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.)

Blackwell

Toward the end of July (the 30th according to my records) when Dunedin came in here last, I made note of a reliever with a great kick. His name is Chad Blackwell and was the first time I had a look at him. They'd picked him up on July 7th from the independant Northern League Gary SouthSohre RailCats.

Blackwell was drafted in the 6th round of the 2004 draft by the Kansas City Royals. He pitched his rookie league season with and split time between Low and High A in 2005 within the Kansas City farm system. The Pirates acquired his rights as the player to be named along with Jonah Baylis for Mark Redman. Evidently there were some concerns with his arm after the 2005 season leading to an MRI that revealed nothing.

He appeared in 19 games in 2006 for Lynchburg and 4 for AA Altoona but then was evidently released by the Pirates and went into Indy ball to have his contract purchased in 2007 by the Blue Jays.

He throws from a low three-quarters angle but is not a true submarine pitcher. His fastball registers around 90 - Jeff-Jeff went and check on it for me - and he throws a slider and a change up, the latter helping him against lefty hitters. He's a strong groundball pitcher. What got me was the kick, he's got this odd little kick he does.

He was born in 1983 in Fort Lauderdale and lists his home town as Clewiston, Florida, making him a semi-local boy. He attended the University of South Carolina which once I found out about it, I mentioned it to Tom as one of "his" Gamecocks was pitching against my Miracle.

"Oh yeah? Which one?"

"Chad Blackwell".

"Relief pitcher isn't he? He was the best kid in the program while he was there."

That kind of surprised me. Tom's not usually up on baseball. Blackwell was a 3rd team College All- American relief pitcher in 2004 and a Southeastern conference All-star relief pitcher the same year, so perhaps there's a reason Tom remembers the kid, which has nothing to do with his odd little kick.

So with the Jays back in town for three games, I was trying to get his autograph last night. I did get quite a few of the Jays' players but couldn't find him until he got up on the mound to pitch. Darn it all anyway. I have to get the Jeroloman cards signed tonight, so perhaps he'll show around the dugout. But I think he snuck into the bullpen the back way last night, which is why I couldn't find him.

I probably need to make a mental note, not to get too entranced with relief pitchers anymore, as they are too hard to get graphs from. Brandon Magee, who's ranked like 5th in the Jays' organiztion by BA was easier to get. He signed both my cards and my ball. Why do the relievers feel the need to slink off to the bullpen when they've got fans looking for autographs?

Anyway. I'm amusing myself with Blackwell for the next couple of days. And I have some nice video for you too.



Gene was giving me a hard time about getting to many autographs from the other teams. "You, the ultimate Miracle fan." I replied that I never said I was the ultimate Miracle fan. Alternate Miracle fan maybe. Some people refer to me as a "so called fan" so I'll just go with that. I get the same treatment at the Blades games. If you're not 100% rabid about the team, then you're not a real fan.

I think I'm going to branch out a bit more next year anyway and pay more attention to the visiting teams. Much more entertaining than seeing the same old guys all the time. (Although, you know, I would never get tired of Toby.)

I expect the Jays will have a harder time with the Miracle tonight after Ray shut them out through 7 innings, so we'll see how it goes. I still expect the Jays to win, they Miracle generally have a hard time beating them, especially for the important games.