The Goodbye Kid

So...I have this head cold, you see, and decided I needed to go see Dr. Bromberg (2005 RHP D&F) pitch today in an effort to cure it as I don't want to be sick for the four-day weekend.



Number 1 comes up to the plate, first professional game, first professional at bat and nails it -- not just over the little fence, but over the big fence and out into the street. That thing would have been gone out of any ballpark, major league or otherwise. Everyone's just standing there, not saying anything watching this kid trot around the bases.

Finally the old guy in front of me, turns around and says "Who was that?"

"Chris Parmelee, " I said, with a bit of awe in voice. "The Goodbye Kid."

And then I did my best impression of a Blur song.

He walked on his next two at bats, and then struck out for his fourth at bat.

So -- if a visit to the good Doctor Bromberg didn't cure me, the single shot over the left field fence by Nurse Parmelee certainly did.

Man...that was one of the prettiest things I ever have seen. I think at 1.5 mil, he may be a bargain.



2nd Rounder Joe Benson. I love Joe!!!!



3rd Rounder Tyler Robertson.

Hanging with the Boys

Monday night, which was the first game back from All-star break I was sitting in the Resop's seats and Miracle GM Steve Gliner had come over to talk to me about the All-Star game.

Kevin Slowey was holding court over behind the plate and we watched for several innings as people came by and paid their resepcts. I had the All-star shots, so I figured I should go and pay my respects as well.

Several of the GCL boys had showed up as well, including Loek Van Mil, who showed up alone and left alone. I don't get that -- they usually travel in packs and he doesn't strike me as the lone wolf type.

Anyway, Kyle Aselton was sitting in the row in front of Slowey and Brian Duensing was on Slow's left. So I came in from the right, nod at the GCLers as I go past and go sit down next to Aselton.

"They take that arm off yet?" I ask him. I haven't seen him since he went on the DL, so I've no idea what they've been doing to him.

"That's not nice!" Slow says. "You need to be nice to him!"

"Who every told you I was nice?" I shoot back. This backs Slowey up for a minute.

I fish out Slow's All-star shots and hand them back to him.

"Besides, I love Kyle. He's Ace. I don't call too many players around here Ace. Do I Ace?"

Aselton laughs.

Being my favorite is a tough job, but you know, someone has to do it.

"Are these from the All-Star game?"

"Yeah, your father broke my hand."

"Yeah, well...he has this Rambo thing going on..."

"After he left they people behind me wanted to know who that young man was. I told them it was your dad. 'That young man Kevin Slowey's Dad?' they said."

"Yeah, he's well preserved. Like I said he has this Rambo thing going on.

"Here we go, this is my All-star delivery," he says, showing a shot to Duensing. "This is my favorite."

"Let me see." He shows me the worst one in the lot.

I say "Tell Duensing not to worry about dropping his first two starts. Tell him how many games it took you to pick up a win."

"Too many," he says. Like six or ten."

"How many wins do you have?" Aselton asks.

"Four," Slowey says.

"That's it?" Aselton doesn't believe that.

"Well I keep blowing them late."

"You get no decisions," I point out. "You don't blow anything." I look at Aselton. "Three guys, nine pitches on Saturday and he says he blows things."

"Are these all nine pitches?" Slow asks.

"Your teammates hate you," I said. "I can't figure out why, you're such a nice guy."

He doesn't argue this one with me. "Let me see the rest of the pictures." I had them back and admonish him not to get the out of order.

"Of course, they don't hate you as much as Garza. They hired an assassin to take him out of the game."

"THAT was painful," Slow says, as he gives the rest of the pictures back.

So then I said goodbye to Slowey. "I'm not going anywhere," he says.

"You're going to New Britain."

"No, only Casilla went up."

"Well, you need to go too."

"No I don't. Besides you only have four starters, they put Powers back in the bullpen."

"What about Colby?"

"He's still in the bullpen."

I look at Aselton. "Well, Ace here is coming of the DL."

"Not for two more weeks," Aselton says.

"I'm staying here for the rest of the season," Slowey says.

"No, you're not."

"He got Twins minor league pitcher of the month," Aselton says.

"I did not," Slow returns.

"He got FSL Pitcher of the Week," I say, "twice".

"I'm going to win Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Month and give it to him," Aselton says.

Riiiightttt. He offers to go up to New Britain and sit on the DL.

"You should go up to New Britain and take pictures," Slow tells me.

"They have a photographer. He's not as nice as I am."

"Figures," Slow says. I have no idea what Duensing is making of this whole conversation and I'm not sure I care.

I decided I had to leave at this point as I'd been down there a LOT longer than the break between innings. I'm surprised none of us got yelled at.

"Don't worry," Slow tells me, "You'll have lots and lots of time yet to waste your film on him," he says in regards to Aselton. I don't consider it a waste, actually.

Anyway, I saw Aselton later in the concession line and we had a serious conversation on his arm, but he stills says two to three weeks.

That's the last time I've seen him, because we got the card sets on Tuesday and I've been trying to find Aselton because he needs to sign his card.

I don't see where having a sore elbow should prevent him from operating the camera or charting or something similar.

So, I went back up the stairs, gave Van Mil shots -- I had a lot, since I'd snapped that one week, forgot to pace myself and had nearly shot a whole role of him before I realized what I was doing.

Spoke briefly to Joe Benson, who's a total sweatheart of a kid -- and he can swing a bat too! What is it with the second rounders, that they are always so nice?

God, if Chris Parmelee comes in and is an ass I'm going to be so unhappy. Moses was such a prick when he was here. Garza was alright, but I heard he'd become a much bigger prick when he got to AA.

I hope that doesn't happen to Slow either, and that he stays as nice as he is now.

Span is real nice, but he's a Florida boy, so of course he's gonna be nice. He's almost a local Florida boy too. Plouffe is real nice.

Anyway...Aselton was an 11th rounder (2004). (I guess I should scan the card in for Eden, as I'm sure she'll want to see it.

So Eden says the nickname post was the funniest one I've done in along while and that she will definately be calling the guys by those nicknames. I'm sure that will go over really well, especially if you tell Pleasing Pie Miss Dianna made them up. LOL!

She also says "Sexy Poohbear is, well, just that (definitely my fave by the physical factor)."

You keep your grungy little mitts off Sexy Poohbear.

Of course, she's not the only one who noticed because ETwins also said "So tell me...is Brandon McConnell any good?" which I thought was a loaded question.

Okay, okay, okay....Brandon was drafted in 2003 and missed the whole 2004 season with a torn labrum. But when I walked into spring training in 2005, I noticed him right off the bat. How could I not? He was to die for. Besides, he was standing there in his rookie whites grinning at me.

Which made me very, very nervous. We finally determined it was a case of mistaken identity, but that didn't stop him much. Anyway, they finally made him cut his hair, and in retaliation grew the mustache. I hate those things. If you want to do nice full goatee, fine, I like goatees. Mustaches don't do a damn thing for me.

I don't like David Gassner much, but the goatee is great. Really.

It's okay, Brandon is still my buddy, and I miss Sexy Poohbear very much and he won't set up a myspace account so I can't stay in contact with him. ::cry::

(Just think...he could www.myspace.com/sexypoohbear!)

Um...anyway, in answer to ETown's question, if you can get him to shave off the caterpiller under his nose and grow his hair back to surfer length again...yeah...

He's not just good or even "any good".

He's to friggin' die for.

Starting off Slowey

Saturday night was not a good night to watch baseball. It was the Miracle season opener and as always they double sold the stadium so that there would be a good crowd. General Admission tickets were given out free at Publix supermarkets and you could upgrade to box seats for $2.00. I should know better than to go to opening night.

However, as they always do on opening night, they’ve got a stud pitcher on the mound which I cannot turn down the chance to see. This was no different. So I put up with the crowds, the kids, and the non-baseball people milling around in the aisles trying to sort of out which of them should be sitting in seats they all had tickets for because I just had to see Kevin Slowey pitch.

What little I saw of the pitching, I watched from the walkway behind the handicapped seating. At least everyone there was sitting down. And it was well…stunning. Magnificent. It left me wanting to see more. Slowey pitched a perfect game through five innings.

What I found interesting about this is that Slowey does not seem to consider himself the sort of guy that’s going to throw a perfect game. He puts his balls down in the zone and he tries the get the batters to hit. He then relies on his defense to get the outs for him. Yet he struck out his first batter…and half of the other fourteen he faced. Does that sound like a guy that relies on his defense?

Slowey likens himself to the Twins' Brad Radke. Or perhaps, more accurately he tries to be like Radke, a guy that relies on his positioning to get the outs. This is similar to what the Miracle fans saw with Nick Blackburn last season.

Blackburn, by the way, did not look so good in his first outing of the new season with the Rock Cats, giving up five earned runs on 8 hits in 4.1 innings. Still when I watched Blackburn over spring training, an outing in which he allowed two hits, but struck out three in two innings worth of work, how much he looks like Radke when he’s throwing.

And Radke, not so strangely enough, is one of my favorite MLB pitchers. So perhaps it’s not surprising that I’m drawn to both Blackburn and Slowey.

(In Blackies’ defense, I simply cannot imagine trying to pitch in near freezing weather. I still remember what it was like, bundled up in old Cleveland Municipal Stadium trying to watch a game when it was that cold with the wind blowing in off the lake.)

The main thing note with Slowey is the deception in his delivery. The coaches have all praised him, stating he’s been getting better as he goes along, but Slowey pretty much opened up his professional career by striking out 7-of-8 to pick up his first save last June in Elizabethton. Being a college pitcher, the Betsy Twins were using him out of the bullpen to start to give his arm a rest. He finally started his first game in Beloit later on in the season, and it’s been all starts since then.

If he can continue this kind of performance, he won’t be long in High-A ball, although certainly, it will be interesting to see if he can continue to dominate with the tougher game schedule of pro ball in his first full year of it.

Both Matt Garza and Kevin Slowey are facing that same challenge. Despite their age, they are youngsters in terms of experience. Yet we’ve seen quite a few college pitchers move fast through the Twins system in recent years including Scott Baker and Jesse Crain. Slowey and perhaps Garza could be the next two, although Glenn Perkins might see his chance in the majors by next season.

Right now the starting pitching rotation in Fort Myers is phenomenal. In six weeks though, it will be gone. However, the next homestand is only a couple of days away and you can be sure I’ll be there, drinking down the nectar of the Twins’ minor league pitchers with my eyes.

Notes: 3B David Winfree had bone chips removed for his elbow and will be regulated to DH for the next month. C Javi Sanchez has been catching in the bullpen and could be activated off the DL by the end of the next homestand (April 13-19). Jose Mijares has had shoulder problems but is expected back with the next week to ten days. Mijares, a 2002 free agent signing out of Venezuela who first came to the States in 2004, is on the Twins 40-man roster and is projected to move quickly through the system as well. Righty Jay Rainville had season ending surgery earlier this week and will sit out the season. The injury prompted the Twins to move lefty J.T. Thomas down from New Britain to start in Fort Myers. Kyle Waldrop was not considered ready for the jump to High A, but will likely make it to Fort Myers midway through the year.

Questions, Questions: Where is Brent Krause? Unless he’s on the DL with Beloit – and the Snappers are not listing their disabled players, he’s been released. While he was on the Fort Myers “break camp” roster, he did not make it to the first workout on Wednesday. Miracle broadcaster Sean Aronson assures me he is NOT with the High A team right now.

Crying Time

Lots of cuts were made this week, starting with catcher Bryan Kennedy on Sunday. While intellectually I knew he was never going to make it, and that if not cut last year he'd go this year, it was still tough to take.

But I like Bryan as a person and not as a catcher. That's sort of the funny thing, some of the players that weren't going to amount to anything, are the ones I end up liking the best.

Rob Bowen was claimed off waivers by the Detroit Tigers. Not really a surprise, I figured he'd have to get out of this organization to get a chance anywhere, especially after Shawn Wooten and Steve Lomansney were picked up as free agents. We know Chris Heintz is the starting catcher for Rochester, but I'm wondering if they'll go with three catchers in Rochester again this year.

Bowen was kind of my first Miracle love, not be cause he was that good, but because he was that good looking. Play wise I liked Gabby better. Bowen was using the goalie style mask at the time and kept losing the balls. He looked like a big chicken out there, scratching in the dirt all of the time.

Matt Yeatman was also released. I kept waiting for him to have his break out year, but he was probably better in 2003 for the Miracle than he was in 2004. He made it to the Rock Cats, but got moved back to the bullpen. I understand the Brewers picked him up. I still think he can make something of himself. Aside from missing Matty, I will miss his wife Robbie. She was totally cool!

What can I say about James Tomlin? Great on the basepaths, but not with a bat. Could of been the next Willy Mays, but he couldn't learn to hit. And you've got a log jam in the outfield.

Josh Gray...still not sure why they even brought him into training camp this year. I was surprised he wasn't released during the offseason. Nice guy, but after a quick start for the Miracle, it was all down hill.

Jan Granada and Daylan Childress I'm sort of ambivilant about. They were free agent picks ups.

What worries me is the names I don't know yet. Who's gone that I'm going to cry over. And believe me, I'm sure there are is a guy or two that has gotten released that I'm just going to say "WHY?" over.

Meanwhile, I have to come to terms with the heartbreak of who we don't have on the Miracle -- once I found out who that is. For example, if I look at the catching (again), a post today said that Phillips and Morales were catching for New Britain. That would move Geiger and Javi Sanchez down to the Miracle, but then De San Miguel goes to Beloit and you've got catchers coming up from Elizabethton that want to go into Beloit.

Grrr...well, tomorrow I'll have a much better idea once I get the updated roster. And yes, they will put a bunch of guys into extended and cut some from there in June, once they've drafted. Oh...the heartbreak!

I'm depressed and I might end up being more depressed by tomorrow evening.

I guess I'll watch Altoona take on New Britain tomorrow as I'm not going to Bradenton to watch the A teams and GCL is just working out. Sunday is the game between Rochester and Minnesota in Hammond and I've got a ticket for that. Kind of looking forward to all the pomp and circumstances. Next Wednesday is the season ticket holder party, and Thursday the Miracle open on their season on the road. The home opener is Saturday night.

I THINK the first Extended game I can make is Saturday, April 15th vs. the Blow Sox. I'll I've to get into work early if I'm to make that one though.

In the meantime, I'm trying to work on the GCL player profiles, because I'm hoping that will keep me occupied and keep me from being too depressed.

Woody's Fan Club

Johnny Woodard is 6'4" tall, he's 205 pounds of solid muscle and he sports a tatoo on his fore arm that reads "Super" with a star underneith.

He plays like a superstar too, with a power bat, a good glove on first and a threat running the bases. Let's just say he's not the kind of guy you'd want to find coming at you if you were a catcher blocking home plate.

Woodard is currently in the work group for the New Britain Rock Cats, but there's a good chance he'll be sent to Fort Myers to start the season.

In any case, he was playing in the game Sunday as the New Britain Rock Cats defeated the Portland Sea Dogs, 5-3.

Sitting in the stands or perhaps more appropriately laying on the ground were these two little girls, probably about five and six, dressed up in princess pink and purple. They were at that age where they could still amuse themselves by making castles of peanut shells and catching microscopic ants to be the knights they sent to defend them.

They were both adorable as heck.

Woodard, who hails from Fairfield, California is also quite black. These little girls, were the very much white.

And they amused themselves with the peanut shells, pebbles, and ants until Johnny got into the on deck circle. Then they would both look up a say "Hi Johnny!" in unison.

Woodard would wave at them, and smile.

When he got up to the plate the girls would chant "Go JOHNNY!" together. Unfortunately, this did not help him at the plate as he struck out and lined out in the game.

They left with their parents after the fifth when Woodard got done playing.

He must have the youngest fan club in professional baseball!

For the Betsy fans who read my blog, I got to see Ryan Mullins pitch on Saturday and was very impressed with him. The bit of leg action he has going there was amusing. His father was in attendance at the game too.

Pictures from the contest including Joe Nathan (because well, he's Joe Nathan), Caleb Moore for Andy, Danny Santiesteban for his brother, Eddie, Toby Gardenhire for the Cleveland fan who wants him to play there, Dusty Bensko for his Mom, Travis Kalin for old times sake and Sean Richardson for me can be found on the Kodak Gallery.

I had much fun this weekend, but I got done and felt like I need a day off to recover. Unfortuantely, if I had a day off, I'd just go down to the ballpark again.