* The San Diego Chicken is now 35 years old and the man inside the suit, Ted Giannoulas, was eligible to join AARP five years ago. “Sometimes, I think when I’m wearing this chicken suit I can live forever. I’m not kidding, man,” Giannoulas said. “I’m the class clown, and I have the whole ballpark as my room.”
* Handed an international-record $4.25 million bonus when signed out of the Dominican Republic as a 16-year-old last season, Michael Ynoa has already run into arm problems and will be shut down for at least a month after being diagnosed with a strained right elbow.
* Despite sitting in first place at 35-27 and seeing their attendance increase 11 percent, the Rangers recently fired an undisclosed number of front-office staffers. Prior to the cuts, Texas had approximately 275 employees without including players.
* When it comes to the All-Star game balloting, Curtis Granderson has the Kid Rock vote all sewn up.