Cubs players in 1908 gather at West Side Park behind their ferocious mascot. (Chuckman Chicago Nostalgia)

This photograph proves why the Chicago Cubs had a mascot in 1908 but don't anymore. Because such a beast could easily be mistaken for a giant squirrel, or Frank from "Donnie Darko."

What's great about this shot of the most recent World Series winner in Cubs history (aside from the taxidermy project gone wrong in the foreground) are the looks on the faces of a couple of players. Notably (I believe) outfielder Del Howard, the only person in the photo actually acknowledging the mascot's presence. He's standing fifth from the right, with his hands crossed, looking amused.

The other funny face is that of Hall of Famer Johnny Evers, who is behind the bear cub and just to the left of its head. He's obviously very excited to pose for the photo. And if you're wondering where Joe Tinker and Frank Chance are (as in "Tinkers to Evers to Chance"), look out below:

(Oakland A's Facebook page)

Quick! Rollie Fingers riding a dolphin under a rainbow can currently be seen ...

"No one likes a smoker, Jim." (US Presswire)

Thursday was Prince Fielder day in Motown as the newest member of the Detroit Tigers met with the media. Brew Crew Ball has a good transcript of the press conference if you're wondering what Fielder said about all that money, his relationship with his father and what he thinks about making Miguel Cabrera move over to third.

So have at it, amateur Internet copy editors of the world. How should this caption read?

Follow the jump for winners from the last C-a-C featuring Clayton Kershaw:

When it comes to offseason baseball stories on Big League Stew, few have generated the type of interest and reaction that the plight of Mark Buehrle and his family pitbull has produced.

Braves CEO Terry McGuirk (right, with Bud Selig) prefers tighter purse strings. (AP)Had the Washington Nationals been able to land Prince Fielder, one of the loudest cheers might have come from Atlanta.

Such a signing would have put the Braves in a battle with the New York Mets for the lowest payroll in the NL East, but it would have been a race that Atlanta CEO Terry McGuirk would have enjoyed.

In a free-agent season where the dollars have flowed freely, a smirking McGuirk tells Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the Braves aren't going to be lured into the derby anytime soon.

Yes, McGuirk says that he and Liberty Media — the owner of the Braves since 2007 — are quite content to watch it from afar while the Braves payroll maxes out around $94 million this season.

From the AJC:

Steve Sax enjoys a Dodger dog in 1981. (Getty Images)On occasion, Big League Stew honors a birthday boy per week by taking a longer look at his career. Please join us in lighting the candles.

Steve Sax, who turns 52 on Sunday, played 14 years in the majors from 1981 to 1994. He made five All-Star teams, was the 1982 NL Rookie of the Year, and won championship rings in 1981 and 1988. (He won a ring in 1981 without losing his rookie eligibility for 1982 because he had come up for a late-season cup of coffee and stayed on the postseason roster.)

Sax had a nice career, but for most of the past 20 years, any mention of his name has been greeted with a reference to one of the greatest "Simpsons" episodes of all time.

And rightfully so.

Officer Eddie: (reading Steve Sax's license) Well well, Steve Sax, from New York City.

Officer Lou: I heard some guy got killed in New York City and they never solved the case. But you wouldn't know anything about that now, would you, Steve?
(Lou and Eddie laugh)

Steve Sax: But there are hundreds of unsolved murders in New York City.

Officer Lou: You don't know when to keep your mouth shut, do you, Saxxy Boy?

Brookens, Bergman, Whitaker and Trammell weighed a combined 675. Fielder and Cabrera: 545. (AP, Getty)

When the Detroit Tigers signed Prince Fielder to a hefty $214 million contract Tuesday and added him to a lineup that already featured Miguel Cabrera, they also drew attention to the girth of those two players.

Multiple sources list Fielder at 275 pounds, and we'll take them at their word. Cabrera, who at 6-foot-4 stands about five inches taller than Fielder, estimated in spring training that he weighed 270. Math tells us that's 545 pounds between the two Tigers who will comprise manager Jim Leyland's infield corners (on occasion) in 2012.

That's heavy stuff.

Not counting the pitcher and catcher, all of the Tigers infielders on the field for the last out of the 1984 World Series collectively weigh only 130 pounds more than Fielder and Cabrera combined. Let's look at the numbers, as obtained at Baseball-Reference:

1B — Dave Bergman: 185.
2B — Lou Whitaker: 160.
SS — Alan Trammell: 165.
3B — Tom Brookens: 165.
Total: ........... 675 pounds.

Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star pointed this out first, sort of, on Twitter.

But what does it mean?

Former White Sox slugger Bill Melton (left) and manager Robin Ventura model the team's new/old red pinstripes. …

The Chicago White Sox have a notorious uniform history. They've worn tuxedos. They've worn pajamas. They've even worn shorts. Shudder.

Amid a virtual minefield of fashion, the team has announced it is reaching into history to pull a retro look forward. And it's not horrifyingly ugly.

The White Sox will wear red pinstripes for home Sunday games in 2012, replicas of uniforms they sported in the early 1970s when franchise icons Dick Allen, Wilbur Wood and Bill Melton ruled the South Side of Chicago. From 1971-1975, the White Sox hit on a sharp look that combined their iconic "Sox" logo and a red pinstripe color scheme, rarely used at that time in Major League Baseball. So what if it looked like something the Boston Red Sox might wear at Fenway Park?! It was better than what came next.

It will also provide a nice weekly break from the regular uniforms they wear.

Aside from the aesthetic, fans old enough or just familiar with Sox history also associate these uniforms with sluggers Allen and Melton, two of the best players the team has ever had. (That's Melton on the left with new manager Robin Ventura in the photo.) Under manager Chuck Tanner, the Sox won in these uniforms. Or, at least they lost less.

[Related: Nine former college hoops champs will don gray uniforms]

It's impossible to say for sure based on the photo, but the only way the retro look will be complete is if the Sox wear GIANT numbers on the backs. How giant?