Grand Slams and Billy Beane, this is stream of consciousness

I don't have a lot to look forward to in the remaining days of this baseball season. Brandon Backe's starts, Hunter Pence in the lead-off spot, Oakland rookies playing to get traded, and Dan Haren's run at the AL Cy Young are about it.

The A's hit two grand slams last night. After reading the "Author Preface" of Scout's Honor: The Bravest Way to Build a Winning Team by Bill Shanks, I was hoping during the third inning with the bases loaded and two outs that Suzuki, who'd hit the first grand slam the inning previous, would hit another. Then I could say, "lookit the kid, two grand slams in two at-bats, what was that about the fat Braves catcher and two grand slams in a month?" But no dice. Groundout to third. Dan Johnson hit the other one in the ninth inning. I was sound asleep by then, but I'm listening to it as I type now.

The weather has turned cooler, finally. I was hoping it'd stay warm for longer, but I'm in Michigan, that would be a wishful thinking. The temperature is very fall baseball (or the same temperature I've associated with fall baseball) and I can feel October just out of reach. Which teams are going? Which teams will fall at the end? Will the winner of the National League Central have a winning record? Will Boston win it all -- again?

These are questions we all want answered, and they will be by the time November rolls around. To fill the time between now and then, I will be reviewing, in chunks, the aforementioned book about the Atlanta Braves. This is purely for my entertainment, and yours, too, I trust.

I've already done a preliminary skim of the book, utilizing the index in order to spot check for A's, Moneyball, and Billy Beane references. I got a good laugh out of that.