Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Greatest Game Thread Ever!

I was just over at an enemy blog site, Gaslamp Ball, and read through their game thread for tonight. You gotta check it out. They started off by writing in Haiku until they got their first hit.

Dodgers Pick Aaron Miller from Baylor University


The Dodger lone pic in the first round at #36 is Aaron Miller from Baylor University. He is a tall 6' 3" left-hander. He could be a pitcher or a position player, but is most likely headed for the mound.
“It’s been pretty much 29 to 1 in terms of teams wanting me as a pitcher rather than a hitter,” Miller said. “There’s still one team out there holding strong that really likes me as a hitter. But the general feeling among most teams seems to want to try me out on the mound, and that’s fine. I’ve always loved both, but as a pitcher, I probably have the best chance and the quickest road to the majors.”
He also looks forward to being on a National League club.
“It will be a weird thing whichever one (hitting or pitching) I end up doing, not doing the other,” he said. “I’ve always done both growing up. My freshman year (at Baylor), I didn’t really pitch, but I always still considered myself a pitcher. So that’ll be weird. ... But I do think there are some teams in the National League who really seem interested in the fact that I’m capable of swinging the bat, since that would give them nine guys in the lineup who could swing it rather than eight.”
Go to the article on the Waco-Tribune Herald for the rest of this excellent article on this future Dodger. Here is the BU page for Miller here.

UPDATE: Dodger scouting guru Logan White had this to say.
“Aaron is a physical athlete who has had a limited amount of time on the mound,” said White. “With the help of our player development staff, we see a bright future for him as a left-handed pitcher in the Erik Bedard mold. He is a terrific competitor and a first-class person with great makeup.”

eBay: Never Seen This Before

eBay truly is a giant flea market of unusual and strange stuff. Over the weekend I came across this auction that had me a bit bewildered and thankful at the same time. After all, you don't often find a set of 27 newspaper cut-outs like this selling for this much. At the same time, though, what's the chance you'll ever see this set again. Heck, I'd be surprised if single copies popped up at all. You may find them in a scrapbook, but how often do those show up?

Below are 27 newspaper cut-outs from the LA Examiner featuring the Los Angeles Dodgers. They were printed on consecutive days from March 26, 1960 to April 22, 1960 and are neatly cut outside the dotted lines. All of the greats are represented- Koufax, Drysdale, Snider, Hodges and Podres. Really, too many to name. As of this writing it is already up to $34.00. UPDATE: This item sold for an amazing $155.00.

For the sake of posterity I've decided to post all of the pics from the auction so you can enjoy the biographies. Click on any of the picks to enlarge.
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