The first weekend of interleague play is now concluded, and what have we learned? Players can hit balls just as hard off opposing league pitchers as they can off their own league's pitchers. It's pretty amazing, really. I can't way for when interleague arrives in June for real (for five series in a row instead of just one) so we can learn the same lesson again.

Meanwhile, let's get to the trots!

Home Run of the Day: Asdrubal Cabrera #2, Cleveland Indians - 22.04 seconds [video]
Cabrera finished this game against the Reds a perfect five-for-five with two home runs and five RBIs. You can't ask for a more perfect game at the plate than that. For that, he bests San Francisco's Nate Schierholtz for Home Run of the Day. Schierholtz hit a blast out of AT&T Park in the bottom of the eighth inning to tie the game up. I couldn't tell if it hit the sidewalk before splashing into McCovey Cove, or if it splashed on the fly. The Giants would go on to win in the eleventh.

For the rest of today's trots (including trot times for all home runs), head over to Baseball Prospectus.

I know I've done a poor job of keeping Wezen-Ball updated over here with links and info to my other writings. I apologize for that. I'll try to keep things up-to-date a little more often. As an apology, here are a few links to some of my favorite pieces over the last month or so. Enjoy!

• A (nearly) exhaustive look at every mascot in Major League Baseball history. Help me fill in any gaps.
• A story called "How 'Scientific Baseball' Has Changed the Game" originally published in 1911.
• The umpire behind the plate for Johnny Vander Meer's second no-hitter was also an NHL ref and a Stanley Cup wining coach!
• There are three managers in baseball named Ron. Which is baseball's version of Ron Swanson?
• A boardgame from the mid-1960s called "Challenge the Yankees". Nice looking card set too.
• Remembering Manny Ramirez upon his retirement. This one gets a little Cardboard Gods-y (in a good way, I hope).
• In Tater Trot Tracker news, Peter Bourjos sets a new bar (14.02 seconds!) and we have a look at Duane Kuiper's lone trot.

I'll do a better job of keeping everyone in the loop here. In the meantime, you can see my latest posts with this Baseball Prospectus RSS feed.

I will also be doing a chat at BPro Thursday afternoon at 1pm Eastern. Everyone is welcome. Hope to see you over there!

Just wanted to let everyone who submitted a Predictions Contest entry know that, now that the contest is closed, the full list of entries is available.

Head over to the 2011 Wezen-Ball Predictions Contest form to see your (and everyone else's) contest entry. There were 143 entries total, which is pretty fantastic. I can't wait to see how this plays out come October or so.

I'll have a little more about the contest in the upcoming week or so. Thanks for playing, everyone!

Today is the last day to get your predictions in to the the 2011 Wezen-Ball Predictions Contest. I hope everyone who waited until today saw what they needed to see in yesterday's six games to make up your mind!

We now have over 130 entries for the contest. Let's try to pick it up to 150 and beyond by the end of the day. Feel free to let everyone know about it. Can't hurt, right? Yankees fans, in particular, might like to know that something like 98% of entries are picking the Red Sox to win the division.

So get to it. One last day for your chance to win 2 Free Tickets to any 2012 baseball game*! Go here for the rules. 

Now go get your vote in!

Opening Day is finally here!

And, along with it, comes the 2011 edition of the Tater Trot Tracker! Let's all do the dance of joy.

As you may know, I am now doing most of my writing over at Baseball Prospectus. This will include the Tater Trot Tracker for the 2011 season. As was the case last year, a Tater Trot Tracker post will go up around 1pm everyday; it will just go up over at Baseball Prospectus instead of here.

You will be able to find updated stats here as the season progresses, as well as the full 2010 Tater Trot Tracker archive. I'll keep this post updated with other news about the Tracker through the season, as I'm certain I will come up with more and better ways to give everyone the data.

In the meantime, if you're dying for some Tater Trot Tracker immediately, please see this breakdown of the average tater trot or this listing of some of 2010's top trots (or this one as well). 

Now let's start this 2011 season! 

I just wanted to give everybody a quick reminder that the 2011 Wezen-Ball Predictions Contest is still going on. Entries are due on Friday (so you're free to wait for the Opening Day returns before deciding on your World Series winner - I'm that generous of a guy!).

I know I said I'd update the form so that we could review what everybody's picks were, but I just haven't had the time to do that yet. I'll have to do that over the weekend. In the meantime, though, I thought some updates on the picks everyone are making might be fun. There are a whopping 116 entries as of this writing, which is just fantastic. I'm glad everyone seems to like the new form.

• The most common pick is the Mariners finishing in last place, with 107 people making that pick. The next most common is the Red Sox finishing in first, with 103 picks. They are the overwhelming division favorite.
• The Phillies have a big lead as the favorite in the NL East, with 94 picks. No other division winner has more than 69 picks in their favor (the Rangers).
• Despite Boston's edge in the predicted finishes, the Phillies have more people predicting 100-win seasons for them than do the Red Sox. It must be a comment on the difficulty of that AL East.
• On the flip side, the Royals and Pirates are virtually tied in the number of predicted 100-loss seasons. Kansas City edges out Pittsburgh in this race, with 24 predicted 100-loss seasons to Pittsburgh's 23.
• Not surprisingly, the Red Sox have more predicted World Series wins (38) than any other team, with Philly close behind (30).
• Teams getting one (and only one) World Series championship prediction include: the White Sox, the Reds, the Twins, the Marlins, and the A's. The Brewers have as many World Series Champions predictions (8) as the Yankees, and one more than the Giants.
• Adrian Gonzalez is killing the vote for AL MVP, with 53 picks. The only other candidate with double-digit picks is Evan Longoria, with 12. In the NL, it's Albert Pujols leading the way by a wide margin, with Troy Tulowitzkia, Ryan Braun, and Prince Fielder fighting for second.
• Jon Lester and Roy Halladay have strong margins in the Cy Young race, with CC Sabathia, Felix Hernandez, Cliff Lee, and Tim Lincecum also getting some votes.
• Finally, Jeremy Hellickson and Freddie Freeman are both destroying their competition in the Rookie of the Year races.

That's enough for now. I'll give a more detailed breakdown next week, once all the submissions are in. Go here for the rules. The winner of the predictions contest will receive 2 Free Tickets to any 2012 baseball game*!

Now go get your vote in!

I'm happy to announce, for the second year in a row, the Wezen-Ball MLB Predictions Contest 2011!

If you're a Wezen-Ball reader and would like to register your 2011 MLB predictions somewhere - including team wins for all 30 clubs, postseason series, and award winners - click on over here to view the Wezen-Ball MLB Predictions 2011 contest. Just follow the instructions within the document; it shouldn't be too complicated. (Currently it's not set up to review submitted entries, but I should have that fixed in the next few days. In the meantime, trust me - I received your entry!)

The winner of the predictions contest will receive 2 Free Tickets to any 2012 baseball game*!

Sweet, right? Okay, that's not exactly accurate. Because not everyone lives near a major league (or minor league) team, and because not all ticket prices are the same, the winner will actually receive a $30 gift certificate to either MLB.com or the team of their choice. In theory, that's enough money to get two tickets to any game in any city and should be nice enough incentive for those who can't make it to a game.

So here are the basic rules and scoring details for the contest.

(Click "Read More" to continue reading.)

My latest post is up over at Baseball Prospectus. With pitchers and catchers finally reporting, it seemed appropriate to celebrate the occasion in some way. You can see how I chose to celebrate above.

Earlier in the week, I wrote a post looking at the superheroes - Iron Man, Spider-Man, Batman, etc. - who can be found in baseball. Can you think of any other superheroes I may have missed? I had a lot of fun with this one, even though there were fewer superhero names than I thought there would be.

As always you can see my latest posts with this Baseball Prospectus RSS feed. Hope to see you over there!

I have a couple of pieces up over at Baseball Prospectus this weekend. One looks at the baseball histories of both Pittsburgh and Green Bay (in a flagrant use of the Super Bowl as a topic). The second piece is a little more fun, though. It looks at all the evidence shown in the movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" to figure out exactly which Cubs game Ferris and pals attend, and to learn who exactly hit that foul ball Ferris caught.

The scene above is all that we need to figure it out (skip to 2m 17 sec if it doesn't do it for you). But to find out the details, you'll need to head on over to Baseball Prospectus.

And if you're worrying about missing any of my BP pieces, I've got something for you. I'll do my best to update this site with links to my BP pieces on a regular basis. But, for a more up-to-date way to follow my BP writing, you can bookmark my author page or subscribe to this RSS feed. Either link will be updated as I post articles.

Thanks again for reading! Now why don't you follow me on over to Baseball Prospectus for some fun Ferris Bueller trivia...

I have some pretty exciting news to share: as of this afternoon, Wezen-Ball will now be featured over at Baseball Prospectus (along with quite a few other very talented writers). I am very excited for the chance to join one of the biggest names in baseball writing, and I am very much looking forward to the opportunities - and the audience - that BP affords. Being a part of such a well-respected organization, and among such quality writers, can only help make Wezen-Ball an even better place to be.

The blog as you see it here will still exist, but mostly so that old articles (like Charlie Brown's stats and the Tater Trot Tracker) can still be found. I'll update over here occasionally, if I feel like writing about non-baseball issues or if I have something to say that doesn't quite fit at BP. I also plan to leave the occasional reminder about what you may be missing at Baseball Prospectus if you don't have it bookmarked. I wouldn't want anyone to get lost when it comes to my writing.

And, yes, Baseball Prospectus is a pay-site, so some of my blog posts will be behind the paywall. But, as a BP blogger, a higher percentage of my writing should be on the free-side of the wall than most. I'll be sure to let people know whenever a post is for subscribers only. (And don't forget - you could always subscribe yourself. You'd be getting access to a lot more quality writing than just me!)

I hope everyone here follows me over to Baseball Prospectus. I know change is weird sometimes, but I honestly think this change will be great for everyone. My time at Bloguin has been nothing short of exceptional, and I want to thank Ben, Dave, and Derek for everything they've done for me. If you're a blogger yourself and you're looking for a new host/network, I would not hesitate in the slightest to contact Bloguin. You'll be glad you did.

And with that said, we're off to BP. Hope to see you over there soon! Here's a good starting point. And don't forget, you can always find me on Twitter at @wezen_ball.