Just another pleasant valley Sunday

Welcome to Sunday! It is either the first or the last day of the week, depending on how you look at it. Sunday translated into English means “day of sun”. It hearkens back to the days of the pagans and sun worship. In many cultures, it is a day of rest. There is never (purposely) a day of rest for the links, so without further ado, to you I present your linkage:

In Mariners news...

• Wade LeBlanc graduated from college yesterday. Pretty sure his degree is in Sports! with a minor in Neat!

• Prospect Julio Rodriguez led us all to believe he was good at baseball. Turns out he’s good at softball too:

• Speaking of Julio, (Kenny Mayne voice) he’s tall:

• An update on the public Hall of Fame ballots and Edgar’s progress:

Around baseball...

• The Braves are out of the J. T. Realmuto running, despite being reported as favorites to land him earlier yesterday:

• The Yonder Alonso trade is official. So now the speculation begins. As Manny Machado’s brother-in-law, does the acquisition of Alonso mean Machado is on his way to Chicago as well? Who knows? The White Sox make no sense.

• Here’s some fun trivia for you, courtesy of Lookout Landing’s Tim Cantu. Based solely on this scoreboard, what year was this picture taken? I’ll post the answer in the comments later today.

Mandy’s picks...

• Seattle-area legend Jimi Hendrix will have a post office named for him in his hometown of Renton. My high school was down the street from the graveyard where he and his family are buried and it was a tradition to visit his grave and bring him presents. I often brought my brother’s broken guitar strings, but you’d find old math tests and animal erasers and all sorts of random stuff. I have no idea if that’s still a thing because I haven’t been back since I graduated. Now, at least, the frustration of needing to physically go to a post office is eased by standing in a building named for the greatest guitarist of all time.
• Alyona Shchennikova won the All-Around gold medal at the Voronin Cup last week. Closing out the international elite season, the Veronin Cup is generally not well attended by big name gymnasts, and few Americans have competed there. Shchennikova finished 8th in the All-Around at US Nationals last summer. The daughter of Russian immigrants, her appearance has sparked rumors that she may try to earn a spot on the Russian national team, which has far less depth than the American team.

This is the only video I’ve found of any of her routines. And hey, if the Russian national team needs something, it’s someone who can stay on the beam: