There’s an old cartoon from, I think, Gary Larsson of The Far Side fame, in which he shows what a dog hears when people talk. It goes along the lines of, "Blah blah blah, Barfy, blah blah. Blah blah food, Barfy, blah blah blah food blah." (It’s funny because the dog’s name is "Barfy.") I’m starting to reach that point. Yesterday, out for breakfast, I was doing some writing and I kept hearing, "blah blah Red Sox, blah Red Sox, blah blah. Red Sox blah blah blah Red Sox." I live in Portland, Oregon. Nobody is talking about the Red Sox. Am I losing my mind, or, my theory, have I reached a higher plane of existence?
Link time!
You may have seen this already, but in case you haven't, Peter Abraham of the Globe has a piece marveling how sickeningly awesome The Muddy Laser Chicken has been recently. By my calculations, Pedroia has out-awesomed the following:
1. Free beer
2. Any movie featuring OJ Simpson getting his leg caught in a bear trap
3. Warm sunny days
4. Poopless dogs (after they invent them, I mean)
5. This guy.
Allan at Joy of Sox has a piece on the Wave and how incredibly dumb it is. ("The Macarena Of Audience Participation Activities.") It's good to hear someone else hates this stupid activity. A small piece of me dies each time I attend Fenway and some drunken moron stands up like he's the director of the Boston Pops and starts directing/cajoling/blurting/drooling at people to stand up in unison. If you feel similarly you can visit this site for more information. OK, not more information, but they have cool t-shirts.
Sam Miller, now with a coveted and well-earned Baseball Prospectus gig, shows us the signs to look for after a player has committed an error. The coup de grâce features old friend Alex Gonzalez, who has seemingly perfected the many different post-error looks so as to alert everyone that 1) it's OK, 2) he's upset, 3) he's a grinder, and 4) it's cool, man.
Speaking of funny stuff, check out SB Nation's own Grant Brisbee who nails the trade deadline with this series of small half-act plays posing as power rankings.
Trade trees: you know them, you love them (not in a sexy way, sheesh!). The Common Man over at The Platoon Advantage has The Article about The Trade Tree featuring The Hideki Irabu. The fun stuff.
Dave Cameron of Fan Graphs poses an interesting question: Who would you rather have: Dustin Ackley or Stephen Strasburg? There's a poll at the end of the article and the results as of this writing are pretty close, with 56% voting for Strasburg. Not that anyone asked, but you have to take Strasburg. He's the one with the other worldly talent, which isn't to say that Ackley hasn't been very good since hitting the majors. But the question is will he remain this good, and I think the answer is probably not. Meanwhile, Strasburg is returning from major surgery which is the only reason this isn't a ridiculous question. But many pitchers have come back from TJ surgery before, so there's a good chance Strasburg will still be able to be Stephen Strasburg. It's an interesting choice though, and I don't believe there is a right answer. Except for the one I gave.
Finally, looks like the Muddy Chicken has a new fan.