Archive for January, 2010

« Older Entries

Banquet Tour: New Jersey Sportswriters Association

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

An annual classic, the New Jersey Sportswriters Association banquet was Sunday afternoon, and we’ve taken the best one-liners for you here.

Honorable Mention
George O’Gorman (President, NJSW): I was at the press conference announcing the new stadium they were building at the Turnpike and Route 3. It was such a big deal, the next day, all the papers devoted two paragraphs.

Rick Porcello (Detroit Tigers): after stumbling over some words…It’s funny, I don’t get nervous pitching in front of 55,000 people…Also, he said one of the highlights of his year was being charged by Kevin Youkilis.

Bronze
Phil Pepe (covered NY sports for 50 years, has written numerous books): It’s great being up here with Rick Porcello. I have ties older than him…also, recalling a discussion with Yogi Berra about Earl Weaver smoking in the dugout, Pepe noted Berra said “He smokes like a fish.”

Silver
Terry DeHare (St Anthony’s and Seton Hall star now on Jersey City Board of Ed): on playing with the Clippers…I lost about four games in high school and maybe 10 or 15 in college. In LA, we would lose ten games and then go into a slump.

Gold
Al Golden (Temple football coach and Red Bank Catholic grad): We were so bad in my first year there was a petition going around campus to change the name of 7-11 to 1-11…and, recalling a speech with a Booster Club…One guy said his seats last year were awful. I said ‘I wasn’t here, what was the problem.’ He said ‘They were facing the field.’”

Posted in Misc | 1 Comment »

Video of the Week

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

Resuscitating this blog feature.

Posted in BlueClaws TV, Video of the Week | No Comments »

Sunday Links and Coffee

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

Tomorrow is February 1st (believe it or not) and we are just 18 days until pitchers and catchers head to Clearwater. Here’s another set of links to read before you go shovel.

  • How did the Florida Marlins and Josh Johnson set the stage for potential labor unrest? Jayson Stark answers at ESPN.com. The big-budget teams are clearly going to rebel against continuing to paying out monstrous revenue-sharing dollars without a more concrete guarantee that the teams getting that money will spend those dollars on payroll — not on debt service, ballpark construction fees or the office Christmas party.
  • Why is Johnny Damon still a free agent? Ben Reiter answers on SI.com?
  • Good news out of Minnesota, where Ron Gardenhire thinks the Twins will reach a deal with star catcher Joe Mauer.
  • Ruben Amaro on new signee Jose Contreras: “He’s pretty amenable to anything. He said he would pick up bats if he had to.”
  • Great article by Paul Hagen on Tyson Gilles, who came over in the Cliff Lee deal. “They didn’t realize I was hearing impaired until I was 4. I was able to fool the guy because I was reading lips at a young age.”
  • Hagen on Phllipe Aumont, also acquired in the Lee deal. “It’s probably not fair, but in the minds of some fans, whatever Aumont does will be measured against whatever Drabek achieves.”It doesn’t matter to me,” he said yesterday at Citizens Bank Park. “I’m not here to replace Kyle Drabek. I’m going to make my own mark. I want to grow up as Phillippe Aumont, not taking somebody else’s spot.”
  • Funny headline from the Daily News: Mets sign real life Crash Davis.

Posted in General Baseball | No Comments »

Q&A: Trevor May (Part One)

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

Trevor May, a 4th round pick of the Phillies in 2008, joined the BlueClaws in June of 2009 and went 4-1, 2.56 over 15 starts and gave up just two earned runs in two playoff starts. He was recently ranked 5th in the system by Baseball America, we had a chance to sit down with May recently as he prepares for his third season in the system, likely with Hi-A Clearwater in just a few months.

  • What was the first two months of 2009 like for you, down in Florida with the back injury? It’s tough to be down there. It’s real hot during the summer and spring. A lot of the guys you played with got the call up and started the season early and they don’t have to get up at 8 in the morning. You feel like you weren’t good enough, but finally getting the call up was exciting and relief.
  • Was it tough transitioning right into a pennant race? It was tough. A first-place team, they want me to be a starter so there’s no easing into it with an inning here or an inning there. They told me to be ready but I didn’t know that much about Lakewood. I knew some of the guys but I hadn’t met a lot of the guys before. So it’s the first time meeting and playing with a bunch of guys. It’s a nervewracking start, stadium, actual fans, but you get used to it.
  • What would you say is most important to your success? With Bob (Milacki), and it started right at the end of the spring, we were working with Tom Filer (from Williamsport) and Carlos Arroyo (who works with rehabbing players), plus Gorm (Heimueller, minor league pitching coordinator). We worked on arm slot. I dropped my elbow a lot and would throw high, and that’s where a lot of the walks would come from. I tweaked a few things with separation in my leg kick. I always had a curveball and Bob worked with me on that. But by the end, I was throwing my change-up a little more than the curveball. Sometimes I’m effectively wild, and the changeup set that up.

(more…)

Posted in 2009 BlueClaws, Q&As, Trevor May | 3 Comments »

Kids Club Update

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

948 members. You can sign up here.

And while we’re at it, you can follow Buster on Twitter here.

Posted in Lakewood BlueClaws | No Comments »

Another Prospect Ranking

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

This one from Keith Law over at ESPN.com. Relevant to BlueClaws fans…

  • 14. Domonic Brown (2008)
  • 24. Michael Taylor (2008)
  • 40. Kyle Drabek (2007)
  • 99. Travis d’Arnaud (2009)

And just a couple of thoughts on a few others on the list…

  • 3. Carlos Santana (CLE)…outstanding catching prospect will soon compete with Lou Marson for Indians catching job.
  • 66. Todd Frazier (CIN)…of Toms River
  • 82. Tony Sanchez (PIT)…4th overall pick in the 2009 draft hit the ball quite well and ended the year as Chase d’Arnaud (brother of Travis) on the Carolina League champs in Lynchburg.
  • 100. Nick Hagadone (CLE)…He was sent to Cleveland in the Victor Martinez trade last year. The BlueClaws saw him twice and he was very impressive, almost unhittable in the SAL (though he was older than normal for that league). Clearly one of the top prospects in the league last year.

Posted in Domonic Brown, General Baseball, Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, Past BlueClaws, Travis d'Arnaud | No Comments »

Runners: BlueClaws 5K on April 18th

Friday, January 29th, 2010

5kCalling all runners: the BlueClaws will host their 5K Race at FirstEnergy Park on April 18th, in conjunction with the Jersey Shore Council of Boy Scouts, Ocean Running Club, and Jersey Shore Running Club.

Basically, as follows:

  • The main 5K race begins at 10:30 am and the one mile Kids Fun Run begins at 10 am.
  • All races will end right on the field at FirstEnergy Park
  • All participants receive: a ticket to that day’s BlueClaws game (1:05) and a 5K t-shirt

Registration form here. Or call Charles Keller at 732-901-7000 ext 117.

Note: We’ll have some awesome participation from the boy scouts this year, who will use the race as part of their Physically Fit Program.

Posted in BlueClaws Events | 1 Comment »

Big Day (Update: Or Not)

Friday, January 29th, 2010

The Prospect Handbook should arrive in the mail today from Baseball America. Very exciting.

As a refresher, here are the top ten Phillies prospects (pre Halladay deal) from Baseball America.

That’s Jason Heyward from the Braves on the cover (full size) with, from top to bottom on the right: Madison Baumgarner (Giants), Mike Moustakas (Royals), and Jarrod Parker (Diamondbacks).

10:43 am: The mail already came and no book. Maybe Monday.

Posted in Baseball America | No Comments »

« Older Entries