• Tyler Kepner makes makes an interesting connection among the four members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Class of 2015: No one alive was hit by more pitches than Craig Biggo, and no one alive hit more batters than Randy Johnson. 
• David Schoenfield has a nice piece on the 10 best games from RJ, Pedro, and Smoltz. 10 overall, so Smoltzie gets short shrift. It's mostly based upon Game Score but with great postseason relief appearances tossed in for good measure.
• The Associated Press Snodgrasses the obit headline of pitcher Stu Miller.
• Andrew Sullivan on toilet graffiti. I like the last joke in particular.
• Via Hollywood Elsewhere: Matt Bomer as Montgomery Clift? I'm there. And here's a little R.E.M. song for the kids who don't know Monty. Or R.E.M.
• My feelings about a movie version of Michael Lewis' “The Big Short” are pretty much Jeff Wells'. Starring Brad Pitt, Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling? Cool! Directed by Adam McKay (“Anchorman 2,” “Step Brothers”)? Um... Wells is a bit more emphatic. 
• Via Mr. B: When Ayn Rand was almost on “The Dick Cavett Show.” And why she wasn't. 
• A Stranger photo essay on the last night of the Harvard Exit theater. First film I saw there was a Taiwanese film when I was visiting my sister (and on my way to Taiwan). First film I saw there as a Seattle was “The Hours and the Times,” a short film imagining the Barcelona trip John Lennon and Brian Epstein took together in 1963. Both were SIFF films. The last? “The Imitation Game” last month with Patricia.
  
• Moira Macdonald has a nice piece on the history of the Harvard Exit. 
• From the Star-Tribune: great snowsculptures (tortoise, shark) from three Minnesota brothers. Plus a Beatles-esque leap in the air. 
• From the Seattle Times: Danny Westneat writes about economic eviction in the Emerald City, and why Seattle has become a place for the rich and the homeless. 
• Via Ciam: What do crickets sound like if you slow down their chirping to put it on par with the lifespan of humans? They sound like a church choir. 
• Via Colleen: Which celebrities make celebrities act like starstruck fans? Prince for one.
• Damn, what is it about police and fire chiefs taking on mayors? First Minneapolis, then NYC, now Atlanta. 
• Potential future job application question: What is your cuddle quotient?
• Nice piece on Kam Chancellor, the Seahawks own, and the man who leaps offensive and defensive lines in a single bound. Twice. 
• Finally, EL favorite Joe Posnanski gives us “48 Lessons from 48 Years.” I disagree with No.s 5, 12, 33 and agree the most with No.s 16, 18, 18 and 42. 

The Harvard Exit on Capitol Hill for a show of “Perks of Being a Wallflower” in 2012.