Thursday Halolinks: All fans dig the long ball

Remember when you were in school, walked into class and saw that the projector set up and it was movie day?  Wasn't that a cool feeling?  Well, today is video day, and the videos are of home runs.  Because chicks (and dudes) dig the longball:

• This post also mentions that most teams wait until June or July before making a trade and states this may also be the Angels strategy in replacing Josh Hamilton: Dipoto preaches patience with Angels' struggling offense - angels.com, "The Angels opened the season roughly $12 million below the luxury-tax threshold, which has basically acted as their spending limit the last few years. Now, after saving about $20 million on Hamilton's contract over the next three years, they're more than $15 million below. "This is just not a time of year when you can add offense," Dipoto said. "It's not readily available to you."
• Angels' fans are very fortunate to have this guy on their favorite team:
  
• Hamstring injury could keep Pujols out through weekend - MLB.com, "It feels more like a cramp, but it's really sore right now," Pujols said. "We'll see tomorrow." Pujols screamed in pain while jogging halfway down the first-base line after a bloop single off Dan Otero and was immediately checked on by the Angels' training staff. The 35-year-old felt a little better after loosening his left leg, but Grant Green took over as a pinch-runner nonetheless. "  here's teh GIF from last night's postgame thread showing Pujols gimping down the first base line:

  

• Adjust your Wilson expectations, this will probably be a lingering thing this season: Angels' C.J. Wilson has fluid drained from elbow - CBSSports, "Wilson threw his normal between-starts bullpen session Wednesday and said his elbow felt "way better than it was a week ago," when he needed to have his scheduled pushed back a few days due to soreness. Asked about his level of concern, the pitcher said, "None. There's a formula. I know what to do. We know what the process needs to be. If we just stick to that process, we'll be fine."
• There had been rumors that a NL team was involved in the Hamilton trade talks.  I guess it might have been the Dodgers: Before Texas trade, Dodgers were involved in Hamilton trade scenarios - CBSSports.com, "The Dodgers are believed to have discussed both straight deals and three-way scenarios that would have sent Hamilton to Texas but it's apparent that ultimately they couldn't quite pull off any sort of deal that satisfied the Angels. The cash-rich Dodgers' main intention apparently was to pay some money while gathering prospects, not add Hamilton to their talented and crowded outfield mix; so even if a straight deal worked, presumably Hamilton would have gone to the Rangers eventually, anyway."
• Strike outs and jaw-dropping defensive plays are cool, but nothing beats a home run blast...especially one that goes this far:
  
  
  Cruz's home run left the park so quickly the Rangers' players didn't have a chance to move:
  

  

• This is pretty incredible, I couldn't believe my eyes...
  
  ...look how tubby Bartolo Colon is!
• The thing I found interesting about this crowdless game was how fast it got over.  According to the boxscore, the game lasted just 2 hours and 3 minutes.  And that's including the teams scoring a combined 10 runs.  Baltimore Orioles–Chicago White Sox game: What it was like to watch the behind-closed-doors game from the press box, "Instead, a bunch of writers sat in a box and watched highly paid men run around a field, while the true fans stood on their tiptoes to glimpse the game through metal bars. There was no mascot, no dance cam, no booming shouts of "charge!"
• This Is The Saddest Baseball GIF: