All Things Bubba

...is that tomorrow is Friday.

You know it's not going to be a good day when you arrive at work and find there's been a hazardous waste spill in the building. The place was filled with weird chemical smells, and OSHA representatives were there telling everyone not to worry, it may smell bad, but the harmful part has already evaporated and it's safe.

Needless to say, many were not reassured. There were meetings, and calls to the union, and much furious e-mailing. I ignored it all, and kept my nose to the computer. Half an hour before lunch, an e-mail popped up on my screen. They're shutting down the building, go home. Woot! Free time off.

It was a beautiful day. The first day of summer. I should have gone out and enjoyed it. Maybe visited the farmer's market they have Thursday afternoons at the local college. But noooo, I decided to try and fix my home wireless network. It had gotten really glitchy the past two days. I couldn't even get in to MLB.com - disaster! I figured it wouldn't take long.

Hah. I ended up wrestling with it all day. I have a hard time walking away from an unsolved problem. When I finally figured it out, it was after dinner time, and I had no idea where the time went. (It was the SPI firewall that was the problem, if anyone's wondering. Don't ask me why it was suddenly a problem now, after working fine for four months. Computers move in mysterious ways.)

I did have the Yankees game on while I was futzing around with the router. Nice that there was a day game on. Not nice that the Yanks lost again. They were swept by the Rockies. The Reds were not swept, at least.

Poor Andy Phillips is not doing well. He has yet to get a hit, and he's had some pretty crummy at-bats. GIDP, strike out on three pitches, etc.

He's gotten only one start, and it's not like the rest of the lineup is hitting much, either. But I fear the leash will be very short for Andy. If he doesn't hit well right away, they'll DFA him and trade for a first baseman. Possibly the Reds' Scott Hatteberg.

Hatteberg would be the best fit, but the grapevine is saying that Hatteberg (and Dunn) are a smokescreen. The Reds really want to trade Griffey. Supposedly because he's made it clear he wants to be traded.

I could understand that, if it's true. He's done just about everything...except win a ring. He doesn't have much time left. It's natural to want to go to a contender. His career may be over by the time Cincinnati finishes rebuilding.

Still, I don't really see a match with the Yankees. They don't need another DH. They need a first baseman, not an outfielder. They want a righty, not a lefty. He's a valuable marquee star in Cincinnati; in NY, he'd be just another aging all-star on a team full of them. And the press would drive him crazy.

The Bats' second charity auction (camouflage jerseys, to benefit the children of members of the military killed in the line of duty) ended at midnight last night. Once again, Bellhorn was the one who brought in the most money. Joey Votto was leading for most of the auction, but as I suspected, Bellhorn's beantowners were just waiting to make their move. When the dust settled, Votto's jersey went for $360, and Bellhorn's went for $810.

Buddy Bat came in third at $250. But Aaron Herr was close behind, at $215.

I'm sure Bubba's jersey would have brought in some dinero if he was still with the team. I'd have bid.

Bubba is apparently still in Florida. Not sure what he's doing. He doesn't seem to be playing with either the Sarasota Reds or the Gulf Coast Reds.

Bats radio announcer Jim Kelch said today that Bubba's had a setback in his throwing. I'm not sure if he's talking about the same setback announced previously, or if this is a new one. I could have e-mailed him and asked, but if it was bad news, I didn't want to hear it. Not today.