Ah the folly of youth.

To some guys, there's simply nothing more amusing than a pantomimed blowjob. I'm guessing that's because most guys who find that particular activity enjoyable have never been on the receiving end of an actual blowjob. 99.9% of the time, guys who enjoy showing off their air blowjob skills usually have the decently to limit it to bars or house parties where they're surrounded by like-minded (read: drunk) fellas and mildly horrified women.

Fox Sports South has brought us this tribute for retiring Atlanta Braves legend Chipper Jones...his likeness cut into a corn maze.

The corn maze was created by Braves fans Misty and Lamar Duren of Walnut Grove, Georgia. Creating corn mazes is nothing new for them, and last year, they made a maze to honor Atlanta company Coca-Cola, celebrating its 125th anniversary.

This is pretty cool. Say what you want about the grill and brats from the Brewers, the surfboard from the Padres, the cowboy hat from the Astros...but while Chipper can't be officially "presented" with the corn maze, he can at least take solace in the fact that he's so beloved by some Atlanta area fans that they honored him in a rather unique way.

[h/t: Fox Sports South]

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The Rays' hopes and dreams to make the playoffs appear to be fading. Last night, Tampa Bay fell to Boston 5-2, moving them five games back of the Orioles (who beat Seattle 10-4) for the AL's second wild card spot. Hell, the Rays have even been passed by the Angels in the standings and are just half a game up on the TIgers. It just looks like this won't be the Rays year.

Game of the Day: White Sox 5, Tigers 4. Detroit jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third off of White Sox starter Jose Quintana, but Chicago tied it with three of their own in the fourth against Doug Fister in the fourth, and both starters were done after four innings. In the fifth, a Delmon Young RBI single make it a 4-3 game, but the White Sox immediately came back, scoring one run on a Dayan Viciedo groundout and another when Omar Infante threw the ball away on that play trying to turn two. After those runs scored, the Tigers didn't even get a runner on base in the final four innings of the game, and that was that.

Just look at the title of this post, "Yunel Escobar wore homophobic eye black."  It almost seems like a story that should appear on The Onion, but it isn't.  No, what you see below is an almost surreal, but entirely unedited photo of Yunel Escobar wearing eye black strips with what appears to be a homophobic slur written on them, via Drunk Jays Fans:

For those that don't habla the español, Escobar has "you are a faggot" written across his face.  To be fair, there are apparently certain areas of Latin America is more the equivalent of calling someone a pussy, so I guess that is a little bit better if that turns out to be the case.  In any event, Escobar is is eye-deep in hot water with both the team and the league who have both promised to investigate.

At best, Yunel is guilty of being incredibly juvenile and stupid for his little stunt.  We don't know what prompted this act or who, if anyone, was the target.  There is even a possibility that he is somehow the victim of a practical joke gone awry.  But at worst, Escobar felt compelled to deliver a hate-filled message for reasons that aren't yet apparent.  Regardless, Escobar is likely facing a stiff punishment.  Earlier this year, Detroit's Delmon Young was suspended for seven games for hurling a homophobic epithet during a drunken, off-field altercation.  One can only imagine the kind of suspension he will receive for a (presumably) sober, on-field incident.

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In our Hope for the Hopeless series, we take a look at all of the teams in the league that finished under .500, and examine what their fans can be optimistic about after a disappointing 2012 season.

Ah yes, the Colorado Rockies. I have bad news for Rockies fans out there: it's not getting better next year. This team only has three impending free agents: bench player Jason Giambi (who looks just about cooked), and starters Jonathan Sanchez (who has been awful) and Jeff Francis (a sentimental favorite who is thoroughly mediocre in every way). 

However, there are some bright spots. Jorge de la Rosa could actually return in the final two and a half weeks of this season after Tommy John surgery last summer in preparation of a return in 2013. De la Rosa has an option that he'll likely exercise for 2013, and his inclusion in Colorado's rotation would be a huge boon for them after some of the disasters they rolled out this year.

In our Hope for the Hopeless series, we take a look at all of the teams in the league that finished under .500, and examine what their fans can be optimistic about after a disappointing 2012 season.

Calling the Boston Red Sox "hopeless" is unfortunate, but that's just how the series rolls. Anyway, the Red Sox have 80 losses for the first time in a season since 1997, and could clinch their first 90 loss season since 1966. It's been an absolute lost year, and the team discharged some of their biggest contracts in Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, and Josh Beckett last month to clear the slate for 2013.

The Red Sox still have two potentially great starters under contract for 2013 in Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz, and they also have the underperforming, oft-injured John Lackey. Boston also has some decent young starters ready to roll, including Felix Doubront (probably a lock for the 2013 rotation after his performance this season), Rubby de la Rosa, Zach Stewart, and Franklin Morales. Morales and de la Rosa could both end up in the pen next year, but both could also be starters if the Red Sox brass likes what they see.

Our next contestants on the Post-Mortem series are the first team from one of the Western divisions to be eliminated from the playoff race and the only team out west without 70 wins...please welcome, the Colorado Rockies!

If you're new here (which about 90% of our reader base is in comparison to last year), here's a brief explanation: after a team is eliminated from the playoffs, we're going to put their season under a microscope and look at just what the hell went wrong, what went right, and so on and so forth. The goal is to post these the day after a team is eliminated. Also, for the first ten teams eliminated, we're going to post a series called "Hope for the Hopeless", which is going to be an expanded version of the "What Went Right" portion of the Post-Mortem series pieces.

What Went Right: Carlos Gonzalez had a 20/20 season for the third year in a row. Dexter Fowler took some big steps forward as an every day starter despite the usual ridiculous home/road splits we've all come to expect from Rockies players. Tyler Colvin's bat really matured in platoon duty. Eric Young Jr has developed into a solid fourth outfielder (yes, outfielder and not infielder). Wilin Rosario leads the team in homers as a rookie. Josh Rutledge is smashing the hell out of the ball in his brief playing time this year. The duo have Matt Belisle and Rafael Betancourt have been a dominant end-game relief pair. 

Who's up next in the End of Season Post-Mortem series?  Boston Red Sox, come on down!

If you're new here (which about 90% of our reader base is in comparison to last year), here's a brief explanation: after a team is eliminated from the playoffs, we're going to put their season under a microscope and look at just what the hell went wrong, what went right, and so on and so forth. The goal is to post these the day after a team is eliminated. Also, for the first ten teams eliminated, we're going to post a series called "Hope for the Hopeless", which is going to be an expanded version of the "What Went Right" portion of the Post-Mortem series pieces.

Anyway, here we are...the Boston Red Sox. Your not going to believe this, but it was a controversy-filled season in Boston as they once again failed to live up to expectation, which is saying something considering their pre-season expectations were far lesser than they were in 2011.  While the Sox spent most of the season getting beat up in the media, it wasn't a total loss as the Dodgers may very well have given their future a major boost thanks to one of the biggest and most controversial trades in league history.

What Went Right: The controversy embroiled season in Boston wasn't without its positives, especially the strong but injury-shortened rookie season of Will Middlebrooks.  But the biggest positive of all for the Sox is that the Dodgers decided to throw Boston a life preserver by so kindly taking over a quarter of a billion dollars in long-term contract commitments off their hands in the form of Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and (wait for it)... Nick Punto!  For good measure, the Dodgers tossed in prospects Jerry Sands, Rubby de la Rosa, Ivan DeJesus and Allen Webster (and first baseman James Loney too, but c'mon, really).  That trade essentially granted the team a blank slate to work from as they look to right the ship in a big hurry, which they can now that they have so much financial flexibility.

I don't think this is very possible....but could the Nationals have their supremacy in the NL East threatened over the final two and a half weeks of the season? The Braves defeated Washington 5-1 on Sunday to complete a three game sweep, and Atlanta is now 5.5 out in the NL East, which is the smallest lead in the National League (even smaller than that of Braves wild card lead over the Cardinals). After the Braves got swept in Milwaukee last week and lost three games in the standings, it doesn't seem very likely. But Washington's final 16 games all come against playoff contenders (six with the Phillies, four with the Brewers, and three each against the Cardinals and Dodgers), while the Braves have nine combined against noncontenders Miami and New York, and three each with the Phillies and Pirates. Atlanta would have to 13-2 to tie for the division title if the Nationals play just .500 ball...but if Washington struggles, the door could be open for a streaking Braves team to claim the division crown.

Game of the Day: Padres 12, Rockies 11. This game...oh lord, this game. The Rockies were esentially eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday night, but this loss was the official capper on the deal. Yonder Alonso gave the Padres a 1-0 lead in the first before the Rockies rushed back with three in the second on pitcher Alex White's second homer of the year, and two more in the third on Matt McBride's first career homer. Then, it was the Padres turn, and they scored ten straight runs between the third and fifth innings with a two-run homer by the white hot Chase Headley in the fifth being the final blow. Next, it was the Rockies turn to rally, tying the game with six in the eighth topped off by a Josh Rutledge grand slam. But it was the Padres who would eventually prevail, walking off after an Alonso single to extinguish the Rockies already slim playoff chances for the year. Perhaps the craziest part of this game? It was at Petco Park, and not Coors Field. Yeah, that just happened.

In our Hope for the Hopeless series, we take a look at all of the teams in the league that finished under .500, and examine what their fans can be optimistic about after a disappointing 2012 season.

Unlike a lot of teams that we're going to be profiling in this series, the Indians really aren't a total lost cause for the next few seasons. As I mentioned earlier today in the Post-Mortem, the Indians have a solid core up the middle with Carlos Santana, Jason Kipnis, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Michael Brantley. Combine those four with rising star Lonnie Chisenhall at third base and (potentially) Shin-Soo Choo in right, and the Tribe could have a really solid offense next year.

Offensively, all Cleveland needs is a corner outfielder, a DH, and a first base....which are three very important offensive positions, so it's not as if a defense-first shortstop is all the team needs. The team has been counting on Matt LaPorta to fill one of those roles for years...and it still hasn't happened, and probably won't, meaning that an external solution will be necessary