Things You May Have Missed While You Were Living Your Life

While you were busy formulating theses (thesi? thesises?) on the meaning of The Dark Knight Rises (feel free to send me a message and we can discuss) the baseball world continued on. What you may have missed:

Japan to boycott the World Baseball Classic? If the World Baseball Classic is ever going to truly catch on and help turn baseball into a global sport, the only team to ever win the title had better take part. Hopefully an agreement can be reached because if I’m going to wake up at 4 am to watch baseball, I want the best players on the field.

Shaq Thompson goes hitless in his Major League debut. Guess what? Despite all of our jokes, he’s still a pretty amazing athlete.

There once was a man who predicted nearly every game for the Cardinals in 1930. That’s nothing, I can guess the villain in Scooby-Doo with nearly 95% accuracy.

Omar Vizquel has a chance of recording the most at-bats without an extra base hits. Records are always nice.

Carlos Quentin signs two-year extension with the Padres. Quentin has 9 home runs in only 167 PA this year. Last year, the team leader was Ryan Ludwick with 11.

Barry Larkin cried during his Hall of Fame speech. If you can’t cry after the culmination of decades of hard work, when can you?

Cole Hamels and Matt Cain homer after each other in the same inning. DH, who needs your stinking DH.

Brett Myers will be moving to Chicago. John Sickels has the rundown on who the Astros will be picking up in return. Sadly, neither player has a hilarious last name.

Don’t even think about pooping around Michael Morse.

Pitchers and batters are represented by one single, emotionless entity. Some people get lucky with those calls, others (like the Pirates) are not.

Blue Jays and Astros make ten player deal. Don’t get excited, the biggest names involved are JA Happ and Francisco Cordero. Perhaps most importantly, it sees Travis Snider released onto an unsuspecting Canadian marketplace.

Jonathan Sanchez traded for Jeremy Guthrie. Sanchez has a 7.76 ERA this year, Guthrie has a 6.35. So…exciting.

Dustin Parkes looks at rookie’s ears. Yes, it’s even more exciting than it sounds. (Get it? Sounds? Come on, that’s a good one.)