Bannister lovin' in the offseason

You good folks already know that I love Brian Bannister a whole lot, and lately folks at a couple of other sites have been falling all over themselves to praise him too. I love this.

Craig Brown at MVN's Royals Authority talked about Bannister's newfound golfing hobby after the Royals forecast luncheon, and MLB Trade Rumors has a fantastic and insightful 2-part interview with him.

I love hearing about baseball players (as human beings, not just as numbers or as trade bait) during the winter. I'll take any random reminder of the season, though, not just stories about players. Today while I was watching the Nebraska/Kansas basketball game*, I had the pleasure of hearing Fred White's voice doing the broadcast. It was a random and happy flashback to every baseball season of my childhood, even though White was calling a wholly different sport today. Some things were consistent with Royals broadcasts from days gone by: White's familiar voice, obviously, and the fact that he had to find ways to gently suggest that the team for which I was rooting had absolutely no chance to succeed.

*Dear Aleks Maric,
Don't you EVER take another one of those stupid no-look hook shots you attempted so much today. Other than one completely unnecessary 3-point attempt, all of your shots were this pathetic thing. You have all the light touch of a cinder block, so when you poke that shot in the general direction of the basket, I want to punch you for wasting a possession in which the ball actually made it inside of Kansas' "no-catch zone." You have to look at the basket before you shoot if you want to score more than zero against a team like KU, so drop this shot from your repertoire before NBA scouts start to notice this nasty habit.

Hugs,
A mildly jaded fan