Mazeltov, May!

As May departs it leaves us with a few signs and portents. Maybe.  (Get it? “May”be?)

 

 

Old Detroit: W, 11 – 5.   Yesterday afternoon I decided to check how my team was doing. As I roamed the house looking for my cell phone I found myself whistling “A Bicycle Built for Two.” The lyrics of the first verse (from memory):

Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer true.
I’m half crazy over the thought of you.
It won’t be a fancy marriage,
I can’t afford a carriage.
But you’ll look sweet 
upon the seat
of a bicycle built for two.

I was still whistling that when I finished totting up my batters’ line at that point in the day: 27 AB, 10 h, 2 2b, 2 3b, 2 hr, 2 walks. A double cycle!  I have no idea what motivated me to whistle that tune. I don’t think I’ve thought of it for years. But it was like God was preparing me for what I was about to see.

Now don’t get too worked up about this. I’m not saying the Wolverines are 2015’s anointed team.  As a sign from God, “A Bicycle Built for Two” is not crystal clear.  It was probably just luck that tune came to me on the day my team was compiling a cycle built for two.

Haviland: W 2, L (-1);  11 – 3.   As evidence that “Bicycle Built for Two” wasn’t an anointing, the Dragons did even better without completing any cycles. On a great day for Old Detroit, the Dragons gained 0.3 games in the standings.  Paul Goldschmidt went 3 for four with a homer and four walks (albeit with a caught stealing and a GIDP, too). Carlos Martinez especially boosted Dragon fortunes with his 7 shutout innings on the day the Cardinals had a memorial for Martinez’ friend Oscar Taveras.

On the other hand…   Did you know that “A Bicycle Built for Two” has a second verse?  Again, from memory:

John dear, John dear, here is my answer true:
I’m not crazy over the thought of you.
There won’t be any marriage 
if you can’t afford a carriage.
And I’ll not sit 
upon the seat
of a bicycle built for two.

Spooky, isn’t it?  A song addressed to you by name with a message of hopes dashed?   But don’t worry about it.  It probably doesn’t mean anything. And anyway, the Dragons certainly CAN afford a carriage.

 

Peshastin: “W”, 4 – 6.   Billy Burns went 3 for 4 and stole 2 bases yesterday… which might have been enough to secure the win if only Burns was playing for Peshastin.  But, alas, his Peshastin contract doesn’t start until today. Still — as a portent for the future, this has to feel real good.

Pittsburgh: “W”:, 7- 8.  I suspect the Alleghenys got all the signs and wonders they could stomach already with the advent of Archie Bradley correlating so precisely to their collapse in the standings. Well, now they have Noah Syndergaard to undo the Bradley Curse. We’ll have to see how this works out.

Flint Hill: W, 7 – 3.  The Tornadoes featured six hitters with daily OPSes over 1.000, led by Joc Pederson’s 1 for 3 with a homer and a walk.

Jamie led worship singing at Newberg Friends yesterday, going suspiciously out of his way to make us sing a nearly unsingable song we’d never sung before called “Mightier”, with lyrics like these:

Mightier than the thunder of great waters,
Mightier than the breakers of the sea…

Oh the seas lift up their voices
And the skies pound their big drums…

It’s You who stand firm
It’s You who is throned in Majesty

Phil and John heard all this, too.  Did you get the impression there was more than one subtext to this text?  I sure did. Who among all the EFL teams is named for a natural force that might be “mightier than the thunder” or an examples of  “the skies pound(ing) their big drums”?  And had you ever heard of this song before? Me neither.  This isn’t so much a portent as an attempt at intimidation, if you ask me.  Well. We’ll see about who gets throned in majesty this year.

Cottage:  L, 2 – 6. Drew Hutchison saddled the Cheese with 4 er in 6 ip.  I’m not sure whether that’s a portent or merely business as usual for Hutchison. They bemoaned Matt Adams’ out-of-the-blue quad strain, as well they might given his May

OPS of .835.  I don’t know — I’m struggling for signs and wonders relating to the Cheese. But isn’t that the nature of cottage cheese? To be bland? Unless it’s got mold on it?

Kaline: L, 0 – 5.  Today is Tom’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Tom!  If the tenor of your facebook well-wishers is any indication,  your future should be bright. Your personal future, that is.  The Drive? Well.. Ruggiano snarled a curse at the Drive in his last day on the team, going 0 for 3 with three strikeouts.  Let’s hope his spite is powerless.

Canberra: L, 2 – 6.  The ‘Roos had a fun romp up through the middle of the standings and back again.  Great while it lasted.  Harper has gone quiet the last few days.  Kipnis and Forsythe stepped up yesterday (4 for 9 with 3 2b and 2 bb between them) but the rest of the team did not respond to their leadership. Harper drove the ‘Roos to their rise in the standings, and it looks like Canberra will only go as far as Harper can take them.

Portland: “L”, 3 – 0. It’s been a rough month for the Rosebuds.  But now May is over — that may be portent enough.  But just in case it isn’t, here are some of the lyrics of another of the songs Jamie led us in yesterday:

There is no place where earth’s sorrows
are more felt than up in heaven;
there is no place where earth’s failings
have such kindly judgment given.