Manny Ramirez became a Dodger, Ken Griffey, Jr. became a White Sox, and the Chicago Cubs completed a four-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers all within a matter of a long lunch today. The sweep was the perfect punctuation to a few key acquisitions made by Jim Hendry, weeks before today’s trade deadline. Jim Edmonds had 5 RBI including a grand slam, and Rich Harden continued his mastery of the NL, with 9 K’s, allowing just one run (as a Cub, Harden has 39 strikeouts in 24 innings with a 1.11 ERA).

I love it. Hoping to see an appearance from Manny at the game tonight (Dodgers v. Diamondbacks). Tomorrow I’m off to Lollapalooza for the weekend, with an afternoon at Wrigley scheduled for Saturday (Zambrano Lilly on the mound). See you in Chicago?

I originally felt that I couldn’t handle being in one corner of Golden Gate Park even if Jack Johnson was playing on another, but now that more of the artist lineup has been announced for this August’s Outside Lands Festival, the temptation is killing me. Early-bird tix are available now via Radiohead HQ.

When they said that Lollapalooza-type festivals would be criss-crossing the country eating each other up, they weren’t kidding. But what could be better than an August weekend in Golden Gate Park with the music accoutrements of (for starters):

Radiohead
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Beck
Wilco
Manu Chao
Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals
Primus
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Café Tacvba
Broken Social Scene
Regina Spektor
Devendra Banhart
Cold War Kids
Galacticâ€s Crescent City
Soul Krewe
Lyrics Born
Andrew Bird
Steel Pulse
Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings
M. Ward
Drive-By Truckers
Jack Johnson
Widespread Panic
The Cool Kids
Steve Winwood
ALO
Matt Nathanson
Two Gallants
Dredg
Little Brother
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
The Coup
Bon Iver
Ivan Nevilleâ€s Dumpstaphunk
The Felice Brothers
Back Door Slam