Go Dragons!

Nice that the town we live in gets some rep.. go Dragons! Their games are always fun. I’ve seen quite a few players come up through the Dragons, like Adam Dunn, Jay Bruce, Homer Bailey, William Bergolla, among others. I didn’t go last night, but apparently, during the brawl, there were fans trying to get onto the field, and the interim manager for Peoria was being a douche the whole time. Their normal manager, who was taking the night off? Ryne Sandberg. Julio Castillo, the pitcher who threw the pitch into the stands appeared to be jussssst a bit outside as he was aiming for the dugout. A dumb thing to do though.

Oh, and this. That sucks.

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Another minor league meltdown

Kash Beauchamp goes off on the ump while the stadium PA bumps the greatest wrestling entrance music ever. If only they’d seen him coming earlier, they could have had the shattering glass before he stepped on the field. This whole argument looked like an homage to Stone Cold Steve Austin with the head bobbing, excessive profanity, and shaven head. All that was missing was the Zamboni and Vince McMahon.

Meltdown Timeline

:02-FUCK!
:03-Glass shatters
:06-Obligatory dirt kick
:07-Seamless transition to the shoe removal and subsequent spike
:10-I smell
:16-One second, I can’t talk with this dip in
:32-For good measure
:35-A graceful departure

Though Beauchamp definitely made an idiot of himself in this clip, it is highly unlikley that anyone will ever top this man… Sorry for the youtube overload.

Jamie D’Antona ripping up AAA

No, not this AAA, no one can ever rip that dude up, whoever he is.

Jamie D’Antona, a 26-year old player that plays third base, first base, and emergency catcher for Tuscon in the Diamondbacks organization is hitting .420/.448/.650 so far this year, and his hot start could very well earn him a callup to the Majors, his first callup. He was drafted in 2003. He hit .308 last year, and although the Pacific Coast League is a definite slugger’s league, leading that league in batting average will help your cause quite a bit. What hasn’t helped him is his defense, which is suspect, and with Augie Ojeda, Chris Burke, Robby Hammock/Miguel Montero and others with superior defense, D’Antona isn’t needed at this point of the season. But if the D’Backs need a pinch hitter if someone like Jeff Salazar goes down, they know who to go to.

Change your homepage because MSN.com hates baseball

Here’s a little gem that Baseball Think Factory brought to the forefront. MSN.com (*cough* boycott) featured a piece in their “Men’s” Lifestyle section that tried to knock baseball in eight different aspects. As baseball fans and as people nerdy enough to have a baseball blog…this article was lame.

1. J-Mo says the schedule is too long. 162 games is a ton of games, but the season takes about as long as any other sport. It beats the NFL playing 16 games in 16 weeks. More games=good.

2. J-Mo tells us that he is less than impressed with the physical fitness of baseball players. Ok, John Kruk may have told us he was a ballplayer, not an athlete, but these guys are still in shape. Also, J-Mo says that these guys do not have to work out, they just have to juice. The two biggest names in the PED scandal are well known for their grueling workouts (Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds). Maybe if J-Mo would put a syringe in his head, he would have better opinions. And speaking of physical fitness, how about these 300+ pound lineman who cannot touch their toes?

5 Non-Roster Invitees That You’ve Never Heard of Who Might Make An Impact in 2008

In Spring Training every year, players that never got an opportunity from the minors to the majors and are hitting or pitching very well. Guys like Matt Diaz have exelled like this. Of course, we all know the high-profile stories about how Juan Gone hit a homer off of Johan Santana, as well as him doing very decent in Spring Training. Of course we know about how Bret Boone might catch on in the Nationals after a battle with alcoholism. These are not big-time prospects like Jay Bruce or Evan Longoria or Indians 2007 draft pick Beau Mills on a minor league contract. If any of these guys do not play this year, then don’t sue me. These are players that you might not have heard of, but they can make an impact, or had success last year but not many are talking about. In no particular order.

Hitters

Micah Hoffpauir – 1B – Chicago Cubs

Ok, the Cubs are stacked at first base with Derrek Lee and Daryle Ward, and it would be stupid for the Cubs to carry three first basemen, but the 28-year old Hoffpauir has been hitting .455 during spring training and also has played in every game. He should have been the Pacific Coast League MVP rather than Geovany Soto, if Hoffpauir did not go down with a knee injury mid season.

“A large part of the RBIs that Soto (the eventual Pacific Coast League MVP) was getting in the second half of the season were ones that Hoffpauir was getting earlier in the year, Bailey noted.”

If Ward or Lee get injured, then count on Hoffpauir to deliver in the Majors. He’s a great hitter that never got a chance, and my favorite player out of this bunch.

Check this out for more players you’ve never heard of.