Fly Balls and Hot Grounders
This week saw the Los Angeles Dodgers capture the 120th edition of Major League Baseball’s World Series in five games. Of special note in this game was the fact that Freddie Freeman hit the first-ever in a World Series walk-off grand slam.
All this excitement inspired me to get out in the backyard and practice shagging some fly balls and fielding a few hot grounders. I haven’t lost my edge in the fly ball department, but it was clear that I need some help on the ground balls since I let a few get by me. I will be working on this aspect of my game in the offseason by getting some higher value treats instead of this stale French bread.
Thursday was Halloween, and I ventured out to Gibbons Drive to check things out. WOW!! Talk about Amateur Night. Cars everywhere with drivers not watching where they were going and parents with their kids popping out from between parked cars to cross the street mid-block. YIKES! It was a miracle that nobody was hit.
My suggestion for next year would be to block off Gibbons and a few perimeter streets so that folks could move around more safely. While I didn’t last long because there were too many scary people, I did enjoy the live band and the smells from any one of the eight hot dog carts on the street.
Just like last year, I was not able to get around to all the yard displays and decorations in time for my big Halloween Report. So, I put together three more videos. One of these vids is dedicated to the greatest beagle in the world. I hope you enjoy this Halloween epilog.
Friday’s walk bore witness to the candy carnage that took place the night before. The sidewalk along Alameda Avenue and Central Avenue near Grand Street had a ton of candy wrappers on the sidewalk, in the gutter, and in resident’s front yards. What a mess! My HC picked up a bunch and brought them back to the house for disposal.
To close this week’s report, I know I am going to sound like a broken record, but it is a big deal for me! The folks at South Shore Shopping Center had their big Halloween bash on October 27 and no sooner than was it over, the Halloween stuff came down and the holiday decorations started going up. But it wasn’t even Halloween yet! So, not only has Thanksgiving been bypassed, but now Halloween is joining the ranks. To my loyal readers, rest assured that I will not be posting any holiday decorations that relate to December 25th until after Thanksgiving.
One final note on this report. Did you ‘fall back’ and set your clocks back one hour?
Onward to Thanksgiving.
Mouf, Roving Reporter
Bear’s-Eye View of Alameda
Mouf and his human companion can be reached via [email protected]. Their stories are collected at AlamedaPost.com/Jeff-Cambra/. All photos and videos by Jeff Cambra.
