March 15, 2013
Link-O-Rama
• Nick Punto took a 3-2 pitch during the ninth inning of Italy's final World Baseball Classic game. He thought it was ball four. The umpire called it strike three. GIF magic ensued.
• "The Professor, the Bikini Model, and the Suitcase Full of Trouble" is a pretty great article title, but it doesn't even begin to convey how insane and fascinating this story is.
• It turns out not even hate groups can hate Jennifer Lawrence.
• I feel sorry for Mariners fans because Jeff Sullivan is one of the best, most original bloggers around, but a lot of what he wrote hit home with me and echoes my thoughts about turning 30.
• I'll bet even the Jerky Boys would be proud of this one.
• On this week's "Gleeman and The Geek" episode we spent a whole bunch of time talking about Aaron Hicks and also tried to figure exactly how stupid it would be to buy a bar together.
• Speaking of which, my grandpa owned a bar in Duluth for a long time before I was born and I stumbled across this Duluth News Tribune article about him from 1972.
• If nothing else, Glen Perkins committed to drinking at my bar if we call it "Mom's Basement."
• Perkins and Joe Mauer look more or less the same a dozen years later.
• What happens when a boxer tries to confront his Twitter troll? About what you'd expect.
• I haven't done a mailbag in months, so I'm fielding questions on Twitter to answer next week.
• In case anyone forgot for a second who's the best, Louis C.K. provides a nice reminder.
This wasn't bad either.
• My annual series ranking the Twins' top prospects concluded this week with an overview of the farm system as a whole.
• Vin Scully has a story he hadn't told in 50 years that's better than most people's best story.
• "Duck Dynasty" had 8.2 million viewers last week. To put that in context, consider that no "Mad Men" episode has ever topped 3.5 million and "Parks and Recreation" averages 3.1 million.
• I'm not sure if this makes me feel better or worse about getting old, but I'm the same age as, among other things, McNuggets, the moonwalk, the Disney Channel, and Microsoft Word.
• I know almost nothing else about him, but based on this Cory Booker is my favorite politician.
• Twins Daily is hosting a get-together to watch the Twins-Rays spring training game on Saturday afternoon, March 23. I'll be there, drinking and watching and whatevering. Details here.
• Sometimes you can't help but ask yourself "how did I get so damn lucky?"
• As a Gilbert Gottfried fan I'm a little bummed out to learn that he's, like, a real person.
• Old friend Carlos Gomez got a $24 million contract extension from the Brewers and based on the reaction I saw on Twitter many Twins fans refuse to believe he's not terrible.
• With the new Pope and all, I wonder if this is still true or not.
• As someone whose job requires him to keep constant tabs on hundreds of sites at once, Google Reader shutting down makes me incredibly sad. There are some alternatives, though.
• Pete Rose and his fiancee are the worst actors ever:
It almost seems like a "Tim and Eric" sketch.
• My blog-mate Craig Calcaterra got himself on MLB Network during the World Baseball Classic and really did everyone at HardballTalk proud.
• Julie Klausner, whose "How Was Your Week" podcast and overall crush-worthiness I've touted in the past, is coming here in August to host a "cat video festival" at the State Fair. Which means my new goal for 2013 is to appear together on one of KFAN's live-from-the-fair shows.
• I watched a great French movie this week called "Amelie" and you can get an English-subtitled version on Amazon for just 99 cents. Highly recommended.
• My nomination for the saddest GIF on the internet.
• I miss the old days when a chubby guy with glasses could be in a boy band and not necessarily even be the ugly one.
• My analysis of the Vikings trading Percy Harvin.
• Baseball-Reference.com has made its "Play Index" free through April 15, if you've ever wanted to try the world's most indispensable tool for baseball research.
• Some of this week's weird and random search engine queries that brought people here:
- "Max Kepler fantasy"
- "Dick Bremer final season"
- "Aaron Gleeman chicken rice recipe"
- "Will Joel Zumaya play baseball again?"
- "Why did Chelsea Peretti quit drinking and pot?"
- "Indian women bathroom SABR"
- "Is Joe Mauer a switch-hitter?"
- "First time Anna Kendrick had sex"
- "Jimmer has weird jaws"
- "SABR analytics child"
• Finally, this week's AG.com-approved music video is John Newman and Rudimental doing a live version of "Feel The Love":
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