Thor'sLinks: The Gulf of Texas grows into legend

I don't know how these playoffs are going to end. But I do know how they are NOT going to end: in Texas.

Over the years, the State of California has collected 13 World Series trophies among our MLB teams.

After 98 seasons worth of trying, the World Series trophy case for the State of Texas looks like this:

And so it continues. Because, instead of trophies, the State of Texas has one of these:

And Texas also has one of these:

And where they go big on everything, well, in Texas they got lots of these:

Enjoy some Epic Choke Links:

_______________

Angels Baseball

Butchered: Ok. So I doped up my head cold and hit the showers early two nights ago and missed the release of Mike Butcher and transition of Don Baylor. But Mayhem was Joshie-on-the-Spot and had the news up right away, which was the night before my link dumps come out anyway, which would have made my morning paragraph stale. So since all that I could have anyway was the stale bread, I might as well feed the chickens. Here is a tidbit that would absolutely shock me, and something that would definitely temper my opinions all around, should it ever actually come to pass. Up in Seattle, while reviewing a list of potential Mariners Managers postulated by a scribe with the PI, as you click through the author's candidates you pass through a LOT of LA Heritage. Tim Bogar (#1) and Bud Black (#2) and Raul Ibanez (#5) and Scott Servais (#7) and even Gary DiSarcina (#8)(really?!). But keep clicking folks, because it gets better. You will eventually get to #11. And there you will see the serious visage of Mike Butcher. If a Jerry Dipoto would hire a Mike Butcher to take over as strategic in-game thinker for the Seattle Mariners, everything I think I know about baseball will get thrown into the trash can. I promise..........

Hambone Wrap: Ok, this goes here because it's still 2015. Hambone finished his postseason with a .167 BA, 3 hits, 0 RBI, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts and 9 LOBsters. Yeah, we lost a lot of sunk money on that dude this year, but Texas PAID for that production! We paid more, but we were not counting on any returns for our money. Texas paid far less, but they were counting on some return for that investment. They didn't get it. They didn't even get Matt Joyce back. Overall, dating to the 2012 ALWC, Hamilton has an accumulated set of numbers of .113 BA, 14 strikeouts and 30 guys left on base. 6 total playoff hits. 1 total run batted in. Case closed.

______________________________

Elsewhere in Baseball

Celebrate Good Times: Go boom! This is taking that "we are family" thing a little far. But that's just the dad in me coming out...........

Texas 0, Bautista Infinity: Sam Dyson, the dude who got dealt by Jose Bautista last night, didn't take too kindly to bat flippage. Asked about whether he had a reaction to that, Bautista had a direct answer: NO. Even Bautista mini-me knows to not put up with whiners..........

Vengeance: The Angels couldn't quite put the nail into the coffin of the Houston Astros this year. So an ex-Angel was happy to do it for us. If only WE had had a backup 2.4bWAR, 22 home run hitting, 1B/DH like that...........

Better Things To Do?: I don't know what Chicago was busy doing, but it can't be their pizza. Even though the Chicago Cubs were winning their ALDS against major rival Cards, propelling them into the NLCS and making them the 2015 World Series favorites, it turns out that Chicagoans couldn't be bothered to tune in..............

Bet Me: A little OT, but not really. The focus of the now in fantasy gambling is all about football, because of the shenanigans going on among FanDuel and DraftKings employees. The FBI is crawling all over those two. One question being asked is whether or not these online money-winning sports-related things are even legal to begin with. So the simple answer is to just stop being stupid about it. Call it what it is, gambling, and execute the normal oversights accordingly..........

John Lackey: Lackey's gift to baseball is over, and now it's payday. The dude was awesome this year. What's his worth at his age? You better start figuring it out, because this is going to have an impact on your contract forecasts..........

Total Fail: When you are in the media business, your first rule of thumb should be that in the event of any possible conflict while delivering an event to your customers, ALWAYS default to delivering the event to your customers. Anything else takes a back seat and you are honor bound as a vendor to eat that cost as a punishment for your own failure. Not at ESPN, however, which was streaming their radio broadcast of theToronto game via their app, and chose commercials instead of the comeback. They will probably offer their customers a 25 cent credit to be applied towards the next chance for ESPN to crap the bed.........

MLB: You know, MLB and NFL are extremely aggressive with their copyright claims, much to the dismay of their own fan base and the potential to extend their marketing reach. For free. But if you read this MLB article, and then read my own preamble from yesterday, you gotta wonder whether or not I should submit a DMCA cease and desist on their ass? It's not anything near some Forbes cut and paste, but in today's world of IP, I can still get pissy. And you KNOW what happens when you piss off the wrong guy:

_______________________

And now, being the full-service weekend linkage institution that we are, here is the obligatory moment we take out of each Thursday...for beer...

Friday: Chico Beer Week, which has been going on all this week, finishes up Friday & Saturday. You can indulge all over the Chico area............Oktoberfest at Fairplex runs all weekend in Pomona..........Los Angeles Oktoberfest at Beverly Hills Country Club...........

Saturday: Chico Beer Week concludes..........The Rare Barrell in Berkeley celebrates their 2nd Anniversary...........Pyramid Alehouse in Walnut Creek will host an Oktoberfest...........At downtown Martinez, the Zombie Pub Crawl kicks off...........Oktoberfest at Fairplex runs all weekend in Pomona..........Burbank Beer Festival at downtown Burbank.............Plumas-Sierra County Fairgrounds in Quincy is the spot for this year's Mountain Harvest Festival...............Santa Barbara Beer Festival at Ellis Park..............Coachella Valley Brewing Company is celebrating their 2nd Anniversary birthday out at Thousand Palms............Moorpark Harvest Festival at Moorpark College............Taste of Brews Oktoberfest in Corona, at Crossroads Riverview Park..........

Sunday: Stone Brewing Company in Escondido will host a Stone Pour It Black beer fest..............Oktoberfest at Fairplex runs all weekend in Pomona..........

BEER BONUS: Brought to us all be steelgolf: Advent Calendar for Beer Dudes and Dudettes. Available at Costco. Here is the list of brews included..........

Stay safe, everyone!

______________________________