There's Talk Of National League Using DH As Soon As 2017

Mike Oz, Big League Stew:

If you love to watch MLB pitchers bat, take it in while you can, because 2016 may be the final season it happens.

At an MLB owners' meeting on Thursday in Coral Gables, Fla., Commissioner Rob Manfred said the idea of the designated hitter coming to the National League is "gaining momentum." What's more: Deciding whether to implement a unified DH rule could happen this year and then get rolled out for the 2017 season.

MLB is set to work on a new collective bargaining agreement with the players' union this year. The current CBA expires on Dec. 31, 2016 and it sounds as if the DH could be a big part of the new agreement.

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Don Orsillo Discusses His Unexpected Departure From NESN

Don Orsillo, who will be calling Padres games in 2016:

I really don't know [why NESN replaced me], still. I've read things in articles and things that have been said. I've heard terms like "upgrade" and "re-energize" and both really kind of upset me, because obviously we had a lot of energy and I felt like we were quite good. Over the last 15 years and over the last five years, especially, with the way that we did have so many fill-ins, NESN's No. 1 product is Red Sox baseball, and I felt like it was done very well over that period. Unfortunately, they didn't agree. And so that was a big surprise. ...

First of all, the last home game, which I mentioned with the fans, and the great video tribute that the Red Sox did do, followed by the fans' reaction and then chanting my name in Fenway is something I'll never forget. I missed two batters afterwards. Jerry [Remy] picked it up, because I couldn't speak, I was so emotional. And then in Cleveland, to have the entire team come out and salute me at the end was something I never expected.

More On Mookie Betts, Bowler

Rolling Stone spent a day with the 23-year-old Red Sox outfielder:

I have no idea what it is about bowling. It's just a love I have for it. I can't even explain why. Bowling is just fun for me. ..

You focus for each pitch; [in bowling] you focus for 3-4 seconds as you approach and release the ball. Most people don't know about oil patterns and how to play them and transition with them. You have to have sound mechanics to repeat the same delivery each time. That's the hard part. Since I don't bowl all the time I'm not consistent with my mechanics.

Infinite Jest 20th Anniversary Edition: Fan-Designed Cover Contest Winner Announced

For the 20th anniversary of the publication of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, Little, Brown held a contest for the cover design.

Michael Pietsch, CEO of Little, Brown parent Hachette Book Group, and DFW's editor for IJ:

The internet has made it possible to see the massive amount of creative response readers have to Infinite Jest. I'd seen a lot of art connected to the book online, and it seemed that allowing readers who have loved it to submit cover designs for the anniversary edition was a way of honoring and highlighting all that creativity.

The winner is Joe Walsh, a designer in Ohio. The edition will be released February 23.

Walsh shared his creative process (with many drawings) here.

I am disappointed in this cover, though I'll buy the edition because (a) it's my favourite book of all time and (b) there is a new introductory essay by Tom Bissell.

Chris Ayers at Poor Yorick Entertainment posted some of the entries while the contest was still going on. I really liked Ayers's submission:

If Little, Brown wanted something video cartridge-related, they should have chosen The Made Shop's entry:

It's beautiful - and the infinity loop of the tape makes far more sense than the eye on the winning entry. I don't understand the inclusion of the eye at all.

The Made Shop should release a dust-jacket-sized version that readers could print out and use.

Cubs Scorecards

I have no idea who owns the copyright to this - the artist is Otis Shepard - but it would make a dynamite poster. (Found here.)

(I first blogged about Shepard back in 2011.)