Thursday HaloLinks: Walk-off Week

"Hello, Bridge? This is Ensign Stirrups calling from down here in the boiler room. Is anybody up there? It feels as if the ship is turning in a circle. Non-stop.

"Captain? Commander? Anybody there?

"Hello?"

(Turning to the rest of us...)

"Well, folks, it looks like there is nobody on the bridge anymore, and we are on our own. You know what THAT means!   Let's PARTY!!!"

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Quick announcement: although I can only start to get things sorted out today, I will be parsing out my usual massive Friday dump into smaller daily chunklets and doing the daily links as best I can until further notice. Bear with me please as I get my schedule re-organized.

And now, to the Thursday Hangout Joint

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I am not gonna quibble. I will absolutely take the winning-by-the-skin-of-our-teeth instead of the various alternative outcomes where we lose. The offense is still scratching, and the bullpen is now shaky. But, again, we got just a little bit more of the former than we got of the latter and the Angels win 4-3 on a walk-off hit-and-run double off the bat of Johnny Giovatella. Gotta love the spark the dude brings.

Mike Trout was his typical self, blasting a huge home run (after a Colin Kowgill RBI triple) to give the Halos a 3-0 lead...AND making a spectacular diving catch to shut down the Mariners 7th inning.

Joe Smith saddled back up and took on the 8th inning again last night and, after having a less-than-stellar outing on Tuesday, responded well and restored some faith in him. Which is important, because Smith wants to own the 8th inning. Period.

In case anybody was on the edge of their seat awaiting the official news, yes, Angel fans set a new World Record for gathering together in one spot and wearing a sombrero.

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Let this be a warning to all of us Mike Trout fans. Andrew McCutchen, tagged by many to be Trout's peer, if not his better, is failing to keep up so far this season and is suffering under a significant slump. It can happen, people, to anyone.

Bryce Harper is not having that kind of problem, though, showing off his power with three home runs in as many at-bats. And then he went to a hockey game. (Note: Harper's last homer was a little faster off the bat than Trout's - 108.6mph versus 107mph - and went just a tad further - 445 feet versus 441 feet.)

So Carlos Perez had himself a pretty good first game in the Big Leagues Tuesday night, right? Well, Twins newbie Eddie Rosario had himself a pretty good FIRST PITCH EVER!

This is pretty lame. Joey Votto went bonkers over striking out, most likely because he disagreed with the first strike called. Which he should have. So he barked after the out. So he got tossed. So he charged the umpire, and bumped him pretty hard. That's gonna be a suspension.

This is pretty great. The Dodgers appear to be [...forcing everybody else in the NL to start...] getting cheap on facilities in order to make payroll. Or something. Bob Uecker actually got locked into the Brewers' broadcast booth when the handle broke off the door. I hope he was good at holding it. Or had a cup handy.

Who says baseball is more than dudes playing a game?

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And now, being the full service weekend linkage institution that we are, here is the obligatory moment we take out of each Friday Thursday...for beer...(which works better on Thursdays anyway, because it gives you all some runway to take advantage of Friday goings on...)

Friday: Fuzzy Faces charity event to support the Humane Society runs all weekend at Pyramid Alehouse in Berkeley..........The Craft Beverage Expo will be conducted at the Santa Clara Convention Center..........Firestone is doing a Beer Pairing Dinner at The Buffalo Public House in the Hillcrest District of San Diego.

Saturday: Fuzzy Faces charity event to support the Humane Society continues at Pyramid Alehouse in Berkeley..........Central Valley Brewfest runs at the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds in Turlock..............The Hillcrest Craft Beer Crawl (Beer Tour / Pub Crawl) will be launched at the Hillcrest Brewing Company in San Diego..........And The San Francisco International Beer Festival is to be found at the Fort Mason Center, Festival Pavilion...........Central Coast friends should check out the Buellton Beer Fest, at River View Park...........The Great Petaluma Chili Cookoff, Salsa and Beer Tasting celebration will be held at  Behren's Park, Herzon Hall in Petaluma..........L.A. on Tap Beer Fest is at Fairplex Park in Pomona..........The OC Beer Festival will run out of The Phoenix Club, in Anaheim..........and The Newport Beach Beerfest can be located at Newport Dunes Waterfront in Newport Beach.

Sunday: Fuzzy Faces charity event to support the Humane Society continues at Pyramid Alehouse in Berkeley..........Finally, get a jump on Mother's Day at Timeless Pints. Beer, the perfect Mother's Day gift...