Jorge Julio, 2003 Topps #538

For want of a night out, I spent a few hours this evening in the company of my sister and my future brother-in-law at the movies. It was my sister's choice, a fairly uninspired horror movie called Quarantine. While the film wasn't really any good, it certainly had some scares, particularly for someone as skittish as me. I was tense throughout, and eventually took to averting my eyes as much as I could, much as I did when I saw The Exorcist in the theatre during its re-release in my freshman year of college. That movie scarred me for quite a while; I can remember being legitimately relieved to have my roommate close by when the lights went out at night. I can't stay away from a good scare, often dipping into my sister's extensive personal library for a Stephen King novel or reading ghost stories online during slow times at work.

Speaking of things that go "bump" in the night, there have been few things more frightening to Oriole fans than the sight of ex-closer Jorge Julio lumbering in from the bullpen in the ninth inning of a tight game. Just seeing his picture, with that semi-blank look on his face, I'm certain that he's about to hang a slider to a Tampa Bay hitter. That's the kind of scare that I can do without.