Wednesday Morning Links: Padded Caps, Coded Messages, Zambrano Still Loco, and Minnesota Nice

Once you're finished with this, you can head on over to my review of TwinsFest from the past weekend. Spoiler alert: It's very long, but at least I included pictures of stuff I bought so you can be totes jelly.

• MLB has approved padded baseball caps for pitchers that will be available for use this season, though pitchers will not be required to wear them. However, Diamondbacks starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy - who was struck by a line drive at the end of the 2012 season - doesn't think they're ready for several reasons, mainly that the caps are much heavier and bigger than the standard cap.
• The suspect that opened gunfire on multiple motorists on Highway 96 in Michigan claims that he was receiving coded messages from Detroit Tigers broadcasts, stating that the phrases "aiming at shadows" or "shooting at shadows" was interpreted by himself to mean he should start firing at cars. In other news, I'm now going to tie Bert Blyleven's "create a good downward plane" phrase to 9/11.
• Don't worry folks, Carlos Zambrano is still crazy. Late Saturday night, his Venezuelan Winter League team got into a bench-clearing brawl, and Zambrano led the charge by throwing punches at players from the opposing team.
• Much has been made about Phil Hughes leaving homer-happy Yankee Stadium for the confines of Target Field, but he's also learning about the good ol' Minnesota Nice. Hughes states that "it'll take a little getting used to" how friendly everyone has been towards him in Minnesota thus far. Great job, everybody.