Notes From The Nat

I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while, but the urge really ramped up when Bobby from The Future of A’s Baseball blog announced he was shutting his site down - we need more minor league blogs out there.

More than that, we need more minor league club-specific blogs out there. All over North America there are people who are diehard fans of minor league teams, but nobody ever blogs specifically about their local team (at least not that I can find).

That has to change. Just imagine how cool it would be if there was a Notes From The Nat about Kane County’s team, or Stockton, or Midland! Or how about if there were some blogs for other Northwest League teams - a Spokane blog or an Everett blog or a Tri-City site? Imagine the rivalries we could enjoy!

At various times I’ve asked the SportsBlog Nation folks if they’d allow minor league-specific blogs into the fold, but they’re not having any of that - at least not for a long time. Too many NBA teams to find blogs for, and NFL teams, and NHL teams, and… cycling.

I can kind of understand their reluctance - after all, NFTN ain’t bringing in the 100,000 or so daily that their network caters to, but it’s a healthy total nonetheless, and if we built a network of minor league blogs, that traffic would only rise considerably over time.

When I first started thinking about this situation last year, I figured it might change sometime through the season just by virtue of the popularity of blogs. After all, it really isn’t that hard to run a blog to a moderate level of professionalism, and it doesn’t hurt that you sometimes end up getting press box access to see games involving your team… The perks can be great.

So what’s stopping people from doing what I’m doing? Well, as best as I can tell, it’s likely a lack of knowledge as to HOW to create a blog. Oh sure, you can start one for free at blogger.com, but they really do suck. To do a blog right, you need to take it to the next level.

So I hereby make an offer to any and all minor league baseball fans: if you want to start a club-specific minor league blog, anywhere at all in North America, for any team - I’ll set you up.

Yes, you heard right. I’ll buy you a domain name, I’ll install the software, I’ll host it on my server, I’ll set up all the fancy stuff like newsfeeds and image galleries and security. I’ll find you advertisers, and I’ll teach you how to use it all. The only catch? The blog will remain technically my property, which means you have to keep it updated, alive, and professional, and if you don’t, or if you should disappear after three months, you’ll end up losing it - kinda like the set-up at SB Nation, only with a focus on the little guys.

On the other hand, if you maintain your blog to a reasonable standard, you can run the site for as long as you want, earn a little money from advertising and, oh yes, get my help in getting yourself some press accreditation. And if you have an existing blog that you’d like to upgrade, I’ll offer you the same deal.

No domain fees. No hosting fees. No editorial interference. It’s your blog for as long as you keep it going. 

So how about it, Boise Hawks fans? What say you, Kane County Cougarites? Does anyone from Eugene have the desire to follow the NFTN lead? Are there any Sacramento Rivercat geeks looking for a blogging home?

Post a comment with your contact info and let’s talk. United we rule.

Tonight, Saddam Hussein was executed for crimes against humanity. Of course, no tears should be shed for this high level scumbag, tyrant, and war criminal, but while we spit on his still-warm corpse, it’s imperative that we don’t forget how he got into power.

See that picture on the left? That’s recently-fired Bush Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, shaking hands with Saddam Hussein. One of Rumsfeld’s jobs at that time was to open the door for American companies to sell chemical weapons to Saddam; chemical weapons that were used on the Iranians during the 7 Year War, and eventually on the Kurds when they got mouthy.

When Saddam used those illegal weapons to gas ten thousand of his own people, the US congress passed a censure motion. The Senate okayed it, but Reagan vetoed that motion, because while Saddam was unquestionably a ruthless murderer, he was America’s ruthless murderer, and he was ruthlessly murdering people America disliked more than he.

I don’t normally do politics on this blog, but I just thought that, at this moment in history, as we celebrate the end of one tyrant’s career, we should take a moment and remember that he wasn’t created in a vaccuum.

Ask any Haitian, Liberian, Cuban or Honduran.

I’LL GIVE $50 TO THE FIRST GUY THAT PLUNKS HIM 

News has come to hand that Sammy Sosa, one-time Vancouver Canadian, steroid user and baseball history abuser, wants someone to give him a shot at the 2007 season. 

"I feel like I did when I was a rookie," Sosa told The AssociatedPress. "I have a lot of spirit and a desire to return. I think I canplay three or four more years in the form I am now."

Which, of course, means Sammy just learned there’s no viable testing procedure to detect HGH.

Hey, here’s some advice for you, Mr Sosa - we saw you up here in Vancouver when you were a rookie, and that Sammy Sosa and the behemoth Sammy Sosa of today are two very different people. You USED to steal bases. You USED to know how to field. You USED to hit for contact. Now you just soak up chemicals, load your bat up with cork, and strike out.

Begone you foul, pockmarked little man. Go count back-acne breakouts with McGwire and leave the baseball peopple to recover from the disappointments you’ve put them through.

Sosa says he’s had calls from plenty of teams looking to sign him, but only the Washington Nationals are gullible enough to admit that they’re in the hunt. They offered the Sosaroid a non-guaranteed half a million dollar contract to come back next year - and the big mook turned them down!

Now, of course, despite all those teams who supposedly want him, Sammy has decided he’ll take on a deal like that offered by Nationals GM Jim "Worst Exec Ever" Bowden after all.

"I want the chance and I believe one is going to appear. This time I will accept an offer like the one with the Nationals because I want to get back to the Majors," he said. 

If anyone offers this guy more than a non-guaranteed league minimum, they ought to be sacked. Especially after you hear guff like the following:

A year away from the game wouldn’t shake him, he said. "Ted Williams went to war and lost a couple years. More recently, Barry Bonds stayed away for more than a year and came back, and the same happened with Frank Thomas because of injuries," he said.

 Oh yeah, you read that right - Sammy Sosa is comparing himself favorably with Ted Williams, Frank Thomas and Barry Bonds.

Newsflash, Corky - Ted Williams knew how to hit a ball without having to stick a needle in his ass beforehand. Frank Thomas is one of the most genetically freakish ballhitters of all time. And Barry Bonds is the biggest asshole and greatest steroid abuser the world has ever kn… Well heck, I guess one out of three ain’t bad.

 

(more…)

SHAWN CALLAHAN - 2005 Vancouver Canadians Catcher/3B

Duringthe 2005 season, nobody showed more versatility than catcher ShawnCallahan. Realizing that, with Ty Bubalo and Anthony Recker clamoringfor a spot as catcher, his face time would be limited, Cally went outand turned his arm at third base a few times when the team neededinfield help, doing a pretty decent job at that.

He also did agood job with the bat, hitting only .216 but managing some clutch playsat valuable times. Sadly, it wasn’t enough to keep him with the A’s, sowhere did he show up when the Oakland honchos cut him at the end of the2005 season? OnlyFallon, Missouri, where he played for the River City Rascals in the Frontier League… But what’s notable is that he was doing so as a PITCHER.

Cally ended the season with a 0-0, 4.07 record over 18 games pitched and 24.1 innings registered. He struck out 13 and walked 7.

The big guy was cut at the end of the year,as tends to happen in the indies, where a new class of eager kids willbe trying out about now, so it will be interesting to see if DirtyHarry comes out for another season.

 

EDDIE KIM - 2003 Vancouver Canadians Catcher

When the big 6′4" lefty, Eddie Kim, was picked in the 4th round of the 2003 draft by Oakland, there were high hopes that he’d take a short ride to the majors. The big first baseman had mashed at James Madison University, hitting for a .421 average as a 21 yr old, then .412 with 17 home runs at the age of 22.

A .305 debut season with Vancouver showed some early promise for the bonus baby, but from there the professional game caught up with Kim in a hurry. Two seasons in Kane County followed, the last of which was delayed a month due to an off-season knee injury. Kim struggled with his swing, trying five different stances after the A’s told him to lose the ‘toe-tap’ that had seen him through college. He hit for a .252 combined average over his two seasons in Kane County, leading the A’s to eventually ask him to go back to the toe-tap in an effort to refind his old form. Though he beat his 2004 homerun total of 10 with just half as many at bats in his shortened 2005, a .305 OBP and strong competition from 1st baseman teammate Tommy Everidge saw Oakland cut their losses after 2006 spring training, sending Kim home.

So where is he now? Well, still trying to find a way to The Big Show is his most recent stats indicate anything. Kim signed with the Florence Freedom of the independent Frontier League, and was quickly traded before opening day to the River City Rascals where he promptly hit .316 over 178 at bats (7th in the league). What was most surprising about his spell in Missouri was, Kim had taken his K:BB rate down from a 2:1 mark to better than 1:1 rate, which saw the Florence Freedom trade two players to River City to get him back.

Sadly, Kim’s time in Florence, Kentucky hasn’t been great for his future. Over 121 at bats, he hit just .190 with a single home run registered. Will Eddie Kim devote another year to his baseball dream?

 

BOB BURRIS - 2003 Vancouver Canadians reliever

I wasn’t going to write about Bob Burris, but in researching the Eddie Kim situation, I came across a short piece written by Fremont Freedom play-by-play commentator, Roger Redmon, that told the sad tale of what Mr Burris has been through. Rather than retell it, here it is in his words:

We have a right-handed pitcher named Bob Burris who was a shining star in the Frontier League a few seasons back when he pitched for Jamie Keefe in Chillicothe. In fact, Bob was so impressive in his stint in our league that he was signed by the Oakland Athletics organization. His numbers (there’s that word again) were sparkling for Vancouver in the Northwest League where he had an earned run average of 1.91.

His future looked to be limitless until an off-season car accident tore muscles in his neck and shoulder, severely affecting his ability to throw a baseball the way he had become accustomed.

That was three years ago. Bob was attempting a comeback with the Freedom, until reality (there’s another word that isn’t pleasant) reared its ugly head again. Not enough velocity. Not enough movement on his pitches. Not enough command of the strike zone. Luckily, Bob had planned for the future. He would need to return to his job in Florida working for the Department of Homeland Security. But not until this road trip was over. He would stay on as a batting practice pitcher and first base coach until further notice. One of the good guys would be leaving us. I’ve learned not to become too attached to players. They may not be here that long.

Ain’t that the truth? Bob Burris threw in 15 games for the C’s in 2003, going 1-3 with a 1.91 ERA. He was on his way to good things when a moment of tragedy took it all away.

Sorry Bob, I couldn’t find your picture anywhere. But hey, at least you got a taste.

JOSH BEAUREGARD  - 2004 Vancouver Canadians OF

During the 2004 ball season, one of my favorite guys to watch at Nat Bailey Stadium was Josh Beauregard. A utility outfielder who seemed to be living the dream with every swing of the bat, he was the guy called upon if the team needed a late inning steal or a miraculous defensive play, but as an undrafted free agent signing, Beau was never seriously considered a prospect with the A’s, no matter how much he elevated his teammates. He was cut after the 2004 season, despite never hitting worse than .279 in each of his two seasons in Arizona.

So where is Josh Beauregard now? He’s in the indie leagues, playing his trade in the Can-Am Leauge Southern Division for the Worcester Tornadoes. What’s more, he’s not just playing, he’s starring. Beau currently leads the voting as the player fans are ‘most excited about seeing in 2007′.

From the Worcester Tornadoes website:

In 2005, Beauregard returned to the New England region to play for the Tornadoes. In addition to providing solid defense from his outfield position, Beauregard was a dominant force at the plate. Beauregard hit .293, while leading the team in both doubles and RBI with 26 and 62 respectively. Beauregard was also a terror on the base paths, finishing the season with 26 stolen bases and a team best 79 runs scored.

In all likelihood, Beauregard won’t force his way back into the major league-affiliated minor league system, but it’s nice to see one of our alumni still going around, plying his trade near his hometown, and to rapturous cheers from the fans. And is this his little brother, Keith Beuaregard, playing alongside him in the outfield?

 

TOMAS CABANIEL - 2004 Vancouver Canadians Starting Pitcher

The first time I met Tomas Cabaniel f’real, I was standing at a TD Canada Trust bank, waiting in line to be served, when I noticed a large Venezuelan being translated for at the counter. I recognized the guy almost immediately - his trademark devil-goatee, his arms like tree trunks, and his Oakland A’s cap. As I listened in, I gathered that he was trying to cash his paycheck, and the bank teller was giving him and his host mom/translator grief.

I got up to the counter myself and decided to interject; "Tomas! Great game you pitched yesterday. What’s going on? Won’t they cash a check from a major league ballclub?"

Embarassed, the teller got his act together and promptly approved the check, which earned me an appreciative nod from Senor Cabaniel, and not much else - after all, he’s not real great in the English-speaking department.

Cabaniel was fun to watch in 2004, racking up a 6-3, 4.59 record with 74 strikeouts to 24 walks. He went 1-3 with a 4.43 record in Kane County the following year, then got rocked in Stockton over a handful of innings before the A’s let him go.

Where is he today? Well, to be honest, we’re not certain where he is right now, but Tomas pitched in two games for the Rio Grande Valley White Wings in the mostly unheard of United League in 2006. He went 1-0 with an ERA of 3 over 3 innings for a team that came 6th out of 6 teams in the league, and played to an average of 1500 people a night.

That Cabaniel didn’t stick around to end the season with the White Wings is no surprise - the team featured some 29 hitters and 28 pitchers throughout the season.

 

JESSE ACOSTA - 2005 VANCOUVER CANADIANS 2B

If there was a poster boy for ’screwed by the system’, Jesse Acosta would be said poster boy. Signed as a non-drafted free agent by Oakland in 2003 after hitting .300 in his sole college season, Acosta had a fair debut season with the Arizona A’s (.242), then got killed in Kane County the following year (.122 over 41ABs), and instead of being sent back to Arizona for seasoning, he was sent up to Stockton, where he hit only marginally worse (.114 over 17 ABs).

Admittedly, he didn’t show much in the 3 games he played in Vancouver in 2005, going 2-11 (.205) with two runs scored before the A’s cut him, but honestly, other than his debut season, did Jess Acosta really get a chance to show what he could do over a season?

So what’s he up to now? Well, you might have found him playing for the Kansas City T-Bones in the Northern League (that’d be the Kansas City team that has a chance of actually making playoffs each season), where he registered an Acosta-like .205 average over 20 games (15-73), with a couple of home runs thrown in - that is, until the T-Bones cut him earlier this season. Best guess is Jess has packed it in.

It always rains hardest after a few weeks of sunshine, and nobody knows that better than Mark ‘Tiger’ Kiger, 2002 Vancouver Canadians infielder and currently unemployed professional baseballer.

Kiger made history this season when he was promoted from AA Midland to the major league Oakland Athletics during the American League Championship Series, taking the spot of reliever Scott Sauerbeck who was released. Kiger subsequently came out for his MLB debut as a defensive replacement in one of the most important games of the entire big league season.

Though he didn’t face a pitch, he most definitely debuted in the grandest way, which in all likelihood led him to feel like he had some sort of future with the Oakland organization. Alas, as it turned out, his future had more in common with Scott Sauerbeck (or perhaps more accurately, Moonlight Graham) than it did with Mark Ellis…

Last week Kiger found out that he was getting released to make way for a handful of Rule 5 selections. Though Kiger can be picked up by any other team who wants him, he never killed at any level of pro ball, though the .307 avg he carried this season in AA indicates he was on a career upswing before the axe fell.

In 2002, Kiger started in the infield for the Vancouver Canadians, showing above average power and slightly below average contact. He registered a .244 avg with 5 dingers over 246 at bats, swiping a handful of bases on the process. He was recognized more as a solid defensive player than offensive threat, however, which led to his promotion to the majors when Oakland lost two starting infielders. 

Kiger was one of the infamous ‘Moneyball draftees’ of 2002, and was one of the NINE draftees invited to spring training that season. He went 3-9 with a double and 3 RBIs over 8 games.

Here’s hoping another organization takes a chance on a talented guy who knows how to catch a ball. 

Last year, the Glib Globe and Mail ran a piece about watching a ballgame at Nat Bailey Stadium that indicated that you’d have to be fairly nuts to enjoy yourself there, though it’s nice to know some do. Reaction to the piece in the Canadians community ranged between begrudging acceptance and full-on annoyance, and with the limited amount of coverage the C’s get in the press, such negative press can really hurt.

Though you may never have heard of The Tyee, even if you’re a Vancouverite, if you’re (like me) a little sick of both daily newspapers in this town being owned by the same (large multinational) company, the Tyee may just be the refreshing change you’ve been waiting for.

It’s an online media outlet - no trees killed to keep it going - and it’s not only a great read, but it had this to say about our beloved Nat Bailey Stadium recently, as part of a front page ‘best books to give this Christmas‘ series:

Best book to give with tickets to The Nat: Baseball Love By George Bowering (Talonbooks, 2006)
Bowering grew up in baseball, in Oliver. It’s always been part of his life, and our life, in British Columbia. Sure, it’s their game, too, in the States, somewhere south of here. Bowering shows how much it’s also our game, with a poet’s eye for detail. Brilliant Alberta writer Robert Kroetsch said this about it: "Baseball Love is so good there is no memoir in the league that can go up against it." Buy 10 tickets to see the Vancouver Canadians at the suitably retrograde Nat Bailey Stadium and you’ll get another five tickets to give away as you choose. Let’s do the math: you keep the 10 tickets (cheap at $60), and the book and five bonus tickets cost you $19.95. At Christmas, to survive, you’ve got to play the angles.

Good advice - although the ‘15 tickets for the price of ten‘ deal ended on December 15. But if you’re in the market for some late Christmas presents for a baseball-loving Vancouverite, you can still get your hands on a book of ten now for just $60, which will save you shopping for up to ten relatives this year.

As for the book - it’s on order. I’ll let you know whether it’s worth your twenty bucks, but if you like supporting local businesses, the publisher of this tome, TalonBooks, is about as local as they come, being as they’re based only a handful of blocks away from The Nat itself.

As mentioned on the blog earlier, the Oakland A’s went Rule 5-crazy this season, trading up to the overall first pick in the annual scrub hunt, grabbing Cleveland’s best outfield power-hitting prospect, Ryan Goleski, losing Jared Burton (who had stalled in AA anyway), and then picking up a lefty sidearm reliever in the shape of the White Sox’s Jay Marshall.

Lesser reported, but still important, is the second part of the Rule 5 Draft - the minor league section. See, in the major league Rule 5 draft, you have to keep the guys you pick in your major league squad for a full year or offer them back to their original team for $25k.

The minor league draft is different - and the A’s continued their drafting spree, picking up two more players from other teams, and this time losing none. That means the A’s brought in four players, and only lost one that, let’s face it, was on borrowed time. Huzzah!

The minor league draftees are RHP Andy Shipman (seen left) from the Chicago Cubs (AAA) and RHP Josh Alliston from the Milwaukee Brewers (also AAA).

Shipman went 2-3 with a 3.81 ERA in AAA Iowa last season, and was an All-Star for the AA-West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx in 2005. Alliston is a pitcher who has been impeded by injury problems, and according to Scout.com, he has pitched in only one full season before last year, when he went 5-3 with a 2.28 ERA and 9 saves. Both players will move into a AAA Sacramento squad that REALLY needs a little youth after the San Francisco Giants-like lineup of last season.

So who is Andy Shipman? Well, he’s an Air Force brat who pulled a fish tank over his head as a child and lost an eye when the thing smashed into his face. He now wears a glass eye, and though that was an issue with scouts, a season in the Alaska League pushed Boston into signing him to a free agent deal, and a trade took him to Chicago a year later, where he’s shown he can throw a ball just as well as anyone - glass eye be damned.

As for Josh Alliston… He throws hard, gets injured doing so, and looks like the guy on the right. That’s all I’ve got.

JOE NEWBY
The Noob has long been a friend to Notes From The Nat, and we in turn have been one of the 2005 Beer Hawker’s Player of the Year award winner’s biggest cheerleaders. In 2004, he was brought in as a non-drafted free agent by Oakland after failing to get drafted. In 2005, he (along with Joe Piekarz) served as a strong 4th/5th starter for Vancouver, and but for a couple of poor games, had a largely lights out year.

In 2006, Newby continued the fun, having a mostly great season in Kane County, coming out of the bullpen and putting up good numbers, but for some control issues over a couple of weeks of the year.

Anyhow, here’s how things stand for Noob, in his own words:

The season didn’t go as I had planned due to the bicepinjury at the start of the season slowing me down and not letting meget to High A, but I did improve this year, touched 95 a few times andgot my slider up to 84mph at times.  If i could take away one month ofwalking almost everybody I faced, I think I could have had an excellentseason, but the way things go, I did have that month and it kind ofmade my numbers look worse than they should have. 

 

I did improve though, my ERA was down from the pasttwo years, my strikeouts/9 were up, velocity was up, my inheritedrunners that scored was less than 10%, I felt really good about theseason, aside from my last outting of the year in the playoffs where Igot hot three times before actually going into the game. I felt like Ileft my fastball in the bullpen and I ended up getting pounded on fortwo innings and giving up 3 runs, and costing my team a chance at thedeciding game for the ring.

Hopefully I earned one more shot a spring training!

JIMMY SHULL
The same year Newby was rampaging on the radar gun, Jimmy Shull was dominant in a way few Vancouver pitchers have been in a long time. Quiet, unassuming, but a bulldog on the mound, Shull just motored through offensive lineups, with pinpoint control, nasty stuff, and a lightning arm. Unfortunately, he threw out his elbow and required Tommy John surgery early in the 2006 season, ending his year and putting in question whether he could come back as good (or even better, as some TJ patients do).

Thankfully, the Shullacker is another former player who has stayed friendly with Notes From The Nat, and today we received a short note from him giving us an update on his recovery from surgery.

The elbow feels incredible. I haven’t had pain since the first week after surgery, and right now I’m just starting some mound work after last week getting out to 150 feet.

The only things that occasionally slow me down are just muscles that are not used to throwing, flaring up here and there, but it’s really hard not to throw the ball 95mph right now because it feels like I can. It’s taking all my self control not to air it out right now.

At this pace, I should be ready to go right around spring training. I’m training back at Cal Poly SLO at the moment, doing everything I can to make that happen.

I’m working on getting an extended interview happening with Shull, but if he’s throwing 150 feet already, that’s great news right there. Forget the various prospects lists - if Jimmy Shull hits 95mph this season, I’m gonna say right here and now, he’s major league 3rd starter material within two seasons.

Book it. 

If any other former Vancouver players are out there and would like to give us a shout and let us know what you’re up to - just drop a note to oz at notesfromthenat dot com. 

SCHILLING FOR YOUR THOUGHTS
News out of boston indicates that Red Sox starting pitcher Curt "vote for Bush" Schilling has decided to learn Japanese so that he can communicate with his new Japanese teammates, reliever Hideki Okajima and (in all likelihood) Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Maybe Schilling can start off with this phrase - "Warawa fuka sokosoko Iraku kousen."

GIANT BONEHEADS
So Barry Bonds wanted another season to play so that he could break the last record he hasn’t taken a dump on yet, but he also wanted to earn a stupid payday while doping… uh, I mean DOING so. The A’s sniffed his butt a little, then passed on him. The Rangers took a look, then heard the outcry from their fanbase and said NO! Then the Cardinals, who still have that steroid stench about them after the McGwire years, decided that a Bonds/Pujols 1-2 punch would be nice to have, until their fans started spitting too.

Which basically meant nobody wanted Bonds enough to give him any money. And good, for not only is he a dick, a cheat, and a criminal, he’s also likely to A) quit the moment he breaks the home run record, and B) get himself indicted and have to face ccourt charges before the year is up.

Oh, and he also has only 41 homers in the last two seasons (total), and hit just .270 last year. Frankly, you can find players like that on eBay for the price of a Mark Fidrych rookie card, and they might actually run out a flyball or, you know, not be clubhouse cancers. Anyway, so with nobody else interested and a team of 35-year-olds, the Giants went out and didn’t just resign Bonds, they resigned him to an **$18m deal**!

$18m for a guy who hit .270 and whom nobody else wanted!! At that rate, I think I could get league minimum with the Devil Rays. I’d sign with the Giants, but I don’t turn 40 for another three years, so I’m not old enough to make their roster.

Hey folks, my apologies to those who were left momentarily unentertained as I took a little post-season breather, but with spring training on the (distant) horizon, things will begin heating up on the blog over the coming months.

The Wordpress software has kept comment spam to a minimum (no thanks to the Bulgarian douchebags who insist upon sharing their ‘Xanax for sale’ links with us 800 times per post), and there’s a new version of the software out now which I’ll be bringing aboard once I’ve confirmed it’s bug-free.

In the background, we’ve brought across a good chunk of posts from the ‘old’ NFTN site, but there’s still a big slice of the early 2006 season that has to be handled by hand - which means it’ll continue to happen slowly. My apologies to those people who love a good archive stroll, but rest assured, every word from the old blog will get here eventually. In the meantime, if you add an ‘index2.php’ to the end of our URL, you can still see the old site, and with a bit of effort you can go back through the old stuff if you must… you know, to sate your Larry Cobb crush or something.

As the 2007 season gets closer, I’ll be putting out the annual call for anyone who wants to join the blog as a correspondent to put their monicker where their mouth is - just register an account, drop me a note, and I’ll be happy for you to send in a game report or interview whenever you have the time and/or inclination. I’m also hoping that HawkerRob will stick around for another season of color commentary (both in the booth and on the blog), as nobody gets more inside info than the dude with the Mariners helmet and 24 cups of Pale Ale.

Several people have emailed asking whether I meant it when I said I’d ditch all mention of Oakland should the big team have signed the big roider, and the answer is yes. Sure, I know a lot of players roided, but nobody did to the extent of that chump, and nobody shattered as many records with the assistance of chemistry either. Added to which, he doesn’t run. Not that he can’t, he just doesn’t, and if Oakland had so little respect for the game that they’d employ him, then that would be me done.

Thankfully, they did no such thing. So I can keep on hating the Giants with a passion unmatched.

Oh, and just lastly, a note to a certain 2005 C’s pitcher who sent me a great update - I got your info, man, but my email screwed up just after it got to me a month back, so I haven’t had a chance to dig it out and use it. But rest assured, I will.

Oh, and one more note to a player - Jimmy Shull, if you’re still out there, let us know how that arm of yours is. A lot of people REALLY want to know whether the Shullshocker will be back in top form in 2007.

And I’m not going to link to it, because BA has been sending out legal threats to website owners who repost and link to their content. Frankly, that’s just a dickish move, and it’s already caused Blez at AthleticsNation to randomly delete comments that contained reference to BA’s details.. Boo.

So here’s the list - one I pretty much agree with, even if the people who compiled it are jackasses. Seasons spent playing in Vancouver are indicated in brackets):

1 Travis Buck (Van ‘05) - If T-Buck ain’t in the big club by June, I’ll be surprised. First sign of an injury, he’s going up. Too polished, too ready.

2 Daric Barton - Just begging for Piazza to go down with a bad wheel so he can step in and smoke. He won’t crank homers, but he’ll put balls all over the field.

3 Kurt Suzuki (Van ‘04) - Two seasons from Major League-ready, but he’ll be ready alright.. just as long as he can keep a lid on his temper.

4 Matt Sulentic (Van ‘06) - Has a lot to learn before he’ll be playing above AA ball, but if anyone has the talent… this kid can flat out hit.

5 Jermaine Mitchell (Van ‘06) - Great to see a guy who played with the C’s all season long (give or take a week) get his props. Mitchell was solid all season, with a .350 BA for much of the year. He’s ready for high-A ball.

6 Javier Herrera (seen left - Van ‘04) - Has Tommy John surgery hurt or helped the 2004 NWL Player of the Year?

7 Jason Windsor (Van ‘04) - He’s already playing in the majors on a fairly regular basis (in AAA terms), so expect him to step up more in 2007.

8 Marcus McBeth - A converted outfielder who is now shutting offenses down from the mound, this kid has come out of nowhere and looked to be the real deal in Fall Ball.

9 Justin Sellers (Van ‘05) - Still not hitting much, but nobody would doubt his skill in the infield. Fast, acrobatic, sure-handed - if they could put his D in Kevin Mellilo, Mark Ellis would be out of a job.

10 Trevor Cahill (Van ‘06) - 90mph knuckle-curveball. ‘Nuff said.

Now, while I approve heartily of this top 10 (it really is pretty much on the money, though Robnett and Powell fans might disagree), the following top 10, from TopProspectAlert.com, is a tad… wrong.

#1. Travis Buck (23) Outfield - Yup.
#2. Daric Barton (21) First Base - Yup.
#3. Jason Windsor (24) Pitcher - Okay.
#4. Kurt Suzuki (23) Catcher - Sure.
#5. Landon Powell (25) Catcher - Huh? Dude hit .264 last season. His power is there, but his swing is not.
#6. Matt Sulentic (19) Outfield - Granted.
#7. Ben Jukich (24) Pitcher - Jukich was solid last season, especially after he was promoted from Vancouver, but #7 in the system? Hardly.
#8. Javier Herrera (21) Outfield - Sure.
#9. Kevin Melillo (24) Second Base - No way. Melillo’s stock has dropped markedly since his god-like season in 2005, in which he hit homeruns like he was swinging with Wonderboy. And he still can’t field.
#10. Cliff Pennington (22) Shortstop - Worst. Pick. Ever. I’m not talking Oakland’s pick, when they drafted him 1st round in 2005; I’m talking picking a guy who couldn’t hit softballs last season as the #10 kid in the system.

Surely Richie Robnett sits higher than Pennington, even if the A’s would dearly love a major league-ready infielder to emerge. And failing that, no Marcus McBeth? The kid’s numbers of late have been ridiculous - how can you not include him?

Anyhow, there it is. I’ve seen all but two of the BA top 10 play in Vancouver over the last three seasons, so the lesson here is an obvious one - if you want to see Major League baseballers on the west coast of Canada, you should be watching the Vancouver Canadians.