Lesson learned

My wife Cheryl is a wise woman. Tonight when Torii Hunter came up in the bottom of the fifth inning, Cheryl turned to me and said “get your rally cap on.” Hat on. Ball gone. Just like that. Angels up 3-0.

My wife will tell you that I should listen to her more often. She’s probably right.

Turns out, I’m a quick learner. In the bottom of the 7th I didn’t wait for her to give me the rally hat instructions again. Rally cap on. Two more runs in. Game over. Angels go on to win 5-0.

What a night.

John Lackey was awesome tonight. If you were one of those people who weren’t sure he should get the start tonight, shame on you. This is the guy everyone on that staff looks to. You’ve heard all the labels. He’s the lead dog. A big game pitcher. A horse. Tonight, he was all those things and more.

And what can I say about Torii Hunter? The last time this team faced Boston he got on his teammates pretty good. He basically told them they needed to play better against teams like this. They did and he did. I’ve always said, I’d rather watch a winner than listen to one any day and tonight, I got to watch one.

Torii Hunter is my favorite player in the game today (not to be confused with my all time favorite – Bob-Bay). Torii was my favorite before he ever came to Anaheim. I’ve just always loved his game and his attitude.

The morning I found out the Angels signed him – my wife was up early watching the news. She woke me to tell me the Angels had just signed Hunter. I didn’t believe her. I told her the news reporter probably meant to say he signed with the L.A. Dodgers. After all, it was about 5:30 a.m. I just wanted to go back to sleep. But then I thought... what if she’s right?

Like I said earlier, Cheryl is a wise woman. When she’s right, she’s right. Never-the-less, I decided to go on-line to prove her wrong. Well, she was right again. Torii was coming to Anaheim.

I went dancing through the house in my pajamas that Thanksgiving morning. Tonight, Torii Hunter had me dancing again. They don’t call him Big Game Hunter for nothing.

I know it’s just one game and there is more work to do, but it’s nice to get that first one. Real nice.

Let’s do it again Friday night.