The Little Hours

Watching the morning news, I couldn’t see how O.J. Simpson was going to be denied parole.  I used the Internet to place orders on several things, like a Blu-ray copy of “Citizen Kane.”  I had to go to my appointment at the optometry clinic. I was advised to wear sunglasses.  Someone on the ground floor was playing “And I Love Her” on the piano.  I went over to the theatre to see “The Little Hours.”  I had heard Aubrey Plaza talking about the movie on the Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me radio program.  She said that the movie was based on “The Decameron.”  It took place centuries ago, but the character used some modern language, making me think of Matthew Broderick in “Ladyhawke.”  James Franco’s brother was hiding out in a convent pretending to be a deaf mute, and he was the catalyst for sin.  The situation has some of the feeling of “The Beguiled.”  The nuns Alessandra, Genevra, and Fernanda were played by Alison Brie, Kate Micucci, and Aubrey Plaza, respectively.  John C. Reilly is the priest trying to run this place.  Fred Armisen is the bishop who discovers the things that were going on.  The comedy reminded me a little of “The Love Witch,” and the old women in the theatre mentioned that they thought the movie was like something that Monty Python would have done.  I thought Genevra had some funny moments.  Kate Micucci was Lucy of The Big Bang Theory.  I thought she was funny in that show, but I got a bit tired of her character after a while.  Unusual nuns remind me of the old Fellini films.  I could also mention Sally Field as The Flying Nun.  I couldn’t help thinking about serious issues like those in “Spotlight” as I was watching this movie.  I also thought I was seeing the end of “The Witches” for a few minutes.  I could imagine this movie getting a cult following.  I could also imagine a director like Russ Meyer working with material like this.  I would, however, prefer to see an actual Monty Python movie, like “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” or “Life of Brian.”  The reviewer on RogerEbert.com gave “The Little Hours” a positive review.  I give the movie a mild recommendation.  I didn’t find it really hilarious.  It made me think about Joe Orton.  I went shopping in the record stores and found a copy of The Partridge Family’s “Bulletin Board” for only two dollars.  I bought a beef burrito and went home to watch some old television shows before I went to bed.  It was the anniversary of the moon landing in 1969.  The news about John McCain’s cancer made me think about my own mortality.  Some of the people who died on July 21 include D.W. Griffith (1948), Jimmie Foxx (1967), Dave Garroway (1982), Alan Shepard (1998), Robert Young (1998), Jerry Goldsmith (2004), Mako (2006), Theodore Bikel (2015), and E.L. Doctorow (2015).  According to the Brandon Brooks Rewind radio segment for July 21, Basil Rathbone died of a heart attack at age 75 in New York City.  In 1978, the last episode of “Chico and the Man” aired on NBC.  In 1985, Rock Hudson collapsed in his room at the Ritz Hotel in Paris, two months before his death at age 59.  In 2004, Jerry Goldsmith died of colon cancer at age 75 at his home in Beverly Hillls.

Sonny Gray’s Sixth Win Amidst Trade Rumors

I went out to the stadium and waited for the gates to open.  I went over to the food trucks and bought a beef bowl.  I also bought a Creamsicle shake.  I looked through the team store and saw that Ryan Madson shirts were on clearance at 70 percent off.  I went to my seat.  Many of the fans thought that they might be seeing Sonny Gray pitching for the A’s for the last time at the Coliseum.  Tampa Bay was the opponent.  Gray gave up a walk to the first batter of the game, but the runner was thrown out trying to steal second base.  Gray also allowed a double, but he kept the Rays from scoring.  In the bottom of the inning, Yonder Alonso singled with two outs, and Khris Davis followed with a double, but Alonso was thrown out on a 9-4-2 play at home plate.  In the second inning with one out, Gray allowed a single on a play that was reviewed, but then Gray got five consecutive outs through the end of the third inning.  He ran into some trouble in the fourth inning, as he gave up three consecutive singles and a ground out, producing two runs for the Rays.  Gray got out of the inning with a 5-4-3 double play.  In the fifth inning, Gray allowed a walk and a single but got out of the inning with the score still 2-0.  The A’s did their biggest damage in the bottom of the inning. Bruce Maxwell walked.  Matt Chapman struck out, but Jaycob Brugman walked on four pitches.   Jed Lowrie doubled, but Bruce Maxwell hit a foul ball that the third baseman caught.  Matt Chapman singled, moving Lowrie to third base.  Rajai Davis hit a double, and it looked like Bruce Maxwell was thrown out at the plate, but the hit was ruled a ground ball double, and so Maxwell scored with Brugman going to third base.  Joyce hit a fly ball to center that brought in Brugman, with Rajai taking third base.  A wild pitch allowed Rajai to come home with the run that gave the A’s the lead at 3-2.  Semien singled and went to second base on another wild pitch, which became a big play, as Yonder Alonso singled, bringing in Semien with the run that made the score 4-2.  Khris Davis struck out to end the inning.  The shutdown inning wasn’t easy for Gray, as he got the first two batters of the sixth inning out, but then he gave up a double.  Marcus Semien again showed that he wasn’t a great shortstop, as he committed an error.  Gray responded with a strikeout, so he did keep the score at 4-2.  In the bottom of the sixth inning, Lowrie doubled.  Maxwell made an out, but Chapman singled, moving Lowrie to third base.  Brugman also singled, scoring Lowrie and moving Chapman to third base.  Rajai Davis hit a ground ball to the shortstop, and Maxwell was caught between third and home in a rundown that went 6-2-5-1 for the second out, but Brugman made it to third base, with Rajai at second base.  After a pitching change, Joyce couldn’t get the big two-out hit, as he lined out to center.  In the Big Head race, Dennis Eckersley grabbed Rollie Fingers, slowing him down and ensuring that Rickey Henderson would win again.  Semien committed another error.  Gray faced one more batter, and he got a strikeout.  Bob Melvin decided to bring in Daniel Coulombe.  Gray walked off the mound and to the dugout, and the fans applauded him, knowing that he might not be coming back with the team when they got out on this next road trip.  Coulombe allowed a single when the count was 0-3, but then he got a double play ground ball.  During the seventh inning stretch, we heard “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough.”  In the bottom of the inning, Semien walked on a 4-3 pitch.  Yonder Alonso was hit on the backside with a pitch, prompting a pitching change.  Khris Davis hit a ball that the third baseman caught.  Lowrie single to load the bases, and Maxwell grounded out on a 3-1 play, but Semien got to home plate, making the score 6-2.  Chapman grounded out to end the inning.  We saw fans doing the Robot Dance, but they didn’t seem to understand how robots moved.  Coulombe faced one batter in the top of the eighth inning, and it went for a double on the first pitch.  Liam Hendriks came in and got three consecutive outs.  He had a fastball that reached 95 mph.  In the bottom of the inning, Brugman and Rajai Davis made outs, but then Joyce hit a home run to make the score 7-2.  The A’s had scored in four consecutive innings.  Semien made the third out.  Santiago Casilla came into the game, and he got some boos from the fans who remembered his blown save from Tuesday night.  He didn’t have to face a speedy pinch-runner to unnerve him, so he managed a clean inning to end the game.  Sonny Gray had won his sixth game of the season.  Yonder Alonso reached base four times in the game, with two singles, and walk, and a pitch that hit him.  Lowrie and Rajai Davis also had two hits in the game.  Semien and Brugman both had a single and a walk.  Maxwell had no hits, but had two walks.  Joyce, Khris Davs, and Chapman all had one hit, but Davis had the big one, a home run.  The game started at 12:38 with a game time temperature of 68 degrees, and it ended at 3:46.  The attendance was 17,019.  We wouldn’t get another home game until the 28^th.  I made my way over to Best Buy, where I searched for a memory card for my phone.  I went home and did my laundry.  I heard the news about John McCain’s health.  Even though everyone seemed to characterize him as a fighter, I don’t see how at his age he can live for much longer.  I thought about my poor brother, who lived with cancer for about seven years.  I was reminded of Bernie Sanders’ advanced age.  I couldn’t see him getting through eight years of an incredibly stressful job without dropping dead.  I heard that the A’s had acquired Chris Carter.  Some of the people who died on July 20 include Bernhard Riemann (1866), Bruce Lee (1973), Frank Reynolds (1983), Nicolas Freeling (2003), and James Doohan (2005).  Today is a birthday for Carlos Santana (70), Kim Carnes (72), and Diana Rigg (79).

Chris Smith’s Misfortune

I took the buses out to Jack London Square to catch the 11:15 showing of “War for the Planet of the Apes.” I learned a little more about Bad Ape from this second viewing. I went over to the 12th Street BART station and got to the Coliseum early. A few people got into the line outside the gate before I did. A woman came around and pestered some of the people in the line, rambling on about how the day was her 60th birthday. When she walked past me, I noticed how bad she smelled. She was walking around in slippers. Eventually, she did move on. After the gates opened, I headed to a table and bought two autographed mugs. I then bought a ticket to have my photo taken with Rickey Henderson, and I got into a line for autographs from Dallas Braden and Dave Stewart. Dallas sure has become a hairy guy since 2010, with his ponytail and huge beard. Dave didn’t have a Sharpie on him. Terrence Long was at a counter, but I already had his autograph. Marcus Semien was at the far end of the room, but the huge line discouraged me. I went to the A’s wives table to have my mug filled. I think it was Yonder Alonso’s wife who scooped a lot of ice cream for me. I went over to the Rickey Henderson line. Some fans grumbled that he wasn’t going to sign certain items, like bats and baseballs. When it was my turn, Rickey said that he would have signed my picture, but I chose to get the photo. I guess he was suggesting that an autograph would be more valuable. I already got his autograph last year, and the picture I had in my hand was a card with Dave Stewart’s picture on it. I saw Matt Chapman signing some autographs, but I had enough and left. I visited the food trucks but decided that I didn’t want any food yet with all the ice cream in my gut. Chris Smith was the starting pitcher for the A’s against the Rays on this night. He struck out the first two batters of the game in a clean first inning. In the bottom of the inning, Rajai Davis singled, and he stole two bases as Marcus Semien and then Ryon Healy struck out. Khris Davis saved the inning with a home run, putting the A’s ahead, 2-0. Smith couldn’t get the shutdown inning, however, as he gave up a four-pitch walk, and then Matt Chapman committed an error on a ground ball that should have been a double play. The runner at third base scored on a sacrifice fly. Smith gave up a single before getting the next two batters out, although Ken Korach on the radio commented that the A’s should have had two double plays in the inning. Before the next inning, a fan won a watch for answering a trivia question about Scarlett Johansson being the number one box office movie star of 2016. Smith’s first pitch of the third inning was a home run that tied the score at 2-2. Smith allowed a two-out walk through the rest of the inning, and he had a clean fourth inning. In the bottom of that inning, Khris Davis and Jed Lowrie both walked. Matt Chapman hit a fly ball that moved Davis to third base. Adam Rosales hit a foul ball that the catcher caught. Just as it looked as though the A’s would not get anything out of the inning, a wild pitch allowed Davis to score, with Lowrie going to second base. Josh Phegley singled, but Lowrie went only to third base. Phegley for some reason was caught too far off first base so that a 2-3 play got him out. The A’s would do nothing over the next three innings. Fortunately, Smith would continue to pitch well through the seventh inning. He allowed a single to start the fifth inning. Phegley would throw out the runner attempting to steal second base on a strikeout pitch, and then Smith would get the next seven batters out. Chapman made a good play to end the sixth inning. Smith ended his night with an ERA of 2.77 and the chance to get a win if the A’s could hold a 3-2 lead over the last two innings. Blake Treinen replaced Smith for the eighth inning, and he had a clean inning. In the bottom of the inning with one out, Rajai Davis singled. Semien hit into a force play, and he went to second base on a wild pitch, but Yonder Alonso struck out. Santiago Casilla came out to pitch the top of the ninth inning. He had the count at 0-2 to the first batter, who hit a ball down the left field line that looked like a sure double, but Chapman reacted quickly and grabbed it and threw to first base for the first out. It seemed to be the play that would save the game for the home team. Casilla struck out the next batter to bring the A’s to within one out of a win to send the fans happy on Root Beer Float Day. He went to a 2-0 count before giving up a single. A pinch-hitter came in, and a bad first pitch to the next batter was a wild pitch. The runner stole third base before Casilla gave up a walk. On the next pitch, a ground ball to the right side wasn’t hit too hard, but it got past Rosales for a single and a tie score at 3-3. It felt like the inning had already gone on too long with Casilla, but he faced another batter and got to a 3-2 count before giving up another hit, giving the Rays a 4-3 lead. After the second out, four consecutive hitters reached base, with three singles and a walk. The fans booed, and Bob Melvin brought in Liam Hendriks. After a stolen base put runners at second and third, and Hendriks got the count to 3-2, he got the strikeout that ended the ending. We saw the John Belushi Animal House video clip before the bottom of the ninth inning, but the life had evaporated from the stadium. Khris Davis had the count at 3-2 but struck out, and Lowrie struck out. Down to their last out, Matt Chapman was hit by a pitch. Matt Joyce came up to pinch-hit for Rosales. Joyce once had a pinch-hit grand slam in the ninth inning, but this time up he swung at the first pitch and grounded out to first base. Ken Korach said that this was one of the toughest losses of the year. The fans were disgusted with the way Casilla blew the game, denying Chris Smith the win, which would have been his first win as a starting pitcher, and his first win since June 24, 2008. This game had started at 7:07 with a game time temperature of 66 degrees, and it ended at 9:57. The attendance was 15,231. Chris Townsend on the radio said that we didn’t want to see a 36-year old blow a game after all the good feelings during the day. Chris Smith is also 36 years old. Some of the people who died on July 19 include Joe Flynn (1974), Lefty Frizell (1975), Jack Warden (2006), Frank McCourt (2009), James Garner (2014), and Garry Marshall (2016). Today is a birthday for Benedict Cumberbatch (41) and Brian May (71). According to the Brandon Brooks Rewind radio segment for July 19, Sun Records released Elvis Presley’s first single, “That’s All Right,” in 1954. In 1974, Joe Flynn drowned at age 49 in his swimming pool in Beverly Hills.

Daniel Gossett’s Lack of Support

Some of the morning news reports were about the Berkeley BART station, which was opening an entrance that accepts only Clipper cards.  I walked over there and saw the KPIX reporter returning to the scene with a cup of coffee.  I went to work, and I hurried to take the bus and BART train over to the Coliseum.  I got to my seat before the first pitch.  Daniel Gossett was the A’s pitcher facing the Tampa Bay Rays.  He got through the first inning allowing just a two-out single.  In the bottom of the inning, Matt Joyce drew a walk.  Marcus Semien made an out, and Yonder Alonso hit into a force play that would have been a double if not for an error by the pitcher.  Baserunners would be scarce for the A’s after this play through the seventh inning.  In the second inning, Gossett gave up a home run, putting the Rays ahead 1-0.  In the third inning, Marcus Semien made a late throw to first base and also couldn’t execute a double play, and so a walk turned into a run.  The A’s came back in the fourth inning when Khris Davis hit a home run with one out.  Unfortunately, Gossett couldn’t produce the shutdown inning as he allowed a home run with two outs, putting the Rays ahead, 3-1.  Gossett had a clean sixth inning.  We didn’t get a Big Head race, but we did get a Flex Cam segment.  Gossett gave up a double to start off the seventh inning.  A sacrifice bunt put the runner at third base.  Yonder Alonso and Bruce Maxwell teamed up for a great play to get the runner trying to score from third base on a ground ball.  Gossett got a ground ball out to keep the score at 3-1.  During the seventh inning stretch, we heard James Brown’s “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag.”  Blake Treinen, a new member of the team from the trade with the Washington Nationals, pitched in the top of the eighth inning.  He got to a 3-2 count to the first three batters he faced, resulting in a 6-3 out, a walk, and an unusual 5-6-4 out.  A ball hit out to left field was the third out.  Michael Brady pitched the top of the ninth inning.  He gave up a double with two outs, but nothing more.  We saw the John Belushi Animal House video, and Yonder Alonso started off the bottom of the ninth inning with a double.  Khris Davis grounded out.  Jed Lowrie also grounded out, but with Alonso taking third base.  A wild pitch gave the A’s another run for a 3-2 score.  Ryon Healy grounded out to end the game.  The game had begun at 7:07 with a game time temperature of 70 degrees, and ended at 9:55.  The attendance was only 9,736, the lowest number since 9,193 on May 2, 2011.  The losing record and Tampa Bay on a Monday night made for a combination that baseball fans could resist.  Even during a year like 2001, no one came out for the games with Tampa Bay.  The A’s had only two hits in the entire game, the Khris Davis home run and the Yonder Alonso double.  Daniel Gossett sure didn’t get much support from his teammates on this night.  The fan trying to win a watch hitting wiffle ball home runs into the stands also had difficulty with his hitting.  He looked stiff in his stance, and his bad swings drew some boos.  He certainly did not deserve the watch.  I was tired and wanted to go home quickly.  I had thoughts of Root Beer Float Day and getting some autographs.  I stayed up and watched part of Stephen Colbert’s show.  He appeared on a Russian television program.  Some of the people who died on July 18 include Caravaggio (1610), Jane Austen (1817), Machine Gun Kelly (1954), and Nico (1988).  Today is a birthday for Elizabeth McGovern (56), Richard Branson (67), Martha Reeves (76), and James Brolin (77).  According to the Brandon Brooks Rewind radio segment for July 18, Elvis Presley made his first recording in 1953, “My Happiness.”  In 1960, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters released “The Twist.”  In 1966, Bobby Fuller was found dead in a car parked outside his Hollywood apartment.  In 1992, Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown were married at her mansion in New Jersey.

Sean Manaea’s Horse Quality

I watched CBS Sunday Morning and hung around for a while, but my parents didn’t phone me.  I later got a message from my father telling me that they had forgotten to make the call.  They are really getting old when they forgot to phone their own son.  I took the 51B bus to get to the BART station so that I could get to the Coliseum.  I missed part of my radio program Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me because of the train trip.  As I made my way to the season ticket holder line, I saw that the food trucks were back in the plaza.  The giveaway was a backpack.  It didn’t come wrapped in plastic.  I bought a waffle sandwich that was called Orange You Hungry.  I bought a watermelon flavored Italian ice and went to my seat.  It was a hot day, and I used a lot of sun lotion.  I heard the news that Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson had been traded to the Washington Nationals.  That was rather sad, because it wasn’t too long ago that I bought one of Doolittle’s special T-shirts and got his autograph on it.  On Saturday night, we saw a video of him naming ten Star Wars characters in fifteen seconds as a game to win free bacon.  Marshawn Lynch threw out the first pitch.  Sean Manaea was the A’s starting pitcher against the Indians on this afternoon.  He faced only nine batters through the first three innings.  He gave up a single to the second batter of the game, but got a 4-6-3 double play to end that first inning.  The A’s scored the decisive runs of the game in the bottom of the first inning.  It started with Matt Joyce’s single, followed by Marcus Semien’s walk on a 3-2 pitch.  Yonder Alonso struck out on a 3-2 pitch, but Khris Davis walked on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases with one out.  Jed Lowrie struck out on three pitches.  Ryon Healy also had the count at 0-2, but he hit a single for two runs.  Matt Chapman went to a 3-2 count before drawing a walk to load the bases again.  Jaycob Brugman went to the fifth 3-2 count in the inning before hitting a single, bringing in two more runs for a 4-0 score.  The Indians made a pitching change, and Josh Phegley made the third out of the inning.  Joyce singled in the second inning, but was thrown out trying for second base.  Semien had a similar hit, but he did make it to second base.  He was left at third base, as Alonso and Khris Davis both grounded out.  The A’s did score in the third inning, as Lowrie hit a home run to make the score 5-0.  Manaea couldn’t produce the shutdown inning, as he started off the fourth inning with a walk and a double, followed by a single that made the score 5-2.  A stolen base and a walk made things a little uncomfortable, but the Indians didn’t score any more runs.  Manaea had thrown 32 pitches in the inning after throwing a total of 37 pitches through the first three innings.  Manaea had a clean fifth inning.  In the sixth inning, he gave up a double and nothing else.  I saw someone in the A’s dugout buying a frozen lemonade.  In the Big Head race, Dennis Eckersley won, as he held off Rickey Henderson.  The short version of Rollie Fingers didn’t have a chance.  Manaea again gave up a double to the first batter, but allowed only a walk through the rest of the seventh inning.  That was the end of his afternoon, as his ERA was 3.68, and Ken Korach described him as a “horse” for all the innings he had pitched.  In the bottom of the inning, Semien walked and Khris Davis singled, but the score remained at 5-2.  Daniel Coulombe went out to the mound for the top of the eighth inning.  He allowed a double to the first batter.  It seemed that the A’s were flirting with disaster with all of these doubles.  Coulombe got the next batter out, and then Bob Melvin made a pitching change with Liam Hendriks.  Matt Chapman caught a line drive, and a ground ball to Semien was the third out.  With one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Chapman hit a ball that looked like it had a chance to go out of the park, but it hit the 388 marker, missing a home run by inches, as he ended up with a double.  He went to third base on Brugman’s ground ball to first base.  Phegley walked and went to second base on a wild pitch.  Matt Joyce singled for two runs and a 7-2 lead.  He went to second base on another wild pitch, but Semien made the third out.  With a score of 7-2 instead of 5-2, Simon Castro, rather than Santiago Casilla, went out to the mound for the top of the ninth inning.  Castro started well, with two strikeouts, but one of those hanging breaking balls resulted in a home run.  The fan in front of me didn’t understand what an ERA was or how it was calculated, as he said he thought Castro’s had started at 1.000 and went to 13.50.  It seemed to be that a lot of baseball fans are idiots.  Castro gave up another hit on a 1-2 pitch, but he struck out the next batter to end the game.  His ERA thus was 9.00 after his first appearance, but I didn’t hear the fan’s comment about it.  The game had started at 1:07 with a game time temperature of 88 degrees, and it ended at 4:15.  The attendance was 25,509.  I was eager to get back home, as I was incredibly thirsty.  I listened to Robert Hilburn’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Times radio program on KCSN.  He played the songs from the “Baby Driver” movie.  I liked the T. Rex song “Debora.”  I also heard Carla Thomas’ “B-A-B-Y” and Martha Reeves’ “Nowhere to Run.”  I heard the news about the deaths of Martin Landau and George Romero.  Landau was in “Crimes and Misdemeanors” and “Ed Wood,” and he was 89.  Romero was 77.  He made the greatest zombie movie ever.  I fell asleep for a while.  Some of the people who died on July 17 include James Whistler (1903), Robert Wiene (1935), Billie Holiday (1959), John Coltrane (1967), Harry Guardino (1995), Geraldine Fitzgerald (2005), Mickey Spillane (2006), Walter Cronkite (2009), and Elaine Stritch (2014).  Today is a birthday for David Hasselhoff (65) and Donald Sutherland (82).  According to the Brandon Brooks Rewind radio segment for July 17, “High Society,” starring Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby, and Louis Armstrong, was released in 1956.  In 1967, John Coltrane died of cancer at age 40.  Also in 1967, The Beatles released their single “All You Need is Love” in the United States.  In 1987, “RoboCop” was released.

Khris Davis’ Walk-Off Home Run

I took the 57 bus out towards the Coliseum, but I got off at the Fruitvale BART station and took the train the rest of the way.  I saw the food trucks in the parking lot.  If I got in line to get my Rickey Henderson jersey, I couldn’t visit the food trucks to get my Italian ice.  Well, I got in the line and sat down to listen to a Bob Dylan album as I waited for the gates to open.  It seemed that they had too many boxes of the Extra Large jerseys.  I got the Medium size.  I looked around for something to eat and settled for the Colossal Dog and Loaded Tots with a bottle of water.  Eventually, a family would sit in the row behind me, and the father annoyingly tried to predict every pitch.  He almost told his daughter some wrong things about pitching to a pitcher.  The ninth hitter in an American League lineup is not the pitcher because of the designated hitter, which he apparently forgot about.  I heard the Brandon Brooks Rewind radio segment on KCBS at 4:51.  An hour later, the man of the day, Rickey Henderson went out to the mound to throw out the first pitch to Rajai Davis.  Casey Rico sang the national anthem, and then we heard Chicago’s “Saturday in the Park” before the first pitch.  Kara Tsuboi was back from having her baby.  Paul Blackburn started the game for the A’s with an ERA of 0.66, and over the first three innings, he reduced that number to 0.54, as he allowed only a two-out single in the first inning, had a clean second inning, and allowed a single and a walk in the third, but was helped out by an overturned call of a stolen base.  The A’s had only one player reach base in the first three innings against the Indians, but it was enough to give them the lead, as it was Matt Chapman’s first major league home run.  However, Blackburn could not get the shutdown inning in the fourth, as he walked the first batter and then gave up a home run to give the Indians the 2-1 lead.  Blackburn gave up a single and a wild pitch before getting out of the ending, which ended with his ERA now at 1.53.  After the fifth inning, it went down to 1.45, as Blackburn allowed a walk with one out, with the runner stealing second base.  We saw The Big Three Race, which we did not see on Friday night.  In the bottom of the fifth inning, Ryon Healy and Bruce Maxwell struck out, so it seemed that the inning was going nowhere, but then Chapman doubled and Rajai Davis singled to tie the score at 2-2, with Rajai going to second base on the throw home.  Matt Joyce made an out to end the inning.  A fan trying to hit wiffle ball home runs started to get some boos, but eventually he hit five to win a watch.  Blackburn again could not get the shutdown inning, which started with a four-pitch walk.  He got to a 3-2 count before giving up a single, which pushed the runner to third base.  A ground base with Marcus Semien shifted gave the Indians a 3-2 lead, and Semien was unable to start a double play, just getting the first out at first base.  Another ground out moved the runner to third base, but Blackburn got another ground ball to end the inning.  This was the end of his afternoon on the mound, with his ERA at 1.83.  The A’s did nothing in the bottom of the sixth inning.  In the Big Head Race, Rickey Henderson predictably won, but by a very large margin.  The Big Head Rickey Henderson was visible everywhere in the stadium, from Shibe Park Tavern to the stands, on this day.  Liam Hendriks pitched the top of the seventh inning, and he had a good, clean inning, getting a strikeout on a 95 mph fastball on a 3-2 count.  The A’s again did nothing in the bottom of the inning, with Lowrie striking out for the second time, and Maxwell striking out for the third time.  Daniel Coulombe pitched a clean inning in the top of the eighth, with two ground balls to first base and one to second base.  The Indians left their pitcher to go beyond 100 pitches and face Chapman a third time, and it turned out to be the wrong decision, as Chapman swung at the first pitch for his second major league home run, tying the score at 3-3.  Ryan Madson, a pitcher that the Washington Nationals were interested in acquiring in a trade, pitched a clean inning in the top of the ninth, although the Indians challenged the second out.  The relief pitchers sure were impressive this afternoon.  In the bottom of the ninth, Yonder Alonso came up to bat.  He had struck out in this previous two chances, but this time got the count to 3-2 before drawing a walk.  The Indians went with a pitching change to get a right-handed pitcher to face Khris Davis.  Was this the right choice, to trade a 1.40 ERA for this matchup?  Davis had a single and two strikeouts earlier in the game.  This time he got the count to 3-2 before hitting a ball out to right centerfield, and it went over the fence for a walk-off home run with a 5-3 final score.  Ken Korach said that this was a gem of a game.  It had started at 6:07 with a game time temperature of 79 degrees, and it ended at 8:42.  The attendance was 33,021.  As we left the stadium, some people were going against the traffic for a show at the Oracle Arena.  I listened to Ethan Hawkes’ Black Album on my way home.  According to the Brandon Brooks Rewind radio segment for July 16, the movie “Topper” with Cary Grant was released in 1937.  In 1966, Tommy James and the Shondells reached Number One on the singles chart with “Hanky Panky.”  In 1982, “Young Doctors in Love,” starring Sean Young, Harry Dean Stanton, Dabney Coleman, and Patrick Macnee, was released.  In 1993, “Free Willy” was released.

War for the Planet of the Apes

I watched CBS This Morning.  The chef segment showed sushi chef Masa Takayama.  I looked up the American Top 40 playlist for the weekend.  The Top 10 songs on July 17, 1976 were “Rock and Roll Music,” “Silly Love Songs,” “Got to Get You Into My Life,” “Shop Around,” “Love is Alive,” “Moonlight Feels Right,” “More, More, More,” “I’ll Be Good to You,” “Kiss and Say Goodbye,” and “Afternoon Delight.”  I realized that if I caught two buses, I could make it to the 10:00 showing of “War for the Planet of the Apes” in Emeryville.  I was fortunate to catch the 57 bus at the MacArthur BART station.  The price of a ticket for a 3D showing of the movie at this time of the morning was $11.09.  I would like someone to explain to me these unusual prices someday.  The movie was like a lot of other movies.  There was a bit of “Apocalypse Now,” a bit of winter survival, and some bits that were like Nazis.  You’ve got a mutating virus, like something out of “The Andromeda Strain.”  I also thought of “The Omega Man.”  Woody Harrelson’s character, known as The Colonel, sets up a concentration camp or prisoner of war camp, and the plight of the apes is something like a Western.  Parts of the story seem to set up the events we see in the Charlton Heston movie, although the timeline isn’t right.  That story took place farther into the future.  Some people in the theatre thought the bit with Bad Ape and the binoculars was funny, but I thought it was stale.  He wore clothes, suggesting the future.  I don’t know why The Colonel thought he was an expert on this virus.  The whole concept takes away the drama of the conflict between the apes and men.  If it comes down to two factions of humans, you know that the final confrontation between Caesar and The Colonel is going to fall flat.  The hero is supposed to be pure and not have blood on his hands.  If The Colonel was so sharp and a real survivor, he should have known better than to touch the doll.  One of the humans who is unable to talk is a young girl who looks like she could be one of the Fanning sisters.  The story behind how she got her name was not one of the greatest ideas in this screenplay.  The war in the title wasn’t quite the war we were thinking we were going to see.  I know that I didn’t expect to see apes in the snow.  The movie went on for too long.  I noticed that The Colonel was still listening to Jimi Hendrix, “Hey Joe” in one scene.  His behavior seems weird rather than powerful, as when he shaved his head in front of his men.  The humans sure were stupid.  If you don’t kill the leader, you have to isolate him so that he doesn’t communicate with anyone.  The attack at the end was massively stupid, not taking into account geography.  It’s as if humans don’t do any planning.  Is Caesar the only one with any intelligence?  The part of the plot with the so-called donkey was one of the most predictable things.  I knew what was going to happen at the critical moment because I’ve seen it in so many movies.  If you took a poll, I suppose a lot of viewers would support the apes, but I didn’t want to see them take over the world.  I didn’t see any of the apes playing the guitar as well as Jimi Hendrix, and I imagine their stage musicals would be horrible.  I tried to imagine them staging “Hair” or “Annie.”  If there is to be a movie in the timeline between this one and Charlton Heston’s first movie, I don’t know how it is going to be interesting, with all the action happening away from this group of apes.  I read a favorable review of this movie, although I think that in reality there were entirely too many sequels and prequels.  I really thought that one was enough.  I for a while forgot about the existence of the Tim Burton movie.  It was nearly one o’clock when I left the theatre.  You have to be prepared to spend three hours with this epic.  I liked it more than the latest Transformers movie, or Despicable Me or Cars, but not as much as “Baby Driver.”  I went over to Barnes and Noble and checked their Criterion Collection shelves.  I bought “Seven Samurai” and “Tampopo” and thought about whether or not I should go home and drop off my stuff before heading to the stadium.  I like the Saturday morning showings of movies, although they make me miss Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me on the radio.  Some of the people who died on July 16 include Harry Chapin (1981), John F. Kennedy (1999), Celia Cruz (2003), Johnny Winter (2014), and Nate Thurmond (2016).  Today is a birthday for Barry Sanders (49), Will Farrell (50), Phoebe Cates (54), and Jimmy Johnson (74).