Baseball Links

Benny and I have two baseball drafts today, one AL Only and one NL Only. They are both live online auction drafts which will probably end up taking in excess of 6 hours to complete. On a related note, I have been awake since 5am, worked out, had coffee, showered and taken my dog for a walk… all before 9am. I’m a bundle of nervous energy. On a completely unrelated note, it’s supposed to be sunny and in the low 60’s today in Charlottesville. Who knows, I might even step outside between drafts and enjoy it for a few minutes. But in the end, I think we all know the only sunburn I’m going to get today is from my computer screen and I’m OK with that.

We are on the doorstep of my favorite season. I acknowledge the NFL as a close second, but for my money nothing will ever equal an afternoon at the ballpark. There’s something so distinctly American about a hot dog and a cold beer and some sunflower seeds. I can’t get over the fact that my mind aches for baseball as early as January and doesn’t dissipate until the final out has been tallied. Waking up this week and watching a couple of meaningful innings between the Red Sox and Athletics has been good for my soul and now, with the REAL Opening Day just hours away, I’m obliged to share some links while I kneed the same sweaty glove in anticipation for the glorious centennial of my beloved Cubbies.


- I’ve been reading the Roto Arcade pieces on Yahoo Sports lately by Andy Behrens and found them to be interesting if not downright enjoyable. The one that had Benny chirping recently that his drafting strategies of the past were “ahead of their time” was an article entitled: Head-to-Head Strategy: the Distler School of Management. The basic premise was that this kid would draft all pitchers in the first 12 rounds of head2head leagues and then round out his position players with stolen base aficionados in order to win every week 6-4. It’s an interesting strategy, but the razor thin margin for error makes this endeavor seem fruitless. Also, there’s really no fun in this practice unless your only goal is making money… which leads me to the next link…

- I rather liked Cracked.com's Who’s in your fantasy league? This is personally rewarding because my boy Benny C falls into many of these categories simultaneously: The Stat Pro, The Dark Horse Guy, The You Stole My Pick Guy and The Awful Pick Guy. He’s also the guy who said (and I quote), “Chipper Jones falling to me with the 12th overall pick is like Peyton Manning falling to me with the 10th overall pick the year he threw for 47 touchdowns.” I’m not sure what his BAC level was when he typed these words, but really, there is no feasible reality where this makes any sense.

- This is less of a link and more of a straight forward endorsement. These guys are pound for pound some of the funniest writers on the internet with respect to any genre, plus they dress down all the idiotic baseball writers that plague this fine country. If you have any love for baseball and its minutia and you enjoy laughing, there’s no reason why you don’t check this site at least once a week.

- I find Jay Mariotti’s brand of over the top bravado to be sad and pathetic. The fact that he is gainfully employed as an opinion maker in print, radio AND television in my hometown is a sad fact that I carry around like a great boulder of shame. It’s basically what’s wrong with sports coverage today. For every Peter Gammons and Tony Kornheiser, there are 10 Mariotti’s. Jay the Joke's take on the Brian Roberts no deal was predictable, obnoxious and poorly written. However, The Heckler took a different approach to the whole saga did considerably better. Either way, I feel like B Rob, steroids baggage and all would have been a huge boost. It really makes me hope this Gallagher kid pans out THIS YEAR, otherwise I’ll be a little cheesed.

- UmpBump’s milestones to watch for outline quite a year ahead of us. I'm not sure how much the homerun statistic means anymore, but I love when careers are put in perspective and big round numbers flash on the Jumbotron while they round the bases.

Some YouTube Classics:

George Carlin's Baseball vs. Football
Probably one of Carlin's best bits ever.

Baseball Great moments
Not gunna lie, I got some goosebumps watching this.

Lee Elia Tirade
I have no idea why this Cubs manager got fired the day after this innocent enough soundbite.