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Sports Outside the Beltway

Royals Spring Training Preview – Starting Pitchers

Previous Installments: C1B/DH2B/SS3BOF

The Kansas City Royals have done more than just remodel the pitching staff in the last year. General Manager Dayton Moore has basically demolished the whole thing and started over with his own guys.

Three of the top five starting pitchers on the current depth chart weren’t with the team coming out of camp last year and the other two spent significant time in the minor leagues.

Like with the hitters, the player’s name will link to their career stats page, and I will list the 2006 won-loss record, ERA, WHIP and ERA+ for each.

Gil Meche

11-8/4.48/1.43
ERA+ 97

Meche is going to make a lot of money over the next five years and everybody is going to make fun of the Royals for it.

His career comparables through age 27 include guys like Jason Marquis, Chris Carpenter and Jason Schmidt – sort of a mixed bag of results.

He did see a significant spike in his strikeout rate last season, and Lord knows the Royals could use a few more pitchers who know how to miss bats.

Year K/9
2003 6.28
2004 6.98
2005 5.21
2006 7.52

Meche was on his way to becoming a superstar before injuries derailed him in the early part of the century. Since coming back to the big leagues in 2003, he has been consistently almost average.

That kind of performance may be worth $11 million a year in baseball today.

Odalis Perez

6-8/6.20/1.58
ERA+ 76

In 2002, the Atlanta Braves included Perez in a trade with the Dodgers in order to get Gary Sheffield so they could win another division title.

Perez responded by putting up ERA+ of 126, 87 and 127 over the next three years. The Dodgers then signed him to a $24 million contract and he proceeded to stink up the joint, act all disgruntled and get himself traded to the Royals.

Take that, Odalis.

The Royals are only on the hook for about $5 million of Perez’s remaining contract, and he showed signs of life pitching for the team in the second half of last season.

Luke Hudson

7-6/5.12/1.44
ERA+ 95

After a middling career bouncing between the minors and the majors with the Colorado and Cincinnati organizations, Hudson joined the Royals in Spring Training last year and left Arizona with a big league job.

After putting up an 8.74 ERA in the first month of the season, he was sent down to Omaha. I’m guessing he dined on some of the finest steaks America has to offer for the next two months. I’m not really sure.

He did acquit himself nicely when returning to the Royals at the end of June, going 7-3 with a 4.67 ERA to finish out the season.

Jorge de la Rosa

5-6/6.49/1.71
ERA+ 72

De la Rosa was another one of Dayton Moore’s mid season pickups. I think you can learn a lot about a player by looking at who he was traded for in his career.

For example, in a three day period near the end of 2003, Jorge was one in a group of players exchanged by the Red Sox to get Curt Schilling and then the Diamondbacks to get Richie Sexon.

By July 25, 2006, the Royals were able to get him straight up for Tony Graffanino.

He does have a very pretty name, though.

Zach Greinke

1-0/4.26/1.58
ERA+ 114

Excuse me for breaking out the Gnarls Barkley…

“Maybe I’m cra-zay… maybe I’m cra-zay…”

Greinke was a coveted prospect coming out of high school and did well in his first full season of minor league ball. At 20, he cracked the Royals starting rotation and was named the team’s pitcher of the year in 2004.

2005 was a down year and then he left spring training before last season to attend to personal issues. Those personal issues are still a mystery to most, but the Royals seem to have handled the situation well, as Zach is back in camp this year, throwing easy and apparently having a good time.

Mental make up is a hard thing to measure, but Greinke was pegged with Cy Young potential early in his career. If he can stay focused enough to take the mound every fifth day, the Royals may still have a solid, above average starter in the quirky kid from Florida.

 

Love for Baseball

On Valentine’s Day, the love comes out for the greatest game in the world -

Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter: “I think because everybody can relate. You don’t have to be seven feet tall; you don’t have to be a certain size to play. Baseball is up and down. I think life’s like that sometimes, you know. Back and forth, up and down, you’re going through this grind. I think people like watching it. Baseball’s like a soap opera every day.”

Ernie Banks, Cubs legend and Hall of Famer: “It’s just life. When I think about baseball, it’s just life. It’s really the way life is. It requires a lot of mental capacity to be involved in it. It creates a lot of joy for people and memories for people who follow it. It’s a family. You like it because it’s a family. You started with it and know all these people — it’s family, it’s friends, it’s fun, it’s a beautiful game. All in all, baseball is amazing.

Joel Kweskin, 56, White Sox fan based in Charlotte, N.C.: “It’s unique unto itself. Football, basketball and hockey are variations of the same concept — back and forth in a linear progression to score a goal. Baseball, however, is mapped out on the field unlike any other sport. A running back or return specialist can run 100 yards, tops; a baserunner legging out an inside-the-park homer runs 20 yards farther. Baseball is the most democratic of sports — any size can play, and because the ball is not controlled by the offense but rather the defense, every player at any given time is involved in a play. Along with the anecdotally accepted premise that hitting a pitched baseball is the single most difficult thing to do in sports, so might be fielding a 175-mph line drive or grounder down the line. I love baseball because it is the greatest game ever invented.”

Former Royals star Willie Wilson: “The first thing is, I don’t think there’s any criteria for size, so anybody can play. I think people can relate. A lot of people never played football; basketball, you’ve gotta be tall and be able to jump. But baseball is a game where you pick up a bat and a ball, and you catch it, you swing the bat and you hit the ball. Most people have played softball or some kind of baseball, so they can relate to the sport. For me, that’s why I think America just embraces baseball, man.”

Baseball Blogger Travis G.: Where to start? I think better when I make a list.
1. Players. The requirements to be a good baseball player are very undefined. You can be short, tall, thin, chunky, anything really. You name the greats and you get tall and chunky (Ruth, Ortiz), short and chunky (Yogi, Gwynn), tall and thin (Sizemore, Jeter), short and thin (Reyes, Ichiro). They may not be the best athletes (e.g. David Wells), but when they’re playing the best game in the world, who cares?
2. The Mentality. Baseball requires more intelligence than any other sport (save for NFL QB). Simply put, every hitter that steps to the plate is trying to out-think the pitcher, and vice versa. 4-5 times a game, focus has to be completely on the man in front of him. Will he throw a fastball, curve, change? If you take an at-bat (or even a pitch) off, you’re toast. Same thing with the pitcher. The only other sport that comes close is football, but mainly just for the QB. Baseball requires every single player to have good mental capacity.
3. The Field. Football, hockey, basketball and soccer all use essentially the same type of field/playing surface: a rectangle. Baseball uses a diamond. It’s not only unique in that aspect, but every single ballpark is unique amongst the sport. Each park has its own quirks and intricacies that make it special. Not a single other sport can say that. Yankee Stadium has Death Valley, the short RF porch, and the facade. Fenway has the Monster. Shea has the apple. Wrigley has the ivy-covered brick. Pac Bell (or whatever it’s called now) has the bay in RF. Houston has the hill in center. Imagine if the RCA Dome’s field was only 95 yards; that’s the equivalent of Death Valley or the Green Monster.
4. One on One. Basically the speech DeNiro makes in The Untouchables. Baseball is a team game: 25 men. But each of them takes one turn – by themself – to help the whole team. Then the next batter gets a chance. Because of the batting order, a team can’t simply send its best hitter up every at-bat. You can’t just give the ball to Jordan or Shaq (Pujols or Ortiz) every time. A team’s best hitter will get 4-5 chances a game to help his team. That’s it. You need a complete team to win.
5. Substitutions. Once a player is removed, he’s done. You can’t just sub in the best defenders when you have a lead. You can’t take out Santana for an inning because he’s tired, then re-insert him. Could you imagine the way baseball would be played if there were no substitution restrictions? It would be bedlam. Players don’t get any breaks (outside of the DH) during the game. Even late inning defensive replacements are a gamble if the trailing team comes back. And substitutions play an ever bigger role in the NL.
6. No Clock. No running out the clock. It doesn’t matter what inning and what score it is, you still need 27 outs to complete the game. There’s no easy way to ‘seal’ a win. You still have to face every batter, and record every out.
7. History. When Japanese kamikaze pilots flew their planes into American ships, they would often yell ‘Fuck Babe Ruth!’ No other American sport has the history baseball does. Some of the most iconic figures in our culture are Ruth, Gehrig, Dimaggio, Mantle, Ripken, McGwire, Bonds, Aaron, Clemens, Jeter. It’s goes all the way back to the 1830′s. The ‘Junior Circuit’ (AL) had been going strong for over 45 years before the NBA ever started. The Yankees had already won 20 World Series before the first Super Bowl was ever played. I just love that feeling of history when I watch a game.
8. Summer. What better sport to exemplify the feeling of summer than baseball. The only summer sport we have. Warm weather, kids are out of school; remember the day games with your dad, drinking a soda, eating a hot dog? No other sport lets you enjoy the weather. Hockey and basketball are indoors. And the football season lasts from September to February, nuff said.
9. Connection. This ain’t football where the most ardent fans get to see a maximum of just 24 games (including the pre and post-season). Baseball is 3 hours a day, 6 days a week for 6 months. You get a minimum of 162 games. That’s double basketball and hockey, and 10 times that of football. Not only do you get to see your ‘guys’ 162 times a season, but you actually feel close to them. They’re not wearing masks to cover their faces (football, hockey), so you see (and often share) their reactions and emotions. You don’t get that feeling of ‘closeness’ from other sports. And then when you add the fact that baseball plays 162 games, it’s easy to understand where the connection comes from. When the season is over, it’s like you not seeing your family for 5 months.
10. Home-field Advantage. Having the home team hit in the bottom of each inning assures that every team, every season (even Kansas City) will have its share of thrilling, bottom of the whatever, walk-off wins. It’s nothing like football where you squib kick it or have the QB kneel down, or in basketball where you dribble out the clock or foul the opponent 10 times.

Your thoughts?

 

Baseball Preview: St. Louis Cardinals

This and next month, Outside the Beltway Sports will be taking a trip around the Major Leagues profiling the 30 major league teams. We begin today with the defending Champions.

St. Louis Cardinals

Last season: 83-78 First Place NL Central, Won World Series 4-1 over Detroit
Manager: Tony Larussa

Meet the new guys

RP Ryan Franklin, 2B Adam Kennedy, RP Russ Springer, SP Kip Wells, RF/1B Eli Marrero

Gone and hardly remembered

SP Jason Marquis (to Chicago Cubs), RP Jorge Sosa (to NY Mets), SP Jeff Suppan (to Milwaukee), SP Jeff Weaver (to Seattle), SS Jose Vizcaino (Free Agent), 2B Ronnie Belliard (Free Agent)

And now your starting lineup

  1. SS David Eckstein
  2. LF Chris Duncan
  3. 1B Albert Pujols
  4. 3B Scott Rolen
  5. CF Jim Edmonds
  6. RF Juan Encarnacion
  7. 2B Adam Kennedy
  8. C Yadier Molina
  9. Pitcher

Bench

OF Preston Wilson
OF So Taguchi
1B/3B Scott Spiezio
IF Aaron Miles
C Gary Bennett

The lineup is pretty very good. Eckstein is a steady table setter. The modest power punch is gone, but he gets on base at an acceptable clip and does not hurt the team in the field. Duncan, Pujols, Rolen and Edmonds can all thump the ball. Encarnacion’s on-base skills are lacking, but has enough pop in the bat to drive in some runs with the tablesetters in place. Adam Kennedy has a little more pop and a little less discipline than Eckstein and Yadier Molina is unacceptable any way you slice it.

Off the bench, So Taguchi is a good role player, but should not get the nearly 350 plate appearances he got last season. Scott Spiezio has nice pop off the bench and is a useful reserve. Preston Wilson redicovered his power stroke when he came to St. Louis, but struggled making contact and getting on base. At this point he is a useful spare part, most of the time and a hopelessly futile out the remainder of the time. Miles’ defense elevates him slightly above replacement level. Bennett defines replacement level.

Rotation

  1. Cris Carpenter
  2. Mark Mulder
  3. Anthony Reyes
  4. Kip Wells
  5. Adam Wainwright
  6. Ryan Franklin

Bullpen

Closer Jason Isringhausen
Randy Flores
Josh Hancock
Ricardo Rincon
Russ Springer
Braden Looper

The pitching staff does not have the same level of acceptable competence. Cris Carpenter is excellent. And Mark Mulder, if healthy can be quite effective. After that, the Cardinals are piecing together a rotation after the devastating defections of Jeff Suppan, Jeff Weaver and Jason Marquis. Anthony Reyes has carried the tag of can’t miss prospect for awhile. His K rates and walk rates were always good in the minor leagues. If his low walk rates can carry over to the bigs, which they haven’t yet, then he should be a solid middle of the rotation starter. Wells, Wainwright and Franklin are below average innings eaters. Those are okay on a team with a very good offense. The Cardinal offense is better than average, but not very good.

In the pen, it’s a little better, but not by much. If healthy, Isringhausen is effective closing down the game. Flores, Hancock, Rincon, Springer and Looper are okay at getting to Isringhausen, but are nothing like the more impressive bullpen in Queens or the one that the Braves are putting together in Atlanta. They will leak out a few games here and there. But they will steal a few here and there too.

Help is on the way…

Top prospect Colby Rasmus has been in the Cardinals system for two years. He’s a toolsy outfielder with nice speed, decent power and plenty of room to fill out his six-foot-one frame. Like most tools first players, he is very hit or miss. His Rookie ball and A ball results were solid hits. Advanced A though presented some problems. Fielding questions may push him to a corner, where he’d need a power surge to contribute as a regular. He’s still at least two or three years away. Repeating High A with a midseason promotion to Double A would be completely in order for him.

Other prospects who may be called on
None really. The rest of the Cardinals top prospects are also far away from the Majors. Cardinals GM Walt Jockety has typically used top prospects to acquire major league ready talent and the Cardinal development system is not inspiring. A number of last year’s Baseball America top ten prospects slipped out of the top ten, replaced by prospects who had not been previously noticed or ’06 draft picks. It is just as likely that St. Louis turns a prospect like Josh Kinney or Mark McCormick for a retread starter like Carl Pavano or Byung-Hyun Kim. Farm Director Jeff Lunhow has run the last two drafts and now controls the entire farm system. That may yield more talent.

Outlook

The success of the Cardinals last year was in overcoming adversity and getting hot in October. This team has too many holes to count on a post season appearance in 2007. But they cannot be counted out either. As improved as Chicago is, they are not run away division winners, either. The Astros and the Reds and the Brewers should all contend as well. How St. Louis does depends largely on Albert Pujols and his bat. The best hitter in baseball and one of America’s newest citizens carries the offense of his club. Albert can count on another good year, and if he stays healthy, that’s worth another couple of wins for the Cards. Besides Carpenter, who is capable of winning twenty games, the staff will be baling wire, bubble gum and duct tape for April and May. But once they get their legs underneath them, they should settle in. I do not expect a successful title defense, but they can make the playoffs, where it is anyone’s ballgame.

Predicted finish: 88-74 First place in a close NL Central race.

 

Samardzija signs 5yr $10M Deal with Cubs

Associated Press

CHICAGO — Jeff Samardzija decided to give up football and stay with baseball.

The former Notre Dame receiver, projected as a first-round pick in the upcoming NFL draft, agreed Friday to a $10 million, five-year contract to pitch for the Chicago Cubs.

“Baseball is my first love. I played it my whole life,” Samardzija said.

A 21-year-old right-hander, Samardzija was the Cubs’ fifth-round pick in last year’s amateur draft and had a 2.70 ERA in seven starts for their Class A teams at Boise and Peoria.

He returned to Notre Dame and helped the Irish make the Sugar Bowl, catching 78 passes for 1,017 yards as a senior. The Irish lost the game to LSU 41-14, but Samardzija did catch a TD pass.

His deal includes a $2.5 million signing bonus and the Cubs hold options for a sixth and seventh seasons in 2012 and 2013. If the options are exercised, the deal would be worth $16.5 million over seven years.

Samardzija said there would be no returning to football, even though he’s headed for a stint in the minor leagues, probably starting at Class A Daytona after spring training. The deal also includes a no-trade clause.

Thinking It Over

With the question of whether to play professional baseball or head to the Senior Bowl looming earlier this week, Jeff Samardzija talked with ESPN The Magazine’s Amy K. Nelson to share his thought process. Story

“He has offered at any time in the five-year period to give the [signing bonus] money back. He wanted to make everything clear that there wasn’t any turning back,” Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said.

“That was something I wanted in there to show my commitment to this organization, along with the no-trade clause,” Samardzija said.

Samardzija’s fastball was clocked at 97 mph last summer and Hendry said the Cubs project him one day to a be “high end starter.”

Samardzija, 21-6 in 50 college baseball games, said he spent 10 to 12 hours a day weighing the decision on which sport to pursue. His familiarity with the Cubs after his experience last summer was a major factor.

Hendry said he never pressured Samardzija after he returned to school last fall following his brief minor league stint.

“I felt the best thing to do was let him go back and play football. I went to see him play football, we talked regularly but it never came up, ‘What are you going to do?”‘ Hendry said. “He was going to do what he wanted to do and that’s what he should do and that’s what I told him.”

Samardzija said longevity and the chance of injury were not major factors in his decision to go with baseball over football. And he said there is no sadness about giving up football after a great career with Notre Dame. In 2005 he set the school’s single-season records for yards receiving with 1,249 and TD catches with 15.

“It’s an excitement for baseball. If there is a sadness for leaving football, I’m making the decision at the wrong time or just the wrong decision in general,” he said.

He said Irish coach Charlie Weis was supportive when he told him he was turning to baseball.

“He was excited. He wished me the best and he asked for Cubs tickets,” Samardzija said.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

Wow! That’s a huge contract for a player with “potential”. Jeff Samardzija could turn out to be a staff ace or he could be a bust. All signs point to ace, or atleast a #3 starter. He can hit 97 on the radar gun but sits around 94. He has a good frame, allowing him to work many innings. He really needs to work on his secondary pitches and work on his command, he had 12 walks in 30 innings last year for the Cubs minor league affiliates while triking out only 17 (he had 6 walks and only 4 strike outs over 11 innings at Peoria, his last two starts) not great numbers but it was a short stint.

This is a classic move, trying to lure an athlete to one sports and away from another. We’ll have to wait and see how this deal works out in the future.

 

Marlins Preview: Willis and Co.

The Florida Marlins are back, baby. And baby is the operative word. Weak, but bear with me. Heading into Spring Training the Marlins have the one of the youngest potential starting rotations in baseball. How young? Born January 12, 1982 Dontrelle Willis celebrates his 25th birthday today. Celebrating with D-Train today is Scott Olson, who turns 23 and may be the second oldest starter in the Marlins regular season rotation.
Josh Johnson and Anibal Sanchez are all but guaranteed spots. Johnson, 12-7 133 stikeouts 3.10 era in 2006, will not turn 23 until Jan 31. A product of the Marlins system, he was drafted by the Marlins in the 4th round of the 2002 draft. After three seasons in the minors he made his debut in September 2005. Johnson made 24 starts and pitched 157 innings in 2006 and was considered a Rookie of the Year candidate for most of the season.
Anibal Sanchez, who’s undeniable highlight of the season was his No Hitter Sept 6th vs. Arizona, started 17 games in 2006. He pitched 114.1 innings, striking out 72 and posting 2.83 era/1.19 WHIp. While the No-No was the highlight – his July 14th start at home to Houston was the start that set the tone for the season. After surrendering 11 earned runs in his two previous starts (vs. Bos and Was), Sanchez rattled off 21 solid innings against the Astros (7 IP 2 hits), Nationals (7 IP 1 hit) and Braves (7 IP 7 hits 1 run) earning 3 straight wins. Anibal turns 23 on February 27th.
The final spot in the rotation is anyone’s for the taking, but it will likely belong to Ricky Nolasco. Nolasco started 22 games for the Marlins in 2006 earning plaudits for solid work and an ability to transition to the starting role from the bullpen. In 140 innings he struck out 99 and walked 41, posting an 11-11 record and a 4.82 era. He may not have had a season like some, and in the Year of the Rookie Pitcher Ricky Nolasco managed to slip under most people’s radar. He just turned 24 in December.
Young hurler Yumeiro Petit is competing for work coming out of the bullpen. Appearing in 15 games last season for the Marlins he struggled. Pitching only 26.1 innings, Petit gave up 46 hits and 28 earned runs. While he did strike out 20, the fantastic potential he showed in the Mets farm system prior to the trade last offseason has not been evident in his short stint in the Majors.
While the Marlins did not make much noise at the end of the season, their record was far better than most expected. With a young core of pitchers already on the 40 man roster, and a solid talent base in the minor leagues, this staff looks to be set for next season and building towards an impressive future. Petit is the youngest of the current bunch. He will not turn 23 until after the 2007 World Series and has many hoping he lives up to early hype and becomes solid starter in 2008.

On the horizon:
Harvey Garcia (22) recorded 21 saves last season for Jupiter; he struckout 83 in 64.2 innings.

Thanks to thebaseballcube.com

 

The Royals Unoffensive Off Season

Since the crickets are chirping on Royals coverage while the Chiefs make their “miracle” run into the NFL playoffs, let’s take a moment to examine what General Manager Dayton Moore has done with the offense this off season.

Given that the team finished near the bottom of the league in runs scored last year, you’d think Moore would be stockpiling bats in the same manner he’s been picking up arms.

However, the only additions so far have been 1B/DH Ross Gload and Catcher Jason LaRue.

Of course, Moore did spruce up the lineup a bit during the season, and a look at the OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging average) month-by-month does show some modest improvement.

    Apr 681
    May 732
    Jun 743
    Jul 760
    Aug 764
    Sep 762

Unfortunately, their best month was barely average.

David Cohen over at The Good Phight has posted a list of the stats for each lineup position on every team and here is how the Royals stacked up in 2006:

    Rank   Pos   AVG   OBP   SLG   OPS
    47      5   .293  .365  .498  .862
    122     3   .280  .355  .425  .779
    126     1   .289  .351  .423  .775
    128     6   .273  .338  .437  .775
    145     2   .290  .342  .416  .758
    152     4   .253  .319  .436  .755
    218     7   .262  .312  .375  .687
    240     9   .258  .309  .346  .655
    251     8   .236  .289  .327  .616

The overall OPS in 2006 was .765. That means that over half of the Royals lineup was worse than league average, and in the case of the #8 spot, barely better than the pitchers hit in the National League.

Ross Gload and Jason LaRue? Really?

Okay, let’s not panic just yet.

Here is a look at some 2007 projections using Dan Szymborski’s ZiPS projections:

    Name    P    AVG   OBP   SLG   OPS
    Shealy  1b  .288  .349  .479  .828
    Teahen  3b  .277  .349  .461  .810
    Sweeney dh  .275  .338  .470  .808
    DeJesus cf  .287  .355  .431  .786
    Brown   lf  .281  .343  .438  .781
    Sanders rf  .252  .312  .438  .750
    Buck    c   .251  .307  .432  .739
    Grudz   2b  .288  .327  .382  .709
    Berroa  ss  .252  .288  .365  .653
    
    BENCH
    Gload   dh  .302  .350  .467  .817
    German  2b  .290  .359  .386  .745
    LaRue   c   .234  .331  .411  .742
    Gthrght cf  .269  .335  .330  .665
    
    MINORS
    Gordon  3b  .275  .361  .473  .834
    Huber   1b  .272  .337  .456  .793
    Butler  lf  .292  .339  .447  .786

First of all, simply keeping Sweeney healthy and having Mark Teahen not turn into a pumpkin will help the Royals offense tremendously next season.

Hopefully, having Gil Meche make as much money as he does will stave off the pressure that seems to land on Sweeney’s bad back every season.

The jury is still out on Joey Gathwright, but Ryan Shealy looked like a good addition in the second half last year, and Szymborski’s system seems to like Gload’s potential.

However, the biggest reason for Moore’s focus on the pitching staff is that there is real promise coming from the minor leagues.

Alex Gordon, Justin Huber and Billy Butler all project to hit better in the big leagues than almost the entire 2006 lineup.

With all of that potential piling up at triple-A and Emil Brown and Reggie Sanders both on the wrong side of the age curve, I imagine there will be a few more deals before the season is over.

 

Arrest Warrant Out for Jeff Allison

The story just keeps getting worse for the Marlins prospect (if he is still considered that anymore)

Back in May 2003 Jackie MacMullan of the Boston Globe wrote an article about this top talent

“You look at him five years down the line, and you like his chances,” said the scout. “He throws hard, he has a decent curveball, and he’s got good baseball smarts. He looks like a kid you can teach.”

“He is,” said a second scout, “the best prospect from this area in 15 years.”

In the article Theo Epstein seemed to have some concern over talents like Allison

“The history of the draft demonstrates taking a righthanded pitcher out of high school in the first round is a risky venture,” said Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein. “It’s an extremely long road from high school to the minor leagues to the big leagues. There’s a lot of attrition, mostly because of injuries.

“It’s hard to keep pitchers healthy for a long period of time. These young guys have so many adjustments to make, from mechanics, to facing better hitters, to dealing with bigger crowds. Some make it, and some don’t. And, even those that do tend to make it with a team other than the one that drafted them.

And if you read the December 2004 Sports Illustrated Article you will know that Allison’s coach seemed to blinders on about the situation

“I know what they say about high school pitchers getting drafted, but I’ve been around 34 years, and this kid is the exception to the rule,” said Nizwantowski. “He has his wits about him. None of this stuff has gone to his head. He acts like any other kid we’ve got, but when he gets behind the stripes, you can’t believe how focused he is.”

This is a story that I have followed from the time Allison was in high school. While this is a very tragic story, based on what I read this was a kid who seemed to think he was invincible.

His chance and MLB stardom might have passed, but I hope it is not too late for him to turn his life around. I would think there are thousands of high school athletes who fail because of the pressures to succeed at the next level. If Allison can overcome his problems he might have the opportunity to teach young people (not just athletes) how to make the best of their opportunities. IMO that accomplishments would be more rewarding than anything he could have accomplished on the field.

Best of luck Jeff

 

Heath Shuler Uses NASCAR Race to Advertise Congressional Race

Heath Shuler is taking his Congressional campaign to NASCAR’s minor leagues.

Former NFL quarterback Heath Shuler hopes to inject some horsepower into his U.S. House bid by renting advertising space on a racing car.

The campaign is spending $10,000 to put the Democrat’s name on the No. 23 Chevrolet driven by Brad Keselowski during the NASCAR Busch Series event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Friday night, spokesman Andrew Whalen said.

“It’s an opportunity to reach out to voters in a different way,” Whalen said. “Heath and the rest of the campaign staff are big NASCAR fans, so we’re excited about this.”

You’d think he’d advertise on the #21 car.

At any rate, his NASCAR gambit can’t be any less successful than his NFL run. Perhaps it’s fitting he’s sticking to the Busch league this time.

 

And You Thought Pete Rose Got Mad . . .

This temper tantrum has to be seen to be believed. Strangely enough, Roger Clemens’ son was at the center of this one – it was the call that went in favor of him that set this manager off.

Upset with umpire Andy Russell’s call in the fifth inning of Asheville’s 5-2 loss, Mikulik rushed onto the field. The manager of the Colorado Rockies’ Class A affiliate made a headfirst dive into second base and later pulled up the bag — taking a few tugs to get it done — before throwing it into right field.

By the time he got ejected, Mikulik was just getting warmed up. And by the time he was done, he had thrown a resin bag, several bats and blocked the umpires’ locker room.

He claims he never lost control, although it may have looked like it. Yeah, sure.

Listen closely to the music the PA announcer plays – its priceless. The Lexington guy in charge must have a sense of humor, as he plays “Lost that Lovin’ Feeling”, followed by “Hit the Road, Jack”. Simply unreal.

 
 


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