Writing a Blog When You’re Missing Half the Story

March 17, 2011 Leave a comment

It seems the story of two brothers playing against each other does in fact lose some of its luster when one of the brothers is absent.  So too does that of the father-son duo without the son.  So what better than to just go ahead and write the stories anyway.

We begin with the brothers d’Arnaud (pronounced darn-OH).  A brief story to start.  My first broadcasting job was with the Orleans Cardinals of the Cape Cod Baseball League (summer collegiate).  The third baseman on that team was now Pirates prospect Chase d’Arnaud.  While meeting with manager Kelly Nicholson before the season he was running down his lineup and said ‘at third base we’ll have darn-OH.’  I looked at him confused and politely replied that my roster had no player with that name.  When we both got on the same page I said ‘Oh!  You mean dee-are-nod?’  One of my favorite mispronunciations of all time.
Darno.jpg 

Anyway, the brothers’ teams faced each other yesterday at McKechnie field.  Travis is a catching prospect for the Blue Jays and played in the Florida State League last season while Chase played at Double-A Altoona for Pittsburgh in 2010.  This was a much cooler blog until I remembered that Chase was reassigned to minor league camp a few days ago and the brothers would not be playing against each other.  They did the last time the Jays were in town so I guess it counts.    (Photo Credit: WOWK TV)

Funny thing is that stories like this are usually unique.  You know it’s always the brothers who went to different colleges and their teams meet in a critical NCAA Tournament game requiring their parents to wear awkwardly mismatched clothing as to not favor one child over the other.  Turns out that the d’Arnaud brothers play each other all the time though.

“It’s something obviously both of us were talking about when we were 10 and 12,” Travis said, “and when you’re growing up it kind of fades away and when it happens you can’t really absorb what’s going on.”

Growing up in California, Travis and Chase went different high schools and played against each other when Travis was sophomore and Chase a senior.  The first time Chase stepped up to hit with Travis catching, he got hit in the shoulder.

“I called for a fastball away and it went high and tight,” Travis said, shaking any responsibility.

The d’Arnaud duo has gone on to play against each other in the New York-Penn League, South Atlantic League and could see each other in the Eastern League this year (depending on where both players end up).

As for a friendly rivalry between the two, there isn’t much trash talk.  The brothers just let their play do the talking.

 “It’s more, I guess you could say competitive rivalry,” Travis said.  “It’s pretty much who steals off.  If he steals of me then we keep talking back and forth and if I throw him out than I just keep getting at it.”

To the best of his memory Travis thinks he and Chase are about even in steals and caught stealing against each other.

LIKE FARRELL LIKE SON

Also not present yesterday was Jeremy Farrell, a Pirates prospect and the first third baseman in Marauders history.  Present was his father John…who might also happen to be the Blue Jays manager.  Jeremy has not played in either game between the teams at McKechnie Field this year but did twice travel to Dunedin.

“The one thing that has really been appreciated is what the Pirates have done given our situation,” John Farrell said.  “That’s always been appreciated.  In this game you get some rare opportunities to see your son but it’s really a unique opportunity to be in the same ballpark.”

Farrell did play in front of his father at McKechnie last year.  While John was the Red Sox pitching coach Jeremy stepped to the plate and promptly homered in the ninth inning of a one run game.

While baseball was never something forced upon Jeremy or his brothers, the family took to the game and it’s given John a nice way to be around his family working through the rigors of a season.

“Anytime you can have your family or your kids in your work setting it can be a good diversion but it’s also forged a bond that’s unique in its own right,” Farrell said.  “I’m thankful for the opportunity to spend that time with them.”

THERE HE GOSE

Anthony Gose earned a reputation when he stole 76 bases in 2009.  The kid can flat out fly.  The problem was that some knocked him for only being able to flat out fly.  See, base stealing is an art to many and Gose was forced back to finger painting in 2010.

“I’ve taken a lot more studying to it these last few weeks,” Gose said of his time in his first Major League Spring Training.  “One, so I don’t come out here and embarrass myself and two so that I…the first year I did it just running and last year I just thought it was going to happen again and it didn’t.  So this year I’m really going to dedicate myself and focus on things in that area.”

Gose was gunned down 32 times in 77 tries between Dunedin and Clearwater last season in the Florida State League.  So this year Gose has dedicated himself to learning and studying and really understanding his art.  To do so he’s latched on to big leaguers Cory Patterson and Rajai Davis.

“Anything from on the bases to out in the outfield,” Gose said of their discussions.  “We talk about the plate, what they’re thinking, what they think pitchers are doing to them, especially Cory being a left handed hitter and batting at the top of the lineup.  I find myself similar to them so I talk with them a lot and see what they went through and what they do now.”

Gose wouldn’t put a number on his stolen bases for 2011.  He has no goal really.  He just wants to run and be successful as often as possible.  Oh, and he’d also like to steal home at some point.

“When I’m on there I want to get the next base,” Gose said.  “The coaches let me know the situation and I’ve been learning over the last few weeks what situations are better.  [I want to steal] every base I can.  If I could steal home I would.  I want to steal al bases equally.”

Gose will be only 21 in August, so a return to the Florida State League isn’t out of the question for the outfielder.  Wherever he goes he’ll have less travel than he did in 2010.  Gose was part of two deadline deals that sent him from the Phillies to the Astros and then to the Blue Jays.  He was a member of the Astros for all of about 45 minutes.  It might have been 30 or maybe an hour.  Either way he’s with the Jays now and likes the feeling of being wanted.

“As long as I do what I need to do and take care of my business it’ll all take care of itself in the end,” Gose said.

We’ll keep up with our FSL check-ins throughout Spring Training.

Till next time…

Joel

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Marauder Mad Libs

July 27, 2010 Leave a comment

Ladies and Gentlemen…Welcome to the first edition of MARAUDER MAD LIBS!  It’s the game where Bradenton’s baseball stars fill in the blanks with the bests of the Florida State League.  Here’s your host…Arthur Wedgewood!!! {Applause}

{Cue theme music…open curtain}

“Thank you….thank you…thank you…stop it…cut it out…you’re all too kind….Welcome again to Marauder Mad Libs.  Let’s meet the contestants…

First…He’s an outfielder from Oklahoma, please welcome Austin McClune!!! {Applause}

Second…He’s a pitcher from Kentucky…Nathan Adcock!!! {Applause}

Please welcome two catchers Eric Fryer and James Skelton!!! {Applause}

And finally a hand for a dynamic duo of outfielders…Robbie Grossman and the ‘Double-Duce’ Quincy Latimore!!! {Applause}

So here’s how the game works…I’ll throw out a topic…you fill in the blank…First on the board {sound effect}…Ah…The best thing about the FSL is _____.

Austin: “Travel, for sure.  The furthest trip is roughly three hours.  In the Sally league we had 10 hour bus rides from Hickory to Lake County.”

Nathan: “Heat.  No I hate the heat.  It’s the travel.  Three hours is the most we travel.  I played in the Midwest League were some trips were seven or 11 hours.”

Eric: “The ballparks.  Most ballparks are pretty good.  The fields are immaculate and most of the time they’re just spring training sites for teams.”

James: “I like the rain, so I would say rainouts.  I wouldn’t call it an extra day off, but sometimes you just need one night off.”

Quincy: “HOT.  No the travel.  I love the three hour max I think.”

Now Quincy, follow up question.  How is it traveling for the commuter games?

Quincy: “That’s fine.  An hour at the most, that’s not bad.  I would love to stay everywhere if we could, but definitely the travel is great coming from the South Atlantic League last year having a nine hour bus ride.  It would seem like you never get there.”

Okay…second topic…{sound effect}…The best name in the FSL is _____.

Austin: “Stonecrabs.  “It’s a little bit different.  A little more original.”

Nathan: “Marauders.  I like it because it’s something new.  It’s something different.”

Eric: “Threshers.  It’s the first name that came to mind.  It’s the most creative right there.”


images.jpg{Sound effect} Oh wow…that sound means it’s time for the “FACT OF THE ROUND” {echoing voice}.  Often mistaken for the Thrashers, the name is indeed Threshers.  The team was renamed and rebranded from the Clearwater Phillies upon the opening of the new Bright House Field in 2004.  Mike Schmidt was the team’s first manager.  A Thresher is a type of shark with a long tail that is sometimes as long as the rest of its body.  The tail is used as a stunning weapon to attack prey.  Quincy, you’re up…

Quincy: “Flying Tigers.  I think that’s pretty funny…or the Brevard County Manatees.  Either one of those.

Robbie: “Lakeland Flying Tigers.  They’ve got pretty sweet hats.”

Alright team…Question number three.  Many of you talked about the travel in the league.  The topic is twofold…The Best Roadtrip in the FSL is _____ or The Best Ballpark in the FSL is_____.

Robbie: “Tampa — playing where the Yankees big league team plays.”

Quincy: “Clearwater.  Great crowd, great field, one of the newest stadiums in the league – that’s why.” 

{Production Note} Quincy also likes Daytona Beach…Altoona Curve player Josh Harrison (a former Cub) highly recommended the atmosphere.

Eric: “McKechnie Field.  The home crowd’s amazing.”


McKechnie.jpgJames: “Daytona Beach.  The hotel is on the beach.  I like to even out my sun tans.  I’ve told a few guys [about the trip – James played in the FSL in 2008].  They’ve got this putt-putt area down the street.  They draw good crowds.  It’s got to be top three in the league.

Nathan: “Palm Beach or Jupiter is the nicest park.  I like that park a lot.  It’s real nice.  It’s well kept, has a nice playing surface.  Not a lot of fans but it’s still a nice place to play.”

Austin: “Clearwater.  We swept them and it’s a sweet place to play.  There are a lot of fans.”

Alright guys…we’re almost home.  Question for the catchers and the base stealers…The hardest guy to run on is_____.  The second part is…The hardest guy to throw out is_____.”

James: “Melky Mesa (Tampa_.  He just seems like he gets good jumps.”

{Production note} Melky Mesa has one of only six stolen bases against James this year.

Eric: “Anthony Gose (Clearwater).  He steals a lot so he gets a lot of stolen bases.  He gets good jumps and he goes every time.”

Robbie: “A lot of relievers because they’re all quick to the plate.”

Qunicy: “Frank Gailey (Dunedin).  He was…man.  We were talking about at the plate you can’t even get ready to hit he was so quick to the plate.” 

Alright boys we’ve reached the FINAL ROUND {echoing voice}.  The winner gets 3,000 points.  Actually the points matter less than on “Who’s Line is it Anyway.”  So to the winner goes 4,432 points.  Mad Lib is…{drum roll}…The best pitcher or batter you’ve seen in the FSL is _____.

Austin: “Zach Quate (Charlotte).  He’s got a nasty slider.  It starts off at you.  He’s got a fastball at 90+ MPH it just keeps you honest.

Melky Mesa.  He hits the ball to all fields and he hits for power.”

Nathan: “The Corban Joseph (Tampa) kid was a pretty tough out.  He’s just real scrappy.  He fouls a lot of pitches and makes you throw a lot of pitches which I don’t like.

Chris Archer (Daytona).  I thought he was pretty impressive.  Him and the Moore kid from Port Charlotte, especially with how young he is (20) and how he’s doing in the league.”

James: “Jonathon Ortiz (Tampa).  He’s got a nasty changeup.”

Quincy: “Henderson Alvarez (Dunedin).  I faced him in the All-Star Game.  Out of the pitchers I faced he came at me with three pitches.  He threw me his changeup for a strike his slider for a strike and he threw about a 95 MPH fastball up that I chased and I was like ‘wow this dude’s pretty decent.'”

Robbie: “Matt Moore (Charlotte).  He’s a good lefty.  You don’t see too many of those guys that throw hard and throw more than one pitch for a strike.”


Moore.jpgStefan Welch (St. Lucie).  He always has a good approach.  He didn’t try to do too much.  He just did with what he was pitched with.”

—

Alright everybody!  That concludes today’s game.  Thanks for playing…We’ll see you next time right here on Marauder Mad Libs! {Appluase} {Roll credits}

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The Tale of Tim’s Delivery

July 18, 2010 Leave a comment

Whenever the Marauders add a player (and for players on opposing teams) the first thing I do to learn a bit about them is turn to Google.  The goal is to find any article written about them that can lend some insight about who these guys are.  The next thing I do is open up my handy Baseball America Prospect Handbook.  None of this stuff is the Bible…but it’s a good starting point.

So Tim Alderson comes down to the Marauders from Double-A Altoona and to the “Handbook” I went.  One of the intriguing things I found was this:

“He’s still had success because of his deceptive delivery…”


Tim%20Alderson.jpgThe obvious question follows — What is his delivery.  Is he Dontrelle Willis?  Is he Orlando Hernandez?  What does this thing look like?  Well the deception comes from the leg kick…and here it is…

I had a chance to talk with Alderson and got the scoop on his delivery.

“When I’m bringing my leg back down to go to home plate my knee and my lower calf and everything underneath my knee goes parallel to the ground.  It’s very different and I don’t know where I learned it and I feel I’m being as smooth as can be.  I saw it for the first time on film when I was a senior in high school and I had no idea what was going on.  I don’t know idea where it started or how it came about, it’s just something my body does.”

One of the things I head read about Alderson was that he doesn’t think he could bend his body the way he does to pitch if he wasn’t actually throwing a baseball.  It’s something he said to me as well.

“If you told me to do it [while not pitching] I probably couldn’t do it because it comes natural…It’s just a matter of being comfortable.  It gets me in a good position to throw the ball so that’s all that matters.”

The delivery got me thinking about some other guys with interesting hitches in their stride to home.  In no order and I know I’m missing some big ones (Fernandomania and Oil Can Boyd)…but some from the current era…

1 — Ryan Dempster

I’ve always been curious what this silly hand flip thing was that Dempster does.  When a minor league hitter told the pitcher he was tipping his split finger during spring training a few years back he began “fluttering” his glove.  Once in his windup, Dempster shifts his glove back and forth over his pitching hand.  The motion covers his grip and distracts the batter.  Dempster’s joking reaction to the New York Times when asked what he tells people about the motion: “I tell people I do it to fan myself, because I’m a sweater and I get hot out there.”

2 — Hideo Nomo

His delivery coined the name “Tornado” with the way Nomo lifted his arms back over his head, twisted so his back faced the plate and then unfolded himself to fire home.  Just about every kid growing up in the 19990’s tried to imitate Nomo at some point, right?  I did…kind of thought what he did was normal.

3 — Dontrelle Willis

Another guy I imitated once or twice when he first burst on the scene, Willis does something that resembles pitching.  Flailing himself back into his windup with a huge leg kick, Willis caught eyes when he debuted for the Marlins earlier this decade.  The Tigers tried to dim down the action, but it returned.

4 — Orlando Hernandez

I always marveled as a kid that El Duque never kneed himself in the face while going home with a pitch.  A leg kick so high it looked like he could lick his knee, Hernandez was a Yankees sensation before bouncing around baseball.

5 — Tim Lincecum

A hero to me because I too am a 4-foot-6, 117 pound 14 year old (really 5-9, 150 and 23…but you get the idea), Lincecum’s delivery helps him generate nasty velocity for his tiny frame.  Tom Verducci wrote a story for Sports Illustrated that says an average pitcher’s stride to home plate is about as long as 77% to 87% of his height.  Lincecum’s in 129% covering seven and a half feet.

OTHER NOTES 

Austin McClune had another OF assist last night.  It was his 15th of the year and he passes Clearwater’s Anthony Gose for the FSL lead…Jeremy Farrell, out since mid-June with a left leg injury, was at batting practice in his warm-ups Saturday…Eric Fryer, out since the July 2nd with facial fractures, took BP for the first time Saturday.  Fryer wore a face guard attached to his batting helmet…Nate Baker made his Marauders debut Saturday throwing a quality start

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