Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged

Sadly I have to announce the demise of Hein Gericke. They are still trading but not the same operation they were before the ructions which took place with the German parent some little while back. Before whatever shit hit the fan on the continent HG shops stock was about 90% their own brand, helmets excepted, all quality gear at very reasonable prices. I have a two piece Pro-Sports Tribal race suit, PSX1 boots, Tuareg waterproof jacket, back protector and Racing Hiprotec gloves all HG brand, between 5-8 years old, and all of it, apart from expected wear and tear, most of which occurred when I lobbed it a few years back, is still in great condition. The fit is just as it was when I bought it all, armour is comfortable and not moved and the stitching is all fully intact. All this cost about £520. Had to go for a bit of a blast this morning, the weather looked so good, so I went over to the Peterborough branch to see what was on offer, not looking for anything in particular but would have been interested to price up some boots or a one piece race suit. Oh dear. No HG one piece suits at all, only Arlen Ness or Alpine Stars, cheapest available £550. Only HG boots were some drab all weather ones, all the rest were either Alpine Stars, cheapest £169 or Puma (since when have they done bike stuff?) £129. The only HG branded stuff I saw was a single style of two piece race suit, some waterproof gear and undergarments. Shopping for bike gear used to be a no-brainer, go to Hein Gericke, get what you wanted, get a quality product and get it at a very good price. No more it seems. So went next door to Infinity, they didn’t have any one piece race suits at all!?

It’s fairy tale! But sadly not the sort where everything has magically turned around, more like Chase Utley and the 19 ugly sisters, not counting Granderson amongst the uglies, he’s only just back and doing OK but hasn’t had time to impact the overall position. The day ny day production from the hitters seems to have steadied a little and one night I went 120+ points over the season average, 3 HR and 10 RBI on about 13 hits and dropped 2.5 points, couldn’t lose and positions as I was in the basement and still am. The problem was the pitching, I can’t get a win. Relievers continue to do quite nicely, though Gagne has blown saves this week, Bell got lit up one night and Chamberlain and Broxton had wobbles but also some decent appearences but no vulture wins and no wins from the spot starters. Lester got shelled in his start, he gone, Wellemayer did a little better, but not much, Loshe’s start was rubbish. Harrang went last night, came up with a quality start, 3 runs in 7.1 innings of work which you might reasonably think equated to a win against the Giants; not so, lost 3:1. Got a spot start for John Danks going tonight but couldn’t find even a marginal starter for tomorrow night. Despite the Brewers paying Gagne $10m for the priviledge of not having to hand the ball to Riske, Turnbow or Torres at the end of the game, I’ve blinked and picked up Salomon Torres as a hedge against Gagne becoming even more of a pumpkin, a spot opened up when Bruney went on to the DL. Still single digits for Wins, Saves and stolen bases. Was hoping Felipe Lopez would give me some steals and average but whilst the average has been OK, still no steals and none from Swisher, who’s leading off and having reduced RBI potential but is not stealing and offering little by way of power or average relative to his draft position. Frank Thomas back in Oakland, as predicted right here, don’t think I’ll make any more predictions, quit whilst I’m ahead, but I imagine he’ll have to split time with Jack Cust, just starting against the lefties and I can’t imagine checking probable pitchers everyday to see whether to leave him in the line-up so unless he shows signs of life very soon I’ll be looking to spot start a bat as well as pitchers.