This weekend’s MVPs….
Sept. 2: Jon Lester
Sept 3: Mike Trout
Sept. 4: Eduardo Rodriguez
Sept. 5: Chad Bettis (apologies to Brian Dozier and Ubaldo Jimenez)
Standings, as always, after the jump:
The MVPs while I was in Chicago….
August 26: Chris Sale
August 27: Charlie Blackmon
August 28: Josh Donaldson
August 29: Mike Trout
August 30: Rougned Odor
Standings, as always, after the jump:
In Bizarre Baseball Culture, I take a look at some of the more unusual places where baseball has reared it’s head in pop culture and fiction.
Comic Book universes are huge and diverse, going through countless genres and containing both nitty-gritty realism and utterly fantastic science fiction or fantasy. And yet, they all take place in the same universe, no matter how different they seem. You can get a idea of just how crazy this is by looking at Marvel’s movie/TV empire, where Daredevil and Guardians of the Galaxy are both taking place in the same universe despite the fact that one of them is about a guy beating up mob bosses (and the occasional ninja) while the other one has both a talking raccoon and a talking tree.
However, as a result of this, sometimes characters get lost in the shuffle. They are technically part of the universe, but they rarely interact with it. Maybe it’s because their adventures are on the more mature side, maybe they are stuck in another dimension that the usual heroes don’t go to so often, or maybe, they aren’t seen because that’s just the way they want it…
Such is the case of Christopher Chance, AKA the Human Target. He’s not a completely unknown character- he’s been the subject of two short-lived shows based on his comics (the most notable being a two-season FOX series starring Mark Valley and James Earle Haley), but he’s firmly in the D-list of DC Comics. And those were both pretty different from the comics and had little indication of taking place in a world of DC Comics. In fact, when it was announced that the Human Target would be coming to Arrow, some people were surprised to find out that he even was a DC character. That’s probably because he doesn’t interact with the rest of the DC Universe all that much. Or maybe he does, but we just don’t know it.
Because, you see, the Human Target is a master of disguise. He becomes the would-be assassination victim using heavy prosthetic-work and a knack for copying voices and body language. And in this installment of Bizarre Baseball Culture, Christopher Chance figuratively steps up to the plate:
GO BELOW THE JUMP FOR MORE:
The MVP of Aug. 23 was… Gregory Polanco.
The MVP of Aug. 24 was… Manny Machado.
Standings after the jump:
A word on this week and an announcement:
5-for-5, 2 home runs, 2 doubles. Kris Bryant is the MVP of Yesterday.
Standings, as always, after the jump:
There have plenty of weird finds on eBay of tangentially-related-to-baseball memorabilia. Cy Young’s coffee pot, a Mr. Peanut costume that hung out with Reggie Jackson, Lefty Grove’s tax returns, and, of course, STAN MUSIAL’S WALLET AND IT’S CONTENTS!
And to this, we add another piece of memorabilia that has been touched by a Hall of Famer: a padlock owned by Cy Young!
Yes, for the low price of $149.95 (plus shipping), you can own this padlock that was owned at one point by the winningest pitcher of all time. Of course, you may “need a locksmith to open it,” says the listing, but how can you say no to “a rare piece from the Pitching Legend.” I mean, never mind that it had nothing to do with baseball whatsoever and is probably like countless other padlocks around the world… Cy Young’s fingers touched this thing. And that’s gotta be worth almost 150 dollars, right?
Right?
Chase Utley’s return to Philly was a great one, as he homered twice (including a grand slam!) and had five RBIs (and a walk) in the Dodgers’ shellacking of the Phillies. Standings, as always, after the jump:
Back in 2012, the BBC put up a neat little online app that said what Olympian you were most similar to in height and weight. Needless to say, I took advantage of the kindness of our friends across the pond by using it to compare MLB players to Olympians. Well, the BBC did it again, adding a age portion to it as well. So, after the jump, check out how some MLB players compare to Olympians.
The MVPs of the last few days:
August 5: Steven Wright
August 6: Ryan Braun
August 7: Manny Machado (amazingly his first of the year)
August 8: Brandon Crawford
Standings, as always, after the jump:
The Baseball Continuum 