Tomorrow is my 26th birthday, but I've never been enthusiastic about birthdays and at this point it'll just mean that there's one fewer day to work on the annual Rotoworld baseball magazine before it's due at the printer next week. For anyone wondering, being in charge of a 150,000-word magazine that gets put together during the month or so surrounding Christmas, New Year's Eve, and your birthday eventually just causes those events to lose all meaning. Plus, if you round up I'm now 30 years old, which sucks.
Chuck Norris unfortunately does not share my birthday, but these people were born on January 3: Mel Gibson, Eli Manning, John Paul Jones, Bobby Hull, George Martin, J.R.R. Tolkien, A.J. Burnett, Danica McKellar, Victoria Principal, Stephen Stills, Robert Loggia, Dabney Coleman, and Hank Stram. That collection of names has to be among the worst for any birthday, right? Seriously, the pickings were so slim that Alisha Klass, Michael Restovich, and the state of Alaska nearly made the cut.
With that exciting celebration out of the way, here are the links ...
As Charles Barkleylearned the hard way this week, sometimes honesty really isn't the best policy.
Official Mainstream Newspaper Columnist of AG.com Joe Posnanski recently posted an interesting blog entry about the questions asked by reporters and included this amusing aside:
Of course cheering in the press box DOES happen in America, though the culprits are usually the sorts of people that everyone else in the business calls "foofs." I would say "foof" is a difficult word to define precisely--it has a multitude of meanings and shades. ... A foof person is not exactly a bad reporter or a clueless homer or someone who asks players for autographs on the field. A foof is the person who everyone sees in a press box and wonders, "How the heck did he/she get in here?"
I'm rarely accused of being a "homer" and would never care enough to ask players for autographs, but my guess is that quite a few reporters wondered "how the heck did he get in here?" after seeing me in the media room at the winter meetings last month. Or maybe it was just me doing the wondering.
Speaking of Posnanski, apparently good blogging runs in the family because his brother chronicled his amazing weight loss while dropping over 200 pounds in 2008. As someone who lost 92.5 pounds only to gain a big chunk of it right back a couple years later, reading aboutTony Posnanski's dramatic transformation makes me equal parts inspired and depressed. Sadly, the only thing worse than being fat is being fat again.
Official Fantasy Girl of AG.com runner-up Marisa Miller's latest photo shoot involved wasting a whole bunch of perfectly good Fruit Loops.
A couple months ago University of Minnesota journalism student Cody Zwiefelhofer chose me to be the subject of an assigned profile story he was writing for a magazine class and you can now read the lengthy finished product by clicking here.
Rarely is a cover version of a song significantly better than the original, but I'm sure we can all agree that Mariah Careycan't hold a candle to Korean singing sensation Dong-Won Kim:
Most people who watch that video will focus on the actual performance, but my initial reaction was that Kim's version really just highlights some of the most ridiculously awful lyrics in song-writing history.
To celebrate the new year, Chris Jaffeexamined the history of The Hardball Times and determined that the site has produced 2,649 articles since it launched in early 2004, including at least 10 articles from 36 different writers. Not surprisingly THT boss Dave Studenmund leads the way with 235 articles, including at least two dozen each year. However, it's shocking to me at least that some chump named Aaron Gleeman ranks second with 233 articles and until last month was the site's all-time leader:
Aaron Gleeman: the Babe Ruth of THT. They used to say Ruth's 714 home runs was a record that may never be broken. Gleeman's 133 articles in one year is a similarly Ruthian figure. It's extra impressive he did it in barely three-quarters of a year.
Heck, forget the articles for a second. Please note Gleeman was also the site's chief editor, giving him a hand in all other articles. Plus he ran the site. It's Ruthian--if Ruth won 20 games the same season he hit 60 dingers while telling the owners how to run things. THT now has about five people making up for what Gleeman did that one year.
Part of my joining Rotoworld and NBCSports.com unfortunately involved stepping away from THT after co-creating the site with Matthew Namee, so sadly my byline hasn't appeared there since 2006. While penning 133 articles in one year has allowed me to linger around in THT history, the workload doesn't seem all that extreme even now. After all, both then and now my yearly blog entry count at AG.com has been much higher than 133. Plus, my article count at Rotoworld for 2008 was well over 200.
In 2004 my gig at Rotoworld was just starting, but as Jaffe notes my THT duties included running the site in addition to writing. Plus, 2004 was actually midway through my college career, which may help explain why there's no diploma hanging on my wall right now. All of which is an overly self aggrandizing way of saying that when you really love to write and really hate school pumping out 133 articles in one year is nothing. Although that's not the first time I've been accused of having "a Ruthian figure."
Kim Kardashian has been hooked up with Reggie Bush for quite a while now, but her less attractive sister apparently digs ball hogs with neck tattoos.
Despite his blog-hating ways columnist Patrick Reusse has long been one of the bright spots in the Minneapolis Star Tribune sports section, but he'll be cutting his writing workload in half after accepting a new job as host of KSTP radio's morning show. Starting at 5:30 a.m. each day makes for a rough gig, but the following note from the station's press release announcing the hiring outlines the part of the job that Reusse will probably dislike most:
In addition to new on-air responsibilities, Reusse will contribute with a show blog and other content on the station's website.
As Reusse wrote not long ago while seemingly equating blogging to homelessness: "Journalism is getting very crowded in this new age of the blogosphere, with the internet giving anyone with an opinion and a computer a venue to vent." Funny how things can change. Welcome to the blogosphere, Pat, and please try to keep the "boot licking, obfuscation, and grandiosity" to a minimum. After all, "we're going to be colleagues."
Apparently the International Sports Press Association agrees with me.
Katy Perry's music is still more or less unlistenable, but who knew?
Friends of AG.com Keith and Phil Arnold recently finished their season-long road trip traveling to the best college football games in the country each week, and the result was amusing videos, lots of good blogging, a SportingNews.com gig, and one photo of an Arnold brother in a Twins hat embracing a girl decked out in Under Armour gear and a Florida Gators beanie. In other words, Road to Game Day lived up to its billing as "the greatest traveling college football website in the history of the internet."
Between equally glowing reviews from Bill Simmons and Mick Foley, I'm itching to see The Wrestler.
My idea for this week's AG.com-approved music video was "New Happy Birthday Song" by NOFX and my fallback plan was "Lisa It's Your Birthday" by the famous Bart Simpson-Leon Kompowsky duo, but sadly there doesn't appear to be a great video version of either song online. Instead, here's the far less amusing Paul McCartneyperforming "Birthday":
I've been a bad blogger lately because the Twins' offseason hasn't exactly been action-packed thus far and the annual Rotoworld baseball magazine is due at Beckett on January 6. I'm the magazine's editor and also write a big chunk of the content, so hopefully you'll forgive me for the lack of new entries here. I've got some interesting things planned for AG.com once the magazine stops dominating my life and goes to the printer on January 9, including the annual Top 40 Twins Prospects series.
In the meantime, thank you for not complaining too much about the lack of content here and thank you for supporting me in 2008, whether by reading AG.com, checking out my non-blog writing at Rotoworld, watching my videos at NBCSports.com, or listening to my appearances on KFAN. AG.com has totaled slightly more than 1.25 million visitors this year, participation in the semi-weekly live chat sessions has greatly surpassed my expectations, and Rotoworld has posted record-setting traffic.
All of which makes me very appreciative of my audience and excited for what 2009 will bring. Seriously, thank you. I'll be back Friday with a Link-O-Rama and semi-daily blogging will resume soon. And in an effort to more properly express my feelings about the loyal AG.com audience in a completely ridiculous way, here's a fitting song from my all-time favorite, Al Green:
Last offseason the Twins signed R.A. Dickey to a minor-league contract only to have him snatched up by the Mariners in the Rule 5 draft a week later, so this time around they waited until after the Rule 5 draft to ink Dickey to a minor-league deal. Dickey decided to become a free agent after being outrighted off Seattle's 40-man roster a few weeks ago and the 34-year-old knuckleballer chose to join the Twins rather than re-sign with the Mariners:
They seemed to be the team that had the most interest in me. Not only that, they also seemed to have a real plan for how they want to use me. More than the other teams. I liked the things they were saying to me. In the end, the Twins seemed more interested. They were saying things about the quality of player they look for and how they like to have character guys on their team. It was nice to hear that they thought of me that way.
Dickey explained that the Twins "haven't promised anything" regarding an Opening Day roster spot and realistically he's a long shot to make the team out of spring training, but he was apparently swayed by a phone call from assistant general manager Rob Antony that came just hours after he hit free agency. According to Dickey, the "plan" for him would involve bullpen work and the occasional spot start, which he prefers to simply competing for a rotation spot after having some success as a reliever this season.
Dickey is an intriguing player and everyone loves a knuckleballer, but he had a 5.21 ERA and 58-to-51 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 112.1 innings with the Mariners this year and the Twins already have a pair of out-of-options long-relief candidates in Boof Bonser and Philip Humber. Barring a trade, the Twins will probably end up sending Dickey to Triple-A near the end of spring training while telling him that he'll be the first pitcher called up for in-season reinforcements.
Along with Dickey, the Twins have also signedLuis Matos, Joe Gaetti, Sean Henn, and Bob Keppel to minor-league deals. All four are likely headed to Triple-A, but only Keppel is totally without potential. Matos is a solid defensive center fielder and has spent parts of seven seasons in the majors, batting .255/.312/.375 in 1,773 plate appearances. For comparison, Carlos Gomez hit .258/.290/.360 this year. Matos is 29 years old and played 2008 in Mexico, but still looks like a capable backup outfielder.
Henn was once considered a solid starter prospect while coming up through the Yankees' system, but flopped during a few brief stints in New York and recently moved to the bullpen full time following arm problems. Henn has an ugly 7.56 ERA in 66.2 innings in the majors, but as a left-hander with a 3.74 ERA and 137-to-67 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 175.2 innings at Triple-A he could be a decent southpaw specialist out of the bullpen.
Gaetti actually finished this year with the Twins after they acquired him from the A's in mid-August and homered in his first plate appearance at Double-A, but ruptured his Achilles' tendon while rounding the bases and missed the remainder of the season. Gaetti is 27 years old and has yet to get a shot in the majors, but he's hit .284/.366/.511 during six seasons in the minors and could be a decent platoon bat against left-handed pitching. Oh, and he's also Gary Gaetti's son and does a nifty impression of dad.
After four seasons at Rochester and only 84 plate appearances in the majors to show for it, Garrett Jones has left the organization to sign a minor-league contract with the Pirates. Ron Gardenhire was oddly complimentary to Jones when the Twins called him up in 2007 and some local media members misguidedly talked him up as some sort of legitimate power hitter based on his 20-homer seasons in the minors, but with a .259/.317/.457 line at Triple-A my take has always been that he's a non-prospect.
At 31 years old Randy Ruiz is also a non-prospect, but unlike Jones he would have at least been a decent fit on the Twins' roster as a right-handed platoon partner for Jason Kubel. Ruiz was initially kept on the 40-man roster to begin the offseason, but the Twins decided to release him last week and the Blue Jays quickly signed him to a minor-league deal. Ruiz has batted .302/.369/.524 in a decade in the minors and went 17-for-62 (.274) with the Twins this year, but he's certainly a marginal major leaguer.
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