Yes, I'm awake at 4 a.m., and have been for a couple of hours.  I'm pretty sure I'm being punished for rooting for the Red Sox.  I swear, I wasn't really "rooting for the Red Sox", I was rooting AGAINST SLEGNA, but same difference I guess.

Justin Duchscherer underwent arthoscopic surgery on his hip yesterday.

The recovery time is two months, according to Duchscherer, and he expects he will not miss any time next spring. He's currently on crutches, but he said he'll be walking in less than a week.

It's supposed to rain in the Bay Area in the next couple of days.  Over the six months when it's dry, people forget how to drive.  Tailgating at 70 mph when the roads haven't been rinsed off in than long is really not a good idea.

Celebrity obit of the day:  Mr. Clean.

House Peters Jr., a TV actor who became the original Mr. Clean in Proctor & Gamble's commercials for household cleaners, died Wednesday. He was 92.

Crime report:

Missing in Mexico: 5,000 condoms, sound equipment and a motor used to inflate a giant prophylactic, all stolen from a "condom-mobile" used to promote HIV/AIDS awareness....Gomez said the thieves left some 800 HIV tests and a 23-foot inflatable prophylactic, which were also in the vehicle.

Oh come on, what a great decoration that would be for your backyard.

Enjoy today's playoff games!  The Red Sox and Slegna are off today, so maybe I'll be able to sleep a little better tonight.

On what promises to be a beautiful night for baseball in Oklahoma City, the Sacramento River Cats take on the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees in the third annual Bricktown Showdown, a one-game playoff between the winners of the Pacific Coast and International Leagues to anoint a champion of AAA baseball.  Sacramento is going for its second consecutive Bricktown Showdown title; the River Cats defeated the Richmond Braves 7-1 in last year's game.  Crapshoot or not, you can bet that the A's brass would love to cap off a strong year for the organization by beating a branch of the Evil Empire in tonight's game.  The game starts at 5:05 Pacific time and will be televised on ESPN2.  The webcast is available for free at MiLB.com.

The River Cats are the designated home team, by virtue of the PCL's 6-5 victory over the IL in the AAA All-Star Game played on July 16.

Scranton has been the butt of a joke in a commercial that has aired on A's radio all season (in the ad for the "Lexus Lanes at Airport Security Card", the announcer asks, "As for why you're going to Scranton..."), but the city is busting its buttons with pride over having a native son participating in this year's presidential race:

Sacramento may not have a candidate for veep this year, but speaking of busting buttons, we'll select this Sacramento native to represent the River City tonight:

Tonight's starting pitchers:

Ian Kennedy:  A 23-year-old righthander who struggled in 9 starts with the Yankees this year but pitched well for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in July and August.  In 13 games (12 starts) he has thrown 69 innings, posting a 2.35 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP, giving up 52 hits including just 4 home runs, walking 17 and striking out 72.

Brad Knox:  A 26-year-old righthander who has been hit pretty hard, especially in his last couple of starts.  He pitched in 27 games for Sacramento, making 18 starts, with a 5.33 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP.  He last worked in the first playoff game against Salt Lake, surrendering 11 hits and 7 runs in 2-1/3 innings.  The River Cats have only played once since Friday, so everyone except Sunday's starting pitcher, Brett Anderson, should be available for bullpen duty tonight.

Lineups:

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees:
LF Justin Christian   
2B Chris Basak        
1B Juan Miranda       
RF Shelley Duncan    
DH Ben Broussard   
CF Matt Carson        
3B Eric Duncan        
 C Chris Stewart
SS Ramiro Pena

Sacramento River Cats
RF Chris Denorfia
LF Danny Putnam   
CF Carlos Gonzalez   
DH Wes Bankston       
2B Brooks Conrad   
1B Casey Rogowski   
3B Donnie Murphy   
SS Gregorio Petit   
 C Justin Knoedler

It's not just any old Monday.  It's November 19, the 7th annual World Toilet Day, as sponsored by the Singapore-based World Toilet Organization (thanks, Englishmajor, for the link).

World Toilet Day has been declared to be on the 19th of November each year.

The purpose of having this day is to have people in all countries to take action, increase awareness of toilet user’s right to a better toilet environment, and to demand for it from toilet owners. As such, it is also the toilet user’s duty to contribute towards its maintenance, cleanliness and hygiene. The public marks the day to practice toilet etiquette, the restroom community-at-large celebrates with a new declaration for the forthcoming year.

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The Extra Innings television package is available as a free preview this weekend for all of you who have digital cable.  If you are outside of the A's and Twins blackout regions, you should be able to watch these games without charge on your digital cable service.  I know that there has occasionally been confusion about how Extra Innings works, so the free preview seems like a great opportunity to go into some detail.  I'm going to use the games of Friday, July 13 for purposes of illustration.

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