Soundalikes: Peter Gammons

Anyone else think ESPN's Peter Gammons sounds like TBS's Buck Martinez?

Baseball: Improved Initials

There's been something I've been meaning to blog all baseball season: the dumbness of the Texas Rangers' decision to have multiple uniform colours. I caught a bit of the St. Louis Cardinals on EPSN - 90% of the fans were wearing red to support their team. What a great sight. Then I flipped over to the Rangers game, where there was a mess of blues and reds (in among the burnt orange, khaki, yellow...) Pity the poor Rangers fan who wants to support his team and dons a blue shirt - only to find the team playing in their alternate red uniform.

But that's not why I'm here. There are some MLB players whose last name demands that they have a certain first initial. Sadly, in all cases, they have a less funny actual initial. Still, here's hoping they name their offspring appropriately, and raise them to follow in their footsteps.

• Tampa Bay's Willy Aybar should be Gary Aybar - G. Aybar.
  
• Detroit Tiger Brandon Inge should be Marlon Inge - M. Inge.
  
• Rangers reliever Darren O'Day should be a Tom or Ted - T. O'Day.
  
• L.A. Dodger James Loney should be B.A. Loney.
  
• Chicago White Sock Jim Thome should be Albert Thome - A. Thome.
  

Honorable mention for Lyle Overbay for almost being "Loverboy".

Baseball: Promotions

Best sports promotion ever: miniature bathroom stall with a "bobblefoot" being given out by the St. Paul Saints. (They're having a "Moment Of Noise" tribute to Marcel Marceaut tonight.) One of these giveaways is already on eBay, and bidding is currently at $102.50.

Sports Illustrated (from 2004) lists the Top 10 Minor League Promotions, half of which were run by Mike Veeck teams.

Mental Floss lists "Five Ballpark Promotions That Went Wrong". Includes the Cleveland Indians' "10 Cent Beer Night" for a game against your Texas Rangers.

Sports: Baseball Manager Quiz

1. Which baseball manager holds the record for most ejections (set in 2007)?
   
2. In 1998, Barry Bonds became the fifth player to be given an Intentional Base On Balls with the bases loaded. Who was the opposing manager?
   
3. Who was the last player-manager in Major League Baseball?
   
4. The Texas Rangers had 4 managers in 1977, including one who lasted just one game. Can you name all four?
   
5. Match the manager to the quote:
   

   (a) Tommy Lasorda	(1) "Good pitching will always stop good hitting and vice-versa."
   (b) Leo Durocher	(2) "The key to winning baseball games is pitching, fundamentals, and three run homers."
   (c) Casey Stengel	(3) "I made a game effort to argue but two things were against me; the umpires and the rules."
   (d) Earl Weaver	(4) "He (Darryl Strawberry) is not a dog; a dog is loyal and runs after balls."

   
   

Bonus: Earl Weaver's profanity-laced "Manager's Corner". (Apparently, it was pre-taped and never aired.)

Music: Christian Kjellvander

Charming video of Swedish singer-songwriter Christian Kjellvander playing a song on a banjo in his car, with birdsong in the background. Was it really filmed on a cellphone? Seems awfully good quality.

YouTube has more of his videos, including "Drunken Hands", "Drag The Dirt In", and "Days Of Black (Nights Are Lights)" by his old band, Loosegoats. (The Loosegoats early EP, "Small Lesbian Baseball Players", shows up on a web store that specialises in baseball-related items.)

(Via swedesplease, purveyors of the best in Swedish music.)

Sports: Appropriate Names

The baseball trade deadline brought some sport-appropriate names. I never thought of Eric Gagne until the Rangers traded him to Boston. He should really play in Montreal (his hometown), where they would appreciate that "gagner" is the French for "to win".

The Yankees acquired Wilson Betemit. He should do an ad for Wilson gloves, saying, "It's a better mitt."

And how come no one ever suggested Dave Winfield? His surname can be read as "win" + "field", or "W" + "infield". Did you know he's one of two players to be drafted by three different pro sports (and a fourth as a publicity stunt)?

New Ranger Neftali Feliz doesn't have an appropriate name (I think), but I propose we call him "Netflix". (I like how Baseball Prospectus shows an image that says, "We don't have a picture of this guy", with an "alt" tag of "He's probably very handsome".)

But the Rangers' biggest coup was getting the player with the longest surname in MLB history, Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The cameras caught him laughing with Kameron Loe in the dugout tonight about their discrepancy in name length. His name is an anagram of "Maharaja's Radical Clot".

Lookalikes: John Turturro as Billy Martin

In the new ESPN mini-series, "The Bronx Is Burning", John Turturro is fitted with prosthetic ears to play Billy Martin. Is it just me, or does he look like the Late Night character, Preparation H Raymond?

Doesn't look much like Billy Martin, from what I can see.

Web Design: Page Layout

Fascinating article about "eyetracking" and what it tells us about designing good Online News pages. Example 3 says that men like looking at George Brett's package.