Keith Newcomb - OF - 1986 and beyond

Nukester · 12-21-2003, 03:00 AM

Well here I am, sitting waiting for "the call". Only a couple of months out of high school, with a chance to play big league baseball. What a dream come true for any young man........but I am also asking myself "are you good enough ?".

Yeah Ive heard the stories......minor league baseball aint no picnic. Lots of traveling and staying in no-name hotels. Eating at Dennys and McDonalds. But still, this is baseball ! While I was academically good in school (except maybe in spelling), I never was a "brainiac". I much more enjoyed hanging out with friends and family to burying myself in a book trying to become a lawyer or something. I figured baseball sure beat staring at 4 walls of a cubicle at a sales office. Or hoofing furniture for some moving company. Hell, as far as I was concerned, baseball was better than anything !

Well, the draft has started, but there is no way I will go this early. The Oakland A's just took a kid named Barry Bonds with the 5th overall pick. While Ive never played against him, Ive certainly heard of him. I remember hearing stories of his father Bobby Bonds playing. Speed and power. This kid is a chip off the old block.

Time is passing away, and I decide to grab a cup of coffee. As Im in the kitchen, Im startled by the phone......Could it be ?? Already ?? A second round pick ?? Wow....While I was named the Times Herald Record Player of the Year in my area of New York, no one would have expected me to go in the 2nd round ! My heart sank as I answered the phone, only to be greeted by my old high school coach, asking if Id heard anything yet.......Nothing yet I said.

The 3rd round rolls around. Player are flying off the board. Id be disapointed if I went lower than the 3rd round. Thats what I worked my tail off for..........Again, another ring.....My heart pounds......Sure enough, its the owner of the Seattle Mariners ! Ive been chosen in the 3rd round, 63rd pick overall ! Some of thenames I was taken over were Andres Galarraga, Kelly Gruber, and Ruben Sierra. Those guys can play ball, and I got picked before them. Maybe Im cut out for this after all !

Seattle has given me a $150,000 signing bonus. $150,000 ! Ive never seen that much money in my life !

Ive been informed to show up to play CF and bat 9th for Seattle's Single-A club. Time to see what I can do !!

Nukester · 12-21-2003, 03:13 AM

Its right around the All-Star break now. Our team stinks ! At the moment, our team is around 27-55 and in dead last in the Single-A level. Im having a pretty good season so far, hovering right around .300 and running like a man possesed. Speed is my game, and it is showing with 21 SB's with 4 CS in 82 games. Still haven't hit one out of the park though. Power certain is not my game.

Our LF David Lazo is one terrible player. In the 82 games so far this season, David has struck out 158 times ! That boy better hang it up !

Went shopping with the time off. Splurged on a pair of SweetSpot Ltd. TX1 batting gloves for myself. Hopefully these will keep me over the .300 mark !

Nukester · 12-21-2003, 03:15 AM

The team is up to 32-60, still in last place. Im hitting .294 with 14 doubles, 3 triples, no HR's, and 25 SB's in 340 AB's.

Ive been told I will now be hitting 7th in the batting order ! Woot, Im moving up in the world !

Nukester · 12-21-2003, 03:25 AM

Bruised my hand today. Nothing major, but its a little sore. I figure it will be sore for about 4 days or so.

Team is now at 34-64 and 6 of our players already have over 100 K's for the season, led by Lazo's 173. Ouch !

Nukester · 12-21-2003, 02:56 PM

My goodness, this season can't end soon enough ! The team is now at a pitiful 49-81 and the worst Single-A team in either league. As a matter of fact, the only team playing as bad as us in all of the Majors, AAA, AA, and A leagues are the Chicago Cubs majors team, also at 49-81.

Just to make matters worse, I am in a horrible slump and have watched my BA drop all the way down to .278 and have yet to hit that first HR. I do have 37 SB's against only 5 CS, so I am happy with that. Only problem there is, I got a call from the team physician telling me that I bruised my foot and should sit out for 4 games. That was awfully nice of him, don't you think ?

As I said before, this team is in shambles. Lazo finally passed the 200 strikeout mark and now sits at 227 K's on the year. Actually, 8 of our players, including me at 105 K's, are over the 100+ mark. We are truely that bad !

Reminds me of a few days ago. Just to prove how bad Lazo's eye is......Lazo is taking batting practice and is swinging poorly as usual. He got so mad, he reared back and hummed his bat into the stands....Only problem is, he missed the stands entirely and the bat sailed out of the stadium and into the windshield of a car in the parking lot. Hahaha, he missed an entire stadium ! This guy is the pits !

On a side note, our SS David Mack is at 187 strikeouts, but we can forgive him alittle since he IS hitting .325 with 62 HR's !

Lets just hope I can make it through the season without any major injuries, and try again next season......

Nukester · 12-21-2003, 05:38 PM

Mercifully, the season has come to an end. We finished 53-83 and in dead last in the Single-A level. Lazo ended the season whiffing an amazing 237 times. Somehow he managed to hit .257. David Mack finished with 193 K's but he hit 67 HR's to lead all Single-A hitters, and batted .329. Not that our pitching was any better. Our best pitcher was Juan Alonso, who went 9-12 with a 5.31 ERA.

As for me, I had an OK season. I batted near .300 for most of the first half, but got tired near the end and slumped badly. My final stats were:

.279 BA 25 doubles 3 triples 0 HR's 56 runs 43 RBI 38 SB 6 CS

The 38 SB's were good for 5th in the Single-A level.

Looking above me in the organization, the CF for our AA team. Bill Bramlett, had a decent season hitting .272 with 5 HR's and 14 SB in only 213 AB. He also got a taste of AAA where he hit .250 with 1 HR in 52 AB.

The parent Seattle team still has a shot to make the playoffs. When our minor league season ended, they were only 65-71, but only 2 games out of 1st place. Very very tight race up there. The CF up there is Kevin McReynolds, who is hitting .248 with 13 HR and 50 RBI in 439 AB. That club is currently 23rd in the league in SB with only 43. Maybe they can use my speed up there sometime soon........

Well, the offseason begins and Im not sure what is in store for me. Am I supposed to just wait out the winter and show up at camp in the spring ? All I know is that I saved up $3007 on top of my signing bonus, and now have $153,007 in my account. Damn I feel like a rich man !

I guess we'll see what happens..........

Nukester · 12-22-2003, 12:04 AM

They did it ! The parent team of Seattle Mariners won their 3rd straight World Series (1984, 85, 86) after going only 80-82 during the season, taking out Boston 4 games to 1 for the American League Pennant, and the Los Angeles Dodgers 4 games to 3 for the World Series Championship. Sure feels good that they won it, after the rotten season we had in Single-A.

The Toronto BlueJays RF George Bell won the Triple-Crown in the AL, hitting .345 with 47 HR's and 145 RBI's, and he won a Gold Glove Award. Thats a nice season !

Nukester · 12-22-2003, 12:07 AM

Well, the offseason came and went and not much happened. Seattle extend a few contracts and picked up a few pitchers.. Kevin McReynolds got a 1-year deal worth just over $2.9 million. I can not fathom having that much money ! If I just continue to stay focused and work hard, I can have it too...Imagine that ! Another plus for us young outfielders is that Seattle traded RF Phil Bradley to Houston for 3B Larry Parrish. That makes one less outfielder to try and beat......

Also, Im no longer a member of the youngest crop of talent to come into the league. The 1987 Amatuer Draft was quite exciting, especially knowing I did not need to wait for a call this year ! Still, was Seattle going to grab a top OF recruit that can block my way ? I sure hope not !

Some really talented kids came into the league this year. Watch for names like Greg Maddux, Mark McGuire, Barry Larkin, David Cone, Fred McGriff, and the stand-out football player for the Oakland Raiders, out of Auburn, Bo Jackson. These guys are going to be something.

Nukester · 12-22-2003, 12:08 AM

Seattle ended up not picking up a single OF'er in the draft ! All picks were pitchers and infielders. They must have a least a little confidence in what they have down here in the minors. The top pick for Seattle was C Mike Stanley, who will fill a void left when Jock Wathan retired at the end of last season. I understand Stanley will start the season in AAA and John Wockenfuss, signed as a free agent away from Detroit to a 5 year $2,524,900 contract (kinda steep for a 38 year old catcher if you ask me !) will be catching for the Mariners.

It looks like Im headed back to Single-A ball to start the year. Still batting 7th though. Thats better than 9th ! That knucklehead Lazo is still batting right infront of me also.

Something is up with this guy. He must know someone very important in the Seattle organization for him to still be here. Oh well, I can't let him stop me from achieving my goals.

I continued my workout over the offseason, and I think I bulked up alittle bit. Hehe, just maybe, with a strong wind blowing to LF, I can poke one out this season. Thats my goal. That and 40-50 SB's. Oh, and to make it at least to AA ball this year........

Ok, Im all suited up and ready to play. First game is today in Chicago. I hope we don't embarrass ourselves again this season.............

Nukester · 12-22-2003, 12:09 AM

The first week of the season is going much better than last season, as we started off 2-3. I got 10 hits in my first 20 AB's and was moved up to the leadoff spot in the lineup !

Now this is where i can really shine and show my stuff !

I saw Lazo at the bar today.....the chump wouldn't even have a drink with me. Maybe he heard about me trashing his game

Nukester · 12-22-2003, 12:37 AM

I went 5-6 with 4 SB's today but we still lost to the Toronto-A club 14-7, to bring our record to 10-14. Still not good, but better than last year so far.

Also, we lost our RF Romeo Abarca for the season with a torn groin muscle. The guy who was backing me up in CF, Carl Cranmer, took over the RF duties.

caseyd · 12-22-2003, 02:18 AM

Great stuff! Keep it up.

Nukester · 12-23-2003, 01:17 AM

While marred in a 2-30 slump, I went to Fiddlers for awhile to try and clear my head, and I ran into our manager, Bump Grind. I ordered Bump a drink and we got to talking. He informed me that I was dropping back to 9th in the lineup, at least until I busted out of the slump. I was crushed, but heck, I'd been stinking up the joint, so I can't blame him at all.

Bump is a nice guy. I like playing for him. Fair but firm. He don't take no squat from anyone, but he can also be your best friend if you do things right. After giving me the news of my dropping in the lineup, we drank a little bit more and discussed some of the finer points of reading a pitchers delivery. I actually think I learned a thing or two from that talk, and felt a bit more relaxed at the plate in our next few games.

After the talk I got my stats up to a .333 BA with 11 doubles, 3 triples, and 16 SB in 186 AB's.....No too shabby, but I still have yet to hit that first round tripper. I felt so good that I wentout and bought that Iron Hands Co. Black Beauty outfielder glove that I've wanted for awhile. This glove is a little bigger than my old glove, and is pretty comfortable. That should only make my defense better.

Oh, and the team is going right back to their old ways, dropping to a 15-28 record. Ughhh

Nukester · 12-23-2003, 09:43 PM

Kevin McReynold broke his foot and is expected to miss around 9 weeks. Seattle called up the guy that was playing CF for the AAA club, Timothy Theberge to patrol CF in the Kingdome while he is out. Us centerfielders in AA and A didn't move anywhere though. I'd love to get the call up to AA. I can outplay the current AA CF starter Carlos Esteves and last seasons starter Bill Bramlett ! The team also made a few other moves, calling up their 1987 1st round ammy pick C Mike Stanley, and to my surprise, released 3B Larry Parrish, whom they had just traded RF Phil Bradley for.

I finally broke out of my slump, and Mr. Grind put me in the #2 slot in the batting order. Im still playing good, hitting .321 with 16 doubles, 3 triples, 0 HR's, and 21 SB's in 235 AB's. I haven't been running as much, but I have been staying pretty fresh. Our team is picking it up and we now stand at 27-36, and have moved up to 12th out of 14 teams in the Single-A league !

Lazo has really cut down on his swing and it is showing with a .299 BA and only 64 K's in 214 AB's. I guess I can stop busting his chops for now......David Mack is still striking out like crazy, with 93 K's already in 268 AB's, but Ill be damned if the guy isn't hitting .325 with 32 HR's already. So much power for a SS, and if can cut way down on the K's, he could hit .400 with 70 HR's down here. Thats pretty darn good........Yup, Im still waiting to hit my first dinger

Nukester · 12-26-2003, 06:05 PM

Woot, I finally did it ! I hit my first HR in organized baseball ! It only took 874 AB's ! I hit a solo shot against some dude named Esquivel, of the Milwaukee-A club, to tie the game up at 6 runs each in the 8th inning of a game we ended up winning 7-6 on a another solo HR by our RF Crofoot. Well, I got that monkey off my back !

For some reason, Bump stuck me back in the 9 hole, but moved me back up to 2nd a few days later. My average has dropped to a .318, I've been getting on baseand running again. I feel like a yo-yo, but he must know what he's doing. He's been in this baseball business alot longer than I have.

Found myself a pair of Magic Sticks Inc. Grippers batting gloves and sold the old pair of SweetSpot Ltd. TX1 I bought not to long ago. These things are nice and I seem to be putting the ball into play more while wearing them. Spent a good portion of my savings to get them, so I hope they are worth it.

The team is back down to 38-49 and playing like the team of old. Im now hitting .321 with 20 doubles, 3 triples, 62 runs, 30 SB's, and that one lone precious HR.

twins15 · 12-26-2003, 08:28 PM

Great thread, and they are stupid for not moving you up with those stellar stats. Keep on hitting.

Nukester · 12-26-2003, 10:27 PM

Been hitting like crazy since I got these new batting gloves, and I actually got the call that IM MOVING UP TO AA BALL !! I guess they are impressed with my power stroke

I got the call from Seattle owner Bobo Gillis wishing me luck at the next level. Im starting to think people ARE noticing me around here. Seems Esteves got called up to AAA, and Bramlett is playing poorly and suffered a concussion in his last game. Things can change around again once McReynolds comes of the DL for Seattle, so I have to play my butt off while Im here. I wanted to stop at Fiddlers before I headed out of town, but I didn't have time. I had to get to Kansas City for the game the next day. Thats ok though. Nothing but old farts in there anyways. I said my goodbyes to the boys on the team that I consider my friends. There were a few guys that were actually pretty pissed that I got the call up and they didn't. Heck, I wish them all luck. I can't worry about everyone else.

As I leave the A-Ball club, they are sitting on a 40-51 record, good for 11th place in the A-League standing. You know what though ? The AA-Ball club is even worse. Yup, worse than the Single_A club. The Double-A club is riding a 34-57 record, good for dead last in the AA-League. Ugh, I can't bear to go through another horrible season like last year. Hopefully, I can give these guys a spark, or at least just springboard up to AAA with a good performance.

Heading into the game against Kansas City-A, it looks like Ill be hitting 9th and playing CF. My stats for A-Ball this season: .331 BA, 23 Doubles, 3 Triples, 1 HR, 31 SB, 6 CS, in 387 AB.

Nukester · 12-27-2003, 11:47 PM

I went 2-4 with 2 doubles, 1 run, and 2 RBI's in my first taste of AA ball. We still lost the game though so that was a bummer. However, when I got back to the hotel room that night, I got a call from my friend back home telling me that I was the 86th ranked player in the ILB Top 100 Prospect List. I was stunned.............

A couple of weeks later, Kevin McReynolds came off the DL for the parent club, and his activation trickled down through the CFer's in the organization. Carlos Esteves was sent back down here to AA, but he has been DHing and Im still out in CF. Im hitting like crap though, so I really need to pick it up and show them I can play at this level. Im only hitting .238 with 6 doubles, 2 triples, and 3 SB's in 86 games. Not exactly lighting up the joint. The team as a whole is 23 games below .500 at 47-70. Pathetic, just like my play lately.

Nukester · 12-28-2003, 01:48 AM

Sold my Mazano Tech Shoes Basic1 pair of cleats and bought a new pair of BrockAir Air-1's. These are a little more like track shoes and I seem to get around the bases a little better in these, but the spikes are shorter, so I don't get as good traction as I did with the Basic1's. Thats cool though, since my defense has been very solid, but since my terrible AA stats have dropped to just .209 with 6 doubles, 3 triples, and 8 SB's in 129 AB's, I figure I need to start running and stealing some bases and causing some mayhem on the field in order to stay up here much longer. Thank heavens the end of the season is in sight !

Nukester · 12-28-2003, 02:40 AM

Well I rode out the minor league season in AA without being sent back down despite finishing with these horrible numbers:

.218 BA 6 doubles, 3 triples, 0 HR, 17 runs, 10 RBI, 10 SB, 2 CS in 151 AB

Carlos Esteves hit .280 with 18 doubles, 3 triples, 4 HR, 26 runs, 22 RBI, 3 SB, 4 CS in 232 AB. He also hit .295 in 61 AB in AAA this season. Either they are going to move him up, or he is going to take my spot nest season. My only plus over him is that he is slow, and I can field better and cover much more ground in CF than him. My only chance is if he stays at DH or moves up. They got Bramlett up in AAA right now. The word from down on the A-Ball club is that Lazo cut down on his swing, hit .309, and only struck out 127 times this season. What a difference ! Mack ended up with 187 K's, but hit 66 HR's. Haha...He's a monster, and hes at SS. Yikes !

We finished at 54-82....Nuff said

Looks like the major league squad is crushing everyone. They traded away LF Danny Tartabull and picked up last years Triple Crown winner RF George Bell from Toronto. I think they are going to cruise into the playoffs, and perhaphs win their 4th straight championship........I couldn't care less right now. I need to keep my job in AA, and no matter what happens with the major league squad, it aint going to help me a bit........

12-21-2003, 03:00 AM	#1
Nukester All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Newburgh, NY Posts: 1,923	Keith Newcomb - OF - 1986 and beyond Well here I am, sitting waiting for "the call". Only a couple of months out of high school, with a chance to play big league baseball. What a dream come true for any young man........but I am also asking myself "are you good enough ?". Yeah Ive heard the stories......minor league baseball aint no picnic. Lots of traveling and staying in no-name hotels. Eating at Dennys and McDonalds. But still, this is baseball ! While I was academically good in school (except maybe in spelling), I never was a "brainiac". I much more enjoyed hanging out with friends and family to burying myself in a book trying to become a lawyer or something. I figured baseball sure beat staring at 4 walls of a cubicle at a sales office. Or hoofing furniture for some moving company. Hell, as far as I was concerned, baseball was better than anything ! Well, the draft has started, but there is no way I will go this early. The Oakland A's just took a kid named Barry Bonds with the 5th overall pick. While Ive never played against him, Ive certainly heard of him. I remember hearing stories of his father Bobby Bonds playing. Speed and power. This kid is a chip off the old block. Time is passing away, and I decide to grab a cup of coffee. As Im in the kitchen, Im startled by the phone......Could it be ?? Already ?? A second round pick ?? Wow....While I was named the Times Herald Record Player of the Year in my area of New York, no one would have expected me to go in the 2nd round ! My heart sank as I answered the phone, only to be greeted by my old high school coach, asking if Id heard anything yet.......Nothing yet I said. The 3rd round rolls around. Player are flying off the board. Id be disapointed if I went lower than the 3rd round. Thats what I worked my tail off for..........Again, another ring.....My heart pounds......Sure enough, its the owner of the Seattle Mariners ! Ive been chosen in the 3rd round, 63rd pick overall ! Some of thenames I was taken over were Andres Galarraga, Kelly Gruber, and Ruben Sierra. Those guys can play ball, and I got picked before them. Maybe Im cut out for this after all ! Seattle has given me a $150,000 signing bonus. $150,000 ! Ive never seen that much money in my life ! Ive been informed to show up to play CF and bat 9th for Seattle's Single-A club. Time to see what I can do !!

12-21-2003, 05:38 PM	#6
Nukester All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Newburgh, NY Posts: 1,923	Mercifully, the season has come to an end. We finished 53-83 and in dead last in the Single-A level. Lazo ended the season whiffing an amazing 237 times. Somehow he managed to hit .257. David Mack finished with 193 K's but he hit 67 HR's to lead all Single-A hitters, and batted .329. Not that our pitching was any better. Our best pitcher was Juan Alonso, who went 9-12 with a 5.31 ERA. As for me, I had an OK season. I batted near .300 for most of the first half, but got tired near the end and slumped badly. My final stats were: .279 BA 25 doubles 3 triples 0 HR's 56 runs 43 RBI 38 SB 6 CS The 38 SB's were good for 5th in the Single-A level. Looking above me in the organization, the CF for our AA team. Bill Bramlett, had a decent season hitting .272 with 5 HR's and 14 SB in only 213 AB. He also got a taste of AAA where he hit .250 with 1 HR in 52 AB. The parent Seattle team still has a shot to make the playoffs. When our minor league season ended, they were only 65-71, but only 2 games out of 1st place. Very very tight race up there. The CF up there is Kevin McReynolds, who is hitting .248 with 13 HR and 50 RBI in 439 AB. That club is currently 23rd in the league in SB with only 43. Maybe they can use my speed up there sometime soon........ Well, the offseason begins and Im not sure what is in store for me. Am I supposed to just wait out the winter and show up at camp in the spring ? All I know is that I saved up $3007 on top of my signing bonus, and now have $153,007 in my account. Damn I feel like a rich man ! I guess we'll see what happens.......... Last edited by Nukester; 12-21-2003 at 05:44 PM.

12-22-2003, 12:07 AM	#8
Nukester All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Newburgh, NY Posts: 1,923	1987 begins Well, the offseason came and went and not much happened. Seattle extend a few contracts and picked up a few pitchers.. Kevin McReynolds got a 1-year deal worth just over $2.9 million. I can not fathom having that much money ! If I just continue to stay focused and work hard, I can have it too...Imagine that ! Another plus for us young outfielders is that Seattle traded RF Phil Bradley to Houston for 3B Larry Parrish. That makes one less outfielder to try and beat...... Also, Im no longer a member of the youngest crop of talent to come into the league. The 1987 Amatuer Draft was quite exciting, especially knowing I did not need to wait for a call this year ! Still, was Seattle going to grab a top OF recruit that can block my way ? I sure hope not ! Some really talented kids came into the league this year. Watch for names like Greg Maddux, Mark McGuire, Barry Larkin, David Cone, Fred McGriff, and the stand-out football player for the Oakland Raiders, out of Auburn, Bo Jackson. These guys are going to be something. Last edited by Nukester; 12-22-2003 at 12:10 AM.

12-26-2003, 06:05 PM	#15
Nukester All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Newburgh, NY Posts: 1,923	Woot, I finally did it ! I hit my first HR in organized baseball ! It only took 874 AB's ! I hit a solo shot against some dude named Esquivel, of the Milwaukee-A club, to tie the game up at 6 runs each in the 8th inning of a game we ended up winning 7-6 on a another solo HR by our RF Crofoot. Well, I got that monkey off my back ! For some reason, Bump stuck me back in the 9 hole, but moved me back up to 2nd a few days later. My average has dropped to a .318, I've been getting on baseand running again. I feel like a yo-yo, but he must know what he's doing. He's been in this baseball business alot longer than I have. Found myself a pair of Magic Sticks Inc. Grippers batting gloves and sold the old pair of SweetSpot Ltd. TX1 I bought not to long ago. These things are nice and I seem to be putting the ball into play more while wearing them. Spent a good portion of my savings to get them, so I hope they are worth it. The team is back down to 38-49 and playing like the team of old. Im now hitting .321 with 20 doubles, 3 triples, 62 runs, 30 SB's, and that one lone precious HR. Last edited by Nukester; 12-26-2003 at 06:10 PM.

12-26-2003, 08:28 PM	#16
twins15 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Area 51 Posts: 4,792	Great thread, and they are stupid for not moving you up with those stellar stats. Keep on hitting. __________________ "Ah man we're just hungry man" - Dovonte Edwards Bismarck Boy Scouts of the OTBL - league yes-man Ross Gload at baseball-reference.com Book Quotes and Book Lists

12-21-2003, 03:13 AM	#2
Nukester All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Newburgh, NY Posts: 1,923	Its right around the All-Star break now. Our team stinks ! At the moment, our team is around 27-55 and in dead last in the Single-A level. Im having a pretty good season so far, hovering right around .300 and running like a man possesed. Speed is my game, and it is showing with 21 SB's with 4 CS in 82 games. Still haven't hit one out of the park though. Power certain is not my game. Our LF David Lazo is one terrible player. In the 82 games so far this season, David has struck out 158 times ! That boy better hang it up ! Went shopping with the time off. Splurged on a pair of SweetSpot Ltd. TX1 batting gloves for myself. Hopefully these will keep me over the .300 mark !

12-21-2003, 03:15 AM	#3
Nukester All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Newburgh, NY Posts: 1,923	The team is up to 32-60, still in last place. Im hitting .294 with 14 doubles, 3 triples, no HR's, and 25 SB's in 340 AB's. Ive been told I will now be hitting 7th in the batting order ! Woot, Im moving up in the world !

12-21-2003, 03:25 AM	#4
Nukester All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Newburgh, NY Posts: 1,923	Bruised my hand today. Nothing major, but its a little sore. I figure it will be sore for about 4 days or so. Team is now at 34-64 and 6 of our players already have over 100 K's for the season, led by Lazo's 173. Ouch !

12-21-2003, 02:56 PM	#5
Nukester All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Newburgh, NY Posts: 1,923	My goodness, this season can't end soon enough ! The team is now at a pitiful 49-81 and the worst Single-A team in either league. As a matter of fact, the only team playing as bad as us in all of the Majors, AAA, AA, and A leagues are the Chicago Cubs majors team, also at 49-81. Just to make matters worse, I am in a horrible slump and have watched my BA drop all the way down to .278 and have yet to hit that first HR. I do have 37 SB's against only 5 CS, so I am happy with that. Only problem there is, I got a call from the team physician telling me that I bruised my foot and should sit out for 4 games. That was awfully nice of him, don't you think ? As I said before, this team is in shambles. Lazo finally passed the 200 strikeout mark and now sits at 227 K's on the year. Actually, 8 of our players, including me at 105 K's, are over the 100+ mark. We are truely that bad ! Reminds me of a few days ago. Just to prove how bad Lazo's eye is......Lazo is taking batting practice and is swinging poorly as usual. He got so mad, he reared back and hummed his bat into the stands....Only problem is, he missed the stands entirely and the bat sailed out of the stadium and into the windshield of a car in the parking lot. Hahaha, he missed an entire stadium ! This guy is the pits ! On a side note, our SS David Mack is at 187 strikeouts, but we can forgive him alittle since he IS hitting .325 with 62 HR's ! Lets just hope I can make it through the season without any major injuries, and try again next season......

12-22-2003, 12:04 AM	#7
Nukester All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Newburgh, NY Posts: 1,923	They did it ! The parent team of Seattle Mariners won their 3rd straight World Series (1984, 85, 86) after going only 80-82 during the season, taking out Boston 4 games to 1 for the American League Pennant, and the Los Angeles Dodgers 4 games to 3 for the World Series Championship. Sure feels good that they won it, after the rotten season we had in Single-A. The Toronto BlueJays RF George Bell won the Triple-Crown in the AL, hitting .345 with 47 HR's and 145 RBI's, and he won a Gold Glove Award. Thats a nice season !

12-22-2003, 12:08 AM	#9
Nukester All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Newburgh, NY Posts: 1,923	Seattle ended up not picking up a single OF'er in the draft ! All picks were pitchers and infielders. They must have a least a little confidence in what they have down here in the minors. The top pick for Seattle was C Mike Stanley, who will fill a void left when Jock Wathan retired at the end of last season. I understand Stanley will start the season in AAA and John Wockenfuss, signed as a free agent away from Detroit to a 5 year $2,524,900 contract (kinda steep for a 38 year old catcher if you ask me !) will be catching for the Mariners. It looks like Im headed back to Single-A ball to start the year. Still batting 7th though. Thats better than 9th ! That knucklehead Lazo is still batting right infront of me also. Something is up with this guy. He must know someone very important in the Seattle organization for him to still be here. Oh well, I can't let him stop me from achieving my goals. I continued my workout over the offseason, and I think I bulked up alittle bit. Hehe, just maybe, with a strong wind blowing to LF, I can poke one out this season. Thats my goal. That and 40-50 SB's. Oh, and to make it at least to AA ball this year........ Ok, Im all suited up and ready to play. First game is today in Chicago. I hope we don't embarrass ourselves again this season.............

12-22-2003, 12:09 AM	#10
Nukester All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Newburgh, NY Posts: 1,923	The first week of the season is going much better than last season, as we started off 2-3. I got 10 hits in my first 20 AB's and was moved up to the leadoff spot in the lineup ! Now this is where i can really shine and show my stuff ! I saw Lazo at the bar today.....the chump wouldn't even have a drink with me. Maybe he heard about me trashing his game

12-22-2003, 12:37 AM	#11
Nukester All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Newburgh, NY Posts: 1,923	I went 5-6 with 4 SB's today but we still lost to the Toronto-A club 14-7, to bring our record to 10-14. Still not good, but better than last year so far. Also, we lost our RF Romeo Abarca for the season with a torn groin muscle. The guy who was backing me up in CF, Carl Cranmer, took over the RF duties.

12-22-2003, 02:18 AM	#12
caseyd Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Arizona Posts: 41	Great stuff! Keep it up.

12-23-2003, 01:17 AM	#13
Nukester All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Newburgh, NY Posts: 1,923	While marred in a 2-30 slump, I went to Fiddlers for awhile to try and clear my head, and I ran into our manager, Bump Grind. I ordered Bump a drink and we got to talking. He informed me that I was dropping back to 9th in the lineup, at least until I busted out of the slump. I was crushed, but heck, I'd been stinking up the joint, so I can't blame him at all. Bump is a nice guy. I like playing for him. Fair but firm. He don't take no squat from anyone, but he can also be your best friend if you do things right. After giving me the news of my dropping in the lineup, we drank a little bit more and discussed some of the finer points of reading a pitchers delivery. I actually think I learned a thing or two from that talk, and felt a bit more relaxed at the plate in our next few games. After the talk I got my stats up to a .333 BA with 11 doubles, 3 triples, and 16 SB in 186 AB's.....No too shabby, but I still have yet to hit that first round tripper. I felt so good that I wentout and bought that Iron Hands Co. Black Beauty outfielder glove that I've wanted for awhile. This glove is a little bigger than my old glove, and is pretty comfortable. That should only make my defense better. Oh, and the team is going right back to their old ways, dropping to a 15-28 record. Ughhh

12-23-2003, 09:43 PM	#14
Nukester All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Newburgh, NY Posts: 1,923	Kevin McReynold broke his foot and is expected to miss around 9 weeks. Seattle called up the guy that was playing CF for the AAA club, Timothy Theberge to patrol CF in the Kingdome while he is out. Us centerfielders in AA and A didn't move anywhere though. I'd love to get the call up to AA. I can outplay the current AA CF starter Carlos Esteves and last seasons starter Bill Bramlett ! The team also made a few other moves, calling up their 1987 1st round ammy pick C Mike Stanley, and to my surprise, released 3B Larry Parrish, whom they had just traded RF Phil Bradley for. I finally broke out of my slump, and Mr. Grind put me in the #2 slot in the batting order. Im still playing good, hitting .321 with 16 doubles, 3 triples, 0 HR's, and 21 SB's in 235 AB's. I haven't been running as much, but I have been staying pretty fresh. Our team is picking it up and we now stand at 27-36, and have moved up to 12th out of 14 teams in the Single-A league ! Lazo has really cut down on his swing and it is showing with a .299 BA and only 64 K's in 214 AB's. I guess I can stop busting his chops for now......David Mack is still striking out like crazy, with 93 K's already in 268 AB's, but Ill be damned if the guy isn't hitting .325 with 32 HR's already. So much power for a SS, and if can cut way down on the K's, he could hit .400 with 70 HR's down here. Thats pretty darn good........Yup, Im still waiting to hit my first dinger

12-26-2003, 10:27 PM	#17
Nukester All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Newburgh, NY Posts: 1,923	Been hitting like crazy since I got these new batting gloves, and I actually got the call that IM MOVING UP TO AA BALL !! I guess they are impressed with my power stroke I got the call from Seattle owner Bobo Gillis wishing me luck at the next level. Im starting to think people ARE noticing me around here. Seems Esteves got called up to AAA, and Bramlett is playing poorly and suffered a concussion in his last game. Things can change around again once McReynolds comes of the DL for Seattle, so I have to play my butt off while Im here. I wanted to stop at Fiddlers before I headed out of town, but I didn't have time. I had to get to Kansas City for the game the next day. Thats ok though. Nothing but old farts in there anyways. I said my goodbyes to the boys on the team that I consider my friends. There were a few guys that were actually pretty pissed that I got the call up and they didn't. Heck, I wish them all luck. I can't worry about everyone else. As I leave the A-Ball club, they are sitting on a 40-51 record, good for 11th place in the A-League standing. You know what though ? The AA-Ball club is even worse. Yup, worse than the Single_A club. The Double-A club is riding a 34-57 record, good for dead last in the AA-League. Ugh, I can't bear to go through another horrible season like last year. Hopefully, I can give these guys a spark, or at least just springboard up to AAA with a good performance. Heading into the game against Kansas City-A, it looks like Ill be hitting 9th and playing CF. My stats for A-Ball this season: .331 BA, 23 Doubles, 3 Triples, 1 HR, 31 SB, 6 CS, in 387 AB. Last edited by Nukester; 12-26-2003 at 10:30 PM.

12-27-2003, 11:47 PM	#18
Nukester All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Newburgh, NY Posts: 1,923	I went 2-4 with 2 doubles, 1 run, and 2 RBI's in my first taste of AA ball. We still lost the game though so that was a bummer. However, when I got back to the hotel room that night, I got a call from my friend back home telling me that I was the 86th ranked player in the ILB Top 100 Prospect List. I was stunned............. A couple of weeks later, Kevin McReynolds came off the DL for the parent club, and his activation trickled down through the CFer's in the organization. Carlos Esteves was sent back down here to AA, but he has been DHing and Im still out in CF. Im hitting like crap though, so I really need to pick it up and show them I can play at this level. Im only hitting .238 with 6 doubles, 2 triples, and 3 SB's in 86 games. Not exactly lighting up the joint. The team as a whole is 23 games below .500 at 47-70. Pathetic, just like my play lately.

12-28-2003, 01:48 AM	#19
Nukester All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Newburgh, NY Posts: 1,923	Sold my Mazano Tech Shoes Basic1 pair of cleats and bought a new pair of BrockAir Air-1's. These are a little more like track shoes and I seem to get around the bases a little better in these, but the spikes are shorter, so I don't get as good traction as I did with the Basic1's. Thats cool though, since my defense has been very solid, but since my terrible AA stats have dropped to just .209 with 6 doubles, 3 triples, and 8 SB's in 129 AB's, I figure I need to start running and stealing some bases and causing some mayhem on the field in order to stay up here much longer. Thank heavens the end of the season is in sight !

12-28-2003, 02:40 AM	#20
Nukester All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Newburgh, NY Posts: 1,923	Well I rode out the minor league season in AA without being sent back down despite finishing with these horrible numbers: .218 BA 6 doubles, 3 triples, 0 HR, 17 runs, 10 RBI, 10 SB, 2 CS in 151 AB Carlos Esteves hit .280 with 18 doubles, 3 triples, 4 HR, 26 runs, 22 RBI, 3 SB, 4 CS in 232 AB. He also hit .295 in 61 AB in AAA this season. Either they are going to move him up, or he is going to take my spot nest season. My only plus over him is that he is slow, and I can field better and cover much more ground in CF than him. My only chance is if he stays at DH or moves up. They got Bramlett up in AAA right now. The word from down on the A-Ball club is that Lazo cut down on his swing, hit .309, and only struck out 127 times this season. What a difference ! Mack ended up with 187 K's, but hit 66 HR's. Haha...He's a monster, and hes at SS. Yikes ! We finished at 54-82....Nuff said Looks like the major league squad is crushing everyone. They traded away LF Danny Tartabull and picked up last years Triple Crown winner RF George Bell from Toronto. I think they are going to cruise into the playoffs, and perhaphs win their 4th straight championship........I couldn't care less right now. I need to keep my job in AA, and no matter what happens with the major league squad, it aint going to help me a bit........