#jeromy burnitz

Me: You know no one has ever talked about Jeromy Burnitz as much as we have, right?

Like literally every single other person on the planet, I now spend all of my time out of the house searching for Pokemons. While in San Diego for the All-Star Game, I spent my time catching another kind of wonderful beast: Shirseys. Check out the new game SHIRSEYMON GO. 

When I wasn’t hunting for shirseys, me and Cut4 head Ian Kay tried to eat every grand meatstuff that Petco Park had to offer. We ranked the five dishes we tasted (go get the short rib tater tots!) 

After watching Giancarlo Stanton create structural problems for the Western Supply Building, I ranked the five most entertaining HR Derbies of the last 20 years. 

As we now prep for the start of the second half, I looked at five surprising players in the first half who could play a key role in the postseason race. Read that, too. 

Stuff I didn’t write but you should read: 

What adjustments did players make that turned them into All-Stars? Eno Sarris investigated. 

You never know it at the time, but offseason Minor League signings in the offseason can make a big difference in the summer. Here are 2016′s best. 

Since the advent of TV, baseball uniforms have been getting brighter. That’s just a fact. A fun, wonderfully bright fact. 

(image via Bleacher Report)

My clearest memories of Jeromy Burnitz are from when joined the Pirates, helping usher out Dave Littlefield out the door, wearing high socks on his spindly little legs while struggling to a .230/.289/.422 mark in 2006. It was a far cry from the underrated slugger who finished with over 300 home runs and twice posted an OPS+ of 140 or higher. Turns out he was also a devious little minx in the locker room too. From Peter Abraham's Hall of Fame column: 

"As a practical joke, [Burnitz] would empty out bottles of shampoo in the showers on road trips after the last game of the series and pee in them."

Just like his playing career, Burnitz's prank doesn't hold up as Hall of Fame worthy, but it's pretty amusing nonetheless.