"That's cool, Jess, but why is it called 'The Golden Sombrero'?"

I've received this question a lot. And by a lot, I mean twice, from my roommate and my brother, both of whom were forcibly detained and made to read my blog. The nature of my readership aside, it is a legit question.

"Golden sombrero" is one of my favorite baseball terms. A player who strikes out four times in one game is said to wear the golden sombrero. So even though it kind of sounds like a good thing, it really isn't. But I think it's funny nonetheless.

I'm pretty sure that baseball has more weird slang words than any other sport. I usually spend most of the game listening to see what terms the announcers throw out there. Half of the time, I think they just make stuff up (Joe Buck, I'm looking at you) because fans can't keep track of all of the crazy terms.

Some of my favorites:

Dying Quail - A lame pop fly that lands just beyond the outfielder's reach. So close, yet so far away!

Chin Music - A pitch that wizzes by the batter's face, usually a warning from the pitcher to back the hell off the plate.

Pickle - A rundown; when the runner gets caught between two bases. Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez often finds himself in these...

And finally, my all-time favorite, probably because I have the sense of humor of a 15-year-old boy:

Dong - Used by sports editor Lee Russakoff to talk about Chase Utley's home runs. I'm guessing he meant "dinger," which is a totally acceptable home run term. Instead, he ran an article where he came up with this gem: "Chase's two dongs put him in elite company."

And you wondered why the ladies love Chase so much...

I think I'm warming up to Oswalt...

Gracias to theFightins.com for this fab picture.

Also, check out the video. It's priceless.

Cousin Bud

My grandpa, PopPop, is a pretty cool guy. He makes the world's best apple cinnamon pancakes and lets his sons-in-law call him "Coach." He is also a pretty quiet guy, and if you've ever met my (impossibly loud) family, you would understand why. The one story I can always squeeze out of him, though, is the story of the day he became a Cardinals fan.

PopPop is my professor of all things baseball and, despite being born and raised in Pennsylvania, is a lifelong supporter of the St. Louis Cardinals. His devotion started one fateful day, 70-something years ago, when he agreed to go to a Yankees game with his cousin Bud.

Cousin Bud, PopPop says, would just go on and on about the Yankees. He would rattle off stats, taunt the other team and generally be obnoxious.

On this day, it just so happened that the other team was - you guessed it - the St. Louis Cardinals. And they beat the pants off of Cousin Bud's precious Yankees.

"Well, that shut him up," PopPop says with a chuckle. And he's been a Cardinals fan ever since.

Me and PopPop routing for his second favorite team.

Phillies at Giants, NLCS Game 4

I'm not feeling particularly blog-y while watching this game, considering Big Joe is apparently pitching to the backstop. However, the Giants' barely legal starting duo seemed worthy of a post.

Pitcher Madison Bumgarner, 21, and catcher Buster Posey, 23, when added together, are still 3 years younger than Jamie Moyer. And, as much as I hate to say it, they aren't that bad to look at.

Although apparently Bumgarder has a wife? Who was excited to receive a bull calf as a birthday gift? Yep, a baby bull. Supposedly they wanted to raise it and dress up like clowns and chase it around. I might have made up that last part though...

8:48pm - I take back whatever I said about Buster Posey being hot. It seems to be getting to his head, if his second RBI in three innings is any indication. Pfft.

Buster Posey vs. Chase Utley. Votes??