Remember how the Yanks had that guy Brian Gordon make a couple starts a few weeks ago? What I didn't realize was that in those games he was actually using a non-leather glove! As a person who thinks it's effed up that we play games with the skins of animals, this is huge. I'm still hoping for the day when the baseball and the gloves will all be made of anything but hides. Thanks to Caitlin for the link.

Meanwhile, the long-time minor leaguer Gordon, who wasn't a pitcher until recently, was sent down by the Yanks, and has subsequently signed with a team in the Korean leagues.

Oh, and check this out:

This is from a TV commercial for the All-Star Game. A little hard to tell in this bootleg screen-grab, but below the superimposed Adrian Gonzalez is a "home plate area," with batters' boxes and the catcher's box--note that they've got the batter in the catcher's box. Terrible. Yet another case where all you'd have to do is consult with one goddamn baseball fan before making your baseball commercial and you wouldn't end up with egregious errors. Then again, maybe they look at the stats and say, "Hmmm, Jere Smith of Providence noticed the error and every other person in the world didn't. Run it!"

And speaking of that, have you noticed the new studio set-up for the NESN pre- and post-game? And have you noticed the giant neon Sox hanging on the wall to the right? And have you noticed that they're backwards? How am I supposed to roll my eyes when they're already stationed in the upright and rolled position??