Once again, we're kicking back on an off-day with things looking and feeling pretty good. The Tigers had a 4-2 west coast road trip, they're three games under .500, and five games out of first in the AL Central. Plus, they have six more games of Interleague Play (though the Cardinals should provide some stiff competition).
So it's Open Thread time. As usual, I'll toss out a few topics for discussion, but you can bring up anything you want, baseball or otherwise.
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Kurt thinks way too much has been made of the SF Chronicle's Henry Schulman referring to Ryan Raburn as a "scrub." Both and Curtis Granderson and Todd Jones responded. And Schulman eventually apologized.
What bugged me about Schulman's remark was that it's the sort of cheap shot bloggers often get accused of taking. In addition, for Schulman - who reminds us that he's been at this for 20 years - to say that he "didn't realize how insulting that word can be" strikes me as rather disingenuous. - I think I might finally go see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull today. Has anyone else seen it? What did you think?
- One of my favorite baseball writers, Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post, recently left the Nationals beat to cover the Olympics. (This happened more than a month ago, which shows how much attention I've been paying lately.) Which baseball writers do you enjoy?
- George Carlin passed away yesterday, at the age of 71. As a kid, he was one of the reasons I was happy to have HBO. He got more cranky and less funny as he got older, but still made you think. Who are some of your favorite stand-up comedians?
Okay, it's your turn. The thread belongs to you. Enjoy your off-day!