THT Links: Title Goes Here

I can’t really think of anything to put here; I already used my lame site outages story in the mailbag. I suppose you’ll just have to carry on without the most interesting blurb I could think of in five minutes—after all, here, it’s all about the links.

Oh yeah, and thanks to reader Sean R. for pointing out to me that the Snatch quote I referenced in Tuesday’s Links was actually spoken by Tommy (named after a ballet dancer, not the gun), and not by Turkish. Sometimes, I’m so proud of my readers, and Tuesday was one of those times.

The Next Bernie – So probably no one spends as much time at the Hardball Times front page as I do, and one thing I’ve noticed is that sometimes, the new Google AdSense box we’ve put up at the top of the page puts up some interesting keywords. Last night, while compiling the mailbag, I noticed that “Delmon Young,” was one of the terms … not completely unusual, but, 1) he’s not exactly a star and 2) there wasn’t anything specific on our page that would point to him.

So I clicked on it, and among the list of links generated (none of which had anything to do with Delmon Young), was this nugget. Based on these clips, I’d say he’s not bad, but not really any different than a thousand other struggling, mid-20s, acoustic guitar playing musicians out there. What is it about baseball players and bands?

And I would rate this about an 8.5 on the “Shameless Ad Promoting” scale.

Interview with Paul – Part 2 of Gaslamp Ball’s interview with one of the most divisive figures in baseball, Padres assistant general manager Paul DePodesta.

Blast from the Past – Chad Finn at Baseball Analysts with a fun read about strat-o-matic, baseball and life.

Deck Chairs on the Titanic – Part of MLB.com’s series of fantasy articles, this one profiles some interesting positional battles to keep an eye on during Spring Training, though in my opinion, if your season comes down to Aubrey Huff versus Jay Payton, reading this article is probably not going to help you too much.

ESPN Fantasy to be Free – ESPN.com will be offering their fantasy baseball services free of charge this season, with free live scoring, something that Yahoo hasn’t offered in the past.

Stabbed in the Back – BALCO proprietor Victor Conte’s lawyer confessed to leaking confidential grand jury testimony to San Francisco Chronicle reporters. The lawyer, Troy Ellerman, who has pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice, previously motioned to dismiss the case on the grounds that the leaks made a fair trial “practically impossible.”

Over Ivy – Sports apparel manufacturer Under Armour will have ads in Wrigley Field’s storied ivy this upcoming season. Personally, I think this move could generate backlash against the company (anyone remember the Spider Man bases?), but I suppose any publicity is good publicity.

Playing with PECOTA – Over at The Book Blog, Tangotiger takes a close look at PECOTA forecast percentiles.

The Road to Normal (reg. required) – A tremendous, moving story about Josh Hamilton’s fall from baseball prospectdom and his long road to recovery. Hamilton was selected by the Reds in last season’s Rule 5 draft, and has a chance of making their major league roster this season. There have been other stories about Hamilton, but likely none as detailed and well researched as this one.

What If – A new blog, Dodger Sims, has been using ZIPS projections to do some interesting simulations, including a look at what what happen in head to head matchups of NL West teams, and a 30-team, NCAA style tournament.

Today at THT

Best Outfield Arms of 2006 – The best and worst outfield arms of 2006.

THT Mailbag: Rounding Into Shape – Why Sandy Koufax wasn’t in Dave’s greatest pitchers of all time article, and whether consistency leads to fantasy championships.

THT Links represents the best efforts of our editors in scouring the various tubes of the interweb for both relevant and irrelevant news items. If you have happened upon a story that we have overlooked or wish to give feedback of any sort, please notify us at THT Links.

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