baseball season just around the corner

It's the "ides of March" and the "madness" of basketball is in full swing. In the meantime, here are a few baseball links to "wet your whistles" with, because it will be time to "play ball!" before you know it.

First up, in the news again, the famed "Honus Wagner" baseball card - Please, moms, don't throw away those cards yet!

The "Holy Grail of baseball cards,'' the famous 1909
Honus Wagner tobacco card once owned by hockey great Wayne Gretzky, has sold for a record-setting $2.35 million, the seller of the card said Monday.

On second thought, "who would-a thunk!" that Topps baseball card maker would ever sellout to another company?

The maker of baseball cards and other collectibles
announced Tuesday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Tornante Co., an investment firm founded by ex-Walt Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner, and private-equity group Madison Dearborn Partners.

I realize some you think watching baseball is the equivalent to watching ice cubes melt. But if you are a true baseball fanatic, you will enjoy these two sites. Spring Training Yearbook Online is the place to keep up with your favorite team during this time of the year, the pre-season known as "spring training." The other site is called Baseball Think Factory -

The Baseball Primer grew out of a series of phone calls
made between Jim Furtado and Sean Forman during the 1999-2000 winter. We were a little burned out working on the 2000 Big Bad Baseball Annual and were looking for a new direction to go in baseball analysis.

And last, but not least, it is a good time to add this link to "America's favorite team" - the ATLANTA BRAVES. Yes, I will removing the basketball links for Duke shortly and replacing it with the Braves on my blog favorites.