Orange County Register

It’s a holiday weekend and I am supposed to be off, but heck I took two months off after heart surgery, and I feel like writing.

Plus, I have something to get off my chest (no pun intended, I don’t do heart jokes). Sometimes, I am so naive, I scare even myself.

For example: The first time I watched “Saving Silverman,” I thought it was about some threat to Sarah’s stand-up act. Sort of like “Saving Private Ryan,” but funnier.

There’s another revelation: I am a Sarah Silverman fan.

Then on Friday: In all the major-league games I watched, both teams were wearing red hats while they were on the field.

My first thought, since everyone was making such a big deal about it, was that Manny Ramirez’s return from a 50-game suspension was the reason for the headgear change (for some teams).

Once I found out what it was really about, a patriotic/marketing gesture (your choice), I thought how silly it was to have the Angels, Cardinals, Reds and Astros, etc., wear red hats.

They should wear white hats or blue hats, because red isn’t the only reason we should celebrate July 4, unless it’s become Republican Weekend.

On a serious note, I want to salute Seattle Mariners farmhand James McOwen, an outfielder from Florida International University, who singled in the ninth inning at Rancho Cucamonga against the Angels’ Class-A club to extend his hitting streak to 40 games.

McOwen, who broke the California League record earlier in the week when he hit safely in his 36th in a row, now has the longest streak in the minor leagues since Frosty Kennedy hit in 40 for Plainview in 1953 (a good year, that was). The Seattle Times’ Larry Stone does a great job examining minor-league streaks on his blog.

McOwen, batting sixth (his manager doing the .346 hitter no favors there), walked with the bases loaded in the first; struck out in the third; laid down a sacrifice bunt in the fifth; flied to center in the eighth; and then singled off the Quakes’ Michael Kohn in his final chance Friday

The left-handed-hitting outfielder, however, has a long ways to go to catch Joe DiMaggio. But we’re talking about Joltin’ Joe’s 61-game hitting streak for the San Francisco Seals in 1933, not his MLB 56-gamer. And 61 is not even the minor-league record.

Onetime Boston Red Sox and New York Giants outfielder Joe Wilhoit hit in 69 consecutive games for Wichita in 1919.

And, no, I wasn’t around to cover either Joe. DiMaggio retired two years before I was born.

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