Monday Miscellany: 8-25-08

A look at today's MLB standings shows the Twins a game and-a-half back of Chicago in the AL Central; Tampa with a four-plus game lead in the East; and L.A. nearly 20 games in front of everyone out west. In the NL, Arizona has matriculated its way to a three-game edge over the Dodgers; the Mets have a ha'game over the Phils; and the Cubs, while winning two straight, have kept the Brewers at bay by maintaining a four and-a-half game lead, regardless of Milwaukee's four-game streak. Milwaukee takes on St. Louis, Pittsburgh, the Pads and the Reds in four of its next five series. Chicago, meanwhile, will face the Reds, Cards and Houston twice, before closing the season with more Cards, the Mets, and those Brewers twice. I ain't sayin' I's the jinxin' type, but "interesting" as an adjective for how the season might shape up is quite the understatement.

The Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago White Sox were involved in a bit of a pickle yesterday. Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski initiated contact in a Tampa-attempted rundown, was awarded third base, and latr scored the winning run to help his club avoid the sweep. My guess is that the umpire likes blonds. Turns out we're not the only ones to hate on GayJay Pierzynski; Bugs & Cranks throws him somehere and here as does The Big Lead here, and (delicately) Yahoo does here.

Elsewhere in the region of third base, our boy Rany thinks that the Royals should move Alex Gordon to the outfield next year. I'm not saying I disagree with the notion, but it'll take some time to process. Quite a bit of time. Perhaps I'll lean one way or the other after seeing what the post-September callup roster moves look like.

Since September's almost here, that means hockey season is too. Going Five Hole has a few changes they'd like to see made in the NHL, but are confident they'll never happen. One could argue that Commissioner Bettman making any more changes to the game prior to his departure from the position would be extraordinary, and he doesn't really have the sac for doing so, thus disqualifying him from honorable mention in this commercial:



These girls don't qualify either, but they do have extraordinary fallopian tubes...uh, er, yeah. Nevermind. Great pics, though.

Also with late August/early September, comes fantasy football. Uncoached has a list of reasons, and completely coinciding photos, on just why this kicks ass. If you play, you might want to check out ProFootballTalk, as they regularly post news, etc. that is noteworthy, and perhaps pertinent to your draft and/or season.

And of course, leave it up to Kissing Suzy Kolber to deliver some football-oriented humor, like the image in this post.

That's it for today. Well, aside from these tidbits:

Today, in 1985, Dwight "Doc" Gooden slid in below former Cleveland Indian Bob Feller, to become the youngest pitcher to win 20 games. He was younger than Feller by a month, and Gooden's Mets easily handled the Padres, 9-3. One year later, an Oakland Athletic by the name of Mark McGwire hit his first major-league homerun, and in 1952, Detroit Tiger Virgil Trucks tosses his second no-hitter of the season, a one-zip win over the Yanks.