Me and the boyfriend have been apartment-hunting, and are currently on a demoralizing 0-for-21 slide. That’s right, 21 apartments viewed so far and 0 leases to show for it. So, I’m doing what any good manager would do: benching us. Clearly, what is needed here is a day to clear the head. And how better to clear said head than with some good hardball linkage?

First, Baseball Reference’s Stat of the Day blog has a quick take on winning with no hits, as the Dodgers did last night.

SportsbyBrooks weighs in on the issue that wouldn’t die: the unkillable pink Red Sox hat debate.

Towel Drills has the Ozzie Guillen-Lou Piniella “rap” commercial, which I hadn’t seen yet. It’s horrifying, and it makes me grateful that Boston only has one baseball team.

Half Street Blues has the news of a rather interesting (read: desperate) marketing ploy from the offices of the Washington Nationals: today’s first 10,000 fans who bring in any non-Nats baseball merch and trade it for a free Nationals hat, the one with the curly little “W” that looks like a pig’s tail.

In this week’s Metro column, I assess Curt Schilling’s HOF chances.

River Ave. Blues and Blogging the Bombers are both chuckling over today’s oddball Yankee lineup. Oh, that Joey Girardi! He’s such a kidder!

Razzball has an “interview” with “Spike Lee.”

Balls, Sticks, & Stuff has some simple steps to “Phix the Phils.”

“Eyre placed on DL,” begins the headline of this MLB.com piece. Naturally, I supplied the rest in the blink of an eye: “Expected to be out at least six weeks with malnutrition, exposure to typhus, smoke inhalation, and a broken heart. Will return only when Mr. Rochester finally calls.”

Do you often hear ghostly voices crying your name over the lonely moors? Tell me about it!

The Nationals wanted Joe Girardi to be their manager. He said, “Thanks, but no thanks.”

The Nationals wanted Terry Pendleton to be their manager, but he said, “Talk to the hand.”

Does anybody want to manage the Nationals? Reports are that the team is now focused on hiring Mets 3B Coach Manny Acta. What happens if Acta bails, or if he’s hired by the Giants or A’s? Do the Nationals have a plan D? And why doesn’t anybody want to work for a franchise with a supportive fan base, a new stadium under construction, and a future all-star in Ryan Zimmerman?

As far as Pendleton goes, rumor is he could be in line to replace Braves manager Bobby Cox.

The Knoxville News Sentinel has a few interesting insights into the Joe Girardi saga:

Florida owner Jeffrey Loria fired manager Joe Girardi on Sunday afternoon, but before the announcement could be made, Loria reconsidered and Girardi was retained. The blowup came when Loria, who sits beside the Marlins dugout at Dolphin Stadium, was yelling at umpires Sunday and Girardi told him to cool it.

The problems, however, go deeper than an in-game blowup. Girardi was Loria’s handpicked manager, but Loria has become concerned about Girardi’s controlling personality that has been compared with that of Texas manager Buck Showalter.

Problems began during spring training when Girardi belittled suggestions by members of the organization that Ricky Nolasco and Josh Johnson should be in the rotation instead of middle relief, where they opened the season. It was more than a month before Girardi backed down and gave both opportunities to start, which turned out to be a critical factor as the Marlins rebounded from a miserable start to be competitive.

The Knox is also reporting that Girardi has his eye on the Cubs’ soon to be vacant managerial position, but that the Cubs aren’t interested in Girardi.

It makes sense that Girardi is interested in the Cubs. He’s a former Cub and winning a World Series in Chicago would be huge. But why aren’t the Cubs interested in Girardi? He’s young. He’s got an inexperienced Marlins team playing competative ball. He should be the hottest managerial candidate out there, the baseball version of the 2002 Jon Gruden after he coached the Raiders to the Super Bowl or Moe Cheeks after he brought the Trailblazers to the playoffs. There’s got to be something about Girardi we don’t know, otherwise teams would be all over him. Maybe the players don’t like him. Maybe he is too controlling. Maybe he’s just an ass. But there’s got to be something.

For his part, Girardi says he’s planning on managing the Marlins next season.

“My plans are to be the manager of the Marlins,” Girardi said. “Now, I live my life day-by-day. As a player, people would say, ‘Are you worried about where you’ll be next year?’ I don’t know what is going to happen in my life tomorrow, physically, mentally. I don’t know. That’s the uncertainty of life. But I plan on being a Marlin. I signed a contract for three years.”

Sure. Contract. Whatever.

ESPN.com is reporting that Marlins manager Joe Girardi is feuding with the team’s owner, Jeffrey Loria. From ESPN.com:

The Marlins lost wild-card race momentum over the weekend when they were swept by the streaking Dodgers. And frustrations apparently came to a head Sunday, during a Dodgers six-run rally in the seventh inning.

Girardi, who was ejected Saturday for arguing balls and strikes did not leave the dugout to question home plate umpire Larry Vanover when two borderline pitches by Florida reliever Taylor Tankersley were called balls. But according to media reports, Loria, sitting in the stands next to the dugout, yelled at Vanover, prompting Girardi to turn and ask Loria to stop yelling.

Immediately following the game, Loria, Girardi, team President David Samson and General Manager Larry Beinfest had what two sources told the Palm Beach Post was a heated discussion. That was followed by a 90-minute team meeting, which Girardi described as a “learning session” rather than a scolding or pep talk, and players described his tone as positive.

ESPN.com goes on to say that Loria went so far as to instruct his staff to set up an interview room at Dolphin Stadium for a press conference — the same room where the team has announced managerial changes in the past. But the press conference was never held and Giardi is still the team’s manager.

This whole incident reminds me of another owner intent on moving the team out of town, only to be undermined by a stubborn manager and some heroic players. Except that owner wanted to move to Florida and this one wants to move out of Florida.

Actually, now that I think about it, I think Girardi reminds me more of Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger), former team catcher turned manager, than Lou Brown (James Gammon), the crotchety old manager of a season before. And Loria reminds me more of Roger Dorn (Corben Bernsen), the dufus owner, than former stripper turned owner Margaret Whitton (Rachel Phelps), who was intent on sabotaging the season and moving the team to a new stadium. So I guess the Giardi-Loria feud is slightly more reminiscent of Major League II.

All real-life-to-movie comparisons aside, you had to see this one coming. When Girardi took the Marlins job, he knew he was signing on to manage a team that wasn’t going to win. In fact, the consensus was that the Marlins were going to be really freakin’ bad. But Girardi – a guy with almost no coaching experience — had a choice: take the Marlins job or spend several more years building experience as a coach before landing a managerial job the old fashioned way. He decided to take the fast track.

Since then, Girardi has won raves for the job he’s done managing the Marlins. The team isn’t great, but they’re WAY better than anyone anticipated. Now all of the sudden Girardi is a shoe-in Manager of the Year winner and, were the Marlins to fire him, he’d be the top choice of every club looking for a manager in the off-season.

So while Girardi might have been willing to toe the company line in March, now he’s not as anxious to listen to Loria’s excuses. He’s ready to win now, whether with the Marlins or somewhere else.

For Giradi’s sake, I hope it’s somewhere else. For Marlins fans’ sake…oh who am I kidding. The Marlins don’t have any fans.