{"id":2391,"date":"2010-12-26T14:47:12","date_gmt":"2010-12-26T20:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/?p=2391"},"modified":"2010-12-26T14:48:32","modified_gmt":"2010-12-26T20:48:32","slug":"around-the-league-lincecums-si-cover-manny-ramirez-yunel-escobar-j-r-richard-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2391","title":{"rendered":"Around The League: Lincecum&#8217;s SI cover, Manny Ramirez, Yunel Escobar, J.R. Richard and more&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Lincecum_New_Years_SI_Cover.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2392\" title=\"Lincecum_New_Years_SI_Cover\" src=\"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Lincecum_New_Years_SI_Cover.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"266\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Baseball fans loved <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/linceti01.shtml?utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker\">Tim  Lincecum<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/archives\/1687\" target=\"_blank\">suit and bowtie look<\/a> so much that Sports Illustrated thought that it would make the perfect cover to cap the year.\u00a0 Lincecum has now graced the cover of SI <a href=\"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/lincecum_si.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">twice<\/a> in recent years, both of which are among my favorites.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Apparently the New York Yankees <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mlbtraderumors.com\/2010\/12\/odds-ends-manny-soriano-cargo-prior-phillies.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MlbTradeRumors+%28MLB+Trade+Rumors%29\">do not have any interest in signing<\/a> <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/ramirma02.shtml?utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker\">Manny  Ramirez<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 As Spring Training rolls around, Ramirez, who really hasn\u2019t been the same player since returning from suspension for PEDs, will surely receive some consideration from American League teams.\u00a0 However, as someone who is represented by Scott Boras and also accustomed to receiving gigantic contracts, I wonder whether Ramirez will be on a Major League roster to start the 2011 season.\u00a0 Could Man-Ram be the next <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dyeje01.shtml?utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker\">Jermaine  Dye<\/a><\/strong>?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><!--more--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>NESN constructed a team of players that are poised to have <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nesn.com\/2010\/12\/jason-heyward-yunel-escobar-among-those-poised-for-breakout-years-in-2011.html\">breakout campaigns<\/a> in 2011.\u00a0 One of the players on that list is shortstop <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/e\/escobyu01.shtml?utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker\">Yunel  Escobar<\/a><\/strong>, and I couldn\u2019t agree more.\u00a0 At 28-years old, it will be interesting to see whether he thrives in Toronto, hitting at the top of a powerful Blue Jays\u2019 offense.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>According to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.foxsportsmidwest.com\/12\/24\/10\/Freese-almost-hit-by-puck-at-Blues-game\/landing_stlcardinals.html?blockID=379507&amp;feedID=3578\">Fox Sports Midwest<\/a>, St. Louis Cardinals third basemen <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/f\/freesda01.shtml?utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker\">David  Freese<\/a><\/strong> narrowly avoided serious injury at the Blues game after an errant puck whizzed right over his head.\u00a0 The puck ultimately drilled the guy sitting directly behind Freese; it hit the unsuspecting fan flush in the forehead and required seven stitches to close.\u00a0 It wouldn\u2019t have been all that surprising had Freese been the one injured considering that he dropped a weight on his foot this past summer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Before there was <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/strasst01.shtml?utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker\">Stephen  Strasburg<\/a><\/strong>, there was J.R. Richard.\u00a0 In his major league debut, the 6-foot-8 flamethrower notched 15 strikeouts and seemed destined for a brilliant career; he could also <a href=\"http:\/\/image06.webshots.com\/6\/1\/18\/86\/161711886GWiJhP_ph.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">grip eight or nine baseballs<\/a> (depending on who you ask) in one hand.\u00a0 However, Richard suffered a stroke in 1980 due to a blood clot in his pitching arm, collapsing on the ground of the Astrodome and never regaining form.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/2010\/12\/21\/what-might-have-been-j-r-richard\/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+seamheads+%28Seamheads%29\">Seamheads<\/a> reflects on his career and asks, \u201cwhat if?\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Our friends at <a href=\"http:\/\/diamondhoggers.com\/\">Diamond Hoggers<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.diamondhoggers.com\/2010\/12\/bad-man-is-red-no-longer.html\">had to say goodbye<\/a> to <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rhodear01.shtml?utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker\">Arthur  Rhodes<\/a><\/strong> this week, as the free agent signed a 1-year deal \u2013 with a vesting option for 2012 \u2013 with the Texas Rangers.\u00a0 Maybe it is his tremendous girth, but Rhodes has always struck me as a guy with an incredibly strong lower back, much like fellow southpaw <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kingra01.shtml?utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker\">Ray  King<\/a><\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Other than <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/betanyu01.shtml?utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker\">Yuniesky  Betancourt<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/player_search.cgi?search=Luis+Castillo&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker\">Luis  Castillo<\/a><\/strong> is without a doubt my least infielder in baseball.\u00a0 I was actually at the Yankees\/Mets game where he dropped A-Rod\u2019s pop up and waddled off the field in total shame.\u00a0 I\u2019d take <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/belliro01.shtml?utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_campaign=Linker\">Ronnie  Belliard<\/a><\/strong> any day of the week over Castillo, and that in itself says enough.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.citifieldnine.com\/2010\/12\/mets-fans-need-to-stop-drinking-the-kool-aid.html\/\">Citi Field Nine<\/a>, a Mets blog, elaborates on the frustrations that stem from him on your team.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Baseball fans loved Tim Lincecum\u2019s suit and bowtie look so much that Sports Illustrated thought that it would make the perfect cover to cap the year.\u00a0 Lincecum has now graced the cover of SI twice in recent years, both of which are among my favorites. Apparently the New York Yankees do not have any interest [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1300,6,16,11,13,14],"tags":[540,639,494,1581,1275,1580,1579,104,736,1582,510,42,61,196,107,706],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2391"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2396,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391\/revisions\/2396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thegoldensombrero.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}