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.

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.

Rainy Season

I love Jay Rainville. I'd already made up my mind that the Miracle were going to lose last night. Kevin Boles is not Jose Marzan. Marzan would not give up on a one run game. He'd have the guys bunt their way onto base, he'd manufacture the runs, he'd get the win.

Kevin Boles pulls his line ups from a fish bowl and lets them sink or swim on their own. We're not trying to win games here. So must easier to just assume we're going to lose and get on with it.

So I might as well go and enjoy the pitching. It was kind of a comfort thing. Especially with the team on the road most of the start of the season, every time they were home we saw Kyle Waldrop, Ryan Mullins and Ozzie Sosa. Nothing wrong with those three, and I love them all. But not with the kind of passion I adore Mr. Rainville with.

It's been that way since I first saw him pitch. Love at first strike out or something like that. So I finally get Jay at home and went and just settled down with my little camera. The baseball Gods were kind and sent dramatic lighting, which I'd sort of given up on with this new roof they put on the stadium. And Jay pitched.

So there are lots and lots of pictures.



Brian wanted to know if the digital had changed the way I shoot and I said not really. The digital is more of a knock about camera so I get some fun shots off of it, but for the serious work, I still reach for a roll of film and the old Nikon.

In this case, I figured if I walked out with like 50 shots of Jay Rainville, I'd be happy. Everyone else will think I'm crazy, but I'd be happy. So...



The ones of Whit Robbins were only because the light was starting to go and I needed to finish off the roll. Nothing against poor Whit, but he's the last guy on the team that's going to evoke any sort of sense of passion in me.

I suppose on the whole if we wanted to get into it, most of the organization is kind of light weight in that department. I mean, Jay and Anthony Swarzak are probably my two favorite pitchers in the whole organization.

There's really no one in Beloit right now that fits into the mold - not even Jeff Manship, although he does throw quite well. Maybe I will feel this way about Tyler or Bromberg in a couple of years, but right now...



Both Swarz and Rainy came into the organization around the same time and both made the Miracle at the age of 19. They liked loud music and nice cars. They play good old fashion hardball. They're aggressive and they go after hitters. They make the other team take swings.

Swarz played last season had a tremendous year, went up to New Britain and needless to say sort of screwed himself for this season. Jay meanwhile had medical problems that required surgey at the start of last season and which left him sitting out the year. So he's back in Fort Myers this year and maybe doesn't have the fast ball he had.

He's still good though, and the used the time off to good advantage. He's still looking for the 90+ MPH fastballs. He's getting there.



Rainville can pitch, that's for sure. He's got a nice spin on his curveball. He can change speeds, go his change up, come back to the heater. With the time off, he says he learned how to pitch better.

Right now he's just hoping to get back to where he was. Last night wasn't a bad outing. A "quality start" in baseball is defined as completing six innings and giving up no more than three earned runs. Jay went six and gave up three earned runs on 7 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5. A quality start.

His first of the season, as he'd not gone more than five innings in his past starts. So he's coming around. The rehab is progressing.

Someone, I think it was the one grapher I was talking to Monday night, wanted to know when he was going to New Britain. Not yet, I think, although I'm sure he'd like the chance to pitch at a higher level, I'm not sure he's ready.



And as I told him before the season starts, he's perfectly welcome to spend the whole season here. We're not sending him off anywhere until he's ready. Although he'd probably feel better about the whole situation if the team could find the win column a bit more frequently. After all, more like than not, he's the one that gets saddled with the loss.



In any case, lots of pictures of Jay Rainville, including quite a few really excellent pitching faces too.

Tonight I will see Yohan Pino pitch. He throws quite well too. Looked very good in spring training. But he still doesn't evoke the kind of passion in me that watching Jay Rainville does.

Which also puts me in a bad position come Sunday, as it's Jay's next start, yet the GCL Twins are playing at home against Pittsburgh. Decisions, decisions. Because I really need to watch the Twins.

But man, do I love Jay Rainville.