Tucson Mexican Baseball Fiesta
Yep, that’s a pretty disingenuous headline there. It wasn’t just any GCL card, it was monster prospect Jason Heyward’s rookie card. An eBay auction concluded on April 11 pegged the value of Heyward’s first at-bat (essentially) at nearly two thousand dollars. One of my favorite things about eBay auctions is reading the ALL CAPS, stream-of-consciousness amateur sales copy that goes with each offering. For example: THE LEGEND IS GROWING BY THE DAY !!! HEYWARD’S...
As I read through the comments of a post on The Big Lead late this afternoon, three in a row caught my eye: Jason Heyward CRUSHED BY HEYWARD Oh boy. That’s gonna be a big deal. Heyward may be in The Show, but his preseason top prospect status means we are obligated to follow him at a careful distance for…well, for as long as we like. Those comments told me he had done something...
I recently asked readers to help fill in the last few slots on the Z-Meter, and you obliged. I carry 25 minor-leaguers on the meter at any given time, and keep track of their movements throughout the system, until they finally hit the majors. I kept nineteen names from last year, so I needed six more. Here are the results of your ballot-stuffing: 1. 18% Chris Carter, IF/OF, Athletics 2. 16% Lonnie Chisenhall, 3B,...
I recently asked readers to help fill in the last few slots on the Z-Meter, and you obliged. I carry 25 minor-leaguers on the meter at any given time, and keep track of their movements throughout the system, until they finally hit the majors. I kept nineteen names from last year, so I needed six more. Here are the results of your ballot-stuffing: 1. 18% Chris Carter, IF/OF, Athletics 2. 16% Lonnie Chisenhall, 3B,...
As you might have noticed, we’re typically a little slow to unfold from the winter-long hibernation here at Bus Leagues. This is our third spring, and the routine is almost always the same: finish the season strong, fade away to virtually nothing from October to February, start working out the kinks in March, and really start firing on all cylinders in April. Just like the players, we need a little bit of spring training...
Two years ago, Bus Leagues began building its massive empire on the strength of Jay Bruce, the Cincinnati Reds farmhand who won Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year award at the end of the 2007 season. We spoke of Bruce in hushed tones until he was called up midway through the 2008 campaign, followed his early days in the majors with guarded interest, and performed a complicated set of Internet high-fives when...
I was looking through the Bus Leagues archives (because there’s no better way to spend a Saturday morning) and saw that last year around this time, Eric directed us to the online voting for USA Today’s Minor League Player of the Year award (Tampa Bay’s David Price eventually won). The newspaper has already named its finalists for the 2009 season and the polls are open. Madison Bumgarner, LHP, San Jose Giants/Connecticut Defenders – 12-2,...
