A) This IS a FanShot. You can tell by the gray background. It just happens to be a FanShot on the front page.

B) Seasons in Australia are reversed from ours, since they’re in the other hemisphere. That “28 degrees” is a reading in Celsius, the measurement most commonly used in Australia; by Farenheit, Perth’s having daily highs a little over 80 right now.

C) Harris has been our primary area scout for Australia for more than two years now, and over that period of time, he’s signed six Australian prospects for us. None are real hotshots at this point, but it does speak to an increased level of interest in the region on the part of the team, which is worth noting. Harris is also fairly notable in his own right, in that he’s coached the Australian national team on numerous occasions, including the 2004 Olympics, where they won the silver medal.

D) There aren’t many actual games going on right now. If you aren’t interested in winter ball, that’s fine, but most people who read the site are baseball fans who enjoy reading and talking about games – particularly ones involving players from our organization.

E) What makes the “Brisbane Bandits” or “Sydney BlueSox” any sillier as names than the “State College Spikes” or the “Altoona Curve”? And how big do you think most minor league parks are, if a crowd of 2,800 is worthy of mockery?

F) Merry (almost) Christmas to you, too.

1. WTM wrote the post you’re thinking of.

2. It is absolutely awesome that RInku was pitching well enough to make the all-star game. If you aren’t rooting for Rinku to succeed, you should just become a Yankees fan, because you have no soul. It’s in the chart.

Well whatta ya know, sure I’m getting banned again…

You’d think the message would sink in, eventually.

How in the world can that be taken for anything but hold your stomach laughter?

Why would it be a joke? It’s an All-Star game. Some of our guys played well enough to make that All-Star team, so I thought people might be curious to know how they did in the actual game.

Rinku did very well in regular league games this winter. 11 1/3 innings, 1.59 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 10/1 K/BB. I’d assess the ABL as being approximately equal to A-ball in quality (maybe A-), and it seems like a fairly lively league-wide offensive context, so that’s a very solid performance against an appropriate level of competition. It’s an encouraging sign for the spring. He’s not a joke, and he doesn’t deserve to be treated like one.

Correction – Justin Huber hit a grand slam in a losing effort for the Aces.

You could maybe make a case for Dave Nilsson as an above-average regular, depending on what you think of his defense.

Best pitchers so far have been relievers, most notably Grant Balfour, Graeme Lloyd, and Peter Moylan.

I had great hopes for Luke Prokopec, once upon a time…