I'm Starting to Think This Relationship is Unhealthy For Me

God, I feel pathetic.

Here's where I'm at: I went on a date with a pretty hot (but possibly mentally unstable) girl, let's call her Mandy. It was nice. We had a good time... It didn't end the way we hoped, but I think we both enjoyed it. I told her to call me.

Flash forward a few months. The more and more I think about that girl, and the more and more I look at my current situation, the fonder I become of her. We've talked a few times, but nothing serious has come from it. We just can't seem to agree on where we're at, as far as the relationship goes. I put a lot of the blame on her weird friend Scott. I think he's trying to keep us apart for his own reasons.

So since nothing is happening with Mandy, I'm starting to get impatient, after all, the Big Dance is coming up, and I'd really love to have her as my girlfriend for it.

I've considered dating some other, less-hot girls, but ultimately, I decided against it. It didn't feel right. That window closed anyway, they moved on to other guys. Maybe for the better. I'm not even sure I wanted to date those other girls. Maybe I just wanted to make Mandy jealous.

So now I've given thought to moving on without her. I'm feeling pretty good about myself, maybe I don't need Mandy. I do have a backup plan. It's this girl I've known for the last couple years (let's call her Juanita). Problem is, she's not an attractive girl. She's really more like a sister. Don't get me wrong, she's a good person, she's reliable, but as far girlfriend material goes, I just don't think I can take her seriously, especially when I still have Mandy on my mind.

I check with Mandy. She's still single. Wow. With her looks, you wouldn't think she'd stay on the market this long, but I guess none of the other guys want to put up with her shenanigans. (She did mention she was thinking of moving up north, to the Bay Area. She met some guy on the internet, but that guy won't love her the same way, and she'd come to learn, she's not going to love him as much either. Plus, the weather is way nicer down here.)

Man, it just seems like the perfect fit. The Big Dance is almost here and neither Mandy nor I have a date. Even her weird friend Scott is starting to back off her a little. I remind Mandy of my previous offer to "Call Me."

Now I'm starting to really lose it. Day by day goes by and the more I look at the odd, misshapen face of Juanita, the more I understand that I can't go through with this without Mandy.

And this is were I start to feel pathetic.

I can't stop checking for Mandy. I check my phone, I check my e-mail, I check websites. Every day. Hell, every couple of hours. I'm looking for any kind of indication from Mandy that we can continue our relationship.

What is taking so long? What kind of sick game is she playing with me? I'm going crazy!

Stupid Scott, this has got to be his fault. In my heart, I know Mandy and I are perfect for each other, and Mandy has to know it, too. So what is the freakin' holdup?!?

I can't be sure, but I feel like it's close now. Any minute, that call is going to come in, or that e-mail will show up in my inbox. Any minute now.

But this wait is killing me. I still can't figure out how it got here, how I let Mandy mess with my life so badly, but it's happened, and now I'm her prisoner. I need her, and I need her soon...

And God does that make me feel pathetic.

P.S. I guess there's always hope. ESPN was reporting not too long ago that we were back together. As far as I know, nothings official yet, but I think everyone around us pretty much understands that we are meant to be.

Format Change

Hey, I haven't posted in a while, but I'm posting now to inform you that, effective immediately, the blog will be undergoing a format change.

We will no longer be doing game recaps and news stories, and will instead be focusing on opinion and analysis related articles.

Also, the colors are changed. The blog as a whole is brighter. This makes it feel happier and warmer. Don't you feel it?

New articles to begin soon.

By the way, since I can't add captions to photos, I'm going to name the photos I put in my blog posts with the caption I would have used. Just click the photo to see it's title.

Offseason 2008: Dodgers Add Two More Pitchers

The Dodgers continued their trend of bringing back local boys who once pitched for the Dodgers by signing Jeff Weaver to a minor league deal.

Weaver made 34 starts for the Dodgers in both 2004 and 2005 and went 27-24 over that span and posting ERAs of 4.01 and 4.22 respectively.

Since then, however, not so good. He's only posted a sub-6.00 ERA once since then (15 games in 2006 with St. Louis).

Here's the worst part. He didn't even pitch in the majors in 2008. Not a good sign. What's worse? In nine games for Milwaukee's AAA team, he posted a 6.22 ERA. He was released by Milwaukee and ended up on Cleveland's AAA team. He posted a 6.07 ERA in 13 games there.

When you are getting lit up in AAA, your future in the majors doesn't look good.

So... uh... welcome back Jeff!(?)

EDIT: The Dodgers also signed Eric Milton to a minor league deal. Milton also didn't pitch in the majors in 2008, partly because he was recovering from Tommy John surgery and partly because he's not good. In any case, he's cheap enough, might as well give it a shot.

Offseason 2008: Texas Rangers Sign Andruw Jones

Just a quick post to say Happy Trails to Andruw Jones. He was, of course, released by the Dodgers earlier in the off-season, however, he's now found a home in Texas.

On a side note, good luck to the Texas Rangers.

Offseason 2008: Dodgers Sign Randy Wolf

The Dodgers added an arm to their rotation Thursday, by signing Randy Wolf to a one year deal worth $5 million.

This is Wolf's second stint with the Dodgers. He went 9-6 in 18 starts in 2007 for the Dodgers.

I'm all for this signing for a few reasons. For one, it ends the constant speculation that we will sign Randy Wolf. We signed him, now the speculation can end. That works well...

Also, it gives us a good set of arms at the top of our rotation. It means (at least as long as Wolf is healthy) that we have four bona fide starters in the rotation and we won't have to rely on Shawn Estes or Claudio Vargas that much.

Finally, it's a cheap and short term contract. If Wolf pans out, good, we can resign him next offseason. If he gets hurt though, or pitches badly, we aren't paying him that much, and his contract will be done by the end of the season.

Either way, it's a pretty good signing.

Player Profiles: Relief Pitchers - Yhency Brazoban

Wow. The last player profile. I thought this idea might stretch out my material for a while, but it almost brought me up to spring training. Anyway, here's the last one, and it's well worth it.

Player: Yhency Brazoban

2008 Stats: 0-0, 6.00 ERA (2 games)

2008 Analysis: Wow. Remember when Brazoban was our closer of the future? Me neither. Brazoban has been a mix of injured and not good over the past several seasons. His stats show that I mean that literally.

2006: 5 games, 5.40 ERA
2007: 4 games, 16.20 ERA
2008: 2 games, 6.00 ERA

This season, he gave up two earned runs on three walks and four hits in three innings off work. And then he got hurt. Good microcosm, though.

2009 Outlook: The Dodgers signed Brazoban to a minor league contract and gave him an invitation to Spring Training earlier in the offseason. Honestly though, I'm not holding many high hopes.

Player Profiles: Relief Pitchers - Tanyon Sturtze

Player: Tanyon Sturtze

2008 Stats: 0-0, 0.00 ERA (3 games)

2008 Analysis: Tanyon Sturtze pitched 2.1 innings for us. Three games. Actually, to be honest, I remember him better as the pitching coach during the last game of the season when Nomar Garciaparra acted as manager for the day.

Sturtze is the guy who was signed by us, came up, pitched a little, then got Designated for Assignment, and instead of leaving, just asked to hang out with the team. And Joe Torre let him. So Sturtze was part reliver/part roadie for us in 2008.

2009 Outlook: Up until a few weeks ago, I would have guess retirement for Sturtze, but the Dodgers signed him to a minor league deal a few days ago. Why? I have no idea. All I can say is, I hope we don't end up using him. That being said, knowing Joe Torre, he'll be in our bullpen by July.