It's Nick Punto Day! Don't ask me why. I just woke up to Twitter assaulting me with all kinds of sarcastic and amusing tidbits about our favorite Italian Stallion. For instance, you can check out his rookie Phillies card to see what a twelve-year-old would look like in a major league uni, courtesy of Minneapolis' own Phil Mackey.
Me, I remembered that I have a build of 2K Sports' MLB 2K10 at my desk, so I simulated the season to see how Visual Concepts thinks the year is going to go for Little Nicky.
I could regale you with an after-action report about my digital 2010 baseball season, but we all know that Joe Mauer is the True MVP (actually, Grady Sizemore took that home with a mammoth .300/.385/.548 season [that's batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage] where he launched 38 bombs and stole 43 bags while knocking in 109 and scoring 122 runs himself) and everything else is immaterial.
Things probably happened in the National League. I didn't pay attention until the Red Sox somehow managed to lose the Series to the Dodgers, with Andre Ethier knocking 6 out of the park and hitting .344/.440/.703 for the series.
Finally, the updates we've all been waiting for: Nick Punto's 2010 season. He split time at 2B and 3B with Alexi Casilla and Brendan Harris, hitting 11 (!) home runs in 312 while batting .269/.349/.429. There's no stat for headfirst slides into first base or gritty tough gamer firecracker play, but we can safely assume that he led the league in those critical categories.
Pitchers and catchers report in a week and a half. Can I just sleep until then?