Welcome to round 1 of the Jason Romano Commemorative NLC’s hottest blogger contest. 15 of the best-looking players on NLC (plus one fella in limbo) face off in a single-elimination tournament.

Special thanks to the literally one of your who nominated players. Don’t see your favorite on the list? Well, I hope you’ve learned the benefits of nominating someone. The rest of the players were selected via a complex scientific process of looking at their profile photos on their teams’ MLB pages and, in some cases, me just adding them. They were then quasi-randomized and bracketed for this exciting, once-in-a-lifetime contest opportunity!

You’ll have 1 week to place your vote in each contest. New contests will be available as I get around to them. Feel free to pimp for your favorite in the comments. Results are final and cheating is OK as the contest doesn’t really mean anything.

Our first pairing pits a longtime Red Hot Mama favorite, the Cardinals’ Jason LaRue, against an unknown in the Brewers’ Manny Parra.

Jason LaRue
ht: 5-11 wt: 205 dob: 03/19/1974

LaRue boasts the square jaw, rugged features, and constant damp skin of the hometown boy all the country girls swoon over.

Manny Parra
ht: 6-3 wt: 200 dob: 10/30/1982

Parra brings a subtle sweet smile and boyish charm. And though you’ve never heard of him, that’s only because he just debuted in July. In his 26.1 innings pitched, though, he brought a 3.76 ERA and 26 Ks.

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Speaking of familiar faces, there’s a nice little article here about Raquel Aurilia’s album, Finding My Way, produced by Tony Papa (Survivor, Weird Al Yankovic, Sylvie Vartan, James Brown) and released on Shea Records. The first single has cracked Billboard’s top-30 chart of adult contemporary hits, putting Ms. Aurilia in company with superstars Avril Lavigne, John Mayer, Lifehouse, Santana and LeAnn Rimes.

So now, former Reds infielder Rich Aurilia has another career lined up for after he retires from baseball. He can be a roadie, drive Raquel’s tour bus, and complain about radio stations not giving his wife’s songs enough playing time. 🙄

For those who just joined us, RHM has interviewed both Rich and Raquel Aurilia for her podcast, and I’ve called her a familiar face because that’s her lovely visage we’ve been looking all this time at on the left-hand column, about 2/3 of the way down the front page of this blog, linked to RHM’s review of the album.

Craig Biggio is a world-renowned nice guy. For some reason, I never really realized that, maybe because I only ever saw him wearing his big scary game face. But here, just a scant month after he’s retired, I’m getting up to speed.

Major League Baseball was apparently already in on the news, seeing as Biggio is being presented with the Roberto Clemente award (via The Astros Dugout):

DENVER — With 3,060 hits and 291 home runs, Craig Biggio will undoubtedly be remembered first for his offensive contributions during his 20-year Major League career. But it’s quite possible the veteran second baseman is as recognizable to those in his adopted home of Houston for his affiliation with the Sunshine Kids as he is for his on-field accomplishments.

Less than a month after he said goodbye to baseball and hello to retirement, Biggio, one of the most celebrated players in Astros history, was given the highest off-the-field honor in baseball — the 2007 Roberto Clemente Award.

“I’ve often said … that baseball is a social institution, and for those who really are into sport and understand it, we have enormous social responsibilities,” Commissioner Bud Selig said during a press conference at Coors “To be part of this award and recipient this year, I am very humbled anField. “I hope all the young players in this sport will watch and follow this man’s career, because he is what a Major League Baseball player should be, on and off the field.”

The Clemente Award recognizes the player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team. It is named in honor of the former Pirates outfielder whose spirit and goodwill will always be remembered. Clemente died in a plane crash while attempting to transport relief supplies to earthquake-stricken Nicaragua on Dec. 31, 1972.

Biggio, the 2005 winner of the Hutch Award and the recipient of the 2006 “Heart and Hustle” Award, made it a hat trick this year, winning the top community service honor. Biggio was presented the Clemente Award during a pregame ceremony prior to Game 3 of the World Series in Denver.d grateful for this,” Biggio said. “This is something that, as a Major League Baseball player, some of us get the opportunity to have an impact on the community. Some have a chance to have a real big impact on certain communities, and I know that I’m very grateful for my 20 years in Houston to be associated with the Sunshine Kids.”

Congratulations to Biggio and to all the kids who are benefiting because of him.

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Red Hot Mama extends our heartiest congratulations to Ryan Freel for his latest honor, being inducted into the hall of fame of his alma mater, the Tallahassee Community College. Not too many people can say they’ve gotten that particular recognition, I bet.

It’s always an honor to be recognized, even when it’s not for being one of Florida’s best-dressed. With that shirttail sticking out, though, Freel looks like he might have been working on that, too.

Via

Someone tipped me off to a story in the Enquirer in April that mentioned Adam Dunn having gotten married. I asked around, but got the cold shoulder from the people who would know (jerks) so I didn't have much to report.

Thank you Internet Movie Database for coming to the rescue (and thanks to the loyal reader who sent the tip). As you can see here, Dunn is listed as being married to one Rachel Brown as of November 27, 2006. It also lists him as bearing a resemblance to Will Ferrell, so you know the info is good.