Draft Day
My first attempt at live blogging.
10:40 - Tuning into MLB.com's video Draft Show with Casey Stern, Jonathan Mayo and Astros' closer Brad Lidge. Lidge's first words of wisdom to all the draftees: "Sign as fast as you can."
10:47 - Guess the player's union got word of Lidge's advice 'cause he's gone. Former Dodgers' GM Fred Claire has taken his seat. He sounds like my grandma.
10:49 - A segment on small school players took Mayo to a Winthrop vs Coastal Carolina game. A scout at the game gave his thoughts. They didn't show his face and disguised his voice. He sounds like a rape victim.
10:55 - I'm switching over to the radio feed.
10:57 - Seth Everett and Perfect Game USA's Dave Rawnsley are doing the radio's Pre-Draft Show. They duck in a quick phone call from Mike in Tampa, who sounds like he's about 12.
"Where do you see Cameron Maybin going as a major league player?"
Uh, to the major leagues.
11:02 - Roy Krasik, MLB's senior director of major league operations, begins the conference call by welcoming mlb.com and XM Radio listeners and is promptly interrupted by a PSA for Canadian Blood Services. Back to Seth and Dave.
11:07 - Justin Upton is selected first overall. And we're off.
11:09 - Ohhh SHNAP, Seattle selects Jeff Clement. Didn't see that one coming. God bless Bill Bavasi.
11:15 - Maybin slips all the way to 10, where the Tigers nab him. This draft isn't going at all how I had scripted it.
11:18 - Indians take Crowe A LOT earlier than most had predicted. Billy Beane's going to need a new chair.
11:23 - Our mighty A's select a shortstop, Cliff Pennington, from Texas A&M. I'm not thrilled. Could be worse, I guess.
11:32 - First round is complete. Boston wins.
11:53 - Plenty of good college pitching fell through the first round. Ramos, Torra and McCormick are all guys I predicted to go in the first. Hochevar's still there too. Boras must be asking the world for him. Fuck 'im.
I still think we'll take another hitter.
12:00 - Not only did we take another hitter. We took the one I predicted: Travis Buck from Arizona State.
12:04 - Tommy Lasorda is killing me. Effing killing me. He screams his pick, then spells it out. He sounds like a cheerleader. "Give ME AN H-O-C-H-E..."
12:12 - Lasorda going Puerto Rican with this pick. I think I just pissed my pants a little.
12:13 - I'll clean my pants later. Our mighty A's are up and draft Thomas Italiano, a very unpolished high school pitcher. He's said to be one of the hardest throwing pitchers in the draft, with a fastball touching 98 mph.
12:26 - Our mighty A's select ANOTHER high school pitcher. This time it's Carney Lansford's son. This is crazy.
1:06 - Teagarden finally gets selected. Thanks to Boras, this first round talent goes 99th overall to Texas.
1:07 - ANOTHER HIGH SCHOOL PITCHER for our mighty A's. Vincent Mazzaro is a right-handed pitcher from New Jersey. I don't know WHAT to make of all these high schoolers.
1:11 - Lasorda's making LA's picks and fighting a turf war at the same time. He begins his selection with, "The ONLY team in Los Angeles selects..."
1:45 - Another pitcher, but this one's educated. James Shull is a right-handed pitcher from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. We're loading up on arms, that's for sure.
2:45 - Back to the high school ranks for our fifth and sixth round picks. Scott Deal's a right-handed pitcher from Washington State. Justin Sellers is a shortstop from California. All the dopes who thought Moneyball was about high-OBP hitters and college pitchers are scratching their dopey heads.
3:01 - Another high school pitcher for our mighty A's. Kevin Bunch is right-handed pitcher from California. The more high schoolers, the more better. We could very well win state next year.
3:02 - Tommy Lasorda's been replaced by a lady. She promptly fucks up MLB's computer and fails to mention the draftee's position.
3:17 - Yet another right-handed pitcher for Billy Beane. Jason Ray is from a school I've never heard of, Azusa Pacific University.
3:27 - Same song, different verse. William Shield is a right-handed pitcher from the University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa. It sure would suck if all these pitchers turned out to be busts.
3:41 - John Herrera is a right-handed pitcher from Lubbock Christian University. Nine of our last 10 picks have been right-handed pitchers. I'm beginning to think that we might need more catchers.
4:08 - The A's announced their selection of Steven Kleen, a first baseman from Pepperdine. Krasik announced him as a pitcher. Weird.
4:19 - Kleen looks like a solid hitter AND pitcher.
Hitting:
240 AB, .350 Avg, .436 OBP, .525 Slg %, 36 BB, 28 K
Pitching:
51.1 IP, 1.75 ERA, .213 BAA, 47 K, 18 BB
4:20 - Twelveth round pick is Jeffrey Baisley, a third baseman from South Florida. Looks like we might be done drafting pitchers for today.
4:35 - Here we go again. The A's announced their 13th round section as Michael Massaro, a centerfielder from Colorado State University - Pueblo. Krasik announced him as a left-handed pitcher. Guess I'll find out his deal too.
4:40 - Mike Massaro info.
Hitting:
243 AB, .354 Avg, .401 OBP, .531 Slg%, 28 BB, 21 K
Pitching:
42.2 IP, 6.96 ERA, .284 BAA, 34 K, 22 BB
4:45 - Spoke to soon about the run of pitchers being over. Oakland selects Bradley Davis, a left-handed pitcher from Lewis & Clark State College, with their 14th round pick.
4:58 - Oakland selects Jeff Bieker, an outfielder Fort Hays State University, with their 15th round pick. Bieker? I don't even know her.
5:05 - One last break before the final three rounds of the day are completed. This live blogging this was a pretty stupid idea. My thumbs hurt.
5:19 - Another high schooler for the A's in the 16th round. Justin Smoak is a first baseman from South Carolina and has the best name in the draft. Baseball America had him rated as the 95th best draft prospect. We got him at 491. I wonder why he fell so low. Maybe he's going to college.
5:22 - Did I just have a conversation with myself?
5:23 - Yes, you did.
5:29 - Oh, shit. I forgot about the game. We're already up 1-0. The line-up is terrible.
5:32 - Seventeeth round pick is Isaac Omura, a secondbaseman from the University of Hawaii. That's three Hawaiians in four years (Komine and Suzuki being the other two) by my count.
5:43 - Final selection of the day is Anthony Recker, a catcher from Alvernia College.
5:49 - Well, that wasn't fun. Maybe I should've thought this through a little more. Guess I should get to work. I've got 11 solid minutes to get something done.
10:40 - Tuning into MLB.com's video Draft Show with Casey Stern, Jonathan Mayo and Astros' closer Brad Lidge. Lidge's first words of wisdom to all the draftees: "Sign as fast as you can."
10:47 - Guess the player's union got word of Lidge's advice 'cause he's gone. Former Dodgers' GM Fred Claire has taken his seat. He sounds like my grandma.
10:49 - A segment on small school players took Mayo to a Winthrop vs Coastal Carolina game. A scout at the game gave his thoughts. They didn't show his face and disguised his voice. He sounds like a rape victim.
10:55 - I'm switching over to the radio feed.
10:57 - Seth Everett and Perfect Game USA's Dave Rawnsley are doing the radio's Pre-Draft Show. They duck in a quick phone call from Mike in Tampa, who sounds like he's about 12.
"Where do you see Cameron Maybin going as a major league player?"
Uh, to the major leagues.
11:02 - Roy Krasik, MLB's senior director of major league operations, begins the conference call by welcoming mlb.com and XM Radio listeners and is promptly interrupted by a PSA for Canadian Blood Services. Back to Seth and Dave.
11:07 - Justin Upton is selected first overall. And we're off.
11:09 - Ohhh SHNAP, Seattle selects Jeff Clement. Didn't see that one coming. God bless Bill Bavasi.
11:15 - Maybin slips all the way to 10, where the Tigers nab him. This draft isn't going at all how I had scripted it.
11:18 - Indians take Crowe A LOT earlier than most had predicted. Billy Beane's going to need a new chair.
11:23 - Our mighty A's select a shortstop, Cliff Pennington, from Texas A&M. I'm not thrilled. Could be worse, I guess.
11:32 - First round is complete. Boston wins.
11:53 - Plenty of good college pitching fell through the first round. Ramos, Torra and McCormick are all guys I predicted to go in the first. Hochevar's still there too. Boras must be asking the world for him. Fuck 'im.
I still think we'll take another hitter.
12:00 - Not only did we take another hitter. We took the one I predicted: Travis Buck from Arizona State.
12:04 - Tommy Lasorda is killing me. Effing killing me. He screams his pick, then spells it out. He sounds like a cheerleader. "Give ME AN H-O-C-H-E..."
12:12 - Lasorda going Puerto Rican with this pick. I think I just pissed my pants a little.
12:13 - I'll clean my pants later. Our mighty A's are up and draft Thomas Italiano, a very unpolished high school pitcher. He's said to be one of the hardest throwing pitchers in the draft, with a fastball touching 98 mph.
12:26 - Our mighty A's select ANOTHER high school pitcher. This time it's Carney Lansford's son. This is crazy.
1:06 - Teagarden finally gets selected. Thanks to Boras, this first round talent goes 99th overall to Texas.
1:07 - ANOTHER HIGH SCHOOL PITCHER for our mighty A's. Vincent Mazzaro is a right-handed pitcher from New Jersey. I don't know WHAT to make of all these high schoolers.
1:11 - Lasorda's making LA's picks and fighting a turf war at the same time. He begins his selection with, "The ONLY team in Los Angeles selects..."
1:45 - Another pitcher, but this one's educated. James Shull is a right-handed pitcher from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. We're loading up on arms, that's for sure.
2:45 - Back to the high school ranks for our fifth and sixth round picks. Scott Deal's a right-handed pitcher from Washington State. Justin Sellers is a shortstop from California. All the dopes who thought Moneyball was about high-OBP hitters and college pitchers are scratching their dopey heads.
3:01 - Another high school pitcher for our mighty A's. Kevin Bunch is right-handed pitcher from California. The more high schoolers, the more better. We could very well win state next year.
3:02 - Tommy Lasorda's been replaced by a lady. She promptly fucks up MLB's computer and fails to mention the draftee's position.
3:17 - Yet another right-handed pitcher for Billy Beane. Jason Ray is from a school I've never heard of, Azusa Pacific University.
3:27 - Same song, different verse. William Shield is a right-handed pitcher from the University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa. It sure would suck if all these pitchers turned out to be busts.
3:41 - John Herrera is a right-handed pitcher from Lubbock Christian University. Nine of our last 10 picks have been right-handed pitchers. I'm beginning to think that we might need more catchers.
4:08 - The A's announced their selection of Steven Kleen, a first baseman from Pepperdine. Krasik announced him as a pitcher. Weird.
4:19 - Kleen looks like a solid hitter AND pitcher.
Hitting:
240 AB, .350 Avg, .436 OBP, .525 Slg %, 36 BB, 28 K
Pitching:
51.1 IP, 1.75 ERA, .213 BAA, 47 K, 18 BB
4:20 - Twelveth round pick is Jeffrey Baisley, a third baseman from South Florida. Looks like we might be done drafting pitchers for today.
4:35 - Here we go again. The A's announced their 13th round section as Michael Massaro, a centerfielder from Colorado State University - Pueblo. Krasik announced him as a left-handed pitcher. Guess I'll find out his deal too.
4:40 - Mike Massaro info.
Hitting:
243 AB, .354 Avg, .401 OBP, .531 Slg%, 28 BB, 21 K
Pitching:
42.2 IP, 6.96 ERA, .284 BAA, 34 K, 22 BB
4:45 - Spoke to soon about the run of pitchers being over. Oakland selects Bradley Davis, a left-handed pitcher from Lewis & Clark State College, with their 14th round pick.
4:58 - Oakland selects Jeff Bieker, an outfielder Fort Hays State University, with their 15th round pick. Bieker? I don't even know her.
5:05 - One last break before the final three rounds of the day are completed. This live blogging this was a pretty stupid idea. My thumbs hurt.
5:19 - Another high schooler for the A's in the 16th round. Justin Smoak is a first baseman from South Carolina and has the best name in the draft. Baseball America had him rated as the 95th best draft prospect. We got him at 491. I wonder why he fell so low. Maybe he's going to college.
5:22 - Did I just have a conversation with myself?
5:23 - Yes, you did.
5:29 - Oh, shit. I forgot about the game. We're already up 1-0. The line-up is terrible.
5:32 - Seventeeth round pick is Isaac Omura, a secondbaseman from the University of Hawaii. That's three Hawaiians in four years (Komine and Suzuki being the other two) by my count.
5:43 - Final selection of the day is Anthony Recker, a catcher from Alvernia College.
5:49 - Well, that wasn't fun. Maybe I should've thought this through a little more. Guess I should get to work. I've got 11 solid minutes to get something done.
posted by Roman at 11:39 AM
1 Comments:
not bad at all Larry. The running blog is an acquired skill. nw
Asuza Pacific is near me. D-III, I think. I think Christian Okoye went there.
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