54.2 percent baseball

The A's had a promotion where plaza level tickets for today's game against the Rangers would be reduced by one dollar for every hit the team got against the Angels on Thursday. After they ended that game with 20 hits (winning 15-8), the $24 tickets were on sale for $4 each, and I managed to grab a couple before they were all sold out.

Nothing makes a baseball game more exciting that sitting among a bunch of people who paid just four bucks to get in, since everyone who was in the plaza level was there because they managed to buy tickets during the 30 minutes after the Anaheim game when they were available. Everyone arrived early and stayed to the end of the game, and were rewarded with an exciting one, with a game winning home run by Jack Cust (as we approach the first anniversary of Custy At The Bat)

I still don't know what to make of A's team. They were tied for first place at the end of April, and are currently one game behind the Angels at 19-14. If the season ended today, they'd be the AL Wild Card team, even though the A's don't look anything like a playoff team. They just look like a .500 team that happens to be playing at a .542 clip. Their motto this year is "One Hundred Percent Baseball", and they're more exciting than they've been in a long time, even though they don't seem as talented as they were a few years ago. It's better for a team to be overachieving and undertalented than the other way around!

Meanwhile, the Sharks are heading to double overtime with Dallas, and are on the verge of tying up their semifinal series with the Stars after being down 3 games to none. Only three teams in NHL history have rallied from 0-3 series deficits, but this year looks to be San Jose's turn. If the Sharks end up winning tonight, they should be a lock for game seven on Tuesday. Anyway, the fifth period awaits!