Category: Arizona Fall League

Without a day/night AFL doubleheader and it not being Monday, it was time to get the best pizza in the world at Pizzeria Bianco in downtown Phoenix. If you haven’t noticed from past postings, I love food! Joe & I arrived at Pizzeria Bianco, forty minutes before they opened 4:20 PM, and there were 43 people waiting to be seated. How do I know there were exactly 43 people waiting? Because we were the last two people seated in the initial seating, otherwise there would have been a two hour wait, which would’ve been bad as the night game started 1/2 hour away in Mesa at 7:05. The crust is light & airy, the ingredients are so fresh, and the pizza is even better than I had remembered. I had a pistachios pizza and Joe had a pizza with cheese, red sauce, & fresh basil leaves. We shared both and there wasn’t a crumb left after we were finished eating. I had to tell the owner, Chris (who makes all the pizzas), that no matter how good I remember his pizza being, it always exceeds my wildest expectations. Also we had Dave, my favorite server in the world, he always remembers us, and thanks us for coming in. Everyone is so excited with anticipation from first timers to repeaters, talked with the people sitting next (Jeanne & Rick) to us at the ballpark, they agree, it’s the BEST! My favorite place to eat, period. If you’re in Phoenix, this place is located in the Heritage Center off of 7th & Washington, and is a must!

After the game we zoomed over to Mesa, with some on-the-fly directions from DonS’ little brother Kevin (cellphones are wonderful), we walked into the ballpark as the National Anthem was being played. Tommy Hanson of the Braves was on the mound for the Solar Sox, while Chaz Roe of the Colorado Rockies was on the hill for the Desert Dogs. This was the meeting between the two guys charting the game one day earlier. But before settling in behind home plate, I needed to stop by to say hi to my friend Marteese Robinson. I’ve met the nicest people!

Tommy Hanson lived up to advance billing, striking out 11 guys in five innings, walking one, allowing two hits, and one run (on a Sean Doolittle OAK home run). This 6’6″ righty out of Riverside CC & Tulsa, OK has really impressed, despite being a 22nd round draft choice by the Atlanta Braves. Hanson has worked 18 2/3 innings, striking out 30, while allowing only one run, with an unreal 0.48 ERA, and a 3-0 record. Chaz Roe matched Hanson, by tossing four shutout innings, before being lifted. This was Roe’s best performance of his AFL, it lowered his ERA to a lofty 9.33. Chaz struckout seven and allowed only one hit.

Eric Young, Jr. got a pair of singles, but it was a rough night for him as he was picked off by the catcher & nailed when he rounded first base a little too far. Sean Doolittle touched Hanson for his first run allowed of the AFL and then sparkled when he shifted to first base. Twins (Phoenix) SS Steve Tolleson got a big two run triple after striking out his first three times up and then scored, accounting for three Desert Dog runs in the 8th.

Tigers slugger Jeff Larish, a local kid, slammed a big fly for Mesa and Matt Young of the Braves was 2 for 2 with two walks, & a stolen base. Logan Morrison was two for three with a walk, raising his batting average to .457.

Went back to the Quality Inn on Scottsdale Road in Tempe, AZ. I didn’t realize I’d stayed at this place for spring training, I don’t think I’ll be back. But I will be back to watch more AFL action next year, the best secret in town, but before that comes spring training, whether it’s in Florida or Arizona, it’s always a treat!

I took a taxi from my hotel to the ballpark in Phoenix and go there before the gates officially opened to the public. But being the unofficial kind of guy I am, I walked through an open gate, picked up a program, and was the first fan in the stands. Later I went back, bought a ticket, re-entered, and paid for the program.

It was great being in an empty ballpark, with the Mesa Solar Sox taking BP on the field. A young firstbaseman/outfielder with the Florida Marlins, Logan Morrison, caught my eye. This big lefthanded batter, who was a 22nd round draft choice, was really ripping them! The balls were exploding off his bat, some of them staying in the ballpark. Ray Burris was serving up BP, maybe that’s why this kid was on fire. I kid Ray Burris. I felt inspired to call The Baseball Zealot himself, to share this wonderful moment with him.

A few minutes later I ran into one of my favorite people in the baseball world, Marteese Robinson. Marteese played college ball with John Valentin, Mo Vaughn, & Craig Biggio, and Robinson was the best hitter in the lineup. Marteese is now a scout for the Washington Nationals, he was with the Cardinals the last time I saw him, but that was before Walt Jocketty was shown the door. Robinson is always in a good mood, with time to talk, even on no sleep, having arrived in the desert, with no sleep, from DC, late the night before. The sunglasses hid eyes that were woken up by his ringing cell, way too early, as friends wanted to discuss the election results. Marteese, like me, supported Obama, and was excited about the future of our country. He said several people, from outside the USA, had called to let him know how pleased they were that Barrack had won.

I told Marteese, I liked Morrison’s bat, but Robinson said, that might be as good as he gets. Still, besides a quick bat, I saw a young man, who listened to his hitting coach after his BP session. I’m eager to see this kid’s ceiling! Logan was leading the AFL in batting average, with power. In his second at bat in the game, he bombed a three run shot, high & deep over the rightfield wall. He got three hits on the day.

Other Solar Sox players who impressed were Detroit Tigers 5’9″ 155 pound, secondbaseman Will Rhymes. Lefty batting Rhymes, Mesa’s leadoff man, was smoking line drives all over the place, must’ve served up 12 foul ball souvenirs on the day. He got three base knocks on the day and started a nifty glove-to-glove 4-6-3 doubleplay on a sharp grounder up the middle. Then there was the big Chicago Cubs righthander Jesse Estrada. The 6’8″ 280 pound El Paso native threw five innings, spreading out five hits, walking one, while striking out three.

Eric Young, Jr. impressed again as the leadoff hitter for the Desert Dogs. The little 5’9″ Colorado Rockies outfielder walked, stole a base (without even a throw), and lined an RBI single. Toronto Blue Jays catching prospect J.P. Arencibia impressed behind the dish.

Two bigtime pitching prospects, Tommy Hanson & Chaz Roe were charting this game for their respective teams. What a show they’d put on, but that’s a story for another day.

Pitchers Singh & Patel, one’s a lefty, one’s a righty, don’t ask me which one is which, got their chance yesterday to throw in front of major league scouts at Dr. Kowcher’s.  Even though I’m staying in Tempe, I couldn’t make it over to see the historic event, mainly because I couldn’t get the necessary information in time, due to the internet being unavailable at my hotel.

I did talk with a fellow White Sox fan, whom I’d befriended at last night’s game in Mesa.  He told me, Tom House was on hand, explaining how he’d been working with the two hurlers, perfecting their techniques.  The first time one of the youngsters faced live batters against a local college, he plunked the first two batters he faced, a case of the jitters.

I wonder how other phenoms from the USA would make out in similar circumstances, in a foreign country, playing an unfamiliar game, and with their entire futures riding on their tryout.  Here’s what happened yesterday, the tall lefty threw 87 mph, and showed some promise.  While the stockier righthander hit 91 mph, but looked to have a much lower ceiling.  Both guys were all over the place with their control.

It’ll be interesting what happens in the lives and baseball careers of these two young men from India.  I wish them well!  Baseball truly is an international game, despite what the Olympics might think.

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.

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!