Actress, Pin-Up Jane Russell Passes Away

Jane Russell, the statuesque brunette who starred in films along with Marylin Monroe, Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra, passed away in her Santa Maria, CA home from a respiratory illness at the age of 89 on Monday.

Russell was born in Bemidji, MN in 1921 before her family moved to Southern California in the 1930s. Her breakthrough role came in 1943 in the Howard Hughes-directed The Outlaw in which she's involved in a love triangle between Billy the Kid and Doc Holliday. The Motion Picture Production Code, however, took exception to the lengths in which the film highlighted Russell's cleavage and aside from a limited release in 1943, The Outlaw wouldn't see the light of day until 1946.

However, promotional photos for the yet-to-be-released film featuring a buxom Russell on a haystack garnered her popularity as a pin-up with servicemen during WWII. Bob Hope even introduced her as 'The two and only, Jane Russell" on one of his radio broadcasts.

With the release of The Outlaw being delayed by the MPPC, the movie-going public was actually introduced to Russell in March 1946 after the release of the drama Young Widow in which she played a young journalist who's husband was killed in WWII.

Russell's best-known role was co-starring with Marilyn Monroe in the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and the latter portion of the movie features Russell impersonating her platinum blonde co-star [h/t Althouse].
The Howard Hawks directed film was a huge critical and box office success at the time. Russell famously appeared with Monroe at Hollywood's Mann Chinese Theater where both of their handprints are still encased in cement on the sidewalk in front of the theater's entrance.
After 1957, Russell only appeared in five more motion pictures before retiring to the central California coast. She was a practicing Christian who hosted bible studies and was active with the Republican party in the 1950s, attending Dwight D Eisenhower's inauguration. Adopting three children of her own, Russell founded the World Adoption International Fund in 1955.

Today's Train of Though- Spring Has Sprung, Feb 28th

Today's train of thought takes us to the Florida city that the Red Sox call home for a few weeks out of the year, but their arrival is a sign that spring is here no matter how cold it may get elsewhere.

And with the weather being as agreeable as it is for most of the year in the southwestern corner of Florida's peninsula, the Seminole Gulf railway decided to make use of its surroundings and operate some excursion trains.

Here, railpictures.net contributor Andrew Blaszczyk catches on of Seminole Gulf's former Long Island RR Power cars (converted from F9As) leading a short southbound River Rail Explorer excursion train across the Calloosahatchee River in Fort Meyers, FL on March 28, 2007. Both the Red Sox and the Twins would be wrapping up at their nearby spring training facilities.

3rd Helping of Western Sports Chowdah- Bruins Looking Slick vs Oilers; Jazz Hit Flat Note Against C's;

NBA: Ray Allen was looking pretty ageless on Monday in Salt Lake City, getting 25 points on the night including and a pivotal 3 pointer in Boston's 107-102 of a rejuvenated Utah Jazz. Paul Pierce had 21 points on the night while Kevin Garnett had 16 points and 14 rebounds.

The tenacious win is the Celtics 2nd in a row as they wrap up a 4-game road trip out west immediately after the NBA All Star break, going 3-1 to start off the 2nd half. The Celtics return home on Wednesday night to the Garden where they'll take on the Phoenix Suns at 7:30 PM ET.


NHL: After a pair of 3-1 wins against league leading Vancouver and a resurgent Calgary Flames club, the Bruins had to hold off a late rally to come away with a win in the capital of Alberta Sunday night.

The last-place Edmonton Oilers got on the board first against Boston with a goal from Ales Hemsky barely a minute into the game. Michael Ryder would provide the equalizer with five minutes left in the first, followed by Nathan Horton putting Boston up 2-1 with less than two minutes remaining.

New acquisition Rich Peverly would get on the board with a goal with two seconds remaining in the 2nd period to make it a 3-1 game. This would be Peverly's first tally as a Boston Bruin.

The Oilers showed signs of life in the 3rd stanza, with Gilbert Brule scoring for the Oilers about 3 minutes into the 3rd and the Bruins. Tukka Rask managed to turn aside a flurry of Edmonton shots late in regulation, but Rask held on for the win, stopping 15 of 17 shots faced. The win is Boston's 5th in a row- all of them on the road.

The Bruins road trip through Canada continues into Tuesday when the Bruins head back to the Canadian capital to take on the Senators at 7:30 PM ET.

SPRING TRAINING: Some disconcerting news out of Ft. Meyers as P Josh Beckett is reportedly exhibiting mild concussion symptoms after being struck in the back of the head by a ball during batting practice at City of Palms Park.

He left the field under his own power, but was accompanied by Red Sox trainers before being sent home to rest after being examined by team doctors. The team is awaiting a more detailed report on Tuesday.

Last Living American WWI Veteran Passes Away at 110

(Martinsburg Journal News.net)

Frank Woodruff Buckles, the last surviving American World War I Veteran, passed away at his Charles Town, WV farmhouse on Monday at the age of 110.

Buckles was 16 when he enlisted, lying about his age to an Army recruiter in Oklahoma in 1917 and worked as an ambulance driver until the armistice. After the war, he was assigned to a POW escort company that was tasked with repatriating prisoners with their home country.

At the outbreak of WWII, Buckles was working as a civilian with a shipping company in the Philippines when he was captured as a prisoner of war and spent three years at the Los Banos POW camp on the island of Luzon. Interestingly, last week marked the 66th anniversary of the US Raid on Los Banos.

After the war, Buckles married and moved to a farm in West Virginia. He continued to work on the farm until he turned 106. Buckles also served as honorary chairman of the National WWI Memorial foundation.

Rest in Peace and thank you for your service, Mr. Buckles.

30 Teams: Cleveland Indians

By Mike Moritz

By no means am I expecting a play off appearance this year from the Cleveland Indians, but I do like their team for the future. In 2007, the Indians made the ALCS against the Red Sox but blew a three games to one lead and Boston went on to win the World Series. And since, the Indians have been on a downward spiral and won just 69 games in 2010. But they have a few prospects that you should keep your eye open for. This post is not so much about what their free agent and trade pickups and losses mean for the Indians (not that Cleveland made any huge moves), but rather what the future holds in store for the tribe.

But first: the biggest signing that Cleveland made was Orlando Cabrera. He was signed to a one-year deal worth $1 million and will probably be used as the primary second baseman but also as a utility infielder. Cabrera last year hit .263/.303/.354/.292 and just four homers. He has never been a get-on-base guy (career: .320 OBP) nor has he been a good BABIP guy (career: .286). This is a nice pickup though nothing huge about it. Expect about the same year but perhaps around eight homers since his HR/FB rate was a little low to his career: 4.3% to his 2010: 2.4%.

Michael Brantley was drafted in the 7th round of the 2005 draft by the Brewers but was traded in 2008 in the C.C. Sabathia trade. In the minors, Brantley's career slash line is .313/.406/.377. But he does more than just hit. He has never posted a walk rate below 10.4% in the minors. Overall, Brantley has very little power and his highest ISO in the minors was a mere .107 and currently has a just a .068 career mark. But that is perfectly OK because his job is to get on base, move up and score runs. His speed makes up for the loss of power, in his most recent full season in the minors, 2009, he had 46 steals in 51 chances. Brantley should be a good hitter in his career and should lead the Indians running game in years to come. His decent fielding and left handed pitching struggles are the only big things that are holding his value lower.

I can not say enough the young catching phenomenon Carlos Santana. The switching hitting catcher has power, plate discipline and should hit for a good average. In all of Santana's stops in the minor leagues, he posted an ISO under .212 just twice. Perhaps his most awesome stat from his minor league resume was the fact that he did not post a walk rate below 10.3% (shedding his two games in AA in 2008). It seems as though he took yet another leap in that stat catagory in 2010 in AAA where he posted his bested walk rate of an astonishing 18.3% before getting the call up to The Show. How did that translate into major league action? How about a 19.3% walk rate? Although he had just 192 PA, which I would not neccisarily consider a "small sample size", I can not reiterate how amazing that is. To back that up, also showed good pitch selection with a mere 22.4% O-Swing%. In case you were wondering, that absurd. Amazing. The one thing that even comes close to giving me a worrisome attitude toward Santana is his Contact% which was about 3% below the average at 77.3%. But honestly, that really should not mean anything and should improve with age, I don't see how it can't improve unless he just stops practicing. This is a special kid, simply put. For this year, I could see a .280 average or there about with about 25 homers and easily an OPB over .380. That is a ballsy projection for his OPB but I truely think that he can do it at his young age, 25, with his great plate discipline. Santana is coming off knee surgery to repair a torn LCL on his left knee that he suffered on a play at the plate in early August and went under the knife on August 6, 2010. This should not be an issue moving forward in his career, though.

Already one of my favorite players: Carlos Santana

It took a little while before Shin-Soo Choo could really get his career onto the band-wagon as he was hampered by injuries early in his major league pursuit, more specifically, his elbow. He had Tommy John surgery on September 25, 2007 and did not come back until May 31, 2008. No, Choo is not a pitcher, he is a right fielder who was signed as an amateur free-agent back in 2000 and was traded to the Indians in July of 2006 along with Shawn Nottingham for Ben Broussard. Choo then came back in 2008 for a slash line of .307/.397/.549/.402 with a .240 ISO, 11.9 BB%, 14 homers and 28 doubles in 370 PA. His first full season in the majors was great, .300/.394/.489/.389, 20 homers, 21 stolen bases and 38 doubles for a total of 5.0 WAR. But there was one problem that seem to hurt him in both 2008 and 2009: his strike out rate in 2008 was 24.6% and it rose in 2009 to 25.9%. But those strike out issues were dispelled in 2010 when he put his strike out rate down to 21.5% as Contact%, O-Contact% and Z-Contact% all got better signifying an improved plate discipline that was good to begin with. That should bode well for Choo. But for this year, I am not that high on him: since 2008, his LD% has gotten worse for three straight years; his GB% has been on the rise for, again, three years; his speed score (by Fangraphs) dropped from 6.1 in 2009 to 4.6 last year; his O-Contact% was up (2010: 62.5%, 2009: 54.3%) and with that, his O-Swing% was also up to 26.8% after 2009s 22.3% mark which means that if those two stats stay high, then he would just have weak hits. And that brings me to my last point (sorry to bore you), his strike out rate improved but his batting average did not and that is because his BABIP was .347. This was after 2008s .367 BABIP and 2009s .370 BABIP. At some point, even for hitters who have high BABIPs through their careers, a BABIP that high is likely to regress to the mean. It is so rare for a hitter to constantly hit for a BABIP around .370 and the .347 from Choo from last year started to show regression and I believe, also from looking back at the stats that I just mentioned, that Choo is due for a down year. Just my belief.

And let us not forget Grady Sizemore! He is two years removed from his most recent and "Grady-like" season and has since suffered multiple injuries including the big blow on his knee in May of last season. It is in question as to weather or not he can bounce back to All-Star status. If you would like to know more on Sizemore and where his career might take him from here, check out my post on him by clicking here.

Alex White is really the only young pitcher/pitching prospect that I like but I am not a HUGE fan of him (but I do like him, don't get me wrong), and, no offence, I basically have no faith Carlos Carrasco.


Some other players to keep an eye on are Jason Kipnis, Lonnie Chisenhall, Nick Weglarz and Matt LaPorta. All of whom could be impact players in the future.

But for this year, the Indians should do the same, 70 wins is my projection.

And lastly, congratulations to Fausto Carmona! He was just named the opening day starter for the tribe. This will be his first opening day start.


Feel free to share your comments down below by posting a comment.

(Statistics in courtesy of: fangraphs.com, espn.com and baseballinjurytool.com)

Feds Arrest Saudi National in Texas Bomb Plot

A 20 year old Saudi man was arrested late last week after a chemical company in North Carolina reported suspicious purchases he had been making to the FBI.

Federal prosecutors say [Khalid] Aldawsari had been researching online how to construct an improvised explosive device using several chemicals as ingredients. Authorities say Aldawsari's diary indicated the young man had been plotting an attack for years and obtained a scholarship so he could come directly to the United State to carry out jihad.

"After mastering the English language, learning how to build explosives and continuous planning to target the infidel Americans, it is time for jihad," the student wrote in his journal, according to court documents.

In e-mails Aldawsari apparently sent himself, he listed the names of 12 reservoir dams in Colorado and California. He also wrote an e-mail that mentioned "Tyrant's House" with the address of President Bush's home. The FBI's affidavit said he considered using infant dolls to hide explosives and was possibly targeting a nightclub with a backpack filled with explosives.

Employees at Carolina Biological Supply and Con-Way, Inc. alerted the authorities after Aldawsari purchased ten 500 milliliter bottles. The tip led federal investigators to track other purchases the 20 year old Saudi made online. The North Carolina supplier sells chemicals and equipment for classroom use from kindergarten up through the university level.

Magic Johnson Throwback Lakers Jersey and NBA Biography

Magic Johnson Throwback Jersey and NBA Biography

Long before the 1979 season even began, everybody knew who Ervin "Magic" Johnson was. As a joyous, bubbly, and talented sophomore guard at Michigan State, he had just led his team to the NCAA title in from of a National audience. Despite the fact that everybody knew that Magic would make waves in the pros, nobody anticipated the overwhelming effect he would have on the Los Angeles Lakers and the NBA.

Magic Johnson immediately took control of the Lakers offense as if he had a "Magic" wand. The Lakers improved their record by 13 games and led the team to their first appearance in the NBA finals in 7 year. In the finals the Lakers faced the red hot Philadelphia 76ers, who were led by the legendary Julius Erving. After 5 games the Los Angeles Lakers took a 3-2 lead, but their luck had apparently run out. Kareem Abdul Jabbar sprained his ankle and couldn't play. Nobody gave Los Angeles a chance without Kareem in game 6 and 7. The had nobody to guard Philadelphia's low post centers, nobody to rebound, and nobody to score underneath the basket on offense.

In a surprising move, Magic Johnson, who was a career point guard, volunteered to play center in Game 6. For the entire game (47 minutes played), Magic used his quickness and tenacity to outmaneuver the 76ers on both ends of the floor. He dominated under the basket with scoop shots and hooks, using spins and stutter ste=ps to gain position under the boards and found the open man when the 76ers tried to double team him. By the fourth quarter the 76ers were shocked when they looked up at the scoreboard and they were the ones who got blown out of the basketball game.

All in all, Magic Johnson pumped in 42 points, pulled down 15 boards, and handed out 7 assists. He stole three passes and was perfect from the free throwline (14-14=). At the young age of 20, Magic delivered one of the best performances in NBA history. He made a loud statement that shouted "There will be many more championship NBA basketball games to come in the future".

Los Angeles Lakers, Magic Johnson Throwback Jersey

This is Magic Johnson's Home Yellow Jersey that he wore during their games.

Mitchell & Ness Ervin ''Magic'' Johnson Los Angeles Lakers Authentic Throwback Jersey - Gold

Three Giant' Questions This Spring

The Cactus League is well underway, as the Giants have started off 2-1 and are squaring off with the Milwaukee Brewers as I type. A lot of people feel Spring Training doesn't mean much, the games don't matter and there are tons of players fans have never heard of or likely will never see play in the big leagues filling out teams lineups. However, even though the Giants are coming off of a World Series win, they still have some things they need to determine over the next month or so. Here are the 3 big questions that surround the Giants this spring:

1.) IS BRANDON BELT READY: The young first basemen was the toast of the organization in 2010 and probably would have gotten a lot more headline and even maybe a September showing had the Giants not been on their way to the playoffs. Now they must figure out what to do with the 22 year-old who's done all he can do in the Minors, but the Giants don't quite have a spot on their roster for him to get a whole lot of at-bats. If he makes the Big League roster out of Spring, it won't be as a bench guy. Young players of his caliber need to be playing everyday, so that will either be in Fresno or San Francisco. That moves the focus to Aubrey Huff, Mark DeRosa and Pat Burrell, the three guys who are big league vets who Belt has in-front of him on the depth chart right now. Still, Huff is just 2 years removed from a .240, 15 hr season in which he finished it riding the pine, and we all know what Burrell's story was before the Giants came calling. That said, the Giants don't win the World Series without Burrell and Huff and they did win it without Belt. If Burrell tanks in spring, and Freddy Sanchez or Mark DeRosa aren't 100% healed, he could make this team out of spring, but my guess is that he follows the Buster Posey route and comes up in June. But the answer is yes, I do think Belt is ready.

2.) WHICH SANDOVAL WILL SHOW UP?: At the end of 2008 and throughout 2009, Pablo Sandoval hit nearly .350 with power and run production and was counted on heavily to be the main source of runs for the 2010 lineup. Not sure if it was the expectation or the weight issue, but he struggled mightily in 2010, and got even worse as the season wore on. That prompted a revamped offseason training program, one that allowed him to lose over 20 pounds and he's shown up in camp this year as slim and fit as the Giants have seen him since they signed him as an 18 year-old. I don't know that the .330/25/90 version of Panda that we saw in 2009 is the guy your going to get every year, but I'm certainly expecting an improvement on last years .269/13/68 line. We haven't done the GBB's 2011 hitting projections yet, but I expect Sandoval to be closer to '09 than the '10 version. Maybe something like .295/20/80 and I think the Giants would take that from their 24 year-old 3rd basemen as long has he stays in shape and holds down the hot corner. I think Miguel Tejada will be a nice influence on him.

3.) WHERE'S EVERYONE GOING TO PLAY?: Bruce Bochy is going to have some decisions to make, as he's got a roster full of position players who are used to being everyday players. They have Mark DeRosa coming back, and he's going to demand some work, then there's Aaron Rowand, who even though he lost his job to Andres Torres in '10, Bochy still says is firmly in the outfield mix. Then if Brandon Belt tears up the Cactus League, that's another bat that Boch will need to find daily at-bats for. That's the big reason why I see Belt ending up in Fresno until something gives. Now, we have a month of spring games to play before rosters need to be set anyway, so these things may just work themselves out. At least that's what the Giants are hoping, otherwise there could be a deal in the works which may not be such a horrible idea, thing is, nobody wants the guys who the Giants want to deal (Rowand/Zito).

-Now, there are many more little questions that need to be answered this spring like who fills out the bullpen and bench, but I think those spots are already set, unless somebody gets hurt. Eli Whiteside will back-up Posey, and Fontenot/DeRosa/Rowand/Schierholtz will likely make up the rest of the bunch. The one guy I could see losing his spot is Nate Schierholtz if they can find someone with some more speed who can play all outfield positions.

Check Back on March 25th for the Answers to these 5 Spring questions!

Borderline Psychosis Update- US Agents Caught in Fatal Ambush;

SAN LUIS POTOSI: Two Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents acting as liaison officers with Mexican law enforcement were shot in an ambush as they were driving between Monterrey and Mexico City earlier this month.
Details continue to emerge after the Feb 15th attack outside of San Luis Potosi in which the two agents driving in an armoured Chevy Suburban with US Diplomatic plates were forced off the road by as many as 15 assailants following in multiple vehicles. ICE special agent Jaime Zapata was killed in the attack while special agent Victor Avila was shot in both legs and airlifted to Mexico City before being flown to Houston, TX and treated there.

The agents were unarmed during the attack, as Mexico prohibits foreign law enforcement officers from carrying weapons inside the country. Investigators discovered as many as 83 bullet casings at the scene of the shooting.

Zapata and Avila stopped at a Subway along the highway for lunch. As they left the restaurant, an SUV closed in on their Suburban from behind, tailing the agents.

Zapata tried to speed up, but the SUV kept pace and pulled up side-by-side. The passengers flashed assault rifles at the agents and sped ahead down the highway, out of sight.

A second vehicle came from behind, tailing the agents until they met the first SUV they’d seen minutes before.

The two vehicles had boxed in the agents on the highway and crawled to a stop. Gunmen surrounded the agents’ Suburban.

“They were screaming ‘Get out! Get out! Get out!,” one U.S. law enforcement official, briefed but unauthorized to speak on the case, told The Monitor.

The agents showed their U.S. diplomatic papers to the gunmen, showing they were federal agents. But the gunmen refused to relent.

Zapata shifted the vehicle in park, which automatically unlocked its doors. The gunmen tried to pull the agents from the vehicle. But they managed to close the doors.

Zapata’s window was open a crack, allowing the gunmen to stick an AK-47 assault rifle and a pistol through the opening. They “shot indiscriminately,” the official said, striking Zapata several times in the abdomen and Avila twice in the leg.

Within a week of the deadly ambush, soldiers from the Mexican Army arrested six Los Zetas members in San Luis Potosi.

Zapata Espinoza, aka 'el Piolin' or 'Tweety Bird' because of his short stature, was identified by Mexican military officials as a leader of a Los Zetas hit team based around San Luis Potosi.

A spokesman with the Mexican Army said that Espinoza claims to have mistaken the Suburban as a vehicle for a rival cartel, despite the diplomatic plates and Zapata and Avila identifying themselves as US Agents. Members of Mexico's Armed Forces have arrested the local leader of Los Zetas in Coahuila over the weekend.

Special Agent Zapata was laid to rest on Feb 22nd in Brownsville, TX.

GUERRERO: Gunmen in the resort city of Acapulco targeting taxicabs killed at least a dozen people last weekend- nine cabbies and three passengers according to officials. Police in the state of Guerrero arrested four suspects carrying guns, grenades and a machete that they believe was used to decapitate some of the victims.

Gang members in Acapulco have been known to recruit cabbies to transport narcotics or simply extort money from them. The attacks came just hours before a popular international tennis tournament was set to take place in Acapulco.

Authorities had also recovered the bodies of four men whose hands and feet were bound with duct tape from near the Guerrero state capital of Chilpancingo. Judging from the bruising on the victim's bodies, its thought they gang members tossed them from a 600ft tall bridge while they were still alive.

2nd Helping of West Coast Sports Chowdah: C's Clip LA's Other Team, 'Lucic! I'm Home'- B's Triumph in Vancouver; Hall of Famer Snider Passes Away

NHL- As far as the Bruins are concerned, I'm liking the road trip out west.

The B's came into Vancouver on Saturday night winners of 3 in a row. Of course, two of those wins were tallied against dysfunctional team like the NY Islanders or Ottawa Senators. Calgary was a much better test which they managed to pass, but on Saturday they were up against the league-leading Canucks.

The night before, Vancouver native Milan Lucic was honored by a local junior hockey club. The following night, he ends up scoring the game-winning goal for the B's against the NHL team with the best record.

Vancouver got on the board first with a tally from C Manny Malhotra in the 1st period before Boston would get the equalizer off the stick of Nathan Horton midway through the 2nd.

With dozens of friends and relatives watching in the stands, Lucic scored the go-ahead goal with 4:38 remaining in regulation and with just under two minutes remaining, Patrice Bergeron gave the B's some insurance with an empty netter after the Canucks pulled Roberto Luongo for the extra attacker.

This makes it four wins in a row and the 2nd consecutive game where Boston has won 3-1. Tim Thomas stopped 27 of 28 shots faced while Roberto Luongo faced 24 shots, stopping 22.

The Bruins next game is on Sunday night at Edmonton- puck drops at 5PM Pacific, 8PM Eastern.

NBA- After Thursday's 85-79 loss to a Carmello Anthony-less Denver Nuggets, the western road trip hasn't been as kind to the Celtics as it has the Bruins, but the C's managed to wrap up all of Saturday's NBA action with a win at staples Center against the Clippers.

Kendrick Perkins was sent to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for F Jeff Green and C Nenad Ksrtic and the Clipper's 1st round pick in the 2012 NBA draft. Saturday night would mark the Boston debut of the two new acquisitions. Despite the sluggish and lethargic 1st half where Boston was trailing 47-40, the C's would come right back and make a game of it.

Paul Pierce led the scoring for Boston with 24 points while Ray Allen had 22, Kevin Garnett had 16 and Glen 'Big Baby' Davis came off the bench for 10. Krstic started with 9 points and 6 rebounds while Green came off the bench for 7 points and one rebound in Saturday's 99-92 win over the Clippers- G Randy Foye had a 32-point night in the losing effort for the Clippers.

The C's next game will be on Monday night against the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City at 9PM Eastern- 7PM Mountain time.

MLB: Hall of Fame Brooklyn Dodgers outfielder Duke Snider passed away at a Southern California Convalescent hospital, according to a statement from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, which released a statement on behalf of Snider's family. According to Snider's family, he had been ill for several months and was being cared for at an Escondido, CA convalescent hospital.

Snider batted a career .295 and hit 407 homeruns in a career that started in 1947 with the Brookly Dodgers and saw him win an elusive World Series Title with 'dem bums' and play his home games in Los Angeles when the Dodgers moved across the country. He finished his career in 1964 with the San Francisco Giants.

Snider retired to an avocado farm in Fallbrook, CA after his playing career. In the 1990s, he faced legal troubles because he failed to report revenue from signing autographs, appearances and memorabilia sales to the IRS.

The Dodgers retired Snider's number in 1980, the same year he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

ELSEWHERE: The Red Sox will kick off Spring Training with a 'home and away' series against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday (while, curiously enough, never leaving the city of Ft. Meyers, FL). Opening pitch is 7PM Eastern Time.

World Champs Pick Right Up Where They Left Off

Finally, the shortest off-season the Giants have endured since their move out west has come to an end. The 2010 World Champion San Francisco Giants are officially back at work and playing games again, albeit of the exhibition variety.

Things got off to a strange start in Friday's opener, as the Diamondbacks touched up Tim Lincecum pretty good, knocking him out before he could get through his scheduled 2 innings. He gave up 5 hits and 3 runs with just 1 strikeout. Lincecum had a very similar start to his Cactus League last season, so I don't really see anything to worry about here. He felt fine after the game, as the stiff neck was a non-issue. But even though Lincecum didn't due his part, the Giants still managed to battle back and take the Cactus League opener. Buster Posey, Cody Ross and Pat Burrell all came up with big RBI hits, though no Giant hitter left the yard. Posey, in-fact, led all Giants hitters, going 2-3 with a 2B and 2 RBI. Aaron Rowand and the slimmer Pablo Sandoval also drove in runs and Andres Torres scored 2, but the guy who's under the microscope the most, Brandon Belt, didn't do too much on day 1. Belt got just 1 at-bat filling in at first base after Travis Ishikawa finished up, as projected starter, Aubrey Huff, sat down for the afternoon. So even though the Giants got to Timmy early, the bullpen, mainly Madison Bumgarner, Javier Lopez, Sergio Romo and Henry Sosa all helped hold down the fort while the offense climbed back.

In game 2, which just now ended, it was much of the same from game one. The Dodgers got to Jonathan Sanchez a bit early, collecting 4 hits while drawing a walk in just 1 2/3 innings. He did manage to keep the Dodgers off the board, but that was more so help from his bullpen. Then the Giants offense did all the work and blew LA out before the 5th inning, meaning it wasn't a team full of 2nd and 3rd stringers they were doing it against. It seems like almost all key starters got into the action. Torres went 2-3 with 2 runs and an RBI, Aubrey Huff had an RBI single and Nate Schierholtz had a big 2-RBI triple. Once again though, the Giants young stud and top prospect Brandon Belt was left hit-less, though he didn't get an official at-bat today.

The two big showings in Saturday's game came from a couple of guys who we here at the Giants Baseball Blog had just got done talking about a few posts back here, and I couldn't help but think about that post as those guys tore it up. Those two players are the overlooked Mark DeRosa and the re-focused, re-conditioned Pablo Sandoval, and Bochy couldn't be any happier about that. The Panda went 2-3 with a homer and 3 RBI hitting out of the 4-hole. Keep in mind, Buster Posey, the likely 4-spot hitter sat out Saturday, but still, the fact that Boch has Panda that high in the order is showing confidence in the youngster. I'm glad I've gotten delayed in doing our version of the Giants hitter projections because Sandoval's new conditioning certainly looks like it's playing a role and will be a big factor in his 2011 season. I was thinking a mix between the '09-'10 numbers, but right now I'm expecting closer to the '09 version.

As far as DeRosa is concerned, he's certainly eligible for the Comeback Player of the Year award, and even though were in the 2nd game of spring, this guy actually looks 100%. A lot of times you here players say that then they come out and you can tell they're not right, but DeRosa is right at this moment, and when he swings like he's swinging now, you need to find him 20 ab's per week. He just admitted he's more comfortable in the infield, which kind of mixes things up because I though his best chance for at-bats was in left-field. I also wonder if Bochy may do a little competition with DeRosa and Freddy Sanchez at 2nd base. I mean, the salary's are a wash and their both in their final year of their contracts. Sanchez, though he came up with some big hits in October last year, didn't have a great regular season in 2010. If your giving me an option between a healthy, '08 first-1/2 '09 version of DeRosa ( 220 games, .280 avg.,150 runs, 34 hr, 137 RBI, .842 OPS) with pretty solid defense and sure hands. When looking at Sanchez's 2010 line of .292/7/47/.739, and you see the difference in the offensive abilities between the two players. Now, Sanchez is a better defender, a much better contact/average hitter with more bat control (won batting tittle in '06), so DeRosa will have to go all Cody Ross early on if I's going to unseat Sanchez.

30 Teams: Milwaukee Brewers

By Simon Stracher

After their magical 2008 playoff run, the Milwaukee Brewers had to suffer with the agony of two sub .500 seasons. In 2011, General Manager Doug Melvin knew that this would most likely be their last season with slugger Prince Fielder, so he went all out in trying to bring Milwaukee a championship. The additions and subtractions that he made are as follows:

Acquisitions:

RHP Zack Greinke, RHP Shaun Marcum, RHP Takashi Saito, SS Yunieksy Betancourt, C Wil Nieves, OF Brandon Boggs, OF Mark Kotsay, OF Jeremy Reed, RHP Sean Green, IF Edwin Maysonet, C Shawn Riggans, RHP Eulogio de la Cruz, RHP Zack Segovia, RHP Justin James, C Mike Rivera

Losses:

RHP Trevor Hoffman (Ret.), RHP Doug Davis (FA), RHP Dave Bush, LHP Chris Capuano, C Gregg Zaun, SS Alcides Escobar, RHP Carlos Villanueva, RHP Todd Coffey, 2B Brett Lawrie, OF Lorenzo Cain, RHP Jeremy Jeffress, UTIL Joe Inglett (FA), RHP Jake Odorizzi, RHP Adrian Rosario

The two biggest acquisitions are the trade of former Cy Young winner Zach Greinke, and the trade for former Blue Jays ace Shaun Marcum, who had a 3.64 ERA last season. The Brewers acquired Greinke for shortstop Alcides Escobar, outfielder Lorenzo Cain and right-handed pitching prospects Jake Odorizzi and Jeremy Jeffress from the Brewers in exchange for Greinke, shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt and cash considerations. Cain and Escobar were the centerpieces of this deal, and both are former top prospects. Escobar is a career .250 hitter in 690 PAs in the majors, and batted .234 in 145 games last season. When he played Triple A in 2009, he stole 42 bases, but so far in the majors he has only stolen 14. He projects to be a .275 hitter with solid defense and 20-30 stolen bases. He has little to no power and has a career 5.8% walk rate.

However, the most important prospect in this deal is outfielder Lorenzo Cain. In his small cup of coffee in '10 he had a triple slash line of .306/.348/.415 in 147 ABs. On the surface that looks pretty solid, but underneath there are some real problems. Cain had a .370 BABIP, 70 points higher than the league average BABIP. He also had a 5.7% walk rate, which is subpar. All in all, the the Brewers got a great value in this trade. Cain and Escobar are two solid, but unspectacular prospects, and Greinke is a top-10 pitcher in the game today.

The Brewers also traded for former Blue Jays starter Shaun Marcum. He had an excellent year in '10, a year after missing all of '09 due to Tommy John surgery. He is a player to watch in 2011, and has the chance to become a minor ace. In return, they traded Canadian second baseman Brett Lawrie, the 16th pick of the 2006 draft. He was also number 47 on Keith Law's top 100 prospect list in 2011. He projects to be a .290 hitter with decent power and good speed. Overall he is a good player, but the the Brewers do not need him, as they have the 29 year-old Rickie Weeks.

This brings me to my next paragraph. This offseason, the Brewers signed Rickie Weeks to a 4-year $38.5 million dollar contract, with an option for 2015 that could push it to $50 million. Prior to 2010, Weeks had never played more than 130 games in a season. But in 2010, Weeks played 160 games and had a 6.1 WAR and a wRC+ of 128, which are superb numbers. Weeks year was no fluke, as his, "average speed of the ball off his bat of his big flies was 106.1 MPH, compared to the 103.3 MPH major league average. The average distance on his dingers was 406.2 feet, while the MLB average was 393.5 feet" (David Golebiewski, Fangraphs). Simply put, Weeks was destroying the ball. If Weeks can stay relatively healthy, this can be a huge win for the Brew Crew. My prediction for 2011; 22 homeruns, a .265 average, a .370 OBP, and 5 WAR. Those are great numbers, and Weeks has the potential to do even greater. The Brewers got a steal in this extension.

But all is not good for these Brewers. Their star first baseman, Prince Fielder, is in his contract year and has made it clear that he will test the market. His agent, Scott Boras, is notorious for holding out for the best deal and it seems unlikely that the small market Brewers could afford the $200 million contract that Fielder seeks. GM Doug Melvin made all the right moves so that the Brewers can contend this year, and they have a real good shot of winning the world series. With a fearsome starting rotation of Greinke, Marcum, and Yovani Gallardo and a formidable lineup consisting of Fielder, Ryan Braun, Weeks, and Corey Hart, the Brewers will compete with the Phillies for the NL Pennant. Expect 92 wins and a season that ends in the NLCS.

I hope you enjoyed this post on the Brewers. My new 30 Teams post will be coming in in about 3-4 days, so make sure to read that one too.

(Statistics in courtesy of: www.fangraphs.com, www.mlbtraderumors.com, www.baseballreference.com, and www.espn.com).

Dairlyand Drama Drags On- NY Teamsters Hop Bus To Wisconsin; Indiana Dems Skip Town

Does anybody else remember this chick from last year? Not only is she a Democrat, she's also on the Executive committee of the Milwaukee County Democrat party.

Odds are, she's a byproduct of Wisconsin public schools. Time to start contemplating if you're really getting any bang for your buck as far as the public schools are concerned, Cheeseheads.

As the protests got underway last week in Madison, an estimated 40% of the teachers in Madison staged a sickout, cancelling classes. As the teacher's protests against Gov. Scott Walker's austerity measures and bill limiting public employee unions ability to collectively bargain continued through the week, the teachers apparently continued to call in sick.

As absences from faculty increased, school district administrators warned that teachers would be docked pay for the days they were absent. However, University of Wisconsin Medical Center doctors were passing out doctors notes excusing absences to passersby on their way to or from the protests last week, standing next to handwritten placards with a red cross that read 'The Doctor is In- Come Get a Note'


Meanwhile. Union Locals from the New York metropolitan area, including the Teamsters Local 237 and Transportation Union Workers Local 100 promised to bus in hundreds of members to join the protesting teachers in Madison this week [after acquitting themselves so wonderfully during January's blizzard in NYC, it must be nice to have a government position with enough job security to skip several days for a bus trip to Wisconsin with no apparent repercussions- NANESB!].

Earlier this week, a 'journalist' named Ian Murphy managed to prank Gov. Walker by calling and saying he was one of the Koch Brothers and lulling him into a rather boring conversation that was supposedly scandalous and revealed his duplicitous side. For the record, Murphy's previous works include a lengthy 2008 screed directed at the US Military and veterans called 'Fuck The Troops'.

On Friday, the Wisconsin State Assembly had passed Walker's contentious budget bill after several days of heated debate on the House floor, but the 14 AWOL state senators prevent the measure from being taken up in the Wisconsin State Senate

I also thought it might be worth mentioning that at it's peak, crowd size for the protests in Madison was in the neighborhood of 70,000 last weekend, and that included several thousand counterdemonstrators from the Tea Party supporting Gov. Walker arriving on short notice. The total population of Dane County Wisconsin (which is where the Midwestern liberal bastion of Madison is located) is thought to be in the neighborhood of 491,000. For all the attempts by some of the media to portray this as a wildly popular spontaneous uprising in Dairyland, there's the undeniable fact that Union leadership and Obama's Organizing for America have taken an active role in coordinating much of the protests, despite media claims that the White House is distancing itself from these battles.

With such large, politically connected and well financed groups mobilizing against Gov. Walker, you'd think they wouldn't have to bus people in from out of state if these proposed budget cuts were so unpopular. But who knows? They could be just warming up for other states.....

In Indiana, a similar situation has developed earlier this week when 37 of the 40 Democrat state representatives also fled to Illinois to avoid a quorum on Right to Work legislation. About 3500 Union workers converged on the capitol to protest as House Bill 1468 passed the Indiana House, Labor and Pensions Committee and was supposed to go the the floor of the State House for a full debate.

[hat tip- Lonely Conservative; Jammie Wearing Fool]

30 Teams: Texas Rangers

By Mike Moritz

As we all know, the long time Texas Ranger Michael Young wants out of Texas. After the Rangers had signed Adrian Beltre to a five-year, $80 million contract, the plan was to still use Young as an everyday player but he would be a utility/DH player. That is clearly not okay with Young, as he has been requesting a trade for about a month now. Trade talks have been quiet of late, though and there are not many proper suiters for Young. 


The Rangers lost to the Giants in the World Series this past year, 4-1, as we all know and Cliff Lee, a post season master was beaten twice. It was thought that if the Yankees did not sign Cliff Lee, then he would go back to Texas which was, again, not the case since he latched on with the Phillies and their historic pitching rotation. 


But looking back at this loss, it seems like it might be a good thing that Texas (and the Yankees) missed out on him. If Lee had signed a big six or seven year contract, the contract would most likely back fire down the road on Rangers (or Yankees). He is already 32-years old so perhaps the first and maybe the second year of his contract might look "Lee-like" but after that, when he reaches 34 and 35 etc., when he might start losing his "stuff", then the contract becomes garbage. It would have been a risky contract to say the least and in a few years, Texas GM John Daniels might look back and smile on the fact that he did not bring Lee to back to Texas for the long term. 


Now, don't get me wrong, I would love to have Cliff Lee in my rotation, even if he is 32 years old, for five years, just as the Phillies did. Would I rather that Lee signed with the Yankees than the Phillies, or Rangers, or any other baseball team? Of course! What Yankee fan would not love to have a pitching artist like Cliff Lee? But on a seven-year deal that the Yankees offered him? I don't think so. 


Let us keep a level head though, missing out on Cliff Lee is a shame. But let's go through some moves that the Rangers did make.

They signed catcher Yorvit Torrealba to a two-year, $6.25 million contract. Of course, the Rangers would love to see Torrealba catch at least 100 games this year, something that he has only done once in his ten year career. Coming off a season in which the right handed hitter posted his best career WAR, 2.5, he hit .271/.343/.378/.320 (which was somewhat inflated by his .321 BABIP), I am sure that the Rangers are very happy with their catching situation as they could do much worse. But the catching situation went from OK to good with a trade that brought Mike Napoli back the AL West.


Napoli was originally traded to the Blue Jays and was with them for not even a week, five days, before being traded again. The Rangers picked him up and sent 31 year-old relief pitcher Frank Francisco back to Toronto. Once again, Napoli will probably be platooning with someone as he did with Jeff Mathis with the Angels. 

The reining AL MVP and Texas Ranger left fielder, Josh Hamilton. Hamilton had a .359 average, 32 homers and a .447 wOBA and led the majors with an 8.0 WAR. 

The Rangers also signed Brandon Webb and Arthur Rhoads to one-year deals, as well as bringing Darren O'Day back to Texas on a one-year deal as well. The Rangers brought some players on minor league contracts, the likes of Endy Chavez and Seth McClung as well as many others.


The Rangers have a pretty good farm system and there is one guy who I would like to talk about.  Jake Skole is an outfielder, center mostly, who is ranked 8th on Marc Hulet's Fangraphs Texas Rangers Top 10 prospects. Hulet had this to say:

"A football player in high school, Skole did not focus solely on baseball until turning pro. Despite his split attention as an amateur, the outfielder showed signs of being more advanced than expected. He posted a walk rate of 10.1 BB% in short-season ball. His inexperience does show with pitch recognition and struck out at a rate of 25.9 K%. He gets out on his front foot with off-speed pitches, but he his good bat speed (which currently generates line-drive power) helps him compensate. Skole did not show much home-run pop in his debut (.095 ISO) but could develop above-average power with more experience. Defensively, he might stick in center field but will more than likely end up in right field. He has a good arm. Skole should open 2011 in low-A ball."

Although I have no notes of my own on Skole, which is kind of pathetic, I really like this kid. All it took was to read this paragraph by Marc Hulet to get me to do some further research. I found that his swing consists of the following: he stays tall, he has a very short path to the ball (my favorite part of his swing), and that he generates good bat speed. All very good notes to have in my opinion. You can check out Marc Hulet's Top 10 Ranger prospects by clicking here.


I'm nuetral on the Rangers this year. I think that the Beltre signing overlooked the loss of Cliff Lee to an extent. The pitching rotation is in solid shape, if not, decent. The rotation has solid pitchers but no real clear ace. We have no idea how Brandon Webb will do given his shoulder troubles. My projection is that they will fight for a play off spot but the Athletics will be very close through the whole season.


86-90 wins is my final projection. 


(Statistics and additional information in courtesy of: fangraphs.com, espn.com, and jbrynsvold.blogspot.com)