If the good doctor were doing a list on athletic names that sound like strippers, would Cleopatre Darleux have to top the list?  It is enough to get me excited to watch her play handball, or at least put her hands on my…well, you know the rest!

From Russia with love indeed!  The good doctor loves the women of Russia, and while the hockey team is not on part with the Canadians, they destroy them in the looks department.  Another example is Svetlana Komylkova.  Da Da Da!

Al Oliver was only with Montreal for two seasons but those were excellent offensive campaigns, which saw him win the National League Batting Title and lead the league in Hits.  Oliver was an All-Star both years and also led the NL in doubles both times.  Had he been a better defensive player (or at least not a liability as he led the NL in errors for a First Basemen both years) he would have been ranked much higher.

In the last fifty years, Stephen Strasburg was about as highly prized a pitching prospect as there was.  Strasburg has famously had his pitch count watched (even keeping him out of the 2012 Playoffs) after coming off of rehab of Tommy John surgery and the overall protection of the former number one draft pick might be the most of any player in baseball history.

The perceived coddling has paid off as Strasburg has represented Washington in three All-Star Games and was a second runner-up for the National League Cy Young (losing to his teammate, Max Scherzer) in 2017 where he was the league leader in FIP.  To date, he has given the Nationals five 15 Win seasons, and last season he set a career-high of 18 Wins, which was enough to lead the American League.  Strasburg would take the Nationals all the way to a World Series Championship, and he won five games in the post-season while also securing the World Series MVP.   He had not pitched much due to injuries over the last two years, but we would not bet against him.

It sounds like the Nationals had it right all along!