Saturday, August 19, 2006

THIS JUST SCREAMS WHAT THE LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES IS ABOUT



http://www.littleleague.org/series/2006divisions/llbb/teams/transatlantic/aarondurley.htm

Meet Aaron Durley, Little League age 12, 6-8 and 256 pound first baseman for Arabian American Little League Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

This young man fares well in a Tale of the Tape with Prince Fielder. In fact, my money is on Aaron if he goes up against Cecil Fielder.

This is why when Dr. Mike Marshall rants about this type of tournament, and in some respects youth baseball in general, being mainly about "accelerated maturers" vs. "delayed maturers", we need to take notice and at least understand what is going on and gain some perspective.

In some respects, I have a love-hate relationship with all the hoopla surrounding the LLWS. Mainly because of the nostalgia, the light that is shined on the critical issues surrounding youth sports. You get to see, if you care to look, both the best and worst of what youth sports is all about. And amazingly, it is not all about steroid use.

We had the recent case of the coach in Utah, who intentionally walked a team's best hitter in the champioship game to get at the next hitter, who was a recent cancer survivor. And there was a split in the reaction to the event ranging from why was a no-competetive league holding a championship game, if the kid was handicapped why was he hitting behind the best hitter on the team, wouldn't you want to treat the kid equally, etc.

Watching the LL Southern Regional final between Columbus, Georgia and Dunedin, Florida, we got to see a polished, 12-year old lefthander throwing 80+ MPH fastballs.

No, Danny Almonte is not making a comeback.

But you do have to wonder about the accuracy of the radar readings when the Florida pitcher was throwing 64 MPH knuckle-curves. I don't think I had any High School Freshman throwing 80+ and thats 14 and 15 year olds. He did look as polished mechanically as some 14 and 15 year olds I've seen, it's just that I had the same queasy feeling I had when I saw Amonte pitch and that's a) 12 year olds don't throw that hard and b) 12 year old LH pitchers generally aren't that polished on the mound.

I hope for the sake of Little League Baseball that I'm just being overly cynical. Or that the radar readings are as inflated as a Major League Slugger. I'm not sure they could take another Almonte-like scandal.

Especially with the Outdoor Life Network showing the Cal Ripken World Series at the same time. Good to see some of these other organizations get some play. Especially Ripken's, they do an outstanding job and have a fantastic approach to youth sports overall. I saw Billy Ripken on air explaining rule changes for next year: 50 foot pitching distance to help the hitters a little bit and 70 foot basepaths to help infielders learn better mechanics. His explanation was that at the shorter distances IF's "panic" too easily and don't learn properly how to relax and just field the baseball and throw. They just don't hav enought time with 60 foot basepaths, or in most cases they don't feel like they have enough time. Good explanation for why they were making the change and I would expect both changes will facilitate a better overall game played by kids at that age.

Competition is good, it's what made America great. It's good to see some of that philosophy filter down to the youth baseball level.

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Giants Top Minor League Prospects

  • 1. Joey Bart 6-2, 215 C Power arm and a power bat, playing a premium defensive position. Good catch and throw skills.
  • 2. Heliot Ramos 6-2, 185 OF Potential high-ceiling player the Giants have been looking for. Great bat speed, early returns were impressive.
  • 3. Chris Shaw 6-3. 230 1B Lefty power bat, limited defensively to 1B, Matt Adams comp?
  • 4. Tyler Beede 6-4, 215 RHP from Vanderbilt projects as top of the rotation starter when he works out his command/control issues. When he misses, he misses by a bunch.
  • 5. Stephen Duggar 6-1, 170 CF Another toolsy, under-achieving OF in the Gary Brown mold, hoping for better results.
  • 6. Sandro Fabian 6-0, 180 OF Dominican signee from 2014, shows some pop in his bat. Below average arm and lack of speed should push him towards LF.
  • 7. Aramis Garcia 6-2, 220 C from Florida INTL projects as a good bat behind the dish with enough defensive skill to play there long-term
  • 8. Heath Quinn 6-2, 190 OF Strong hitter, makes contact with improving approach at the plate. Returns from hamate bone injury.
  • 9. Garrett Williams 6-1, 205 LHP Former Oklahoma standout, Giants prototype, low-ceiling, high-floor prospect.
  • 10. Shaun Anderson 6-4, 225 RHP Large frame, 3.36 K/BB rate. Can start or relieve
  • 11. Jacob Gonzalez 6-3, 190 3B Good pedigree, impressive bat for HS prospect.
  • 12. Seth Corry 6-2 195 LHP Highly regard HS pick. Was mentioned as possible chip in high profile trades.
  • 13. C.J. Hinojosa 5-10, 175 SS Scrappy IF prospect in the mold of Kelby Tomlinson, just gets it done.
  • 14. Garett Cave 6-4, 200 RHP He misses a lot of bats and at times, the plate. 13 K/9 an 5 B/9. Wild thing.

2019 MLB Draft - Top HS Draft Prospects

  • 1. Bobby Witt, Jr. 6-1,185 SS Colleyville Heritage HS (TX) Oklahoma commit. Outstanding defensive SS who can hit. 6.4 speed in 60 yd. Touched 97 on mound. Son of former major leaguer. Five tool potential.
  • 2. Riley Greene 6-2, 190 OF Haggerty HS (FL) Florida commit.Best HS hitting prospect. LH bat with good eye, plate discipline and developing power.
  • 3. C.J. Abrams 6-2, 180 SS Blessed Trinity HS (GA) High-ceiling athlete. 70 speed with plus arm. Hitting needs to develop as he matures. Alabama commit.
  • 4. Reece Hinds 6-4, 210 SS Niceville HS (FL) Power bat, committed to LSU. Plus arm, solid enough bat to move to 3B down the road. 98MPH arm.
  • 5. Daniel Espino 6-3, 200 RHP Georgia Premier Academy (GA) LSU commit. Touches 98 on FB with wipe out SL.

2019 MLB Draft - Top College Draft Prospects

  • 1. Adley Rutschman C Oregon State Plus defender with great arm. Excellent receiver plus a switch hitter with some pop in the bat.
  • 2. Shea Langliers C Baylor Excelent throw and catch skills with good pop time. Quick bat, uses all fields approach with some pop.
  • 3. Zack Thompson 6-2 LHP Kentucky Missed time with an elbow issue. FB up to 95 with plenty of secondary stuff.
  • 4. Matt Wallner 6-5 OF Southern Miss Run producing bat plus mid to upper 90's FB closer. Power bat from the left side, athletic for size.
  • 5. Nick Lodolo LHP TCU Tall LHP, 95MPH FB and solid breaking stuff.