We have a truck-load of mulch being delivered shortly,[1] so some links to help you pass the time while I try to beat the rain.
We’ll begin with basketball. This article is a year old, but got passed around again after the player who it focuses on, Cheick Diallo, committed to play his one year of college basketball at Kansas two weeks ago. Interesting how, at least when it comes to college choice, the headline was 100 percent accurate.
Side note, I feel just fine about the state of college basketball right now.
In Search of the Next Andrew Wiggins
On to baseball, with two articles about a couple of the best players to ever take the field.
Pedro Martinez’s memoir just got published. And based on the two summaries I’ve read of it, it is exactly what you would expect from one of the most thoughtful and interesting guys of the modern era. There really hasn’t been anyone quite like him.
The Funky Mental Garden of Pedro Martinez
The Royals have played the Detroit Tigers the past two weekends, winning four of the seven games to open up a 1.5 game lead in the division. At the center of each series were key at bats by Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera. Like Pedro, he’s a guy I can’t help but love, even when he’s destroying my team.
He had some great moments of give-and-take with Royals players both weekends. And it was all good, clean, fun. No jawing, no posturing. Just faking running on Alex Gordon then shaking his head and smiling back to Gordon. Or grinning and nodding at Kelvin Herrera following a huge strikeout in the 8th inning a week ago. Or last night’s silliness with Salvador Perez. Where I think they were messing around.
Anyway, I love Miggy. So long as he doesn’t get big hits in big moments against the Royals.
The new Miguel Cabrera is just like the old one: hitting and having way too much fun
Last week C. asked me if I could get “…some of that gum, that looks like worms, and comes in the envelope you put in your pocket?” S. had no idea what she was talking about. I knew right away.
I remember the first pouch of Big League Chew I ever bought. Late summer of 1980. I crammed my mouth full, stashed the pouch in my back pocket, and pretended to be George Brett. Before that we had been mixing gum with Tootsie Rolls so we could spit brown like baseball players who chewed tobacco. As this look back at how Big League Chew came about shows, that brown spit was also a driving force for the earliest prototypes of the gum.
Hard to believe that it’s still around. I expected it to go the way of candy cigarettes.
Big League Chew: An Oral History
Feel good story of the day: A 90-year-old tortoise rides around on wheels after losing its legs
These are great times we live in, my friends.
I like websites that explain what they are about very clearly and literally.
Finally, the trailer for the new Vacation movie. Expectations are low, and I fear every good bit is in this trailer. But with Ed Helms and Christina Applegate, it has a chance.
WARNING: THIS PREVIEW IS NOT SAFE FOR WORK!!!
- Well, half a truck load. We’re splitting a whole load with our neighbors. I don’t want to take credit for spreading it all. ↩