R.A. Dickey to slay Grendel's mother - MLB

And he looks like he could do it too, no?

As if there aren’t enough reasons to love R.A. Dickey, Tyler Kepner of the New York Times gives us another: Dickey names his bats after weapons from epic poems and fantasy fiction:

One bat is called Orcrist the Goblin Cleaver and the other is Hrunting. Dickey, an avid reader, said that Orcrist came from “The Hobbit.” Hrunting — the H is silent, Dickey said — came from the epic poem “Beowulf”; it is the sword Beowulf uses to slay Grendel’s mother.

If I had bats I’d name them Wyrmslayer and Wyrmsbane. And if you know what those are without looking them up, congratulations, you were as hopelessly nerdy as I was as a teenager.

(thanks to reader Alex P. for the heads up)

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins needs surgery for a torn ACL after injuring his left knee Thursday fielding a grounder in a spring training game and is expected to miss a significant amount of time.

The Phillies did not say when Hoskins would have the surgery or exactly how long the slugging first baseman might be sidelined.

Hoskins hit 30 homers with 79 RBIs last season for the reigning National League champions.

He was backing up to play a chopper on Thursday when the ball popped out of his glove. Sooner after, he fell to the ground and began clutching his left knee. Teammates gathered around him before he was taken off of the field.

Hoskins, a free agent at the end of the season who turned 30 last week, hit six homers in Philadelphia’s playoff run last season. The Phillies lost to the Houston Astros in the World Series.

The injury was another blow for the Phillies, who will be without top pitching prospect Andrew Painter for another few weeks because of a sprained ligament in his right elbow. And slugger Bryce Harper isn’t expected back until around the All-Star break after undergoing Tommy John surgery in November.

R.A. Dickey to slay Grendel’s mother

Phils’ Hoskins tears knee, expected to miss significant time