The Attrition War, Cubs
Part of a continuing series, follow-ups to the initial post detailing the Mariners history over the same period.
Do the Mariners, in comparison to other teams, suffer a higher rate of injury to their pitching prospects than other teams? Here, I look at the Cubs.
The Attrition War, Cardinals
Part of a continuing series, follow-ups to the initial post detailing the Mariners history over the same period.
Do the Mariners, in comparison to other teams, suffer a higher rate of injury to their pitching prospects than other teams? Here, I look at the Cardinals.
The Attrition War, Brewers
Part of a continuing series, follow-ups to the initial post detailing the Mariners history over the same period.
Do the Mariners, in comparison to other teams, suffer a higher rate of injury to their pitching prospects than other teams? Here, I look at the Brewers.
The Attrition War, Braves
Part of a continuing series, follow-ups to the initial post detailing the Mariners history over the same period.
Do the Mariners, in comparison to other teams, suffer a higher rate of injury to their pitching prospects than other teams? Here, I look at the Braves.
Diamondbacks to pass on Upton, Gordon?
Both Tracy Ringolsby and the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jim Salisbury say that the Diamondbacks are likely to take a college pitcher instead of Justin Upton or Alex Gordon. The reasoning goes that the Snakes intend to keep the recently-signed Stephen Drew at shortstop, making another blue-chip young shortstop redundant.
From Ringolsby: [Registration: westsmith1@comcast.net, x223344]
With [Stephen] Drew under contract, however, and new ownership having a valid concern about the lack of depth in the Diamondbacks’ farm system, particularly with pitching, scouting director Mike Rizzo apparently has been directed to pursue a college pitcher.
This is good and bad news for Mariner fans coveting either Upton or Gordon. It’s obviously good if these guys are right, since both project the M’s to take Upton. The flip side is that the Royals are apparently locked in on Gordon, financial worries be damned. If the Diamondbacks do take Upton — which a New York Times article indicates is still a strong possibility — then the M’s would miss out.
I also have to quote this from Ringolsby, just because he calls Bavasi “Billy.”
Upton figures to wind up going No. 3 to Seattle, where current general manager Billy Bavasi and former general manager-turned-special-assistant Pat Gillick long have expressed desires to take high-reward draft choices.
The speculation ends soon enough.
The Attrition War, Blue Jays
Part of a continuing series, follow-ups to the initial post detailing the Mariners history over the same period.
Do the Mariners, in comparison to other teams, suffer a higher rate of injury to their pitching prospects than other teams? Here, I look at the Blue Jays.
The Attrition War, Athletics
Part of a continuing series, follow-ups to the initial post detailing the Mariners history over the same period.
Do the Mariners, in comparison to other teams, suffer a higher rate of injury to their pitching prospects than other teams? Here, I look at the Athletics.
The Attrition War, Astros
Part of a continuing series, follow-ups to the initial post detailing the Mariners history over the same period.
Do the Mariners, in comparison to other teams, suffer a higher rate of injury to their pitching prospects than other teams? Here, I look at the Astros.
Read more
The Attrition War, Angels
Part of a continuing series, follow-ups to the initial post detailing the Mariners history over the same period.
Do the Mariners, in comparison to other teams, suffer a higher rate of injury to their pitching prospects than other teams? Here, I look at the Angels.
Read more
Hall of Fame trip
I had Friday off of school, so I made my first-ever trip to the Hall of Fame. It’s a nice day trip from here, about 2.5 hours each way of pleasant driving through the Catskills. Incidentally, I found a great baseball fan litmus test for anyone living in this area. This week at school people were talking about their weekend plans (we have a four-day weekend, Friday off for a day between blocks and Monday for Memorial Day). I told people I’d be going to Cooperstown on Friday. You can tell a baseball fan right away, because the face lights up and they say something like, “oh, that’ll be awesome.” Non-baseball fans who know the town say, “Yes, that’s a very nice little town.”
I spent a little more than three hours taking it all in. It reminded me of watching Ken Burns’ Baseball back in the day — you really have to search to find something, anything, about the Mariners. There’s a Mariners jersey display, which all teams have. The M’s are listed on Gaylord Perry’s plaque. You can scan various displays to find out that Ken Griffey Jr. won an AL MVP award, or that Edgar Martinez won two AL batting titles.
Of course there’s the Ichiro 262 display, which is pretty hard to miss. Derek talked about this before, and it’s pretty darned cool. Bats, gloves, sunglasses, the “Ichi-meter” fan sign from Safeco, it’s all there in a very nice glass case. But, sadly, that’s the only thing that screams “Mariners.” I guess that’s fair, given the team’s place and relative youth in baseball history.
Going on a weekday before school’s out was a good way to go. It wasn’t emtpy, of course, but there were far fewer people there than I expected. There were no fights to see displays or long lines, nothing like that. The biggest annoyance was finding a place to park, as all the street parking nearby is two-hour limit.
All in all, it was a very good time, and I highly recommend every baseball fan make it to Cooperstown at least once. I also suggest, as was suggested to me, that you go by yourself the first time if at all possible. I had been planning to take my son, but I’m glad I didn’t, because there’s no way he would have put up with three hours of looking around. I’m sure we’ll make it up there at least once before I’m done with school, though, when he’s old enough to get something out of it.