Down a man...

One of the hardest things about being a baseball fan is when one of your regular players goes on to the Disabled List.

It's not like football where each team has two or three back ups, or basketball where many positions are flexible (Point Guard Magic Johnson subbed at Center for a time). You get used to a person every day, doing their specialized thing, playing 2nd, or pitching the 8th inning, or hitting the dickens out of right handed pitching.

So it's kind of hard to not have Alexi Cassila around, or Michael Cuddyer, or Pat Neshak. But at the same time it's nice that you get other people who can become favorites. And while there will never be anyone with the cool facial hair of Alexi, Punto plays 2nd pretty well anyway. And while there will never be anyone as quirkily cool as Mr. Magic Michael Cuddyer, Save Big Money with Denard Span...is pretty cool in his own way. And while Sideshow Pat's wierd wind up is MIA in the 8th, it's been...oh, wait...not having Neshak has sucked this year.

Neshak's on the DL, and sadly, Peanuts from Heaven is similarly without a critical member of the team. But while Stinky enjoys the Rimrock of Montana on the Down Low, I'll do my best to hold down the fort, and be more like Span than the Bo Peepish Bull Pen.

On that note...Raul Ibanez, please stop hitting the ball so dang hard.