- A-Rod was going to play for the Dominican instead of the U.S., which would have been a nice way to get more international attention for the first World Baseball Classic, but now he wants to sit out completely. A-Rod's a little punk, but I don't blame him this. People give him grief either way, so you know what? Forget it. No A-Rod. Some people will be glad to not have to think about him, but there's no denying that one of the best players in the game has decided to take his ball and go home. Or spring training. Whatever.
- Tim Sullivan no longer feels OK about casting Hall of Fame ballots. I'm curious about what they'd do if the writers didn't vote on the hall of fame candidates. Maybe they should let bloggers do it. Also, I think it's funny that the president of the Writers' Association is named Schmuck. Childish, I know.
- Thanks to Anonymous Hero for pointing ths out, but the Padres signed Doug Brocail to a one year deal. Now we're talking. 38 years old. Texas Ranger for the last two years. I see the strategy. I see the strategy. To be completely fair, now that Brocail is with the Padres, I'm positive that he'll show closer type stuff in middle relief. It's become our modus operandi.
- Baseball Musings has a nice post about baseball in Iran. I especially like this picture. At first I thought it was funny, the way they've got their hands on their neighbors' knees and shoulders. But then I realized, that's a team. You see American team photos now and dudes have their arms crossed and are standing like three inches away from each other. Some may blame that on homophobia. I say it's a reflection on the shift towards individual accomplishment rather than team accomplishment in this country. I'm not even joking when I say it's a disappointing shift. I'm glad to see a photo that shows that somewhere in the world, they haven't lost that feeling of belonging to a team.
But also, it is kinda funny to see those guys draped all over each other. Seriously, get a room.
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