin’s birthday party. Yes, she was born on January 1st! The party was in San Lorenzo, which meant an hour drive (at least!) in questionable weather. Sans the husband, I drove through sunshine, cloudy skies, rain drops, raindrops in sunshine, etc.

A bottle of Firestone Chardonnay… the Hello Kitty bday cake (look at the pretty sparklers!)… me with the bday girl… Hello Kitty cut to pieces…

As always, it was great hanging out with my family. It doesn’t happen often enough with me, so I really do cherish the moments that I get to spend with them. 🙂

My dad with one of his favorite nieces (with a little bit of Kevin)… my handsome cousins Joe and Richard… Bev and John… Kevin and Christine…

I ate a lot. There was so much food! I think I took pictures on my camera phone. I’ll have to buzznet those later. Lumpia, pansit, sushi, chicken, turkey, etc. Good stuff. I need to learn how to cook Filipino food. Yummm!!!

I hope everyone had a great first day of 2005. Cheers to you all!

Something baseball: Mulder Says Goodbye To A’s Family… 🙁

I had a dream the other night that I was at a baseball game or watching a baseball game on tv and Mulder was on the mound in his Cardinals uniform. I was trying to figure out what his number was. 😛

The sun is shining right now, but who knows how long it will be? It’s been raining all week. Gray and wet it’s been. Ye gods!

It’s the end of the year, but I don’t really feel like looking back and reflecting on the days passed. Maybe later. Just not right now. I will say that I am grateful to be here in this world, alive and well.

And here’s a look at my doggies:

See how Saffy the Yorkie likes looking at the camera? She thinks she’s sneaky. And then Meggie always looks away. Oh well!

I took this on Christmas Day at the in-laws. The dogs are waiting for treats or something. Or maybe this was when the pops-in-law was cutting the slab of prime rib. 😀

“A Christmas Love Song” by Manhattan Transfer

So, did everyone have a good Christmas? Mine was lovely, except now I’m sick! It started on Christmas Eve and steadily progressed on Christmas Day. Yesterday I just sat around and read. I didn’t even turn on the computer! (Although I did take a quick glance online on my PowerBook.) I read all of The Da Vinci Code yesterday. I think I read it too fast! LOL! But it was good. I enjoyed it. 🙂

Our stockings in Livermore, me with something A’s, husband with something beer, the Xmas tree in Livermore

We went to Livermore for Christmas Day for presents and dinner. Presents were first and dinner was much later. My parents joined us (but I didn’t get any pictures of them!).

During the opening presents time…

I took a nap after opening presents. My cold was making me sleepy. My parents arrived before dinner time. For dinner we had prime rib, crab imperial, chicken adobo, bean casserole, macaroni and cheese, bread. Very delicious and very filling!

Also on the food front, the sister-in-law made some quiche, little rolls of ham, spinach and cream cheese, and tomato and basil salad. Ultra healthy, eh? Twas good!

The ham rolls (what are they actually called?!), the quiche, the table at dinner, the mouthwatering prime rib…

And today I’m home because I just don’t feel too hot. My nose is congested and I feel just a bit light headed from all the sniffling and such. Alas.

ESPN.com: Page 2 – Beane will have the last laugh – I am slowly coming to grips with the whole trading away of Mulder and Hudson. Objectively, I can totally see the points the writer makes. I understand and almost believe most of it. It’s just that the fangirl in me still mourns the trade of her favorite player. If it were anyone else who got traded away, I would have total faith in Beane. And shoot, maybe I still do. The man takes risks.

Still, sadness for me…

Onward to more fun stuff

Results of a quiz! 😀

Pre-Hyptnotized Peter

What Office Space character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Office Space ROCKS. I love that movie. If you’ve ever worked in an office, you’ll totally relate to the movie. And even if not, it’s still funny. 😉

But I only agree with the “you need a break” part of my result. 😛

Shopping done, bring on the holiday!

We skipped out of work just shy of noon yesterday. Freedom! We had to be home so that the cleaning lady could do the house. We got to the Central Valley with enough time to spare for lunch, so we stopped at the Barnwood Restaurant. I had the egg salad sandwhich and forgot to get it plain, but it still tasted good. 😉

When we got home, the cleaning lady was already there waiting for us. 😛 Also parked in front was the gardner. (Do we sound spoiled or lazy? LOL!) AND surpise, a “for sale” sign was hoisted in front of the house next door. Ye gods!

After all house cleaning and grass and bushes upkeep, we headed to the mall. CRAZINESS! The hardest part was getting there. The mall was packed, of course, but buying what we needed wasn’t so bad. We managed to finish up in the mall. Thank goodness!

I have some shots from the company luncheon, but I think I left the camera in the car. 😛