Just a few links for your Saturday morning pleasure, over a cup of chamomile tea or a toaster waffle or whatnot...
– Evan Drelich has the latest details about the investigation of the Cardinals' hacking of the Astros, with a twist I'd not even considered: theoretically, the Commissioner could take something from the Cardinals ... and give it to the Astros. Probably money, I guess. But wouldn't a Grade B prospect be a lot more interesting, and useful?
– Nine years ago, The New York Times published a video profile of Zack Hample, who by then had collected (or maybe "retrieved" is a better word) nearly three thousand baseballs in ballparks. Since then, Hample's written a book on the subject -- in fact, he's written multiple books! -- and increased his total to something like EIGHT THOUSAND ... including Alex Rodriguez's 3,000th hit Friday night.
– Speaking of 3,000 hits, that's exactly how many Roberto Clemente wound up with. Coincidentally or not, Michael Beschloss wrote a concise account of the difficulties Clemente faced as a "double outsider," black and Latino.
– Hey, kudos to MiLB.com for publishing this searing exposé of just how difficult it can be for minor leaguers to make ends meet (a/k/a eat and sleep well enough to pursue their chosen career with any sort of real vim and vigor).
– This one's actually a couple of days old, but Ben Lindbergh's story about perceived velocity, according to Statcast, is absolutely essentially reading, if hardly the end of the discussion. As a first step, though, can't we all agree to ban Matt Capps' delivery?
