Not sure whether MLB.com will publicize Spring Training gameday links or not this year, but if they don't, I've set up my link generator script in a cron job for throughout Spring.

I don't normally concern myself with the personal life of athletes, and I've been made too cynical to see athletes as role models. However, I thought some of you might find this article on Pujols interesting. I do find it extremely interesting to see how excellence is driven.

A look at how Felipe Lopez's value at SS compares to that of Brendan Ryan's... I'd love to hear suggestions about what numbers I should use in the future.

Here is the table of contents, but you should read the whole review, as linked above. Introduction .7 Chapter 1 – History of Baseball Statistics .10 Chapter 2 – Winning Games .17 Chapter 3 – Basic Batting .23 Chapter 4 – Total Batting Contribution .34 Chapter 5 – Linear Weights .47 Chapter 6 – Situational Hitting .55 Chapter 7 – Baserunning .62 Chapter 8 – Basic Pitching .71 Chapter 9 – Fielding Independent Pitching .82 Chapter 10 –Relief Pitching .93 Chapter 11 – Individual Fielding .99 Chapter 12 – Catcher Defense .113 Chapter 13 – Team Fielding .120 Chapter 14 – Adjusting for Environment.126 Chapter 15 – Total Player Contribution .132 Bibliography .143 Web Sites .146 Index .148

Worth a look for those of us that have been experiencing Brendan Ryan withdrawal for the past few months. This video is a few days old so it may have already been posted among the comments somewhere. From Good Reporter's blog. Bounce back, kid! <3

This is amazing to see the two of these guys break down hitting. So this is what it's like to be AJ Pujols!

Look, we all love baseball. But seriously dude,priorities. Bigger

Apparently, Houston is bizarro-baseball world, where horrendously overpaying Brandon Lyon is the height of hot stove strategic mastery. I wonder if GM competence is the next "Moneyball" frontier.

from BJ Rains twitter - Mark McGwire talks at Cardinals camp about hitting, steroids Cardinals' hitting coach Mark McGwire talked for more than 17 minutes with the media on Wednesday afternoon at the Cardinals spring training complex at Roger Dean Stadium.