Around the bases

In case you ever wanted to know how MLB players packed for road trips, SI has answered your question!

And then there's Detroit closer Todd Jones, who wears only one pair of underwear when the Tigers leave town. "I don't pack any underwear,'' he said. "I wear it into the park, it gets washed every day and I wear it out of the park. I guess that's weird. I'm not proud of it, but I'm cutting down on space.''

Only one pair of underwear? Seriously?

Athletics pitcher Barry Zito, known for his eccentric style, brings along a foam roller for massaging his hips, as well as candles and bath salts to help soothe sore muscles the day after a start. Then, there's his Tempur-Pedic pillow and a photo of him and his girlfriend in a special frame.

He's worse than a chick! Candles, bath salts, pictures? But if that's considered "eccentric," that's pretty tame.

The Giants' Mark Sweeney has seen some strange stuff over the years. His friend, Robert Fick of the Nationals, brings his own blanket. "He refuses to sleep on their blankets,'' Sweeney said. "I'm not quirky with that stuff. I'm just quirky on the field.''

I don't blame Fick one bit. I wouldn't sleep on most hotel room blankets either; I wouldn't call that "strange" or "quirky." THIS is strange and quirky:

San Francisco's Todd Greene purchased camouflage jock straps for his teammates during spring training, and says he wears his every day.

Oookay! I hope he washes it!

Are any O's fans planning on taking part in the WNST protest on September 21?

Very simple: WE, the lifelong fans of the Baltimore Orioles, demand new ownership. We want someone other than Peter G. Angelos and his group owning, making decisions and fortifying the baseball team and civic treasure that is the Orioles. We will use the afternoon of Thursday, Sept. 21 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards as a “protest rally” to encourage the sale of the team.

We STRONGLY encourage you to buy the CHEAPEST tickets possible and to avoid all of the interior concessions once inside the ballpark. Hotdogs and drinks are "cheaper on the outside." We are NOT trying to spend money with this ownership group. We're trying to do the bare minimum to enter the ballpark.

The mission statement and history is quite impressive. I have to give these guys a lot of credit for putting this all together. If my team had a sucky owner like Angelo$, I'd be doing this too.

Here's another reason why I heart Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post. He kills me! From Tuesday's discussion:

Barry Svrluga: OK, this might be a good time to give a glimpse into what goes on in the press box. Here at AT&T Park -- formerly PacBell Park, formerly something else -- the press has an excellent seat, nice and low behind home plate. That, of course, draws all kinds of "media" types out to the park each night.
The past two games, there was a local radio "reporter" sitting within earshot of we local hacks. Traveling to the West Coast is a treat, but the time difference makes for a lot of scrambling to file stories before the games that make our East Coast deadlines. Not to bore you (I know: Too late), but it's a pretty stressful situation.
Back to the radio "reporter." This guy treated the press box like a local coffee shop. I mean, running commentary that you wouldn't believe. For your entertainment, a list of topics that came up during last night's 4-1 Nationals' victory:
The New York Cosmos
Matt Cain's one-hitters
Dusty Baker: Man of the People
Origin of the word "cashier"
Warning Track Power and its Relation to Willie McCovey
Commercial Viability of Country Music
Coot Veal, member of Expansion Washington Senators
Origin of the phrase "getting shelled"
U.S. vs. Barbary Coast Pirates, aka America's First War
Your Mom and Who She Voted For
Joe McCarthy: Russian Duke?
Oh, by the way: Livan Hernandez looked like Livan Hernandez again. That, however, was way secondary.