San Francisco Giants Link Dump, 4/2

Happy first Wednesday of the season! Just try not to think about most of last night's game. Blood pressure problems aren't much fun.

Matt Williams is learning the ropes as Nationals manager
It's so wonderful to have Matt Williams out of a Diamondbacks uniform. The organization is touchy and obsessed with macho posturing, the manager gets praised by the entire sports media for his out of control grit fetish, and Paul Goldschmidt is 13 for his last 8 against Tim Lincecum. I used to have a poster of Matt Williams on my wall. I don't want him to be part of that.

Also, I am morally opposed to the state of Arizona.

60 (Maybe) Surprising Player Projections From Baseball Prospectus
The crew at Baseball Prospectus put out a book every year with predictions for players and teams. Here is just a little taste of that - two players per team. It should keep you busy for a while, but before long you'll have to come back for more. "Just one more hit," you'll plead. "Twenty dollars," they'll respond evenly. "Less for a Kindle copy. More for a hardcover."

Which MLB Teams Overperform in Popularity?
Oh, the Red Sox. Awesome. Way to go, America.

Pranks in sports not limited to April Fool's Day
Did you know that sometimes on April 1, people play "pranks" on each other in order to get them to believe things that are not actually true? Pretty wild! Here is a list of sports-related "pranks" over the years, some of which are funny, and some of which probably didn't merit inclusion but were perpetrated by the author.

Brett Lawrie likes butts and his Twitter cannot lie
There are some butt pictures in this link, so NSFW warnings apply.

On the other hand: tee hee hee butts

Dodgers' Kershaw likely out till May
That's not how I wanted it. I wanted him to be really great, but the Dodgers to lose every start he made 1-0, preferably after Brian Wilson walks the bases loaded, then balks when he trips over his beard in the middle of his motion.

Brian Wilson is also hurt, by the way.