When you start your pro career with a grand slam, everything else will seem like a disappointment, right?
Project wikispaces
I’ve been waiting a few days to unveil my latest project, but I figure now is a good time, because its also a plea for help. I decided to go ahead and create a wikispaces page, which you can see here. Basically, its just the template right now. I’ve laid out a few things, I created a few pages just to get a feel for how the site works, but I obviously have a massive amount of information I’d like to add to the page. My goal is to eventually have the wiki site integrated seamlessly here. I think it will make this site much easier to navigate and filled with less clutter and disorganization. The wiki site should make player profiles easier to do, it will be easier to organize things, and generally, will be a lot easier on the eye. This site will still be the main discussion hub, but the wiki site will have all of the information neatly organized. I’m more than prepared to spend the bulk of the time adding information, but I’ll of course open it up to volunteers who would like to spend some time adding information to the database. The obvious caveats apply; be a good writer, be willing to put some time in, etc etc. Right now, the plans for what I want to add are still kind of rough, and its going to be an ever developing project. If you have an interest, drop me an email with “wiki project” or something like that in the title. I’ll wait a few days to try and get a better grasp on it and to see who replies, and then I’ll send out a general email to everyone (anyone) who gets back to me. Thanks, and happy Thursday. Oh, and VOTE FOR PAT.
Reading Phillies Weekly Report (7/2 – 7/8)
Time for another Reading Phillies weekly report. Just like last week, the Reading Phillies managed to go 4-3 on the week, to climb all the way up into a tie for fourth place in the Eastern League Southern Division with a 37-52 record. Goodbye, cellar. I guess I should not get to excited, however, since we only hold a one-half game lead over the last place Erie SeaWolves. I am a bit short on time this week, so I am only going to give the game recaps. Hopefully, some interesting prospect talk can be started in the comments. Thanks for understanding.
Clearwater Threshers News
Okay kids…I appologize, but I spent the last week dreaming up new ways to make the news fun. The Threshers are awful. They finished the first half in last place, and then immediately jumped in to last place to start the second half of the season.
This may not exactly be informative, but it is fun, right?
Instead of a weekly write up I will start a weekly video newscast for the Clearwater Threshers. This is the first single game recap. Let me know if it is totally lame or what. (That is sort of the point.)
I’m just trying to find some way…ANY WAY…to keep myself interested in the rest of this Threshers season.
Wednesday notes
Happy Wednesday, some random thoughts…
* With the signing of Trevor May, the Phillies draft board is now taking shape. The Phillies took lots of high school kids in the first 10 rounds, and so far, they’ve followed through on a number of those picks. They now have 3 unsigned picks in the first 10 rounds, plus James Weber in the 12th round. My general thoughts on the likelihood of these guys is as follows
Pettibone – 75%
Shreve – 90%
Coy – 0% (he enrolled in classes, he’s gone)
Weber – 40%
Pettibone wasn’t a highly touted guy, but he has everything the Phillies look for in a pitching prospect. I’d imagine he’ll sign, probably close to the deadline, probably for slightly above slot money. I still believe that Shreve was a pre-draft deal, and that it will be announced right near the deadline, probably for mid-late 2nd round money. Coy is gone, it was a decent risk to take, it seems that the Phillies really made an effort, so I won’t fault them. Weber seems less likely, he has a good college commitment, but I’ll hold out hope.
Heitor Correa update
I touched base with a few people who would know, if anything was available on him, and this is the best I could get
He’s currently listed as “supended for team violation” — I have no insight as to what the is or means necessarily
So, your guess is as good as mine at this point. Correa was praised for his makeup prior to this season, so it seems odd. Hopefully we’ll be able to find more in the next few weeks.
A huge day for the site
Today is a big day for the site here. I’ve added a new feature, thanks to a suggestion from a reader. If you check at the top of the site, you’ll see a link for “Top 30 Prospects“, and basically this is an updated version of my Top 30 prospects. Soxprospects.com is basically the gold standard for me, and was my inspiration for starting this site, and this is a feature they use, so I figured I’d use the same general idea. My plan is to update it once every 2 weeks or so until the end of the season. Its basically a gut feeling type update, and at the end of the season I’ll obviously put in more time and thought to my ordering of the Top 30, but I thought it would be fun to kind of think about the Top 30 as we progress. Feel free to share your comments on the rankings, or point out a guy I might have missed, or a guy that shouldn’t be there.
But the real reason that today is a huge day for the site is this;
Starting this site in December 2006, never in my wildest dreams could I imagine this place getting 1 million hits. I just want to thank all of my contributors who help make this site go, and especially all of you readers who send in information, feedback, and very nice comments, as well as posting comments here. This site would be much less informative if it was just me rambling on. So, a big thank you again to all of you, and here’s to hoping for more positive discussion on our way to 2 million hits.
I’m back, lets fix the Burrell ASG travesty
Its good to be back, and we’ll resume normal service covering the ins and outs of the minor leagues again, but for right now, we need to get the vote out for Pat Burrell, who for some reason beyond my grasp, was left off the all star game roster despite sitting near the top of all statistical leaderboards. So, go here, click vote now, and get to work. If you are really dedicated, create multiple email addresses and vote as many times as you can. You can grab free email addresses at hotmail, yahoo, and hundreds of other providers. I’ll add a quick link on the left side of the page near the top as a reminder for the next few days. Vote for PAT!
Iron Pigs Report
Lehigh Valley was 3-3 on the week and continue to stand in last place in the IL Northern Division at 34-54, 21.0 games behind leading Pawtucket. Hitting leaders include Mike Cervenak who is 2nd in at bats (330), 8th in runs (53), first in hits (100), and 8th in average (.303). Andy Tracy is 5th in average (.305), 8th in slugging % (.528), 3rd in OBP (.408), 10th in RBI’s (51), and 5th in doubles (21). Pitching leaders include JA Happ who is 7th in IP (101.2) and leading the league in strikeouts (104). Brian Mazone is 6th in wins (8), 6th in ERA (3.28), first in IP (109.2), 7th in homers allowed (14), and 4th in WHIP (1.15). Matt Childers is 4th in the league with 13 saves. Continue reading Iron Pigs Report
Morning Musings
It appears that the last two men standing in the quest to replace Brett Myers in the Phils rotation are JA Happ and Brian Mazone. With the injury to Carlos Carrasco and the fact that Chad Durbin pitched out of the bullpen last night, Happ and Mazone are the only legitimate options remaining. Mazone is scheduled to pitch tonight for Lehigh Valley, while Happ is scheduled to go tomorrow.
In the debut of Brett Myers with the Iron Pigs, he went 5 innings giving up 3 runs on five hits. He walked 2 and struck out 6, while throwing 100 pitches, 60 for stikes in the 5-3Pigs loss. Box Score
