So, where the heck have I been anyway? Working a lot. Doing a bunch of band stuff (site redesign, T-shirts, several new songs). Reading the intriguing and often incomprehensible Friedrich Nietzsche. Hangin’ at home with the family.
During my travels, I’ve stumbled onto some excellent non-sports-related sites that I thought I’d share. (Feel free to skip this part if you just want the baseball stuff. I don’t mind.)
- Truth Laid Bear — I keep trying to think of a good way to describe this but find that words fail. Among other things, this is a blog about blogs. But there’s more to it than that. Check it out; you’ll know pretty quickly whether or not you like it.
- Vivisimo Document Clustering — This is a search engine. But it works a little differently from most other search engines in that it groups by category results within a particular query. I’m afraid I’m not explaining this well; it’s really quite cool. For a better explanation, visit their technical FAQ.
- Diary of Samuel Pepys — This is the single most fascinating site I’ve discovered on the Web in a very long time. Probably since I first found Slashdot many moons ago. Pepys, if you don’t know, was a 17th century diarist who lived in London. Phil Gyford is publishing these diaries as a weblog, with others chiming in to add historical context, clarify relationships between characters, etc. Gyford essentially has brought works written nearly 400 years ago back to life and created a vital document from them. The annotations and links to other sites are possibly as fascinating as the blog itself, which is one reason I’ll probably never get through the whole thing. I’m constantly being diverted to something else that demands my attention. Wonderful use of the Web.
- MOTCO UK Directory for Collectors of Antique Prints and Maps — This is one such diversion I found from visiting the above site. View maps of London (indexed by location or street name within the city) as it existed in 1746. The images take some time to load if you’re on dial-up like I am. But if you have any interest in maps (as do I), this is a great place to lose yourself for a while.
- Technorati — Another neat tool. This one allows you to search on a ridiculous number of blogs (360,000 at last count), find who’s linking to your blog, and a bunch of other cool stuff. If you write or read blogs (by definition, that includes all of you reading this), you ought to take a look.
- British Civil Wars, Commonwealth and Protectorate 1638-1660 — I’m not really an Anglophile (although I do have a good friend who is; hi, Dan), but this is another nugget I discovered while rummaging through Pepys’ diary. Fascinating stuff.
And I also found a really cool baseball site (thanks to a poster at Fanstop whose identity escapes me a the moment; sorry ’bout that). Career minor-league stats and what-not.
And I suppose that link is excuse enough to get back into what we do around here: talk baseball…
All-Star Game
Despite Bud Selig’s best/worst efforts, I still don’t give a rat’s arse about the game. But I do care that he seems to care about it, so I’ll make a few quick points.
If the objective now is to win the game, how exactly are Rondell White and Mike Williams better than Brian Giles and, say, Matt Herges? [Late note: Herges has just been traded to the Giants for RHP Jay Witasick, Alex Fernandez, Humberto Quintero, Scott Dunn.
The question: What players have been traded for D’Angelo Jimenez?
In case you missed it, Jimenez was traded from the ChiSox to the Reds for the aforementioned Dunn. Makes the Padres’ haul of Fernandez and Quintero (neither of whom is anything to write home about) look downright huge.
Jimenez had a nice couple months in Chicago at the end of last season, which led to a lot of excitement among fantasy leaguers. The buzz was further reinforced by Jimenez’ hot start this year. Unfortunately, as he did in San Diego, he wore out his welcome with the Sox and now finds himself starting over once again. As Jim Callis in the above-referenced article mentions, Jimenez is still only 25 years old so there’s time for him to get his act together. But much like another former Yankee phenom, Ruben Rivera, teams appear to be growing tired of his penchant for teasing with potential only to ultimately slip into mediocrity compounded by an apparent lack of effort or ability to improve. I say "apparent" because I have no means (or desire) to get into these players’ heads. I just know what I see and what I read from folks who’ve worked with ‘em.
Here’s hoping Jimenez can figure out what he’s supposed to do with his talent and make a career for himself. Stranger things have happened. Ask Phil Nevin.
Speaking of Nevin
And in other old news (one of my favorite oxymorons), Nevin has changed his mind about demanding to start at third base. Someone or something has convinced him that Sean Burroughs is the future at that position, and the future is now. Instead, Nevin will be playing a little on the infield and outfield corners when he returns at the end of this month or beginning of next.
Meantime, Nevin has begun rehabbing at Elsinore, where he’ll DH for a few games before taking the field. More on that:
- Nevin makes rehab start (MLB.com)
- Nevin hitless, painless in 4 at-bats (U-T)
Incidentally (and I apologize for dragging us back into the Home Field Advantage Classic), Nevin is quoted here (Sacramento Bee) as saying something that gets to the heart of the matter much more astutely than I ever could: "It’s ridiculous. It’s the most asinine thing I’ve ever heard of."
Never thought I’d hear myself say this, but way to go Phil!
Speaking of Burroughs
Not to denigrate Hank Blalock, who is an absolutely brilliant young hitter, but I just have to point this out every now and then. Here’s what they’ve done since May 1 of this year:
AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO BA OBP SLG
Blalock 219 67 13 1 9 18 41 306 359 498
Burroughs 218 75 15 3 4 19 30 344 402 495
Throw out that first month (which, of course, we can’t do), and Burroughs is basically doing the John Olerud impersonation that we’d expected.
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