June 4, 2010
Link-O-Rama
• In my mind, he immediately gave Kelly Kapowski a call.
• I make this same threat whenever NBC or Rotoworld wants me to work on a weekend.
• After threatening to get a Playstation 3 for a long time I finally took the plunge last weekend, although it was much tougher than I expected to actually find a store that had one in stock. I bought UFC Undisputed 2010 and MLB 10: The Show. A terrible system for submissions keeps the UFC game from being significantly better, but I'm semi-addicted and have already played it enough to create a light heavyweight named Karl Pilkington and complete his 56-fight career.
• I've finally discovered the explanation for why the Minnesota Daily would never hire me.
• As if last week's rumors of Perez Hilton being offered $20 million for his blog didn't depress me enough, this week The Big Lead sold for over $1 million. Based on the traffic numbers TBL boss Jason McIntyre told the New York Times, this blog should be worth around $150,000. I'll wait patiently for my check. (Jealously is an ugly thing, huh?)
• Speaking of website traffic, I want to thank everyone who helped to increase Hardball Talk's readership by about 300 percent in one year.
• Clearly being reunited with Shannon had a huge impact on Sayid.
• I've written before that In Treatment on HBO is my pick for the most underrated (and sadly unseen) show on television and now they're adding one of my favorite actresses to the rebuilt cast that already included Sayid's aforementioned ex.
• I'm not sure whether to be flattered or insulted, but this is the most ridiculous thing ever:
I'll admit WWAGD has a certain ring to it, but my frames are much smaller and my face is much fatter than the random clip-art guy with the unfortunate luck of looking not totally unlike me.
• Jim Joyce speaking to reporters shortly after blowing the call that cost Armando Galarraga a perfect game is some of the most compelling raw audio you'll ever hear. I'm particularly fond of the phrase "I kicked the shit out of it" and plan to use it to describe my own screw-ups. For example, I had a chance to be more patient when evaluating Denard Span's prospect status a few years ago and I kicked the shit out of it.
• Joyce handled himself about as well as possible given the terrible situation he created, but even more than that I'm impressed by what a tremendous person Galarraga appears to be. Of course, that could change if he reads about how Joyce's call probably cost him $200,000.
• In addition to robbing Galarraga of a perfect game another unfortunate effect of Joyce's bad call is that it took attention away from one of the six greatest center fielders of all time retiring.
• She's already been naked too much to cross a name off my nudity wish list (which doesn't actually exist, as far as you know), but longtime Official Fantasy Girl of AG.com candidate Kelly Brook signing a deal to pose for Playboy still seems like a fantastic use of $500,000.
• Kind of amazing after watching the Twins struggle so mightily in those situations all season: Alex Rodriguez has hit .350 with a .710 slugging percentage in 243 plate appearances with the bases loaded for his career.
• In what I'm calling "the Phil Mackey effect" no matter what other logic David Brauer tries to present, KSTP becoming 1500 ESPN has coincided with a big ratings jump. They definitely have the 60-year-old Jewish broad demographic locked up.
• Not surprisingly, it turns out Rangers starter Derek Holland was pitching hurt Sunday night while throwing in the mid-80s against the Twins.
• I thought about buying some of Darin Erstad's old stuff, but then I saw the prices.
• Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
• My apologies for not posting the Twitter mailbag answers this week like I promised. I opted for the interview with John Manuel and a quick entry about Danny Valencia's call-up instead, but I'll definitely follow through on the mailbag responses early next week. Feel free to keep submitting questions over the weekend, because I can always use more good ones.
• Some of the highlights from my NBCSports.com blogging this week:
- Who needs the minors? Mike Leake thriving in Cincinnati
- Mike Stanton on the verge of call-up to Marlins
- Ejected and suspended, Bryce Harper's college career is over
- Ubaldo Jimenez beats struggling Tim Lincecum
- Pirates bench Akinori Iwamura, move ex-catcher Neil Walker to second base
- Carlos Beltran is finally making some progress
- Stephen Strasburg throws five shutout innings in final Triple-A start
• Finally, this week's AG.com-approved music video is Amy Winehouse doing an acoustic cover version of "Valerie" by The Zutons:
With the glasses and general look of the clip art guy, I thought the shirt, at first, was What Would Andrew Garcia Do? And then I wondered when you had become an American Idol fan, and why you would support someone who had been eliminated from the show well before contention.
Comment by John Staton — June 4, 2010 @ 12:33 am
Jim Joyce is a stand up guy. He made a mistake, apologized and owned his mistake the way adults should. Much respect for him.
Comment by blarg — June 4, 2010 @ 12:41 am
Haha, I meant nothin but love when I made the shirt. I thought it looked a little bit like the pic on your blog so I rolled with it. I’m surprised, I also found spitting image clip-art of Rick Aguilera and Brian Harper.
Comment by bennyc50 — June 4, 2010 @ 1:26 am
Ok – Duke Snider, maybe – but Jim Edmonds? Kenny Lofton? Andruw freaking Jones? This list and others like it are exactly why some (usually old timers) are extremely skeptical of sabermetrics …
And oh by the way, where does a guy go to pick up an Emergency Alert Bracelet so he can wear it and score the free prune juice refills, anyway?
Comment by marietta mouthpiece — June 4, 2010 @ 7:43 am
be sure to pick up Red Dead Redemption for your PS3, its amazing!!
Comment by Jason — June 4, 2010 @ 10:35 am
About the financial cost of Joyce’s blown call to Galarraga: I’ll go ahead and stake that Armando can charge *more* for a signature (at least for hometown fans) than Dallas Braden will be able to, at least for the next few years. I think the way he handled the situation will do more for his status, especially among Tiger fans, than getting that last out recorded would have. And it seems to me he’s gotten more national attention out of it than Braden did. I would even be surprised if Halladay sold more signatures in the next 12 months, despite his perfect game being, in some sense, the only one that didn’t seem like a bizarre fluke.
Comment by ludekes — June 4, 2010 @ 10:59 am
Thanks for the write up on Griffey. At this point in time, I think it’s pretty clear that he and Frank Thomas (who you’ve also written very positively about) are the two greatest position players of the steroid era to not (yet?) have been implicated in the use of performance enhancing drugs. They were both great players to watch.
Comment by alex — June 4, 2010 @ 1:18 pm
Aaron, I’m wondering if there’s something you want to tell us? You want to threaten to be pregnant and you’re sure you didn’t get hired for a job because you’re too hot? Are we going to be seeing eringleeman.com pretty soon? LOL Just kidding man. Maybe the too hot thing is part of losing all that weight. Keep it up man!
Comment by D-Luxxx — June 4, 2010 @ 4:06 pm
I know this is off topic and maybe its been discussed previously, but why is Drew Butera still with the Twins if Jose Morales is healthy?
Comment by Dan — June 4, 2010 @ 10:19 pm
Aaron, you should be nothing but proud of the shirt man! If I were you I’d order copies and sell ’em right here at AG.com.
Comment by Marshall Garvey — June 5, 2010 @ 12:09 am
http://joenathan.uscho.com/Store_Gear_Product_Merchandise/Twins-Luis-Rivas-Autographed-Baseball/P_ID-40088/index.mhtml
Apparently Luis Rivas’ signature actually lowers the value of a baseball. Official MLB balls usually sell for $15 each.
Comment by Max — June 5, 2010 @ 7:36 pm
Anyone know why Jesse Crain was called in to pitch the eighth? I am neither watching nor listening to the game, just paying attention to the gamecast; did the announcers offer a reason for Crain getting the call? Or does Gardenhire just enjoy a challenge?
Comment by Ted — June 5, 2010 @ 10:37 pm
Also, I like that Morneau with the flu still gets an intentional pass. And then Hardy, with a wrist problem, runs for Morneau. What kind of strange frankenmonster experiment is this? I hope no one gets injured later in the game.
Comment by Ted — June 5, 2010 @ 10:39 pm