FanHouse Actafool

To me, the playoffs mean one thing: the wise decision-making skills of Cleveland Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro! After firing Jim Thome/snapping turtle hybrid Eric Wedge as the Tribe head coach, Shapiro has really gotten down in the dirt to find a new skipper, looking in the only place you're allowed: the big recycling bin of failed coaches who didn't do a good job somewhere else and were fired by someone else. Why they sound PERFECT!

Fun fact: That guy in the photo to the right was eating in Heritage Park and just throwing his trash on the ground. Thanks a lot for your contributions, Cy Young! Have an eighth of a hot dog!

Tonight's Dugout is after the jump.

I am going to keep reusing this picture of Stephen Strasburg until you've lost track of which article you're reading, and everyone clicks this looking for draft coverage and we get tons of traffic. Typing typing typing, something about the "spirit of the game," blah blah. This guy is really something, though, and he's going to save the Nationals if he ever ends up pitching for them. I'm going to put him, Matt Wieters, and Jay Bruce on the Baseball Superfriends. Jose Canseco can be Solomon Grundy.

What you need to know: the Washington Nationals selected the San Diego State pitcher No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 MLB Draft. He once struck out 6,200 batters in one game. He looks like he should be playing bass for Incubus.

What you don't need to know: We are not qualified to cover the draft, and that tonight's Dugout is after the jump.

THIS

IS WHERE THE POWER LIIIIIIES

Join host Mel Allen as he takes a look back at the stories that mattered in the world of Major League Baseball this week on "This Week in Baseball," conveniently presented in the form of a chatroom transcript for those of you reading AOL Sports' "Fanhouse" blog, and presented in HD on certain cable systems you live nowhere even close to getting.

/TWIB opening music

When President Bush tossed the first pitch tonight to an overwhelming chorus of boos, did you surprise yourself by feeling sorry for the guy? I sure did.

Now, you may like Bush and agree with his policies, and that's fine. I only bring this up because it's a perfect example of baseball's ability to bridge a gap. It's a weird sport, and the weirdness of it, among other things, necessitates a sort of camaraderie between those of us who are able to appreciate it. So when I saw the President throw out the first pitch, and when I heard him spend a couple of innings in the booth to drop baseball science, I could like the guy, if only in a sense, and if only for a little while.

Today's Dugout is after the jump.

Earlier this week, we saw the first glimpse of Dmitri Young in The Dugout since our move to FanHouse. We really had better not link specifically to some of our older dugouts starring our interpretation of Dmitri, but for those unfamiliar he's basically a really fat Ned Flanders.

Over the last few weeks, the Nationals have quickly become a team full of characters. Dmitri, Elijah Dukes, Lastings Milledge...I was expecting them to agree to terms with Raekwon the Chef, but I suppose their recent acquisition of Aaron Boone is close enough.

Boone meets Dmitri and pals in the latest Dugout, after the jump. It's a special occasion for us.