This might interest some of the political types here. This is a transcript of a teleconference recently conducted by the new powers that be in the Alaska GOP.

http://www.themudflats.net/2012/05/11/incoming-party-chair-republican-candidates-will-have-access-to-me-but-will-have-a-test/#.T7Kz5lKibyB

"Discussed:

A continuation of the disastrous Republican Convention which may be scheduled at the Anchorage Baptist Temple on June 9.
Concern that Ron Paul supporters need to turn out again so there is a quorum
The booing of Senator Lisa Murkowski at the Convention
The orchestration of "the coup"
The infamous "Mike Cook" email, if it was real, and who may have created it
Primaries for those "masquerading as Republicans"
Where are the financial statements/audits of the Republican Party?
Republicans should need to "sign an agreement" about party values
"Putting the heat" on Republicans who don’t vote "the way we want them to."
Republicans will have access to Millette, but will "have a test."

This is tantamount to an Alaska Independent Party takeover of the state's GOP. It's just one more reason to love living here. I'm sure my neighbor Norman Olson approves.

Joey is mentioned prominently in this Deadspin correspondent piece about Independent League baseball.

In September, Gathright got seven games and one at-bat with the Red Sox, and that's enough to make him a star in Bridgeport. The Connecticut Post, the only outlet to dedicate someone to the Bluefish beat, centered its season preview on Gathright. "You think about it because you want to be there, ultimately," he said of the majors. "[But] I'm here. I'm going to do what I can to help this team win.""

Hulet seems genuinely impressed.

"The catcher-turned-right-fielder is probably about a year away from an every-day gig in the Majors but he could visit the The Show by the end of the year if Kansas City is OK with adding him to the 40-man roster a year early."

Francoeur's horrible play may force their hand by August. Omaha by June?

This is the son of one of the guys I work with. Note he is the entire band.

Sometimes you just need to take a deep breath and relax.

"Still, his sympathies are more readily tapped by the likes of Alan Root, an English wildlife documentary filmmaker working in East Africa, who survived attacks from a hippopotamus, a leopard, a burrowing viper, a puff adder, a gorilla and a duiker (male antelope), all with the stiffest of upper lips (perhaps because it was bitten by his pet mongoose). Plimpton admires Root's compassion for these animals, embodied in the filmmaker's inevitable excuse for their attacks: ''They're having a bad day.'' In his graceful acceptance of insult and injury, his appreciation of hard-won disaster, Root is a man after Plimpton's own heart. "

I Must admit I only knew Plimpton for Paper Lion.

One year, $835,000, and best of all, no gritty veteran backup. I am perhaps irrationally happy to see this.

Some questioned my sanity when I remarked that fresh powder snow and -15F was perfect weather. Well, it warmed up and this is what I get; 30F and rain, freezing as it hits. This is a transportation nightmare and the snow is ruined. If this lasts the power lines will start to come down, too. 15 below, sunny and calm is beautiful.

The Go Team is the band behind the Play 60 Get On The Bus commercial. Not at all what I expected to find when I sought the source of that infectious tack. They're from Brighton, England, and it sounds very different live.

"Crisp, 32, has spent the last two seasons with the Oakland Athletics, hitting .269 with 16 home runs and 81 stolen bases in 211 games. According to Slusser, Crisp has said he would like to play for a contender, and the A’s have traded star pitchers Gio Gonzalez and Trevor Cahill this offseason and look to be rebuilding."

Does Covelli have enough left to be of use to a contender? He'll is 32 and not likely to improve on his lackluster 2011. A negative UZR and a .317 wOBA don't look that valuable to me.

Looks bad for Brena. I mean, TWO RINGS! Kind of an interesting story about how he got to Boston.

2/10 is not horrible, but really, Theo?

It seems paying big for amateur players and the advent of the draft in 1965 were the biggest factors in the lowly KCA's becoming the mighty, mustachioed OAK A's of the early 70's. A good, short summary of the process from scout.com.

"A Brewers spokesperson confirmed that the club has declined the $17.5MM option on Francisco Rodriguez and the $6MM option on Yuniesky Betancourt, tweets MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. The pair will receive buyouts of $3.5MM and $2MM, respectively."

$17.5M for a setup man seems a bit insane. $6M for Yu-Bet probably wouldn't be bad if he weren't so bad at baseball. He has done quite well for himself, regardless. There are a couple of great comments.