In the 29th round of the 1969 draft, the Cincinnati Reds selected Ken Griffey, from Donora Pennsylvania. In his 19 year career, he accrued more than 2,100 hits, 200 steals, and a career .296 batting average. Griffey was a 3 time All-Star and winner of 3 World Series Championships all with the Reds, and is now the manager for the Bakersfield Blaze, the High A affiliate for Cincinnati, he took some time out after...
Bakersfield’s Billy Hamilton is all the rage thanks to an incredible start that has seen him steal 31 bases in his first 26 games this season. I think every baseball-related blog and website in existence has written something about him in the past two weeks, from us to the New York Times. He’s kind of a big deal. Recently, though, I saw something on Twitter that didn’t call attention to his stolen base totals...
Last season I did a lot of work in Dunedin with the Dunedin Blue Jays staff. Craig Durham, a man who wears many hats as you will soon find out, was instrumental in coordinating interviews for me and helping me find my way around the ballpark when needed, to include the first time I ever covered a game from the press box. For whatever reason, however, I failed to ask Craig his story. This...
Baseball America’s 48th-ranked prospect entering the season, Billy Hamilton is known for being among the fastest players in Minor League Baseball. Last year he used that speed to his advantage, becoming the first player in a decade to steal 100 bases in a season. He’s off to another great start this season, hitting .356/.447/.589 with 19 steals in 19 games for the Bakersfield Blaze in the California League. I had a chance to speak...
This is a post that appeared at Philly Sports Central earlier this week, and I thought it could be appropriate here too. Any team, Pat Burrell. Last Thursday, the Phillies announced that Pat Burrell will sign a ceremonial one-day contract so he can officially retire as a member of the team (Ruben Amaro initially offered a three day contract, but that was deemed unnecessary.) He’ll be honored the weekend of May 18-20 against the...
In an effort to milk this list as much as possible, I made a post that has all 100 prospects in just one list with their Opening Day assignments. At the bottom, I have a handful of stats that show the distribution of the top 100 by organization, position and classification. 1. Bryce Harper, OF, Washington- Syracuse (AAA, International) 2. Matt Moore, LHP, Tampa Bay- Tampa Bay (MLB, AL) 3. Mike Trout, OF, Anaheim-...
The Minor League season opened across the country with record crowds, pomp, pageantry, fireworks and several noteworthy performances. The following are the top 7 things you missed in affiliated Minor League Baseball last week. 1. Bryce Harper got his first Triple-A hit on Thursday. It was a double in the second for the Syracuse Chiefs. He ultimately went 2 for 4 for the Washington Nationals affiliate, which took the loss to the visiting Rochester...
Before I left for Afghanistan in mid-March, I drove across Florida from my home in Tampa to my parents’ home in Melbourne. Along the way, on Florida State Road 520, just outside of Cocoa, Florida, I saw the remains of what was once the home of the Florida State League’s Cocoa Astros, the spring home of the Houston Astros, and for a season, the spring home of the then-Florida Marlins. Sadly, even at 55...
I kept seeing random mentions here and there about the whereabouts of the various players I profiled last season for MiLB.com, so I finally decided to put together a list of where each one was assigned to start the 2012 season and how they’re doing so far. Of the nine, seven advanced to Low-A, one to High-A, and one is expected to miss the season due to injury. Stetson Allie (West Virginia Power, Low-A,...
Welcome to Bus Leagues Express. Every morning, you’ll be able to stop here for a quick summary of the previous day’s minor league action, what’s to come, and interesting links the staff wants to share. While you’re eating cereal getting ready for the day, you can check out the notable stories from each league and some of the top performers at the plate and on the mound. Since this is the first day of...
2012 05 14 Scranton Wilks Barre/ Empire State Yankees vs Pawtucket Red Sox
