Which was stranger during last night's broadcast: Sam Elliott doing the introductions or Cameron Diaz feeding popcorn to Alex Rodriguez? Speaking of A-Rod, does he not have it all? He's paid $30 million a year, plays baseball for the New York Yankees, is a future Hall of Famer, and gets hand-fed by Cameron Diaz. Incredible.
- The Red Sox reportedly have interest in ex-Yankee Alfredo Aceves. The same report also mentions the Yanks as possible suitors for Kevin Millwood.
- This is a bit old, but I didn't run across it until last night. Lou Gehrig may not have died from the disease bearing his name. Recent evidence suggests brain trauma from taking baseballs off his head may have caused Gehrig's untimely death.
- Have you ever pondered the real reasons for home field advantage? It turns out to primarily be the officiating, which is affected by the home crowd. Umpires succumb to pressure and 'human nature' just like the rest of us, changing the strikezone based on the location of the game, the closeness of the crowd, and even doing it within the same at-bat.
- More and more MLB teams are moving their Spring Training sites to Arizona, where the drier climate and proximity to other clubs make it more appealing. For example, the Dodgers, who'd held ST at Vero Beach, Florida since 1948, signed a 20-year lease in 2001 only to move to Arizona seven years later. The Yanks wouldn't do it anytime soon (after renaming their ST stadium in honor of The Boss only three years ago), but would you be upset if they did?
- Jim Leyritz is back in professional baseball - he was hired as pitching coach for the Newark Bears. You might remember that Leyritz was recently acquitted of DUI manslaughter stemming from a 2007 car accident that killed a Florida woman.
- Ex-New York Governor David Paterson paid a $62,000 fine to the state ethics board for using five free tickets to the 2009 World Series.
- The Yankees will open a 2000-square-foot store in Times Square in the coming months. It will sell tickets and merchandise and be in the same building as the Hard Rock Cafe and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.