I had a strong hunch you'd post this after I sent it to you. I knew you'd dig it, man. Look how stiff T is, it's hilarious.

Don’t know if anyone saw it, but the Red Sox called up uberprospect Daniel Bard…

Ah yes - from the timeless Mr. T classic "Be Somebody or Be Somebody's Fool"! I must have watched the VHS of that baby 15 times in college... this song is just one of many instant classics.

Here's the rest of it, if anybody's curious - highly recommended, though you probably shouldn't try it alone or sober:

http://tinyurl.com/pvu7md

I remember Mr. T's original claim to fame in our consciousness as the winner of some televised National Tough Guy Bouncer Contest, which IIRC came on the heals of the Superstars and Superteams series of the 70's. He literally tore down their version of an "obstacle course" in the last event to win. He would next be cast in the Rocky movies as Clubber Lang, where "I pity the fool!" and "Pain" as his prediction became household terms all over the country. He was also a "Bodyguard to the Stars" for years.

They even made a cartoon version of "The A Team," as well as his own cereal.

How is that for an "Outhouse to Penthouse" story?

Eat your heart out MC Hammer!

: )

Clubber Lang and all-time great character.

I woke up today excited about the game against Doc Halladay...it's tomorrow! D'oh! I hate off-days..

Josh Towers was less than impressive tonight.

Gave up two home runs and now has a 9 ERA.

Wow, everyone see NoMaas and their post about steroids & the Red Sox?? Havn't seen that anywhere else...

[4] Don't forget his WWFstint

Manny's excuse doesn't exactly pass the "litmus test"
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4159870

LOL @ the * pic of the Red Sox midfield scrum on NoMaas...

Karma's a bitch, isn't it?

Telling when one of their own "blew the whistle!" Thank you Lou Merloni! I knew you were actually good for something!

: )

[9] Manny's "Oh, um, never mind," with respect to any appeal of his suspension without pay did that for me, Diane...

: )

Baseball Reference.com..handy friend to have on an off-day..

I never really looked too closely at the numbers..but WOW, Ted Williams was ridiculous. I know that being a Yankee fan I should pick Joe D ahead of him (and Joe was amazing for sure) but looking at the stats, Ted was just on another level..unless Joe D's glove in CF could make up the difference??

..going back to watching Melky or Gardy in CF after thinking of Joltin Joe..ouch...

[12] It's popular to rag on Melky's defense this year (around here, anyway), but as a matter of fact NoMaas has him on pace to save the Yankees 26.6 runs this year (well, that's based on playing 150 games, which he won't do, but it gives you the picture). He's far and away the biggest plus we have on defense right now. (Pena is a distant second, Cano third. Jeter is actually a defensive asset this year! Damon is a disastrous liability.)

I can't see how to link to a particular NoMaas article -- this one is from May 6, just look for the baseball diamond graphic.

[3] Oh man..Emma, thanks for that. I'm overcome with laughter..are we not so lucky to have been raised in the 70s and 80s??

[12] The only way I know of in order to show you the differences between Joe D's and Ted's Defense is by Assists/Game, and Errors per Chance, OK. Please consider I'm simply awful at number crunching, but here goes.

Joe had an assist in 8.9% of his total games.
Ted had one in 6.5% of his.
Compare those to Willie Mays, who had one in 6.9% of his games.

Given Joe's continuing bouts with heel spurs, I think the differences are clear. This would also give credence to Joe's lack of stolen bases.

If you consider Joe had a better FLD% .978 ratio to lgFLD% of .974, and Ted's was FLD% .974 to lgFLD% of .977, Joe was better than the league numbers, while Ted was worse. Mays' same numbers showed a similarly better FLD% .981 to lgFLD% of .977.

I would translate that in English to Ted wasn't as good as the rest of the league, while Joe was Willie minus roughly one step of speed and both were better than their respective leagues. Since Joe battled heel spurs, such that they cut short his career, I would argue Joe was closer to Willie Mays defensively, than Ted was to Joe.

If you also consider errors per defensive chance, you will find Joe committed an error in 2.2% of his chances, Ted in 2.6% of his, while Willie had an astounding error in 1.9% of his chances. Again, Joe was closer to Willie, than Ted to Joe.

I hope that helps give you an idea, if you also consider how much larger of an OF area Joe patrolled than the other two greats in half of their games. It's really not apples to oranges after all.

I hope I didn't butcher those comparisons too badly! I used fielding stats from BR for references.

: )