I'll be on vacation

[McCovey]

Guys,

I'll be out of touch for the next five days. I'll be on vacation in Portland. So you guys keep the ship going!

And don't forget...



GO MATT CAIN!!!!
:yes:

[Bear]

Have a great trip, and don't miss Powells Books. It's one of the best book stores on the west coast. Portland is a great food, and Jazz town. Check out the scene. Old town is fun also. Have fun.:beerbang:

[SF Kid]

Have fun Mac. Hope you get decent weather up there -- I think you will.

[McCovey]

I'm back! Portland was neat. We went up there to see an old college friend of mine get married. So we didn't really go into downtown Portland. We spent most of our time with my buddy at his house and his parents and of course the wedding which was in Troutdale. But I took the wife shopping at Woodburn Outlet sos she liked that. We had planned to visit Crater Lake on the way back but we didn't have time. But we are planning a visit perhaps over the Labor Day weekend. I've been trying to convince my wife to move the Pacific Northwest in the next few years. She doesn't want to but she is softening her stance. :)

[SF Kid]

I've been trying to convince my wife to move the Pacific Northwest...So you like rain, gray, dreary days --- 8 months of the year. If so, go for it. Ugh. I like the area up here but I'd move outta here in a heart beat if I could find a good alternative.

[McCovey]

So you like rain, gray, dreary days --- 8 months of the year. If so, go for it. Ugh.
I love rain and cloudy days! Sunshine is way overrated. Actually the Seattle area has a some really good aerospace work going on starting with Boeing and a couple of spacecraft companies as well.


I like the area up here but I'd move outta here in a heart beat if I could find a good alternative.
Can't you move in with Bear for a short while? :shrug:

[Bear]

Can't you move in with Bear for a short while? :shrug:

Yeah, sure. Only if you want the Kid to end up dead. Not a chance in hell! Not even in the next life time. Remember he said good alternative.:nono:

[SF Kid]

I love rain and cloudy days! Sunshine is way overrated.You think so now but once you live though a few years of it you'll see it's not much fun.

Yeah, sure. Only if you want the Kid to end up dead. Not a chance in hell! Not even in the next life time. Remember he said good alternative.That\'s what I would want to do -- have to see the Bear every fucking day. Jesus H. Christ. That would be too much to "bear"... :rotf:

[Bear]

You think so now but once you live though a few years of it you'll see it's not much fun.

That\'s what I would want to do -- have to see the Bear every fucking day. Jesus H. Christ. That would be too much to "bear"... :rotf:


The way the Bear feels today he might agree!:pound::pound:

[McCovey]

Holy Crap! The US Olympic Baseball team practiced at Santa Clara University's Schott Stadium on Tuesday! And I was out of town on that day! :gripe:


300 Plus Fans Attend USA Baseball's First Practice at Santa Clara

SCU's O'Brien impressed with USA Team

Santa Clara, CA - July 29, 2008. More than 300 fans attended the USA Olympic baseball team's first official practice on Tues., July 29 at Santa Clara University's Stephen Schott Stadium with a large crowd of media watching its every move. The USA baseball team will practice in North Carolina and play in Washington, D.C. this weekend before departing for the 2008 Beijing Olympics early next week. Santa Clara head baseball Mark O'Brien said he felt 'like a kid in a candy store' hanging around the batting cage and watching Team USA practice.
"When Paul Seiler (CEO of USA Baseball) and Eric Campbell (National Team Director) called and said they would be in the area for processing, we jumped at the chance for them to practice at Schott Stadium. We are all rooting for the team to win the gold medal and what a tremendous honor for Santa Clara to be able to be a part of it by hosting their first practice," said O'Brien. "I don't know a lot about their chances, but knowing what kind of players they are, they have as good a chance as anybody at the Olympics."
O'Brien said he saw many of the players in high school and college and was impressed with a number of them on a gorgeous sun-drenched day in Santa Clara. He liked Dexter Fowler (Colorado Rockies, Double A) in the outfield. "He can really run. He can really get to it in the outfield," said O'Brien.
O'Brien also liked what he saw of Matthew LaPorta (Cleveland Indiana, Double A). "He has major power in his bat. What a great bat speed. And Jason Donald (Philadelphia Phillies, Double A) plays impressive defense as well."
"As a coach I enjoyed talking with Davey Johnson, who has won a World Series. He has a strong coaching staff with Marcel Lachemann, Reggie Smith and Rick Eckstein," added O'Brien.
"It's always good to see the skills put together with the names for the first time. We saw a number of these players at the Futures Game, but it's nice to see them all together," said Auxiliary Coach Dick Cooke (head coach at Davidson College). "Schott Stadium is a great college stadium and because the wind was blowing out the fans got to see a few balls fly out of the park."
Is the USA favored to win? "We've played Cuba very well the past two times, but we have had a different group of players both times," continued Cooke. "Davey Johnson is like Tommy Lasorda in 2000 - he is going over there to win the gold medal and these players won't know any different. I would say Cuba, the USA and Japan have to be the favorites."
"It's fun to be home and I am glad we could come to Santa Clara for practice," said John Gall, an outfielder with the Florida Marlins (Triple A) who played for O'Brien at Stanford. "I call the Bay Area home in the off-season so it's nice to be able to come back here for a couple days. I see Coach O'Brien in the off-season - he's a great coach."
Santa Clara's baseball prospect camp also attended the practice and O'Brien felt it was an important teaching point for the younger players.
"For them to be able to watch very successful players run through drills and take batting practice, it shows them what strong fundamentals can do for them as they develop in the future," said O'Brien.
O'Brien said watching Team USA practice got his juices flowing to start the 2009 season. He believes the Broncos will have a good team. "We have a lot of returnees, some quality pitchers and a quality recruiting class. If we work hard and go about our business in the right way, we can compete with everybody."
O'Brien mentioned a number of Bronco players are having good summers including Tommy Medica who is hitting over .350 in the Cape and Curtis Wagner who made the All-Star team in Hawaii.

[WillTheThrill]

Hey, I was the one who got married... my beautiful wife Erin and I got married on July 29, 2008. And McCovey being there was one of the highlights of the weekend... we hadn't seen each other in person for probably over five years.

I moved up to Portland in '94 after living my entire life in the Bay Area. And, seriously, you couldn't PAY me enough to move back to the CA. I LOVE it in Portland. :dance:

It's really only cloudy for some of the fall and winter... but the summers here are beautiful and sunny. It rains a little, sure, but it's rarely hard enough to be bad enough that you don't want to go outside. Hell, I don't even OWN an umbrella. And all that rain makes it like a rainforest around here, beautiful.

Where else can you be 15 minutes from a drive in the country, about 1.5 hours from the coast and 1 hour from skiing??? Great music scene. And the microwbrews around here rock. :beerbang:

WillTheThrill

[Bear]

Hey, I was the one who got married... my beautiful wife Erin and I got married on July 29, 2008. And McCovey being there was one of the highlights of the weekend... we hadn't seen each other in person for probably over five years.

I moved up to Portland in '94 after living my entire life in the Bay Area. And, seriously, you couldn't PAY me enough to move back to the CA. I LOVE it in Portland. :dance:

It's really only cloudy for some of the fall and winter... but the summers here are beautiful and sunny. It rains a little, sure, but it's rarely hard enough to be bad enough that you don't want to go outside. Hell, I don't even OWN an umbrella. And all that rain makes it like a rainforest around here, beautiful.

Where else can you be 15 minutes from a drive in the country, about 1.5 hours from the coast and 1 hour from skiing??? Great music scene. And the microwbrews around here rock. :beerbang:

WillTheThrill

I use to own a home in Irvington and had plan to move there in the early 1990's but like many plans it never happened. Portland is a great town and the only thing it does not have is a ML baseball team. Also the restaurant and wine scene along with the Jazz music rock.:beerbang:

[WillTheThrill]

Portland is a great town and the only thing it does not have is a ML baseball team.


Yeah, that SUCKS. :( But we do have a pretty cool stadium called PGE Park -- originally called Civic Stadium and built in 1928, remodeled in 2001 -- and we have a AAA team, The Padres' "Beavers".

The AAA All-Star Game is going to be here in '09! :)

They've been trying to get a MLB team here for a while. A few years back, it looked promising that the Expos would move here, but it didn't work out.


Wikipedia entries on the stadium and the history of baseball in Portland:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PGE_Park
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_baseball_in_Portland,_Oregon

Website for the Portland Beavers:

http://www.portlandbeavers.com/home/

And here is a website about the coalition of three groups trying to bring MLB to Portland, OR:

http://www.oregonstadiumcampaign.com/

WillTheThrill