So You’ve Got an Olympics Hangover

Maybe this was your first Olympics with access to NBC’s online feeds (or perhaps you are a lucky Canadian who can access live events all the time).  Maybe you coincidentally happened to have 14 days off work (counting weekends) during the 17 days of the Summer Olympics.  Maybe you are now exhibiting symptoms such as disorientation with your sudden abundance of free time, queasiness when watching sports where anthems are played before the game begins, and a compulsion to introduce Olympic athletes into only tangentially related topics (such as, say, Usain Bolt in a conversation about stealing bases on a Cardinals broadcast).  You may be suffering from an Olympics Hangover.  And, like those other types of hangovers, there are various methods for dealing with it.

Beauty Hurts: Disabled List Hotties

Is it just me, or does the disabled list seem a bit full for only six weeks into baseball season? Maybe it’s because my Cardinals are already missing their ace pitcher, 2/3 of the starting infield and just barely avoided being without their entire outfield in today’s game.  But it isn’t just St. Louis, many of our favorite baseball hotties are currently out of action. Starting with …

David Wright

Out Until June 1

Charlie Manuel is a grumpy, grumpy old man

Now I’m a Mets fan (shocker!).  Therefore, it is programmed in to me to not like the Phillies or anyone managing, coaching, running, or associated with the organization. But come on, Charlie – you make it too easy to dislike you! The interwebs are abuzz with accusations of the Phillies stealing signs on Monday night’s game against the Colorado Rockies. They caught bullpen coach Mick Billmeyer with binoculars, on camera. Not a smart move. And yes, I’m sure it’s annoying to be under the heat lamp and have these accusations firing at you from all directions. But do you know what the lowest thing Charlie Manuel could have possibly done? Turn the blame and attention to someone else. And who might he have singled out?

All-Star Posts, All-Star Posts, Come And Get Yer All-Star Posts

Good morning. How can you just walk on by without one tear in your eye?

(Incidentally, that song reminds me of this, which I swear only makes me cry because I’m listening to that damn song. Insert “unhealthy obsession” comment here.)

(Yes, I know that you’re getting this post after the afternoon post. It’s still morning in California.)

The current All-MLB RAR leader.

The rest of the All-Star awesomesauce is after the jump, but first: SPOILER ALERT! NO RED SOX OR YANKEES! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE!.

Hump Day Hottie/Don’t Judge Me: AJ Burnett

Good morning.

*hides from all Mets fans, some Jays fans, plenty of Yankees fans*

(Incidentally, you don’t need a white horse to steer you back onto course.)

For each one of you that sees the “Read the rest of this entry” link here and doesn’t click on it, a child is taught that Saves are useful statistics and that Derek Jeter is worthy of this year’s All-Star Game start. (So that’s a maybe. But do you really want to risk it?)

Write Your Own Caption: Red Sox Edition

Crane here, filling in for CuteSports. I apologize for the lateness of the hour, but hey, where I am, it’s technically still morning. This is what the Red Sox get for keeping the Blue Jays in third place over the weekend: You get to make fun of them!

Observe David Ortiz, who probably is reminding himself that the world is just illusion, trying to change him:

Sad day for baseball: RIP Nick Adenhart

(Photo: Mark Boster, LA Times)

We’re not particularly huge Los Angeles Angels fans here at Ladies…, but on a day like today it really doesn’t matter what teams we like best. I think that, when a baseball player dies, anyone who likes baseball can shed a tear, regardless of the team logo the deceased wore when he played.

Many, many, many people around the baseball blogosphere have taken a moment today to post about the sudden end to Angel pitcher Nick Adenhart’s life.

Hot Stove Hottie timeout: Farewell to Mad Dog

Normally at this time we’d be covering the things that went on in the MLB markets in the past week, but this week we’ll stand aside to tip our caps to one of the most brilliant pitchers our generation has seen or will ever see. Winter meetings are going on right now, and you can get all kinds of updates from MLB Trade Rumors, as well as great updates directly from Vegas from Will Carroll, John Perrotto, and Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus.

Now, on to the very sad business of Greg Maddux announcing his retirement today.

The Mad Dog in his Braves days

I Really Brought This On Myself [sigh]

At my other sandbox, we are doing a What If simulated season. Every writer there covers a specific team, so they can draft anybody from the past 25 years of their team. I do not have a specific team, so I get to do a “theme” team and I chose Hotties (natch). In order to get some inspiration for which Diamond Dolls I wanted to draft, I started looking through last year’s Bringing the Heat features. I got to the Toronto Blue Jays, which just happened to be one of the teams that I covered, and what did I find?

That’s right. The fact that my boyfriend now lives in Canada and has swapped redbirds for bluebirds is…all my fault.

*cries*

Jimmy Baseball is Moving On

The longest-tenured Cardinal is not a Cardinal anymore. Jim Edmonds has been dealt to San Diego for an infield prospect named David Freese. When I read the story at the Cardinals website, I actually teared up a little. I love that old guy. Yeah, I know he’s 37. And yeah, I know his jump on the ball isn’t what it once was. And yeah, we have an outfield corp of Chris Duncan, Rick Ankiel, Ryan Ludwick, Skip Schumaker, and Rule 5 Draft selection Brian Barton, plus minor league center fielder Colby Rasmus (one of the most sought-after players at the winter meetings, reportedly). But I’m still sad! Edmonds was part of the heart! The heart of the Cardinals for a long time has been Pujols, Edmonds and Rolen. Those 3, along with Larry Walker, were our 2004 Murderer’s Row!

The five stages of Bacon Pants grief

The Ladies… count two Phillies homers among their ranks, so Texas Gal and I were hoping that our meaty, darling, grinder Aaron “Bacon Pants” Rowand would resign with the Phillies. His face-smashing entusiasm and team-first attitude were part of what made the Phillies so much fun to watch this season. Also, he wears his uniform pants really tight. We liked that.

2007 was a banner year for Bacon Pants, and with the cheapskates in the Phillies front office shying away from long-term contracts, Bacon Pants signed today with the San Francisco Giants. He’ll patrol the outfield for the next five years, taking home a cool $12 million per year.

The fans of the San Francisco Giants have to be happy — there’s somebody fun to watch out in the outfield again.

I, however, am taking this news a little harder. I am — if you will — a sad panda.