April 28, 2005

Link-O-Rama

With yesterday's game tied and runners on first and second with no outs in the top of the 10th inning, Ron Gardenhire chose to pinch-run for Justin Morneau, who was the go-ahead run at second base, with Luis Rivas. Jacque Jones then came to the plate and was asked to bunt, but when he bunted through the first pitch from Jaime Cerda, Kansas City catcher John Buck threw to second base and picked Rivas off.

I watched the replay a few times after bashing my head against the wall repeatedly, and it was one of those typical runner-straying-too-far-from-the-base plays where Rivas was anticipating Jones getting the bunt down. While Jones is obviously at least partly at fault by missing the bunt attempt, I did find it amusing that Rivas was picked off of second base almost immediately after entering the game for the sole purpose of running.

Well, I actually didn't so much find it "amusing" until after the Twins won the game, but you know what I mean. My favorite part of Rivas getting picked off is the fact that the anti-Rivas e-mails from readers started flowing in almost immediately. You guys are not only great at preaching to the choir, your preaching is very timely too.

So, in honor of one of Rivas' most memorable blunders (which is really saying something), the immediate reaction that followed in my mailbox, and Lew Ford's third game-winning RBI in the past week, here is a nice, old-fashioned link dump ...

  • I've been surprisingly disappointed by the last few series HBO has put out, so the addition of the man, the myth, and the legend that is David Brent is outstanding news. If the combination of Ricky Gervais and HBO can't produce a great television series, I will lose all faith in the medium.
  • My Ron Mexico-name is Jeremy Barbados. What's yours?
  • I haven't purchased a non-sports video game in a very long time, but this one may just get me to break the streak. My favorite quote from the story:

    The Scarface game's storyline picks up where the movie left off, when the foulmouthed Cuban-born drug kingpin fights off a bloody assault on his mansion only to die in a hail of bullets.

    Of all the words you could use to describe Tony Montana, how could anyone possibly lead with "foulmouthed"? Foulmouthed?!

  • Who doesn't, really?
  • In the last Link-O-Rama (which was far too long ago) I talked a little bit about the former Official Fantasy Girl of AG.com, Jessica Alba. In an effort to make up for that this time around, here are some links to the reigning Official Fantasy Girl of AG.com, Elisha Cuthbert. I don't want to start any trouble with a quarterback-controversy situation, after all.

    - The OFGoAG.com in what is maybe the greatest photograph I have ever laid eyes on.

    - The OFGoAG.com's spread in GQ magazine.

    - The OFGoAG.com at the premiere of her new movie, looking ... wow.

    - The OFGoAG.com playing the bongos. Seriously.

    - The OFGoAG.com in the role that led to her overtaking Alba in the standings.

  • I was sad to learn that my personal drink of choice, Vodka and Sprite/Seven, wasn't on this list. I've always been a very boring guy, though. I like vanilla ice cream.
  • Here is a very promising new Twins blog.
  • This man, who started and went 0-for-4 with a passed ball for my favorite team yesterday, has one hit in his last 55 at-bats spread over three seasons. For those of you wondering, that is a .018 batting average. Meanwhile, this man, who was let go by my favorite team because they feared losing Mr. 1-for-55 on waivers, is hitting .346/.393/.538 for his new team.
  • One of the things that discourages me most about the world is when extremely passionate and talented people have major roadblocks thrown in front of their dreams because someone else fails to recognize their unique gifts. This relates to baseball in some ways (remember that whole "Free Johan Santana!" thing?), but in this case I'm talking about one of my favorite non-sports bloggers being denied admission to a writing program at the University of California, Irvine.

    It is really sad in general when someone isn't able to do something they want and deserve to do. But in a case like this, the worst thing is that an amazingly talented person may let some self-doubt creep into their mind simply because someone in a position of power wasn't able to spot that talent. I am of the opinion that every person who is to become successful at what they dream of doing has to have at least one other person or group of people as a chip on their shoulder once they get there.

    In other words, it hurts like hell now, but think about how great it'll be in 20 years when a wildly successful and famous Tony Pierce can tell his millions of adoring fans about the time he got rejected from U-C Irvine. Everyone will laugh, and he'll smile. And then when he goes home to his penthouse apartment filled with leggy blondes watching the Lakers on a big-screen plasma TV, he'll take out that rejection letter from a box somewhere and have a nice, long, motivating look at it.

  • And finally, my weekly column over at Rotoworld is up and ready for mass consumption. (Make sure to click on the Gustavo Chacin link at the beginning.)

    • Today at The Hardball Times:
    - Crystal Balls: The Slide Of The Yankees (by John Brattain)

    Today's Picks (25-15, +$1,075):
    Arizona (Webb) +150 over San Diego (Peavy)
    Toronto (Halladay) +180 over New York (Johnson)
    Los Angeles (Byrd) +110 over Minnesota (Silva)

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