Taking One Last Swing At Baseball's Big Time

http://www.npr.org/2012/04/26/151315885/taking-one-last-swing-at-baseballs-big-time
On the night of Aug. 17, 2009, Reid Gorecki achieved what every minor league ballplayer hopes to achieve: He played in his first major league game.
"Everything I hoped and imagined it would be, it was," he says. "Being a part of that for the first time was just fabulous."
Gorecki was picked up by the Atlanta Braves after bouncing around various minor league teams for seven years. He put on a Braves uniform for a total of 31 games.
Then, it was over.
He hasn't been back to the majors since, and he's struggling over whether it's finally time to make a new life for himself beyond the field.
Today, Gorecki teaches youngsters how to play baseball.
"Gotta give back for all those years that I received lessons," he says. "Baseball was my life for 30 years."

Enlarge Jim Wildman/NPR Reid Gorecki coaches a young player in a batting cage. Remembering the first hit he got in the majors, Gorecki calls it "a dream come true."

He gives lessons in a warehouse-like building on Long Island, close to where he grew up.
"I have to start thinking about life after baseball," he says. "Tomorrow morning I have a test for the New York City Fire Department."
Still, he's having one more go at baseball — to say goodbye to the game in his own way.
Gorecki is playing outfield for the Long Island Ducks.
Their first game is Thursday night. Gorecki says he's looking forward to not only playing for this final team — but to winning a championship.
"I'm greedy when it comes to winning," he says. "I want one more ring."
Perhaps one more championship ring — and the remote chance of another big league ball club calling him to play.

What's up with Pujols?

BY BERNIE MIKLASZ | Posted: Thursday, April 5, 2012 10:25 am | (0) comments. Here is an excerpt from today's Bernie Bytes blog: Albert Pujols . . . what's up with this guy? You may have read about his latest round of growling. Speaking to USA Today, Pujols indicated he didn't care if the Cardinals gave his No. 5 to another player. And writer Bob Nightengale indicated that Pujols doesn't care about receiving his 2011 World Series ring, and Pujols would be fine if Tony La Russa just dropped it off at some point this season. There was also a Pujols reference to "haters" in St. Louis. And Pujols ripped the Miami Marlins for, well, something. Three observations: (1) Pujols is a great player and he will have a monster year, because he's always at his best when fueled by rage; (2) This is the most insecure and overly sensitive star athlete I've seen in 30 years of covering pro sports; (3) Apparently no amount of money, not even $250 million, can buy happiness. It's really a shame that Pujols can't take the high road with Cardinals fans, and just ride out the inevitable period of bruised feelings. Leaving St. Louis wasn't going to be painless for anyone concerned, and I'm not sure why Pujols deems it necessary to reopen the wounds, instead of trying to engage in diplomacy. The Cardinals offered him $220 million. The Angels, bankrolled by a massive new TV deal, offered him a lot more. Pujols had every right to take the Angels' money. If that was the most important thing to him, then Pujols acted properly, because it's his life. It was his call. Pujols wasn't obligated to stay in St. Louis. He gave the Cardinals 11 extraordinary seasons and didn't owe the franchise a thing; if any player deserved to cash in on an epic deal, it was Pujols. If he wanted to leave, then leave. It's a business. Pujols should know better than to expect to have it both ways. You can't walk out of St. Louis, and still expect to be loved the way you were before. It's simply not possible.

Baseball America names Cardinals' Top 10 prospects

BY DERRICK GOOLD | Posted: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 10:45 am | (6) Comments



TOWER GROVE • When I finished one of the early drafts of the St. Louis Cardinals' top 10 prospects for Baseball America, there were two well-known and obvious names that I skipped over, completely forgot, didn't rank at all.

I blame October.

Having watched Lance Lynn work in the World Series and charted the availability for the postseason of Eduardo Sanchez, I took it for granted that the two relievers, like Allen Craig and Daniel Descalso, had torched their eligibility for the annual ranking of the top 10 prospects in the Cardinals' system. Not so. Both still qualify. Both just qualify. A rewrite was in order.

This morning, at Baseball America's official Web site, the Cardinals' Top 10 was released, under the headline "Flying High." Shelby Miller is the prospect featured in the picture, and naturally Miller is the top prospect on the list. The scouting reports that go with each player are behind the pay wall at BA. But here is the list, as compiled in a joint effort between the editors at BA, including Jim Callis, and myself:

1. Shelby Miller, rhp
2. Carlos Martinez, rhp
3. Oscar Taveras, of
4. Zack Cox, 3b
5. Kolten Wong, 2b
6. Tyrell Jenkins, rhp
7. Lance Lynn, rhp
8. Eduardo Sanchez, rhp
9. Matt Adams, 1b
10. Jordan Swagerty, rhp

The addition of Lynn and Sanchez to the list reorganized the top seven, of course, but also left some worthy prospects outside the top 10. A few of those considered for those spots were RHP Trevor Rosenthal, SS Ryan Jackson, 3B Matt Carpenter and newcomer OF Charlie Tilson.

You can see the list and the "top tools" survey from the organization -- best control? Boone Whiting! -- by following this link.

As usual, there will be a chat at BA's site at 2 p.m. today St. Louis time.

But the conversation won't be confined to BA.

Each year, I open the floor here to questions about the top 10, about the Cardinals' system, and, yes, about the top 30 that will appear in the forthcoming Baseball America 2012 Prospect Handbook. We'll do it in the style of those old pre-chat PostCards mailbags. There are three ways to submit a question:

Write dgoold@post-dispatch.com. Please include name and city, if you please.
Scrawl a question in the comments section below.
Visit Bird Land@Facebook and write a question on the wall.

Any question is fair. Comments are welcome.

These rankings always come with a caveat. Remember, the players are only compared against other prospects in the Cardinals' system. That means a top-10 prospect in the Cardinals system might not crack the top 20 in, say, the Kansas City Royals' system. There is no perfect way to rank prospects, and the attempt here is to offer a snapshot of the system through its prospects.

I find it helpful to use history as a lesson.

I've done the rankings for Baseball America for the past five years -- actually more, but whatever -- and each year I sit down and look through past rankings to see what went right and what went wrong. I want to fight Prospect Fatigue and correct any blindspots. I whiffed on Matt Adams last year, and the reasons he didn't crack the rankings are now ones I've reconsidered.

My goal each year is not to contribute to the hype of prospects, but to offer context for these prospects and illustrate what they've done, what they're capable of doing (if everything goes right), and what they have to improve to make it happen.

It's far easier to criticize the rankings than to do them.

That latter actually takes time, research, reporting, knowing the names of lower minor-leaguers, etc.

The rankings aren't "my" rankings. I write the scouting reports and make some suggestions for the order. The rankings truly are the blend of opinions from scouts from other teams, coaches, opposing managers, Cardinals' officials, reporters and, of course, the editors at Baseball America. I think in recent years all of that has resulted in some informed top 10s. Look back at the Cardinals' top 10 that came after the 2009 season, and consider the number of prospects ranked in that top 10 that contributed to the recent World Series title:

1. Shelby Miller, RHP
2. Jaime Garcia, LHP
3. Lance Lynn, RHP
4. Daryl Jones, OF
5. David Freese, 3B
6. Eduardo Sanchez, RHP
7. Allen Craig, OF
8. Blake Hawksworth, RHP
9. Daniel Descalso, 2B
10. Robert Stock, C

Jones was coming off his "player of the year season." In hindsight, Craig could have been higher, but his lack of position at the time held him (incorrectly) out of the top five. Still ... Eight out of 10 ain't bad. I bet there are some farm directors who would take that kind of return on their internal rankings.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/birdland/baseball-america-names-cardinals-top-prospects/article_e691460a-152b-11e1-a669-0019bb30f31a.html#ixzz1eTq9NUhD

Can't Be Done (Cardinal's Remix) - The 12 to 6 Movement

Albert Pujols: The 2009 National League MVP

St Louis Cardinals Tribute

Gibson scoffs at rest 'issue'

By RICK HUMMEL
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Tuesday, Nov. 03 2009
PHILADELPHIA — One of the biggest issues raised during the World Series this
year has been the philosophy of employing starting pitchers on three days'
rest, which, in today's game, basically has gone the way of the dinosaur.

While the New York Yankees have had the baseball world abuzz by using CC
Sabathia and A.J. Burnett on three days' rest — with the potential of asking
Andy Pettitte to do the same and Sabathia to do it again — the Philadelphia
Phillies and manager Charlie Manuel have taken the more cautious approach.
Manuel wouldn't let Cliff Lee, who started Monday night's Game 5 for the
Phillies, talk him into pitching Sunday on three days' rest. The Phillies lost
to fall into a 3-1 hole.

The greatest starting pitcher in World Series history, Cardinals Hall of Famer
Bob Gibson, wondered from his home in Omaha, Neb., what all the fuss was
about.

"What's the big deal?" Gibson said Monday night. "I don't get it. I don't think
it's going to kill somebody.

"A pitcher can't pitch with three days' rest? Some of those guys make $8
million a week."

Gibson made nine starts in three World Series, winning seven of them and
pitching exactly 81 innings — 10 innings in one game, eight in another and
twirling complete games in the other seven.

Burnett didn't fare as well for the Yankees on Monday night. He was pulled in
the third inning after the first four batters reached base and was charged with
six earned runs in his start.

In the Cardinals' 1967 World Series victory over the Boston Red Sox, Gibson won
three games, starting Games 4 and 7 on three days' rest after opening the
Series.

In 1968, Gibson again pitched Games, 1, 4 and 7 with the latter two on three
days' rest as the Cardinals lost to the Detroit Tigers.

Earlier, in 1964, Gibson stretched his arm to the limit as the Cardinals
strained to win the National League pennant. On the last Friday of the season,
he worked eight innings in a 1-0 loss to Al Jackson and the New York Mets. He
then pitched four innings of relief on the last Sunday, gaining the win as the
Cardinals finally nailed down the flag, and three days later started Game 2 of
the World Series and worked eight innings in a win against the New York
Yankees.

On three days' rest, Gibson pitched a 10-inning win in Game 5 and then, on two
days' rest, pitched a complete-game victory in Game 7.

Even Gibson admitted, though, that five games in 17 days was a bit much.

"I didn't feel really dynamite after that," he said.

But, under normal circumstances, he doesn't see any problem with starters
working with three days' rest in postseason play.

"I don't imagine you'd want to do that all year," Gibson said. "But for
playoffs and World Series ... if you can't do it then, when the hell can you do
it? I don't quite get it.

"I just think they make a little too much about it. I don't know who it is — if
it's the media or what."

While Manuel discussed the rest matter with Lee, Gibson said he never had any
such conversations with managers Johnny Keane and Red Schoendienst.

"Nobody ever sat down with me and said, 'Would it be OK if I pitch with three
days' rest?' I told them, 'I'm going to pitch every fourth day.'

"I would have been disappointed if I hadn't."

CARDINALS STOLE FOUR AT ONCE

Johnny Damon's two steals at once for the Yankees on Sunday night was nothing
compared to what the Cardinals' Vince Coleman and Willie McGee pulled off in
the first inning Aug. 1, 1985, at Wrigley Field.

With Coleman at second and McGee at first, the two lit out on a double steal
with Scott Sanderson pitching. Coleman beat catcher Jody Davis' throw to third
but overslid the bag after touching it. Since third baseman Ron Cey had the
ball in his hand, Coleman decided going back to third had no virtue and set
sail for home.

A rundown ensued, with McGee trailing the play. Sanderson and Davis ultimately
got themselves out of position and Cey, nicknamed the Penguin, ended up
futilely chasing Coleman to a now unoccupied home plate. McGee wound up at
third.

"I knew I couldn't get back to the bag," Coleman said then. "I was still in
no-man's land. So my reaction was to go to the next base."

After conferring by phone with Seymour Siwoff of the Elias Sports Bureau,
official scorer Randy Minkoff awarded each runner two steals.

SIGN STEALERS?

Larry Bowa, a Los Angeles Dodgers coach who used to play for and manage the
Phillies, wondered on ESPN radio Monday if the Phillies were stealing signs at
Citizens Bank Park, prompting an unusual number of conferences involving
Yankees catcher Jorge Posada and Sabathia on Sunday.

"There are rumors going around," said Bowa on radio, "that when you play the
Phillies, there's a camera somewhere or bullpen people are giving signs, and
catchers are constantly changing signs."

Bowa concluded, "Any edge you can get, you take advantage of it."