Pictures From Spring Training

post from Royals Review on 15 February 2011 11:02:18 PM. © Royals Review

SBN has a set of pics we can use and here are a few to enjoy.

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Ned Yost Uses The Annoying "Some Kind"
Expression, Beloved by Baseball Men

post from Royals Review on 15 February 2011 10:02:32 PM. © Royals Review

"This kid can some kind of bring it," Yost said.

As I've written about before, True Baseball Men love this expression. It's archaic, it's really awkward, it's vaguely southern.

Some Kind of Strange - Royals Review

Thanks Ned!

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Ask a Crawfish

post from The Crawfish Boxes on 15 February 2011 10:02:30 PM. © The Crawfish Boxes

Ask a Crawfish

With start of Spring Training upon us. The awakening of baseball fans from their deep winter slumber and/or football hangover, we realize you may have many questions. If so send those queries to thecrawfishboxes@gmail.com and we'll get you caught up on what you need to know for the 2011 season.

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http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2011/2/15/1996277/ask-a-crawfish

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Mets, RHP Isringhausen agree to contract (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 15 February 2011 09:38:24 PM. © MLB News Blog

Jason Isringhausen agreed to a minor league contract with the New York Mets on Tuesday after auditioning with a brief bullpen session. The right-hander threw early in the day at the team’s spring training complex and the Mets announced the move hours later. Isringhausen received an invitation to big league spring training.

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/02/16/mets-rhp-isringhausen-agree-to-contract-ap/

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Active Players With Fewer Career Walks Than Barry
Bonds Had IBB in 2004

post from Beyond the Box Score on 15 February 2011 09:04:11 PM. © Beyond the Box Score

Active Players With Fewer Career Walks Than Barry Bonds Had IBB in 2004 Yuniesky Betancourt (3057 PA, 104 BB) Angel Berroa (2807 PA, 117 BB) Toby Hall (2514 PA, 104 BB) Delmon Young (2464 PA, 102 BB) Kevin Kouzmanoff (2422[...]

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Collecting for Your Kids

post from Sports Locker on 15 February 2011 09:02:28 PM. © Sports Locker

When my boys were born, I wanted to start collecting something for them. I wanted something I could get for them every year. The conditions:
- It couldn't cost much
- It would be easy to obtain
- It would be easy to store

I decided to go with World Series programs. Baseball is probably my favorite sport and the World Series programs only cost about $10-15 a piece. Tip: Buy them on eBay after the series is over.

The programs also give a recap of the season and can capture the era with all of the ads and other stories. Have you ever read an old program and see the "color TV" or "Yoo-hoo Sports Drink" ads?

I recently picked up the 2010 World Series programs. Of course this year MLB made two versions: one for the Rangers and one for the Giants. I ended up going with the winning team.

Of course, I go through all this work and some day they'll say, "Why the h--l did the old man get a Giants World Series program?"

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Brett Gardner Recovering Nicely from Wrist
Surgery

post from Bronx Baseball Daily on 15 February 2011 07:43:29 PM. © Bronx Baseball Daily

[...]

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http://bronxbaseballdaily.com/?p=12583

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President Obama Awards Stan Musial With Medal Of
Freedom

Musial receives high honor from President ‘A beloved pillar,’ Obama says while awarding Medal of Freedom By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com 2/15/2011 5:28 PM ET WASHINGTON — The baseball-playing son of a Polish immigrant who grew up in a … Continue reading →

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-medal-of-freedom/

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President Obama Award Stan Musial With Medal Of
Freedom

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Spring training news & notes -- Day 2

It was another gorgeous day in Scottsdale today as most of the World Champion San Francisco Giants pitchers warmed up their arms in preparation for a title defense.

And judging by the looks of things, not much has changed.

After a session with ace Tim Lincecum, catcher Buster Posey proclaimed, "Ooh, he looks ready, doesn't he?" Lincecum told CBSSports.com writer Danny Knobler that he actually threw more during this offseason than in previous years, motivated by a terrible August performance in which he went 0-5 with a 7.82 ERA, 1.816 WHIP and .373 BABIP.

To give you an idea of just how horrible that month was for him, if you take out the August numbers, Lincecum was 16-5 with a 2.84 ERA, 1.197 WHIP and .306 BABIP.

"Last year, I don't think I came in as prepared as I should have," Lincecum admitted. That might not go over too well with pitching coach Dave Righetti, who recently spoke about his concern over his starters' extra workload last October.

Giants starter Madison Bumgarner, whose workload increased by 66% from 2009 to 2010, knows he's being heavily scrutinized by Righetti, too. "I'm not expecting anything to be handed to me (this year). I'm going to have to work for everything I get," Bumgarner said before taking the field at Scottsdale Stadium on Tuesday.

"Last spring, everybody expected [Bumgarner] to make the club, but we decided he wasn't quite ready," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy. "But we brought him up and he was ready."

Following up on my assertion that there's no way 22-year old prospect Brandon Belt makes the Opening Day roster unless there's a critical injury to one of the veterans, Bochy said, "We're open minded, we don't look at age or experience, we think they're ready, we bring 'em up." ...Uh-huh. Suuuuuureeeeee...

Closer Brian Wilson also threw a session with Posey on Tuesday before taking some time to talk to reporters and by all accounts, looked -- and sounded -- delicious.

Speaking of Posey, according to SportsNet Central host Scott Reiss, the young catcher's first real swing of the spring cleared the left field fence at Scottsdale Stadium by more than 30 feet. I, for one, wouldn't bet on a sophomore slump from Posey, but Giants manager Bruce Bochy warned Posey to keep it all in perspective, telling him, "Don't peak too early."

Bochy told reporters that he feels like the team is sitting in a much better position now than they were a year go. It's hard to fathom that at this point in 2010, the Giants still had Fred Lewis on the roster and John Bowker was the plan for right field.

By the way, if you think the Giants' success last year has them all wound tight this year, think again. They're still the same bunch of goofy castoffs and misfits, according to this article by Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.

One final note: Even though the position players don't have to report until this Saturday, a couple of players are already in camp. We told you about Belt yesterday. On Tuesday, Mark DeRosa, who missed most of the 2010 season with a wrist injury, arrived saying, "I've got an axe to grind this year."

Infielder Pablo Sandoval has also shown up early for work on his own looking considerably lighter than the 260 or so pounds he played at last season. Outfielders Cody Ross, Pat Burrell and birthday boy Nate Schierholtz (who turned 27 today) are working on their own, as are infielders Freddy Sanchez, Travis Ishikawa and Emmanuel Burriss.

Picture of the day >> Look what's waiting for the new guy:

Information for this post was gathered from a variety of MLB sources.