Scott Edelman wonders today which professional sports title is the most elusive for would-be contenders in his latest BDD article, The Toughest Championship to Lose?

Check it out!

Ok, maybe not necessarily important, but highly recommended reading.

Our friend J.C. Bradbury is about to release his first baseball book, The Baseball Economist. You may know J.C. from his web site, Sabernomics. Anyway, there's a great article on J.C. and the book on the front page of Section B in today's Wall Street Journal. You can read the article by going here: Wall Street Journal and you can pre-order the book from any one of these places:

The second bit of reading comes to us from the guys over at Gaslamp Ball. Dex and jbox have just completed a lengthy interview with one of my favorite people in all of baseball, Paul DePodesta. Check out all 3 parts...Part I, Part II, and Part III. This is one of the best interviews I've ever seen by baseball bloggers. Congrats guys!

Well here's your chance!

The Detroit Tigers today announced a tryout camp to be held at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, FL on Monday, March 5, 2007.

Registration for the camp begins at 9:00 a.m., with the workout beginning at 10:00 a.m.  The tryout camp is for players age 18 and older and no pre-registration or participation fee is necessary.  Those interested in trying out must provide their own glove and workout equipment.  Wood bats, helmets and baseballs will be provided by the Tigers.

In case you ever wondered what Major League teams bring with them to Spring Training, the Philadelphia Inquirer gives us a little look at how the Phillies truck was stocked before heading down I-95 to Clearwater, Florida...

• 14,400 baseballs
• 850 bats
• 400 batting helmets
• 30 dozen red caps
• 250 jackets
• 2,500 undershirts
• 500 pair red socks
• 100 pair shower sandals
• 300 pair gym trunks
• 300 athletic supporters
• 200 pair sliding shorts
• 2,000 towels
• 15,000 paper cups
• 10 ice chests
• 10 drink coolers
• 60 cases of athletic tape
• 12 dozen green caps for St Patrick’s Day
• 1,500 pair baseball pants (road and home)
• 350 practice uniform tops (red, blue)
• 18 sets of new catcher’s gear
• 40 cases of carbohydrate-loaded jelly beans
• 24 cases of bubble gum
• 24 cases of sunflower seeds
• 10 cases (200 pounds) of powdered sport drink mix
• 48 12-ounce bottles of pine tar
• 50 gallons of pine tar remover
• 100 pounds of grass stain soap
• 300 pounds of laundry detergent

The Pirates have officially opened the new Community Baseball Center. The complex has been transformed from a dilapidated indoor swimming pool located in the Shadyside/East Liberty Boys & Girls Club into a state-of-the-art, year-round youth baseball and softball training facility. The facility represents the first completed project of the Pirates newly defined philanthropic arm, Pirates Charities.

Pirates Charities partnered with the Boys & Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania, the Baseball Tomorrow Fund and the Roberto Clemente Foundation to reenergize the previously unusable community facility into a complex that features two batting cages with automatic pitching machines, skill stations, multi-media training rooms, administrative offices, equipment storage rooms, new restroom facilities and more.

The complex will give area youth throughout the region a safe place to focus on wholesome and healthy activities year-round, according to Bob Nutting, Pirates Chairman of the Board.

“The Pirates Community Baseball Center will have a widespread positive impact on youth throughout the region by giving them a place to focus on productive activities and positive interaction with their peers and coaches,” Nutting said. “It demonstrates Pirates Charities’ mission as it is a positive addition to our community that will help improve the lives of the thousands of youth who will use this facility for many years to come.”

The Pirates Community Baseball Center will become home to Pittsburgh’s Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) youth outreach program, the Boys & Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania baseball and softball programs and serve as a training complex for the CitiParks Big League baseball and softball programs.

Here are some links to start off the week and get you through your post-Super Bowl blues...

• PG Crosschecker has a whole new site design and Allan Simpson gives us a nice little tidbit on the top 10 colleges providing the most major leaguers in 2006.
• Maury Brown's The Biz of Baseball now has summaries of all 10 of the Collective Bargaining Agreements brokered since 1968. Nice little piece of history.
• If you haven't seen this post by Martin on Talking Chop, you just have to head over there. I don't want to give any more away. It will leave you laughing.
• Jeff Sackmann has an article over at The Hardball Times comparing the 2007 free agents to the potential 2008 free agents. It's interesting to look ahead to next off-season, but from what I'm hearing, most teams are already working very hard to extend the contracts of their potential 2008 free agents. This list may diminish substantially.
• The Seattle Times talks with Jim Parque about his improbable comeback attempt and the even more unlikely motivation for his return. The all story sounds like a movie I've seen before.
• Speaking of comebacks, does anyone really want this guy to come back?
• Maybe there is some hope in the land of the Pirates. They have some good young pitchers and are about to showcase several of their top prospects at their AA-affiliate in Altoona this season.
• If you are Ronnie Belliard, this certainly isn't going to help your chances of getting a lucrative contract.