Old Time Family Baseball

If Tim Dillard were to open a restaurant, it should be called Tim Dillard’s Chop House and Submarine Sandwiches.

Where Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, and Dave Mlicki failed before, Johan Santana succeeded. Queens finally has a no-hitter to call their own.

9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 8 SO and 134 pitches on a surgically repaired arm.

TV Alert: Cardinals at Mets

For all those homebodies staying in on a Friday night, you may want to direct your satellite signals over to the Mets game. The New York Metropolitans, behind Johan Santana, are six outs away from accomplishing something that has never been done in team history before.

And I’m not referring to a rip-roaring locker room towel fight. Bobby Bonilla was great at those.

Mag-neato!

From io9’s Awesomely Weird Art of 1800s Baseball Photography.

mashira-alto:

(全日本プロレスオフィシャルサイト - 公式ホームページから)

I may not love pro wrestling, but I do love adorable things that I don’t fully understand.

(via hamutime)

Speed Demons

Last night, Miguel Cabrera stole the 32nd base of his career. Prince Fielder immediately followed that up with the 10th triple of his career.

Not only had they never done such a thing back-to-back before, the two had never accomplished such a feat on the same day of their careers. I guess what I’m saying is don’t play the Cabrera steal/Prince Fielder triple combo with your local bookie.

Baseball Card of the Week:

Fun fact: The Dan Gladden is still the 15th most requested haircut in the greater upper peninsula area.

Other Activities Catchers Have to Earn the Privilege To Do

On Wednesday night, Russell Martin told the world that umpire Laz Diaz wouldn’t let him throw the ball back to the pitcher because he hadn’t “earned the privilege.” While a lot of people got upset, what they didn’t realize is that there are actually a large variety of responsibilities that catchers have to “earn” from the umpire before doing them on their own.

These include:

Calling pitches.
Setting the defense.
Talking to pitchers.
Blocking pitches.
Taking bathroom breaks.
Using a cell phone.
Having a TV in the bedroom.
Owning a puppy.
Staying up to see the ball drop on New Year’s Eve.
Kissing girls and/or boys.
Cashing a paycheck.
Watching scary movies.
Drinking alcohol.
Sitting at the adults table on Thanksgiving.

While Laz Diaz was unavailable for comment, an inside source said that “if Martin keeps his room clean, he’ll be allowed to go to the mall with his friends on Friday night.”

Chan Ho Park may not have been worth the $65 million the Rangers gave him, but that’s because they ignored his greatest talent. Namely, rapping.

(via Hall of Very Good)

BJ Upton To Become The Official Baseball Sartorialist

(Reuters Pictures)

BJ Upton has always been a frustrating player. Despite being blessed with an endless array of tools and abilities, Upton has never come close to matching his 2007 season when he hit .300/.386/.522 as a 22-year-old. Since that time, and despite three 40+ steal seasons, Upton has batted only .250/.337/.408, just barely ahead of league average, and has been accused of occasionally taking it easy in the field.

Well, no longer.

The good folks at Rays Index took a look at Upton’s season and discovered something that is quite extraordinary: when Upton goes with high pants and stirrup socks, he performs exponentially better than when he goes pajama panted or with a single-colored sanitary socks. While Upton has an embarrassing .655 OPS with his ankles covered, that jumps to .938 when he gets all immodest and lets those calves shine.

Even better, Upton took this highly scientific information and decided to do something about it. From the Tweeter machine:

Considering that the Rays may have the best looking socks in baseball, that deep navy blue being intersected by fundamentally perfect slices of white and sky blue, it’s mind boggling that the entire team doesn’t wear them all day, everyday, whether they’re at the park or not.

Maybe now that Science and Art have intersected, that will change.

(h/t Getting Blanked)