XKCD: Linguists (and Probably How My Coauthors Feel)

I deeply understand today's XKCD about linguists. Also, given my linguistic tendencies, I think the person in the hole probably has feelings that are similar to those of my coauthors. ;)

And don't forget to read the mouseover text.

A Visual Illusion: Game-and-Watch Style

Here is a visual illusion (in game-and-watch style) for you. The illusion is of the forward motion. It arises from a border of about 1 pixel that lags/leads the dominant color.

This may be the strongest optical illusion I’ve ever seen.pic.twitter.com/J8fCqbQUJ1

— Siqi Chen (@blader) November 22, 2020

(Tip of the cap to Sydney Padua.)

Revenge of the Oxford Comma: 2020 Edition

Truth is stranger than fiction. Always.

Update your lesson plans, we have a new perfect example for Oxford commas. https://t.co/gm1K8IHkGv

— Laura Ansley (@lmansley) November 14, 2020

(Tip of the cap to Jan van den Heuvel.)

2020 Most Valuable Player Awards

Major League Baseball's 2020 Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards were announced today. José Abreu of the Chicago White Sox has been named the American League MVP, and Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves was named the National League MVP. These two were the winners that I expected.

The top-10 vote-getters in each league are available at the above hyperlinks, and the entire list of vote-getters is available at this web page.

2020 Cy Young Awards

Baseball's 2020 Cy Young Awards have now been announced. Unsurprisingly, Shane Bieber of the Cleveland Indians was the unanimous winner in the American League. Free agent Trevor Bauer (who spent 2020 with the Cincinnati Reds) won the National League Cy Young Award over Yu Darvish (of the Cubs) and Jacob deGrom (of the Mets).

2020 Managers of the Year

Baseball's 2020 Managers of the Year have been announced, and both winners are the expected ones: Kevin Cash of the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League and Don Mattingly of the Miami Marlins in the National League. Cash received 22 of the 30 first-place votes, and Mattingly received 20 of the 30 first-place votes. (I expected Mattingly to win unanimously.)

2020 Rookies of the Year

This year's American League Rookie of the Year is Mariners outfielder Kyle Lewis (who won unanimously), and this year's National League Rookie of the Year is Brewers reliever Devin Williams.

Update: The above page about the NL award doesn't (yet) include the vote totals; you can find them on this page.

RIP Alex Trebek (1940–2020)

Alex Trebek, the longtime host of the game show Jeopardy!, died earlier today.

2020 Gold Glove Winners

The winners of the 2020 Gold Glove Awards were announced today.