Posts belonging to Category Griffin Phelps

How you doin Sombrero Nation?  I know I have not posted in a while and I apologize for that.  I have been busy handling my coaching duties for the Farmington Cardinals, your 2010 FABC representative Host team in the 2010 Connie Mack World Series.  I say that with pride.  The Cardinals were the winner of the local city league (state) tournament.  Winner of this tourney gets an automatic bid in the annual Connie Mack World Series tournament.

Early in the year I began writing pieces about my city’s spectacular baseball field, Ricketts Park.  As the start of August runs near, the FABC Connie Mack League embarks on a journey.  This journey leads to the holy grail of Amateur baseball, the one and only Ricketts Park.  As the local teams of the Farmington league do battle, every last one of them has one common one thought in their brain; “If we win this thing, I get to be in the Connie Mack World Series!”  I write this piece with a special piece of my heart, for I grew up and still reside in Farmington, NM.  I grew up watching first round draft picks play on the field that I hoped to one day play on myself.  As a 17 year old I lost in the championship round after throwing a complete game 1 hitter (that can still be argued today as a no-hitter) and lost.  As an 18 year old, I was beat on Championship Night by Mike Dunn, who just recently got called back to the show by the Braves.  Last year he even won a ring with the Yankees.  Not a bad guy to lose to at 18 years old.  Then, last year, fellow writer Barfy and I lost on championship night; as coaches.  I was actually picked up my 18 year old summer by Barfy’s team, the Sky Sox.  But I digress.  There will be time for a trip down memory lane later.

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In the latest installment of the SombreroCast, Griff and Dee reflect on a recent Farmington Cardinals game, discuss hitting philosophies, talk about some players and player development and touch on ideas regarding coaching theory.

Click here to listen to Part I

Click here to listen to Part II

Griff and Dee weigh in on Farmington High School players selected in the MLB Draft, the North/South series and Stephen Strasburg.

Click here to listen to the podcast

“Hell, If I’d known 40-40 was going to be a big deal, I’d have done it every year!”- Mickey Mantle

“40/40 club/ESPN on the seats”

This is exclusivity at it’s best.  Fellow blogger Brett (aka my lil brother) wrote a piece on baseball’s influence over hip-hop music.  I felt that out of tribute, I should find my own quote from this same influence.  The above quote is from Jay-Z.  He is rapping about how he is above the rest.  He spits about pushing weight (crack-cocaine to be exact) to promote his growth as an exclusive member.  He is actually the owner of a NY night club called The 40/40 club.  Can you name all of the club member VIP’s?  Jay-Z probably couldn’t either, so it’s all money.

The 40/40 club is exclusive.  So exclusive in fact, that it only has 4 members. Quick, what do Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, and Alfonso Soriano have in common?  If you guessed being homos you were close, but not correct.  They have all been linked in one way or another to steroids.  (As a responsible reporter, ehhh, I should note here that Soriano has only been indirectly linked to ‘roids.)  That’s right; the 40/40 club is the prime example of what the steroid era meant for baseball.  Sure, Willie Mays, Bobby Bonds, Darryl Strawberry, Eric Davis, Vlad Guerrero, Alfonso Soriano (for a 2^nd time) and Carlos Beltran all came close.  But that is no horseshoe or hand grenade throwing.  These 4 men (using the term loosely) are the only  to achieve such asterisk laced glory.

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First off, let me apologize for my delay in releasing any new pieces for all the people of Sombrero Nation.  This last month has been quite a ride.  First there was the state tournament (in which the Scorps lost their semi-final game in heartbreaking fashion), then I had to finish up my first year, as a high school teacher, and most recently I have just become an uncle for the first time.  Big ups go out to my sister, Blaire.  She needed a mere 3 pushes to pop that beautiful baby out and into the world.  Congrats, I love you Blaire and baby Londyn.

Anyways, on to what the article is really about, Ricketts Park.  As I helped as an assistant to the varsity squad in May, I took notice of how special Ricketts was.  This was not the first time I had felt this way, but it was the same feeling from a different perspective.  I had casual conversations with graduating seniors about what it meant to have played at such a great field.  I also had conversations with younger guys who have their whole high school career in front of them.  There were as many similarities in their answers as there were differences.  No matter who I was talking to, I started each conversation the same way, “So what has it been like to play as a Scorp at Ricketts?’  Older guys answered with comments like, “It’s fuckin’ awesome, man” or “It’s so badass” and one kid, who will remain unnamed, responded with “It’s the fuckin’ shit.  There is nothing else like it.”  The second half of this last quote is what stuck with me, mostly because there really is nothing like playing at Ricketts Park.

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