Blue Jays Ball

Brett wanted to know if the GCL boys realized what I did for them. No one else has that kind of a site for their team and for that matter, neither do any of the other FSL teams have a fan site that goes into the detail mine does. The closest is JeffCrupper.com, but he does not follow the Phillies GCL team, nor does he post the rosters for Minor League Spring Training, Extended, and/or Instructs. And he don't think he does much in terms of organizational news, which I will post on my blog.

On the whole, I don't think they (the GCL boys that is) care. The GCL site was set up more for the parents, not the players. They're too busy playing baseball, although I do have fun with them once in a while. The Miracle site started more as a means for fans (myself included) to get the news because the team site is geared more toward promotions, not baseball. I don't really care about concerts and fireworks. I'm more interested in player movement and who's pitching.

That being said, I have mentioned that I'm probably going to branch out a bit with the FSL stuff next season and have more coverage of the other teams. Nothing against our guys, but it does occur to me that the guys on the other teams aren't all trolls. Some are actually really nice.

Iris' whole comment is that she couldn't keep up with all the autographs, which is not really my intention either, although knowing what the "pitching rotation" is for each team might prove helpful for autograph seekers. And by pitching rotation, I mean who is where on any give night. For example, the Blue Jays pitching rotation works as follows:

The day following a start, the pitcher is in the bullpen, the next day he's in the dugout, and the next two days he's in the stands, charting.

The Miracle rotation is the day following a start, the pitcher is in the dugout, while the other three pitchers in the rotation are in the stands doing charting, speed gun, and video.

The Tigers on the other hand send one pitcher into the stands on the day following his start to chart. I have no clue what they do with the others. I guess I'll just have to ask. So...it's something to work on next year. I'll probably do a page with the stadium info (including dimensions) and add the "pitching rotation" info to it. Or maybe I'll put it on the collectables page. I haven't decided.

In any case, the results of this last homestand:



Adrian Martin, Connor Falkenbach, and Aaron Tressler



Brandon Magee and Aaron Wideman



Russ Savickas, Daryl Harang, Paul Phillips, and Orlando Trias

Notabley missing is starters Robert Ray and Eric Fowler, and relievers Billy Carnline and (::sob::) Chad Blackwell. I could have HAD Fowler, he was sitting in the stands next to Mr. Wideman, but I thought he had already signed it, so I didn't ask him. Duh.

And Blackwell, well...he was the one signature I really wanted in the first place but no matter what I tried, I kept missing him.

TJ and Brett INSISTED he always came out the dugout entrance, just stay right here and you'll get him. I said he'd know, somehow, he'd know I was there looking for an autograph and he'd come out the gate on the other side of the dugout. Sure enough, the boys scamper off to get Twins autographs, I look up, and there is Mr. Blackwell, coming out the other gate.

I could have cried.

(Dear Mr. Blackwell. If by some chance you should read this I want you to know you've broken my heart. Not that you care, I'm sure.)

I also wanted Mr. Martin again, as I got the photos from his start enlarged to have him signed, but he slipped out the side gate to head for the dugout as well. I'll live. Maybe I'll try doing those TTM next season if he's in AA.

With the season coming to an end, I need to start getting things caught up to date and get ready for next season. I should not procrastinate because I will then get caught up in hockey season and still be behind if I don't work on this in September and October.

That being said, I need to go now and work on putting the photos together for the GCL boys as this is the last weekend and I have procrastinated way too much on that. They won't care, but their parents certainly will.

Soooo....Later.

(If you're really bored, go watch the Video of Liam & company. I look forward to seeing a new one soon, perhaps of Dirty wrestling a crocodile.)

Deception

The St. Lucie Mets came into town with a fellow named Jacob Ruckle taking the start for the Mets.

He allowed 1 run (unearned) on 5 hits while striking out 4 in 5 innings for a no decision. What was interesting about him was his delivery.

It's been described as resembling a combination of the "herky-jerky" delivery of Dontrelle Willis and the high leg kick of Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez. In watching it, the natural question that pops up is "where did it come from?"

Ruckle credits a scout in developing the pitch. "I have a scout that signed me with the New York Mets; his name is Dave Birecki," said Ruckle in an online interview. "When I was just coming out of high school he asked me to try and create some deception or something and I asked him what I should do and he said, ‘Just try to flare your front arm up,' and I kind of exaggerated a little bit and I've always had kind of a high leg kick, so I started doing that and I liked it; it felt comfortable right from the get go. So far it's worked for me and I'll continue to use it. I like it, it's different. You don't see any other guy like that."

The Mets drafted Ruckle in the 41st round of the 2004 draft.

Ruckle's had some success in the minors to date, throwing a fastball around 88 miles an hour. It has hit 91 on occassion. He mixes in a curve as well, although he doesn't throw for strikes, going more for ground balls.

"I just try and throw strikes, change speeds and locate pitches," said Ruckle said in an interview after throwing eight innings of shut out ball against the Staten Island Yankees on July 6 of 2006. "I did the same thing in St. Lucie and I'll continue to do the same thing wherever I go."

Anyway, I want to learn to pitch like this:



Here's the view from the other side...



Weird, isn't it?

I found another bit on youtube as well called The Ruckle Shuffle. Kind of amusing, although I certainly wouldn't call it a shuffle movement.

The Lewfie Matinee

The GCL Twins defeated the GCL Reds 3-2 in an extended spring training game at the Lee County Sportsplex this afternoon. A great pitching effort by Mike Allen, Ricky Barrett, Brian Kirwan and Danny Rondon carried the day.

Major leaguers Lew Ford and Ken Harvey made rehab starts in the game, with Ford going 2-for-4 at the plate and Harvey 0-for-4 with one strike out. Harvey played first base for part of the game, Ford was out in left field during the same part.

Esterlin De Los Santos opened up the scoring for the Twins when he got on base with a single and stole over to second. Ford ground out and Harvey struck out before Juan Richardson singled De Los Santos home. The Twins would nurse that one point lead into the sixth inning when Yangervia Solarte singled with two outs and then moved to second on a balk by the Reds pitcher. Jakub Hajtmar from the Czech Republic singled him in, giving the Twins two. Mark Dolenc struck out to end the inning.

Wang-Wei Lin doubled to open the bottom of the eighth, and was singled home by Solarte to make it 3-0 Twins. During this time period, the Reds never made it as far as second base...that's how good the pitching was. That came to an end though in the ninth inning when closer Aaron Craig suffered control problems and allowed 2 runs on three hits, with two additional runners reaching on a fielder's choice with the ground outs going to second, instead of first. Still, Craig managed to get the third out on an outfield fly, and get the save.

Of note, Wilson Ramos hit a home run in the first inning that fell fair, hit the retaining fence and bounced back onto the field, at which point the umpire ruled it foul. I believe coach Prada nearly ate the umpire from lunch on that one, but there were some seriously questionable rulings that went against the Twins and I was wondering if the PBL on their caps stood for Professional Bowling League, as they sure didn't seem to know how to call a baseball game.

Eric Santiago had the play of the game on a put out in shallow right field. Unfortunately, he was injured during the play, but was able to make it off the field under his own power. He appeared to have injured the ankle he hurt last season during GCL. Hopefully it's not serious and he was removed more as a matter of precaution. Santiago will likely go to Elizabethton when the camp breaks in June.

Wesley Conner nearly had a home run with the Twins doing extra batting at the bottom of the ninth. A stiff wind from left field kept the ball in the park, otherwise it would have been over the fence.

De Los Santos was 1-for 2 in the game, Richardson was 2-for-3 with a double, Ramos - the disallowed home run aside - was 0-for-3 with one strike out, J. W. Wilson was 1-for-2, Lin was 1-for-2 with a walk, Santiago was 0-for-2, Solarte - who hails from Valencia Carabobo, Venezula - was 3-for-3 with a double, Conner was 0-for-2, Hajtmor was 1-for-2, Mark Dolenc was 1-for-2 with a strike out, Rene Leveret from St. Maarten was 0-for-1 with a walk, and Rodolfo Palacios was 0-for-1.

The Twins take on Pittsburgh tomorrow in Bradenton and face Baltimore in Sarasota on Saturday before returning home to take on the Red Sox on Sunday. All games are at 12:30 pm.



Off the cuff: Listening to Kyle Edlich explain me to one of the new guys was kind of um...odd. Discussions on the bench today included a Lewfie special - how to iron your shirt while wearing it.

David Bromberg says he's been hitting 92-93 on the speed gun and hopes to see 95 by the time camp breaks in June. He is expected to go to Elizabethton. Do not expect Mike Allen in Betsy however, I hear he's been earmarked for Beloit. Bromberg will be pitching on Saturday, so we'll have a look at him then.

Matt Fox was not pitching today so he was back to his usually witty, charming and incredibly silly self. He said he roomed with Kyle Aselton for Instructs once and twice for spring training and was going to stay with him this year, but David Shinski needed a place to stay and moved into the apartment with Aselton, Tintor and Ward instead.

He also accused me of not seeing Kyle Aselton as Aselton is pitching out of the bullpen and I said that was not the case, which he would find out if he actually bothered to read my blog. Kyle has been semi-randomly assigning "boy"friends to me, I believe to get back at me for calling him "Pookie" in public.

Candian first baseman Jon Waltenbury does fit the right-handed hockey shot/left-handed batter profile that was theorized by Everblades president Craig Brush. Waltenbury was a center prior to starting his baseball career. Beyond that, he didn't add much and I understand now where is camp nickname comes from. He did like his photos however, as did Fox, Bromberg and Kevin Harrington.

My friend Ed made a comment at the Miracle game on Tuesday night that I really need to get a professional digital camera and put the old film based Nikon out to pasture. "It will totally change the way yout take pictures." He's right. It would totally change my lifestyle. I'd never get any sleep then, I'd be too busy uploading, editing and printing shots.

When asked what he thought of Wednesday's Education Day Miracle game, Loek Van Mil answered "It was loud!"

Video
Mike Allen told me his mom liked the last video, so I got her another one...
Lew Ford and Ken Harvey
Ricky Barrett
Brian Kirwan - 6th Inning
Brian Kirwan - 7th Inning
Danny Rondon

Still Photos

Twins prospects receive season ending honors

Several of the Twins prospects were named to the Minor League season end All-star teams as reported by Baseball America.

Danny Hernandez, who spent the season with the Appalachian League Elizabethton Twins was named to the Rookie team.

1st baseman Eric Lis and pitcher Yohan Pino were both named to the Low A team, Kevin Slowey was named to the High A team and Pat Neshak made the AAA All-star team.

Slowey was also named to the Overall Second All-Star team, while pitcher Matt Garza was named to the Overall First All-star team.

Hernandez was 1-1 with 18 saves, with a 3.81 ERA and issued only 9 walks in 28 innings pitched. There is no doubt that Hernandez has earned a promotion to Beloit, and if he keeps up the sterling work, he could well make it to High A ball by mid-season of 2007.

Pino has gone 6-0 with a 1.67 ERA in 21 games of relief in Venezuelan Winter Ball this year. He struck out 23 batters, and allowed just 16 hits in 27 innings of work. While with the Snappers in 2006, Pino had a 14-2 record with a 1.91 ERA. In 121 combined innings between the Midwest League and the Venezuelan Winter League he has a 1.86 ERA with 122 strikeouts and has a 20-2 record.

With Barry Zito's signing by the Giants being cited as the sort of money two time Cy Young winner Johan Santana can expect to earn once he makes it to free agency in 2008, many prospect watchers are considering Pino to take over his place on the Twins roster. Pino will start the 2007 season with High A Fort Myers, but expect him to get on the fast track through the minors.

Lis hit .326 with the Snappers in 2006, including 16 home runs will bringing in 70 runs. He scored 69 runs during the year for Beloit, with 4 stolen bases. Lis looked impressive in Fall Instructional as well, and is well suited to take over for Brock Peterson as a Miracle corner man.

There's little I can say about Slowey that I haven't already said. He spent the first half of the year with the Miracle, record a 4-2 record with a 1.01 ERA and issued only 9 walks in 89 innings pitched. He struggled a bit originally in AA, and ended up with a 4-3 record, a 3.19 ERA and 13 walks in 59.1 innings pitched. He struck out 151 batters between Fort Myers and New Britain, 3 less than Garza's total, and about 6th overall in minor league baseball. Slowey is expected to start the season in AAA Rochester, but might well find a way onto the Twins pitching staff before the season is over.

Neshak made the Twins roster by the end of the season. He posted a 6-2 record with 14 saves in Rochester, a 1.95 era and allowed 14 walks over 60 innings. There's no doubt that he'll become a staple in the Twins bullpen for the coming year.

Garza sped through the minor league system, posting a combined 14-4 record with a 1.99 ERA between Fort Myers, New Britain and Rochester. Following a shakey first outing with the Twins near the end of the season, Garza seems to have solidified. He'll be looked at for a place in the Twins rotation for 2007, a rotation that will need some solid arms following Francisco Liriano's Tommy John surgery and the Brad Radke's retirement.

Not picked for an All-star team was pitcher Oswaldo Sosa, but much like Pino, he's been having an outstanding winter season over in Venezuela. Sosa is 5-0 with a 2.30 ERA in the Winter League. He went 9-7 for the Snappers with a 2.75 ERA. Sosa struck out 95 batters in 117.2 innings for Beloit. He earned a promotion to the Ft. Myers Miracle last season where he went 4-1 with a 2.08 ERA. Sosa, who pitched 34.2 innings for the Miracle in 2006, may start the season in Double A. Certainly, he'll be given a look with consideration for moving him that pitching staff.

Although major league pitchers and catchers don't report for spring training for another 41 days, one notable catcher, Joe Mauer, is in Fort Myers, going through Winter workouts. Mauer is a resident of Fort Myers, were he is less known than he is in the Twin Cities and does not attract a crowd when he goes out. Twins short stop Jason Bartlett is also among the players, getting into early work outs down at the Lee County Sportsplex.

"There’s something driving these players, the fact that they’ve been to the playoffs and they haven’t been to the big game," former Miracle coach and current director of Latin American development Jose Marzan said of the players that are in town early during a recent article in the Fort Myers News Press. "The guys are here early because they want to get ready for the season. It’s not only for individual accomplishments but it’s also because they want to take it to the next level.”

But no worries Twins fans, both Mauer and Bartlett will in the Twins Cities for the opening of Twins Fest on January 26th. Slowey, Garza, and Neshak are also schedule to appear. More information on Twinsfest can be found here.

In other news, the Twins inked pitchers Sidney Ponson and Brad Voyles to minor league deals with invitations to major league camp. Both pitchers will be given a shot at making the major league pitching staff. Ponson's acquisition has drawn some concern from the fans, as his recent numbers have not been strong.

"This is an opportunity for him to compete for one of our rotation spots with a host of others, and he is still just 30 years old," Twins general manager Terry Ryan said in an article on Twinsbaseball.com. "It wasn't too long ago that he threw well over 200 innings. We feel like we are a good fit for him and I thought it certainly was worth taking a shot at bringing in a guy that has the Major League experience that he has."

While it should be noted that many of players brought in to try out for spots in spring training don't make the team or even stay with the organization, the Twins have have had some success bringing in pitchers in the past. Most recently, Dennys Reyes emerged as one of the best left-handed relievers in the league for the club after struggling to find a fit with other teams.

Minor League pitchers and catchers are still nearly two months away, and winter league baseball has ended.

Fort Myers locals are reminded that the Twins will be holding 11 baseball clinics for the area youth, with the first two being held this Saturday at the Lee County Sports Complex.

The two-hour clinics require no registration and are open to boys and girls ages 5 to 16. Twins instructors will teach hitting, fielding, and throwing at each clinic. Parents are encouraged to participate with their sons or daughters in the sessions.

The first clinic starts at 10 a.m and runs until noon, the second clinic starts at 1 pm and runs until 3 pm. More information on the youth clinics can be found at Twinsbaseball.com.

Caravaning in the sub-tropics

The Minnesota Twins have announced what, in effect, amounts to the Twins Caravan efforts in South West Florida, the annual free youth clinics. 11 clinics are scheduled for each Saturday starting on January 13 and continuing one through February 10th.

While the coaching staff for the clinics was not formally announced, look for some of the local Twins coaches such as Milt Cuyler, Rick Knapp and Eric Rasmussen to be in attendance as well as the cast of local players (::cough::cough:: Tommy Watkins) who always seem to show up to help out at these functions.

There is no pre-registration, the Clinics are free and open to boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 16, irregardless of skill level. Hitting, fielding, and throwing will be taught at each clinic, and parents are encouraged to join their children on the field.

There are two clinics on January 13, 2006, the first from 10 a.m. until Noon, the second from 1 until 3 PM. Both those clinics along with the Challenger (children with handicaps) Clinic on February 10, will be held at William Hammond Stadium at the Lee County Sportsplex on Six Mile Cypress.

The remaining 8 clinics are as follows:

Jan. 20  10 a.m. to 12 p.m.  Cape Coral (TBA)
         1 p.m. to  3 p.m.  Fort Myers Little League, Deleon
Jan. 27  10 a.m. to 12 p.m.  Buckingham Little League
        1 p.m. to  3 p.m.  Lehigh Little League
       Noon to 2 p.m.      Centennial Park, Fort Myers
Feb. 3   10 a.m. to 12 p.m.  Desoto County Little League
        1 p.m. to  3 p.m.  Charlotte County Little League
Feb. 10  10 a.m. to 12 p.m.  San Carlos Little League

Locations addresses and contact numbers are as follows:

Jan. 13 & February 10 (Challenger)
Minnesota Twins/Lee County Sports Complex
14100 Six Mile Cypress Parkway
Fort Myers, FL 33912

Jan. 20
Jason Verdow Memorial Park
801 Se 27th Street Cape Coral, FL 33990
Art Avellino - 239-772-4232

Fort Myers Little League
Sam Fleishman/Deleon Community Park
1750 Matthew Drive Fort Myers, FL 33907
Don Overhouser - 239-872-7787

Jan. 27
Buckingham Little League
9800 Buckingham Road
Fort Myers, FL 33905
Pat Shannahan - 239-33-8355

Lehigh Little League
1400 West 5th Street 33936
Darrel Willis - 239-823-6126

Feb. 3
DeSoto Little League
Speer Recreation Center
185 West Winifred Street
Arcadia, FL 34266
Tara & Matt Anderson - 863-990-0529

Charlotte County Little League
Harold Ave Recreation Center
Port Charlotte, FL 23400
Lou Agusto - 941-629-6552 or 941-629-0114

Feb. 10
San Carlos Little League
18215 Three Oaks Parkway
Three Oaks Park Fort Myers, FL 33912
Todd Backster - 239-989-5868

It should be noted that Jeff Smith will NOT be at the clinic scheduled for January 13th, as he will be holding his annual baseball camp at the Community School of Naples. Visit GCL Twins or phone 239-659-6543 or 239-269-8742 for additional information on the Jeff Smith Professional Baseball Camp.

The clinics will take us pretty much up until the start of Spring Training in February. Major League pitchers and catchers will arrive on Sunday February 18th, with the first workouts scheduled for Monday, February 19th. Position players report on February 23, with the first full-squad work out taking place on Saturday, February 24.

The twins have invited minor league catchers Korey Feiner, Jose Leger and Jose Morales to Major League spring training. Free agent infielder signee Ken Harvey has been invited to camp as has Gil Velazquez and Tommy Watkins (New Britain/Rochester) and Glenn Williams (Rochester).

Outfielder Josh Rabe, who appeared in 24 games for the Major League Twins last season was also invitied. Rabe was removed from the 40-man roster earlier this year and outrighted to Rochester, where he spent most of last season.

Pitchers invited to camp include free agent signees Carmen Cali, Mike Venafro, and Jeremy Cummings, as well as Jason Miller and Australian Tristan Crawford, who have both been playing in the Twins minor league system. Also on the list of invitees, is the Twins second round pick in 2005, Kevin Slowey.

Aside from the major league coaching staff, the following coaches will also be at major league spring training: Tom Kelly, Tony Oliva, Phil Roof and Terry Steinbach, as well as National Baseball Hall of Famers Rod Carew, Harmon Killebrew and Paul Molitor.

The Twins have signed short stop Nicholas Papasan, who was their 24th round (726th overall) pick in the 2006 June Draft. He's been scouted as having an excellent bat with surprising power for his size (5'9", 175 lbs). He'll be joining the GCL Squad this season, where he may end up being switched to second base.

Josh Taylor mentioned on his blog Taylor's Twins Talk the signing of Jesus Carnevales from Puerto Rico and Jae-Hyung Jang from South Korea. Both are expected to join the GCL Twins for extended spring training. There is little information forthcoming, I guess I'll just wait for the media guide.

Speaking of the GCL, for a league that was close to being disbanded at the end of the 2005 season, it sure has become lively. Both the Baltimore Orioles and the St.Louis Cardinals have opted to field GCL teams this season, bringing the number of teams in the league to 15. The Toronto Blue Jays were considering joining the League as well. The addition of the Orioles means that I'll get to see a few more games this year, as the league will be play every other Sunday now as well.

Unfortunately, it means the boys will not get as much time off as they had last year.

Meanwhile the Appalachian League will operate with only 9 teams this season, as Pulaski was unable to drum up any interest once the Blue Jays pulled out.

I have been in an organizational mood of late - very strange since anyone who knows me will tell you I've never been organized a day in my life. In any case, I've gotten all of the 2006 photos for the Twins and the Miracle into albums and tagged. There is something in the range of 1,500 of them (not counting spring training pictures). I've now started working on 2005. What this means is that if I have your address (like Vicki Harrington) I've finally dug out and sent the photos that I was supposed to send back in oh August...September...

If I don't have your snail mail address (Leavitt, Buenrostro, Parmelee) and you'd like to e-mail it to me, I'll be happy to drop said photos in the mail to you. Otherwise, you'll have to look me up at spring training.

No, sorry Eli. No photos for you until I get an autograph.

The baseball portion of this blog is now being duplicated on Blog Spot: Rookie Whites. If you'd like to exchange links, please let me know, links will appear on the Blog Spot location not on Xanga or Myspace.

I've also been doing some hockey blogging through the offseason at Live Journal for the entertainment challenged.

Finally, there was article in the Naples Daily News which related to lefty shooters on the ECHL Florida Everblades and the ratio of lefties to righties in hockey in general. What I found interesting about it was the a number of Canadians in the Twins organization - Justin Morneau, Rene Tosoni and Jon Waltenbury -- all bat lefty even though they they seem to be otherwise right handed.

Everblades president Craig Brush advanced the following theory in the article: "Your top hand on a hockey stick is your strong hand, so if you start playing hockey when you're a little boy, if you're right-handed you're going to shoot left-handed and if you're left-handed you're going to shoot right-handed. All three of my kids are right-handed, Matt played baseball first, he shoots right-handed, the other two shoot left-handed. If you played baseball first, like a lot of American kids do, and you learned how to hit right-handed then you'll shoot right-handed, whereas if you surveyed Canadians, there would be more lefties."

Could all the lefty batting in the Canadian contingent stem from playing hockey first? It's an interesting thought. Perhaps I need to have a chat with our neighbors from up north during spring training this year.