Art & Baseball: Legos

http://www.brickartist.com

Mizzou in the Minors: Coleman signs

■ Trevor Coleman (07-09) has signed with the Seattle Mariners. He has joined the Everett AquaSox of the Class A Northwest League.

■ The Columbia Tribune reminisces about MU alums in the All-Star Game in All-Stars and stripes:

A pitcher on Missouri’s College World Series runner-up team in 1958, O’Donoghue went 26-39 with a 5.54 ERA over his first four minor league seasons. But something clicked in 1964.

“And now, here I am as a 25-year-old in the bullpen watching Sandy Koufax warm up and hearing my name introduced with Hank Aaron and Eddie Matthews and Pete Rose,” O’Donoghue said. “For one year, I was there with the very best players in the game.”
. . .
The finest year of Laudner’s baseball life came in the twilight of a nine-year career with the Twins.

“It was unbelievable,” Laudner said. “I grew up in Minny, and if you had told me I’d play in the major leagues, then win the World Series and make an All-Star team, I’d say you were nuts. I accomplished everything I could have ever wanted.”

Mizzou Baseball in the Minors & Majors

■ Not meant to be for Kinsler (Dallas News)

Sure enough, Dustin Pedroia has decided to not participate in the All-Star Game as the starting second baseman for the American League so that he can stay home with his pregnant wife. The most logical replacement for his spot seemed to be Ian Kinsler (03), who finished second in balloting to be the starter as well as the last player on the roster. Oh, yeah, Kinsler plays second base.

But Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon went with one of his own, first baseman Carlos Pena, who is hitting 23 points worse than Kinsler and with only four more home
runs.

Kinsler has had three chances now to make the his second straight All-Star team and missed out each time. Talk about not meant to be.

■ A good article about a former winner of our annual Base Cadet award: Kinsler uses trickery, proper timing when stealing third base (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

Ian Kinsler has attempted to steal third base 21 times in his career, and the Texas Rangers’ second baseman has never been thrown out. He swiped No. 21 on Thursday night and scored moments later on a wild pitch.
. . .
"It’s more of a bait move," he said. "You try to make the pitcher think that you’re going. It’s about that and timing."
. . .

■ All-Star Bond impressing for Defenders (Norwich Bulletin)

Right now, everything is going Brock Bond’s (06-07) way.

“That’s the way baseball is,” he said. “Some days things don’t click and you don’t know what’s the problem. Luckily, I’ve been getting some pitches to hit and seeing the ball pretty good. I’m sticking to my approach, and it’s going good.”

Going good includes a selection to next week’s Eastern League All-Star Game.Had it not been for a tough grounder called an error instead of a hit on Wednesday in New Britain, Bond would have reached base in 55 straight games. For now, the streak ended at 51 games.

■ In praise of Brock Bond (Greg's Connecticut Defenders Blog ) [with photos!]

I mean really...a 3 for 3 game tonight with a walk and two runs scored just what you want from your leadoff batter--his BA is up to .341 and he was part of three DPs turned by CT tonight. Last night in NB he was 2 for 2 with three walks and he's reached base in like 50+ games in a row now. On yeah CT wins 4-2 in front of 5300+ at Dodd.

■ Fish make grade (Winnepeg Sun)

1B Cody Ehlers (01-04) (B-) -- The first-year Fish hasn't hit quite as well as expected but had 21 RBI in 39 games and delivered in some big spots.

■ From a comment on Yankees.ihblogs.com:

You can credit Torre Tyson (95-98), Charleston’s manager for the behavior of the kids coming through there. He demands it. He kept very close handle on Tabata, and
never had these issues. Tyson’s only 32-33 years old, but, grew up in a baseball family. His father Mike was a middle infielder with the Cards in the ’70s. His close friend was Joe Torre….that’s his connection. He was a minor league infielder out of the Red Sox system, was released and hooked on with the Yanks. He’s going to make somebody a fine manager soon.

■ All-Star Plans (AZCentral.com): Max Scherzer is going to Southern California for some surf and beach time with family.

Mizzou Baseball in the Majors

■ Matt Nestor takes a different look at Ian Kinsler and the All-Star Game in Take Two:

So, if Brangelina or TomKat had been in the running, would they now be making
the trip to St. Louis?

That’s right, America’s fascination with cutesy jerry-rigged nicknames is how “Bran-Torino” got into the All-Star Game and how Ian Kinsler got totally screwed.

I'll let you read the rest to learn more.

Big 12: Cowboys in trouble with NCAA

Oklahoma St. faces major violation (ESPN.com)

Officials at Oklahoma State said Thursday that a former baseball player accepted a used car as a gift while he was in a summer league in what the NCAA contends was a major rules violation that could cost the program.

A letter sent May 28 from the NCAA to Oklahoma State president Burns Hargis asks university officials to meet Aug. 7-8 with the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions in Indianapolis.

Oklahoma State spokesman Gary Shutt said the player received a 10-year-old car from an out-of-state family he stayed with while playing in the summer league. He said the university contends it was not a major violation, in part because the family had no prior connection with Oklahoma State athletics.

He said the player did not appear in any games for the Cowboys after receiving the car.

More HERE

Mizzou Baseball in the Minors & Majors

■ Mense adjusting to new league (Liberty Tribune)

Hunter Mense (04-06), a 2003 Liberty High graduate, has struggled with the bat in the early stages of the season with Jupiter (Fla.) Hammerheads in the Florida Marlins chain.

Mense, 24, is hitting .227 through Monday, July 6 with one home run and 16 runs batted in 68 games with the Hammerheads. He has turned it up in the month of July so far, hitting .263.

While dealing with a new league offensively, Mense is also going through a position change, playing first base with Jupiter. He played outfield most of the time for the Class A Greensboro Grasshoppers last season.

■ Kinsler edged by Inge in Final Vote (texasrangers.com)

The Rangers second baseman lost out to Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge in the 2009 All-Star Game Sprint Final Vote for the American League team. The final results were announced on Thursday afternoon for the 80th annual All-Star Game to be played in St. Louis on Tuesday.
. . .
Kinsler took the close loss in stride.

"It's not disappointing," Kinsler said before the Rangers' game against Seattle on Thursday. "It's something that's cool to be a part of, but at the same time, if you don't go, there's only a certain amount of guys who can go."

■ Brock Bond got aboard on an error to start last night's game off and extended his on base streak to 52 games (therawfeed.com)

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes: Fick & Wall Street Journal

I'm guessing Kelley never thought he'd see the day when his name shared a headline with the venerable WSJ.

■ Kelley Fick is tearing up the California Collegiate League. Stats as of July 8:

4-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 CG, 28 IP, 18 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 22 SO, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, Opp BA .180

■ In the better late than never category, I happened upon this month-old article in The Wall Street Journal: America's Best Baseball Schools

To ascertain which schools have done the best in recent years at producing players who make an impact in the majors, The Wall Street Journal analyzed each draft from 1996 through 2008. Each school that has produced at least four major-league players from those drafts was ranked by adding its total "runs above replacement" for hitters and pitchers.
. . .
California schools make up four of the top five—USC, No. 2 Cal State Fullerton, No. 4 UCLA and No. 5 Pepperdine, with Miami in between. But more than anything, the analysis shows how difficult it is for even top colleges to produce top-flight major-league players. Mr. Pujols has single-handedly been more valuable statistically than the offensive alumni of every college during the past dozen years, save Miami and UCLA.

Mizzou Baseball in the Minors & Majors

■ Voting for Ian Kinsler could mean winning a prize (Dallas News)

The Rangers are offering fans an incentive to voting for Ian Kinsler (03) as part of the on-line balloting for the final spot on the American League team. Fans could win one of two packages:

A suite for 20 at the Rangers game with the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday, July 21 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington or an All-Star package featuring autographed bats from Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler, and Michael Young.

You have until Thursday at 3 p.m. to get your vote in.

■ Kinsler deserves to be on All-Star team (Tahlequah Daily Press)

Ian Kinsler (03) has helped the Rangers become a playoff contender in the AL West despite slugger Josh Hamilton missing time on the disabled list. Other than
maybe Dustin Pedroia, he has established himself as the best second basemen not
only in the American League, but in all of Major League Baseball.

■ Surprised Kinsler was overlooked? Don't be (FoxSports.com)

So, as opposed to a year ago when AL manager Terry Francona at least was able to
undo the injustice by adding Kinsler to the team, this year, AL manager Joe
Maddon had to address the oversight of Toronto's Aaron Hill, who has had the
best first half of any AL second baseman, leaving Kinsler as the odd man out.

■ James Boone (03-05) has signed with the Sioux City Explorers of the independent American Association.

■ Frey learns from the best (Columbia Tribune)

Being around veteran major leaguers such as Gibson, now the Arizona Diamondbacks bench coach, and Brett Butler, the manager of the Triple-A Reno Aces, during spring training forced Ryan Frey (05-07) to empty his head of star-struck thoughts and fill his mind with the little tidbits of advice that will advance his baseball career.

“I got tons of information on outfield play, hitting, baserunning,”

■ Closer Andrew Johnston (05), who leads the Texas League in saves, has been placed on the disabled list (OSC.com)

■ WFAA.com has an interesting feature on Athletes, teams, fans embrace social networking

Social media sites are still in their infancy. But they've gone from an uncertain novelty where anyone can post a picture or quickly write a few words to a popular conversation tool among athletes, teams and fans. That transformation has taken only a few months. The sites have allowed athletes and leagues to bypass the media and communicate directly with fans.
. . .
But leagues and players also have to be aware of the potential dangers of giving the fans a closer look at the lives of athletes.

"We have our security meetings, and that comes up," said Rangers reliever Doug Mathis, who has the same Facebook page he started in college. "They say to watch what you put on there and watch who you are friends with because there are a lot of people that you never know what their motive is for doing that."

■ He hasn't been getting much publicity online, but former Tiger shortstop Lee Fischer (06-07)is still making the plays in the pros, according to MLNtheRawFeed.com:

The offense gave him all the help he would need in the bottom of the fourth,
tallying five runs off of Delmarva starter Oliver Drake (4-5). Each of the first five hitters reached base and scored in the inning, with Lee Fischer picking up a clutch, bases-loaded double to drive in two.

■ Garrett Broshuis (02-04) must be getting plenty of frequent flyer miles: Broshuis' return too much for Rock Cats (Norwich Bulletin)

Garrett Broshuis, making his first start for Connecticut since last season, blanked rival New Britain for 6 2/3 innings Tuesday night to lead the Defenders to a 3-0 win.

Broshuis, who joined the team from Triple-A Fresno just days earlier, allowed six hits and one walk while striking out two. Matt Yourkin and Dan Otero closed out the final 2 1/3.

Mizzou Baseball Quotes: Summer Ball

■ Garrison McLagan played a key role in the Hannibal Cavemen's vistory this weekend, accouring to Hannibal.net

That run came in the tenth inning, with the contest tied 4-4. In a stroke of luck, Quincy’s John Myers overthrew a routine ground ball, allowing Bryce Tafelski a free pass to second base and setting the table for the University of Missouri’s Garrison McLagan.

“I just wanted to go up there and be aggressive because I knew he was [throwing] lots of fastballs,” McLagan said.

That aggressive approach paid off when McLagan blooped a shot over into left-center field, lifting it just enough to give Tafelski the cushion he needed to plate the winning run.

“I kinda watched it,” McLagan admitted. “I was seeing if it was going to get into the gap. I was going to take two if it got past them.”

■ Commodores outscore Cotuit 14-9 (falcommodores.com)

Nick Tepesch (Missouri) was on the mound for the Commodores and bounced back from a rough outing in his last start. Over six innings of work, Tepesch allowed just three earned runs on eight hits.

■ Flickr.com photo album of the Cape Cod League, including Nick Tepesch.

Poll: Publishing names of Mizzou Baseball recruits

A discussion at Tigerboard.com this weekend brought up (once again) the topic of publishing the names of Mizzou Baseball's signed recruits.

For a number of years now, Tim Jamieson's coaching staff has chosen not to release any information on signed recruits for the program.

I don't know any sort of percentage, but the vast majority of D-1 baseball programs do release that information. Most other MU sports release their recruit signings. For Football and Basketball, signing day is a big event. Football holds a big press conference that has turned into quite a spectacular annual event.

Multiple internet organizations and traditional newspapers expend a great deal of time and space to reporting on potential recruits and signed recruits. Take a look at PowerMizzou.com during football and basketball signing periods. Gabe DeArmond would probably tell us that a significant portion of his subscriber base is due to his in depth reporting on recruiting for those two power sports. I've taken my cue from his site and those like it on what kind of information will draw people to a college sports website.

For some reason, MU Baseball opts out of the hoopla.

And let me say that I fully support the right of Jamieson and staff to make this decision. They're in charge.

That doesn't mean I have to like it or agree with their choice.

Without a doubt the number one comment I get from followers of SimmonsField.com about my blog is that they appreciate the reporting I do on MU Recruits. The recruits themselves - and their families - contact me and thank me for providing recruiting information.

The most frequent explanation I hear for a baseball program not releasing that information is that they don't want to tip off pro scouts about a good recruit that had been under their radar. As one person wrote, in that Tigerboard.com discussion:

Actually, the MLB overlooks tons of players. Many of times, pro teams will draft a kid late knowing that no other teams know about this kid. They will still pay him a hefty bonus because his talent merits a higher draft round talent. Look up Will Middlebrooks' story from Texas A&M. Unknown recruit who never got a look from anyone or anything. Once he signed with A&M and the list was released, scouts naturally flocked with interest. This resulted in a hefty signing bonus and A&M losing a great player.

And so I ask this question, because I really do genuinely want to know what you think.

• Should the MU Coaches release this information?

• And if not, then should SimmonsField.com be digging up and reporting the names and details of MU Recruits?

There are two polls in the left-hand column on this page where you can give me your thoughts. You can click on multiple answers / reasons if you agree with more than one statement on either of the questions. Or post a reply to this blog post. Or join in on the Tigerboard.com discussion. Or send me an e-mail at simmonsfield@hotmail.com.

Mizzou Baseball in the Minors & Majors

■ Ian Kinsler (03) was once again edged out of the starting 2nd baseman role for the American League team in the MLB All-Star game. For the second straight year, his former Arizona State teammate Dustin Pedroia, now of the of Boston Red Sox, was voted in by the legions of "Red Sox Nation". Kinsler had been leading in the vote as of last Tuesday, but was passsed by Pedroia and edged out by 73,000 votes. Kinsler was not chosen as an AL reserve.

■ Closer Andrew Johnston (05) picked up the save as the North beat the South 2-1 in Thursday's Texas League All-Star Game. (modbee.com)

■ Missions starter Nathan Culp (04-06) worked through 6.0 innings, allowing two runs on eight hits. He did not walk a batter and tied his season high with four strikeouts. (Our Sports Central)

Off-Season Pastimes: Catcher

"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." (Rogers Hornsby)

What can the avid baseball fan do in the off-season to stave off the dreaded baseball-deprivation blues?

Read a Baseball Book: Catcher: How the Man Behind the Plate Became an American Folk Hero, by Peter Morris

Warning: Reading this book should only be attempted by die hard baseball fans who revel in knowing the minutiae and history of the game.

This book could be subtitled, Everything You Didn't Know You Wanted to Know About the History of Catchers in Baseball.

The author has done his research well for this book, providing an incredibly in-depth description of the evolution of the catcher's role, his job, his equipment and his reputation, mostly confined to the era from the 1870s through 1910.

Along the way, he weaves in analysis of the evolution of late 19th century American culture and mythology, comparing the Catcher to no less than Daniel Boone, the American Cowboy and Ulysses S. Grant.

The catcher would embody many of the traits of the archetypal American hero, including courage, resourcefulness, and a unique fitness to a specific task. He would bring those attributes to the industrial city and demonstrate that they still had value in the quintessentially American game of baseball. Finally, while he belonged in his new environment, he never belonged to it. He managed to retain a strong hint of the
frontier.

While some of the cultural analysis seems a little over the top and some his extended ramblings read somewhat like a scholarly research paper, I found that I was learning things about the development of baseball and of the catcher's role that I never knew before - and that's saying a lot for someone as obsessed with baseball history as I am.

One of the best features, for me, was the extensive quotations from newspaper and magazine articles of the era. For example, this is from a 1909 article in a Washington newspaper:

The catcher is the armored cruiser of the baseball diamond. He wears a mask to prevent him from trying to catch foul tips with his teeth and a chest protector stuffed with wind to keep stray balls from burrowing into his thorax and spraining his vermiform appendix. Thus armored he is required to crouch behind the batter, brush the bat out of his eyes, watch the bases, dig wild balls out of the atmosphere, keep the opposing players from sliding home by letting them slide into his ankles with his spiked feet and quarrel with the umpire besides running half a block over small boys after a foul ball every inning. Some men do this for pleasure. But then, others dive off the Brooklyn Bridge for pleasure too.

I thoroughly enjoyed wading through this book, even spending a bit of time in the 100 pages of appendixes, footnotes and index. It took me a good 2-1/2 weeks to complete the read - it would no doubt provide many less book-wormish fans a entire off-season's worth of slow hibernatory digestion.

One can only hope that Mr. Morris is working on a sequel covering the development of the role of Catcher in the century since. I'd love to see a comparison between the abilities and reputations of catchers like Berra, Bench and Rodriguez to Bresnahan, Kelly and Ewing of the 19th century.