Hunt and Peck: Links of the Week

At approximately 10:00pm yesterday evening police were called out to the scene of a disturbance in a local residential area. The call was to the residence of Michael Scott Matheny, 43, who was home unexpectedly from work. Reports indicate that Matheny heard noises outside of his home, grabbed his baseball bat and headed outside to investigate while wife, Kristen, contacted the authorities. Upon further inspection, remnants of thrown eggs were discovered adhered to the siding of the residence. The type of eggs are unknown at this time, though chicken has been suggested by experts.  Matheny was able to catch the suspect by surprise, but was not able to subdue him or her. Being a career .239 hitter, this really comes as no surprise to everyone. When asked about who he believed was behind the vandalism, Matheny stated he had no idea who would want to act against him, "but I have handled adversity my entire life and I know we will be able to get through this as a family."

In completely unrelated news, Memphis second baseman Kolten Wong is batting .333/.366/.462 for the Redbirds. - Fangraphs

What Else is Going On in Baseball...

• Are the Braves done with Dan Uggla? - Hardball Talk
• There really is a home field advantage. We just cannot figure out why. - Baseball Prospectus
• The Podcast Crackdown. - Fangraphs; Viva el Birdos
• Want to visit all 30 stadiums in 30 days? Here is how. Thanks to stl ex-pat @elPadre32 (I am pretty sure that is you.)  - Slate
• Matt Williams gets into a car accident... live on the radio. Big thanks to flood for this link! - SB Nation
• Cards/Cubs is nice and Red Sox/Yankees is classic, but this lists the new and heated rivalries of today. - Sports on Earth
• Mariano Rivera on The Daily Show! - Cut4
• A plate appearance can end 14 different ways. Here they are ranked from most exciting to least. (Side note: Trevor Rosenthal is such a stud.) - Sports on Earth
• Oh my stars, Oakland Athletics' pitcher Jesse Chavez makes a great catch, and thank goodness! Thanks flood! - SB Nation
• Home is where the heart is and also Jon Hamm. Thanks again, flood! - Peter Gammons
• The Royals just aren't clutch or something (thanks, flood!). - SB Nation
• Troy Tulowitzki gives no [redacted] about getting in the rundown, grabs crotch instead. Darn you, TULO, you even make that cool. (thanks, flood! I love this link!) - SB Nation

What the Cardinals are Up To...

• KEEP PLAYING PETER BOURJOS. - STL Today
• Memphis scores a whole lotta runs. - MiLB
• Regressing to the mean, shame on Allen Craig, hopefully none of this will be relevant in a few weeks. - Fangraphs
• "Bazooka/Dancin'/Goggles/Deadfish Handshakin'/Houdini" Joe Kelly was forced to halt his throwing program. - Rant Sports
• You will all be interested to know that if you Google "Joe Kelly" this is one of the top results. It isn't him, but pretending it is is fun. - Comics Alliance
• Matheny has to give Daniel Descalso at bats, game notes from Tuesday, and some news on Jason Motte (courtesy of tehzachatak). - STL Today
• Learn more about Cards' prospect Marco Gonzales (posted in the day thread by OurSaviorAaronMiles). - Baseball Prospectus
• Bob Gibson is hungry for a windsock (brought to light by BVHeck). - Fangraphs
• Joey Butler up, Randal Grichuk down. - Rotowire

KNOW THY ENEMY...

The NL Central

• Tuesday was the anniversary of Kerry Wood's 20 strikeout game. - MLB Fancave
• Jeff Samardzija is 0-3 with a 1.62 ERA. - Sports on Earth
• That adorable dog, guys. I agree with Brandon McCarthy. It is a travesty there are not more dogs in public to play with. - Cut4

The Pittsburgh Pirates (14-20)

• Oh girl, Gregory Polanco rejects a seven year deal from the Pirates. - Hardball Talk
• Let's explore how much he would be worth. - Fangraphs
• Fink provides you with his series preview. WARNING: Adorable Matt Adams picture. - Viva el Birdos
• Check out their SBN Blog for more extensive Pirates coverage. - Bucs Dugout

Viva el Stuff...

• If you missed PSCA's article on Carlos Beltran's newest milestone, you are missing out. - Viva el Birdos
• Joe sits down with ESPN's Buster Olney in this interview. - Viva el Birdos
• As You Van Slyke It has very graciously donated two all-inclusive tickets available for silent auction, with the proceeds going to Cardinals Care for the Viva el Run. (Sidenote: can someone fill me in on the relationship between AYVSI and Hatts for Matts because I appear to be missing something?) - Viva el Birdos
• The 1888 Browns take on the 1968 Cardinals in this Tournament of Champions from 2008. - Viva el Archives
• Check out Tuesday's links. There is ice cream. - Viva el Birdos

Other Things...

• The first round of the NFL Draft has ended. - NFL
• Meanwhile the NBA Playoffs are still underway. - SB Nation
• So are the NHL Playoffs. - SB Nation
• Here's something about the soccer thing you all were talking about the other day that I didn't understand, at least, I think it is. - SB Nation

Weekly Scoreboard:

Tonight the series in Pittsburgh begins at 6:05 CST with Michael Wacha squaring off against Pirate hurler (heh heh heh) Francisco Liriano. Coverage will be provided on Fox Sports Midwest, ROOT Sports, and MLB Network and on KMOX 1120 and KDKA-FM 93.7.

Please keep sending me links! Tweet me @lil_scooter93 or e-mail me at lil_scooter93@msn.com!