There’s an episode of The Simpsons in which Krusty the Clown agreed to give away a free Krusty Burger if the United States won gold at certain events in the 1984 Olympics. When the Soviet Union boycotted the Games, Krusty stood to lose $44 million.
For some reason I was reminded of this episode when this came through my Twitter feed this morning:
How about this baseball note? This April featured the second highest average of strikeouts/game in the 138 year history of MLB
— Dave Flemming (@FlemmingDave) May 1, 2013
More shockingly – the top 8 months in the history of the sport for K’s/ game have been the most recent 8 months! Crazy high strikeouts
— Dave Flemming (@FlemmingDave) May 1, 2013

Angels pitcher C.J. Wilson is a pitchman for Head & Shoulders’ hashtag-friendly “Season of the Whiff”.
According to AdAge.com, Head & Shoulders spent $60 million in measured media last year, so MLB’s record strikeout rate probably won’t leave the company’s executives pulling their hair out like Krusty. Which is good, since bald shampoo executives can’t exactly offer a ringing endorsement of their product.
I’ll be here all week.
• Troy Tulowitzki is expected to start tonight for the Colorado Rockies.
• Also from that notebook: Nolan Arenado, the Fountain Valley kid who wowed friends, family and Dodgers in his 2 for 5 game Monday, actually went 3 for 5 Monday.
• Rockies starter Jorge De La Rosa thinks he might have been tipping his pitches to the Dodgers last night.
• Clayton Kershaw is no Andy Messersmith on the mound, though, to this point in the career of each you wouldn’t have known it. (H/t Tangotiger.com)
• The scouting reports on Sandy Koufax and Orel Hershiser get their 15 minutes of fame.
• It’s been years since I read the brilliant GQ piece about Tommy Lasorda Jr. Here it is in full on Deadspin with a brand-new postscript by author Peter Richmond. (h/t @dylanohernandez)
• I’ve been on a jazz kick lately. Gerald Wilson’s version of Ashford & Simpson’s “California Soul” is possibly the most California, and the most soul, version of the song I’ve heard: