If one were to decide to take Monday off, and let's say, watch baseball all day, one would have had quite a lot to see. If one also had to work Friday, but taped all the games, and then watched them all weekend with no media contact to avoid seeing final scores, one would probably seeing sliders in their sleep. Well someone has to do it, or at least attempt it.

That one was me, of course (I'm told you aren't supposed to use 'I' or 'me', especially in the first paragraph). I recorded all the games, but it wasn't until I got through a full day at work Friday, and then a high school football game Friday night without hearing a single score, that I decided to go for it.

Friday night when I got home, I managed to get seven innings of Texas-Toronto Game #2 in, the first of the four games played that day. Having no idea the game would go 14 innings, I got up early Saturday to watch the conclusion. I was thwarted when the recording ran out in the bottom of the 13th, just before benches emptied over a stare-down and a quick-pitch. Feeling that extra innings shouldn't count against me, I listened to the rest of the game on mlb.com. With the Rangers winning 6-4, I went on to Houston-Kansas City and a 5-4 Royals win. Then, finally to the National League, a John Lackey 4-0 gem over Jon Lester of the Cubs, and then the main event, Mets-Dodgers.

It was about 24 hours since that game started that I began watching, and had no idea who won. Clayton Kershaw was good, but Jacob deGrom was better. When Kershaw got tired and walked three in the seventh, why did manager Don Mattingly put Pedro Baez in? We saw that movie twice last year, and it didn't end well either time. Baez gave up the two-run single to David Wright and the New Yorkers won 3-1. Yes, the Dodgers bullpen is lousy, but how about somebody else? Chis Hatcher? Joel Peralta? Anyone?

I was now done with the Friday games on Saturday, but there were two games played that day, so I was still two behind. I had thoughts of staying up really late to watch Mets-Dodgers game two, but after a Cubs 6-3 win over the Cards and Chicago starter Kyle Hendricks giving up three homers in less than five innings, I called it a night after that one.

The first game on Sunday wasn't on until 1pm, so I got up at 10 and watched New York and LA. The Chase Utley play happened around noon, the game ended a little after one, but by the time time Sunday was over, I was all caught up. Houston went up 2-1 on Kansas City despite striking out ten times, and the Blue Jays kept from getting swept, beating Texas 5-1 with Troy Tulowitzki walking with the bases loaded and hitting a three-run bomb. That game, though, killed Monday.

Had the Rangers won, that series would have been over, and there would have been only three games today, one at 10am Pacific, one at 1:30, and the Dodgers and Mets at 5. Instead, with four games, and none of them on the west coast, they were staggered. I watched the entire Royals-Astros game.Houston hit four homers, but KC came back from down 6-2 and won 9-6. I waived the white flag on Toronto-Texas after seven with the Blue Jays leading 8-2, so I could watch Jake Arrieta and the Cubs against the Cardinals. With Arrieta out, the Cubs leading 7-4, and TBS insisting on keeping the Dodgers-Mets score on the bottom of the screen when that game started, I switched over to TNT to watch the Dodgers. Nice of LA to score three in the second, only to surrender four in the second, and two more in the third. The game is on pause now so I can write this, and then I'll try to get a couple more innings in, but I have to get up at 4am for an early shift.

It's like running 26 miles of a marathon, but not being able to go the final 385yards. To some, it may sound like a valiant effort, and to others it may seem like a waste of time, but at least this one gave it a shot, and got to see some pretty good baseball along the way.

Ut-most: The debate seems to continue on whether Chase Utley's slide into shortstop Ruben Tejada while trying to break up a double play was a dirty play. It seemed late and inappropriate to me, but the none of the broadcasters who are former players came out against it. Neither Cal Ripken nor Harold Reynolds seemed to mind, and they are both former infielders. Ron Darling didn't like the play, but wouldn't come out and say it was dirty. If they don't have a problem with it, I guess I shouldn't. Utley also should have been out. The replay showed Tejada didn't touch second, but it looked to me liked he kicked the corner of the bag a fraction of a second before receiving the ball. The so-called 'neighborhood play' isn't supposed to be reviewable. The tying run scored on that play, and the Dodgers added two more in the inning and went on to win.

It's high, it's deep: It's bad enough when Giants TV man Duane Kuiper sounds like he's going to keel over during an “it's outtttttttttttta here” home run call, but Fox Sports One/MLB Network play-by-player Matt Vasgersian's voice goes up an octave or two while the ball is in the air. You can actually hear dogs howling and mirrors breaking.

Golden boy: The Marysville Gold Sox have named Mike Walker as their new manager. Walker is a Yuba-Sutter native, born in Yuba City, and attended Marysville High School. The 27 year-old is also an assistant coach under former major leaguer Ed Sprague at the University of Pacific, and managed the Redding Colt .45s last year. Walker succeeds Jack Johnson, and according to the organization, Johnson recommended Walker for the job. The Gold Sox have moved into the new Far West League, and will play 30 road games next year.

A thought: With Dodgers number three starter Brett Anderson in the process (as I write this) of getting shelled in New York tonight, the little rhyme about the 1940s Boston Braves comes to mind. They used to say “Spahn and Sain, and pray for rain”, referring to their two best pitchers. For the 2015 Dodgers, maybe it should be “Kershaw and Greinke, then get out your hanky.”