Quick Hits: MLB Stuffage

Damn, Y’all Make Ugly Women!: The San Francisco had another rendition of “Giants Idol”.

Here’s a take of it from the Babes Who Love Baseball:

“...the two-day "American Idol" takeoff that features mostly rookies, benefits charity and helps the club get to know each other through light-hearted humiliation hilarity. Last year's inaugural event raised $6,000 for a local charity and proved to be a hit among players, who apparently valued the bonding.

This year's opening round was a huge rip-off, as it lacked the Kodak moments from last year, when Travis Ishikawa ripped off his pants to reveal Speedo underwear and Barry Bonds emerged from the clubhouse in drag as Paula Abdul. This time, there was much more lip-synching than actual singing, and it was The Other Barry's turn to portray Paula.

Infielder Rich Aurilia filled the role of Idol judge Simon Cowell, tearing Kevin Frandsen apart after his rendition of Afternoon Delight - Anchorman style in a sky-blue blazer, white turtleneck and hot double-knit checkered slacks to enhance his wig and fake mustache.

Outfielder Ben Copeland was bare-chested except for a purple vest and a striped tie, completing his rocker garb with skintight faux black leather pants cut off below the knee. After struggling through the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Around the World" he revealed a tattoo on his torso the read "Born Bad."

Mouthing "Fly Me ToThe Moon," right-hander Tim Lincecum wore a dark suit and fedora while clutching a cigarette in one hand and a pretend stiff drink in the other. Right-hander Matt Palmer, who actually relied on his own voice, sang Hank Williams Jr.'s "Country Boy Can Survive" wearing a 10-gallon hat, overalls and boots.

The competition will continue Monday when Fred Lewis, Eugenio Velez, Steve Holm, Eddy Martinez-Esteve and Ivan Ochoa will be the headliners.

Honus Wagner’s Card: From CNNsi.com - The "Holy Grail of baseball cards,'' the famous 1909 Honus Wagner tobacco card once owned by hockey great Wayne Gretzky, has sold for a record-setting $2.35 million, the seller of the card said Monday.

The buyer has only been identified as a Southern California collector. SCP Auctions Inc., a company that holds sports memorabilia auctions, said it bought a small share of the card. It is scheduled to be shown at a news conference at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday.

Bobby Abreu: Yankees right fielder Bobby Abreu is expected to miss at least two weeks after significantly straining his right oblique during batting practice on Monday. The team hopes he’s ready for the regular season.

Manny Being Manny – He shows up to work early, um, or late? Manny Ramirez returned to Red Sox camp Monday, although the organization expected him to be in camp on March 1^st.

Johnny Damon: Johnny Damon rejoined the Yankees on Monday after a two-day excused absence to tend to what he described as a personal matter.

The Mitchell Investigation: The players' association will offer advice but said it's the choice of each individual whether to cooperate with former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell's investigation into steroids use. I still think it would be in the best interest of baseball to cooperate, but since Mr. Mitchell has no power, the players are not compelled to do anything – thus, nothing will get done.

More on An Old Friend - Sir Sidney: Big lush (perhaps former) & lover of life, Sidney Ponson might be unable to come the United States for nearly two weeks because of a Visa issue. He is scheduled to obtain his visa is on March 9th in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, the day of the Twins' 10th spring training game. Apparently, an immigration lawyer advised Ponson to get the wrong type of visa.

Most players obtain P-1 visas - earmarked for international athletes - in order to play here in the big leagues. He was advised to obtain an O visa, one that is "specifically for the admission of persons with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business and athletics", not usually reserved for athletes who plan to stay in the country long term (thanks for Babes Love Baseball for the tip).

Derek Jeter punked in a Topps Card? One of my peers who love the Spankees, I mean Yankees, sent an email to an article in the NY Post about a Topps card that had both Mickey Mantle and President George Bush superimposed in it.

From the NY Daily News: "The mischievous elves at Topps then played another version of Where's Waldo - sticking a picture of Mickey Mantle in the dugout.

The Mick is depicted in uniform, holding a bat as though he were back from the dead and preparing to pinch hit.

"Somewhere in between the final proofing and its printing, someone at our company - and we won't name names - thought it would be funny to put in Bush and Mantle," said Clay Luraschi, a spokesman for Topps.

When the cards were proofread, Luraschi said, "We couldn't do anything but laugh.

"Okay, it's in the set and it's funny," Luraschi conceded. "It's caused quite a stir."

Jeter's card, No. 40 in the set, instantly becomes part of the card-collecting hobby's "long tradition of silly little error cards or odd prints that have taken on a lot of mileage in hobby lore," said T.S. O'Connell, the editor of Sports Collector's Digest, a 33-year-old weekly publication.

"For collectors, there's a real giggle factor for something like that," O'Connell said.

All in good fun - nice.