Offering a brief break from reality White Sox reliever Hector Santiago visits Newtown and leaves lasting impression

Jeff Pearlman talks to Tom Verducci about working a clubhouse and other intricacies of baseball reporting. My favorite answer starts with: "Patience is a requirement. Anybody with a credential and a pen or a microphone can get "a" quote. You’ve seen it, Jeff: the scrum around the star of the game and the stock questions that typically feature phrases such as "how surprised were you . . . ," "the mindset," and "what pitch." The worst are the non-questions. They almost always start like this: "Talk about . . . ." It’s sheer laziness. The point is that you ask a stock question you get a stock quote."

"Szymborski projected these five teams as having taken the biggest hit to their win totals, compared to the beginning of the offseason. (Keep in mind that these projections also factor in the improvement of other teams in their division."

Time to party like it's 1983.

Big Lanky checks in at number 16 in MLB based on talent, age, and contract status.

"Mr. Miller persuaded major league players to cast aside the paternalism of the owners. He never convinced the owners that they could prosper amid an upheaval of baseball’s economic order — something they would eventually discover — but he outmaneuvered them at every turn."