Talkin' Baseball (And Other Things), August 2014

Heavy Artillery Washington Bureau Director of Covert Operations, codenamed BIG STRICK, emerged from deep cover to submit his July photo reconnaissance of Fenway Park.  The official report from BIG STRICK, declassified here for wide spread dissemination, arrived in time for this week's upcoming Reds-Red Sox titanic struggle at the Great American Tilt Yard.

Quoting BIG STRICK;

A little tardy on getting these out, but a glorious day for baseball in Beantown last Sunday.  A big win for the home team.  I think I even heard Chabot singing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame!"

The individual identified as Chabot, above, is probably BIG JEFF, former hired gun for The Violent C-SPAN Thugs intramural basketball team circa 1990.  Certainly, that was the athletic highlight in the sporting life of BIG JUSTIN's big brother.

BIG STRICK identified the focal point in the above spy photo as, quoting here again, "The Green Monstah (Boston speak)."

The consensus here at Heavy Artillery HQ is that the clandestine photo, above, accounts for the lengthy delay in the submission of BIG STRICK's official report.  Too much Cincinnati-brewed Sam Adams lager.

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For last week's interleague game between the Reds and upstate Indians, The Incomparable Joe Wilhelm asked me - no, BEGGED me - to attend with him, to help him to better understand comparative statistical analysis, to explain the fundamentals of fielding one's position, when he had the prime seats you see in the photo above, just behind the Reds' dugout.  Regrettably, I had better things to do, like work for a living, so it was left to Mrs Incomparable to help Dodgers fan (and closet Yankee sycophant) Joe Joe understand the amalgamated philosophical theories of Bill James.

Thou shalt not worship false gods, Joe!

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Sighted in a Red Lobster parking lot:

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This past Thursday, after a long day at the office after a short day at the office I treated my Administrative Assistant My Dear Elderly Mother to an early dinner at the original Montgomery Inn.

Somehow, they always know to seat me in the only alcove that is dedicated to a single sport:

Horse racing!  This (above) was the view from my table. This (below) was the view of my table:

Half spring chicken, baked potato with that signature Montgomery Inn barbecue sauce on the siiiiiiiiide. [credit: The Cowboy, Jeff Brantley]  Afterward, we discovered a great ice cream stand directly across the street.

Walker Bros. Ice Cream.  It was great, the price was right and the portion was massive. I give Walker Bros. my highest recommendation.

Rounding out my recent gastronomic adventures, and returning full-circle to where we began this posting with BIG STRICK's Fenway pix, this past week one of Mr B's brothers was visiting from Boston.  While they spent the day reminiscing, or whatever, I was putting in a 10.5-hour day at work.  They toured Mother Miami before meeting up with me for all-you-could-shovel spaghetti at LaRosa's.  I handed Mr B my Android Galaxy S9000 and had him take a picture of me and my Uncle George.  The following photos are unedited.

My uncle was proudly sporting his Air Force Academy shirt.

As all of you know, Mr B is a Korean War veteran of the U.S. Air Force.  My uncle was a pilot with the Flying Tigers.  No, not those Flying Tigers, but these Flying Tigers. My uncle's son (my cousin), also an Air Force veteran, was an F-16 flight instructor for many years, and flew combat missions over Iraq.  My cousin has a daughter currently attending the Air Force Academy.  You might guess what were some of the central topics of conversation at this dinner.

We did not intentionally color coordinate.

The photography was crummy, but the food and the conversation was great. 

Roll the credits!