DAILY DIRT: We’re zeroing in on ‘Exploding Christmas’ time

“Exploding Christmas?” That’s a new one … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 324 of The Daily Dirt.

1. We’re closing in on the Fourth of July holiday, which is one of my favorites.

First of all, it’s always in the summer (duh), and secondly, it’s normally an outdoor celebration. It’s a good time for all. And with that frame of thought, here are a few Fourth of July thoughts that should bring a smile heading toward the weekend:

Gold medal: “America’s a family. We all yell at each other, and it all works out.” — comedian Louis C.K.

Silver medal: “It’s Fourth of July weekend, or, as I call it, Exploding Christmas.” — late-night TV host Stephen Colbert.

Bronze medal: “If it’s called Independence Day, how come I have to celebrate it with a group of people?” — Unknown.

2. We haven’t played overrated/underrated for awhile. Today seems like the perfect day:

Overrated: Tomatoes on a pizza. This concept makes absolutely no sense. The pizza sauce itself has plenty of said product, so why put solid chunks of the tomato on top of it. It’s overkill, folks. Overkill. 

Underrated: Pineapple on pizza. This much-maligned topping is actually quite tasty. I would think those with a picky palate would find it quite pleasing.

Overrated: S’mores. They’re much more bother to make than they are worth. And the ultimate bottom line is they simply aren’t that good.

Underrated: Packages of Nabisco cookies. Go to HyVee or County Market, buy a package and enjoy. You don’t have to worry about building a fire and dealing with all the goo.

Overrated: Speaking of food, cooking your own food is highly overrated. Time consuming, do you really save that much (if anything), etc.

Underrated: Domino’s still delivers.

3. This week we’re by passing our ranking of the best and worst MLB teams, to offer our thoughts on a few other baseball-related subjects:

American League MVP at this point of the season: I think this is Yankee slugger’s Aaron Judge’s to loss. Talk about having a monster season …

National League MVP at this point of the season: It’s hard to to argue with the Cardinals’ Paul Goldschmidt’s production to date.

American League Cy Young Award winner at this point of the season: If you have not been monitoring the season of Tampa Bay’s Shane McClanahan, you might want to start.

National League Cy Young Award winner at this point of the season: This one’s really wide open, but at this point in time I’m leaning toward the Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara.

Most surprising American League team in a positive sense: The Baltimore Orioles, who no longer suck.

Most surprising American League team in a negative sense: The Detroit Tigers, who are not only much worse than expected, but they are boring, too.

Most surprising National League team in a positive sense: The New York Mets deserve a lot of credit for staying about 20 games over .500 without the services of Cy Young pitchers Jacob DeGrom and Max Scherzer.

Most surprising National League team in a negative sense: Nobody, and I mean nobody, expected the Cincinnati Reds to be this horrendous.

Steve Thought O’ The Day — The thing Steve enjoys the most about the Fourth of July? Grilled hot dogs. Specifically, grilled Nathan’s hot dogs.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Get your red hots here.