Complete Universe Facegen Pack

[LansdowneSt]

South Alabama has turned out its share of quality pitchers in the program's history, some with All-American credentials who joined the professional ranks. None, however, were more productive on the collegiate level than new USA HOF inductee Jason Norton. The right-handed Mobile native still holds the Jaguars' record with 34 career wins. Norton's best year may have been in 1996, but he thought the best South Alabama teams he played on were the 1997 and 1998 clubs that missed a trip to the College World Series by one game, losing to LSU and Southern Cal, respectively.

"Those were the most disappointing moments in my career," said Norton. "We were one game away from the World Series each year. LSU and USC went on to win the World Series those years. I think the '98 team was our best because we had a phenomenal staff -- Mike Fischer, Stephen Sparks and Justin Carter. All four of us were drafted."

As requested...

[diesel230]

I've been adding minor stats to my league and just imported and updated Chad Rupp. Perfect timing.

In my league, Orelvis Martinez was called up and raking for Toronto. Could you please work your magic Lans?

[LansdowneSt]

Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 60 | Run: 45 | Arm: 60 | Field: 45 | Overall: 55

The Blue Jays made Martinez their largest July 2, 2018, signing when they gave him a $3.5 million bonus at the start of the international period. They backed up that belief in him in 2019 by moving him stateside to the Gulf Coast League, where he slugged .549 with seven homers in 40 games. At just 18, he was aggressively sent to the 2020 alternate training site to compete against much older pitchers, and he returned to game action strong a year later. His 28 homers between Low-A and High-A led all Minor League teenagers in 2021, while he finished with a .261/.345/.549 slash line in 451 plate appearances.

With a quick right-handed swing and promising strength from a 6-foot-1 frame, Martinez can really turn on balls and drive them at fast exit velocities and to far distances. Given his age and athletic body type, there’s the belief that even more power could be coming out of his already promising bat speed. He has struggled with chasing breaking pitches at the lower levels, and he could be vulnerable to that against more advanced pitching as he climbs the chain, which would lead to just an average hit tool.

An average runner at best, he seems like a prime candidate to slow down more as he ages and gets stronger. The Blue Jays have already given him time at both short and third base, and while he remains raw at short right now, he seems likely destined for the hot corner long term with enough arm for the position. Even if he does move, Martinez possesses a high ceiling as a power-first infielder. - mlb.com

Here he is for ya, diesel

[diesel230]

You are amazing. Thank you for the work you are doing

[Amazin69]

Thanks for Norton (and Martinez).

Speaking of NAWtons, the White Sox have decided that Greg Norton's best role would be spelling Frank Thomas at 1B, which frees up 3B for their young prospect, Carlos Lee. Lee doesn't seem like much of a 3B, though, and as the Sox remember trying to play Paul Konerko at the hot corner, they're considering giving a back-up slot to Venezuelan veteran Luis Raven, who spent last summer staying home (and hitting .349 for Monclova) as he was feeling snubbed by the organization despite nearly winning the Southern League MVP with Birmingham in 1997.


IRL, the Pale Hose sent Raven to AAA Charlotte, where he pondered weak and weary, but still managed to make the All-Star team again. And, as the Southsiders never came-a-knockin', he bolted for the Marlins' chain the next season, but despite his cannonadings for the Calgary Cannons, never reached South Beach, either.

[Obvious joke] Never more… [/obvious]

PS-could we get a new fg for Carlos Lee, as well? The current one looks like a bobblehead. Thanks.

[diesel230]

I had just mentioned how i added Chad Rupp to my league so his Triple A stats show in career stats. Luis Raven was one of the others. Great timing on the facegens.

[LansdowneSt]

Luis Raven is a former power-hitting prospect who reached as high as AAA in the California Angels and Florida Marlins farm systems and starred in the Caribbean Series a couple years. He hit 20 home runs on four occasions in the minors and smacked 200 circuit clouts overall on the farm. Through 2014, he is 5th all-time in the Venezuelan League in home runs with 94 (behind Robert Perez (124), Eliezer Alfonzo (121), Alex Cabrera (117) and Tony Armas Sr. (97) and 9th all-time in RBI with 402. - bRef Bullpen wiki

I used the smaller card picture to try and capture him...

[LansdowneSt]

Carlos Lee. This was a man who was simply born to mash baseballs, and mash baseballs he did. For 14 years, he torched big league pitching with 2,273 hits, 469 doubles and 358 homers, mostly with the White Sox and Astros. As MLB.com's Joe Posnanski noted, the three-time All-Star's numbers were, in fact, remarkably similar to another pure masher, Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda.

Despite his place in the White Sox records book, many think of Lee as a lifetime Texan. As the cleanup hitter for Houston, he drove in 100 or more runs in three of his five Astro seasons, averaged 26 homers and hit over .300 three times. “El Caballo” lives up to his nickname as the owner of Slugger Ranch in Texas, where he raises prize-winning Brahman, and nine ranches in his native Panama. Whether it’s the playing of the game of baseball, the breeding of cattle and quarter horses, or the roping of calf, Lee wants to leave behind the family legacy of being among Panama’s best.

I had made this a few weeks ago. It was in my pack supplement that I do every month or so. This link should always be the latest.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/ox6gx..._Pack.zip/file

[Amazin69]

The Tigers AI is thinking about using Brandon Reed in their bullpen. Which makes a certain amount of sense, when you see those 41 saves he racked up at Fayetteville (not to mention the 10.9 k-rate)…but that was in 1995, and he's spent most of his minor league career as a starter, and he's been getting racked the past two seasons.

(I have no idea how Reed made the Southern League All-Star team for Jacksonville in 1997, given his final stats. He must have had a strong start and just collapsed down the stretch. And then the Tigers promoted him to AAA Toledo for 1998, where his Mud Hen career saw the International League hitters basically stomp a mudhole in his stats. Ouch. So now they're going to try and recapture that old Carolina League relief magic in The Show? Seems dubious.)

But we shall see:

Apparently, Reed did get a Spring Training invitation, to judge from that 1997 Bowman card. Huh.

[LansdowneSt]

From Panther to Tiger, Local athlete recalls professional career

Baseball has been good to Lapeer West grad Brandon Reed, who was the 45th round draft pick of the Detroit Tigers in MLB’s 1993 Amateur Draft. “Playing in the All-Star game at every level and traveling the world were highlights for me. I loved Australia,” said Reed. “In 1995 I won the Fireman of the Year Award. (Former Detroit Tiger’s pitcher) Sid Monge and (catcher) Dwight Lowery were my manager and pitching coach. I kept throwing strikes and didn’t have too many walks. I had a few strikeouts and I just enjoyed being out there for the last inning, I guess.” Knowing time was no longer on his side, Reed secured a spot with the Columbus Clippers of the International League in 2001. That year he went 1-2 in AAA ball for the Yankees with a 3.48 ERA, leading to his final season in 2002 with Long Island of the Atlantic (Independent) League.

Currently Reed works as a personal pitching instructor at Foutch’s Strike Zone in Genesee County, as well as his own facility in Millington after several years working other jobs, including construction. - The Count Press, Nov 2015

I found a Getty Image from Spring Training Invite in the late 90s and used that for the fg,

[littlejim13]

I made some mediocreFacegens for a few high-ranking MLB draft prospects whose defaults were pretty inaccurate.

[littlejim13]

Here is Jackson Holliday, with Chase Delauter's fg file.

[littlejim13]

Here is Brooks Lee. If anyone wants me to try any others specifically in the meantime, reply.

[Amazin69]

And then there's Steve Prihoda. He's 26 now, but there were those Carolina League-leading 25 saves for Wilmington in 1996, and he's shown great durability the last two seasons at AA Wichita.

And last year, he followed the organization's advice and cut his BB/9 from 4.0 to 1.7! No more nibbling!

Of course, he allowed six times as many HR as in '97, but…

Still, it's only the Royals. It's not as if they have the luxury of being picky. (Current staff is basically Kevin Appier, Jeff Suppan, and then open auditions.)

[LansdowneSt]

Five former Sam Houston baseball greats have been named to the Southland Conference's 1990s All-Decade Team. Brent Bubela, Kelly Eddlemon, Greg Kubes, Stephen Prihoda, and Ron Thames join a total of 56 student-athletes that makeup the 1990s all-decade team.

Pitchers Stephen Prihoda and Greg Kubes just missed playing for the 1996 NCAA Regional team. Prihoda pitched for the Kats from 1992-1995 and his name appears throughout the record book. He tossed one of the few no-hitters in school history, in a 5-0, 7-inning win over UTSA in 1993. The 1994 Southland Player of the Year is in the top-10 in career ERA and wins. Prihoda's 285 career strikeouts are the most in Bearkat history. He was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 20th round of the 1995 MLB draft. - gobearkats.com

As requested, Amazin'

[Amazin69]

Another pitcher fighting for a spot on KC's staff alongside such immortals as Jay Witasick, Chris Fussell, and Alvin Morman (now I see how a team with such an outfield could still bomb…) is Shawn Sonnier.

Originally at Chipola (FL) J.C., Sonnier was a 22nd round pick of the Brewers in 1995, but chose to transfer to Panola (TX) CC instead. This got him scouted by the Astros and they tabbed him in the 14th round in 1996, but Sonnier thought he could upgrade some more and stayed in school.

Which was apparently a bad idea, as he went undrafted in '97. Perhaps an injury? I don't know.

Signing on with the Royals, he impressed in rookie ball, but a jump to the bigs seems premature. IRL, Sonnier made nice progress at Wilmington in '99 and Wichita in '00, but struggled to get the golden ticket as an Omaha Golden Spike in 2001.

This was apparently because he'd hurt his elbow, and he missed all of 2002 after Tommy John surgery. This apparently got him released and he made his 2003 comeback in the Cubs chain. Taken by Oakland in the Rule V draft that winter, NBC called him "one of a number of failed prospects once touted as the Royals' Closer of the Future".

He did well enough for Oakland and found himself back in the Royals chain in '05, splitting time between Wichita and Omaha. He wasn't too impressive, but he did well enough to earn an offer from Yokohama in the Japanese league. And those 30,000,000 yen (roughly $255,000) were a lot more than he ever made in Omaha.

But after that it was Sayonara to Sonnier's career.

[LansdowneSt]

Busy tonight so just a quick posting. Shawn Sonnier made it to Spring Training in 2001 and made it into the Getty Images Spring Training photo session so I used those to try and get him a facegen for ya, Amazin'. Here it is...

[diesel230]

Any chance of a Jeff Inglin?
3 times he broke 100 rbi in the minors

[LansdowneSt]

Jeff Inglin, a fourth-generation Petaluman and Casa Grande High School alumni, who played professional baseball for 10 years in many organizations such as the Chicago White Sox, moved back to Petaluma six years ago. He has, in the six years upon returning to Petaluma, taken Petaluma by storm buying into several local Petaluma icons.

He is one of the founding partners of Seared Steak and Seafood, Operating partner at Athletic Edge Batting Cages and own a landscape company, Inglin Landscaping, which specializes in baseball field maintenance. Jeff comes from a line of restaurateurs, and his grandparents owned diners on the Boulevard for many years. In October of 2018 Jeff Inglin purchased the liquor license and name for a longstanding community-gathering place, Beyond the Glory Sports Bar and Grill (BTG). BTG is located on the East Side in the Gateway Plaza Shopping Center across the street from Lagunitas on North McDowell Boulevard.

When asked, “Why BTG?” Jeff said, “It fits our family, the name, and what we are about. Fostering a place for the community to gather to celebrate sporting events, while eating quality food among friends.”

BTG is a high-energy place to work and eat. It is a place for the community to gather to celebrate sporting events, family milestones, all while eating quality food among friends. - btgpetaluma.com

Great ballplayer too but I went with the restaurant bio. If you are in the area, give it a try

i realize he was a long-time fixture with the White Sox in the minors, but he got a 2004 invite w/the Tigers, hence the Spring Training official photo.

[Amazin69]

The Twins think that Jon Schaeffer might be a good backup for Terry Steinbach at catcher. It's not as if the former #9 pick doesn't have credentials: he was all-Pac10 at Stanford.

And he just had a strong season at Fort Wayne. But jumping all the way from A-ball might be a bit much, even if catching is the Fastest Route to the Show, etc.

(And it makes more sense than what the Twins actually did, sending him right back to the Midwest League so he could do even better at Quad Cities in 1999. Or then sending him back again, to Fort Myers in the FSL, in 2000 and when he finally got that promotion to AA New Britain, giving up on him after eight games and swapping him to the A's chain. Sheesh.)