Chris Olds of the ORLANDO SENTINEL has been a bountiful bevy of amusing information for us on this post-Memorial Day day. First, he very graciously goes through every recent Playboy to uncover which athletes have shed their suits for the mag. And now, Chris shares the news of the latest hair-raising trend in baseball card collecting.

Upper Deck will soon be coming out with a new set of card collectibles - featuring select strands of famous follicles. And it’s not just ballplayers getting the scalp treatment. Read more…

Darren Rovell of CNBC reports that the Yankees are considering pulling the plug on an All-Star promotion this summer between Major League Baseball and State Farm that would allow one lucky fan to call the first home run shot of an All-Star hitter in the Home Run Derby for cash and prizes.

Apparently, there’s a key element to the promotion that has their knickers in a full twist with a half-pike. You see, the batter would be David Ortiz. Of the Boston Red Sox. At Yankee Stadium. In its last season. Doing Babe Ruth’s apocryphal bit. Oops.

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The BILLINGS GAZETTE pitches up news of a baseball signed by Babe Ruth now going up for bids. But what’s remarkable about this particular auction item is the near-mint condition of the 61-year-old ball and the story of how it was acquired & kept.

77-year-old Carvel Lincoln, then a 16-year-old pitcher from Idaho, was in Billings for a junior baseball tournament. Also at the 1947 tournament was the Babe, who showed up for the opening ceremonies and later gave a short speech at that evening’s banquet:

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Babe Ruth’s granddaughter, Linda Ruth Tosetti, has taken the opportunity of the (aborted) final Opening Day of the Heavily Modified House That Ruth Built and Then Pounded Repeatedly with Baseballs to reiterate her desire to see Granpappy’s #3 retired throughout the major leagues just like Jackie Robinson in 1997.

Unless Tosetti, a lifelong Red Sox fan, believes she has African-American blood, she seems to be missing the point. Jackie Robinson posthumously received the honor because Bud Selig legitimately worships Robinson, likes to keep reminding us that baseball’s totally not racist anymore, and somehow interest African-Americans in baseball again. Read more…