Posts belonging to Category Players

This week preliminary rosters for the Arizona Fall League were announced.  The AFL is a prestigious league for what are typically regarded as the surest bets in the Minor Leagues.  While there are some exceptions, in general the rosters for the AFL are comprised of the top prospects in the game.  Exceptions include those pitchers and hitters receiving September call-ups and obviously those players making playoff rosters as well as pitchers who have approached appearance caps, innings caps, or other forms of usage limitations.  Even without these players the rosters can be pretty damn impressive.  Look no further than the Scottsdale Scorpions’ outfield for proof.  It will feature the game’s top two prospects in Mike Trout and Bryce Harper.  Whitney also happens to live a few blocks from their home yard, so I am absolutely ecstatic about the Scorps.  What has me even more thrilled, however, about the Scottsdale roster is a lefty reliever named Will Latimer, a Four Corners baseball product hailing from Bayfield, CO.

Bayfield is a tiny community located immediately east of Durango and well within the gorgeous San Juan Range, which is famous for ski areas like Telluride, Purgatory, and Silverton.  In recent years Bayfield has become a community where Durango’s workforce establishes residence to flee outlandish real estate costs in the Durango city limits.  Will Latimer was raised in this community and ultimately graduated from Bayfield High in 2004.  Latimer played his club baseball in the Farmington Connie Mack league but was never a standout talent until college.  Latimer signed at Trinidad State (CO), which currently rosters former Strike Zone Cardinal Austin Rochford.  While at Trinidad, Latimer saw his fastball begin to pick up pace and his slider begin to bite harder.  He was selected by Boston in the 22^nd round of the 2007 draft and, after missing much of 2008 and 2009 due to injury, is on the right track at the age of 25, reaching as high as Double-A this season.  With a healthy ERA in the low 3’s and more than 3 K’s per BB, his stats certainly justify his AFL invitation.  A quality showing for Scottsdale could land Latimer in the high minors to begin 2012, and with a three-pitch mix featuring a low-90’s fastball and a lanky 6-foot-3 build; the former BHS Wolverine has a very realistic shot at the Show.

In other Four Corners baseball news, former Piedra Vista Panther and current UNM Lobo Jake McCasland has received an invitation to the Cape Cod Baseball League.  If you are a regular guest at The Sombrero, I assume you know what that means.  For those of you who aren’t, The Cape is the premier amateur baseball league worldwide.  Rosters are comprised of nothing but elite collegiate players fighting to climb draft boards.  Jake is the first product of Farmington baseball to crack a Cape roster, and the community is absolutely ecstatic about his invitation.  Jake is arguably the finest local product the town has ever produced, and, after a freshman season at UNM in which he started 15 games, Jake is ready to step back into the weekend rotation in Albuquerque as the Lobos look to build on their 2011 Mountain West title.  Congratulations!

–       Why do people get their panties in such a bunch over sign stealing?  Last night Josh Beckett had some choice words for the Yankees Brett Gardner last night after he caught him supposedly relaying signs to Mark Teixeira.  Teixeira probably had some words of his own for Gardner too after striking out that at-bat.

–       The San Francisco Giants are hosting a Star Wars night later this month.  Instead of bobble-heads they are giving away replicas of Brian Wilson encased in carbonite-awesome!

–       Mike Trout is boom-titties! (That one’s for you Lucey.)  Not only did he become the 9^th youngest player to ever have a two-homer game, the kid was hitting balls that were not even close to the strike zone.  We had him ranked as our No. 2 prospect and he is proving to everyone that he is well deserving of such a dubious honor.

–       In 13 professional innings this summer, Sonny Gray has allowed only 1 run.  The kid is sick nasty.  If you get a chance, watch him pitch and notice how fast the guy moves down the mound.  Surreal speed there, which allows such a small guy to have such devastating stuff.  Can’t wait to see how quick he makes it up with the big club.

–       Watching Francisco Cervelli’s first at-bat last night was pure comedy.  Beckett broke him off back-to-back hammers on the inside part of the plate and made him look like one of those sucky kids in little league who have never seen a curveball before.  Cervelli even gave a look at Beckett after the second curveball that said everything.

–       Another Yankees vs. Red Sox series got underway last night…yawn.  At least there was a little bit of tension after Francisco Cervelli’s (weak) celebration of his own homerun.  But other than that, what is the point of so many meaningless games for these two teams down the stretch Bud Selig?

–       How cool would it be to play for Joe Maddon?  The guy used to go to elementary school with Julius Caesar, supports awesome Rays fashion wear , and is a leading man in the case of using crunched numbers (to give his team the best chance of winning).  Is he baseball’s Phil Jackson?

–       Why does MLB not care about exciting pennant races?  Here’s a great article by Rob Neyer over at SB Nation.

–       I can’t seem to understand why so many people hate the Mets blue and black unis.  Not the “Los Mets” ones, these.  They seem to be fitting for a team who is getting beat day after day.

–       Matt LaPorta is being sent back down to the minors.  Is anyone surprised anymore?

–       How about Alex Gordon?  After being the 2^nd overall pick of his draft class, and not living up to people’s ridiculous hype, he has finally hit his stride as a ball player.  It is my personal opinion that maybe if the Royals had pulled their heads out and given him enough regular AB’s with the big club this probably would have happened sooner.  Just look at his Triple-A numbers.

–       I have become discouraged with youth baseball over the last couple seasons.  I am sick and tired of watching 11-year-old kids quit all other fall sports to play baseball year round.  I find it extremely frustrating and detrimental.  It not only limits a child’s athletic development, but it deprives them of experiencing different aspects of sport and what it offers.  This idea is probably best reserved for an entire article of its own and most likely will find its way to the Sombrero very soon.  Just wanted to vent my frustrations.

5. Angel Stadium of Anaheim (Anaheim, CA)

Angel Stadium, despite being the fourth-oldest ballpark in the Majors today, is definitely an interesting ballpark and a fun place to watch a ballgame.  One of its notable features is the rockpile in left center field.  Scattered with a few palm trees and set against a background of hundreds of parked cars beyond the outfield gates, the rockpile gives Angel Stadium a unique feel.  A couple of blocks away in the parking lot, a huge Angels logo known as “The Big A” lights up after all Angels victories.  But perhaps my favorite feature of Angel Stadium is the famous Rally Monkey, who of course earned national prominence in the 2002 World Series.  Late in the game, with the Angels down a run against the lowly Indians, a playoff berth well out of reach, southern California’s favorite primate made a dramatic appearance on the video board, shown saving the world from Armageddon much to the delight of the hometown crowd.  The Angels went quietly in the ninth and lost the game 3-2, but the Rally Monkey no doubt made for some excitement in the late innings, even during a lost season for the Halos.

4. Busch Stadium (St. Louis, MO)

Busch Stadium may have been placed unfairly high on this list due to the fact that my most memorable game there was the Cardinals’ 2006 Series-clinching win over the Tigers in Game 5, enjoyed in the comfort of the exclusive Redbird Club.  Every part of the ballpark was state-of-the-art, including the gourmet pizzas served in the Redbird Club.  Still, the downtown location of the five-year-old ballpark and the rabid St. Louis fans also helped make this ballpark special.  Despite boasting football and hockey teams, St. Louis is and always has been a baseball town, and the fans there love their Cardinals.  Of course, having stars like Albert Pujols and Chris Carpenter around certainly doesn’t hurt, but I quickly got the feeling that that fans would fill Busch Stadium night after night even to see a seventy-win team.  And since the Golden Sombrero’s base of operations is still located in the St. Louis area, I know one day I’ll be back at Busch Stadium, and I certainly look forward to that day.

3. Yankee Stadium (Bronx, NY)

Yankee Stadium, which opened in 2009, is the newest ballpark I have visited, and it obviously has several features that set it apart from other venues.  Among the most notable of these are the legendary “Bleacher Creatures” in right field.  The Creatures are known chiefly for their “roll call” in the top of the first inning, when they chant the names of each Yankee infielder and outfielder until they offer their acknowledgment.  The creatures are also known to mercilessly heckle opposing teams, fans and (especially) right fielders.  Fortunately for Eric Young Jr., the Rockies do not inspire too much venom in opposing fans, because his bumbling performance the last time I was there left much to be heckled.

I think the mere words “Yankee Stadium” raised my expectations to the point where I was somehow expecting the hallowed grounds of Ruth, Gehrig and so many others to be something more than just a nice place to watch a ballgame.  Make no mistake—it’s a very nice ballpark, and the Yankee Museum inside the ballpark (which I had time to visit while the Bombers were crushing a hapless Aaron Cook) is also a very cool feature of the park.  Watching Mariano Rivera nail down a save to clinch the AL East title (on their way to a world championship) over the Red Sox was certainly one of the more memorable events in baseball that I’ve witnessed in person.  Yankee Stadium misses the #1 slot not for any shortcoming in its own right, but merely because as a non-Yankee fan, I suppose I never felt its “Yankee mystique” that I assumed would touch every fan to pass through its gates.

2. Oriole Park at Camden Yards (Baltimore, MD)

Camden Yards ushered in a new era of ballparks when it opened in 1992.  Just two years later, Jacobs Field opened in Cleveland, mercifully shutting the doors on Cleveland Municipal Stadium.  Coors Field opened the following year, and others such as PETCO and AT&T Park quickly sprang up before the decade was out.  Located in Baltimore’s beautiful Inner Harbor neighborhood, by far the nicest area of the city, Camden is truly a choice destination for any night on the town.  It’s also easily accessible from Washington via a quick trip on the Camden line of a local commuter rail.  Although fans are very casual about the game and largely treat it as more of an event, much like in PETCO Park or Dodger Stadium, the actual ballpark itself is very well-constructed and there’s hardly a bad seat in the house.  With Eutaw Street fronting a red brick building in the background, it has a true baseball feel, even though it was built in an era when many facilities were used for baseball and football.  The ballpark has never hosted a World Series game, and has only been home to two playoff teams in its twenty-year history, but is still a fun place to enjoy a ballgame.

1. Coors Field (Denver, CO)

Coors Field, home of my beloved Rockies, has truly set the standard for me as to what the ideal ballpark experience should be like.  Aside from one game in the old Mile High Stadium when I was six years old, Coors Field was the first major league park I ever visited, and the other nine ballparks I’ve visited (some newer, some with more tradition, some with more features to keep fans entertained) simply have failed to top the experience of watching a ballgame at Coors Field.  The ballpark is located in the heart of downtown Denver on 20^th and Blake Street, surrounded by bars, restaurants and entertainment as far as the eye can see.  $15 will buy you a spot in a parking lot just a five-minute stroll from the home-plate gate.  And once inside the ballpark, nothing can get me ready for baseball like the PA announcer’s booming voice proclaiming, “This is Coors Field—home of the Colorado Rockies!”

The Rockies have struggled as a franchise for many years.  Outside of a strike-shortened 1995 season, the second half of September 2007 and a few months of the 2009 season, the team has been mediocre at best.  And without a rich, tradition-filled history, it can sometimes be tough to get people excited at the ballpark, especially when the home team falls behind early.  Not so at Coors Field.  From the Blake Street Bombers era of 1995 (which saw the Rockies routinely pound out double-digit runs and cobble together game-winning rallies in the late innings) to the more mainstream brand of baseball today, the game is simply never over at Coors Field.  Fans know this too, and it’s why you won’t see anyone head for the exits trying to beat the Denver traffic with the Rockies down three in the bottom of the ninth.  It is this element of Coors Field that I like most of all—the fact that, humidor or no, Rockies fans have simply been trained never to give up on their team, and they enthusiastically support the hometown nine until the final out is recorded–or, in more cases than rival NL West teams would care to count, not recorded.

Coors Field certainly isn’t the newest ballpark I’ve ever visited.  It doesn’t have the best concession-stand food, nicest bathrooms or most comfortable seats.  And it definitely doesn’t sport an array of pennants along the outfield wall marking World Series titles of long ago.  But there is simply nothing like the experience of watching a game at Coors Field.  So come on out to the ballpark with us—and let’s go Rockies.

–       What a night for southpaws last night.  As predicted here yesterday, Wandy Rodriguez was masterful.  He struck out a career high 13 through seven-innings.  I’m glad the Astros kept him around, as he could be a solid No. 2 for years to come.

–       Did Cole Hamels forget that this was his first start back off the DL?  His breaker was Razor Ramon sharp last night.  It must be the most stress-free environment he has ever pitched in before, what with him being a No. 3 behind Doc and Cliff.

–       Another lefty, Clayton Kershaw looked brilliant (again) last night.  It’s hard to believe that this guy is only 23.  To put it in perspective, he is 6 months younger than my little sister (Big ups to my sister Blaire btw, who just recently became engaged and has the most beautiful 1 year old baby in the world) and is basically a veteran ace in his 4^th big league season.  NL Cy Young anybody?

–       Sticking with lefties, albeit from the NFL, how about Mike Vick?!  Only NFL player in history to sign two $100,000,000 contracts.  I know this is a baseball blog, but I just had to show some proppers to the fellow southpaw.

–       Mark Teixeira made it 8 straight seasons of 30 HR and 100 RBI last night.  Is he the greatest switch hitter of all-time?  Not yet, but definitely the best of my generation.  If he can keep this up I see no reason why he won’t be the greatest.

–       While watching highlights of Carlos Santana hitting another bomb last, I had to listen to the sports anchors discuss whether or not Santana should stay behind the dish or not.  First, I hate listening to almost every sports anchor talk about things of this nature.  Not all, just most.  Secondly, it made me think about what baseball is turning into.  I understand the logic behind moving a strong hitter to a position that promotes longevity.  Heck, I’m not even sure if I’m against such a move.  It is something to think about though.

–       It’s always nice to have guys from other clubs make pitches to get you on their team; especially when that team is the Texas Rangers and you are from Texas.  But, c’mon C.J. Wilson, how do you think those comments made David Murphy feel?

–       Rough one for Timmy Jim.  Those Cubbies made him look like a jail cell bottom last night.  It’s OK though, Lincecum…it happens to everybody.