The Rays’ lineup today starts off 8-6-7-5-3-0-9

By Craig CalcaterraJul 3, 2014, 4:30 PM EST
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Hat tip to Chris Jaffe for tweeting this around, but get a load of the Rays’ lineup today:

Those of you around my age or older will recognize those position numbers as the title and chorus to a particularly annoying pop song from the early 80s. At least if you count the DH as “0” for position purposes. For Joe Maddon’s sake here’s hoping that lineup isn’t a one-hit-wonder too.

In other news, seeing this led me to look up Tommy Tutone on Wikipedia. Things I learned: (1) Tommy Tutone was the name of the band, not the singer; and (2) someone from Tommy Tutone clearly wrote the band’s Wikipedia page because no one on Earth knows that much about Tommy Tutone other than the dudes from the band.

Astros assistant GM Mike Elias reported to be next Orioles general manager

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By Craig CalcaterraNov 14, 2018, 6:46 AM EST
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Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that Astros assistant GM Mike Elias will be the new general manager of the Orioles “barring a change of heart.”

Elias, 35, has been the Astros’ assistant general manager since August 2016. He had previously served as Houston’s scouting director and, before that, as a scout for the Cardinals. He was part of the team that came over from the Cardinals when Jeff Luhnow joined the Astros.

If he does take the O’s job his work will certainly be cut out for him. Baltimore was historically bad in 2018, finishing 47-115 thanks to a roster full of expensive, past-their-prime players and an underdeveloped farm system. He’ll have to hit the ground running too, as he’ll not join the team until nearly two months into the club’s offseason, having had no time to assess its needs and personnel. Oh, and the Winter Meetings begin in a little over three weeks.