Walkie Talkie Blog
SERIOUSLY, DO IT! >>> Tacoma's street skateboarders know what it means to be shunned. Whether it's getting yelled at by shopkeepers or handed tickets from the police, the message to the city's kickflippers has been clear for years: Go home. Tacoma doesn't want you or your stinking skateboard. But ever-so-slowly, Tacoma is rolling
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MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL COVERAGE THAT'S AS DRUNK AS YOU ARE >>> Baseball writer Jeff Sullivan (Lookout Landing) recently wrote an article comparing Major League Baseball players to different volcanoes around the world. Sullivan, always a source of humor, makes plenty of chuckle worthy comparisons. He compares Buster Posey with Crater Lake.
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This is my first year following Minor League Baseball. Don't get me wrong. I've been a casual fan of the Rainiers since I was a kid. But the farthest I've gone towards following the Rainiers (27-34), or any minor league team, is attending one or two games at Cheney each year. Then
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TACOMA'S BOYS OF SUMMER BATTING AROUND >>> Last night, the Rainiers (26-33) won by a score of 24-3. We repeat: last night the Tacoma Rainiers won a nine-inning baseball game against the Tucson Padres by a score of 24-3. Rather than rattle off a string of enthusiastic expletives to convey what we
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MORE CLAY HUNTINGTON PROPS >>> Before we begin the skullduggery and half-cocked baseball analysis that is the bi-weekly Rainiers Minute, we must take some time out to recognize the passing of Clay Huntington. By all accounts, Tacoma baseball as we know it would not have been possible without Huntington. He helped bring
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TACOMA'S BOYS OF SUMMER SLOG ON >>> Every so often, one hears baseball players, managers, announcers and analysts talk about the long grind that is the baseball season. It's a hell of a haul, they'll say. A marathon, not a sprint. You have to be physically and mentally prepared for the
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Yesterday the Tacoma Rainiers (21-27) split a doubleheader against the Nashville Sounds. The Rainiers took the first game by a score of 4-1 and lost the second game 3-2. Both contests were good, competitive games that either team could have won. So, accordingly, they split the wins. Not much you can
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DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK >>> Let the Weekly Volcano be the first to congratulate the Tacoma Rainiers (20-26) for winning three games in a row for the first time this season. Why are we the first to congratulate the team on this achievement? Well, depending on when my illustrious editor decides
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MILITARY APPRECIATION NIGHT TONIGHT AT CHENEY >>> Remember a couple of blogs back when we argued all a ballclub needs to do to be successful is win half its games on the road and most its games at home? It turns out our half-cocked theory on manufacturing championship seasons wasn't too
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ALL CARP, ALL THE TIME >>> Since our last Rainiers minute, the Rainiers (15-24) have looked pretty much... well, like the Rainiers. They've won a couple games, including an 18-6 beat down of the New Orleans Zephyrs. They've also lost a couple of games, including a one-run loss to those same
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EVEN RHUBARB SMACKED THE COVER OFF THE BALL >>> Remember how I was scared of losing Mike Wilson and Carlos Peguero to the Rainiers' big, bad brother to the north? How I said the loss of two of the Rainiers' FEW offensive producers could leave some holes in the lineup ...
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A long time ago, I had an avid baseball fan sum up the key to a successful baseball season. "It's easy," he said. "You go .500 when you're on the road and win most of your games at home." Now, I know this advice sits right alongside, "to win games you have
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HICCUP OR CONTINUING TREND? >>> What's that saying about when things are looking up? Just when you've got a handle on your problems, you typically crash back down to reality? What goes around comes around? No, that's not it. Murphy's Law? Well, kind of. Maybe. Whatever the saying, it does a
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CLASSY ON 56TH >>> I bring a date to Vanity nightclub. I know, I know. Bringing a date kind of defeats the purpose of reporting on the hookup scene, right? But I've seen enough of these clubs alone. Every once in a while, papa's got to get some sugar. Plus, I tell
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AND THEN THE HITS CAME >>> Remember when we predicted the rain delay would cure all of the Rainiers' problems, causing them to win? Well, we were right. Kind of. Since our last post, the Rainiers have won two out of their last three. The team's only loss came on a walk-off homerun
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PRAY FOR SNOW >>> The Rainiers have been losing a lot of games. A LOT of games. But let's not focus on that because last night the rain came. And the rain washed away all the Rainiers' ills. Hopefully for a long, long time. That's right, in last night's 12-inning game that included
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TALK ABOUT A LETDOWN >>> Oftentimes, really good baseball games are followed by really bad ones. The Rainiers chalked up their first home victory of the season Wednesday night when they rallied from behind to beat the Colorado Sky Sox 4-3. So that's something. But last night's 13-1 loss to the Sox really
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TACOMA'S BOYS OF SUMMER LOSE AGAIN, CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE MIGHTILY AT THE PLATE >>> No more excuses this time. No more, "The season is young." No more, "They were on the road." We have to call it like it is. And this is a skid. Last night's loss to the Sacramento River
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GOING GREEN AINT ALWAYS EASY >>> Going green is good. Compostable chip bags, solar powered busses, wind powered electricity plants. Most everyone will agree that we should save our mother Gaia's resources and cut back on our carbon footprint. But going green isn't always easy. It can be a complicated, messy process.
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RAINIERS COME HOME TO NEW CHENEY STADIUM >>> The Rainiers play their first game at new Cheney Stadium tonight after finishing up an eight game road trip by losing to the Fresno Grizzlies last night in extra innings. The loss sent them to 3-5 on the season. The road trip was a
