Today's links can be whatever you want them to be ...

* This might be better on Friday, so you'd have the whole weekend to chew on it. But you're getting it on Wednesday: Sky Andrecheck's history of the stolen base.

* A little cross-blogging: as Henry Abbott points out, NBA players have been getting bigger, faster, and stronger ... and they've probably had a little help (from SPEDS!).

* Jeez, and people say baseball is boring?

* Jeff Faraudo writes about the day Joe DiMaggio met Satchel Paige.

* Ah, yet another study of how outfielders track fly balls. No huge surprises, but there's a pretty solid Manny Ramirez joke at the end.

* Is Johnny Damon suffering from Scott Boras' conflict of interest? I link, you decide.

* Hey, here's a welcome bit of common-sensical good news: Andre Dawson's going into the Hall as an Expo.

* More from the annals of history: The Pirates will soon unveil a statue of Bill Mazeroski. No word on the design. I'm pulling for Maz's famous double-play pivot, but with 2010 marking the 50th anniversary of the biggest hit in franchise history, someone might prefer a home-run pose.

* Happy birthday to Bob Uecker, who turned 75 yesterday. Every time Uecker's name comes up, I can't help thinking about this (fairly recent) photo. The man was a marvel 50 years ago, and he's still a marvel (here's a tribute from the Brewers Bar).