Unfortunately, I won’t be in costume this year, so I thought I’d dip into the archives and pull from Halloween ‘05.  Guess - is Toby the Gorilla or the Mad Scientist?

Dillon Gee did a Q&A posted on the University of Texas Arlington website earlier this week.
UTA:
What has been the best advice that you have been given by a player or coach while in professional baseball?
DG: The best advice I have been given is to stay even keel. You have ups and downs, doing good and [...]

Yankees prospect Andrew Brackman was strong (6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K) as his Beach Boys beat the Mets and the Sharks 5-2 Thursday.
The young Mets bats had a tough time with Brackman and friends.

Thursday Batting Lines

 
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
BB
SO
AVG

Tejada SS
4
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
2
.288

Abruzzo DH
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
.196

Veloz 2B
3
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
.224

Roy Merritt took his second HWB loss as he gave [...]

Thursday night, Jason Vargas worked three scoreless innings, yielding only two hits while striking out four.  He threw 30 of his 48 pitches for strikes.  In 15.2 IP, he hasn’t allowed a run.  The AFL has touched him for just seven hits.  He’s struck out 11 while walking just one.
Very nice.
C Josh Thole was 1-2 [...]

Ruben Tejada returned to Sharks lineup for the first time in 10 days.  He got lucky enough to play - and go 0-for-4 in a 9-0 loss.
Jordan Abruzzo started at DH again and was 1-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
Junior Guerra walked one and fanned one in his scoreless inning of work.

Daniel Murphy in a solid post at Eddie Kunz’s AFL Blog reports that Shawn Bowman left the team
a few days ago to be with his father who unfortunately is very sick.
Best wishes to the elder Mr. Bowman for a speedy recovery.

Bobby Parnell (3-0, 2.89) earned the win in a 12-6 Saguaros victory.
Parnell’s line speaks for itself:
3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, WP - 49 pitches, 24 strikes

At the Lohud Mets Blog, Josh Thomson noticed that Eddie Kunz (of the 9.72 ERA in 8.1 IP) is having a rough time in the AFL, especially against lefties.
The Mets clearly felt Kunz was more than just a situational righty, but he hasn’t looked capable of reaching Jerry Manuel’s “crossover guy” status. Lefties have batted [...]

In a game in which Honolulu Sharks pitchers walked 13 batters, the two Mets entrants combined for two in two innings.
RHP Josh Stinson: .1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K - 3.18 ERA
LHP Roy Merritt: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K - 3.60 ERA
DH Jordan Abruzzo [...]

C Josh Thole moved up to second in the Saguaros batting order.  He was 1-for-4 with a strikeout. In nine games he has hit .355/.450/.387.
Thole was charged with his first error of the AFL season, but also threw out a runner, which is nice.
RHP Eddie Kunz: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 [...]