Friday's Links

We haven't done this in a long time, so for your entertainment, here's a bunch of great stories around the world of baseball that were not written by me.

• Here's something new that apparently everyone knew about except me: SABR's Baseball Biography Project. SABR is attempting to compile bios on every player from every era of professional baseball. That's quite an undertaking. (I linked you to Hal Janvrin, a former 3B for the Boston Red Sox. He had quite possibly the coolest nickname in baseball history, Childe Harold.)
• According to the Chronicle, Jim Crane is starting to get irked at how long it's taking for MLB to approve the change of ownership hands. I don't blame the guy--seeing as the transaction has taken months already, and there's still no progress to speak of-- but if your sketchy past includes instances of war profiteering, racist hiring practices, and domestic violence accusations, people might be a little skeptical about letting you into their club.
• FanGraphs' comic relief section, NotGraphs, has a comparison piece (via a Jay Bilas tweet) that raises an interesting question. Which uniform was more vomit-inspiring, the 1970s Astros kit or the University of Maryland's new football digs? Personally, I guess I'm just weird because I like both sets, but the homer in me still leans towards the Astros rainbow shirts as much cooler. Way more awesome though, was the Terps' choice of cleats.
• Sweetspot blog chief David Schoenfield takes a look at the bonafide rawness of Toronto's Brett Lawrie and Seattle's Dustin Ackley and ranks the AL rookies he'd most like to have on his team in seasons to come. If he did the same for the Senior Circuit, perchance J.D. Martinez or Jose Altuve would make his list?
• OK, this one isn't about baseball, but it's a spectacular video that's worth watching, especially as we creep closer to this historic anniversary weekend.