Mountain time.

I remember when I was a kid, like eight or nine maybe, my grandma had this watch that she sometimes wore on a chain and around her neck. When she did this my grandpa would pronounce that if you asked her the time, whatever time it was would be considered to be from the Mountain Time Zone. Pretty damn funny, I used to (and still do) think. We lived in Iowa back then.

Today, in baseball, the Mountain Time Zone is still somewhat of a joke. For starters, Kevin Millar, on MLB Network spoke out about the Rockies' Troy Tulowitzki saying that he's not a superstar because he's never tallied more than 110 RBIs in a season. Yeah. Whatever. Apparently 20+ home runs in six weeks of baseball (dating back to last season) is lame.

I'm pretty sure that if a little-known second basemen who goes about 5-9 and 150 lbs was getting on base at a clip of just under .600 for the Yankees (that's Venezuelan Johathan Herrera I'm referring to), the Baseball Gatekeepers (I'm talking about the ESPNs and Sporting News and MLB.coms and Sports Illustrateds and the like) would be going off the hook bragging about him and proclaiming him to be the next prince of New York.

If Troy Tulowitzki played for the Yankees, Derek Jeter would now be a DH at best, and as close to a foot note as he's ever been in his career.

I would assume that if either the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox were 11-2 after 13 games into their season, there would be a considerable amount of chatter.

It boils down to the fact that, in the baseball lexicon, the Mountain Time Zone is forgotten. Good, I say. Keep it that way, I say. No need to get all up in their faces about how none of the Rockies' starting pitchers have recorded a loss. How the only two losses the team has are in extra-inning games.

You guys over there on the East Coast just keep covering the surprisingly horrible Red Sox and a Yankees team whose starting rotation is already showing signs of cracking. Pay no attention to us over hear in the mountains.

Giant bullet dodger

I was very keen on last night's match-up between the Dodgers and Giants—the first such match-up since the last series ended. The last series started with the bludgeoning of a Giants fan by some dumb ass Dodgers fans in Los Angeles. The bludgeonee, Bryan Stow, is still in a coma. I was concerned that a retaliation of some kind might be in order seeing how last night's game was in San Francisco. I had the game on but was unable to pay more attention to it than a glance here and there so it wasn't until this morning that I learned of some good news.

Both teams held a pre-game ceremony in which there was a moment of silence and after which Giants pitcher Jeremy Affeldt (a former Rockie) took the microphone and talked for a spell about what a great rivalry the Giants' and Dodgers' has been and how it's OK to want your team to beat the other while the game is on, but once over, it's back to peace, love and understanding. I'm paraphrasing, of course, but what I'm not paraphrasing is what happened between fans at AT&T park. To my knowledge there was no retaliatory bullcrap. It was, as I paraphrased, peace, love and understanding.

UPDATE: Just when I thought this thing was mellowing out and cooling down—aside from Bryan Stow's condition, obviously, who's still in a medically-induced coma, and had part of his skull removed to allow for the swelling of his brain—I read what this tool from Pittsburgh has to say. John Steigerwald writes for the Observer Reporter, a paper serving Washington and Greene counties near Pittsburgh. He is obviously fishing for links and clicks because suggesting that it's Bryan's own fault for what happened to him simply because Mr. Snow was wearing a Giants jersey in "enemy" territory is one of the most stupid things I've heard ever. I'm not sure who I'm more appalled by: the thugs who beat up Bryan Stow, or John Steigerwald.

Thoughtservations…

I want to get to this first because it cannot be overstated how sadly messed up it is. Last Thursday, at Dodger Stadium, opening day for both the Dodgers and visiting Giants, a Giants fan was beaten to a pulp by a couple thuggish Dodger fans after the game. It is said that he has brain damage and is obviously facing an arduous recovery. It is also said that over 100 people may have witnessed the beating, yet the thugs are still at large. In fact, there is now a $150,000 reward for information leading to their whereabouts.

As baseball rivalries go, this is a good one, dating back to both teams' days in New York, but going to a baseball game should not be a life-threatening event. I don't care how much you love your team, and "hate" your teams' rivals, you don't kick the shit out of someone to prove your team loyalty. I have been heard to say things like "I hate the Yankees" or "I hate the Dodgers" because I always have "hated" those teams. But not hate hate. I don't wish ill will on their fans or players. Hell, I went to a game once at Dodger Stadium, versus the Rockies, and I was wearing my Rockies jersey proud, and I don't recall even a sour glance. But it's unnerving to think one could go to a baseball game wearing the out-of-town colors and get the crap beat out of him.

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Appendix(citis) A: The baseball season is just a week old, but already two guys this year have had their appendixes surgically removed. Matt Holiday and Adam Dunn (who apparently has the healing powers of a wolverine). What is up with that? Add Andres Torres from late last season, and that's three guys in two months of baseball with emergency appendectomies.

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There are two still-winless teams, and their identities are pretty surprising. Boston and Tampa Bay. Say what? Pretty much everyone predicted the Red Sox to win the World Series. And pretty much not quite everybody, but at least a handful of pundits had Tampa Bay finishing right behind them in the AL East. Wanna know who's leading the AL West? Baltimore. Say what?

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For those of you who don't particularly care for baseball because there's not enough contact, Minnesota second baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka had his fibula busted by Nick Swisher trying to break up a a double play today.