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I'm going to start this news and notes off with a tweet I like:
Happy 61st birthday to Ozzie Smith, who ranks No. 1 all-time in career assists (8,375) among shortstops. (Luis Aparicio is 2nd at 8,016).
— Mark Tomasik (@retrosimba) December 26, 2015
It's hard to put into words how exciting it was to watch Ozzie Smith play shortstop because it's been nearly twenty years since he last did it and because his greatness was often indescribable anyway. His plaque in Cooperstown should be accompanied with a five minute highlight reel so the uninitiated understands what the big deal was. Everyone knows what a home run looks like but you really do need to see a video of Ozzie robbing Jeff Burroughs of a hit with his bare hand to fully appreciate his genius.
Because of the holiday it has been a bit slower at VEB lately but this is what you may have missed on Monday:
Adding Outfield Depth?
- Going off last week's report from Jon Paul Morosi that the Cardinals engaged in talks with the Rockies about a trade for one of their outfielders, Nick Lampe looked at whether Carlos Gonzalez, Charlie Blackmon, or Corey Dickerson could add value to the club over their current in-house options.
Weather Update
- If you live in the Midwest, you probably already know that your current weather is some bad and serious business so Lil Scooter and the rest of us ask that you please stay safe. Stay dry, too. According to my Twitter feed, only about three of you currently DON'T have a flooded basement.
Mark McGwire
- Finally, I wrote about Mark McGwire and why he's still paying the price for his PED use.