Things You May Have Missed While You Were Living Your Life

Without a big football game on this weekend, I assume you all went into Bud Light commercial withdrawal? Don’t worry, you’ll get plenty of them next weekend. Even better, though: spring training is just a few short weeks away.

Here’s what you missed:

Jim Thome has a “handshake agreement” to work for White Sox when he retires. Considering how nice Thome is, I wouldn’t be shocked if he had 30 of these handshake deals and he was too polite to tell the other teams he already had an offer.

Tommy Lasorda called Frank Sinatra at 3 am for Ted Williams. I don’t really have anything to say, but when Mr. Lasorda blogs from his mother’s basement, you link to it.

An extra wild card is probably coming this season, but at least the division winners will have to play a tiebreaker game instead of deciding it based on head-to-head record or amount of regular season sacrifice bunts.

Brooks Robinson injured himself in a fall. And I bet if there was a ball to catch, he still would have snagged it.

Cleveland’s League Park to be renovated. Back in the 1890s, it was home to Spiders and it’s currently home to spiders, but what will it house next?

The Mets to have the biggest payroll decline in baseball history. We should probably wait for Alex Cora to come off the market before making these declarations.

I don’t know if this is a popular story and if I’ve just happened to miss it despite my love of baseball cards, but here is a look into Manny Ramirez’s corked bat baseball card. At this point you could tell me Manny Ramirez ate human brains and I would say “you’re lying…I think.”

Jeff Sullivan leaks the Mariners spring training invite. Strange, it looks just like my summer BBQ invitations.

Pirates sign Daniel Cabrera. Cabrera is the only person to have missed the plate more in his career than the Pirates have missed the playoffs.

Red Sox sign John Maine. There was a time when Maine was an underrated starter for the Mets. But arm injuries, they’ve ruined many a man and they will ruin more. Though judging by the quality of the Red Sox rotation, Maine may end up eating more innings then anyone wants.

Zach Duke signs minor league deal with the Astros. I’ll go to my death believing that the real Zach Duke is the one who posted a 1.81 ERA in 2005, all evidence to the contrary be damned.

Kenshin Kawakami returns to Japan. I bet that’s a name you though you’d never see after his 8.41 ERA in AA last season.

Giants sign Ryan Theriot. I’m starting to think that Brian Sabean is a big Andy Kaufman fan and he is now signing players just to watch the fan base react.

Rays release Russ Canzler. This coming after the 25-year-old won the AAA MVP last season. That’s a major award.

Phillies sign Juan Pierre. If he and Jim Thome make it into the lineup on the same day, the Phillies could be the best dressed team in baseball.