Link-O-Rama
I was planning to devote today's entry to Bret Boone's debut with the Twins, which went about as poorly as possible without some sort of meteorite colliding with the Metrodome and the roof collapsing on everyone in attendance (0-for-4 with a strikeout, four runners left on base, two relatively playable balls not fielded, and a one-run loss). But then I realized that by the time my next entry shows up, Boone's debut will be old news and he will have played four games with the Twins.
No sense overreacting to and overanalyzing one measly game when you can dump some links instead and come back Monday with an entry about four games, right? Plus, that'll give us a little time to see if Boone, who was one of the worst everyday players in baseball during the first half and was let go by one of the worst teams in the league, is really going to hit third in Ron Gardenhire's brilliantly constructed lineup.
Finally, a political cause I can get behind.
A lifelong dream of mine came true recently, although I didn't realize it until about a week after it happened. Yes, that's right, I was mentioned in an article about the WNBA.
Here's a new Twins blog that had a nice entry on Boone earlier this week.
I've had a few "do you think Michael Jordan's kid will end up being a great basketball player" debates over the years, so it's nice to find out that he looks like he might be pretty good.
If you haven't had your fill of World Series of Poker coverage from the many blogs covering the event, check out Phil Gordon's podcasts live from Vegas. Hearing someone talk about poker while they walk around the WSOP doesn't sound that exciting, but it's surprisingly interesting. I listened to every single one, although admittedly that may say more about my life than about the quality of the podcasts.
Here's a nice article on Glenn Williams written by one of my favorite baseball writers, Alan Schwarz. The last paragraph is sort of a sad one considering the uncertainty surrounding Williams' shoulder injury:
If Glenn Williams never sets foot in another batter's box for the rest of his life, he will finish with the highest batting average ever (.425) for any major-leaguer with at least 30 plate appearances.
I'm not even sure how Williams would fit in the Twins' plans if he came back at this point. He'd be their seventh infielder.
It's very possible this picture is the greatest ever produced by the Twins blogosphere. (Read Will Young's shirt and also take note of the jersey above them.)
Fred Hoiberg is having one hell of a time lately. In addition to being one of my favorite players and extremely underrated, Hoiberg has always struck me as a good guy. Here's hoping he can get healthy, regardless of whether that means playing another game in the NBA.
Why does it seem like the Spurs are the team that keeps finding guys like this? On the other hand, this Argentinean guy might be really good, but I bet he didn't play in the Big Ten like Bracey Wright.
CardPlayer.com is supposedly going to have live, streaming audio coverage of the WSOP Main Event final table today. I say supposedly because it is my experience that this sort of stuff never really works. There is always some sort of problem that causes the site to crash or the streaming audio to lock up. I guess we'll see.
Baseball Prospectus' Dayn Perry apparently made news this week with some of his political views. I like Perry's writing an awful lot -- in fact, I might call him the most underrated baseball writer around -- but this is why I write about my political views about as often as I write about soccer.
Here's a relatively new site for those of us who hear someone say, "I bet that won't happen" in a casual conversation and immediately respond, "Oh yeah? What sort of odds do you want to lay?"
Apparently I'm not the only one who didn't watch the All-Star game this year.
This week's "Channel Surfing" column is posted over at Rotoworld.
Ever wanted to read a whole bunch of pithy comments about newly released movies, written by me? Well, here's your chance! My "Movie Clone Machine Gone Awry: Summer Movies in Review" article can be found in this month's Bakersfield Blackboard. And no, I had never heard of the publication before my byline showed up in it, either. But they tell me it exists and is printed on actual paper.
Today at The Hardball Times:
- Riffing (by John Brattain)
Today's Picks (75-63, +$1,170):
Boston (Wells) -150 over New York (Redding)
