Archive for the ‘Baseball’ Category

Former Youngstown State pitcher Phil Klein was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 30th round as the 924th overall selection in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on Tuesday evening.

Klein, a native of Gahanna, Ohio, was a second-team All-Horizon League selection in 2011. For the campaign he was 5-5 with a 3.61 ERA. In 92.1 innings pitched, he led the conference with 105 strikeouts while setting a school record for starts with 15 during his senior campaign.

What has only happened a handful of times in the past 20 years seems to be breathing again.  It is almost June and the Pittsburgh Pirates are flirting with .500.  The Pirates have one of the worst streaks in all of sports, in fact it is the worst.  Eighteen consecutive seasons with more losses than wins come September.  Kevin McClatchy, who was the majority owner for many of those years, and Dave Littlefield, who was McClatchy’s pon in dumping payroll, caused the Pirates to be the punch line of many jokes over the past couple of decades.  This year, the team is not laughing.

The Yankee fans, always known for running their mouths about “homegrown talent“, have done little with their farm system over the past ten years.  Everyone knows that the mighty Yankees can buy things they need whenever they need them.  Unfortunately, Pittsburgh can’t do that.  Yep, it is a small market team and the best shot they have is to develop players through a good farm system.  That farm system is starting to show effective on the big team.

Free agency is non-existent in Pittsburgh unless they are selling.  The Pirates look like a pack of geniuses for picking up Kevin Correia (pictured, top) for a 12-pack of balls and some fireworks.  Correia has been among the leaders in the NL in wins, WHIP, and ERA.  The other big acquisition was probably manager Clint Hurdle.  Hurdle had success in Colorado and was notorious for a couple of blistering months where his team was unbeatable.

Look at what has come from the farm system and how they are doing.  Andrew McCutchen is not where he should be as far as batting average, but he is piling up extra-base hits at key moments.  He is also one of, if not the best, defensive outfielders in the game today.  Neil Walker is showing no signs of a sophomore slump.  Jose Tabata is making strides in the right direction.  Paul Maholm has had a few hard luck losses but has a stellar ERA and all of his starts but one have been quality starts.  Evan Meek is rested and ready.  There are more.  Pedro Alvarez is the question mark of the group.  Alvarez, known for his slow starts, can really give the Pirates a lift if he can come off of the DL swinging a hot bat.  Evan Ryan Doumit is contributing with game-winning grand slams.

All of those guys came from a farm system striving to serve a purpose instead of agricultural turnover.  A farmer raises a pig and sells it.  These pigs are staying in the pen for a few more years.

Youngstown State senior pitcher Phil Klein (above) was named Second-Team All-Horizon League, and freshman third baseman Drew Dosch was named to the all-newcomer team in a vote of the league’s coaches.

Klein, a native of Gahanna, Ohio and graduate of Gahanna Lincoln High, returns to the all-league team after being a first-team honoree in 2009. Dosch is a native of Canal Winchester, Ohio and a Canal Winchester High graduate.

Klein went 4-5 with a 3.74 ERA this year while leading the league with 95 strikeouts and ranking fifth in innings. In eight conference games, he was 2-2 with a 2.61 and 57 strikeouts in 51.2 innings. Klein was extraordinary in April when he went 2-0 with a 1.71 ERA in four starts. He posted 10 straight quality starts from March 13 to May 13, and his ERA is 2.26 over his last 11 starts.

Dosch missed 13 games with an injury but still made a good enough impression to earn all-newcomer honors. He hit .252 overall and .310 in Horizon League play.

Wright State claimed four of the top five individual awards. WSU’s Jake Hibberd was named the Player of the Year, Michael Schum was named the Relief Pitcher of the Year, Corey Davis was voted the Newcomer of the Year and Rob Cooper was named Coach of the Year. Milwaukee’s Chad Pierce was named the conference Pitcher of the Year.

For a guy who was supposed to light the world on fire and set home run records to rattle the history of Pittsburgh Sports, Pedro Alvarez sure has been a disappointment so far.  Through Sunday’s 8-4 win over the Colorado Rockies, Alvarez is batting .213, which was bolstered by two singles in four at-bats.  Prior to that game, Pedro was tinkering in the forbidden .200 range.

Pedro Alvarez was on the fast track.  The 24 year old native of the Dominican Republic had Pirates fans convinced he was ready to assume the duties at the hot corner finishing 2010 with 16 home runs in 347 at-bats.  Being known as a notoriously slow starter, Alvarez can really play a role for a franchise hoping for at least mediocrity.

Neal Walker and Jose Tabata have done their parts as young components of an inconsistency machine.  Lyle Overbay is starting to prove why the Pirates need a first baseman.  Overbay, much like Alvarez, has shown little with the bat so far in 2011.

At the rate Alvarez is going, he will end the season with about 40 RBI and just 5 dingers.  The numbers have to get better, don’t they?  If not, Hurdle better have a “Plan B” in place.  Maybe he can switch Overbay and Alvarez in the batting order and on defense.  Maybe he can let Alvarez pitch in a mop-up situation and make Overbay catch.

The moral here is that there are two guys holding Pittsburgh back from being at the very least, a .500 team.

Something weird happened earlier this afternoon.  As I looked up into the sky, I noticed a large bright yellow thing.  I know somewhere I have seen this object before, but not since last year.  Having bought a new vehicle in January, I am proud to say that just four months later, I gambled and drove with my window down.  The last time I attempted that, the value of my car took a hit from rain damage.

I’m not sure how to feel about this crappy weather.  A part of me wants to take up hunting, groundhog hunting.  Phil, if you are reading this, just stay in your hole next year, don’t even think about coming out.

The group of people I feel the worst for are the men and women who play baseball and softball at Youngstown State.  Actually, I feel bad for everyone trying to play baseball this Spring.  T-Ball participating children are in great danger.  They can play their first game real soon with just a couple of practices.  By the time they get the hang of it, it will be time to face live pitching.

Mother Nature has been dominant this season.  Her ERA is 0.00 in every league she has been a part of this year.  She may not be the most popular player on a baseball field, but what she says, goes, period.

Jordan Ingalls, a YSU Softball Player, earlier said, “You can’t pay attention to the weather.  It is equal for both teams to play in such unfavorable conditions.”  That interview was three weeks ago, and I think Jordan has played three games of a scheduled 13 since.

It’s an easy fix, Penguins fans.  We need to petition Dave Dravecky to donate a few bucks to his alma mater for a new domed facility.  Put it behind McDonald’s by the stadium.  Better yet, just build it and include the McDonald’s to eliminate the need to hire concession stand workers.  In the offseason, use the area for parking, indoor parking.  Sell special passes for twice as much.  With the little deck closed and students forced to park anywhere from the Covelli Centre to Federal Plaza, these parking passes will sell like hotcakes.

OK, so it was a slow sports day.

Youngstown State University finally got to play a home game, albeit at their reserve home field.  The Penguins were down 10-4 after seven innings but clawed their way back and fell just short of a great comeback, 10-8, at Cene Park in Struthers.

Joe Iacobucci went 4-for-5 with two RBIs for Youngstown State, which outhit Walsh 16-14.  Tyler Jones and R.J. Vukovich both had three hits, and Tim Stinson drove in three for the Cavaliers, who improved to 14-11.

Walsh took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning off YSU starter Nic Manuppelli.  Marc Miller led off with a double down the left field line, and he scored after a sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly.   YSU tied the score in the third when Craig Goubeaux singled and scored on Phil Lipari’s ground out.

Walsh took a 3-1 advantage with two runs in the top of the fourth, but Neil Schroth‘s RBI double to right in the bottom half cut the margin to 3-2.

The Cavaliers blew the game open with six runs on six hits in the fifth to go up 9-2. YSU scored twice in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double from Jeremy Banks and Iacobucci’s RBI single off the pitcher to cut the deficit to 9-4.

A sacrifice fly put Walsh ahead 10-4 in the top of the eighth, and two Youngstown State runs in the bottom half cut the margin to 10-6. Padraic Williams had an RBI double to right, and Iacobucci drove him in with his fourth hit of the contest. Both of those runs scored after there were two outs.

The Penguins set the stage early in the ninth when a walk, single and wild pitch put runners on second and third with nobody out. Goubeaux brought in a run with a sacrifice fly, and Armani Johnson reached on an infield single to put the tying run at the plate. Johnson was tagged out at second on a double steal attempt that allowed Chris Mitko to score and make the margin just 10-8.  Phil Lipari walked and Padraic Williams singled to put the tying run on, but Banks flied out to center to end the game.

In addition to Iacobucci’s three hits, Williams had three and Banks, Goubeaux and Johnson had two apiece.

YSU will play its Eastwood Field opener on Wednesday at 3 p.m. against Niagara.

After the game, Coach Pasquale offered insight on his squad’s struggles.  “We are not attacking the baseball in our plus counts.  With two strikes, we are taking big hacks.  Later in this game, we did better with two strikes shortening up our swings to get the ball in play.  We have to do that all of the time.  When we have a plus count, we have to put better swings on the ball, and we really need to improve on that.”

Trevor Hoffman will probably enter the Hall of Fame on the first vote.  He will also probably go into the Hall as a San Diego Padre since he has already accepted a job working in San Diego’s front office. Is the office offering the way for the Padres front office to ease their own conscious as the team who pretty much gave up on Hoffman at the end of the 2008 season, yanking a $4 million option year away.  The reliever, who had one of his kidneys removed when he was only five years-old, got the bulk of his Hall of Fame statistics with the Padres… but…

Yeah, I have heard the arguments before…  it was a business move by the Padres.  So was the trade that got Hoffman in one of their uniforms as Gary Sheffield and anyone else worth money was sent away for prospects in 1993.  San Diego was lucky to even acquire him from Florida.  So should Hoffman go in as a Marlin?  Nah.

The Cincinnati Reds drafted Hoffman in the 11th Round of the 1989 amateur entry draft.  He was originally drafted as an infielder, but after batting only .212 through his first 103 games, Charleston Manager, Jim Lett, suggested he take up pitching.  Maybe Hoffman should go in as a Cincinnati Reds player and have Jim Lett give his induction speech.  Nah.

Before the 2009 season, Hoffman signed a $6 million deal with the Milwaukee Brewers.  Despite starting the season on the DL, Hoffman made the All-Star team and ended the year with 37 saves.  The Brewers re-signed Hoffman, but as the laws of nature would have it, Hoffman finally hit the wall.

What makes this whole point compelling (about Hoffman going in as a Brewer) is the fact that they found ways to get him his 600th save.  Milwaukee has found a closer in John Axford. Yet, every chance the Brewers had in the second half of the season, they would insert Hoffman for a gift save.  Gifts, that is what Hoffman’s last ten saves were.  Had he been in San Diego, they may have sent him somewhere again to dump his salary and conduct what seems like an every third year fire sale of Padres.  Not Milwaukee…  They stuck it out and let the all-time saves leader tack a few more on.  Go in as a Brewer.

                        

The Pittsburgh Pirates front office has been busy since the season ended in hopes of fielding a more competitive team.  Paneech.com was lucky enough to catch a few leaks about who could be a new Buc by opening day.  It is a pretty strategic list, and man, if Neal Huntington could nab a couple of these guys, the sky is the limit.  Without further ado, here is the list of free agents that the Pittsburgh Pirates are most actively pursuing. 

Christopher Columbus

Who better to “start” than Christopher Columbus.  He started a new country, the Pirates should definitely be able to get six quality innings from this guy.  Reach out to the Italians in Pittsburgh and sign one.  Columbus has great location and mixes his three pitches (Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria) with great control.

Charlie Brown

Charlie Brown has pitched through very adverse conditions throughout his career.  By adding Christopher Columbus and Brown, the rotation is pretty well set with Paul Maholm, Ross Ohlendorf, and Kevin Correia.  Scott Olsen will probably hurt himself by the time Spring Training starts.  Brown brings a declining 12.26 ERA to the table, but much of that can be blamed on shoddy fielding behind him.  Lastings Milledge will make Chuck feel right at home, perfect fit!

Charlie Sheen

Charlie Sheen is a mess these days, but so are the Pirates!  Sheen could help the one-man bullpen that is Evan Meek out with some quality innings.  There are a few good clubs in Pittsburgh that Sheen will fall in love with and when you see the rest of the list, you will appreciate the talent he may get to hang out with.  It will be a new fellowship of Pirates players called the Rum Bucket Tippers that Sheen will captain on great nights out after the games not seen since the likes of Dale Berra!

Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan will co-captain the Rum Bucket Tippers fellowship for post-game celebrations.  Lohan, like Sheen, will add great stability to the “pen“.  Coming off of a very successful rehab assignment, Lohan’s stock can only rise.  The “pen” will have great depth (not to be confused with depth perception).  The last two pieces to a successful “pen” and definitely two more fellows to lead the Rum Bucket Tippers fellowship society are:

Strawberry and Gooden

you guessed it.  Strawberry and Gooden, the Penn and Teller of sports.  One minute they are locked up, but they always seem to escape.  These two can easily round out the Rum Bucket Tippers fellowship of Pirates who want to move in a new direction.  The “pen” would be loaded with Sheen, Lohan, Strawberry, Gooden, and Evan Meek.

Ace Frehley

There were concerns when JJ Hardy signed with the Orioles earlier this week that the Pirates big plan fell through.  Frehley is poised to step right in, not only at short, but also the Rum Bucket Tippers fellowship.  Can you imagine him with those 12″ platform silver space boots sliding into second to break up a double play?  By crippling the rest of the shortstops in the league with the silver boots, Frehley could start the All-Star game for the National League by default. 

Tito Ortiz

Tito Ortiz can add some punch to a light hitting Pirates offense.  Ortiz, no stranger to getting his ass kicked lately, could do what so many other retreads have done, find himself in a Pirates uniform.  The most attractive thing to the front office about Ortiz is that Dana White has offered to pay 75% of his salary just to keep him away from the UFC.

James Harrison

James Harrison could be the next Bo Jackson by participating in two sports.  The deal is that he gets fined for hitting in one sport, but would get rewarded for it if he joined the Bucs this season.  Can you imagine all of the Steeler fans who would suddenly resurface as Pirates fans?

Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr was the least talented Beatle.  That would qualify him for an instant contract with the Pirates.  Teach him how to catch, and if that fails maybe RF.  Oh, wait, the Pirates are already doing that with Ryan Doumit.  Oh well, use him as a utility player.  Can you imagine the popularity of Yellow Submarine as the new Pittsburgh Pirates seventh inning stretch song led by Starr?  Wow, the marketing department (do they have one?) better jump on this.

Simon Cowell (Manager)

Simon Cowell had the managerial job locked up but his negative attitude (above) forced the front office to hire Clint Hurdle.  Cowell, not always popular with the fans, does have an eye for talent and is a winner.  Passing on Cowell to be the new skipper will surely come back to haunt the Pirates.

So there you have it, all of this talent is out there and the Pirates are just lurking in the weeds for the right moment to announce some of their new signees!  Hustle to the box office and order your season tickets before they are gone and be sure to mark August 12th on your calenders.  Not only is it Zambelli Fireworks night, but is also Clint Hurdle bobblehead night.  They were going to use a player, but the front office was unsure about who might still be around, so Hurdle gets the “nod”.

The Negro Leagues were honored at Eastwood Field before Friday’s  Scrappers game with Jamestown. Ted Toles, who played in the historical league was on-hand to sign autographs and share memories from his heyday.  Toles resides in nearby Warren, Ohio.  I got a chance to sneak a couple of questions his way and was amused by some of his answers.  This man can answer a question in great detail.

Toles joined Charlie Caffle’s Warren GC team right out of high school.  In 1946, Toles pitched for the Pittsburgh Crawfords of the Negro Leagues.  Toles later toured the country with the Jackie Robinson All-Stars.  While with Robinson’s All-Star group, Toles shared the fields with Larry Doby and Bill White, two guys who turned their fortunes into successful Major League Baseball careers.  Toles played in the developmental systems for Cleveland, New York (Giants), and Philadelphia and was a standout for the New Castle Minor League team.

I asked Toles how today’s players shape up and was impressed with his answer.  “They are all one-dimensional these days.  Back when I played, you were taught to learn everything, not to just be good at one thing like these guys.  People spent time throwing at a hole in a wall for hours, it helped to hit spots and control the pitches.”

Toles also shared a Jackie Robinson story.  “Jackie was Jackie, and he had an attitude sometimes. He was under contract to play a charity game in Hollywood one year and didn’t feel as though he was getting the money he deserved to play.  Bob Feller went into the locker room and told him he was blowing his chance to get to the majors, but Jackie wouldn’t hear it.  That game was loaded with stars, I remember James Cagney and many celebrities showing up.  But Jackie just wouldn’t come out.  Years later me, Jackie, and Feller were in a room together sharing old times and the story came up.  Jackie denied the whole thing, but me and Feller let him hear it.”

The argument rages on and on about whether Pete Rose should be in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.  For years, I have argued that he should be based on his hitting merits alone, not what he did wrong as a manager.  A recent trip to the gambling capitol of the world, Las Vegas, has made me reconsider my stance.

Walking through the Forum Shops at Caesers Palace on Saturday, I spotted a “signing autographs today, Pete Rose” sign outside of The Field of Dreams store.  Heading in, I saw Pete sitting behind a table and yacking on his cell phone.  He was also writing, but not his name.  Making my way farther around the table where he signs, I was able to snap this shot that had a monitor showing horse races.  Pete was scribbling his perfectas and trifectas on a big pad while he talked on his phone.

A customer paid the asking fee of $69.00 for an autographed baseball.  Rose never got off of the phone, continued to worry about the races and stopped concentrating for a split second to scribble his name on a keepsake I would not pay a dime for, not now.

Maybe Pete should check into rehab instead of Caesers Palace for a week.