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I know it feels like it, but not all the Reds players are currently injured. In fact, one of them is putting up historic numbers, and people are finally starting to notice. Grantland's Shane Ryan has a detailed and gif-filled account of Johnny Cueto's repertoire and how he uses his various pitches so effectively. It's as good as an explanation for Cueto's success as I've seen so far. Ryan isn't shy with his praise for Cueto, which is always nice to see, and he even includes a tweet from our favorite statistician. DRINK!
Despite it being ludicrously early for this sort of thing, SI's Cliff Corcoran tracks the various award races throughout the season, and he currently has Cueto as his National League Cy Young favorite. He even goes so far as to call him the best pitcher in the majors. Even more impressive considering that article was written before Thursday's dominant start against the Padres.
Another Reds player who is currently uninjured is Billy Hamilton. Ben Lindbergh of Baseball Prospectus used him and Joey Votto as a case study to analyze whether having speed on the bases truly helps the batter. Lindbergh concludes that the distraction of the baserunner may mitigate the advantage of the extra fastballs that the batter is likely to see. But he does concede that, in the case of Hamilton specifically, it's too soon to tell.
MLB Commissioner Bud Selig is stepping down after this calendar year, and he means it this time. I know lots of fans like to hate on Selig, and part of his job as commissioner is to absorb that hate. But if you realize that most of his job is to represent ownership and to make sure the owners make the most money possible – and that is his true job – then it's clear that he has been wildly successful, maybe the most successful commissioner in baseball history. Anyway, to underline how serious he is about stepping down, a search committee has been formed to find a suitable replacement. St. Louis Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt Jr is the chair of the committee, so you know the next commissioner will be super classy.
John Paschal of the Hardball Times asked a number of baseball beat writers, including the Cincinnati Enquirer's C. Trent Rosecrans, about their favorite players growing up. It's an interesting look at fandom and how it changes from childhood to adulthood, especially for those fans put in the difficult position of having to cover baseball professionally.
The Toledo Mud Hens will be having Ghostbusters Night on May 30. Somehow, they convinced Bill Murray to do a Harry Caray impression – which I didn't even know he did – for a promotion for their promotion. It's a pretty good impression from one of the funniest men in America.
And finally, every time you think the Cubs can't get any more Cubs, they manage to pull it off. In honor of their ballpark's centennial, the Cubs have seen fit to mount murals on the walls of Wrigley Field. Baseball historian Floyd Sullivan noticed that at least one of the moments depicted on one of the murals, an appearance by famed aviator Charles Lindbergh in 1927, actually occurred across town at Comiskey Park. Oops.