A pair of excellent links this afternoon courtesy of the treasure trove known as Baseball Think Factory ;


1) Sidney Ponson was mostly efficient yesterday for the Twins in his start against Baltimore, and The Sun’s Dan Connolly writes, “It was like old times, except he now has a thick dark mullet, wears the Minnesota Twins stripes and hasn’t posed for a mug shot in months.”

“They booed me when I was playing there. It doesn’t bother me. Baltimore fans have no clue what baseball is all about,” Ponson said. “The old Baltimore fans over on 33rd Street [Memorial Stadium], that’s true baseball fans. “[The Camden Yards fans] were booing me the last two years. It doesn’t matter. I could be pitching a good game and give up a run in the eighth and they would boo me. It doesn’t hurt my feelings.”

It’d be nice to relay the look on his face when he said all this – Ponson is a jokester, after all – but that’s not possible since he refused to talk with the Baltimore media. In fact, he wouldn’t have talked to the Minnesota media, either, if any Baltimore representatives had demanded to stay. Because that’s Sidney. Because just when you want to root for him, just when you think the bitterness has passed and maybe the guy has grown up, he again flashes his well-honed immaturity.

“I don’t want the [Baltimore] media to know nothing about what’s going on with me. I don’t like them,” he said. “I didn’t like the last two years over there, so I didn’t talk to them the last two years over there.”

2) The Washington Post’s Dave Shenin could handle David Eckstein being named the World Series MVP. He could stomach The Paragon Of Scrappiosity bonding with another intellectual overachiever. But Eckstein’s recent flirtations with the world of pro wrestling were “the true shark-leap — the point at which Eckstein’s Zeligesque offseason of multimedia ubiquity reached the point of utter absurdity.”

At least to the pop-culture policemen of the Cardinals’ clubhouse, that was the episode that pushed Eckstein over the edge. “Apparently, he was out there smashing chairs and stuff,” Cardinals infielder Aaron Miles said. “We’ve got people out there looking for a tape of this thing. If you come across one, let me know.”

Sadly for Miles, I cannot find such a clip. So he’ll have to settle for some vintage Four Hoursemen promo action.