I still find it hard to believe I just spent a week in the middle of a war zone. They don't sell tickets for the experience of a lifetime, but if you can do it somehow, I'd highly recommend it.

Just because you can't figure out how to put up an avatar, don't blame me.

That's the most delicious link ever.

Mrs.Drinky gifted me a year's subscription to the Bacon of the Month club a couple of years ago.  Pretty pricey for what you get (which is why I didn't renew it), but still nice to get a pound or so of sweet bacon in the mail once a month.

"Who have been the champions the last seven, eight years? Have you ever heard the Yankees talk about on-base percentage and walks? . . . Walks help. They do help. But you aren’t going to walk across the plate, you’re going to hit across the plate. That’s the school I come from."

Manager Ned Yost has said for a week that he has a brain-full of ideas when it comes to his batting order, but it is way too early to commit to any one of them.

But one of the most interesting of possible orders would have Ryan Braun batting second, a pitcher batting eighth and catcher Jason Kendall batting ninth. This idea isn't set yet, and it may not ever be used. It is just one of a flurry of ideas whizzing around inside the skipper's head. St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa has done this some during the last few seasons.

Yost's reasoning is that he wants Braun to have more plate apperances, but still be able to have guys on in front of him. So with Kendall's ability to see pitches and get on base, it would essentially translate to Braun still batting third while racking up about 40 more plate appearances, as stats show. In this lineup, Prince Fielder would bat third in the order, but it would be like having him in the clean-up slot.

"Common sense tells me you want your best hitters to have the most at-bats," Yost said.

For a more detailed explanation of the theory, check out our spring training notebook in tomorrow's JS.