Baseballing Journalist Peter Gammons has had, like, seven careers. For years, he wrote for the Boston Globe, with which publication he more or less invented the “baseball notes” form; he spent over 20 years with ESPN, basically becoming synonymous with that network’s rise to sporting media domination; and, according to sources, Gammons has also worked intermittently as a George Plimpton impersonator — you know, for kids’ birthdays and stuff.

It’s not surprising, then, that — given his track record for innovation — that Gammons has taken to Twitter (under the handle @pgammo) without hesitation even as he enters the “elder statesman” phase of his life.

If you like Gammons’ work, you almost definitely will (or perhaps already do) like his Twitter feed. However, Gammons’ most notable quality as a Twitterer is his penchant for the accidental, or pocket, tweet.

Here are the five best from his timeline since this past October or so.

5. This is the sound a person with a lisp makes when he/she sleeps.

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Get your mind out of the gutter: not that kind of peek.

Former Baseball Prospecticator Joe Sheehan struck out on his own in late 2009, and in early 2010, he started a email newsletter. What was newsworthy about that decision was that he asked $20 per year from his subscribers at a time when so much great baseball writing on the internet was free. it all stemmed from a twitter conversation he had in response to NBC killing Law & Order and yet keeping The Marriage Ref, with this as the highlight of his opening statement:

Content aggregators are killing content creators, but individuals will recognize and support quality if given that option.

After discussing how lowered barriers to entry – brought on by the internet and anyone’s ability to start a website – has allowed the field to be muddied persay, he adds another important quote:

There are collectives whose business model is built on generating traffic while not paying, or paying an absurdly small amount, for content. They can do this for two reasons: the sheer number of people who want to write for a living, and the conviction that the public won’t be able to tell the difference between what they’re getting and what they could be getting.

Well, there’s a leap there on the second point. It could just be mostly the first point – that there are many quality writers that want to enter the fray, and that the quality is kept fairly high by the sheer number of willing part-timers. Look around at excellent websites like Baseball Analysts and Beyond the Boxscore, and you see great work done for little or no money.

This is not to say I begrudge him his work. Sheehan is an excellent writer. Today he gives us a free sneak peek of the upcoming year of his newsletter, which allows him to write and react as he likes to the news of the moment. In a discussion of steroids, he drops a nice gem that reminds us that good writing is worth paying for:

These are the players we know used. They pissed in a cup and the bell went off. These players are data, and the data is 6’0″, 185 with an 88-mph fastball trying to get to 90. It’s 5’11”, 190 wishing it was six foot tall. It’s not Popeye, it’s Olive Oyl. That doesn’t fit the narrative, so no one writes about it, but this is the face of the needle.

Lucky-best breaking news from the fair isle of Taiwan! The La New Bears are being renamed the Lamigo Monkeys!

Sure, I had never heard of the La New Bears until 15 minutes ago, but a baseball team named the Monkeys? Color me impressed. And if you find that revenge-minded silverback pictured on the flag above to be a bit disconcerting, please know that on the Lamigo Monkeys Facebook page (of which I am now a fan … please join me) we have a rendering that should satisfy you …

The big ears and smile are for the kids; the pompadour, natch, is for the ladies. Most of all, though: Go Monkeys!

Anyhow, I can now cross “Monkeys” off my non-exhaustive list of team nicknames I’d love to see used by actual franchises. A sampling:

– Hamburgers
– Cowards
– World Champions
– Commodore Vic-20s
– Security Guards
– Monster Lobsters
– Kevin

What am I missing? Go Monkeys!

For a generation of Toronto Blue Jays and Canadian baseball fans, it is the home run. The home run that forever changed Toronto’s baseball destiny. The home run that represents, perhaps defines, one’s fandom. And I’m not talking about Joe Carter’s 1993 World Series-winning walk-off.

What made Roberto Alomar’s call to Cooperstown this week so enjoyable for me was the reliving of past glories. Up here, they’re all we’ve got.

I was 10-years-old when Alomar sent a 9th inning 2-2 Dennis Eckersley pitch into right field for a two-run home run, to tie game four of the 1992 ALCS between Oakland and Toronto at six apiece, completing a rather miraculous 6-1 Blue Jays comeback. I don’t remember watching Toronto take an early 1-0 lead on a John Olerud home run, or watching Jack Morris get tagged for five runs in the Oakland half of the third, but for some reason, I remember Alomar’s home run. Vividly.

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After a rookie campaign that saw him slash .282/.388/.599, post a 2.6 WAR in just 374 plate appearances, and win ROTY honors, Bob Hamelin has been of little use to the common baseballing fan.

However, were one ever to get curious about Hamelin’s career stats, and were one to search for said stats on FanGraphs, and were one — instead of typing Hamelin’s entire surname into the search box — were one to type only the first three letters of it, then one would find a rather peculiar and LOL-able thing: namely, that there have been seven players with the first name “Ham” in the history of the Majors.

Here they are below, with very, very, very, very, very important notes.

Player: Ham Allen
Given Name: Frank Erwin Allen or Homer S. Allen
Years Active: 1872-1872
Teams: Middletown Mansfields
PA / WAR: 66, 0.1
Notes: Was born either in Augusta, Maine, or Hamden, Connecticut. Died either in Natick, Massachusetts, or Hamden, Connecticut. Died either on February 6, 1881 or January 7, 1892. Is generally mysterious.

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As a sort of sequel to today’s earlier post (featuring, again, a very important image of Matt Murton), reader John submits the above — what he calls “Magical Cedeno.”

A semi-industrious google search reveals no clues as to the authorship of said image (so, anyone who knows, please don’t hesitate to make note of it in the comment section).

The same google search does reveal, however, the following two images, which are sure to push us slightly further towards something like world peace.

First, courtesy of Razzball, is a screengrab of Cedeno with the Pirates. Men aged 18-Infinity will undoubtedly take some pleasure in the upper-lip part of the middle infielder’s body.

Second, from the official website of Venezuelan baseball club Tigres de Aragua, there’s this photo of Cedeno in a shirt that I, personally, will describe as “festive.”

It’s been a good week for Adrian Beltre, what with the reigning AL champs sending all that guaranteed cheddar his way.

There’s also a lot to like about Beltre. He’s an acrobat at the hot corner, that “home run swing from one knee” thing (pictured above, gloriously) is objectively awesome, and one must admire the flinty resolve of a man who rose again from the unspeakable horrors of a torn testicle (shudder).

Also adding to Beltre’s appeal is what appears to be a bizarre and preternatural loathing of having his head touched. Dig it. Dug it? So Beltre’s part Brooks Robinson, part Howard Hughes.

Conventional wisdom says Beltre chose not to exercise his player option with the Red Sox because of the allure of the market and the promise of millions. Video evidence, however, suggests it was because Victor Martinez wouldn’t leave his precious dome the hell alone.

While enjoying an adult beverage last night in the City of Broad Shoulders, reader John brought to my attention the above image, which, as the title of this post notes unlyingly, features saber-hotty Matt Murton on a frigging unicorn.

The image, so far as I can tell, first appeared at Bleed Cubbie Blue, courtesy of user santoswoodenlegs. My guess is, it will continue to appear — in the pleasant dreams of every NotGraphs reader.

And what antics transpire within?

This morning, whilst savoring my morning ritual of Fortnum & Mason and The Sydney Morning Herald, I ran across this item about the charter jets used by most American sports teams. It seems like Delta has a good grip on the business, holding contracts with half of the MLB franchises.

The article is worth checking out for some insight into the business side of the charter service and a cool slideshow of what the planes are like inside, if you’re not a baseball player/journalist/groupie and have never had the pleasure of seeing one.

Apparently the NBA configurations have 60″ of legroom between seats. That’s five feet! You could lay David Eckstein out in front of you as a floormat and you’d both be perfectly comfortable (especially if you were considerate enough to remove your shoes first).

If, like all of world history’s best people, you find yourself still in bed at around 10am ET or so, then it’s entirely possible you missed this news. So, now, here’s this news (courtesy of ‘Duk):

BBWAA.com visitors hoping to glean some knowledge about today’s Hall of Fame announcement are being greeted by something else this Wednesday morning: Nonsensical, yet colorful, gibberish posted by opportunistic hackers who have taken over the writers’ site.

The image above, specifically, is what you would’ve seen had you been awake this morning at that time.

As of this moment, the identity of the perpetrators is still unknown; however, the NotGraphs Investigative Reporting Investigation Team has learned that “big-time nerds” are almost definitely responsible.

Moreover, Friend of NotGraphs and Beloved Pole Dan Szymborski suspects that there is still some foul play afoot, as evidenced by this tweet: