• Was Mariano Rivera really almost traded to the Tigers? No, not really (headline notwithstanding). But what if Mo had become a Tiger 14 years ago? Grand Cards wonders.
• A couple of days ago, a baseball card arrived in the mail: Topps 1979, Marty Pattin. No note. No return address. Just a New York, N.Y. postmark. From whence came this mysterious item? As ShysterBall noted, I was far from the only recipient ... and then Craig solved the mystery.
And while we're on the subject, the L.A. Times' David Davis recently tracked down Brendan Boyd and Fred Harris, who co-wrote one of my all-time favorite books (which is, somewhat shockingly, now out of print; thank heaven for eBay, etc).
• If you really want to know the whole story -- well, 95 percent of it, anyway -- about why the "Moneyball" movie got junked mere days before filming was set to begin, the L.A. Times and the N.Y. Times have most of the puzzle pieces. And yeah, I'm still bummed.
• Maury's got all the ins and outs of interleague attendance, but I'm still left with one question: What's the attendance like in the non-marquee games? The argument for interleague games -- well, commissioner Bud Selig's argument, anyway -- is that interleague games juice the attendance ... but is that true of all interleague games? Or just those that fans actually get excited about? I think I know the answer, but I'd like some proof to show the next commissioner.
• The Wall Street Journal's Shirley Wang offers a nice (if somewhat thin) overview of mental-health issues among baseball players. But somehow she didn't even mention this latest scary bit about Ian Snell. Oh, and in case you missed this news, in Snell's first start with Indianapolis, he struck out 17 batters ... including 13 straight.
• Do not -- I repeat, do not -- give up on Charlie Haeger yet. He's an All-Star!
• Why so many hip surgeries, so suddenly? Better doctoring, mostly.
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ABOUT THIS BLOG
Rob Neyer
Neyer is a senior writer at ESPN.com. He began his career with legendary baseball author (and now Red Sox executive) Bill James, then joined Stats Inc. and wrote about MLB, the NFL and the NBA. Neyer joined ESPN.com in 1996, and it's believed that he's written more words for the site than anybody.
Neyer moved to Kansas City in 1976, just in time for the Royals' first division title, and fell in love almost immediately. He attended the University of Kansas the same four years as Danny Manning, and is now happy to wait another 20 years for the Jayhawks' next championship.