"Holiday Gift Drive
November 2 to December 22
[...]
For the third year, Paul Konerko and Jim Thome, together with their wives Jennifer and Andrea, and the Chicago White Sox organization are joining with Children's Home + Aid to reach out to the public to ask for holiday gift donations to help fill these holiday wish lists.
[...]
Chicago Metropolitan Drop-Off Locations

Gifts and donations can be dropped off between November 2 and December 22 during regular business hours at the following Chicago Metropolitan locations:

1. Children's Home + Aid, 100 N. Western Ave., 2nd Floor, Chicago
2. U.S. Cellular Field, Gate 4, 333 W. 35th St., Chicago
3. Kaplan Tutoring, 1459 W. Webster Ave, Chicago, IL (Dec. 1 - Dec. 15)
4. Children's Home + Aid's Rice Child + Family Center, 1101 Washington St., Evanston
5. Kaplan Tutoring, 1249 S. Naper Blvd., Naperville, IL (Dec. 1 - Dec. 15)"

I found out after flying in town for a family holiday party this past weekend and dropping off gifts on the way that just inside the doors of the drop-off location of Gate 4 is also where a certain glass case holding certain pieces of hardware is also located. Just sayin'.

Miguel Cabrera had a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit when he was involved in a physical altercation with his wife early Saturday morning, according to the Birmingham Police.

Cabrera had been partying with buddies from the Chicago White Sox after Friday night's game at Birmingham's Townsend Hotel, Birmingham Police Chief Richard Patterson said.

...

He went 0-for-3, finishing the White Sox series 0-for-11.

And if Garland doesn't seem to reciprocate the energy pouring out of the stands, well, that's just Garland.

When he has been at his best, Garland is known as a stone-faced assassin. When he hasn't been so good, that stoic nature gets tagged as indifference.

"I've had that my whole career, especially in Chicago," he said. "There are a lot of people passionate about their sports in that city. If you're not wearing it on your sleeve they think you don't care.

"That's the one thing I have always hated. I really, really dislike when people say that. Just because you don't go out there and show the same emotion as another person, it doesn't mean you're not giving the same effort."

A long, long time ago...
I can still remember
How spring training used to make me smile.
And I knew the boys had a chance
To make it to the Autumn Dance
And, maybe, stick around for a while.

But late August made me shiver
With every loss they delivered.
Bad news on the front page;
No more hope at this stage.

I laughed so hard I almost cried
When I read the dumb shit about pride,
Turned off the games and went outside
The day the season died.

So bye-bye, Count, Thome, and Dye.
See you later alligator,
We'll call up young and cheap guys.
Sign scrap heap fodder Kenny pulls out his backside
Saying, "this'll be the team that gets pie."
"this'll be the team that gets pie."

Did you think we'd rise above,
And did you have faith in Fields' glove,
Because Cora tells you so?
Do you believe who they put out,
Goggles, The Bridge, all those shut outs,
And poor Q! limping off the field real slow?

Well, there was the Colon experiment,
We all know how awesome that went.
Him and the Count just shat the bed,
How many innings will DJ get?

We called up a Georgia broncin buck
Tore the stitches off after initial suck,
But even He couldn't save this clusterfuck
The day the season died.

I started singin
"Bye-bye, Count, Thome, and Dye."
See you later alligator,
We'll call up young and cheap guys.
Sign scrap heap fodder Kenny pulls out his backside
Saying, "this'll be the team that gets pie."
"this'll be the team that gets pie."

Now last year we got the Central crown
Stood to repeat since the rest are down,
But it just wasn't meant to be.
When you trot out Gobble, Broadway, and Nessie,
Plus Linebrink shits bricks for all to see,
At least there was perfection from Buehrle...

Oh, and then The Ace got knocked around,
After another seventeen sat down.
Danks' shakiness returned,
Was shutdown or got burned.
And while Floyd's been solid down the stretch,
There were points where he'd make you wretch,
Wise ensured legacy with The Catch.
But still, the season died.

We were singing,
"Bye-bye, Count, Thome, and Dye."
See you later alligator,
We'll call up young and cheap guys.
Sign scrap heap fodder Kenny pulls out his backside
Saying, "this'll be the team that gets pie."
"this'll be the team that gets pie."

Defense melted in a summer swelter,
Bullpen giving up bombs; better seek shelter,
Just two back then falling fast.
Last games on dome's fake-ass grass
The old guys tried for one last gasp,
People shout to stop living in the past.

Now the trade deadline was taken shrewd,
We locked up Peavy and that Rios dude.
We want to go to The Dance,
Oh, but we screw up every chance!
'cause the facepalm lineups take the field;
Runners the pitching would always yield.
Errors galore, their fate was sealed.
The day the season died.

We were singing,
"Bye-bye, Count, Thome, and Dye."
See you later alligator,
We'll call up young and cheap guys.
Sign scrap heap fodder Kenny pulls out his backside
Saying, "this'll be the team that gets pie."
"this'll be the team that gets pie."

Oh, for the day they were in first place,
Instead of Pods out there with bad breaks
With no time left to start again.
So come on: Pods be nimble, Pods be quick!
Pods picked off like a dumb prick
Cause the devil's gonna collect, my friend.

Oh, and Ozzie kept Alex in a cage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage.
No snowball's chance in hell
Could break the doghouse spell.
And as Sox fans argue into the night
About when Peavy's start is right,
The offense loses all its fight
The day the season died.

They were singing,
"Bye-bye, Count, Thome, and Dye."
See you later alligator,
We'll call up young and cheap guys.
Sign scrap heap fodder Kenny pulls out his backside
Saying, "this'll be the team that gets pie."
"this'll be the team that gets pie."

Next year we'll get a healthy Q!,
A Savior with less defense miscues,
Some contracts will be turned away.
A shakeup in the lineup core
Can't play the same guys as years before,
No sense paying them for declining play.

And on the nets: commenters screamed,
The kittehs cried, dumb statements reamed.
The right rail was a joke and
"No subject lines" verboten.
And the one guy that I like most:
Sat at home, bored, career is toast.
Sign Frank so he ends as a Pale Hose
Now that the season's died.

And we'll be singing,
"Bye-bye, Count, Thome, and Dye."
See you later alligator,
We'll call up young and cheap guys.
Sign scrap heap fodder Kenny pulls out his backside
Saying, "this'll be the team that gets pie."
"this'll be the team that gets pie."

We'll be singing,
"Bye-bye, Count, Thome, and Dye."
See you later alligator,
We'll call up young and cheap guys.
Sign scrap heap fodder Kenny pulls out his backside
Saying, "this'll be the team that gets pie."
"this'll be the team that gets pie."

The wife of Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Scott Schoeneweis was found dead in their home Wednesday afternoon.

Gabrielle Dawn Schoeneweis, 39, was found by the couple's 14-year-old daughter, and was unresponsive when deputies made it to the home shortly after Noon.

MLB.com At Bat 2009 has just been released for the iPhone and iPod Touch at the App Store. The new version costs just $9.99 and is good through the 2009 postseason.