Diamonds Are Still a Girl's Best Friend

As the old saying goes, diamonds are a girl's best friend. Check out this awesome baseball babe shirt made by former BLB author, Marea Anderson!

Purchase this awesome shirt for yourself or a friend today! There's even a matching necklace.

[Like Marea Anderson Designs on Facebook]

Prostate Cancer Foundation: Keep Dad in the Game

[Prostate Cancer Foundation]

Seasons Greetings!

Finally.

Happy New Year: Most Memorable Stories in Major League Baseball from 2011

Well, we're all another year older and not a bit wiser. Can you believe it's almost 2012? Top Tens are pretty nifty and all, but we're gonna go ahead and add a few more of baseball's most memorable moments of the 2011 season, including the happy, sad, funny and unbelievable.

April 8: Manny Ramirez "retired" from baseball after getting busted cheating once again. Idiot. This happened roughly eight months before he was officially reinstated and granted a 50-game ban if any team chooses to sign his dumb ass.

Michael Cuddyer's Dimples Joins Colorado Rockies for 3 Years, $30 Million

A day after the Minnesota Twins signed free agent outfielder Josh Willingham to a three-year deal, Michael Cuddyer has made his decision. He's leaving Minnesota after 15 years in the organization to play for the Colorado Rockies.

The two sides agreed to a three-year, $31.5 million contract Friday, bringing a veteran bat to the lineup and a cannon of an arm to the outfield. Seriously, no one runs on Michael Cuddyer, and if they do, they are sorely mistaken. And out. A first time All-Star in 2011, the right fielder hit .284 with 20 home runs and 70 RBI last season, and had a .988 fielding percentage.

Top Ten Things Babes Love Baseball is Thankful for in 2011

We're thankful for so many things. Baseball, beer, and shoes being the three most important, obviously. Oh, and family of course... but there are so many baseball-related things to be grateful for that we felt the need to compile a list and share it with all of you. No, Joe Mauer is not one of them. He's disappointed us to no end this season and really, we'd rather not talk about it. Wouldn't want him to land on the DL with hurt feelings.

10. A nice hot stove. Although Marea's favorite NFL team sucks ass this season, Sooze's is doing quite well. The best actually. But there have been other MLB offseasons in which football has not gotten us through the winter. Not even close. And it's because of the NFL's blatant disregard for happiness that we are incredibly thankful for MLB Network. Best. Channel. Ever.

9. The Dugout: The Official Chatroom of Major League Baseball. If you haven't read one of these little gems, you are totally missing out. In fact, we're disgusted with you. Just click the link.

8. Players like C.J. Wilson. Without guys like him to make fun of, this blog would be boring as hell and we probably would've given up a long time ago. Thanks, buddy.

7. The Youtubes. Thank you to all you nerds out there who tirelessly post videos of protected content that you know MLB will be taking down in just a matter of time. We enjoy them while we can.

Young Lady Gets the Chance to Interview Curtis Granderson for Baseball Youth Magazine

When this email came across our inbox, we couldn't help but smile.

In an attempt to avoid dating myself, I'll just say that when I was Haley Smilow's age, I fell deeply in love with baseball and never looked back. Sadly, I never got the opportunity to interview my favorite player, Scott Leius. Anyway, we decided to share her interview with Curtis Granderson for Youth Baseball Magazine with all of you. It's awesome.

The 10-year-old New York City native and her family took a fun baseball trip around the Midwest this summer to seven stadiums in five states, including Miller Park, U.S. Cellular Field, Wrigley Field, Busch Stadium, Kauffman Stadium, Target Field, and Oriole Park at Camden Yards, to enjoy 26 ballgames in 31 days. Now that's a vacation.

Along with several other players, Haley had the chance to meet the New York Yankees center fielder for an interview, which was published in Baseball Youth. While we are re-printing the interview in full, we encourage you to check out the magazine, which would make an excellent holiday gift for the little baseball lover in your life.

God Bless New York, God Bless America

Never forget.

Looking Back on 3,000 Posts

Welcome to our 3,000th post. Man, that's a lot of baseball blogging. It's like we never shut up!

We've had lots of laughs, done some fantastic interviews, seen writers come and go, and had pretty great contests and giveaways. Obviously, we need to take this opportunity to look back at some of our favorite posts. Ah, the good old days...

We got super lazy and decided to write all 30 team previews in haiku form.

There were a ton of elderly pitchers back in 2007. Naturally, we created a 12-Step support group for them.

There's really nothing quite like sitting around thinking of who would make the best mistresses for random Major League Baseball players. So that's what we did.

Remember when Josh Hamilton was busted licking whipped cream off a young lady's chest? We were hard at it that day.

Grady Sizemore gives us all an early Christmas gift by snapping sexytime pics of himself in some sort of dressing room...as if we checked out the background.

What's Your Free $100 Fantasy [Baseball]

It's not too late to sign up for our FREE $100 Freeroll Fantasy Baseball game on Draft Street this evening for a chance to win some cold hard cash... and bragging rights, of course. There is no commitment necessary, so it's perfect for all you men out there. Plus, it's free.

Click here for more details or follow this link to sign up right away!

Top Ten Most Sticky Situations in MLB History

Mitchum is running a "Love Thy Pits" campaign for their new Advanced Control stick/solid antiperspirant and deodorant, which will help you keep your cool during any hot mess you find yourself in, with 48 hours of protection for both men and women. Hey, if you smell good, you feel good, right?

In fact, it would be pretty embarrassing to find your deodorant isn't working properly: hence the "sticky situation" title. This got us to thinking about the ten most embarrassing moments in the history of baseball. One thing just sort of leads to another with us... there's no real train of thought most of the time.

After enjoying this top ten list, we invite you to share your most embarrassing moment in the comments section. The commenter with the most humiliating, hilarious, and humbling sticky situation will be awarded two tickets to an MLB game of their choice, courtesy of Mitchum. The winner will be announced via Facebook this Friday, August 5, 2011, so be sure to like BLB's page.

Happy Memorial Day

We hope you all enjoy spending some quality time with friends and family this Memorial Day and take in at least one of the 15 ballgames scheduled for today. Also, please remember to thank a veteran for risking their life for our freedom, and keep our soldiers in your thoughts.

Glenn Donnellan of the National Symphony Orchestra plays The Star Spangled Banner on a fiddle made
from a Mother's Day pink bat on May 8, 2011 at Citi Field.

Happy Birthday Man Muscles!

Happy 28th Birthday, Joe Mauer. Get well soon, and take care of those sexy legs.

P.S. Happy Birthday to Troy Polamalu as well, who turns the Big 30 as he shares this special day (and his shampoo) with Man Muscles.

Jackie Robinson Day: Celebrating a Legend

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." - Jackie Robinson.

While most of the country associates April 15 as the dreaded "Tax Day" the rest of us know that today's date has much more meaning.

Happy Jackie Robinson Day.

Today is the 64th anniversary of the date when Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, becoming the first black man allowed to play the game outside the Negro League. The baseball legend played his first big league game with the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field on April 15, 1947. He went on to win the Rookie of the Year honors and play in six All-Star games.

Jim Jam Mashes His First Tater of 2011

Jim Thome went yard Sunday afternoon during his team's 5-3 loss to the Oakland Athletics, crushing a two-run shot in the eighth inning off Jerry Blevins that cleared the 36-foot high batter's eye in straightaway center of Target Field.

The Minnesota Twins designated hitter has made a winner out of Rachel Erickson, who was randomly chosen from last Wednesday's online contest. Rachel, a fellow babe who loves baseball, will receive this sweet Mashin' Taters t-shirt courtesy of DiamondCentric Apparel.

Anyway, keep an eye on Jim Jam. Only ten more bombs until he joins the elite 600 Club!

[DiamondCentric]

Speaking of the Twins, check out Sooze and Marea's interview with Joe and Teresa Mauer. We love him a bazillion times more now that we've touched him.

We Interviewed Joe Mauer (And Didn't Die of Elation)

Sooze and I have never made our infatuation with Joe Mauer a secret. In fact, it was our deep rooted love of Man Muscles that landed us a brief interview with him. No, I'm not lying. If you'll recall, a couple of weeks ago, we told you about the Kemps contest where Joe and our future mother in law his mom Teresa were choosing the biggest Mauer "Fan"ily to get to watch the shoot of Joe and Teresa's newest Kemps Ice Cream commercial.

We went behind the scenes today and got to meet the lucky (and adorable!) family, David and Kathy DeGear and their four beautiful children, who won the contest AND got to ask Joe and Mama Mauer a few questions. Without further ado, we bring you the best five minutes of our lives. Enjoy!

Babes Love Baseball: Let's start with one for both of you. How did you pick the winners of the biggest "Fan"ily contest?

Teresa Mauer: [To Joe] Oooh, he's gonna throw me under the bus, aren't you?

Joe Mauer: No, actually, you [To Teresa] pretty much picked it. And she did a great job doing it.

Teresa Mauer: It was hard! There were a lot of great families that sent in. But the bottom line, the one thing that stood out was that they were not only Joe fans, but also Twins fans.

BLB: They were really cute!

TM: They were. Great family.

BLB: [To Joe] Does it kind of creep you out a little bit that there are so many people obsessed with you? And my [Marea's] son's middle name is Joseph, after you, so I'll admit that I'm not exempt from this question.

Manny Ramirez: Happy Trails, Dumbass

We've known for years that Tampa Bay's designated hitter Manny Ramirez was his own special brand of stupid. Former teammates have likened him to cancer. He's made some ridiculously stupid comments. Love him or hate him, it's still big news that our favorite butterfly chasing dumbass retired today after 19 seasons.

Manny missed Thursday's game with what was called a "family issue". He was expected to return to the lineup on Friday, but the issue turned out to be what the commissioner's office called "an issue under Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program". Oops.

Manny apparently failed a drug test by testing positive for a banned substance during spring training. He didn't bother to appeal the positive test. Rather than face a suspension of 100 games, Ramirez decided instead to hang it up for good. Should he decide in the future to rejoin the Rays (or whatever team would actually put up with him), he would still be required to face disciplinary action for the failed test. I'm willing to bet that Roy Oswalt's neck is wishing Manny had made this decision a few weeks ago.

Thanks A Lot, Nick Swisher

オハイオ州のたわごと(Oh Shit!)

Minnesota Twins fans who were looking forward to seeing Tsuyoshi Nishioka's Target Field debut will have to wait for a lot longer than today's home opener.

In the seventh inning during yesterday's game, the Twins second baseman and former Japanese batting champ was standing firm on second base when Yankees right fielder Nick Swisher attempted to break up a double play and took a hard slide... right into Nishioka's firmly planted left leg. Nishioka was carried off the field and it was later ruled that he had fractured his fibula. Ouch.

Nobody is blaming Swisher for playing dirty. Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire was quoted as saying "Swisher's a clean player. It was a good slide. That's not an issue at all." And Nishioka himself called the slide a "professional play." Right now the bigger question is why in the hell Nishioka didn't jump out of the way.

Babes Love Having Contests!

Hey Readers!

Spring is here, baseball season is upon us, and we're in a giving mood - and the good folks at DiamondCentric are too. You know DiamondCentric - the very same guys who brought you such classic t-shirts as "Thome Is My Homey" and "Cuddy is My Buddy".

In honor of a brand spankin' new baseball season being upon us, and in honor of their newest shirt "Mashin' Taters", we thought we'd have ourselves a little giveaway. Since you all know how much we love Jim Thome, we thought it would be appropriate to give away a sweet Mashin' Taters shirt when Ol' Jimmers mashes his first tater of the season. All you have to do is leave a comment at the end of this post on here or on Facebook, and you're entered to win. Once Jim Jam hits number 590, we'll randomly pick a winner. Easy enough, right? You'd better hurry, too, in case Thome decides to go yard tonight.

Good luck!

P.S. Even if you don't win, you should totally go buy one of their shirts anyway.


[DiamondCentric]

Season Previews: Tampa Bay Rays

With Opening Weekend upon us, we're just about finished with one of our favorite things in all the world: Season Previews. Four years ago, they began as a semi-serious analysis and ended up as half-assed haiku. We're just gonna go with what we know. Moving right along with our preview of the American League East, here are the Tampa Bay Rays.


Buh-Bye Garza and
Bartlett. Welcome to Tampa
Manny Ramirez!

Hello to your old
Boston teammate Johnny D!
Reunions are fun.

Also lost Crawford
To wicked tons of money free agency. Hope they're
OK without him.