The front office staff of the Red Sox minor league affiliate in Greenville has been busy with their parody video of a Black Eyed Peas song, “My Humps”.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFHRhZ8L7dM[/youtube]

Hat tip to MJD over at Deadspin for the find.

Texas Gal at Ladies… writes about her first baseball boyfriend, Craig Biggio.

Deadspin gives you a video about the return of the Stephen A. Smith hecklers.

Sooze from Babes Love Baseball has a funny poll about baseball and old people.

With Leather talks about a soccer team in Uganda that had to forfeit a game for what can only be described as the “runs”.

Maureen over at Yankees Chick is only 97% sickened by the Yankees now.

The Fanhouse gives you P Diddy’s take on the fashions worn at the NBA draft.

Anthony at the Oriole Post went to see Daniel Cabrera at ESPN Zone in Baltimore.

Kevin Youkilis checked in with another blog entry. (you may notice I was the first to comment)

The fine folks at The Big Lead have some pictures of bad tattoos on a hot soccer wife.

And my favorite part and hopefully yours, Fitzy from the Townie News provides you with his latest “Wicked Pissah” webcast.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OSBJURPD6pM[/youtube]

Former Hartford Whaler first round draft pick (and yes ESPN.com, he was a Hartford draft pick not a Carolina Hurricane draft pick) Ron Francis will be inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame. Joining him will be former Edmonton Oiler and New York Ranger Mark Messier, former Calgary Flames and St. Louis Blues back liner Al MacInnis and former Washington Capitals and New Jersey Devils defenseman Scott Stevens.

All four players were inducted on the first ballot and will go into the Hall on November 10th.

Francis becomes the first player to play predominantly for the Hartford Whalers to make the Hall. He was their first round pick in 1981 out of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Francis played the third most games in NHL history only behind Gordie Howe and Mark Messier.

All Whaler fans remember March 4, 1991. It was the day that Francis was part of a six-player trade along with Ulf Samuelsson to Pittsburgh. It would become known as the day the Whalers died. The franchise never recovered from Eddie Johnston’s trade of the franchise player and a few short years later they would leave for Carolina and become the Hurricanes.

Francis would go on to win two Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh playing along side the great Mario Lemieux.

Roush Fenway Racing announced today that Carl Edwards will be driving the No. 99 Lumber Liquidators/Red Sox Ford Fusion this Sunday in the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Raceway in Loudon, NH. Lumber Liquidators and Gillette will be the primary sponsors this weekend of the No. 99 this weekend.

Edwards is very happy about the deal.

“I’m really proud to have Lumber Liquidators and Gillette on board as the primary sponsors of the No. 99 Ford at Loudon. Both organizations have deep ties in the New England area and it is truly an honor to represent a team like the Boston Red Sox that has so much respect and history. There is an obvious cross-over between the NASCAR fan base and Red Sox fans and I’m excited that Lumber Liquidators and Gillette have chosen me to represent them at New Hampshire International Speedway.”

Owner Jack Roush shared Edwards’ sentiments.

“We are excited to have Lumber Liquidators and Gillette sponsoring the No. 99 Ford Fusion and using the opportunity to promote their affiliation with the Boston Red Sox. It is our intention to be New England’s NASCAR team. We hope Red Sox fans watching the races in Loudon will support us with the same intensity as they do when watching the Red Sox”.

Tomorrow night at the ballpark will Roush Fenway Racing Day at Fenway Park presented by Gillette. There will be a NASCAR theme and exhibits throughout Fenway. All of the Roush Fenway stable of drivers will be honored before the game with the Texas Rangers. Carl Edwards and his car will also be on display outside Remdawg’s before the game as well.

It’s only matter of time before Jim Billy Bob Cooter will be wearing a Red Sox hat.

Manny needs your help Red Sox Nation. With just today left to vote, he’s currently in 4th place in the voting for the starting position in the American League outfield for this year’s All-Star Game in San Francisco. Head over to MLB.com and vote for Manny 25 times. As the Nike slogan goes, “Just Do It”

Last week on Deadspin, they had an article about David Beckham and Reggie Bush getting together to do a promotional advertising campaign for Adidas. Here is a video look at what happened.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfpm7FrdQyI[/youtube]

[Hat tip to With Leather for the find.]

Today marks a historic occasion in Major League Baseball. It is the first time that seven 40-something years old pitchers will take the mound. Roger Clemens, Kenny Rogers, John Smoltz, Jaime Moyer, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Woody Williams will all take the hill for their respective clubs tonight.

I had a tough time deciding on which line should open this post, so I went with a generic one instead. But here are my other thoughts.

• Back before Al Gore invented the internet, these 7 guys were already pitching in the major leagues.
• Back when Jim Leyland smoked 3 packs a day during a game.
• If these guys wanted to watch a tape of their game or do scouting, they had to plug a tape into the team’s betamax.

Then it got me to thinking about a few new sponsors for ESPN’s Baseball Tonight.

• Baseball Tonight sponsored by Geritol, taking care of your favorite old-timer’s vitamin needs.
• Tonight’s Touch ‘Em All segment is sponsored by Viagra, where we will help you hit a homerun.
• Diamond Cutters sponsored by Metamucil, cutting through your digestive problems one base at a time.
• Tonight’s Web Gems sponsored by Depends, making special saves for old people.

UPDATE: It is now 6 geriatrics pitching as Kenny Rogers and the Tigers were rained out.

The much-anticipated day of crowning has arrived.

Ladies and gentlemen, your Rookie Card Champion of the World, Greg Maddux.

After 23 seasons in the big leagues, Maddux has accomplished such feats as passing the 300 wins milestone and joining the elite 3,000 career strikeout club while issuing less than 1,000 walks (the only hurler to ever do so.)

He may have lost the porn stache’ that earned him this honor along with the speed of his pitches over time, but Mad Dog has managed to hold onto his commanding presence on the mound and pinpoint precision.

With 4 Cy Young Awards, 16 gold gloves and 8 trips to the Mid Summer Classic, Maddux has the great readers of SOX & Dawgs and Babes Love Baseball to thank for this most recent accomplishment.

With 41% of the vote, he beat out the hot seduction of Rondell White, the skinny bird lips of a young Terry Francona, a Billy Corgan-esque Jason Giambi and a man muscleless Joe Mauer. He made it past a smaller version of Big Papi, Mariano Rivera’s pressed slacks, and Manny’s New Edition card.

Congratulations, Greg Maddux! It was a landslide victory with a record number of votes, making your 1987 Donruss card the sweetest of them all.

Thanks for voting!

[All Rounds]