Well that sucks: Volume 984753

- Having four hits but still being That Guy who grounds into a game-ending DP for a loss: Not a good Sunday
Ryan N. Shealy had four hits today, extending his hit streak to seven games. In his last 10 games, Shealy is batting .412 in spite of three hitless games before his hit streak. He's had four multi-hit games in the last week. Yep, Ryan Shealy is hot right now. So there was no reason to feel anything but optimistic when he came up to bat with one on and one out in the bottom of the 9th today.

But then time slowed down. I swear it was a horror movie slow motion thing. In my mind, I was screaming "Ryan NO! Don't swing at that pit--" but it happened anyway. Shealy swung at the first pitch and grounded weakly into a double play. His four hits suddenly didn't seem to matter; instead he became the rally killer. Such is the fickle nature of baseball - she is a cruel mistress, no?

On a completely unrelated note, Leo Nunez was at Rosenblatt today, presumably gearing up for some rehab work. It was good to see him again, and I'll of course report anything I notice about his progress I get to see him pitch.

Oh, one more Shealy thing I've been dying to share:
Yesterday I was at the dugout wall, asking Shealy a question for an upcoming story. My friend Becky was standing next to me, and Shealy was idly swinging a bat around as he talked. Becky said something about how he had better not hit her with it. He said, "Relax, I know what I'm doing with this thing."
[awkward pause and sheepish smile]
"...some of the time."

Gotta love that kind of humility and self-awareness.