I raced home from work, with last-minute Halloween preparations on my mind. Candy placed in a bowl by the front door? Check! Halloween lights illuminated? Check! Pumpkin carved? Check! Bring on the little goblins, Snottlings actually. In the Warhammer game that the boyz and I used to play, Snottlings were the tiniest members of the goblin family. With the recent chill in the weather heralding the onset of cold and flu season, calling the little buggers, Snottlings, seems all so apropos.

Just when you thought that all of the possible baseball news that could come out of Saint Louis had already come out, Tony La Russa dropped the other shoe. He announced his retirement today. Good for him, he’ll go out on a high note. Now, this winter, in addition to speculation about whether Pujols will stay or go, Saint Louis fans need to wonder about who the new manager will be. There ought to be more than a few animated discussions during this winter’s hot stove league. In way of a correction, I learned today that that only one of the two World Series rings worn yesterday by Tony was from the Cardinals. The other one was from his stint in Oakland. He won’t get his third ring for another couple of months.

I hear Snottlings approaching. Have a happy Halloween! Here are some of the jokes that we heard tonight:

• Why was the mushroom invited to all of the parties? He was a fungi.
• If you are an American in the living room, what are you in the bathroom? European.
• Knock, knock, who’s there? Phillip. Phillip who? Phillip the bag with candy, please.
• What kind of pants to ghosts wear? Boo-jeans.
• What did the ghost put in his cereal? Boo-berries.
• What’s a witches favorite food? Sand-witch.
• Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road? He didn’t have the guts.
• Which building has the most stories? The library.
• Why was the tornado blushing? Because it broke wind.
• Why did the chicken cross the road? To get away from Popeye’s.