Posts belonging to Category Daniel “Dee” Clark

With the fall baseball season in full swing nationwide and the WWBA championships coming to a close in Jupiter, FL, it seems fitting to discuss a prospect who perhaps has the most to gain or lose out of anyone in the months leading up to the June draft.  Stanford SS Kenny Diekroeger is arguably the best athlete in this year’s college crop.  He is basically a 60 across the board player in the “athlete” tools as well as with the glove.  He has all of the tools necessary to be a key up-the-middle contributor with a very good chance to be average at short or plus at second.  Diekroeger will have three years at Stanford under his belt come June and that combination of tools and experience should mean a very high selection in the draft, right?  Not necessarily.

Diekroeger posted a .293/.364/.356 slash line for the Cardinal in 2011 after .356/.392/.491 line as a freshman.  Many have used the new bat regulations to explain this drop in production.  I think there is more to it.  Kenny’s bat speed is easily at least plus, but he creates very little loft with his swing mechanics and produces entirely too many GB’s because his hands drop as he loads.  For most belt-high pitches and above (easily within the NCAA strike-zone) Kenny is a below-the-ball hitter.  This is not necessarily an easy fix, and it could be a problem that he will fight the rest of his days on the diamond.  It’s not necessarily as though he will ever be a bad hitter with his current mechanics, but he cannot be elite with them either, and with a frame as large as the one he currently has, sliding to third or the outfield is a real possibility.  An average or below hit tool on a 60 runner is not a first round player in many organizations’ opinions, and Diekroeger has potentially millions to gain from improved bat track and mechanics this year.

Diekroeger fails to transfer all of his weight and tends to close his lower half off as well.  This is usually an easier fix than the bat track issues, but is much tougher to do when also attempting to correct upper body flaws.

The PAC-12 is loaded with strong pitching this season, and Diekroeger will be able to prove (or not prove) that he is deserving of the top-10 talk that he was receiving after his freshman year as opposed to the late first round or early compensation round talk that he began receiving after his numbers softened up in 2011.  Diekroeger might very well be the second infielder off of the board in 2012 behind ASU SS Deven Marrero, but he also could end up falling behind several prep kids too like Gavin Cecchini.

After each Ranger game this October, the sports fans of my dental school class usually have something to say to me about the previous night/day’s game.  From bullpen usage to pinch hitters, they typically want to hear what I have to say about the decisions being made on and off the field that affect the Rangers and their bid to follow the Mavs as world champs.  I don’t know what or who the Mavs are, but apparently they won something called the NBA Finals last summer just as baseball season was about to break for All-Star festivities.   If you’ve been reading my stuff on this site for long, you know that October is the worst month at the Baylor College of Dentistry each month.  It is referred to as Black October because it is full of midterm exams, progress exams, presentations, etc.  Nevertheless, for me at least, whatever is happening at school must take a backseat to whatever is happening in baseball.  Two nights ago I had to move my bedroom TV into the living room so I could watch both LCS games and simultaneously study for my pediatrics exam, which I had at 7:40 the following morning.  I surely did quite poorly on the exam, but I also was able to watch two pretty fantastic games.  Perspectives, right?

The baseball fans of my class as well as several faculty members and their baseball-related questions make my experience at dental school much more enjoyable, and, despite the fact that BCD tries so hard to make October suck, this month is still the best month of the year.  2011 is uniquely terrific because such a high percentage of the game’s truly elite hitters and pitchers were/are on playoff teams.  Evan Longoria, David Price, CC, Doc, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Chase Utley, Robinson Cano, Tex, Grandelay, Justin Upton, James Shields, and those are just some of the guys who have already been eliminated.  The remaining players and teams are so evenly matched and the games have been so competitive that the baseball world has been collectively drooling since the last week of September.

As we watch the NFL and NBA unions collectively fail their fans and their sports altogether, we baseball fans are reminded this time of year how lucky we are that we have the game that we do.  Honestly, how is the NFL players’ union going to allow for HGH testing?  That league is in very serious danger.  What NFL player isn’t on H?  The kickers?  Maybe.  And the NBA has already cancelled games because of labor disputes.  This might be baseball’s chance to take back what it is rightly due, the hearts of sports fans nationwide.

What we baseball nuts can do for the sport during this month is realize that no matter what is going on in our lives, we must continue to make time for the game.  The people we surround ourselves with on a daily basis must constantly be reminded how awesome the game is and how lucky we are to have a month long holiday where we are encouraged to celebrate it.  So as the World Series approaches and with both LCS’s very evenly matched and close, remember how lucky we are to have a game to follow that provides us thousands of games a year at the highest level to follow and love.  This is the culmination of another terrific year.  Thanks for reading The Sombrero and sticking with us as Arlo worked through whatever malware bullshit was going on here a couple of weeks ago.  Happy October baseball fans!

With Moneyball opening this weekend nationwide, I have received several questions from friends and classmates about the movie since the cast is pretty loaded and the reviews so noteworthy.  I calmly have explained to them that Moneyball is the most important piece of literature ever created.  They quite obviously are skeptical and find such a claim laughable.  This is Texas after all and I do live across the highway from SMU.  I do firmly believe, though, that no book could have possibly influenced my life more profoundly than Moneyball did and continues to do.

I purchased Moneyball for my father as a Father’s Day gift shortly after it was released.  I saw a book with a baseball on the cover that allegedly was about the economical side of the game.  It sounded perfect for my dad who both loves baseball and reads the Wall Street Journal daily.  He enjoyed it, but I think he resented it too and continues to do so somewhat today.  When he was done with it, I read it.  I couldn’t put it down.  I was in high school and the books we read for school were what most would probably call classics.  I thought they were exceedingly boring and for the most part, I just read Cliff’s Notes.  Moneyball was quite possibly the first book I ever loved.  I think I understood immediately that my father and I would never see the game the same way again, and because of it I’m not sure I really began growing up and being my own person until I read it.

Moneyball represents in certain ways the game’s steps into adulthood as well.  The way the scouting side of the game is represented in the book reminds me of a screaming child who refuses to listen to reason and instead throws a tantrum.  This is obviously a dramatized version of the way the situation during the early 2000s actually was, but I did not know any better at the time and I doubt many did.  Nevertheless, Moneyball identified that the game had evolved and did so by pinpointing the exact time that outsiders took notice.

I have read Moneyball several times since then, and Whitney even agreed to read it to me after I graduated from Grinnell while we drove back to New Mexico from Iowa, stopping along the way for a buddy and teammate’s wedding.

Moneyball showed the baseball community and even those on the fringes of it that baseball players don’t have to look like Griffey or A-Rod.  They can look like Pedroia.  He won an MVP and might have gone undrafted without smart folks pointing out that “the good face” is a luxury with no bearing on whether or not someone can ball.  Balling is about finding out how to maximize every single attribute each of us has.  It’s not just the five tools and it for damn sure isn’t about being tall and lean.  It’s about barreling up, playing clean, and taking a walk if it’s offered.  More than any of that, though, it’s about understanding what makes a real, honest to God winner on the diamond and away from it.

The book opened the door to front offices and even the dugout to intellectual types who may not have signed a professional contract or even touched the diamond in an NCAA-sanctioned game.  Beyond that, though, it encouraged and maybe even forced baseball types to listen to those who had not been educated within baseball culture.  The revolution that Moneyball identified and displayed to the masses aided (maybe more so than anything else) us in realizing that there existed valuable and measurable attributes going virtually unnoticed by those who were paid to find them.

It’s not so much that Moneyball defined the revolution.  It is more that it provided it with names, faces, and a narrative.  It supplied the emotion and passion that were felt by so many as we began to understand what the implications of these new metrics really were.  The way we evaluate everything has changed since then.  For everyone at The Sombrero, its implications extend far beyond the diamond.  Moneyball is about an ideology based in critical and objective evaluation of data used to guide our decisions and our emotions.  Yeah, it taught me to take a walk, but it also taught me why I should.  It taught us that as baseball players, fans, men, friends, and whatever else we might call ourselves, we have never learned enough.  There is always ground to be gained and always a reason to know more than we do today.  Moneyball meant that the game had a future to me.  I would not be writing any of these words without what Michael Lewis and Billy Beane gave us.

In conjunction with Dee’s post about our recent Grinnell College alumni weekend, I thought it would be a nice change-of-pace to post some videos from our glory days.

We’ll get things going with a yardball from Dee circa 2008.  He may have only hit a couple in his college career, but that no-doubt trot would have you think otherwise.  Things to look for: the light wind that accentuates his flowing mane; his Brandon Phillips-like speed around the bases; Dee screaming “Gotta Eat!” right before touching the plate.

“It’s gotta be the hair, Cotton. It’s beautiful! Feathered and lethal.”

Here’s a double-dose of Dee.  In this video, he demonstrates his defensive prowess:

Next up is yours truly, going yard and unabashedly pumping my fists before hitting first base:

I know, tough act to follow. But this just might top it. Here’s Ryan Harris getting knocked cold while trying to catch an infield pop up.  This is precisely why the pitcher needs to get the hell out of the way, unless you’re Harris, who lives for these plays.  Not only did he catch the ball, but he also received a few stitches to commemorate the play.

And now for the Sombrero’s newest staff writer, Jim Malewitz. In 2008, Jyme Tyme was an extra-base machine. He also happens to be a ginger, which frankly frightens the crap out of me.

And last but not least, me again.  This might be the best catch I’ve ever made (in the outfield). I was told I should have pimped it and flipped the ball to our fans, which would have only been for show.  It’s not like we can afford to just give away game balls like that in Division III baseball, folks.

 

Labor Day weekend across the United States marks in many ways the end of summer.  For students this means a return to the lab and the classroom.  For working Americans it means, well, I’ve never really been a “working American”, so I’m not exactly sure.  Regardless, at Grinnell College in central Iowa, Labor Day meant, at least for a collection of baseball alums, a return to the town and school that was our home for four years.  For this particular alum, it marked the first return trip since 2008.  In fact, despite frequent communication via text, email, and this blog, I had not seen Arlo (Mike) since we bid farewell to Robbie prior to his departure to London for veterinary school around three years ago.  Words simply cannot explain what it meant to see these people again.  In many ways the entire weekend truly felt as though I was still a member of the GC baseball team getting used to a new semester back in Iowa with my friends and teammates.

Grinnell College and Tim Hollibaugh, the head coach of the Pioneers, have shaped the lives of each player who has stepped between the lines for GC.  It is impossible to say what each of us would be doing had we not been teammates at Grinnell, but what each of us has done since we graduated is rather inspiring, at least, for me.  We all seem to be moving in directions that will allow us to be happy adults and positive contributors to each of our environments.  While we all probably had very busy weeks and months ahead, everyone seemed able to let go of work/school for the weekend and very relaxed as a result.  During our time together, I’m not sure any of us had what could possibly constitute a serious conversation.  Amidst an entire weekend full of inside jokes and recollecting our times shared years ago, we walked away from Grinnell still in nearly every way the same kids and ballplayers we were during our time in the scarlet and black.

The good fortune and persistent recruiting that somehow was able to land us all in the same small town in Iowa will never fully be accounted for by any of us, but there is no way to really describe how thankful I am now for spending my collegiate experience there with the group of guys that I did.  In talking with some of the current GC players, I was reminded of just what it felt like to be a student and athlete there.  They surprised me with how aware they were of who they are and what the game and the team meant to them.  The Pioneers of today make me endlessly proud to call myself an alum.  I am very confident that they will hoist the MWC trophy in 2012.

I don’t think the game ever leaves our lives, even after our play between the lines comes to an end.  During fungo work over the weekend, I was reminded of what it was that made me a valuable member of the Pioneer team and even before.  My hands in the infield allowed me to stay on the field well beyond what my bat could justify, and picking the ball up was always something I could do pretty well.  In watching Robbie and Arlo take cuts, I was reminded of just how well they swung the bat.  Robbie got more out of his set of tools than anyone I’ve ever known and continues to do so in London today.  Mike may not even be done improving.  His arm has held up better than any of the rest of the other alums’, and I think his bat has a little more lift in it than it used to, although it’s a little tough to recall since I had not seen him take a cut in three years.  It is my belief that if not for baseball and constantly trying to grip four-seams as quickly as possible that my hands could not adequately control a dental handpiece or forceps.  Labor Day weekend reminded me of that, but this time it likely was dentistry that had kept my hands in decent shape for groundball work instead of vice versa.

My experience at Grinnell is something I am very proud of, but I don’t think I understood how proud until I returned after some time away.  Seeing the new yard and the new athletic center as well as the current crop of players reinforced in me the positive direction in which the program is headed.  I feel very proud when Coach Hollibaugh suggests that Rob, Mike, and I helped begin the program’s climb, even though it is my belief that Kevin Byrne essentially taught us how to be captains.  As we’ve moved into our own lives independent of one another, this weekend, more so than perhaps anything else, reminded me that we are not and will never be fully independent of our teammates.  My time at Grinnell particularly shapes what I do on a daily basis, and I could not be prouder of the friendships I made while I was there and the time I spent as a Pioneer.  I would like to thank all of my fellow baseball alums for making Labor Day weekend as meaningful as it was for me.  Marsh, special thanks to you for helping organize it.

GO PIONEERS!