The horror!

There was some fairly awful carnage on the south side last night. The Twins have beat the Sox 7 in a row, including 8 of the last 9 in Chicago. As a bonus to an already wounded Sox heart, the Twins clinched the division last night. Additionally, its the first time in the Twins 44-year history they've won the division 3 straight seasons. So much for contracting Minnesota. I still go back to where it all fell apart - the season tide turned on July 26 when Torii Hunter plowed into Burke at the plate to score the winning run... Last night the mess started early with Buehrle giving up 2, 2-run homers in the first... The Twins never looked back. Gload had two hits, and Valentin drove in 2. Is Valentin going to be back next year? Garland faces Lohse tonight - get your half-price tickets now! Shockingly, there were actually 22,000 souls at the ballyard monday night who had nothing better to do, or weren't football fans.

Speaking of the monday night game- did anyone catch the nice halftime piece on the Vikings' week of practice? It was a very well-done behind-the-scenes piece. But I still hate the Vikings.

I'm having lunch with my pal from the Twins today, so I might be able to pass along some nuggets. I hesitate to release any juicy info, for fear of my's pal job and safety. Truth be told with the Twins there ain't much- they're not the Yankees. Thus, on the road, the hotel bar is rarely crowded with groupies. From what he tells me, they're pretty well-behaved. Last night could be an exception.

Last time he was in town, he did tell me a funny story about a mid-season traffic jam in KC. The Twins were on the way to either the game or the airport, and got stuck in some horrific back-up on the highway. As the bus creeped slowly along, they discovered the source of the problem was a stalled pick-up. A few of the Twins coaches, one of whom is an ex-auto mechanic, ordered the bus to pull over, and a few of the Twins coaches got off the bus and within 10 minutes, had the pick-up off and running...

Like I said yesterday, I'll be spending a good chunk of the next week on the southside - specifically Hyde Park - to see family in town from Cali. I was there over the weekend for the book fair and picked up some good, cheap stuff, including a new copy of "The Brothers Kamarzov", which I've been wanting bad since finishing up "Crime and Punishment". I also found a $5 deal in a mini-biography of great economic philosophers - detailing their lives, times and theories. Since I'm in this business, and don't have an MBA, I figured I should know at least a bit about them. 3 of the 6 profiled I've heard of before - Karl Marx, Adam Smith and John Keynes. Should be thrilling.

I was also thrilled to come across a gem of a find in the rear poetry stacks of Powell's on 57th - a very thin book of James Farrell's poetry. Anyone reading this probably knows Farrell is the famous writer of southside Irish stories from the early part of the 20th century. He is to the southside (and Garfield-Washington Park areas) what Bellow was to the north (and Humbolt Park). Of coruse, Bellow eventually moved to the southside - living for many years at 59th and Dorchester, and teaching at U of C - winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 1976 for such classics as "Humbolt's Gift", The Adventures of Augie March", "Herzog" and "Seize the Day." I read Farrell's collection of short stories set on the southside, called "Chicago Stories", earlier this year and loved it. Though he's more famous for his "Studs Lonigan" trilogy - Farrell began his literary life as a short story writer (and a U of C drop out). Lots of comparisons have been made between Bellow's famous character from the northside, Augie March and Farrel's southside Lonigan. I've read and greatly enjoyed "Augie March", but am saving the long long Lonigan trilogy for the rapidly approaching dark winter months. I didn't know he had any poetry, and was excited to make this discovery. My joy turned to disappointment when I got to the register and realized the book was $20! Apparently, a rare 1st edition... So Farrell's poetry will have to wait.

The weather is great, but I won't be out at Comiskey tonight - I have to buy a dishwasher and work the night job.

Tomorrow I'll try to begin the minor league season wrap-up... And maybe some commentary on the "Chicago Boys" - the U of C economic influence on Chile from the 1960s to 80s. That or something on Nelson Algren.

One other note (and nerd alert) - the numbers crunchers from Baseball Prospectus are hosting a "Ballpark" feed/patio party at Comiskey on Saturday, Sept 25 beginning at 4:05, before the 6:05 start time for the Sox/KC game. $31 gets you all the food, beer and baseball conversation you can handle. And a ticket to the "game."