Elspeth for the Win

    Major League Baseball pitcher Billy Brewer was a pretty good pick in the Rule 5 draft by the Kansas City Royals before the 1993 season. Brewer was a solid left-handed pitcher who would throw for three seasons out of the Royals bullpen. Clearly, his work in the Montreal Expos farm system was good enough for the Royals to give him a flier. In the Rule 5 draft, teams select a player from another team’s farm system who meets a certain criteria. The upside is that you have a chance at getting a free talent, but the catch is that player has to remain on the active Major League roster, or on the disabled list, for the entire season. While many Rule 5 picks don’t have much of a MLB career, the scouts were absolutely correct about Brewer. Their confidence in his left arm was worth the investment, and he’d deliver positive value right away. But, neither Brewer nor the Royals knew that over time, the Royals would inevitably acquire a core of players to help them win it all. B...

    Mindswipe is a fascinating spell card from Magic the Gathering’s Khans of Tarkir set. This permission spell costs XUR (X plus one Blue and one Red), where X is the amount of mana your opponent has to pay in order to keep the targeted spell from being countered. However, Mindswipe also deals X damage to that spell’s controller, whether or not that mana is paid. So, not only do you have a permission spell, but you also have a pseudo-Fireball. It’s a counter-spell that can kill someone, even if the permission cost is paid. The greater the X cost that you pay, the better this card gets.   There’s an older card from the Dissension set similar to this called Overrule. It was XWU (X plus one White and one Blue) to cast, with the same permission effect, except that you gained X life instead of dealing damage. Again, you gained that life whether or not the spell became countered. A counter-spell that can also deal damage whether or not that spell gets countered is a ...

    “I have always said that George Kell has taken more from this great game of baseball than he can ever give back. And now I know, I am deeper in debt than ever before.” - George Kell at his 1983 Hall of Fame induction   Most people think of Baseball Hall-of-Fame third baseman George Kell as a Detroit Tiger. That’s not surprising, as he played in parts of seven seasons with the Tigers and was a Tigers broadcaster for thirty-seven years. But, Kell actually started out with the Philadelphia A’s, playing for them from 1943 to 1946. Kell was traded to the Tigers in mid-1946 for outfielder Barney McCosky. While McCosky was a good player for the rest of that year and two seasons more, the Tigers definitely got the much better player.   In 1952, amid a below average season for him, the Tigers traded George Kell to the Boston Red Sox. Kell was part of a nine-player trade that involved Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky going to Detroit. After the trade, Kell returned...

    Now infamous for one of the strangest buyouts of a card in Magic history, Mindslicer has long been a sort of “secret tech” for several different Commander decks. Originally printed in Odyssey, this Horror was reprinted in 9th edition, making it Modern-legal. While you may never see Mindslicer in any sort of competitive Modern deck, someone thought it was a great idea to buy a whole bunch of $1 copies for a quick profit.   Yeah, sure, Mindslicer was a one-of card in the sideboard of a Birthing Pod deck in Modern back when the Pod was legal in the format. And in Legacy, people were brewing with Mindslicer back in 2009 along with cards like Diabolic Intent and Howltooth Hollow .   Still, whatever tempted some Magic card speculators to buy it out, Mindslicer is actually a decent card… That is, Mindslicer is pretty good in EDH.   Mindslicer’s effect is quite straightforward   When Mindslicer hits the graveyard from the field, each playe...

    In 2015, Baseball Reference unveiled a new feature highlighting the top players by Wins Above Replacement (better known as WAR) for any given franchise. It also gives the Top WAR leaders for any given season. While Wins Above Replacement isn’t everyone’s favorite stat, it is a great stat when it comes to comparing players in relation to their contemporaries. When I was perusing the Milwaukee Brewers page, I found a name that I didn't recognize. He was a third baseman by the name of Don Money . The name sounded vaguely familiar, so I decided to research a baseball bios piece. In the process, I discovered he was, in fact, "Easy" Money for the Brewers. Don Money with the Pirates and Phillies Don Money was originally signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates. They traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies for Hall of Famer Jim Bunning and others. Bunning was solid for the Pirates before being traded to LA in 1969, so it would be a good trade for them. As a utility infi...

 On first glance, Mercurial Pretender looks like just another Magic the Gathering Core Set rare destined for the bulk bins. Generally, that initial impression would be correct, but it ’ s also important to consider what this card was meant to do. As clone effects go, Mercurial Pretender is seemingly a bit overcosted at five mana, where as many of the best clones cost four mana or less to cast. But, when you consider that the Pretender is a watered down version of a strong Legendary Creature from Betrayers of Kamigawa, you can better understand what the Wizards of the Coast team was doing with this card.   The card that clearly inspired Mercurial Pretender was Sakashima of a Thousand Faces. He could come into play as a copy of any creature, but would retain his name and remain legendary. But, he could also be put back into his owner ’ s hand at the end of the turn by paying four mana (two generic and two Blue). Essentially, the best way to play Sakashima was to copy a creat...