Down here in Arizona, there are a couple of 19 year old kids from India getting their shot at making it to professional baseball in America. I was reading this fascinating article in the USA Today about these pitchers named Singh & Patel, who will be throwing tomorrow in Tempe, AZ in front of pro scouts. Turns out Barry Bonds’ agent held a Million Dollar Arm contest and one of the guys was awarded $100,000, plus the opportunity to show what he could do. This kid’s father drives a truck of produce in India, which earns him $25 per month. I’m gonna try to get an in person look at these tryouts.
Author: Teddy Ballgame
ROOT ROOT ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAM
The day portion of my day/night baseball filled day started out in Phoenix, featuring Surprise vs Phoenix. But before we got to the ballpark, we made a detour to Burger King. Got a veggie burger with a little mustard and some cheese, a regular BK Veggie would be way too messy, somehow the mustard ended up getting on my brand new Rays tee, bummer. On the hill for Surprise was the 2008 first round selection of the Baltimore Orioles, Brian Matusz. Lefty Matusz is out of the University of San Diego. I was really excited to get to see this kid pitch, especially right behind the plate. There was an extra buzz in the air, as the scouts readied their radar guns. A fan next to me even said, a friend told him, this kid was a legit candidate to make it to the Hall of Fame, let’s make the big leagues first.
Eric Young, Jr. got an opposite field basehit to right, stole his 17th base of the year, the next batter walked, mainly due to Matusz’ focus on EY2, and then John Donaldson cleared the fence with a three run blast to left, erasing a one run Surprise lead. Surprise scored as a result of an error in the top of the first by Donaldson, who redeemed himself. Donaldson is a member of the A’s, came over from the Cubbies in the Rich Harden deal.
Brooks Brown looked sharp for Phoenix, working five innings, allowing two hits, and one unearned run. Matt Wieters was behind the plate for Surprise, but didn’t really impress, although he does have an arm, and looks like a can’t miss.
In the nightcap it was Scottsdale over the Javelinas of Peoria 9-3. Brrr, who said it’s hot in Arizona? Well it’s not hot at night, lemme tell you. The kid I wanted to see was was Justin Smoak. Smoak’s with the Rangers, a power hitting, switch hitting firstbaseman, compared with Mark Teixeira, but Justin really didn’t show much in this game.
Kevin Pucetas was on the mound for the Scorpions. He threw the ball well, allowing only a solo homer to Kevin Russo in his five innings of work, striking out four, and upping his record to 3-1. Adding Pucetas to a SF rotation that already features Tim Lincecum & Matt Cain, and the future is looking bright for the Giants. Another Giant that impressed for Scottsdale was elder statesman SS Kevin Frandsen. Frandsen was all set to take over as San Francisco’s everyday secondbaseman in 2008 when a ruptured Achilles put him on the shelf for the entire year. It’s not that Kevin is old, just old in AFL terms, but his enthusiasm shows he’s once again ready to take over an everyday job in the bigs, plus his skills are right there.
Carlos Triunfel is at the other extreme of the age spectrum, he’s the first AFLer born in the 1990s. This kid is a SS in the Seattle Mariners organization and has the word star written all over him. Triunfel played thirdbase in this game and showed he can field, hit, & run, very quick bat.
Another player who showed he’s ready is secondbaseman Drew Sutton. Sutton hit a big fly over the right field wall. Drew is a lefthanded hitter in the Houston Astros organization, who reminds me of Chase Utley.
There was this extremely attractive woman sitting off to my right that was rooting for the Scorpions, but in particular the Giants players. Turns out she’s Beth Turner, wife of Scottsdale manager Shane Turner. Shane has been in the SF system for some time. It was great to get an inside look at the game from the wife of a baseball man.
When we left the ballpark we noticed the windshield of Joe’s truck had been shattered by a foul ball, major bummer!
NOVEMBER BASEBALL – CAN’T BEAT IT!!!
I know it’s 68 degrees in Chicago, but baseball in the Windy City, sad to say, has been over for some time now. So I needed to hop on a big air jetliner to carry me so far away to the middle of the desert to get my baseball fix.
After wolfing down some breakfast it was time to head out to the ballpark in Scottsdale. The Scorpions are once again in last place, must be something about their feeder teams. Each team in the AFL gets its players from five major league ballclubs.
As I was headed to my seat I wanted to pick up a media guide and a stat sheet, but the place where they’re normally sold was closed. I saw a guy, who was lucky enough to have both, I sked where he got his stuff. He said, over at the booth that is now closed, maybe they’ll open again soon, which they did. The guy I asked, happened to be Steve Stone. I sheepishly said, oh hi, good to see you!
Clay Buchholz was starting for the Scorps, but he was roughed up for four runs over 3 2/3 innings. He had his good fastball, but seemed to be working on a change up, a work in progress. Cardinals prospect Brett Wallace was 4-5 on the day, including a bomb off Buchholz. Daniel Murphy was in the game, learning to play 2B. Kevin Frandsen was back in the AFL, ripping the ball, playing SS. Jordan Danks was the DH, didn’t show much.
The final score was 11-7 Peoria Saguaros over the Scorpions in a looong game. My day started with getting up at 3:30 AM in Chicago and ended at Don & Charlie’s on Camelback Road in Scottsdale. That place has the best baseball memorabilia around, amazing!
Going to a day game in Phoenix and a night game in Scottsdale today & tomorrow, a night game in Mesa Thursday, before heading home Friday for a Bulls night game at the UC. Wednesday night Jimmy Rollins will be present in Scottsdale to be inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame, my JRoll teeshirt? It’s at home in my closet.
The White Sox have left the CELL-ding
The White Sox were forced into a do or die situation by losing the first two games in Tampa versus the Rays in Florida. They came back home Monday behind John Danks to win, putting the series at a 2-1 deficit. But on Tuesday the baseball in Chicago came to an end, the White Sox were eliminated.
Like I’ve stated before I enjoy going to the last game of the season, this one was different, everybody was there, it still mattered, till it was over, then it was over. There would be no game tomorrow, wait’ll next year.
The response from the crowd was much different on the southside of Chicago than it was on the northside of the city when the Cubbies were eliminated. The expectations were different. The Cubs were expected to win, they had won their division last year, this was the year to win it all, ending a century of frustration. While the White Sox gave up last year, traded away one of their pitchers from their rotation, didn’t get Torii Hunter, and looked to be going nowhere. As fate would have it both teams won their respective Central Division crowns.
“It’s Gonna Happen” was the rallying cry for the Cubbies. Kosuke Fukudome was brought on to play rightfield, one of the Cardinal devils Jim Edmonds was brought on to play center, Geovany Soto was ready to take over behind the plate, and Rich Harden was brought in down the stretch to anchor the rotation. While the White Sox brought on Alexei Ramirez for only $1,000,000 per year for four years because nobody thought the Cuban star could play, missed out on getting Hunter (as I mentioned before) & Miguel Cabrera, instead adding Orlando Cabrera, nobody knew whether Joe Crede could rebound from his bad back, Carlos Quentin was a talent who always got hurt, and adding Ken Griffey, Jr. down the stretch at the expense of trading a relief pitcher, this team’s chances were suspect at best.
I rode to, what would be, the last game of the year with Rob & CLuke’s daughter Kate. Inside the ballpark, next to Nancy, were the usual subjects, Tade, Steve, Dick & Bea, Caramel Corn Mike & his brothers, George & Debbie & Debbie’s son, Terry, & Phil. But Al & his son Anthony were nowhere in sight, so I called Anthony’s Cell in the 3rd inning, they were in the upperdeck, security wouldn’t let them downstairs, even though they were season ticket holders, seems upperdeck season ticket holders only had first level access during the regular season. After Al almost got arrested for debating this position with an off duty police officer, Tade went upstairs, bringing down Al & Anthony, now we were all where we belonged.
Gavin Floyd was a little off, B.J. Upton was a little on, and soon the baseball season in Chicago was over. We all said our goodbyes, promising to stay in touch in the offseason, we’re going to get together to watch a Bulls, Hawks, or Bears game from a Wings. Nancy said she’d come and she even gave me a kiss goodbye, till next year.
Two other notes…
Minnie Minoso was watching the ballgame from the concourse behind homeplate, so I approached him. I’d ordered three teeshirts from www.minoso.com about one month ago, but never got them, the check never cleared either. Minnie told me, he’d look into it, and give me a call.
The next baseball I’ll see in person will be in about one month in Arizona at the Arizona Fall League. I love prospects and really enjoy seeing youngsters before they become stars. One youngster I saw last year was a middle infielder for the Boston Red Sox with some pop in his bat, he ripped a game winning homer in an AFL game, so it was kind of a full circle moment when Jed Lowrie ripped a game winning single to advance the BoSox past the Halos in last night’s ballgame.
WHITE SOX: ONE WIN AT A TIME
Was out at the Cell yesterday for the Sox/Rays playoff game, it was the 4th straight do or die game, and the Good Guys prevailed. A full house of fans dressed in black, not attending a funeral, but showing support for the Good Guys, who wear black, and possibly Johnny Cash. Drove down there in the rain with Rob, CLuke & his daughter Kate, others by Nancy were Rob’s daughter Kim, her friend Mel, Al & his sons Anthony & Dan, Dick & Bea, Steve, George & Debbie & her son, Caramel Corn Mike & his brothers, and Bill & his best friend TADE! Hope I’m not forgetting anybody, sheesh, the grief I put up with!
John Danks was in control, the White Sox played little ball (all three runners tagged on a bases loaded sac fly (Thome, Konerko, & Griffey), blazing speed, and the Good Guys won without the benefit of a longball. Getting ready for a Monday afternoon must win game at the Cell, I’ll be in black, having a vodka lemonade & a pretzel before the game, and screaming, “LET’S GO WHITE SOX!”, as loud as I can with my annual death cough.
Was talking with Caramel Corn Mike’s cousin before the game, her son was a freshman starting pitcher for Eastern Illinois. They went to the College World Series in Omaha.
Another note, I taught my four year old nephew Braden, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, he’s singing it all the time. Even though my niece Amanda & her brother Braden are in Wisconsin, they are root, root, rooting for the White Sox.
I DIDN’T KNOW DonS WAS A WHITE SOX FAN
DonS didn’t get into his brother’s postseason baseball pool, because three of his favorite teams were in the playoffs (Angels, Brewers, Cubs), and he thought the Phillies & Red Sox would be in the World Series. Not wanting to go against his heart, he decided to skip the pool. Both the Brewers & Cubs are down two games to none, the Halos are down one game to none, and four to one after one inning in game #2. But what I didn’t know was that DonS is a closet White Sox fan, what else could explain the rough start my team is off to?
Actually I believe starting Javier Vazquez in game #1 set up the Rays, got them the confidence they needed to compete, just in case they needed momentum. Today Chicago jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but could not put Scott Kazmir away. We had runners on base all night long, leaving them stranded, and eventually Tampa scored more than enough to win, winning by four.
Last night I bid $180 on an upper deck ticket on stubhub for Sunday’s playoff game at the Cell. I won’t find out if I won(?) until 11:00 AM on Sunday. Not sure if I want to show up, especially seeing the Sox haven’t shown up thus far.
I bought three tee shirts on www.minoso.com over a month ago, but they still haven’t arrived. So I called a cell phone number Dick gave me, he said it used to be Minnie’s, but that was a couple of years ago. To my surprise, Minnie answered my afternoon call, said he was in Florida for the game, and would talk with me at the game on Sunday. I urged him to, just win, I guess his urging didn’t help, as now we’re down 2-0.
Just like the regular season, our backs are against the wall, and we need to win three in a row to keep our playoff life alive. This one’s for DonS, “LETS’S GO WHITE SOX!”
OZZIE – OH NO! NOT VAZQUEZ!
Before the first postseason game between the Rays and the White Sox down in the Sunshine State, I was feeling pretty good. Tampa Bay had lost 90 or more games for ten straight years, although this year the Devil Rays minus the Devil were able to put their losing ways behind them, and somehow win the AL East. I’m a math guy, so somehow 9=8 doesn’t make sense to me, but whatever works.
I’ve been lucky enough to be on hand at the Cell to witness first hand, what’s been working, and what hasn’t. I came in from Waupaca to watch Javier Vazquez spit it out, yet again, on Saturday vs the Indians. Which forced the Pale Hose into a jam whereby they needed to win three straight games against three different opponents to salvage a playoff berth. When the wheels came off and Vazquez was removed from the game, I screamed BOO louder than I’ve ever done so before. Let me explain something here. I am not a fan, who cheers a player on the top, and then boos them when they fall apart. Javier Vazquez has great stuff, probably the best stuff on the staff. But he refuses to trust his stuff and will not pitch inside. Often times he tries to be cute, enticing batters to swing at pitches just outside, falling behind in the count, and then getting clobbered. It’s maddening.
Anyway after winning the three games needed to get into postseason, it was time for the playoff series to begin. The Rays have a solid rotation, so I wasn’t sure whom they’d throw in game one, but I was positive the White Sox would start Mark Buehrle. Even though Vazquez has the best stuff, Buehrle is our #1, no doubt about it. I realized my Buehrle tee shirt was down in the dirty wash, pulled it out, but was shocked to find out, reading the paper, that Javier Vazquez was starting game one for Chicago.
This is the same Vazquez that Ozzie Guillen called out, saying, he was a choker & not a big game starter. That strategy didn’t work before Saturday’s game, so now he was showing him the ultimate confidence by starting him in the playoff opener. Wasn’t Ozzie paying attention, hadn’t he been watching this guy pitch? Surely Buehrle would’ve been pitching on three days rest, but he’d been doing it down the stretch, with positive results. With off days there was the possibility we wouldn’t have to see Javier start at all in the playoffs, but here he was, out there getting ready to get pounded by the lefthanded heavy lineup of the Rays. I was resigned to the fact, we’d be down 1-0 to a team that had never been to the postseason, giving them momentum.
Of course Vazquez did get pounded and the White Sox are now in a hole in a must win game #2 with Buehrle on the bump. A rookie lefthanded reliever Clayton Richard was brought on to relieve Javy, totally dominating the Rays batters, and I had to think, what might have been. The good thing is that Javier won’t be starting any more games in this series, hopefully not any more in a White Sox uniform (I purposely pictured him in a Yankee uniform, because I can’t stand seeing him in ours), but it might be too late. Hopefully the White Sox can climb out of this hole, with their backs against the wall, and defeat Tampa Bay.
THE LAST GAME WON’T BE THE LAST GAME
I’ve always enjoyed attending the last home game of the season. Most fans like going to the opener, I like going to the closer. When I was a kid I went to the closer alot, about five years in a row. I was there when Bill Melton became the first White Sox slugger to win a home run crown. I still have the button with Home Run King Bill Melton on it. For the most part there’s alot less hoopla surrounding the closer than the opener.
This closer was a sellout, with everything on the line, the winner would go on, the loser would go home. Ozzie Guillen proclaimed, “Twins starter Nick Blackburn was lucky to get us once, but wouldn’t be as fortunate here”. While the Twins claimed, they were glad to be playing the playoff game in Chicago rather than in Minnesota, because they wanted to win in our house, celebrate on our field, and rub it in on our fans.
Well neither got what they wanted. Blackburn pitched masterfully, but John Danks pitched better. I should say Jim Thome put a BIG FLY on the Twinkies, 461 feet! Meanwhile Ken Griffey, Jr. took a flyball in medium centerfield, with a runner on 3rd, one out, and fired a strike to a waiting A.J. Pierzynski. A.J. tagged the runner out, hanging on to the baseball, and not breaking his arm. Another big play was made by defensive replacement Brian Anderson. Anderson made a diving catch with two outs in the 9th preserving a 1-0 save by Bobby Jenks, with Joe Mauer licking his chops in the ondeck circle.
Rob & I bought 15 tickets in the rain after Monday’s game. It was a full house on hand to see the Good Guys win the AL Central. Behind the plate, next to Nancy Faust, was overflowing. Tade & Tom (it’s been a looong time since former regular Tom was in the house), Dick & Bea, CLuke & his son Tom, Al & his sons Anthony & Dan, George & Debbie & her son, Steve, Phil, Songkwon, Matt, Caramel Corn Mike, & me were crowded together rooting for the White Sox. Rob & Vicky & family were in section 101, in centerfield. The game was electric from first pitch to last out.
Now on to the postseason, I was wrong when I stated, the Sox would play four different opponents on four successive days, they actually were rewarded with an off day before starting up their best of five game series with the Rays. I thought about going to St. Petersburg to see the Sox battle the Rays, but I’ll just work on getting tickets for home playoff games.
All I can say right now is, LET’S GO WHITE SOX!!!
RAINY DAYS & MONDAYS ALWAYS PICK ME UP
The White Sox needed to play the last game of the regular season Monday to determine whether a one game playoff was needed against Minnesota. Meanwhile the Twinkies were in their clubhouse watching the game on TV, waiting to pop their champagne cork. But instead of toasting themselves they needed to hop on an Chicago bound airplane for a Tuesday night do or die ballgame.
First there was a game to be played on Monday between the Tigers & the White Sox, we were all there to watch the afternoon game. The rain was falling down as Rob & I drove to the Cell, stopping along the way at Hero’s for a delicious sub sandwich. We brought them to the ballpark, even sharing our booty with Tade & Caramel Corn Mike. Steve, Al, & Anthony go there about 4:00 PM, first pitch was postponed from 1:05 PM. There was also a baseball geek named Joe from Michigan hanging with us, he was a great guy, even pulled for Chicago.
Although Joe was hoping Gary Sheffield would hit his 500th homer, so maybe he’d retire. Joe thinks the Tigers are going to be down for some time, stating some of their moves were racially motivated, like being in love with Nate Robertson (he sucks) & Brandon Inge (he’s at the Mendoza line).
Former Sox starter Freddy Garcia was matched up against Gavin Floyd. Although Gracia was only hitting 88 MPH on the radar gun, he was keeping our hitters in check. Halfway through this tight game, Freddy grabbed his shoulder and was done. The faithful at the Cell gave Freddy a standing ovation, it was kind of surreal watching yesterday’s hero walking off into the sunset, wearing enemy colors.
Jim Leyland tried everything, even bringing on a starter, Galarraga into the contest, but that backfired as he threw two wild pitches, and walking the only batter he faced. Rookie Alexei broke the game open with his 4th grand slam of the season.
So there will be baseball Tuesday as the Twins come to town. After the game Rob & I stood in line and bought 15 tickets for the next game, EVERYBODY will be there! After Chicago defeats Minnesota it’s on to Tampa Bay to take on the Rays. I still haven’t ruled out a trip to the sunshine state to watch my boys in action. The White Sox played the Indians on Sunday, the Tigers on Monday, will play the Twins on Tuesday, and if they win, the Rays on Wednesday. This might be the first time in MLB history that a team played four different teams in four consecutive days.
THANK YOU SIR, MAY WE PLAY ANOTHER?
Mark Buehrle & the Chicago White Sox rose up to take the finale of a three game series with the Indians, which means there will be baseball Monday. The season for the underachieving Detroit Tigers is not over. They will be coming to Chicago to play game #162, if the Sox win then the Sox will host the Twinkies on Tuesday to determine the AL Central Division Champions.
Cleveland started an inexperienced rookie rather than this year’s AL Cy Young Award winner, Cliff Lee. Lee had a stiff neck, so the kid got his shot, with his family sitting right in front of us. He didn’t pitch poorly, maybe didn’t deserve a loss, but got one none the less. The runs off the kid were a solo Paulie Konerko rip just inside the leftfield foul pole, a bases loaded error on doubleplay ball, and a sac fly, not bad at all.
Rob, Al & his son Anthony, Steve, Dick & Bea, Debbie & George, Adele & Mary, me, and Caramel Corn Mike were all in the house. Tomorrow we’ll do it again. LET’S GO WHITE SOX!