Suspended!

Before I begin, I need to share that I love Dragonforce, and I don't care who knows it. Their forthcoming album, Ultra Beatdown, is just ridiculous; my Guilty Pleasure #1.

All right, with that out of the way, let's take a peek at some of the suspensions handed down after the fracas the other day.

Miguel Olivo, who had three pitches thrown at his head: 5 games
DJ Carrasco, who threw at Olivo's head three straight times AND bitchslapped Olivo in the skull: Zero games
Zack Greinke: 5 games
Trey Hillman: 1 game
Ozzie Guillen, who promised after the game that his pitchers will be throwing at the Royals in future matchups: 2 games
AJ Pierzynski: zero games (OK, he shouldn't have been suspended for his involvement Sunday, but I just can't stand him and his stupid bleached head. If anything, he should already have been suspended for THAT.)

I get suspending a guy who charges the mound. Five games is normal for that, as we've seen with Olivo already this season. But what about the guy who threw at Olivo three times in a row? I know Carrasco isn't the world's greatest pitcher, but I don't believe that all of them happened to accidentally slip into the exact same area near Miguel Olivo's head. All in a row.

But I guess Carrasco doesn't matter; it was pretty obvious that it was Pierzynski that Olivo wanted to beat. And who among us hasn't wanted to punch AJ Pierzynski in the head at least once...every day? Olivo's grandmother could have thrown those pitches, and he still would have charged the mound, because he didn't appear to have any intention of actually landing a hit on the pitcher.

Hillman's one-gamer is fair enough; that's just what happens. But five games for Greinke? Shoot, that's harsh. Depriving the Royals - who, by the way, have a realistic shot at 3rd place right now - of one Greinke start is pretty harsh.

What I'm wondering about is whether Ozzie Guillen deserves more than two games, based on his postgame comments. I suppose it would set a dangerous precedent to suspend a manager for something he hasn't done yet, but if MLB is cracking down as hard on beanball wars as they say they are, shouldn't Ozzie get like 5 games? If I make a comment anywhere that I'm planning on causing someone bodily harm next time I see them, I'm gonna be in a heap of trouble, and lose my job. But Ozzie promises he's going to have his pitchers intentionally hit Royals batters throughout the rest of his 5-year contract as Chicago's manager, and he doesn't get in any significant trouble? Weird.

I'm glad all of this happened against the White Sox, because they are my least favorite team in the AL. Yes, I even hate them more than the Yankees. So if this is the start of a heated rivalry...I can't wait.

Here are some thoughts about the suspensions at Royals Review. They, as usual, raise some good points: Why would Greinke wait until two innings later to retaliate? And why do it with a runner on and a 1-1 count? And why Swisher; why not someone who actually had some kind of involvement and who is a douchebag?

Jeff Passan weighs in at Yahoo!, addressing the questions about Carrasco's intent, Ozzie's promise to retaliate, and the idea that the Sox should have plunked Mark Teahen when he bunted earlier in that inning. I'm sure they'll get him next time.

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Elsewhere (by which I mean Omaha), there is a rumor afoot that Mark Grudzielanek is in town for some rehab, but only one team employee has seen him, and he certainly wasn't in the dugout (I looked), so until I get confirmation or denial, I will keep up this ghost-hunt. I've never met him, but I'd love to hear him say "y'know" 19 times per minute, in person.

During last night's loss, Kila Kaaihue didn't homer (for a change), but showed a pretty decent indication of who he is as a hitter. His one hit was a single he reached waaaay over the plate to slap through the right side. He was down 0-2 and obviously didn't want to get caught looking at another strike 3, which he had done earlier in the game. I know there's a chance that his success so far in AAA is not for real; I know he took a long time to develop in AA, but I'm willing to stay excited about Kila. He appears to have an understanding of the strike zone, as exhibited by pretty much all of his numbers at two levels this year - lots of walks, not a lot of strikeouts, and of course the home runs.

Speaking of Omaha first basemen, Ryan Shealy sat out last night. He's in a bit of a slump these days, going 3 for his last 22 before last night. He also got ejected on Sunday for arguing a called third strike at the end of the 6th inning. Shealy only has three hits (in five games played) since Kaaihue's arrival. I hope that is a coincidence. He should be back in the lineup tonight, likely as a DH again while Kaaihue mans first base. Sigh.

Dropkick Murphys and other stuffs

Update from last post: My dad's ankle surgery was successful, and he's at home recovering. He's gonna get his money's worth for his Netflix subscription in the coming weeks; in other words, the recovery process is going to suck, so please continue to pray.

In other family news, my older brother is getting married in August. He's the first of my brothers to take this step, so this is a new and tremendously exciting time for my whole family. I absolutely adore my future sister-in-law. Also, I get to be a bridesmaid!

Tomorrow is when I go to Kansas City to see the Dropkick Murphys. I grew up in a tiny town that's about as far away from a major city as you can get in the Lower 48 states, so no bands ever played anywhere near me. For a myriad of reasons*, I was never allowed to travel to go see bands until this past summer, so this is fairly new to me. Seeing DKM is actually on my list of Things I Must Do Before I Die; it's definitely a big deal and I'm pumped. I'll post pics if I get any good ones.

The Royals have a winning record (4-3) in Spring Training right now. I'm telling y'all, this is their year! (At the very very least, this will be a year in which they do NOT lose 100!)

*This post could go in so many different directions here, like how scary it must be to raise a teenage girl in today's society, or the merits of young people travelling and gaining independence from those experiences, or how road trips rock but cost a shit-ton of money. Instead, my attention span will tell me to not explor any of those topics. I'll probably go play some Deal or No Deal instead.

Scorsese scores, and I get to see my favorite band!

I've never been a huge fan of sitting through the whole Oscars, or any awards show for that matter. But I wanted to see how one movie that has quickly become one of my top 3 all-time favorites would do. How's Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, and Best Picture? Pretty decent. (Hint: I speak of The Departed!)

Here's a cool bit of news: I get to go see my FAVORITE band, the Dropkick Murphys, in 9 days. I love them soooo much but I've never gotten to see them before. Somehow, I don't have any quizzes or anything that day, so yay!

The previous two items are related, by the way, since "I'm Shipping up to Boston" by DKM was used heavily in The Departed. The following item, on the other hand, is not related at all, but is much more important.

My dad is having a big, horrifically painful ankle surgery tomorrow. Please pray for a successful operation and a speedy recovery. Thanks!

DKM: so much more than great music...

This was originally published October 19, 2005, over on my MySpace blog.
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DKM: so much more than just great music...but Oh what GREAT music!

Because I'm poor, it wasn't till a couple days ago that I was able to buy the Dropkick Murphys' latest album, The Warrior's Code. I promise, I'm not writing a review or a shameless plug for the album; I just want to shard something inside the liner notes that makes me want to sing high praises for the band off of every rooftop in the world.

Track 13 on the record is a song called "Last Letter Home." The concept was that it was to be based on general letters to and from soldiers serving in Iraq. There's a note from the band in the lyrics section regarding this song:

"We had already finished this song that was based on general correspondences to and from the soldiers serving in Iraq, when we were contacted by the family of St. Andrew Farrar who had recently died while serving there. The family wanted to tell us he was a big supporter of the Dropkick Murphys. They also passed on a letter that he had written to his mother shortly before his death in which he thanks her for sending him a Dropkick Murphys CD & said that if anything should happen to him while in Iraq, he would like one of our songs played at his funeral. He also left behind a wife, Melissa and two young boys Tyler and Liam. His tour of duty in Iraq was coming to an end & he was due to come home & renew his wedding vows with Melissa to another song of ours, "Forever." Sgt. Farrar died on January 28th, his 31st birthday. We were present at his funeral to grant his wish and played "Fields of Athenry" as his casket entered the church. This song was re-written to include excerpts from that letter."

I have long respected DKM as a band who does way more than just pay lip service to causes they believe in. This is one of many examples of how they do this. They've even released a ballad version of "Fields of Athenry" that they recorded for Sgt. Farrar's funeral. 100 percent of the proceeds from this CD go to a memorial fund in Sgt. Farrar's memory. (See the band's website for more info.)

In an age where bands hop on bandwagons for causes in which they don't really believe, DKM is a shining beacon of hope for humanity. They know, through their upbringing, that people are obligated to use their gifts to help others; they employ the power of music to make life better for their fans. This is from their website:

"In addition to hopefully bringing people together for a good time, we hope to share some of our experiences and beliefs in working class solidarity, friendship, loyalty and self- improvement as a means to bettering society (i.e. You can preach till you're blue in the face but if you're lying in the gutter no one's gonna listen. If you pick yourself up by the bootstraps and live your life to the best of your ability you may set an example that others will follow) THE POWER OF YOUR EXAMPLE IS FAR GREATER THAN WHAT YOU SAY!"

I'm out.