A huge "YEE-HAAA!" edition of Halolinkage:
LINKS AFTER THE BREAK...
- Dammit, not another group of Texas idiots! Starting in 2013, the Houston Astros will join the Angels, Mariners, A's, and Rangers in the A.L. West division. The move will create two 15-team leagues and will result in inter-league games throughout the year. In this post, Angels among clubs not thrilled with moving the Astros to AL West - latimes.com, Angel's President John Carpino says their concern is with having a division rival 2 time zones away and the effect of having the pitchers hit "sprinkled throughout the schedule". "It's not that we're opposed to it — we don't have all the particulars to cast judgment," Carpino said. "But if it's good for Angels fans and baseball, we're for it." I don't get why MLB didn't just return the Brewers back to the A.L. Put Milwaukee in the Central and move the Royals to the West. Oh well. Here's what the SBN Astros blog has to say about the sale and move: The Day Of Astros Judgment Has Come - The Crawfish Boxes
- I think one of the funnest things to do if I had become a major league player, that is before I became a huge douchebag with long sideburns and a huge ego, would be to reach out to the community by visiting schools, hospitals, and women's prisons. Here's something that Angel rookie Mark Trumbo did: Mark Trumbo goes yard for his 3rd grade teacher - The Orange County Register.
- I know, I know, he's more brittle than my grandma's hip, but wouldn't it be nice to have a lefty bat that can fill-in at third for a couple hundred at-bats? Eric Chavez hoping to continue playing career in 2012 - HardballTalk. This post points out, "Chavez registered a poor .263/.320/.356 batting line across 175 plate appearances this year and missed nearly three months with a foot fracture", but the guy's only 97, I mean, 33 years-old. He can take Branyon's invisible roster spot.
- I think I mentioned this in yesterday's halolinks, but C.J. Wilson is obviously insane, Wilson wants a six-year deal - Yahoo! Sports. "Now word comes on what it could take to land Wilson: SI.com reports that the 30-year-old lefty wants a six-year, $120 million contract from his next team." Good Lord, look at those sideburns!
- Dave Cameron looks at some players who suddenly dropped off a cliff (Carl Crawford and Adam Dunn) in this post: Do Early Decline Players Share Any Traits? - FanGraphs Baseball
- This is pretty good: Sports Cards For Insane People: Police-Issued Cards, Here To Harsh The Buzz Of 8-Year-Olds - SBNation.com, and it's from an SBN site (I always feel better linking to one of our sister blogs. You know, keeping it in the family...much like Ranger fans). Bonus points for using the word "crummiest"..."Do you think that small children should do a bunch of drugs? According to sets of sports cards issued by police departments, they should not. Herein, we take a look at some of the crummiest sports cards ever made."
- Just what California needs, another hot blonde...Say it ain’t so! Heidi Watney leaves Red Sox for Lakers gig - Yahoo! Sports. For those of you who don't watch Red Sox games on NESN (what!) here's what you've been missing...
There's also this YouTube video of her bobblehead give-away from the Lowell Spinners. Yeah, bobblehead and spinners...sorry, that's just too easy.
- And finally...The life of a minor league lifer - The Hardball Times. The story of Jorge Alvarez