Daily Links 4-25-14

Back just in time for the weekend with a huge roundup of links. In today's edition: lots of baseball-related links (naturally), how to make perfect hard boiled eggs, the house that Bond built, was Colonel Sanders a real colonel, and more.

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It's been a week of baseball anniversaries. First (and most importantly), Wrigley Field marked its 100th anniversary this week. Although I've been fortunate enough to attend games at such wonderful parks as Fenway Park and Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Wrigley Field is still my hands down favorite. Here's the incomparable Vin Scully on what makes Wrigley such a special place.



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Meanwhile, Wednesday also marked another anniversary: the 50th anniversary of the only pitcher to hurl a no-hitter and lose. 

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Speaking of anniversaries, it is the 25th anniversary of Field of Dreams. Here's a fun list of 12 things you probably didn't know about the film (including who was really supposed to star in the movie instead of Kevin Costner). Tip of the cap to Neatorama for the link. Appropriately enough, the anniversary will be marked with a celebration on Father's Day.

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Two New York booksellers claim they bought William Shakespeare's dictionary on Ebay. You can decide for yourself whether to believe them. (Hat tip: Book Riot)

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How do you make perfect hard boiled eggs? Alton Brown has a suggestion: bake them in the oven instead of boiling them.

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On Tuesday, Albert Pujols hit home runs number 499 and 500 of his career. That is by itself a remarkable achievement. But as Jayson Stark points out, there's a lot more to appreciate about Pujols than his home runs. 

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Answering the important questions: Was Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Colonel Sanders a real colonel? It's a fascinating profile of a true American success story.

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The house that Bond built: a profile of Ian Fleming's Jamaican estate Goldeneye. Interestingly enough it has now been converted into a hotel.

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This season Major League Baseball adopted expanded instant replay. Needless to say it has not gone as well as officials thought it would. I have never been a supporter of instant replay and the difficulties that have been experienced thus far have only reinforced my view that it was a mistake.

Daily Links 9-6-13

Some reflections on hard work, Ronald Reagan's near-death encounter with a chimpanzee, theological labels, a double no-hittter, and more in today's links.

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Reevaluating the value of hard work:

For more than a generation, we have encouraged our children to aspire to careers that would enable them to work with their minds and not their hands. So, it should come as no surprise that we have an estimated three million job vacancies in the skilled labor force today that are going unfilled because many people erroneously consider these positions to be beneath their potential or otherwise undesirable.

We are now dealing with a problem of our own making. In our attempt to spare our children from the drudgery of physical labor, we have become a society that no longer respects or celebrates hard work. We have become a nation of consumers rather than producers and we are beginning to experience the unintended consequences of this transition in more painful ways. But just as the national narrative seems to be hopelessly unswayable, an unlikely voice of reason has emerged in guest appearances on the national talk show circuit.

Mike Rowe, who is best known as the host of the Discovery Channel's popular show Dirty Jobs, has decided to lend his fame and notoriety to a larger cause. He is encouraging a broader conversation about our nation's relationship with skilled labor. He feels it is important to "make a case for the trades," and I applaud him for bringing recognition to this issue through his many appearances.

Hat tip: Mike Rowe

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Ronald Reagan once famously acted with a chimpanzee. An unfortunate incident with the chimp nearly cost him his life.

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Are you a Calvinist?

The organ was playing. The choir was in the loft. Church members were seated and still. My Bible was in hand and I was prepared to take the platform. In moments the worship service would begin. It was at this instant an elderly gentleman introduced himself to me by stating, “I am so glad you are here to preach for us today. I have looked forward to meeting you. Before you preach, though, I have one question for you. Are you a Calvinist?”

That question is not an uncommon one, but it’s a question that might be more difficult to answer than first thought. To this gentleman, I reflexively replied, “To be honest, sir, I have no idea what you mean by that question.” He smiled and responded, “I have no have idea what I meant by the question either.”

We both chuckled, then I retorted, “I’ll be happy to discuss this as much as you’d like after the service, but know that I believe in preaching the gospel to all people and that anyone who repents of their sins and embraces Christ as Lord and Savior can be saved.” Reassured, he smiled and said “that is all I wanted to hear.”

That conversation, like so many others, reminded me of the challenge of theological labels. This seems especially so when discussing the often controversial topic of Calvinism.

Hat tip: Challies

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A challenge to read books outside of your comfort zone:

We who live in this peculiar world of the “Young-restless-reformed/gospel-centered/whozamafaceit” have a nasty habit: we tend to be pretty insular in our reading.

While there’s much to like (even love) about writers from this particular group—we are right to appreciate writing that makes the gospel great, to be sure. But there’s a danger, too: if you’re not careful you can wind up only reading and listening to people you agree with.

Your arguments become second- (even third-) hand. Your discernment dulls. You risk becoming, well, kinda boring (and not in a good way).

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How well do you know your grammar? You can put it to the test by trying out this quiz: You Can't Write Proper English Under Pressure. And it is harder than you might think.  (hat tip Neatorama)

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Going to the hospital can be unnerving for just about anyone but especially for kids. One Connecticut children's hospital came up with a unique solution: a pirate themed CT scanner room.

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Only once in baseball history has there ever been a double no-hitter for nine innings. Of course, the Cubs were on the losing end of this unique game.

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Some great advice to young writers: get lost.

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God Doesn't Hand Out Hypotheticals

Last weekend Matt and I had a young, engaged couple from our church over. It was so encouraging to talk to them about our faith. Although they are barely in their twenties, Greg and Mim are very mature in their thoughts about God. 

As the men were showing off their corn hole skills (maybe this is just a WV game??) in an intense match against our children, Mim and I were talking on the deck about the recent loss of her baby niece. As Mim was processing her thoughts from her experience over the last couple of dramatic weeks, she recalled something very wise her father told her. She said something to the fact that God doesn’t give us hypothetical grace, he gives us grace for today.

Hat tip: Blogging Theologically

Welcome to the Playoffs

As a Cubs fan, making the playoffs is really only a dream at best and a World Series appearance is unlikely to happen in my lifetime. But that doesn't mean I ignore the playoffs. On the contrary, I follow all the postseason series and for good reason. Anything can happen in October.

Just ask Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halliday.

Halliday came to the Phillies last offseason and immediately upgraded the pitching staff. On May 29, he made his mark hurling the season's second perfect game.

But tonight, he went one better. In the opening game of the Division Series, Halladay went out and threw a no-hitter which is only the second time it's happen in the postseason. Not too shabby for his postseason debut.

By the way, Halladay also made another bit of history. Only five other pitchers had thrown a no-hitter in the postseason or two no-hitters in a calendar year. Halladay became the first tonight to do both.

It's not too much of an overstatement to say that the Phillies are the best team in baseball this year. Roy Halladay has proven tonight that he may be the best hurler in the game.

Now, That's What I Call A Comeback

After spending 11 days resting a rumored injured arm, Chicago Cubs ace pitcher came back and threw a no-hitter against the Astros last night. Zambrano reportedly said after the game "I guess I'm back".

I guess so. Just in time, too.

UPDATE: Well, not to be outdone, fellow Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly took his own no-hit bid into the 7th inning today against the Astros.

Looks like that unexpected layoff due to Hurricane Ike has helped the Cubs.

By the way, the last time there were back-to-back no-hitters was in 1968. Gaylord Perry of the San Francisco Giants no-hit the St. Louis Cardinals on September 17, 1968. Ray Washburn of the Cardinals returned the favor the next day by no-hitting the Giants.

The last time teammates accomplished the consecutive no-hitter feat? You have to go all the way back to 1917 When Ernie Koob and Bob Groom hurled consecutive no-hitters for the St. Louis Browns against the Chicago White Sox on May 5 and May 6, 1917 respectively.

Here's a complete list of no-hitters in Major League Baseball history.