Hey, there's actually some news to post about! It's a random-Monday-in-November miracle! Well, okay, no. Unless your estimate level for miracle is absurdly low, which, admittedly, is always possible. But I hope not.
DBacks News:
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[DBacks.com] D-backs unveil Spring Training ticket prices - Reserved seats run from $15 to $25, while the lawn is $8. Is it Spring Training yet?
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[Venom Strikes] D’backs Manager Kirk Gibson Sells His Historic Items - Gibson's bat went for a little over $575k. If someone was shopping for their favorite SnakeBytes writer for Christmas, I promise to pretend to be surprised.
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[Yahoo] Towers begins to reinvent the Diamondbacks - "The Arizona Diamondbacks this spring turn 13, an age for in-between maturity and wandering dispositions." Oh, man, no wonder the team has been so moody, it's going through puberty. (Add your own Cubs/senility joke here.)
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[Diary of a Diehard] All-Star Merchandise Available - Are you ready for the All-Star Game? Well, the team shop at Chase Field is on their way.
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[New York Times] Dbacks, INF Blum Agree to $2.7M, 2-Year Contract - Blum is the first free agent of the off-season to sign with a different team, and he'll make $1.35 million per season.
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[AZCentral] Arizona Diamondbacks' GM Kevin Towers shoots from the hip - In this article, Towers is described as a gunslinger, a gambler, and a straight-shooter. I don't know about you, but I know sort of envision him as John Wayne.
After the jump, you'll see someone attempt what might be an actual miracle: explain one of baseball most arcane and confusing rules...
Around Baseball:
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[Hardball Times] Inside the rules: the balk - I hate the balk rule. Because it makes no sense to me. But at least Hardball Times is trying.
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[Sports Illustrated] Buster Posey, Neftali Feliz are deserving Rookies of the Year - Not too surprising to see either name up there, though the NL ballot is drawing some questions- apparently the voter from Pittsburgh put two Pirates on his ballot, and left Heyward off entirely.
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[Yahoo] Phillies hire Ryne Sandberg to manage Triple-A - If I was a Cubs fan, I would be livid about losing Sandberg to the Phillies.
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[Seattle Times] Family, friends, Mariner Nation mourn loss of Dave Niehaus - Dave Niehaus has been the play-by-play announcer for the Mariners since the started playing in 1977. Seattle's next season won't be the same without him.
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[New York Times] Clinging to the Myth of Doubleday and Baseball’s Origins - Most people accept by now that Abner Doubleday didn't invent baseball. But, surprisingly, "most people" doesn't include Bud Selig.
Fact: "Monday, Monday" is not as cool as advertisements that include the phrase "SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY!" Maybe the Mamas and the Papas should have included some monster trucks. Just a suggestion, guys.