Outside The Confines: Where did January go?

Friends, I don’t know how to tell you this, but today is the last day of January. That’s right, somehow an entire month of this new year has vanished before our very eyes, and what did we do with it? (I obviously can’t speak for you, perhaps you were very productive and stuck with a New Year New You mentality successfully. If so, congrats!)

What we certainly have not seen is any kind of productive movement with the MLB lockout, and with owners implying they have no problem starting the season late, and February just around the corner, it’s time to wonder: should we start worrying?

I have a shirt I got from RotoWear a while ago that says “It’s not the new year until pitchers and catchers report” which is a sentiment that feels very true to me, but at this rate, the normal mid-February arrival at spring training facilities seems very unlikely to happen. And it’s hard to get excited about truck day coming up when there will be no players in Florida and Arizona to get warmed up for the season.

So, here it is, almost February, and while we don’t know when the next meeting between the owners and the MLBPA will be, we know there’s still considerable distance between the two sides. I suppose we’ll need to wait a little longer for the new year to arrive.

Time for today’s links! Shaking up the format a little bit for today since there were quite a few good Tweets to include so I put them all together at the bottom.

• Ben Clemens looks at guys who throw sinkers and four-seamers.
• Will Laws takes a look at the current players who have the best shot at a future spot in Cooperstown.
• Michael Clair spotlights Masanori Murakami, the first Japanese player in MLB.
• Andrew Simon assesses the best single-season stints (as in, the best single-season with one team, rather than a player’s single-best season).
• James Wagner looks at the defacement of the Jackie Robinson marker, and what MLB has done to help restore it.
• Cody Stavenhagan looks at how the Ty Cobb Museum handles the complicated history of the Tigers legend. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Alec Bohm and other players like him have lost plenty thanks to the lockout. Scott Lauber takes a look at how players hoping for a bounce-back season are missing out on the training that could most help them.
• Shawon Dunston’s daughter is the White Sox new Director of Minor League Operations, and Daryl Van Schouwen looks at Jasmine Dunston’s new role.
• Richard Justice thinks Roger Clemens deserves better than a Hall of Fame snub.
• Tyler Maun gives us a glimpse at the new Sugar Land Space Cowboys.
• Speaking of the Space Cowboys, here’s a look at their new uniforms.

• Former Mets pitcher Jeff Innis has passed away at 59.

• This Brian Bannister thread about David Ortiz is a must-read.

• Considering the current weather in much of the country, this comic feels very fitting.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.