Today was split-squad day.
So I thought I'd try something -- attempt to listen to both games on MLB Audio.
This was a big mistake. Switching back and forth, I really couldn't keep track of either game, and the only real impression I had was that the guys doing the Oakland game were pretty bad announcers.
I found out from Blez at Athletics Nation that the guy doing the play-by-play was:
Is it just me, or does that strike you as weird? That would be like having Andy Mazer do the PBP on WGN, with Pat Hughes as the color commentator.
And then I found out that the Giants and Rangers were on ESPN so I flipped that on for an inning or two.
While I was doing this I was attempting to download software from logmein.com, a site which supposedly allows you to access your home computer from elsewhere. Well, I installed the software, my machine crashed, I lost my internet connection and wound up having to revert to a previous Windows registry just to get rid of the darned thing.
So by the time the dust had settled, I tried to call up the MLB audio again only to be told that I had "logged in too many times".
Why they don't set it up so that once you log in on a certain computer, you stay logged in till you log off, I have no clue. I learned later that if you wait about thirty minutes after these "multiple attempts", you can get back in just fine.
By then it was the ninth inning of the Royals/Cubs game, a game the Cubs won 4-0, and Denny Matthews, the Royals radio broadcaster, was discussing with someone I never could quite identify, the future of Kauffman Stadium. They got so much into this that they pretty much missed all the PBP of the end of the game.
The Cubs lost the game at Mesa, 6-4 to the A's. The attendance was 6,687, only a little more than half capacity, and perhaps many of the others were at the game at Surprise. I imagine this will be the smallest crowd of the spring at Mesa.
Cub starters did well today -- Carlos Zambrano and Glendon Rusch threw three scoreless innings apiece, as did Sergio Mitre in the Royals match. Angel Guzman chipped in two shutout frames of his own, vs. the Royals. The other pitchers in the Royals blanking were Jermaine Van Buren (two hitless innings) and Mike Wuertz (a perfect ninth).
Chad Fox, trying as a non-roster player to make the squad, didn't help his cause today -- he gave up the winning rally in the ninth to Oakland at Mesa, with three consecutive singles allowed, including the game-winner to outfielder Charles Thomas (not THIS Charles Thomas, THIS Charles Thomas, acquired from Atlanta in the Tim Hudson deal).
Players named Jose Reyes, Sam Fuld, Carlos Rojas and Ronny Cedeno (whew! I've actually heard of him!) were responsible for the Cubs' three-run rally that iced the game at Surprise.
So, today seemed to be a day to get as many people playing time as possible -- which is fine, this early in the spring.
UPDATE [2005-3-8 20:45:11 by Al]: Kerry Wood will start tomorrow's game against the Rangers, and Mark Prior is scheduled to make his spring debut Thursday in Peoria against the Mariners.