SnakeBytes 1/21: The Final Countdown edition

A month from today, everyone will have assembled at SRF@TS and spring training will be under way. We've almost made it through the winter, folks! Soon, we'll be able to put away the computer games and World Series DVDs, and enjoy almost entirely meaningless games again! Woo-hoo!

To keep you going for the moment, here's some more links 'n' stuff.

Very Diamondbacks-related

• [FoxSportsArizona] D-backs Talkback - "Are you ready for some baseball? You're not alone. The same goes for Diamondbacks play-by-play announcer Daron Sutton, analyst Joe Borowski and beat reporter Jack Magruder. So ready that they're giving up their lunch hour to discuss the hot topics surrounding the Diamondbacks and the rest of the major leagues as the start of spring training nears." That's noon today over at FSAZ.
• [AZCentral] Top story lines for the 2011 Diamondbacks - Nick Piecoro takes a look at the top story lines in the coming season for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
• [Bleacher Report] 2011 Fantasy Baseball: The Best Pitcher You Have Never Heard Of - I'd normally gouge my own eyes out, rather than link to Bleacher Report, but this is better than their usual "20 Pictures of Breasts" articles. And it's about a Diamondback...
• [Diary of a Diehard] Spring Training Park Preview - Jeff Summers was also on the media tour of Salt River Fields: here's part two of his report, with a link to the initial installment.

Somewhat Diamondbacks related

• [BusinessInsider] Awful Dad Cancels Family Trip To Disneyland Because It Coincides With Arizona Diamondbacks' FanFest - On the other hand, Jeff is coming in for some flak over his apparent family decision. Who ever said Americans don't get irony?
• [MLB.com] The first-round order of the 2011 Draft is set - Carl Pavano was the last Type A free agent to get a deal done, meaning the first round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft is set. We are locked in at #3 and #7, but the Rays will be busy - they will make 12 of the first 89 picks, pending what happens with Felipe Lopez.
• [AZCentral] Curt Schilling to enter Arizona Sports Hall of Fame - Schilling is among four members of the 2011 class, along with football player Randall McDaniel, rodeo champion Ty Murray and Olympic gymnast Kerri Strug.
• [visaliatimesdelta.com] Hall of Famers Tommy Lasorda, Doug Harvey help kick off Rawhide anniversary - "We wanted to celebrate the history and tradition of baseball in Visalia. It goes back 65 years," said [Tom] Seidler, the president and general manager of the Visalia Rawhide. "And we thought no better person is 'Mr. Baseball' than Tommy Lasorda. He's the icing on the cake."

Not at all Diamondbacks related

• [MLB.com] Padres bolster bullpen with Qualls - and we have our first nominee in the "2011 Most Inaccurate Headline" Contest...
• [Joe Posnanski] The Retirement of Meche - "On Tuesday, Gil Meche finished off his contract in the most unbelievable way — perhaps the most unbelievable finish in major league baseball history: He walked away from the money. He retired, at age 32. He left behind $12.4 million guaranteed that was legally and rightfully his, because he had determined that he could not help the Kansas City Royals anymore." Compare and contrast certain others we could mention....
• [MLB.com] Heroes vs. Legends game to benefit Tucson shooting victims - "The opening game of the 2011 Heroes and Legends Tour, scheduled for Tucson's Electric Park on March 12, has been designated as a benefit for victims of the Jan. 8 shooting. Funds raised from the game between former baseball greats and wounded veterans will go to the Christina Green Memorial Fund in memory of the tragedy's youngest fatality, and be earmarked for construction of a park that includes a Little League complex."
• [PressHerald.com] Drinking's part of the game, study finds - "Almost one in 10 sports fans has a blood alcohol content above the legal limit as they exit the stadium after football and baseball games, a study found." Except at Yankee Stadium, where one in 10 has a blood alcohol limt below the legal limit as they enter the park...
  
• http://iwannafightbrianwilson.com - And speaking of things that probably seem a good idea only after a lot of alcohol... "This is a formal invite for Brian Wilson to spar me in a legal boxing match in a boxing gym. Any gym he wants any time he wants." I'd pay... oh, a shiny new nickel, to see this happen.