Frayed Knot

There are also several players assigned to a kind of AFL taxi squad who are only eligible to play twice a week or something like that. The Hawaii league scraps were supposed to be taken up by a kind of junior Arizona Fall league, one that is set aside for the younger/lower players the AFL normally doesn't take. Not sure of the exact status of that project.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: My complaint about it was that it in order to become a movie about immigrants, they had to jam a lot of baseball life experiences into a slim timeframe. In reality, Sugar's experience probably plays out over a period of years and not months. I was thinking, this kid showed enough promise to come back or the least be assigned to a lower league no matter what and probably should have. But I understand, it would have taken too much time to play out. Not sure what was so time-condensed. He was about 19/20 y/o during the movie and it was implied that he was and had been in the Dominican League when we join the story. Starting out in America at the low-A level at his age would be logical. Whether he'd get frustrated and/or burned out enough to chuck it all after less than one season is, I suppose, questionable but I didn't see that as unreasonable. 'Bridgetown' was a stand-in for Davenport, Iowa - not that they tried all that hard to disguise it. You could see a sign that said Davenport in the background of one scene and 'The Swing' is the real Midwest League team in 'Quad Cities' (Davenport, Bettendorf, Moline, Rock Island). That bridge in the background of the stadium is one that crosses the Mississippi. Liked the Spanish language version of 'Hallelujah'

Have not heard of this guy before - but he gets the only NYM mention in BA's top 20 Appy Lg prospects list # 9 -- Cesar Puello, OF, Kingsport (Mets) B-T: R-R Ht.: 6-2 Wt.: 195 Age: 18 Signed: Dominican Republic '07 With the caveat that there are questions about his makeup, Puello's potential for five major league average tools affords him the benefit of the doubt for now. Signed by the Mets for $400,000 out of the Dominican Republic in 2007, he's a strong athlete with a solid 6-foot-2, 195-pound build and loose actions. He stole 15 bases in 20 attempts this season, and his plus speed rates as his best present tool. Puello starts with an unconventional stance�one manager likened it to him sitting in a chair�but he has a pure, righthanded line-drive stroke. The ball comes off his bat well, and he already has natural power to left field. As he learns to use the opposite field, he'll be more effective at the plate. An aggressive player by nature, Puello showed an undisciplined approach at the plate, and some league observers questioned his maturity. His mindset works well in right field, where Puello charges balls with abandon and likes to show off his plus arm. AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG 196 37 58 10 0 5 23 10 51 15 5 .296 .373 .423

John Sickels (during a review of corner IFers taken in the 2008 draft): The 22nd overall pick out of Arizona State, Ike Davis was supposed to be less polished than college teammate Wallace, but more athletic and with better physical projection. Mets fans were frightened when Davis hit just .256/.326/.316 with zero homers in his 58-game pro debut in the New York-Penn League, but he erased those doubts in 2009 with a strong campaign. He hit .288/.376/.486 in 59 games for St. Lucie in the Florida State League, then .309/.386/.565 in 55 games for Binghamton in the Double-A Eastern League, combining for a .298/.381/.524 mark with 20 homers, 31 doubles, 57 walks, and 112 strikeouts in 429 at-bats. He has work to do against lefties, hitting just .242/.301/.371 against them this year compared to .323/.414/.586 against right-handers. Other than that, his season was very strong and he should be ready to help sometime next year.

So it probably shouldn't take the death of Jim Carroll to make me sit up and realize that I never got around to seeing (or reading for that matter) 'Basketball Diaries', but it is. All of which leads me to the question; is it worth seeing?

Edgy DC wrote: That strikeout rate still makes me dubious about throwing him in the Mets lineup in 2010. Yeah. He's a guy with barely 200 ABs above A-ball and only 1+ season overall as a pro. I'd say mid-season next year is borderline realistic/optimistic.

And from their on-line Q & A: Q: Does Ike Davis have a chance to be a everyday 1b or even a allstar? A: Definitely. I watched him take BP for Team USA before they left for the World Cup (I believe they're on MLB Network right now) and he showed more raw power than anyone else there, including Justin Smoak and Pedro Alvarez. It's not a simple swing, but he's produced this year and there's plenty of raw power there.

And Kirk Nieuenhuis gets on the year-end 'Hot Sheet' list as part of their fast-risers entry: 'The Helium Watch' Age: 22 Why He's Here: .282/.364/.479 (145-for-514), 17 HR, 38 2B, 6 3B, 73 RBIs, 99 R, 57 BB, 127 SO, 17-for-22 SB The Scoop: After hitting a combined three home runs in June and July, Nieuwenhuis began pulling the ball for power in August. The results: he batted .345/.406/.647 with six homers and 13 doubles in 27 games, earning a promotion to Double-A for the final week. Had it not been for this offensive explosion, Nieuwenhuis would likely still be regarded as an obscure '08 third-rounder with a hard-to-pronounce name. (Kirk's father assures us it's NEW-en-hice.) But that assault on Florida State League pitching catapulted him to a No. 1 ranking among league batters in doubles (35), slugging (.467), extra-base hits (56) and runs scored (91). He finished third with 16 home runs. A physical, lefty-swinging center fielder, Nieuwenhuis will have to reign in the strikeouts as he advances, but it's an encouraging full-season debut for an NAIA product who bypassed low Class A.

Ike winds up #18 on BA's season-ending 'Prospect Hot Sheet' Note that this is not necessarily the same thing as being in the top 20 prospects in all baseball. 'Hot Sheet' is more like a list of this year's best selling albums rather than a prediction of which one's will still be getting played 10 years from now and it doesn't include a bunch of just-released records either as many of them haven't had time to rack up sales yet. Still, it's a good showing for a kid many were quick to write off 2 months into his pro career. Age: 22 Why He's Here: .298/.381/.524 (128-for-429), 20 HR, 31 2B, 3 3B, 71 RBIs, 58 R, 57 BB, 112 SO, 0-for-2 SB The Scoop: Davis overcame a startlingly slow start as a pro (.260/.330/.338 without a home run through his first 312 plate appearances) to assert himself as a top first base prospect. (He played two games in right field, too, in preparation for the World Cup.) And if spending half a season with Binghamton, the worst team in the minors, had any ill effects, it was not apparent in Davis' performance. He hit significantly better in Double-A than he had in high Class A (.951 OPS vs. .863), and from April 28, the date of his first pro homer, to the end of the season he batted .303/.388/.551 in 415 PAs. One of five college first basemen taken in the '08 draft's first round�a group that includes Yonder Alonso, David Cooper, Allan Dykstra and Justin Smoak�Davis this season led the quintet in average, home runs, RBIs, OPS (.906) and isolated power (.226). The power came at a cost: He also averaged the most strikeouts per at-bat (26 percent) and posted the lowest walk-to-strikeout ratio (.48), indicating areas for improvement.

I plan to see this movie next week and then immediately start a brand new thread to discuss it.

3rd week in a row on BA's 'Hot Sheet' (#4 this time) Also a note in there on a small swing change that might have triggered his recent hitting surge. (plus this gives me a chance to experiment with the new color system) Why He's Here: =#BF0000].452/.514/.774 (14-for-31), 5 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBIs, 4 BB, 10 SO, 1-for-1 SB The Scoop: =#BF0000]Nieuwenhuis has to be upset that the season is ending, because at this rate of improvement, he'd be flirting with hitting .400 by mid-November. He was plugging along with a solid but unspectacular season until August arrived. Since then, he's hit .363 with 15 doubles, three triples and eight home runs�he had 10 home runs heading into August. What's the explanation? One possible reason for the hot streak is a new approach. Nieuwenhuis had showed opposite-field power early in the season, but he was vulnerable to being pitching inside. But the St. Lucie staff worked on cleaning up his swing. Now he's able to turn on inside fastballs, taking a vulnerability and turning it into a strength.

I saw this not long after it first came out. It was well done and a good look into the circus that surrounded the whole fight - particularly after the fight was delayed for a time following Foreman being cut while sparring. And of course the film is mostly about Ali as everything around him always is. What struck me while I watched it was every once in a while getting a particular angle of the younger, buffer and still hair on his head Foreman and catching myself saying; 'hey, that looks kind of like George Foreman'. Of course it was the same guy as the present-day smiling, pitchman with the quick wit and sunny disposition, but the earlier incarnation was so different that you almost had to remind yourself that they were [u:107zkav2]not[/u:107zkav2] two different people.

And we're movin' on up (movin' on up) ...

Two weeks in a row as #2 on BA's 'Hot List' for Kirk Nieuwenhuis -- including a pronunciation lesson Why He's Here: .444/.500/.815 (12-for-27), 1 HR, 5 2B, 1 3B, 4 RBIs, 5 R, 3 BB, 6 SO The Scoop: Pronounced NEW-en-hice, the Mets' 6-foot-3 center field prospect has been just short of unstoppable in August. He's gone 34-for-101 (.337) with 18 extra-base hits (six homers) and a 10-to-19 walk-to-strikeout ratio in 24 games. Florida State League MVP voters probably will look elsewhere because of Nieuwenhuis' .270 average and 113 strikeouts, but the '08 third-round pick leads the circuit with 32 doubles, 86 runs scored 53 extra-base hits. A strong finish could result in the home run and slugging crowns, too. Not much has gone right for the Mets this season, but the development of Nieuwenhuis, who projects to be an average center fielder, has been a pleasant surprise

Just for kicks I looked up a couple of guys who I knew were college draftees to see what age they were when playing in High-A ball. No real method here, just the first few guys that jumped into my head: Teixeira - was 21 y/o the whole season playing at A+ ball, or just about 1/2 season younger than Nieuwenhuis Pedroia - turned 21 during his year, or almost a full year younger Chase Utley was 22 the entire season, ~ 1/2 year older Jacoby Ellsbury - turned 23 mid-year ~ 1 year older Ryan Howard - 23 the whole season, ~ 1-1/2 years older Kevin Youkilis - 23 also, ~ 1-1/2 years older than Nieuwenhuis Three of those guys were 1st round picks: Teixeira (5th overall), Utley (15th), and Ellsbury (23rd). One was 2nd round - Pedroia Nieuwenhuis was 3rd round Howard was 5th - Youkilis was 8th

Nieu is probably Dutch and essentially pronounced New (and means 'New' I believe) So I'm going with NEW-en-Hice Or we can just gringo it and call him Newhouse And, yes, he is a legit CF from what I understand.

Not a lot older - maybe on the high side of average. The FSL (and other High-A leagues) are frequent stops off for 1st year college draftees and 2nd year non-elite ones. Plus - as they mention - he just turned 22 and so this season would be counted as his 'age 21' year in a lot of places (a July 1st cut-off is often used). Also remember that the FSL is a notorious pitcher-friendly league, so maybe that tweaks the numbers slightly more in his favor.

A 2008 3rd round pick, Kirk shows up as #2 on this week 'Hot Sheet' feature in BA. Weeks with 9 XBHs and 13 RBIs do tend to make folks sit up and take notice: Team: high Class A St. Lucie (Florida State) Age: 22 Why He's Here: .355/.444/1.000 (11-for-31), 5 HR, 3 2B, 1 3B, 13 RBIs, 8 R, 5 BB, 6 SO, 0-for-1 SB The Scoop: Sorry Kirk, but we just blew the lid off your stealth campaign in the Florida State League. Only a five-homer showing by Brett Wallace in Triple-A stood in the way of a No. 1 ranking. Batting .259/.346/.441 with 15 homers, 27 doubles, 64 RBIs and 16 steals (in 20 attempts), Nieuwenhuis leads the FSL in home runs, extra-base hits (46) and runs scored (81). And he's just four off the leaders for RBIs and doubles. Don't be fooled by that age; the physical, lefty-swinging Nieuwenhuis celebrated a birthday two weeks ago and actually spent most of the season as a 21-year-old. An '08 third-round pick, he skipped right over low Class A on his way from NAIA Azusa Pacific (Calif.) to the FSL this season. It's hard to argue with the results.

Not bad for a guy who hit ZERO HRs over like 200 ABs last year in Brooklyn. Lots of folks busting on this pick over the off-season. Patience people.

"Steve Matz realized he could have a professional baseball career only in the past year, when a growth spurt turned his 5-foot-7, 140-pound frame as a freshman into its current 6-4 and approaching 200 pounds." Well that's actually growth scattered over four years, not just one, although it's still kind of a lot. Notice in the Burkhardt interview the other night Matz was still ducking the question as to whether he was a Mets fan: 'well, I kinda liked all teams and just watched a lot of baseball whenever I could ,,, but my mom and grandma were' This guy's got a pair of #2 pinstriped PJs in his drawer, I'm sure of it. Or maybe Pettitte since he's a LHP.

Seeing as how the minor league season is virtually over, my guess is 'none'. I suspect he'll see some instructional league time and maybe ride the bench somewhere (GCL?) while they get him ready for next year.

"The funny thing is how many of the scenes in this film you may have seen in other Clint Eastwood films" Clint estranged and/or distanced from his adult children? Absolute Power, Million Dollar Baby I liked the little co-written by Clint theme ditty at the end.

I got bored after about 20 seconds and clicked off.

Never saw UB, PT&A, or WS and count me among those never enthralled with Ferris So it's down to a two-way contest where Sixteen Candles outpoints Breakfast Club by a unanimous decision. If offered I would have put 'Pretty in Pink' in between.

I have trouble watching ads for movies with Sandler in them, but he and Apatow were room-mates as struggling comics in LA way back when so I don't think we're getting rid of him so easily.