Barbs about Astros' sign stealing

The Houston Astros have been accused of stealing signs from opposing teams. The stealing is mainly to find out what sort of pitch is coming next to an Astros batter. The methods aren't traditional, including banging on garbage cans, and there have been a lot of comments made about it. This story from the Associated Press includes some amusing barbs about it and Astros star player Jose Altuve's partial tattoo.

Today's print edition of the Cleveland Plain Dealer had much the same article but a different title -- Sign stealers have rights, too, you know. 😊

Here is a Plain Dealer article dated last month about the scandal that draws a fine line between cheating and gamesmanship in baseball. It includes humor, too.

Two Mark Twain short stories

The following are two of my favorite short stories written by Mark Twain. Very funny.

How I Edited an Agricultural Paper   The story starts on page 5.

Sold to Satan   Audacious and shows Mr. Twain's fondness for science and industry. Scroll down. The text could use some editing. It appears in book form in The Complete Essays of Mark Twain edited by Charles Neider. The cover and first few pages are here. The whole book is accessible by registering for a free account.

The Billy Goat Curse

The Chicago Cubs advancing to the World Series makes a good time to link to the amusing story of the Billy Goat Curse.  Here is more about the fan interference incident in 2003.