Crying Birds™ for September 12, 2011

1.

Albert Pujols had no comment about a derogatory tweet the Brewers' Nyjer Morgan posted after being ejected from a game against the Cardinals, but manager Tony La Russa did.

Morgan, whose handle is @TheRealTPlush, referred to Pujols as Alberta and criticized Pujols for running to the mound and making sure Morgan's confrontation with Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter didn't escalate in the ninth inning of a shutout over Milwaukee on Wednesday night.

"Alberta couldn't see Plush if she had her gloves on!!!" Morgan tweeted, and added, "Wat was she thinking running afta Plush!!! She never been n tha ring!!!"

Earlier he referred to the Cardinals as crying birds.

La Russa said that Morgan was a good player but that he needed to "get a clue." La Russa added, "I'm aware of him. The less you talk about him, the better off you are." --AP

(Via Jane)

2. Over at The Literarian, the Mercantile Center for Fiction's magazine, I pick a few SF-ish titles that I like. (Oddly, when I was first asked to come up with a list, all I knew for sure was that I wanted to mention Joe Haldeman's The Forever War...which I forgot about until it was too late!)

3. Fans of interviews in The Believer will want to check out the latest issue of Jeff Lemire's Animal Man...done as a Believer interview!

(Via Douglas)

4. Tomorrow! A Believer event at KGB, featuring Justin Taylor, Rozalia Jovanovic, and f.s. Rebecca Taylor!

Plush life

Doug Melvin thought he was getting a speedy backup outfielder with a checkered history when he acquired Nyjer Morgan from the Washington Nationals late in spring training.

“I wanted Nyjer Morgan,” Melvin said. “I didn’t know I was getting two people for one. I got Nyjer Morgan and an alter ego to be named later.”

At a moment’s notice, and frequently in range of a television camera, Morgan becomes Tony Plush, a fun-loving personality who creates words and nicknames, much like the Hall of Fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley.

Also known as T-Plush, Morgan calls the fundamentals of his game like bunting and moving up runners Plushdamentals. Morgan’s teammates often salute T-Plush by forming a timeout signal with their hands.

Tony Plush is not a new invention. Morgan said he and two buddies from home in San Jose, Calif., created personas for themselves about 10 years ago. One friend was Frankie Sleaze, the other James Dot Dean, and Morgan became Tony Plush.

(Via Jane; not sure where the original article is from)